Rotolo Media Announces New Church Website Program

Rotolo Media is pleased to announce a new addition to the core services we offer. As many of you know, Michael Rotolo the President and Chief Creative of Rotolo Media is an avid Christian, and as such is thrilled to announce our new Church Website program.

This program will allow churches of all sizes and budgets to equip themselves with a world-class website at an extremely reasonable price point. Entry is low with packages beginning at $249 for the minimum 3 page website. A particularly exciting part of the more robust implementations is an integrated Content Management System allowing the client to make most changes, additions, and updates to their website themselves.

This freedom allows the client greater control over their website in terms of immediate access and ability to make these changes as well as the cost savings to them by avoiding the need to have Rotolo Media make such regular and frequent content changes.

Naturally, Rotolo Media will always be available to make larger updates to the websites such as adding significant new features, major format changes, integrations with third-party services or websites, etc.

We look forward to seeing God glorified by the ability to create an exciting public face to your church or ministry that will create additional interest in your organization and draw new people to either visit or support you.

Rotolo Media Performs Direct Mail Campaign for Arthur Murray Dance Studios

Jennifer and Victor Holguin are good friends with Michael Rotolo and owners of the Arthur Murray Dance Studios franchise of Southampton, New York, playground to the rich and famous.
The Holguins approached Michael to conduct a direct mail campaign to take advantage of the upsurge in interest in dance after the appearance of television shows Dancing With Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, and movies like Strictly Ballroom.

We decided to go with a larger than standard postcard that would stand out among the mail better. We saved money by using stock photography that is supplied to the franchise by Arthur Murray Inc. corporate as part of the franchise package. By making the card itself a coupon for 2 free private dance lessons we monetized the piece with value beyond just an info piece of “junk mail” and gave people a reason to hold on to it. Rotolo Media also oversaw the mailing by contracting one of our affiliate mailing houses to label and mail each piece and comply the mailing as CASS sorted and certified to further save both postage costs and time through the mail system.

If you’re in the Southampton vicinity Jennifer and Victor would welcome you to stop by the studio and see what fun you can have through Arthur Murray Dance lessons. Contact them through ArthurMurray.com.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Trikuti Hires Rotolo Media for Their Band Media Kit

When Trikuti, an enormously popular band with twenty-something Long Islanders, decided it was time to get serious about marketing themselves they asked Michael Rotolo for advice. One of the most important things he decided the band needed was the kind of media kit that they could proudly circulate to promote themselves. Bands that are seeking representation, air-play, and of course a deal with a major label, need to present themselves in a professional manner.

Trikuti band leader and lead singer, Scott Seader, understood this and put his trust in Rotolo Media. Although its all about the music when it comes down to it, if your not taken seriously and your demo never gets a listen, then what’s the point. Scott appreciated the need to put together a media kit that would distinguish the band from the myriad other home-baked discs that come across the desks of radio-station DJs, and record-label execs everyday. Its important for bands to understand that while they may be consummate musical artists they should seek the talents of a graphic artist to package their work and create attractive collateral printed materials to help the band gain notoriety.

Michael Rotolo had a ball in the studio with the band encouraging the guys, who had never done a photo-shoot before, to loosen up and get a bit zany. We cranked up the music and just had the guys get as kinetic as possible while Michael shot upwards of 200 frames. It was a fun afternoon and yielded a lot of great moments on “film” that the band will use for printed pieces, swag and their web photo gallery. We settled on creating a 4/1 glossy piece that shows the band in color on the front and then a description of the band and members on the reverse in black and white.

The piece is inserted unfolded into black folders with slits for holding the cd featuring four of their best songs to present to record labels and radio stations. When mailing to newspapers, fans, etc. the piece can be folded down in half with the cd in a glassine sleeve. For Trikuti this project was a necessary investment in their future, for not much more than a good amp, Scott made the decision to have Rotolo Media handle an important part of crafting their visual image. Now that we have some nice pieces under our belt and some good photos, the creation of additional printed materials such as posters, postcards, t-shirts, and other swag will be easy and the expense will be minimal.

To save the band some expense we decided it was best to supply them with print-ready PDF files that they could take to any Kinkos and print these pieces as they needed. The cd art was furnished as a 2-up template corresponding to an Avery cd label.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Kristen Boyce Swags It With Rotolo Media

Its no secret that Michael Rotolo loves live music. So when one of his favorite local New York City country and soul music stars Kristen Boyce needed a t-shirt design he was all over it. Kristen’s known for singing her heart out and getting her fans to also so it was only natural to come out with the design you see here. Support this local fast-rising star and purchase her album From Detroit to Nashville here at CDBaby.com.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Brigitte Designs Produces Direct Mail Piece With The Help of Rotolo Media

Dave Stetson and his wife Brigitte, owners of Brigitte Designs, wanted to reach jewelers with the news of their newly imported line of sapphire jewelry. Brigitte Stetson designs and manufactures overseas this gorgeous line called the Rainbow collection. This collection is comprised of pieces made entirely of naturally occurring colored sapphires. The sapphires are meticulously chosen and placed to create a gradual rainbow gradation across the length of the bracelets and the solitaires are explosive with colorful radiance.

