A picture is worth a thousand words, those thousand words form a story. The human race has always loved stories. Even before we had written language we were sitting around the campfire telling stories late into the night, they were painted on cave walls, and woven into myths and legends we tell today. Today they are written in books, but there are also those who still paint, draw, sculpt, design, etc. to tell their stories. If you have any doubt that art can tell a story just ask a toddler to tell you about what they are drawing, you will get an earful.

Just because the artist or designer has grown up doesn’t mean that they aren’t still telling stories, in fact the stories can be deeper and more moving than you could ever imagine. This is true even in the graphic design world, or even the world of web design where the story is often used to inform. That logo is telling you the story of its company, even if it is just less than an inch wide when you see it. It is a snippet, a prologue, the taste of the story that draws you in and gets you hooked till you can’t put the book down.

If the logo is the prologue then the website is the whole novel. Any novelist can tell you that writing one can take a lot of time and even more thought. With whole chapters written that are cut out and put in a drawer never to be seen again, or in this case whole design ideas that are just thrown out because they weren’t quite right yet. We have to tell you all there is to know about the company. Yes, since it is a website there will be text doing some of that, but if that text was on a white page with no design whatsoever you would walk away with a very different story. A blander one, one without a true feel for the company and what they value.

The colors, the shapes, the typefaces, even the location on the page, helps you see the story, helps you understand the company. We associate colors with feelings and emotions, the colors we choose are to tell you a story about the feel of the company, what they value, and how they feel about what they do. Shapes can make bigger pictures, can help direct where you look and give you direction, telling you what is most important. The typefaces we choose are to give you a context for what type of company this is, and what they are trying to tell you. A thin sans serif can tell you this is a high end, modern company; a traditional serif font can show you that they care about tradition, and old school values. Where things are placed shows you what is most important for you to know and what the company feels is important to them.

All of these elements are graphic in nature yet they tell a very wordy story. Here at The Old State we want to tell your story. A story that can inform your clients about the company, tell them about your inspirations, and perhaps inspire them to use your services.


Travis McElroy MANAGING PARTNER