2005 Shurgard Annual Report

You might say this is the last job we'll ever do for these guys. It's not that we aren't getting along. Quite the contrary. In fact, Shurgard says they're quite pleased with all the annuals we've done fomr them since the year they went public a decade ago. The reason we won't be working together any longer is because, earlier this year Shurgard agreed to sell their company in a not-exactly-friendly $5 billion takeover battle with Public Storage. So, we'll be saying farewell to a very generous, trusting, and decent client soon. Too bad the good guys don't always come out on top.

School of Visual Concepts Quarterly Catalog

Every 90 days, the Worker Bees machine gears up to concept, write, and produce the quarterly catalogs for the School of Visual Concepts. We have it down to a bit of a science so the entire 16-page project can move from "uh-oh, we better get started" to "hey, that looks pretty good" in less than three weeks. SVC, should you not know, is the 35-year old training ground for graphic designers, advertising copywriters and art directors, and other assorted communications professionals. Today, the School offers both portfolio programs and professional development workshops for those already in their careers wanting to come fill in some gaps (hence, the cover headline). To view the complete brochure, download the pdf here.

Shurgard Spanish Language Brochure

By 2010, one in every six Americans will be Hispanic. There are tons of fascinating statistics about the growth of this market. But you don't need stats to know that it's smart business to reach out to Spanish-speakers. Case in point: We recently completed this brochure on the features of Shurgard Storage Centers. Revising your literature for the Hispanic market is relatively easy and definitely smart.

DHL Digital Sales Presentation

We completed a rather sizable project for DHL recently. Imagine a PowerPoint x 10 and you have the idea behind this digital sales guide. Worker Bees contributed the concept for the introductory animation and a good chunk of the internal copy. A tip of the Worker Bees' cap to Fitch for bringing us in on this assignment.

2004 Shurgard Annual Report

In 2005, as for the previous seven years, we worked with Shurgard Storage Centers to design and write their annual report. It's produced as a full-size newspaper (yes, printed on newsprint with the squiggly edges), which keeps production costs running about half of typical slick annuals. The 20,000-plus word report is a big winner with shareholders, as more than half of them report reading more than half of it. It also keeps Shurgard right in line with the current trend in annual report thinking--and that's to combine the 10-K wrap with a comprehensive story about the company. Read the whole darn thing.