Portfolio: Design, Content, Marketing Lube Tech Showdowns • TPMS Opportunities • TechSpec: 2012 Nissan Versa • Hiring Good Employees www.noln.net Our 25th Year of Serving the Fast Oil Change Industry Follow us on: 1986-20 11 N a 25 Best Looking Lube t i Years s on w al Ne Is a Trip Back in Time Oil & Lube • 18 The DOCTOR Is In! Distributor09/09 Guide 2011 Max Protect your engine • 34 The ABCs of VIntervals. | HoMonyM Huddle ehicleAgain. Our 23rd Year of Serving the Fast Oil Change Industry • 52 A Driver's Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Car ® www.noln.net Oil’s Well? #623 Permit KY Lebanon Junction, Junction, Lebanon PAID MD Ensuring the Oil Postage U.S. Presorted Standard Presorted November 2011 • Five Dollars You Pay For Isn 20 the Oil You Get TAILGATING FUN www.vehiclemd.com Make Your Car the Star of the Tailgate Party SPECIAL SECTION A/C Service: n 28 Cold As Ice Survey: What Do Lube Customers Think Really About You?n 54 n Five Dollars Go Long! June 2009 Tips to help you save Ready, Set, Hike Squelch squeaks with the at the fuel pump lubrication formation Garrett McKinnon Fall 2011 Introduction Design Mining for Profits • A Trip to the Business Mechanic • TechSpec: 2011 Ford Explorer • Winter Add-Ons As a publishing professional working with print and online media for more than 17 years, I have authored literally hundreds of feature articles, editorial www.noln.net Our 25th Year of Serving the Fast Oil Change Industry 1986-20 columns, headlines, cutlines, blog posts, social media posts, Web content, 11 and just about every other type of publishable item one could imagine. N a 25 t i Years s on w al Ne Special Issue: Oil & Lube In addition, I have designed hundreds of feature spreads, advertisements, Peer Into the logos, and other types of content. I have also directed seemingly countless Industry’s Future design and content projects, generating ideas and leading teams of talented • 28 writers and designers to finalize projects. As a longtime magazine editor, my primary mission was to harness the creative ideas and content generated by my staff and streamline those often disparate ideas into print and online publications that would appear seamless to readers, a process I liken to a Fast Lube conductor who harnesses the musical talents of dozens of musicians to Programs produce a single harmonious orchestra. Guide • 18 My career began at a small automotive trade magazine, National Oil & Lube News. As I worked my way from staff writer to assistant editor to editor, I learned much about what constitutes a successful publication. Later, I Looking Back, Looking Ahead championed the launch of a pair of complementary consumer magazines, • 56 VehicleMD and go.drive. Eventually, my career path took me to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Printing Center, where I used my January 2011 • Five Dollars design and management talents to oversee the creation of myriad publica- Representative cover design from National Oil & Lube News. Covers were typically tions, as well as a series of effective marketing promotions. a mixture of stock facility pictures and headlines that were interwoven in fun, cre- ative ways. Quite often images required a great deal of editing in Photoshop to help sharpen the photo, reduce artifacts such as power lines, create a vertical image from a horizontal one, etc. In addition to the design of this cover, I also designed Inside the pages of this portfolio, you will find representative examples of the the company logo for NOLN. (Note that all issues printed in 2011 featured a metallic types of work I created and/or managed my teams to create. It is my hope gold ink on the cover for the logo and headlines, a feature denoting the magazine’s 25th anniversary; unfortunately, the color does not accurately reproduce digitally that this digital portfolio will provide you with an understanding of the and appears faded.) professionalism, creativity and energy I bring to my work. Published quarterly like its VehicleMD brethren, go.drive. was similar in concept, but Max Protect your engine HoMonyM Huddle | sponsored by a particular company and distributed with an eye toward automotive ® dealership service facilities that used the company’s products. In addition to creat- ing the overall concept for the publication, I oversaw the collaborative logo effort, created to instill a sense of motion and speed, as well as the overall design of the publication, which focused on the use of bright colors and the relationship between VehicleMD drivers and their vehicles. A Driver's Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Car www.vehiclemd.com ... ™ TAILGATING FUN Make Your Car the Star go.Get thedrive. Most from Your Dealer Service Experience of the Tailgate Party Special Issue: Show your car Some love Stay SaFe & thIS wInter! have Fun .Driving on Slippery roads .Find your Inner Snow angel Go Long! Tips to help you save at the fuel pump Protect your rIDe Ready, Set, Hike .why all motor Squelch squeaks with the oils are not equal lubrication formation .Seven winter Fall 2011 Services a. vISIt to the Dealer Representative cover design from VehicleMD, an automotive consumer magazine new-car Features you want whose aim was to educate readers regarding the maintenance needs of their ve- .Service writers Spill the Beans hicles. Images were selected to convey a sense of communion between pleasant, happy people and their automobiles. This image was heavily modified in Photoshop, as the original photograph had the photographer’s shadow clearly outlined on the vehicle’s rear fender. In addition to designing this cover, I was also responsible for Winter 2011 the design of the magazine’s logo, tag line, and the creation of all headlines. A featurette “game” I authored and designed for VehicleMD. Representative full-page advertisement designed for National Oil & Lube News. of Signs the Times Can you identify these road signs from the part shown? Answers below. 2 3 1 4 5 7 6 8 10 12 9 11 ____ A. Men at Work ____ G. Interstate ____ B. Children Present ____ H. Railroad Crossing ____ C. Signal Light Ahead ____ I. Right Turn Ahead ____ D. Side Road Ahead ____ J. Two-Way Traffic ____ E. Wrong Way ____ K. Yield Ahead ____ F. Truck Crossing ____ L. Stop Sign Traffic; 7. F: Truck Crossing; 8. K: Yield Ahead; 9. E: Wrong Way; 10. L: Stop Sign; 11. I: Right Turn Ahead; 12. A: Men at Work at Men A: 12. Ahead; Turn Right I: 11. Sign; Stop L: 10. Way; Wrong E: 9. Ahead; Yield K: 8. Crossing; Truck F: 7. Traffic; 1. C: Signal Light Ahead; 2. H: Railroad Crossing; 3. B: Children Present; 4. G: Interstate; 5. D: Side Road Ahead; 6. J: Two-Way Two-Way J: 6. Ahead; Road Side D: 5. Interstate; G: 4. Present; Children B: 3. Crossing; Railroad H: 2. Ahead; Light Signal C: 1. ANSWERS: 26 VehicleMD Photo spread in National Oil & Lube News, plus cover (inset). In addition to designing this spread, I also created the concept for a “contest” allowing automotive service facilities to compete in a “beauty contest.” BEST LOOKING LUBE: Liquid Lube & Wash Moneta, Virginia Postmodern Art Deco. If you had only three words in which to sum the design of Liquid Lube & Wash, you might do well to use those, which do a commendable but hardly sufficient job of describing this sparkling fast oil change shop. From its sweeping curves to the bright exterior light- ing to the central “skyscraper” element, this beautiful lube facility is at once both commanding and invit- ing. Certainly it’s one of the most unique lube/wash places we’ve ever seen, and our judges were suitably impressed to vote it as this year’s Best Looking Lube. “A very retro-looking facility,” wrote one judge. “I love the glass bricks used throughout. This place really stands out at night.” “An outstanding design,” raved another. “Clean, airy look. The colors are very soothing.” “The building almost looks liquid. I love how the theme and colors tie together inside and out. The waiting room is hip and trendy, and I love the iMac and fresh flowers,” said another judge who dared to still use the term “hip.” “Reminds me of a 1950’s-era diner on Route 66,” another judge noted, one of several judges who said the facility could pass for one of the Art Deco diners that used to dot the country’s highways and byways. “This is an office building meets a fast lube. It makes you want to wear a suit and tie to get your oil changed,” opined one judge. “It’s trendy,” said one young judge. “It looks state of the art.” Other judges noted the attractive yet subtle landscap- ing, the lighted Quaker State clock atop the facility and the open, clean bay area. Truly a top- notch fast lube facility and more than deserving of this year’s Best Looking Lube honor. 26 NOVEMBER 2007 WWW.NOLN.NET 27 NOVEMBER 2007 NATIONAL OIL &WWW.NOLN.NET LUBE NEWS 27 Content go. figure. Under the Hood OBSCURE FACTS ABOUT FAMOUS CARS FROM THE BIG (AND LITTLE) SCREEN I authored and directed the design of this featurette, which won an award You know them when you see them. There are just some movies—and some movie cars—that leave such an indelible mark that from an automotive communications group, for VehicleMD. whenever you see the car while zipping through channels with your remote control late at night, you know instantly which movie it is.