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Beyond.

Yes. I can be a little obsessive. Picky. A perfectionist. Demanding, even.

Ultimately, I just want to do the very best work that I can, beyond what’s expected.

Thank heavens I’m not alone.

Take the Bainbridge Companies and Asset Campus Housing duo, for example. Somehow, in such über-challenging times, they didn’t just stamp out another cookie-cutter student housing project. Au contraire; they’ve contrived the most amazing student apartment community… The quality of the product is superior. The enthusiasm of the leasing staff: unrelenting. And the amenities package will not just exceed your expectations; it will swirl them with dynamite and light a match.

A 13,000 square foot clubroom, a South Beach-style swimming pool with private cabanas, a two-story fitness center with cardio, strength training and free weights. A bistro, WiFi-equipped study zones, an expansive game hub, and more flat-screen TV’s than Taco Mac. And all this just 2 blocks from the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee.

Kind of makes me want to go back to school.

The marketing effort began with a logo, brochure and some billboards on my end. The client request: A modern edge, an unexpectedly vibrant color palette, a sleek line. (As a Gator, I was pleased not to have to design in garnet and gold.) Here’s the look I devised:

This initial creative drew the starting line for my friends at Zerflin, who answered with a dynamic website that rewrites the rules on how to display social media icons, how to depict an apartment floor plan’s features, and how a gallery should function. Ben and Tamika are never satisfied with just putting together a website. Every project a fresh challenge, they charge forward with all the energy and creativity of a 5-year old in a superhero cape, and all the sophistication of a symphony orchestra.

I really enjoy working with Zerflin on these partner-projects. I feel like they’re inside my head, and our twin-sense is only becoming stronger as we continue our work together.

And the proof truly is in the pudding. The early website performance stats are as mind-blowing as the decadent Campus Circle lifestyle.

In the (roughly) 2-3 weeks since its launch (and a spectacular grand opening event), our site has enjoyed almost 5,500 visits. The 12+ page views per visit is three times what the previous temporary site was delivering. The bounce rate is almost nonexistent (!), and our visitors are spending an extra couple of minutes cruising around once they land on our site. And we’re getting a ton of organic traffic, thanks to a carefully blended cocktail of Zerflin-led SEO and the on-site team’s aggressive social media and promotional efforts.

I’m impressed with a property team that’s recruited more than 1,000 Facebook fans, having opened their doors just weeks ago.

I’m honored to work with this menagerie of perfectionists. And relieved that I have such incredible teammates to carry their part of the workload, too!

If you’re a local, you can visit the property at 800 Basin Street in Tallahassee. Or visit the website for a quick tour. Here’s a sneak peek for your viewing pleasure:

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by Renee Moss Consulting on February 15, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Bainbridge Companies

Tagged Bainbridge, campus circle, student housing, Tallahassee, website

Posted by Renee Moss Consulting on February 15, 2012

http://reneemoss.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/beyond/

Faith.

When you choose to step away from the path most trodden and (instead) do work you truly love, there are plenty of supplies you’ll need in your theoretical knapsack. Most important of all is Faith.

Faith in yourself, your vision, your instincts. Faith in the people you choose as partners. Faith in your way of working with people. Your ‘bedside manner’ in cultivating relationships, delivering service.

When you tell people you’re going your own way, many will applaud you. Some assume you’ve lost your mind. A few will pray for your demise.

If you lack Faith, the naysayers just might rattle you.

I work in a field cram-packed with colorful personalities and their subjective reactions to creative work. And we live in social media-filled age where everyone has an opinion, and many feel quite confident touting said opinions (with or without first gathering the relevant background details).

At times, I’ve truly wondered what folks were thinking when they made decisions about me… about my work. I might have felt a little hurt or confused. I’ve sought understanding, though at times we simply just can’t understand. We have to simply accept.

Some folks will encourage us. Send referrals. Share kind words about us. It’s important to notice these gifts as they materialize along the way. They fuel us, propel us forward.

Yesterday, in my push for perfection, I (accidentally) grazed a tender nerve. In a blink, I began to question my vision. But ultimately I trusted my gut. Continued forward with unwavering faith in myself and in others.

Thank you, Faith!

Sometimes the bar we raise for others brings out their utmost brilliance. I adore people who aren’t afraid to dig down deep to accomplish great things. (Maybe this is why I married an Ironman.)

This morning in my inbox… Incredible work.

Which prompted an ecstatic and insightful client reply, ending with:
Not only do you Do Work You Love…you do Lovely Work!

Wow.

When the day comes to a close, Faith remains of the utmost importance.

We have to trust in ourselves and in others if we’re to do our very best work. This is true in life, in sport, and in our jobs.

I’m forever grateful to have chosen work I love.

1 Comment

by Renee Moss Consulting on January 13, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Musings

Tagged creative, faith, Renee Moss, trust, work you love, working for myself

Posted by Renee Moss Consulting on January 13, 2012

http://reneemoss.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/faith/

Law. Southern-style.

When we first discussed developing a website for Moore, Tyndall, Castellow & Strickland, Michael Strickland told me the project was ‘a long time coming’. In fact, it had spent seven years on a to-do list loosely penned for some other day.

