GRAPHIC DESIGN. BRANDING. ADVERTISING.
Brochures are a designer’s bread and butter, meat and potatoes, gin and tonic. They encapsulate virtually everything we do: creative concept, art direction, graphic design, and production. From concepting the look and feel of the piece, selecting the most appropriate photographer or illustrator, choosing the copywriter to tell the story, to selecting the printer that brings the project to life, the printed brochure encompasses all that we do as creative professionals.
New patient magazine for Kraemer Women’s Care
The Indigo Man
A brochure describing a unique product for the South Carolina man - a personalized sterling silver buckle with a handcrafted belt made of Australian croc and dyed SC indigo blue.
I’ve worked in advertising in one form or another my entire professional career. I enjoy the creative energy associated with advertising — the unique concept, the compelling headline, art directing the perfect photograph or illustration, and writing copy that inspires and sells. It’s always a challenge is to design an ad that is visually stimulating while motivating the consumer to purchase the product, use the service, or change their thinking about the advertiser.
Branding is a unique challenge. Designing a visual representation of a client’s company, organization or service that’s simple, elegant and memorable can be a daunting task — less is more. unique, not derivative, one that’s grows in strength over time. Designing logos is one of my favorite assignments. Seeing a new logo on the side of a truck, a billboard, a magazine ad — It’s an awesome experience. I’ve designed branding for clients from blues bands, to art museums. Retail stores to festivals. Dental practices to funeral homes. And more. It never gets old.
Artista Vista 2023, The event is all about art! So what makes more sense than filling the letters with paint and photographs of public art in the Vista. Two versions were created for different applications.
Artista Vista, Columbia’s premier gallery crawl, is held every spring to showcase the artists, galleries and studios in the Vista, an official South Carolina Cultural District. A splash of paint and a creative use of typography seemed the obvious choice!
The Koger Center for the Arts at the University of South Carolina is Columbia’s premier venue for presenting artistic experiences that enlighten, educate, and entertain.
Columbia Museum of Art, one of the premier museums of art in the southeast, came to me to design new branding after building a new facility on Columbia’s thriving Main Street. The font is bold like art, and the mark represents the partnership between the museum’s cultural contributions to the city, and the citizens of Columbia, who are a large factor in the museum’s success.
Dressler Photography is one of South Carolina's premier photographers. Among other specialties, Brian Dressler is a highly respected architectural photographer.
PhotoSC is an organization dedicated to the exploration of photography and the ever changing landscape of image making and visual culture.
Phoenix Property Services specializes in property management services for land, nonresidential as well as residential properties.
Mardi Gras themed logo for Columbia SC Krewe.
The original Circa 1332 logo was for a new store specializing in fashion forward, cutting edge clothing — jeans, jackets, shirts, shoes and accessories for the modern man. The distressed metal and broken font represented the store’s unique direction.
After a few years, Circa 1332 was rebranded to reflect a more traditional, casual line of high quality clothing and accessories for men. Circa 1332 also introduced their own brand, available exclusively at the store and online.
Kemopalooza, Prisma Health Midlands Foundation's signature fundraising event for CAMP KEMO — a camp for children with cancer. Kemopalooza is a fun night of music, food and a silent auction.
Avanti Interior Design specializes in modern, architecturally influenced interior design. And the mark reflects this direction. The company concentrates on medical, dental, and business interior design.
Rick Smoak is one of South Carolina’s most talented professional photographers. The circular mark loosely represents a camera lens. While the “k” stepping off the edge of the line, represents Rick’s creativity and willingness to take risks in order to get just the right image.
Family Connection is a non-profit organization that connects families who have special needs children with similar families helping each other, offering support, guidance and encouragement. The circular graphic surrounding “Family” represents these connections and the colors reflect the diversity of the family’s needs.
Bathrooms Within Reach offers design solutions for contemporary bathrooms influenced by modern Italian design. The green and red dots are taken from the colors in the Italian flag.
Companion Life sells Group and Voluntary insurance products. This logo, designed in the mid 80s, has stood the test of time.
A keystone is a central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together. Keystone Custom Builders does just that, with their custom home design and building. The mark's interlocking design reflects the integration of the various components of the services the company offers.
Village Bistro The modern design of the bistro lended itself well to the knife, fork and spoon images set in the urban buildings. The typography reflected the casual ambience of the restaurant.
