I was initially asked by Bill Porter, Vice President of Fund Development and Paul Crellin, Senior Manager of Fund Development Systems, to design a brochure for a new fundraising campaign. After meeting with them,  I quickly surmised that this program would require more than a simple brochure.

The Honor Walkway runs alongside the new Cone Health Cancer Center.

During our first meeting, they laid out the parameters of this program. The idea was to adorn a walkway, which was being constructed alongside the new Cone Health Cancer Center, with metal plaques. These plaques would offer people an opportunity to honor those affected by cancer — whether they be cancer victims, survivors, family members, friends or caregivers. Proceeds from the sale of these plaques would go to help cancer victims with related expenses.

The folks in the Fund Development office were simply looking for a brochure to promote this program. They wanted a brochure which contained an order form on which participants could write almost anything, with the only limitation being character count. This solution posed a few problems, least of which was size.

In order to create an order form that could accept in excess of 700 characters, would have been daunting. Not only would it need to include room for the patron’s text, but I would need to collect information about the patron themselves. This seemed way to unwieldy for most people to use. It also posed logistical issues: The hospital would now have to re-key every order, send it out for approval, etc. The idea of a brochure being the single best solution, was quickly challenged.