Dave and Brigitte asked Rotolo Media to design a mailer showcasing in a very spartan manner this beautiful collection. They wanted an utterly clean design with nothing to distract from the pieces themselves. We decided to produce the piece as an oversized postcard of 5.5 x 8.5 inches with a high gloss aqueous coat for a nice sheen and to pop the photography. The pieces were photographed against a white background but were further silhouetted in pre-press to display crisply against the white background of the coated stock.

The Scriptina typeface was chosen for its graceful lines and carefully hand-kerned to complement the elegance of the jewelry collection. Rotolo Media was able to help Brigitte Designs save critical advertsing dollars by brokering the printing through one of our many trade-only wholesale printing sources. See these beautiful pieces at their website BrigitteDesigns.com.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Stallion Security Company Hires Rotolo Media for Logo Design

Stallion Security a new division of Patriot Security hired Rotolo Media for its logo design. Michael Rotolo had previously done work for Alex Bartoli, a principal in Patriot Security, so when Patriot Security decided to create a new division Alex phoned Michael. Alex came with a strong visual image for what his company wanted embodied in their new logo. To quote him “We want a civil-war cavalry soldier standing up in his stirrups as his horse is rearing up. We also want him to be carrying the American flag and we want to somehow have this superimposed over a flag.” The only aspects of Alex’s described vision that needed to be modified were the instances of the flag in what he wanted Rotolo Media to design for him. We couldn't design the flag as it was during the civil war with all the stars on the blue field, they just couldn't be digitized so that an arm patch could be sewn out properly— they would be too small. So we stylized the flags, giving the one in the soldier’s hand a single star and matching its position closely to where one would occur in the background flag. We also had to specify a slightly brighter blue thread so that the blue field of the soldier’s flag would not get lost against the blue of the background flag. Alex and his partners at Patriot Security were elated with the results.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Image Culture Asks Rotolo Media for Logo Redesign

Keith Roberto of Image Culture, a website enabling photographers to create online portfolios, asked Michael Rotolo of Rotolo Media for a redesign of their existing logo. Keith was looking for something “slicker” as he put it— a look more in keeping with the Web 2.0 aesthetic springing up all around us. Rotolo Media created a combination logo/wordmark for image culture that allows for some nice latitude in how it’s used. The “ic” logo can stand on its own and will no doubt come to be recognized as synonymous with the image culture website and the various online services it offers.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Rotolo Media Creates Posters and Postcards for The Drakes

Rotolo Media has created swag for the popular Long Island band The Drakes. The Drakes’ music was featured in the hit movie “School of Rock” starring Jack Black. The poster was created so that The Drakes could personalize it for each upcoming gig by handwriting (neatly I hope) the gig date, time and venue. This is a common suggestion on our part for bands with limited budgets for promotion so they get the most mileage out of each printed piece. The postcard was likewise not date specific and was left blank on the back so they could also be personalized and mailed out to their list of fans or left on counters in local record shops and bars. The postcard advertises their hit CD.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Rotolo Media Developes Brigitte Designs Website

When Dave and Brigitte Stetson, owners of Brigitte Designs, an upscale line of colorful sapphire jewelry, wanted a web presence they hired Michael Rotolo. Clean and simple was the order of the day for Brigitte Designs, so that the exquisite jewelry could have center stage. More a brochure-wear project than an ecommerce site the Brigitte website’s goal was to provide a venue for a display of their gorgeous color graduated natural sapphire pieces and stunning brilliant solitaire designs. The users can click on any piece for a larger-than-life photo from which all the fine details of any Brigitte Designs piece can be seen. Because these offerings, though reasonable for what they, are pricier than your typical commodity sapphire pieces, the Stetsons chose to generate interest through the stunning photography and chose rather than display the pricing on the website, to encourage would-be buyers to call them to discuss their line personally. Having seen these beautiful pieces personally Michael Rotolo would also encourage anyone looking for a truly unique and gorgeous piece of jewelry to contact Brigitte Designs. View this website at BrigitteDesigns.com.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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2nd Generation Landscaping Chooses Rotolo Media