Seven years.

One of the reasons we left our life in Atlanta was to slow down a bit. Apparently, we’ve come to the right place.

After all, people still do business in this part of the world with a smile and a handshake—at church picnics, Packers games, and the local YMCA. It’s called having a relationship, and its really hard to do in a booming 5-million-person metropolis. But it still happens here.

And while these folks could have been building a website sooner, their relationship-focused approach to doing business has been working just fine all along. So why rush?

Despite the laid-back approach, MTCS isn’t behind the times. Not a bit. They’re actually ahead of the curve—launching a brand new identity package (created by yours truly) and eye-catching signage at their building on tree-lined Main Street, punctuated by a lovely new, understated website that will tell you a great deal without talking your ear off. And it only took a few months to create.

The new website—a collaborative effort developed with my friends at Zerflin—is clean, easy to navigate, and full of helpful information. It features some outstanding farm photographs donated by Ben Jancewicz and Rick Moss, and spectacular custom photography by the talented Rebekah Weldon of Woodland Fields Photography.

To me, the individual bios are the best part of the site—delivering a mix of professional achievements and intriguing personal factoids about the 100-year-old firm’s current core attorneys—whose community-, family- and even athletic-oriented passions fuel their daily lives. These are kind, easy to talk to, regular people like you and me, and they’ve quietly established themselves as the leading business law firm in southwest Georgia.

Take a look at their new site here.

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1 Comment

by Renee Moss Consulting on December 14, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in MTCS

Tagged attorneys, Castellow, law firm, lawyers, Moore, Moultrie, MTCS, Redding, southwest Georgia, Strickland, Tyndall

Posted by Renee Moss Consulting on December 14, 2011

http://reneemoss.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/law-southern-style/

Moultrie (Land)Mark.

This morning, I finalized a logo for Moultrie First Presbyterian Church in Moultrie, Ga.

I’ll be honest. I hadn’t expected to be designing a logo for a church, simply because I haven’t been to church regularly since I was 7 years old. (Please don’t judge me for it.) But somehow I landed here, and I’m thankful for it. It turns out, I’ve been to this church before—for pre-school—some 30 years ago. (Quick aside: I recently came across a photo of Clayton’s class posing in front of this same yellow wall, just three years after mine.)

Yep, that's me... front row, far right and giggling.

My work with the church has been delightfully enlightening in ways I hadn’t foreseen.

The new logo is but a stepping stone on the path to a complete website redesign, which will reveal itself early in the new year, all the while introducing innovative tools and a more user-friendly look to the congregation.

The folks I’m blessed to be working with are energetic, warm and wonderfully excited about what we’re doing. They’re passionate and unafraid of new technologies. Always approachable and welcoming, they wanted a logo that reflected this same warmth (and their spiritual focus)… Something iconic and fresh that celebrated this landmark’s long-standing traditions in a clean, current way. They wanted a mark as distinctly recognizable as their grand physical presence—a kind of soft beacon calling folks home.

The resulting design (below) features one of the sanctuary’s signature stained glass windows, in a simplified form. Vibrant, simple, meaningful. And quietly powerful.

Please share your thoughts on this new design.

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by Renee Moss Consulting on November 22, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Moultrie First Presbyterian

Tagged church, logo design, Moultrie

Posted by Renee Moss Consulting on November 22, 2011

http://reneemoss.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/1108/

Gratitude.

Last week, my little company launched one of our biggest projects yet: a new website for Moss Farms Diving.

The site was a collaboration between myself and my trusty companions at Zerflin, and we enjoyed lots of input and contributions along the way—from everyone under the scorching southwest Georgia sun—diving parents, current and former divers, a local reporter, and the coach’s wife.

It’s a beautiful site in every way and was designed to convey the energy of this great diving program with splashes brilliant color and implied movement. It’s artistic inspiration stemmed from the logo I revamped in June and a tiny ad I designed for the local high school football program. And then some.

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It offers new technologies never before enjoyed by MFD website users, such as an online camp registration form, a built-in photo uploader (so divers and diving parents can share photos to the website), and interactive tools like a lodging map and meet schedule. Not to mention a breathtaking set of photo galleries and those charming diver bios that are so much fun to read. Browse the site here.

I can’t begin to explain how much work went into this project… and how much pride came out of it.

I’m prouder than ever of the man I chose to marry and the amazing things his family has accomplished. I’m proud of the folks that volunteer their energy to keep the program moving forward. And I’m proud of those divers that work so hard to hone their skills.

I’m also incredibly proud of the folks at Zerflin that I chose as my partners for this project. The MFD website was neither small nor simple. It was a massive undertaking, kind of like developing a graduate thesis. It required a ton of thought and energy from all of us (and more than a few ‘all-nighter’s), and I am completely blown away by the ‘above and beyond’ philosophy with which Ben and Tamika (at Zerflin) approached this project. They gave it more time than our scope requested, and they gave their combined energies with passion and belief in all that Moss Farms Diving represents.

Check out Zerflin’s blog post about their experience with this website project.

As it turns out, passion is positively contagious.

