Tessera Design

Don’t go see Impressionism Masterworks on Paper for the water lilies. Because there aren’t any. Save those for the guest bedroom at Grandma’s house. See it for the draftsmanship of great artists like Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec and Pisarro.

I think I expected something very French Vanilla in this Milwaukee Art Museum exhibition, expertly curated by Christopher Lloyd and Laurie Winters, but what I got was a very Neapolitan-By-Way-Of -Paris collection of masterful avante-garde drawings.

There’s something so immediate and vital about a sketch dashed off in minutes or a sweep of white pastel on cardboard that captures the light “just so” that speaks to me more than a meticulously-labored oil painting. These artists are able to convey the intense light and dark of the inner and outer worlds of their subjects with a minimum amount of marks on paper—yet their styles and subjects diverge widely.

So with the time you have with out-of-town relatives or guests these holidays, please take a couple of hours to wander through the charcoal and chalk smudges, and pen and ink swashes, that make this Impressionism exhibit at MAM – not entirely French – but trés magnifique nonetheless.

Note: My favorites were by Jean-Louis Forain from the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis Tennessee. Jean-Louis Forain. French (1852-1931) In Front of the Set, c. 1895-1900 Pastel on paper, 20 x 24 ¼” (25 ¼ x 29 5/8 x 2″) Collection of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens.

Tyra Baumler
Owner, Tessera Design

There’s nothing like listening to a panel of savvy social media users share advice with a great group of non-profit thinkers to motivate you to write on your much-neglected blog.

Thanks to Jan Wilberg of Wilberg Community Planning for moderating the discussion at the Milwaukee Planners and Grantwriters Roundtable with Matt Brown of MKE 123, Mari Maldonado from Volunteer Missionary Movement, Jim Raffel of Color Metrix, Alysha Schertz from Milwaukee Biz Times and Carol Voss of Independence First.

The takeaway from today’s talk is that the ideal social media presence is one that creates an engaging personality and voice for an organization and makes quality connections via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. At a minimum, have at least one person charged with communicating your group’s message and just, “Don’t be THAT person.”

As a visual communicator, I prefer Facebook, and I’d phrase it like this, “Be THIS person”:

1. Post pictures! People love pictures. People love to be tagged in pictures.

2. Make your profile picture colorful and attention-grabbing. It doesn’t have to be your logo.

3. Link, link, link to other pages and share their posts.

Facebook is fun – really. And it’s a great business tool. You can find Tessera Design there at: https://www.facebook.com/TesseraDesign

Tyra Baumler
Owner, Tessera Design

I have been working a lot on Tessera Photos and connecting with quality people on Etsy. In my search for great products and good deals, I found something even better – Aid for Abby.

Abby is an 11-year-old girl in Independence, Missouri who has Autism, Expressive/Receptive Language Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Her mother has begun selling Abby’s (rather amazing) artwork on Etsy to supplement their uninsured income.

After spending quite a bit of time reviewing Abby’s work, I purchased two of her paintings that I plan to hang in my office. I can’t think of anything better than encouraging a child’s artistic expression – especially one who can create such beautiful work through the spectrum of autism.

It might just be the best $7 I’ve spent all year.

I have to admit, since putting Tessera Design on Facebook, I have been neglecting the blog on this Web site. This is not good for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for the site, but Facebook has opened up a whole new world of sharing visual information quickly and interactively on the internet.

So if you would like the most current information on all the great logos, brochures, signage and graphics we produce, please check out Tessera Design and like us at: www.facebook.com/TesseraDesign.

In the mean time, we promise we will try and bring you more blogs about clients and projects and just plain cool art stuff.

Tyra Baumler, Owner Tessera Design

We’re really proud to announce that everyone’s hard work on Wisconsin’s Schooner Coast has paid off with a new Web site, a Savings Passport booklet and a billboard on I-94 near Holt Avenue in Milwaukee, courtesy of the “At This Very Moment in Manitowoc” campaign.

You can find a flip book of the Passport with hundreds of dollars in savings along Highway 42 on the Web site schoonercoast.org and the billboard is pictured below.

It’s an exciting time for the promotion put together by Baer Carlson Communications, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and the Door County Maritime Museum since being awarded the Wisconsin Department of Tourism JEM Grant in March.

