AYS Curbside

STORY

AYS Curbside

A new business with a novel idea always piques our interest as a marketing firm. For AYS Curbside, we were excited to work from the ground up with a company providing a valuable service to our local community. As a boutique trash hauling and can-cleaning service, AYS Curbside needed an impactful brand identity and digital presence to help sell its services to a new customer base. Our team embraced the prospect of building a new brand from the ground up.

Rebrand/Web/Print/SEO

Full Branding

Print Materials

Website

SEO

Results

CHAPTER 1

Problem

As a brand-new company, AYS Curbside needed a strong brand identity to communicate its business and services to a new customer base. They also required a website to showcase their services and capture new leads from prospective clients. 

Solution

The Urban Ignite brought our graphic design and web content teams together to create a cohesive brand identity that established a solid digital design for their new website. 

CHAPTER 2 : REBRAND

Branding and Logo Design

The first crucial step was to define a brand identity that would stick out in consumers’ minds and adequately communicate their services as a business. Our graphic design team workshopped different logo designs, eventually landing on a badge-inspired logo that suggests professionalism and expertise. It is effective at a distance, as it’s easily identifiable, but it also brings together subtler design details the longer you look. For the color palette, we made a clear, loud blue the center color for the design. It immediately captures the eye and feels perfectly appropriate for their curbside cleaning business. 

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CHAPTER 3 : DIGITAL

Web Design

With the branding in place, we moved forward with a website build. We wanted to create something straightforward, practical, and human. One part of the process was curating stock photography that captured the company’s identity. The logo design was repurposed creatively throughout the pages to lend some texture and complexity to areas that might otherwise have felt too simple. For a copy, we worked with the clients to create a brand voice that was clear, concise, and professional. Our team workshopped several slogans until we found one that encapsulated the offered service and the expectations clients can bring to the table. Each page was optimized with SEO-forward writing to help create a local customer base more quickly. 

“Urban Ignite has done an excellent job with all aspects of our marketing – they’ve helped us re-do our website, create original video/photo content, social media marketing, and design. I would highly endorse them to any small business interested in a local marketing company.”

Sam F, Partner

CHAPTER 4

Results

We love the challenge of building a brand from the ground up. It offers the flexibility to imagine every possibility and hone in on creating something that can stand the test of time. AYS Curbside allowed us to stretch our creative muscles and build a new brand and website that genuinely encapsulates their service approach. 

Anna

As a Design Specialist for Urban Ignite, Anna Hughes works to create stronger visual aesthetics for client brands via web design and development, social media template design, print collateral, and a variety of other design-centric projects. Her goal is to craft successful, direct, and on-brand design materials to help companies better communicate their mission and purpose. Anna brings thorough experience in print-based projects, giving her a tangible understanding of typography and layout design. Anna works to clearly and creatively communicate a client’s message. 

 

Anna earned a BFA in Graphic Design from Messiah University. She is a huge fan of hiking, running, kayaking, and anything that involves plants and the autumn season.

Brady

Brady Stafford works as a Copywriting Specialist for Urban Ignite, helping clients shape their narrative, tell their story, and expand their portfolio of SEO-driven written content. His copywriting appears on website and landing pages, blog posts, social media posts, and email campaigns. Brady utilizes SEO practices to drive traffic while still creating informative, narratively compelling content across different mediums. 

 

Brady received a BA in History with a minor in Journalism from the University of West Virginia. Several of his historical essays were published by the University. Outside of work, Brady is an avid musician who fills much of his time listening to or playing music. He is also a travel aficionado who enjoys rock climbing and mountaineering (which are different!). Having completed all of his targeted summits on the East Coast, he hopes to conquer Mt. Rainier in Washington and Mt. Denali in Alaska in the future.

Emily

Emily works as a media specialist for Urban Ignite, focusing on videography in production, pre-production, and editing. She uses her skills as a storyteller to visually communicate the stories of our clients and their work, using creativity, problem-solving, and technical knowledge to guide her projects. She graduated from Goucher College with degrees in both Communications and Philosophy, with her philosophical studies amplifying critical analysis and writing skills as well as a love for questioning and research. What she loves most about her career as a videographer is the opportunity to learn a variety of niche knowledge about the different subject matters of her videos. 

 

Outside of work, Emily enjoys painting psychedelic geometric artwork, watching action films, reading science fiction, and learning about history, places, and trivia on Wikipedia. She has a bearded dragon named Franco and sometimes they eat kale together. She plays the piano once a year.

Steven

Steven Quinones works as a Media Specialist at Urban Ignite, balancing pre-production, media shoots, and post-production work. Steven often works directly with clients for on-site shoots, and is an expert at setting the scene and guiding participants through the process. His goal is to help you feel comfortable in front of the camera, and his guidance can help make even your shyest team member feel like a star. Steven previously worked in a professional photography studio for four years and spent years in a sales position as well. His freelance work has included music videos, wedding videography, and more. 

