On June 7th, while the HOW Conference resource center was filling with a crowd of hungry designers, we drew a name for the first incentive period of the Finch is in the House campaign. The winner was Gregory Linton of the St. Louis Zoo. He submitted a piece called The Living Promise, which was printed on Finch Fine, Ultra Smooth, Bright White, 100 lb. Text.

Congratulations to Gregory! And good luck to all of you entering the second incentive of the Finch is in the House campaign—a creative retreat in the magnificent Adirondack Park in upstate New York. Click here for more details! Read more here for Gregory Linton’s Designer Commentary.

Is designing within an organization very different from, say, working as a freelancer or a part of an agency?

Though I have done plenty of freelance work, my full-time job has always been in in-house design with companies or organizations (currently the Saint Louis Zoo), so I might not be the best to speak about the differences vs. agency work.

I know a lot of in-house designers complain about not getting respect from their companies’ clients. I felt a little of that at previous jobs, but it is not as prevalent at the Saint Louis Zoo. So I am going to guess that the biggest difference is control. My job is not only to design but also create and protect the brand standards. Because it is so important to me to protect those brand initiatives, I don’t bend, and sometimes it puts me in a bind when it comes to being creative. I imagine art directors at agencies can always blame the client for decisions, whereas here it lies on my shoulders.

Are there unique challenges to designing campaign pieces?

The biggest challenge is finding creative ways to push the brand standards without violating them. Each campaign has to be unique and develop of life of its own yet still clearly look like it is from the Saint Louis Zoo.  For this particular piece, we created a specific pattern and went with the photo coloration, while most of other Zoo stuff relies on flat color and glorious full-color photos of the animals.

How did you determine the color scheme?

The Zoo grounds are divided into six color-coded zones, and each zone has a main color, a highlight and a dark accent pantone, so I have 18 colors and all of the shades to work with.  For this campaign I started out with the dark blues, purples and greens because most of the updates in the brochure where in those zones.  The gold was added later as a complement out of necessity.

What made you decide to use uncoated paper versus coated?

I wanted a paper that would enhance the elegance and the sophistication of the colorized photos and feel good to touch.  Too many things are printed on glossy paper, and I always jump at the chance to put something on uncoated paper.

Why Finch?

My printer and I sat down and felt different types of paper.  Finch was the best for the price, and everything seemed to look beautiful on it.

Do you have a design pet peeve?

I have some inane pet peeves; the big stuff doesn’t bother me too much. I hate when people use the word “signage” when all they want is a sign.  I hate when people use the word “verbiage” as a generic word for “copy.” I don’t think they realize what “verbiage” really means. I also hate it when people use design measurements.  Don’t say, “Make that two points smaller” — just tell me you think it’s too big, and I’ll decide how much smaller to make it.

A favorite site for inspiration?

Currently I am looking at Drawn.ca and Vectips but most of my inspiration actually comes from the covers of my CD collection.

Anything else?

I just want to say thanks to Finch for the MacBook Pro. This is unbelievable.

Finch: It truly was our pleasure!