Gainesville Regional Utilities submitted its annual water quality report to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s 2010 Consumer Confidence Report Excellence Award competition and included an original informational brochure about the GRU water/wastewater division’s projects and outreach activities.

I researched, wrote, designed and produced this 19-page publication from start to finish as a companion to the awards application. With the help of my publication, GRU’s water quality report won the state award from the FDEP and progressed to the regional competition.

This informational brochure was honored with the following awards at the 2011 Image Awards from the Florida Public Relations Association Gainesville chapter:

• Judges Award (Category – Brochure): presented by judges for an outstanding entry that achieves maximum results while using a minimum amount of money
• Image Award (Category – Brochure): presented to the top-scoring entry in each category
• Grand Image Award: presented to the best Image Award-winning entry in Divisions B, C and D (Printed Tools of PR, Audio/Visual Tools of PR and Student Projects in PR)

Gainesville Regional Utilities teamed up with the Alachua County Library District beginning in June 2011 to offer library users the opportunity to borrow Kill-A-Watt EZ meters from local library branches, which calculate the amount of electricity used by individual home appliances and equipment.

I worked on the publicity campaign for this program by creating posters for display in the library branches, postcards with surveys for patrons to return after using the meters, a news release from GRU and a story for the library district’s quarterly newsletter.

Gainesville Regional Utilities participates in the annual Spring Garden Festival at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, one of the largest botanical gardens in Florida. Because GRU provides reclaimed water irrigation at the site and is one of the principal sponsors of the park’s Summer House, we take the opportunity each year to promote water and energy efficiency to visitors at the festival.

I designed three coordinating informational display boards for GRU’s booth. These posters were reproduced in high resolution on foam core at 18×24 inches.

I collaborated with the Univeristy of Florida chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America for a redesign of the chapter’s logo. While the type had to stick with the organization’s national standards, I tried to give it more UF flair.

The logo was created in Adobe Photoshop using Gator orange and blue. I also made a stock flier and letterhead that would be consistent with the new brand. This logo is more subdued and mature-looking than the original, with just a bit of movement from the background vector to make it a little more youthful.