Portable Air Solutions provides portable, rental, air and heat equipment for events, emergencies, and climate control during an outage. The mark symbolizes the movement of air coupled with a modern font, color coded for heat and cold.
Carolina Guitar Company is a South Carolina based company designing and manufacturing hand crafted, vintage guitar pedals built by touring and former pros at their “small batch distortery”. An edgy, retro feel complimented the creative direction of the company.
Duncan Sims and the Accused’s name came from where the band was born — at a rehearsal space on the corner of Duncan Street and Sims Avenue. The mark represents the crossroads with the interlocking D and S. Begging the question “Which one of you is Duncan Sims?” Ha! The distressed font is a reflection of the rock ‘n roll music DS&A performs.
Elliott and the Untouchables I was a member of this band for many years (hire a drummer, get a free art director). The band performed traditional and modern blues with a vintage influence. So the old style microphone, pork pie hat, and shades seems a natural fit.
Charleston Chamber Opera is an opera company represented with a “by-the-sea” design. The hand written ink on paper look reflects their creativity and originality. The font used for Charleston Chamber offers a more traditional feeling for the organization located in such an historic city.
South Carolina Bar’s branding uses a modern, graphic representation of the columns in front of the South Carolina State House. Combined with the classic serif font, it reflects The Bar’s traditional foundation coupled with a modern approach to the legal profession.
ACE Glass has been serving South Carolina since 1939. The company is a modern provider of commercial, residential and automotive glass solutions. The contemporary geometric shapes of each letter represent these three areas of their business in a colorful, memorable fashion.
Achieve Columbia workes to mitigate the effects of childhood trauma and build resiliency so that kids have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
No doubt about it, outdoor advertising is a challenge. Especially in the brave new world of digital billboards. 6-8 seconds and it’s gone. This requires a message that’s quickly and easily retained. A strong visual. An intriguing headline. A simple, direct design. All quickly assimilated while also focused on driving!
Posters are a very pure means of communication. They grab your attention, tell a story, and leave an impression in a very short period of time. It’s a challenge to design a poster that does all these things. Great posters are simple, direct and informative, while also being intriguing, artful and memorable. .
A movie and event poster for Columbia’s Nickelodeon Theater
A unique “poster” made of aluminum, laser cut and silk screened.
Another atypical “poster”. A wooden pallet made to order, silkscreened with a white wash and opaque blue.
The Indigo Man is the quintessential South Carolinian, and this monogrammed and numbered sterling silver buckle with custom belt reflects his pride in the state.
I’ve spent many years working with Palmetto Health and Palmetto Health Foundation. Healthcare is an immense field. Children’s health to orthopedics. Surgery to mental health. Fundraising to cancer treatment. Each requires a specific graphic approach and communication skill. Here are some of the projects we have worked on together.
New patient magazine for Kraemer Women’s Care
While our day is filled with working for clients, occasionally we need to also work for ourselves. Finding the time to look for new business, new challenges, and new opportunities is very important for the continued success of our business. Self promotion can be the last thing we get around to — you know, “the cobbler’s children have no shoes”. But it’s essential that we create for ourselves, and share with others who may find our work applicable to their needs. Here are a few projects I have done to promote my company.
On the occasion of my company’s 15 years in business, I created an homage to Milton Glaser’s iconic Dylan poster. He has always been one of my heroes in the design world, and I was fortunate to attend one of his workshops at the School of Visual Arts several years ago. This was sent to current clients with copy on the back thanking them for their role in the success of David Hunt Creative.
An announcement that I was moving my office in my building from the third floor to the first. It was sent to clients and vendors. I wanted to make a mundane announcement unique and interesting.
Announcement for new office space.
My previous website (see upper left) was designed to resemble a hotel where you could “Check-In Anytime”. To help announce the website, I personally delivered a small travel suitcase complete with luggage tag to my clients. It was filled with envelopes that contained specialty items such as a customized hotel key, notepads, and pencils with the web address.
This direct mail card was sent to my clients to showcase recent work. And to thank them for 20 years of success for my business.
Holiday 2021. Peace, Love and Understanding says it all!
(With thanks to Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello)
Merry Holidays 2020!
A graphic kaleidoscope of colors and shapes to celebrate the season. Playful, colorful and symmetrical. Optimistically offering hope for a prosperous and peaceful 2018.
