DESCRIPTION Lakeburger Welcome Guide CLIENT Self-promotion DATE July 2009 DESIGN CREDITS Design: Jim Hargreaves Special Thanks: Joel Hill, Darren Brickel, Teresa Brown, Jim Glynn PRINT CREDITS Jim Hargreaves TYPE CREDITS Garage Gothic by Font Bureau

QUANTITY PRODUCED 1 PRODUCTION COST Garbage, a piece of string, and some toner: probably $2 – $3 PRODUCTION TIME 1 day DIMENSIONS: WIDTH × HEIGHT × DEPTH 8 in × 11 in PAGE COUNT 12 PRINT METHOD Laser (Xerox) PAPER STOCK Paper bags, burger wrappers, newspaper, junk mail NUMBER OF COLORS CMYK BINDING Hand-stitched

One of the biggest questions that plagues graphic designers is how to get the attention of a new client, someone who they really want to work with. Magazines, books and even peers tell you to approach them with something unique, something that is relevant to their industry. In theory this makes sense, in practice it's pretty hard to pull off. So, here is a perfect example, in practice, of how to do it: To introduce themselves to Larkburger, an eco-friendly and 100% natural fast food burger joint that had just moved into their Denver, CO neighborhood, advertising agency Barnhart created a guide highlighting Larkburger's competition. To drive the point home and appeal to their potential client's sensibilities, Barnhart used recycled materials from the fast food industry — fast-food bags, newspaper, sandwich wrappers, and various junk mail — and produced a one-of-a-kind mailer printed on their own laser printer and hand-stitched. The result is an engaging, tactile and on-target promotion to get on Larkburger's good side.

Designer Jim Hargreaves shares some of the perils of DIY-ing with recycled materials:

Each material presented its own challenges. The newsprint for example, was so thin that I had to back it with another sheet before running it through the laser — otherwise, it would simply jam or tear. The sandwich wrappers were also pretty unpredictable; most were treated with some kind of coating that didn't always react well to the heat of the laser, but as you can see on the cover, it resulted in some pretty cool cracking and warping. Fortunately the Tyvek was the only major clog — I was lucky to even get it yanked out of there… for a few minutes I was almost certain that I had just destroyed a $15,000 printer.

From trash comes a piece that would cost a pretty penny to reproduce. Truly the act of making something from nothing. I wish I could have done this.

What a fantastic, original idea - awesome handmade / fanzine vibe and great type choice. Did it work I wonder???

just so you know, larkburger is a sustainable burger joint, which is why this is all reclaimed materials.

the locations are built from reclaimed materials, everything from the napkins to the burger wrappings to the soda cups is 100% compostable, and the food products are naturally raised/grown. and it's all wrapped up in an ultra-modern design space and you've got yourself an amazing lunch spot.

now that i'm in San Francisco it's the one thing i miss about boulder. i haven't found a spot here where i can get wasabi-ginger aioli on my naturally raised burger.

I think this is really great, super-well targeted and original.

Did it work???

brilliant concept & execution. nicely done.

This is fantastic! Well, did it work? Did it?

Excellent style, it grabbed me. Any stats or responses from it's use?

Its good to see that you you went all out on this one. Admirable actually.

Great work, for what sounds like a great store... everything is very relevant and I love the recycled materials and how hand crafted it is. Pretty great job by the laser printer too!

I just want to know what their response was now.

Great piece, but is Larkburger really that eco-friendly? What about the beef?

http://modernevolution.com/post/318264554/larkburger-welcome-guide

I especially love the tongue in cheek in the 6th image down... Let's hope the execs at maccas don't come bearing down with cease and desist letters haha.