News

Crazy New Cicada Invasion Campaign
Every 13 years, Nashville is invaded by billions of noisy, flying red-eyed critters that emerge from the ground when the temperature reaches 67 degrees for a week. The cicada grubs tunnel up from the deep, climb trees, split out of their shells, sprout wings, and then make an infernal racket for about 4-6 weeks. Their sole purpose is to sing, fly, mate, lay eggs, and then die. This year, experts say it will happen around the end of April or early May.    The last time this happened was 1998—and... Read more...
Progress on Spirit of Franklin Poster Art
We've been working on the first six posters for the Spirit of Franklin/Leipers Fork Collection, but six more are still undecided. We plan on having the a total of twelve done by summer, so don't forget to contact us on Facebook (or comment below) soon and let us know which Franklin landmarks you would like to see poster-fied!  The first six are (at least for now): Franklin Town Square Battle of Franklin Franklin Theatre  Carnton Plantation The Factory  Leipers Fork Downtown   Below are some of the thought process/development on... Read more...
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Poster Design
We just wrapped up a poster project for the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The piece was commissioned by Zehnder Communications, a Louisiana-based advertising firm. The people at Zehnder had seen our Art & Soul of America poster series and wanted us to do a hip, vaguely retro poster that would highlight 10-12 Baton Rouge landmarks/tourist attractions. This would be part of a larger PR campaign to get both tourists and business leaders to come to Baton Rouge. Here is a break-down the creative process to reveal the... Read more...
NEW Print Shop Poster Series
We’ve always been fans of Hatch Showprint, Isle of Printing, and Yee-Haw Industries—classic Tennessee letterpress print shops that consistently produce striking illustrated poster designs. Computers have really changed how designers and illustrators create. Thanks to Photoshop and desk-top design programs, it seems like most contemporary commercial art is full of drop shadows, highlights, layers, stock photos, and lettering that was just typed—not really typeset or styled. What we wouldn’t give to get our hands dirty every now and then and create something from start to finish that was never touched... Read more...
French Paper. American Design.
We designers tend to geek out about stuff like illustrated posters and postcards—(especially when they are printed on cool paper!) So when the coolest paper company on the planet asked us to partner with them to create a new promotional calendar, it was like being handed an authentic Boba Fett costume and being asked to make a personal appearance at a Star Wars Convention.  We have long since been fans of the French Paper Company’s amazing products—made famous by their promotional materials designed by Charles S. Anderson (no relation to... Read more...
Gettin' Saucy
When local BBQ legends Andy and Katie Garner asked us to help them create a brand for their famous BBQ sauces, we said YES without even having to think about it. That’s because we LOVE their smoked ribs, pulled pork, brisket, turkey & chicken. But the secret to Hog Heaven’s success has always been in their sauces. You can get them in a little plastic tub with your meal, but until now, the sauces have not been available in a bottle.  We started by batting around names for the brand... Read more...
Will Work for Food
Design can change the world... especially when your world is awesome BBQ and smoked ribs! Our design firm just happens to be down the street from one of Nashville’s favorite BBQ joints—Hog Heaven. When the wind is blowing just right, the heavenly aroma lures us down the sidewalk to the little rib shack run by our pals Katy and Andy Garner. They sure do know BBQ, ribs and sauces... but they admittedly don’t know how to create a brand for their amazing food. Since we love eating BBQ and we... Read more...
Olive & Sinclair Packaging featured on The Dieline
The Dieline, known as the #1 packaging design web site, featured our work for Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Company.We are truly honored to be recognized by such a prestigious collective. Some of the blog's comments include:  "It's the antithesis of Method, Pepsi, et al. A brand with character always outshines a brand without;" and "These are so beautiful I'd frame them." Thanks to the folks at The Dieline! Read more...
NEW Spirit of Nashville Flood Relief Posters
ADG teamed up with McQuiddy Classic Printing and Athens Paper to produce 2 limited edition prints that celebrate Nashville’s incredible strength, generosity and sense of community during the recent devastating floods and recovery efforts. Spirit of Nashville will sell the prints online to raise money for flood relief. 100% of the profits will go directly to Samaritan’s Purse and the Red Cross. The prints will be available on Monday, May 17, 2010, but you can pre-order them now.   We will produce a limited edition of 500 prints of each... Read more...