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by Renee Moss Consulting on October 5, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Moss Farms Diving Tigers

Tagged Clayton Moss, diving, Moose Moss, Moss Farms Diving Tigers, Moultrie diving, website design, Zerflin

Posted by Renee Moss Consulting on October 5, 2011

http://reneemoss.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/gratitude/

Harvest.

It was a year and a half ago that we decided to leave Atlanta, settling in at our Cape San Blas hideaway. And just a few months after that, we chose a second homestead in Moultrie, so Clayton could learn the family farming business.

Clayton's-eye-view.

Splitting our time between a remote beach and an equally remote farm town, with Tallahassee our biggest ‘city’ in between, people thought we were crazy. Sometimes, we too, wondered if we hadn’t lost it… just a little.

We simply stopped the commotion of life and listened carefully to our hearts. And to one another.

Together, we decided that quality of life was more important than anything else. We wanted to start a family. Take more deep breaths. Get lost in more blue skies, recharge beneath more sunsets. See more of our families. Do things that matter.

And in a year—give or take a few months—we’re already reaping what we’ve sown.

I once worried about how I would find like-minded pals once we moved to such tiny destinations. But somewhere between the Emerald Coast and farm country, we’ve already forged some of the most rewarding friendships of our lives.

Now, it’s harvest time. Starting today, they’re picking cotton at Hawthorne Farms. I never imagined I’d one day be a farmer’s wife. Never realized that digging peanuts just so and knowing how much and when to water the cotton are really matters for a true master of his craft. But now I know.

There’s so much for us both to learn. And this is just the beginning.

1 Comment

by Renee Moss Consulting on September 27, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Musings

Tagged farm life, making time, quality of life, work that matters

Posted by Renee Moss Consulting on September 27, 2011

http://reneemoss.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/harvest/

Restoring a Legendary Icon.

Today, I’m unveiling a really special logo.

It’s a refurbished and updated version of the original Moss Farms Diving logo, and revamping it was purely a labor of love.

Moose Moss, Flying Tigers combat pilot and founder of Moss Farms Diving.

It’s hard to know what to write about something like this. It’s so big and so filled with emotion. I’m just proud to have lent my hand to the process. The project honors Moose Moss, his diving legacy and his family.

If you don’t know the origins of Moss Farms Diving, you’ve got some catching up to do. You can read about it here. And if you want to see the pre-existing logo, you can check it out here. (In the coming months, the official MFD website will be replaced with a new one, and the new logo will make its appearance.)

My goal for the logo was simple. I wanted to make the logo stronger, but I didn’t want to lose the original Flying Tiger emblem or victory “V”.

Upon close examination of the tiger illustration, I saw that it had lost a great deal of quality over the last few decades. (Quick side note: The original Flying Tigers emblem was created by the Walt Disney Company, and permission was later granted for Moose to use this piece of art for his Diving Tigers, as well.) So I located the following aircraft reference photo and began to redraw our beloved Tiger, giving him back all his original detailing.

It was a time consuming process. As I worked, I thought about how lucky I was to be contributing to something so special. I felt a little awed that Rick Moss (Moose’s son) would allow me to alter the logo at all.

As I added color and updated type choices, the logo came alive again. Here it is in all its glory:

The new and improved Moss Farms Diving Tigers logo.

I never met Moose Moss (though I often detect his spirit in my hard-headed husband). I imagine he must have been a little like my own grandfather, who was a flight instructor in the Army Air Corps… In reading a letter written by his wife, Janie, I learned this. Moose was a dreamer, and he was incredibly determined. He aspired to bring unparalleled opportunity to this charming small town we live in, and he did precisely that.

I’m sure people thought he was crazy, but that’s what makes him so admirable. He had a goal, and he willed it to reality. It’s a great reminder that, truly, anything is possible.

Thanks, Moose.

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by Renee Moss Consulting on July 14, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Moss Farms Diving Tigers

Tagged Diving Tigers, logo design, Moose Moss, Moss Farms Diving, Moultrie

Posted by Renee Moss Consulting on July 14, 2011

http://reneemoss.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/restoring-a-legendary-icon/

Laynie-Bug’s Sweets & Treats

If you didn’t get enough summertime fun this past July 4th weekend, you might want to hit up Laynie-Bug’s Sweets & Treats at 1119 Zebulon Road, in Griffin, Georgia (The zip is 30224 if you’re Google-mapping or GPS-ing it).

Laynie-Bug’s is scooping up the good stuff from 12:30 to 9:00 pm daily.

If you’re on the prowl for the famed Maple Bacon ice cream, come early, and try to stay cool if supplies run low. There are 15 other lip-smackingly divine flavors on rotation, depending on what the chef-slash-geniuses at High Road Craft Ice Cream happen to dream up. All frosty delights are organic, local, and uniquely delicious. I’ve stock-piled five rapidly disappearing flavors in my freezer, so I can attest.

You won’t be disappointed.

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by Renee Moss Consulting on July 5, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Laynie-Bug's

Tagged Grffin, ice cream, Laynie-Bugs, maple bacon ice cream

Posted by Renee Moss Consulting on July 5, 2011

http://reneemoss.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/laynie-bugs-sweets-treats/