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Communication by Design
Our name was inspired by a legacy of strategic thinkers who’s resourceful, can-do attitudes resonate with ours today. FRED is a business communications company with a design practice that looks for the simple and authentic way to encourage growth and lasting engagement between your brand and its community.
Our Team
Frederick H. Belden III Creative Director Derick’s experience has taken him from being an Atlanta home designer to an executive editor for Southern Living… Read More. Along the way, he’s worked with a diverse set of companies, from Hardie Building Materials to Walt Disney and with nonprofits both on and off the clock.
At Southern Living, he was one of the few to cross over marketing and advertising to editorial. His eye for design helped lead the company to launch successful retail brands such as Southern Living Plants. Plus, his technical expertise helped shape home and garden trends. Good communication, he says, is more than frequency. It’s about relating through our emotions and senses with well-thought-out strategy and design. Done right, you encourage people to act.
Michael Vizzina Design Director Michael is a Birmingham native who spent years building experience in the San Francisco and Atlanta design communities before returning home. His past brand experience includes… Read More Coca-Cola, Bank of America, UPS, Adobe, ING Group, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Smithfield Foods, Bayer Environmental Science, Little Debbie, GSK, Char-Broil, Alabama Tourism and Brasfield & Gorrie. His 25-year practice includes a broad range of graphic mediums: Brand Identity, Typographic Systems, Interaction Design/UI, Content and Navigational Systems, Iconography, Motion Graphics and Print. He is also hands-on in the creation of HTML, CSS, Javascript and WordPress environments.
Blayne Ward Art Director Originally from New Orleans, Blayne once worked for the legendary Manny Randazzo’s King Cake Bakery… Read More. She still serves up delight each day as Art Director in charge of all Sloss Real Estate brands such as Pepper Place — one of Birmingham’s most celebrated destinations. Blayne’s design specialties include typographic and color systems, brand collateral, publication design and packaging. Plus, she’s a highly talented illustrator with an affinity for the Pop aesthetic. Blayne’s past brand experience includes Southern Prohibition Brewing, Warner Brothers Records, Gawker Media, Dixie Beer, Tulane University, The National Harp Society, The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and The Voodoo Music + Arts Experience.
Our Practice
What your company does, sells or should mean to its customers are all important questions for our conversation, but they’re not the best place to start. FRED wants to fully comprehend your Why because in it lives your authenticity. It’s a simple process. Each engagement we design must hark back to Why.
Our Clients
Alabama Power – External communications involving naming, brand identity, web design, and collateral for LakeTown, Smart Neighborhood, Powell Steam Plant and more. Internal communications for Alabama Power Health & Wellness programs.
Sloss Real Estate – Rebranding, web design, collateral and editorial content for Pepper Place, Pepper Place Farmers Market, Lakeview District and Sloss Real Estate corporate.
Daniel Communities – Naming, brand identity, web design and collateral for Kennebec and Talisi Cove on Lake Martin plus Daniel Communities corporate.
Third & Urban – Naming, brand identity, web design and collateral for Denham Bldg.
REV Birmingham – Brand identity and web design for Parkside District.
Innovate Birmingham – Naming and brand identity for Innovation District.
Broad Metro Commercial Real Estate – Advertising and PR for Stadium Trace Village community launch initiative.
Ironline Advisors – Naming, brand identity, web design, email marketing and editorial content.
Birmingham Landmarks – PR and collateral for renovation funding campaign for the Lyric Theatre plus grand opening poster series design. Naming, brand idenity and collateral for Alabama Theatre and Lyric Theatre endowment campaign.
Mike Slive Foundation – Brand identity, web design and collateral.
Southern Company – Environmental design and brand identity.
Southern Sky Aviation – Rebrand identity, collateral, advertising and web design.
Colonnade Group – Web design and environmental design for NCAA, SEC, BIG TEN, BIG 12, Final Four, and College Football Playoff fanfare events.
Consolidated Pipe – Rebrand identity, web design, collateral and editorial content.
LMS Investment Management – web design, collateral, brand identity and editorial content.