TOKY CLIENTS LEAD DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS RENAISSANCE
It's proof that downtown revitalization in St. Louis is "real," Mayor Francis Slay told the Post-Dispatch.
The mayor was reacting to news that Centene Corp. will move its suburban-based headquarters to downtown St. Louis, news that was followed two days later by the headline-stealing announcement that St. Louis-based Pyramid Cos. will develop a $400 million downtown retail district called Mercantile Exchange. Together, these two projects will pour $650 million of development into downtown, and TOKY is right at the heart of it, providing brand identity, logo design, web sites, brochures and more for the high-profile development and projects within it.
Plans for the Mercantile Exchange new office space, new retail space, condos, luxury apartments and an upscale hotel. The hotel, the apartments and 74 of the condos will be housed in the former Dillard's building at Washington Avenue and Seventh, which has been named The Laurel. TOKY's involvement in The Laurel includes building brand identity, creating ads and buying media, as well as designing the logo, web site, brochures, print advertising and sales center display graphics.
Centene and Mercantile Exchange may be the tipping point for downtown development, but they're only part of a success story that's being written by dedicated developers, architects, retailers, restauranteurs and visionaries, many of whom are also TOKY clients.
Over the past five years, roughly 70 restaurants and businesses have set up shop downtown. Among them, The Arcade, which opened in June to much fanfare in downtown's historic Post Office Square. On its TOKY-designed web site, The Arcade boasts to be "the city's most impressive interior restoration" and a symbol of a St. Louis being returned to its former brilliance.
In addition to developing The Arcade's web site, TOKY is also the force behind the brand identity, photography, media buying, advertising and sales center display for the luxury condominium and loft development.
Another key residential development on the TOKY client roster is Pointe 400. Its name is a nod to its proximity to Busch Stadium; .400 is baseball's coveted mark of excellence. And nestled between the stadium and the Arch, Pointe 400 may very well represent an equally coveted location. Developed and managed by Balke Brown, one of the largest real estate firms in St. Louis, Pointe 400 launched with a hard hitting experiential advertising campaign that was hard to miss. TOKY-designed banners draped the city skyline, inviting downtown visitors to "live at the top of your game."
Among the successful new restaurants downtown is another TOKY client, Rooster. When Dave Bailey, of Bailey's Chocolate Bar fame, decided to open a European-style cafe, he turned to TOKY for brand identity, naming, logo design, menus, signage, web site. Rooster is a wildly popular breakfast and lunch destination for downtowners.
TOKY Principal and Creative Director Eric Thoelke says he's proud to play a role in the city his firm's clients are building.
"This company was founded on the express philosophy that we would work to create a better St. Louis," Eric explains. "TOKY has always been devoted to downtown, been a booster of the arts scene and charities that have made downtown gradually stronger and stronger. And I'm personally proud and as happy as a clam about what's happened. All of a sudden 10,000 people believe in what I saw 15 years ago. That's pretty cool."
According to Downtown St. Louis Partnership, downtown's population is 10,000 and it is expected to grow to 15,000 by 2010.
TOKY HELPS ART FIX RAISE $20,000
After having revamped more than 1200 homes in St. Louis City and County in just 14 years, you might say Rebuilding Together-St. Louis has home repair down to an art. And because the organization provides that service at no cost to low-income homeowners, local artists are joining forces to raise funds and awareness to keep the momentum building.
Enter ArtFix, a silent auction and evening of entertainment to benefit Rebuilding Together-St. Louis. The event, which featured silent art and gift auctions, food and live music, took place Saturday, November 10, FK Photography Studio in St. Louis, just down the street from TOKY.
The event was wildly successful, especially being a first year event. The crowd was at capacity, and it was easily Rebuilding Together's largest fundraiser ever.
The concept for the event was driven by Dawn Griffin, volunteer chairperson for Rebuilding Together and wife of TOKY Associate Creative Director Jay David.
"Through this art auction and party, we had the opportunity to play a part in helping to raise money for Rebuilding Together in a way they had never done before," Jay says. "It was an event we were really looking forward to, and we even had four designers from TOKY who contributed art for the silent auction."
TOKY also created the ArtFix identity, posters and web site. TOKY's support for Rebuilding Together-St. Louis was a natural fit.
"TOKY has always been especially interested in helping organizations that work to revitalize our city," Jay explains. "Since Dawn's volunteer involvement with Rebuilding Together began about a year ago, we've learned more about the group and their efforts in communities across the country. Rebuilding Together's efforts in St. Louis to repair homes of low-income homeowners, such as elderly and the disabled, seemed like a good fit."
TOKY-designed sales materials for The Private Residences at the Chase Park Plaza have been selected for inclusion in the Graphis International Design Annual 2007.
Landing a coveted spot among the 300 global entries accepted into the prestigious annual is a major accomplishment, not just for TOKY but for all St. Louis creatives.
"Graphis is one of those peer-review journals that represents how the world sees us, sees the client, sees the design business as being practiced in St. Louis. So if we can make people on the coasts who run Graphis look at what's going on here and think it's world-class work, and through publication say to everyone else, 'Look what's happeneing in St. Louis,' then it's good for every single designer and creative here in town," comments Eric Thoelke, Principal and Creative Director.
Everyone at TOKY played a role in the success of the Chase work. The team consisted of five print designers, three copywriters, web designers, Flash developers, programmers, web producers, two photographers, account executives, assistant account executives and a creative director.
"The few members of the team that didn't touch the project directly were digently managing all the other work in the office so that the Chase team could do the work at the highest possible level," Eric explains. "So for all that to be distilled into the awards the project has won - and the financial success the project has had for the client - is incredibly gratifying."
Graphis, The International Journal of Visual Communication, is a global organization that recognizes and promotes innovative design within the design profession. Its Graphis International Design annual is the definitive exhibition, and works selected for inclusion are regarded as the finest executions of their kind in the world.