Wisconsin’s Schooner Coast will boost the travel economy along Lake Michigan’s western coast and get the much-deserved word out about the beautiful cities of Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Kewaunee, Algoma and Sturgeon Bay.

Branding your company is a big deal – no matter how large or small it is. When financial advisor, Eric Korbitz, CPA, CFP®, needed a marketing plan for his business, he hired Baer-Carlson Communications, which hired Tessera Design for a new look for Korbitz Financial Planning.

First, we started with a classic logo and incorporated it into a contemporary Web site (korbitzfinancialplanning.com) developed by Greg Smith of GT Design. The coordinating stationery and collateral materials completed the new identity system for Eric’s company.

Thanks to Monica Baer, Korbitz Financial Planning has a clear marketing message and Tessera Design gave them the graphical tools to promote their fee-only financial advising services in one clean, professional – yet personal – branding package that complements their tagline, “ Your goals. Your plan. Your terms.”

Huge congrats go out to the Wisconsin and Door County Maritime Museums, respectively, for securing a Wisconsin Department of Tourism Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) Grant for their Schooner Coast travel initiative. CONGRATS! The $39,550 grant was awarded based on a fantastic proposal developed with Baer-Carlson Communications that included the logo design and advertising created by Tessera Design.

The Schooner Coast is a 60-mile stretch of Highway 42 along the Lake Michigan shoreline from Manitowoc to Sturgeon Bay that includes Two Rivers, Kewaunee and Algoma. This grant will enable the maritime museums to strategically market this hidden travel gem and help boost the economies in all of these communities.

We couldn’t be more happy to have been part of this experience and look forward to helping promote Wisconsin’s Schooner Coast with more marketing materials – like this billboard at the Holiday Inn on Highway 42 in Manitowoc. Thanks to the JEM Grant Program, these five Wisconsin cities will be able to greet even more people with, “Welcome to the Schooner Coast!”

Tessera Design has many clients in lots of fields, but Uzelac Industries is definitely unique. They have combined innovative engineering and manufacturing to create large industrial drying systems that convert wet waste-product into dry by-product. It is an alternative to incineration options that is extremely cost-effective and green.

So how do you sum all that up in one name or phrase? Mike Uzelac recently introduced his Biosolids Management Solution (BMS) system in this brochure we designed and included a rather humorous, yet completely appropriate subhead – Just Get Rid of the Crap! – because that’s literally what they do so well.

Mike and Brad Peterson, Director of Sales and Marketing, also let Tessera Design focus on the community and environmental benefits of a Uzelac Biosolids Management Solution in this piece. The end result is a brochure that includes the necessary technical information on the inside, but is fun, friendly and more accessible to more people from the outside.

One of the best things about being a graphic designer is you get to help a friend out from time-to-time and recently I got to “work” with my college roommate, Cheri Thomas, from Indiana.

When she said she was considering freelance photography and needed some business cards, I jumped at the chance to help. I knew we could do really cool 2-sided cards using her photos. She specializes in children’s portraits and her daughter, Abby, was a perfect model for Green Willow Photography.

Which leads me to this very simple marketing tip: 2-sided business cards are way more interesting than 1-sided cards and not as expensive as you would think. Your business card is the only marketing piece you leave with almost everyone you meet, so make that second side count!

Flood coat it a solid color, reverse out your Web address, put a full-bleed photo back there – make that seven square inches of ad space stand out from everyone else’s with cool graphics or valuable information that enhances your company’s message or image.

Cheri’s cards are a great example of doing this. The design on the front is nice, but the photo on the back makes it.

Tyra Baumler
Owner, Tessera Design

Recently, Monica Baer of Baer-Carlson Communications asked Tessera Design to create a brochure for Wisconsin Lutheran High School. Reverend James R. Kleist, WLHS Superintendent, wanted an 11×17 trifold that their office could print out on an “as-needed” basis for their “Walking Faithfully Walking Boldly” Endowment Campaign.

Pastor Kleist recognized the importance of needing a professionally written and designed piece for the school’s fundraising campaign – even though they didn’t need a large print run. This oversize tri-fold is a great way to utilize an office printer that has 11×17 capability.

We hear the high school is very pleased with the endowment brochure and think it is an excellent example of “aiming high” for a low print-count project with an important message.