In 2018 I designed for my towns parks & rec department. I got these freelance opportunities through having already been a maintenance employee for the same department. My supervisor, Wendy Rubin, offered me the opportunity to complete design work and video production her starting with a new logo for the Parks & Recreation Department.
She showed me that they already had a concept in mind and wanted it on merchandise and digital/print material. The idea was to take our town zip-code and mix into it the department mascot, Wangy (WON-GEE) the lake monster. He is a fictitious monster that is named after Lake Wangumbaug which is located in the southern end of town. Wangy is especially famous amongst the staff and the kids at the lake during the annual summer camp called Camp Wangumbaug. After discussing the concept, and the usage of the design with Wendy, I got to work and in about over a weeks time frame I had vector proofs ready to show to her and her team in the office.
See below for the concept, my process, the final design numeric mark & emblem, and digital/print applications.
Concept Drawing
My Process
Numeric Mark & Emblem
Examples of the emblem being used digitally and in print
Parks & Rec staff shirts
Quaterly Town Report - Winter 2019, pg. 2
CAMP WANGUMBAUG PROMO
Wendy and the rest of her staff were impressed with my work on the new logo, so I was contracted by them again to create video promo that they could use in advertising the camp for the following summer. This was about just over a month long project to complete because I had to record footage on certain days in order to get the content Wendy and her team wanted to see. After the recording, editing, and rendering processes were complete, the video was ready to be used.
COMMUNITY GARDEN SIGN
Wendy was loving my work, so she asked me to design the town's community garden sign. I love illustration, so I decided to take this creative direction with the design. Starting this process was with photographing the vegetables and flowers that are grown by residents in each of their respective plots. Afterwards, I sketched the vegetables and flowers that Wendy and I thought would look best and then I started the rendering process of each sketch in Adobe Illustrator. The final step was laying out my illustrations and the type. This project was completed in a three weeks time frame.
TESTIMONIAL
"In the Parks and Recreation industry, marketing and promotion play a huge role in providing information for park-goers and recreation program participants. We operate in a self-supporting budget environment so our marketing must work to bring in new business regularly.
After listening to our needs and concerns, I was given design concepts and ideas that brought life to our otherwise routine and traditional standard signs, posters, etc.; making them a part of the total experience people enjoy when they attend our parks and programs.
He has provided us with a new logo that was unique and has all the elements of what we wanted yet took it a step further and is at a level higher than we expected. He has also produced some video promotion pieces for our social media campaigns and for staff training.
With Luke Thresher, I have never been overcharged or advised to purchase something I did not need. I am able to get projects completed on time, under budget with great positive feedback. Luke’s turnaround time for projects is faster than I could have imagined. He is dependable, conscientious, meticulous and creative.
Luke is fun to work with and really listens. Having known and worked with Luke for the past few years, I can truly recommend him without any hesitation."
Wendy Rubin
Former Parks & Recreation Director
Former Parks & Recreation Director
Town of Coventry