One of Our Fav Graphic Designers Featured in Atlanta Magazine!

The Brand Man: Meet Atlanta restaurateurs’ best-kept secret

 

1016_alvin02_oneuseonly-768x846 Pic. Credit CAROLINE C. KILGORE

Mr. Alvin Diec (34) co-owner of Office of Brothers is one of our favorite designers! He and his six person team create some of the most graphically inspired branding for his impressive list of restaurants & restaurant groups that are located primarily in the Atlanta area.

He's a true believer in the power and efficacy of match advertising and makes a point to include an advertising match design in every one of his restaurant or non restaurant corporate branding presentation! The compelling match designs that he and his team create (and that we produce) become instant collectibles! Restaurants and businesses use their matches as a brand extension and as a "Functional Business Card".

Here are some pics of  match books and match boxes that we've produced for Alvin's restaurant clients.

Bar Margot BXQ3 USA Made Match Box
Bar Margot BXQ3 USA Made Match Box
State Of Grace Match Box Made in the USA
State Of Grace Match Box Made in the USA
Cooks & Soldiers Match Book
Cooks & Soldiers Match Book
En Fuego Match Box Made in the USA
En Fuego Match Box Made in the USA

 

To design and order your business' own collectible matches GoTo TheMatchGroup


valetmag.com "MATCHBOOKS The Ultimate Souvenir"

matches Valet Magazine "The Ultimate Souvenir"
Matches Valet Magazine "The Ultimate Souvenir"

"MATCHBOOKS The Ultimate Souvenir" Why a Man Should Always Carry Matches. Valet Magazine Article
By CORY OHLENDORF

valetmag.com

A great article on the joy of collecting matches when traveling!
"...I've recently begun picking up matchbooks whenever I go somewhere interesting. They're the ideal memento. Easy to pack, utilitarian and free of charge. And even though they don't cost you a thing, they still possess a certain exclusive cool factor. After all, the only way you can get a matchbook is to actually step inside that hotel, bar or restaurant."

The author went on to write: "The more obscure the better too. A roadside diner in California's wine country, the London cocktail lounge tucked away in a hidden courtyard, an old school power lunch spot in Washington, DC and one of the best taco joints in all of Texas. They're each so uniquely telling, it's no wonder they've become optimal Instagram fodder" For example, Instagram pages that feature ONLY advertising matches that are artfully posted by a gentleman named Charlie @matchbookdiaries have over 15,000 avid followers!

Cory expressed the unique feelings that he experiences when he views his match collection:"...The memories of those nights and who I spent them with come flooding back as soon as I see the colorful, graphic cover on the front of the matchbook or box".

ValetMagmatchbookart2

The article closes with an astute perspective from a collector of matches (called a "Phillumenist") about the businesses that continue to distribute their logo matches despite the country's ban on smoking by "...establishments still committed to offering them, know the value of making them interesting and eye-catching. The kind of swag you want to keep around long after your visit."
We at TheMatchGroup couldn't agree more!


The New Yorker Magazine Instagram's Ephemera & Popularity Of Matchbooks!

The New Yorker Article Re. The Popularity of Instagramming Ephemera -Featuring Advertising Matches!
MARCH 24, 2015

Instagram’s Endangered Ephemera

@matchbookdiaries Instagram Page
@matchbookdiaries Instagram Page

www.instagram.com/matchbookdiaries

This terrific article references all stripes of ephemera that collectors post to Instagram and singles out the popularity of picturess of matches that are featured by users with thousand's of followers on the site.

An Instagrammer, Bill Rose (@junktype) was quoted: “Most of the objects in my feed are no bigger than a couple of inches wide. They are often so small that my phone has trouble focussing given the close range of my subject.
Confirming Bill Rose's point, another popular Instagrammer, Charles Clarke (@matchbookdiaries) [with almost 13,000 followers] who's page exclusively concentrates on pictures of matches who shoots his matchbooks against a white background was quoted: “I use the white background because it looks clean, and because you can scroll my profile page and it doesn’t look like there are any dividers between the photos. It looks like a big poster.”