 

Steven has traveled and lived across the country, being born and raised in Nevada before making his way to Maryland. He embraces the experience of meeting new people, and connecting with artists in the places he visits. He is a huge fan of stand-up comedy, with Theo Von and Mark Normand among his current favorites. Steven will be the first to tell you that Mexican food is the best of all foods.

Elijah

As Director of Media, Elijah’s goal is to cultivate an environment of collaboration through media production, driving storytelling for clients through excellent photo and video content. They have worked freelance as a cinematographer and editor, whose previous clients include the Chemistry Department and Cell, Molecular, Developmental Biology, and Biophysics Doctoral Program at Johns Hopkins. She also works as an adjunct professor at UMBC for photo and video classes. Elijah received her Masters of Fine Art from the Intermedia + Digital Art Program at UMBC, and her Bachelors of Fine Art in Digital Media from Youngstown State University.

 

Outside of work, Elijah spends time on her own bodies of artistic work, focusing on the act/actions of surveillance, as well as notions of memory, nostalgia, longing, and personal identity. They enjoy, as many do, video games, films, tv shows, but also engage in several hobbies focusing around dilapidated and obsolete technologies, like utilizing VHS camcorders, 8mm/16mm found films, and post-apocalyptic costume making.

Tarah

As Urban Ignite’s Director of Design, Tarah Maxsell is your visual design expert. Her work touches nearly every creative process at our firm, from logo and branding design to web layouts, social media templates, and everything in between. Her process is one of intentionally seeking out beautiful solutions to all of your design challenges. Tarah’s work has been recognized by Out Of Home Today (OOH Today) for excellence in outdoor advertising. 

Tarah received a BFA in Fine Arts with a focus on Graphic Design from Messiah University. Tarah enjoys anything she can do outside, as well as ceramics and interior design. You’ll most often find her with her husband Nick and their Goldendoodle Wesely.

Christian

As the Director of Web Content, Christian Fuller helps execute your digital marketing strategy through compelling websites, engrossing written content, and an intricate knowledge of best SEO practices. Christian oversees all web design and written content creation projects, helping ensure the final product delivered to you is spectacular. 

Christian believes that content writing is essential to building the narrative of a business. He puts the work in to help your brand find its tone and voice so you can speak the language of your audience. Copy should always grab attention, and communicate something valuable. He helps you find the perfect sweet spot. 

His web design experience allows him to guide our web team efficiently through the process, accounting for elements like the flow of content, website interactivity, and mobile optimization. Christian believes a strong website is an invaluable marketing tool and helps clients execute their creative vision. 

Christian brings 5+ years of copywriting, web design, and SEO experience to the table. He earned his BA in English from the University of Maryland. Outside of work, he is a frequent traveler and camping enthusiast, creative writer, and super fan of anything horror or punk music-related.

Leigh

Leigh Engelke is our coordinator-in-chief as the Operations Director, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. She is the primary point of contact for clients, addressing their day-to-day needs and communicating new project details to internal staff. Leigh ensures nothing slips through the cracks, and that content output is consistent. She is also responsible for internal procedures at Urban Ignite, helping everyone stay on track and adhere to company policy. 

 

Leigh believes that clear, transparent communication is the key ingredient in a successful business relationship. She wants every client to have clarity on the progress of projects, and be able to communicate any concerns as they arise. Leigh is here to take care of our clients, and she’s excellent at it. Fostering a healthy working environment where employees are free to communicate their feelings is also essential to Leigh as Operations Director. 

 

Professionally, Leigh brings experience working with the Maryland Department of Social Services, where organizational efficiency was crucial. Her decade-plus experience in the food service industry gives her excellent personability, knowledge of task management, and the ability to keep up with the fast-paced needs of clients. 

 

Leigh earned a BS in Psychology from Goucher College. When she’s not managing operations for Urban Ignite, you can find her hiking, painting, crocheting, practicing yoga, or just hanging out with her cat and best buddy, Rex.

Jordan

Jordan Fuller is the Founder and Creative Director of Urban Ignite. He works with clients and the team to help drive the creative vision of each project. 

Content creation has always been at the core of Jordan’s identity, starting with home movie production at the age of 6 and video editing at 14 for his YouTube channel. He took an optimistic approach, teaching himself web design in case the YouTube channel found success. While that project never achieved virality, it gave Jordan the tools to lay the foundation on which Urban Ignite would be built. 

Urban Ignite began with clients in the construction and home remodeling industry and grew as a trusted digital marketing firm despite its small team. In the early days, Jordan saw the adverse effects overworking can have on a team’s creative output. As such, the workplace model was readjusted to focus on efficiency and work-life balance. This model includes industry-competitive pay while maintaining a 30-hour work week. 

Jordan is a creative repository for clients, helping them dream bigger regarding content and marketing strategies. 

In his free time, Jordan enjoys a good concert, nature walks, video games, meditation, or exploring local events across Baltimore. He also loves collaborating with others to make art, whether it’s at work or for personal projects. In addition, he hosts local “house shows,” which have showcased local musicians at the Urban Ignite office space for eight years.