August at Designsensory: A Summer Full of Stories

Since our last update, we’ve signed on new partners and started many new projects with existing ones. We’ve welcomed new team members and celebrated some big wins for the accounts we’ve worked tirelessly on. From record-breaking attractions and grand opening events to contests and conferences, we’ve really had an exciting and busy few months — guess that’s why we’ve been so quiet! It’s time we caught everyone up on all things DS. 

Summer Stories and Road Trips

It has been quite the travel season for us here at DS, and we’re really just scratching the surface. We’re wrapping up another year of work with TNECD’s Marketing Assistance Program, creating anthem videos and still photography to support economic development efforts in counties across Tennessee. From the Volunteer State to the Palmetto State, a team of our creatives traveled across South Carolina to gather assets for the South Carolina Innovation Hub — or SCribble, as we’ve branded them. With a new video and podcast series, we’re partnering with the S.C. Department of Commerce to intensify the rallying cry of innovators across the state. 

Our Head of Production, Taylor Walters, recently connected with other content creators and storytellers at Realscreen West and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show. Speaking of telling stories — our Emmy award-winning television show, Tennessee Valley Uncharted is now available on Amazon Prime. The fifth season is currently airing. Have you been tuning in? 

Some more cool news… You’re going to see a lot more of us in Adweek. Congratulations to Josh Loebner, our Director of Strategy, in his new role as a contributor!

AM to the PM, PM to the AM  

With a significantly expanded Account Management team and more help in our Marketing and Design departments, you’ll see several new faces here at Designsensory. Jenn Eastman and Madelyn Cunningham have joined our talented team of project managers, and Brea Pate will take on the role of both project manager and account manager for a number of accounts. 

Barry Hilton bolsters the firepower of our tech team. Sierra Plese joins as our newest full-time designer and Mariah Reid, a senior at UT, will assist our PR and Social Media team through the rest of the year. Please, if you haven’t already, reach out and welcome them all to the team. Read a little bit more about them below:   

• Jenn is a lifelong Doctor Who fan (don’t make her pick between Baker and Tennant), and she comes to us with more than 20 years of creative experience. Her print and design expertise is a huge asset to the DS team—it’s already paying off. 

• Brea comes to us with a degree in marketing from the University of Tennessee and experience working with several local television and radio stations, as well as the national online radio station iHeart Radio. She (and her sassy pre-K daughter, Sloane) is already a perfect fit for the DS team. 

• Barry joins the Designsensory team as a new front-end and back-end technical developer with agency experience (and a glorious beard). 

• Madelyn’s background is as diverse as her wardrobe and the 30+ houseplants that she cares for. She has a degree in Biology and Psychology, worked in marketing solutions for a technology group in Italy and even has her own business in the Old City — Kindred Bridal. We’re beyond thankful for her entrepreneurial knowledge and passion for building brand here at Designsensory.

• Sierra has been around the DS office for a while (as both an intern and freelancer) but we’ve officially locked her down as a full-time graphic designer. She recently graduated from the University of Tennessee and, while in school, she developed strengths in typography, text layout and all-around print work. We’re thrilled to have her on for good!

• Extending her summer stay, Mariah will continue to assist our PR and Social Media team with day-to-day social media management and monthly content planning and reporting through December as she completes her Public Relations degree at UT. 

Hello, New Friends and New Projects 

One of our newer partners, Gatlinburg SkyLift Park, has allowed us to flex our PR and event planning muscles. The major East Tennessee attraction came to us for design, media, public relations and event planning help for the grand opening of their new SkyBridge — the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America. Check out some of the photos from our big grand opening celebration here.  

Speaking of Sevier County attractions, we’re thrilled to share our website work for The Island in Pigeon Forge. With a complete overhaul of the site, we refreshed everything from their ride and attraction ticket pages to the space for dining options and other fun experiences. The entire platform was enhanced with our own original photo and video assets. Give it a look, you might see some familiar faces. 

Thirsty? We’ve had a blast assisting two new taprooms with their upcoming openings. Gypsy Circus Cider Company came to us with PR needs for the opening of their Knoxville location, and we’ve been prepping for the first pour at Albright Grove Brewing Company for a while. We’ve created a brand and landing page, photographed the building process, maintained a monthly social calendar as the company builds a following and much more. Be sure to stop by and support these awesome businesses when they open. 

We’ve spent a lot of quality time with our friends in Greenwood, South Carolina this summer. We helped rename the Greenwood Regional Tourism and Visitors Bureau to Discover Greenwood and created a new visual identity and tagline for the destination. We launched a summer contest to encourage locals to share their favorite Greenwood stories, and we’re currently in the middle of another contest— giving away three themed experiences to people outside of the city. Read more about our “Stories of Greenwood” giveaway here. 

The Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association (TECA) is the umbrella professional organization for cooperatives across the state. Interested in learning more from its members before making a creative change, TECA came to us for qualitative and quantitative research. We were happy to help. 

We’re in the middle of one of our largest UX research and planning projects that we’ve done to date with the Tennessee Lottery website. We’re moving forward with user task testing, heat mapping, heuristic tear downs and both technical and accessibility audits. Stay tuned! 

Finally, we’ve also sparked up an old partnership with Knoxville Oak Ridge Innovation Valley in the last few months. We designed and developed their website years ago, and while effective when it first launched, we’ve implemented a version with an updated web design and focus on usability.

We look forward to sharing another round of DS updates. Promise it won’t take so long next time!