All lot of graphic designers refer to Instagram as a means of being plugged into the latest trends in design and to provide inspiration.

The article's author, ALEXANDRA LANGE reached out to Ara Devejian (@LetterGetter), a creative director and by way of his background she quoted him stating: “[he] started his [Instagram account] when he moved to Los Angeles’s superlatively-signed Theatre District. Every day, I try to take a new route to work or wherever, especially going way out my way to discover new places on my bike or in the car, and in turn LetterGetter is the happy byproduct of that curiosity.” At first Devejian wanted to document typographic nightmares—the illegible, the mishandled—but, as with most Instagram accounts, things swung over to the positive. The platform’s users have such a strong preference for things that are pretty (however you define it) that it’s difficult to swim against the tide of posting “bests” rather than “worsts.” “@LetterGetter helps inform some of the typographic projects I work on,” Devejian said, “like the title card I designed for Gymkhana 7. The style of the photos is intentionally flat or sparse in order to see the letterforms as they were conceived.” He goes on to say: “People have yelled at me—thinking I’m about to steal or break something—and then afterwards, realizing that I’m only taking pictures and admiring their car or whatever, tell me their life story,” Devejian says. “I’ve become painfully accustomed to just how fleeting signage is. It’s made me wonder whether I should become some sort of advocate for preservation, in attempt to postpone their inevitable disappearance.”

To order your branded matches go to GetMatches.com  Check out TheMatchGroup's Instagram Page

Instagram


TheMatchGroup Announces Their New Website GetMatches.com

TheMatchGroup's updated Lit Match Logo
TheMatchGroup's updated Lit Match Logo

 

Please take the time to visit www.GetMatches.com and check out our interactive tools to upload your logo and create your own match book and match box art layout designs!

TheMatchGroup was founded to provide the most efficient & responsive customer service, while offering the LOWEST Factory-Direct Prices and the Quickest Delivery Time in the industry. We produce the highest quality matches and promotional tabletop paper products at low factory direct costs. We offer the fastest order turnaround on the most popular domestically produced match books and boxes – from “proof to product” in a blazing 15 days!

With over 30 years in the industry, company founder Joe Danon's passion and devotion to the historic importance, whimsy and efficacy of match advertising is unrivaled. His devoted and loyal clientele have long benefited from his “Love of Light,” graphic design expertise and unparalleled product knowledge.

 


Square Tube BX6 Matchbox

Joe Danon Quoted re. The Resurgence in The Popularity of Advertising Matches in BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL 10-27-2000

TMG_Logo

Joe Danon Quoted in The Baltimore Business Journal
10-27-2000

REKINDLING THE FLAME

"With the rise of the Internet, people have come to expect instant service, yet the match industry is still a smokestack industry," said Joe Danon...."The production mechanisms all date back to World War II or before -- there are no new match factories coming on line -- and so the production side has not risen to the level that the current marketplace expects."

The situation can be remedied. Danon rushes through first orders for new clients, and then gets clients on automatic reorder schedules so that no one ever runs out. He also spends a lot of time making nice to clients who can't understand why it takes less than a day to get business cards printed, and more than two months to get matchbooks.

NO SMOKING
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As for the presumed bigger problem, the stop-smoking craze, Danon said it hardly comes up any more.
"As an advertising vehicle, restaurant owners have learned that toothpicks don't cut it. Business cards don't cut it. They just don't have the same perceived value," he said. "You can pay a dollar for a business card and still get better value from a 5-cent matchbook because it is in essence a functional business card. It is something people can use."

salmaHayek

Pic Credit: Salma Hayek Times Magazine

To order your business' own branded #matchbooks or #matchboxes GoTo: TheMatchGroup or CALL 800.605.7331 to speak with one of our Match Mavens TODAY!