Every year I create a unique Christmas (Holiday) card to send to clients and friends. In 2016 I wanted to emphasize the importance of peace, love, patience, tolerance, understanding, humanity, charity, compassion, and kindness for everyone. The multi-colors of the Pantone swatches symbolized this concept. As Ringo always says, “Peace and Love”.
Candy colored red, green and blue with stars, oh my!
Every year since 1978, I have compiled a “mix tape” of music I listened to during the past year. Starting with a single cassette in 1978, and CDs beginning in 1998, I put together a compilation of the music I listened to that year. And of course, each had to have a unique cover, allowing me to combine my love for music and design. Here are some recent designs using my concepts and photography.
A Graphic Design version this year. My humble homage to the late, great Milton Glaser.
The return of the record album and turntable
Photos of paint brush strokes from a mural on Main street by artist Ija Charles inspired this years package.
Invasion of the ‘Rona-CDs
A modified roman numeral surrounded by artist’s names.
This year I photographed the pavement around my studio on Gervais street — manhole covers, painted directionals, stenciled numbers, cracked pavement — they all provided fascinating graphic visuals for this years collection of CDs
For 2017 I decided my love of robots and music must collide! All of the photos were taken at Columbia’s awesome Art Bar in the Vista. Robots, wall paintings and graffiti made for stimulating images. One of my favorites!
In 2016 I turned to the undeveloped areas of 701 Whaley. Broken windows, vintage signage and faded typography made for an interesting canvas. The photos worked well, blending the visual images with the titles and track listings of the CDs. And, for the first time, I included an “In Memoriam” CD, dedicated to the great musicians we lost in 2016 — David Bowie, Prince, Leon Russell, Sharon Jones, Leonard Cohen, and many more.
Music is my passion. These photographs were taken between 1972-1981, and they document a period of immense creativity and musical diversity. I was very fortunate to witness performances that inspired me both musically and creatively.
While in college I had a part-time job at an advertising agency, and it was there that I became keenly interested in photography. I set up a darkroom in my apartment and started developing my own film and making prints.
The first concert I photographed was Leon Russell in 1972. I found it thrilling to get up-close photos of my musical idols and make prints of the images. In those days it was possible to bring (smuggle) a camera into the concert. I managed to sneak up to the stage and get some great shots before being chased back to my seat. It was quite the game of cat and mouse. But my perseverance paid off with some memorable images.
Musitography 1972-1981 Gallery exhibit at Frame of Mind, West Columbia, SC, November 4-26, 2016. All photos ©David Hunt
Bob Dylan Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 12.9.1978
Leon Russell Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 7.18.1972
Frank Zappa Indianapolis Convention Center, 5.24.1974
Debbie Harry (Blondie) Fox Theatre, Atlanta, 8.5.1978
Edgar Winter (Opening for Ten Years After) Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 11.26.1972
Eric Clapton Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 3.25.1978
Muddy Waters (Opening for the Allman Bros), Indianapolis Convention Center, 11.16.1975
Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 10.19.1972
John Mayall Indianapolis Convention Center, 1975
Steve Martin Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 2.19.1978
John Sebastian (Opening for Steve Martin) Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 2.19.1978
Harry Chapin Indianapolis Convention Center, 1.23.1976
Steve Howe (Yes) Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 10.2.1972
Tim Buckley (Opening for Frank Zappa) Township Auditorium, Columbia, SC, 11.5.1972
Dickey Betts (Allman Bros.) Indianapolis Convention Center, 11.16.1975
The Eagles (Opening for Yes) Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 10.2.1972
Ray Davies (The Kinks) Fox Theatre, Atlanta, 8.5.1978
Tom Petty (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) Fox Theatre, Atlanta, 8.5.1978
Chick Corea (Return To Forever) Indianapolis, 1975
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Indianapolis Convention Center, 2,26.1977
Ric Ocasek (The Cars) Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 10.14.1979
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC, 2.22.1981
Found art is what happens when you’re not looking for art. Looking down at the pavement, up to the sky, or across the street. It’s when the mundane becomes exceptional. Or the spectacular is overwhelmingly beautiful. This is a collection of some of my personal photographs I have taken in those close encounters of special moments.
Total Eclipse of the Sun Photographed from my backyard, August 21, 2017. What an awesome experience!
Total Eclipse of the Lemon Photographed in my parking lot.