When Jimmy from 2nd Generation Landscaping approached Rotolo Media he wanted to try something new. For a local Long Island landscaper the standard Pennysaver ads and Yellow Pages were not generating the new customers he was seeking. We sat with Jimmy and determined that there was a wealth of untapped potential right under his nose in the homes all around his current clientele. We designed and manufactured a colorful and attractive door-hanger illustrating the range of landscaping and hardscaping services offered by his firm. Now as a standard marketing practice Jimmy periodically has a 2nd Generation Landscaping crew member simply place a door-hanger on every home within several doors of each existing account which is not currently a customer. As an added kicker a neatly custom handwritten post-it is added which reads to the effect "We just installed a new walkway for your neighbor at 28 Elm Street. Ask them how they liked working with us." These notes add a personal touch, show that he is proud of his work and is not afraid to have a prospective new customer ask someone he's just completed work for how they enjoyed the experience of 2nd Generation Landscaping's meticulous attention to detail. Rotolo Media also suggested using about a third of the print-run to double as rackcards by simply trimming the diecut door-hanger hole off. Jimmy was able to persuade some commercial retail clients to prominently display the rackcards in high traffic areas. To further conserve his limited advertising budget Jimmy chose not to purchase exclusive rights to this design so Rotolo Media retained the right to repurpose this art for any other landscaping firm which might seek a similiar product and Rotolo Media sourced the printing through one of its many trade-only wholesale printers. Another win-win project for Rotolo Media and our happy new customer 2nd Generation Landscaping.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Synergy Ministries Commissions New Logo and Corporate ID System from Rotolo Media

Synergy is a Christian Counseling and Educational ministry specializing in facilitating and improving the dynamics of social communities which are engaged in goal-oriented activities. To put it simply the goal of Synergy’s work and education is to see groups relating and working together at their maximum potential. Synergy, came to Rotolo Media for a new logo and corporate ID system which would communicate their ideals.

The idea of incorporating hands into the logo was discussed as one goal in the design of Synergy's ID. We were pleased to be able to deliver on Synergy's desire. By using stylized iconic hands in such a way as to communicate the coming together of individuals in partnership we created both a logo as well as the "S" of Synergy in their wordmark; a kind of logo within a logo. The Synergy hands logo will be used on its own as in the examples below of the watermark effect in the banner and business card and will with proper branding efforts no doubt come to be recognized apart from the wordmark.

Look for a website and other newmedia projects to follow as Synergy has expressed their strong desire to commission further design work from Rotolo Media.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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Quasi Enterprises Seeks Rotolo Media For Sell Sheets

When Quasi Enterprises, the manufacturer of “The Quasi”, a stackable and wall-mountable storage tower for cds, dvds, and data discs, needed marketing materials they came to Rotolo Media. Quasi Enterprises manufactures quality high-fashion media storage solutions for the college-age and twenty-something computer geek with everything. The ever-popular “The Quasi” is the mainstay of their business because of its mounting versatility, quality build and generous range of fashion colors. With the ever-growing craze in “modding” and “pimping” computer desktop cases with neon accessories, The Quasi brand media storage towers, available in a host of metallic color finishes, looks great on any modders desktop. Quasi Enterprises wanted a simple, clean sell sheet that illustrated their product and showed the range of colors available. This sell sheet will be used by Quasi Enterprises and its distributors to sell the Quasi line. Laser-safe inks were prescribed by Rotolo Media so that the back of the sell sheet could be printed as needed with up-to-the-minute pricing, promotional terms, and other vital information. The ability to run these glossy offset-printed pieces through the office printer as needed insures that Quasi Enterprises will save money by avoiding expensive trips to the dumpster disposing of obsolete sales flyers due to out-dated information. Rotolo Media was pleased to provide on-site art-direction during the product photography shoot as well as the ad slick design.

Rotolo Media Offers Full Service Discount Printing Services

Michael Rotolo has been working directly with printers for over 16 years. Over the course of countless projects in which printing services were required he has developed many wholesale relationships with some of the very best printers in the country. These trade-only relationships enable Rotolo Media to contract print services at a significant discount over any of the several popular “Printing-For-Less” type websites. Let Rotolo Media pass those savings on to you. Be sure to ask Rotolo Media for a quote on your next print project. Let Rotolo Media help develop a program for supplying your frequently produced advertising pieces, company forms, business cards, etc. so you can turn your savings into cash available to other aspects of your company budget. Be sure to ask Michael Rotolo about new print-on-demand technologies and strategies that help companies avoid the obsolescence of their printed materials that leads to needless and expensive waste. Rotolo Media can explain how print-on-demand implementations among many benefits also help to streamline operational overhead, improve cash-flow, and decrease warehouse/storage requirements. Choose Rotolo Media to save your hard-earned marketing dollars whenever you need design or printing services.

Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media

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