Nashville Under Water...
Anderson Design Group and Spirit of Nashville were very blessed to have not been affected by the terrible floods that did so much damage to Music City last weekend. For that we are very grateful. Thanks to all of our out of town clients and friends who have asked how we are doing. We know many people who were not as fortunate—we will be lending a had to help folks clean up the mess this weekend. And over the next few months, we want to help flood victims in two... Read more...
Olive & Sinclair -- Good as GOLD!
Anderson Design Group was honored to take home a GOLD Award for the packaging category of the AIGA Tenn Show Awards on Friday, April 30th. Tenn Show, the state’s most prestigious juried design competition, was open to professionals and students throughout Tennessee involved in designing visual and creative communications in print, motion graphics, packaging and seven other categories. Mayor of Nashville, Karl Dean, gave a presentation during the event about art and community advocacy. Over 200 AIGA members and non-members participated and their work was judged by a panel of... Read more...
Our Retail Store
What does a design firm do when the sluggish economy forces clients to cut back and spend less? We crank up a studio store and create cool stuff to sell to the general public! One nice thing about downsizing is getting more free space to do creative things (like turning your conference area into a retail boutique!) Since we have extra space in our building, and we have created a plethora of cool prints & gifts, retail seemed like an easy way to “make lemonade out of economic lemons.” Retail... Read more...
Inspired By Matchbook Cover Designs
One of our clients makes very cool vintage-looking wood and metal signs. Meissenburg Designs, located in Montana, asked us to help them create a new line of fun little prints that would be bought by owners of vacation homes. The new line, called the Matchbook Series made its debut in their 2010 catalog, and they are selling quite well!  This art is inspired by the old matchbook covers you might find in antique stores. We also found a wealth of inspiration looking through the classified ads section of 1940s magazines... Read more...
New Spirit of Nashville Poster Designs
We just finished the latest additions to the Spirit of Nashville Collection: a new print for WPLN Radio and another for Saint Cecilia Academy. We were happy to create art that will help these two important Nashville icons celebrate milestones of achievement—WPLN’s service to Nashville for over 40 years, and Saint Cecilia Academy’s 150th Anniversary. Both prints were designed by Joel Anderson. The Saint Cecelia print was based on an original painting Joel created specifically for this occasion. The original painting will hang in the school’s lobby.    People ask... Read more...
Wired Magazine on iPad
Wired Magazine on iPad
Movie Man...the world is turning more and more like the movie"The Demolition Man". Sea shells anyone? Read more...
It's Wedding Season at ADG
It's Wedding Season at ADG
Edward is marrying Morgan at the end of March. His invitations, printed on Curious Metallic Ice Gold paper, have a ribbon and inside pocket. The invitation's elegant pattern was the... Read more...
Art & Soul of America Collection
Art & Soul of America Collection
ADG set out to celebrate the history and charm of America’s favorite destinations in a series of classic travel posters after Creative Director Joel Anderson got fed up with the... Read more...
ADG Intern Rocks out at the Student ADDYs
ADG Intern Rocks out at the Student ADDYs
Our Spring intern, Ligia Teodosiu, won 1 Silver, 4 Golds, the Judge's Choice Award, and Best of Show at the Student Addy's. She is currently a Junior at Watkins College... Read more...
Joel Wins Addy for Art Director of the Year
Joel Wins Addy for Art Director of the Year
It's true: Joel left the Addy Awards with Best of Show and Art Director of the Year for his work on the Olive and Sinclair Chocolate campaign. See our last... Read more...
ADG Wins 3 Gold ADDYs and BEST OF SHOW!
ADG Wins 3 Gold ADDYs and BEST OF SHOW!
On Saturday, February 20th, Anderson Design Group won the top honors at the Nashville Advertising Association’s ADDY Awards for the Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Company’s logo, packaging, and promotional posters.... Read more...