Champaign, Illinois, August 17, 2011 — We know. To look at our fresh faces, you wouldn't think we were a day over 10. But the calendar doesn't lie. On Monday, August 15th, Spinlight marked its 11th year as a company. And while that's the age when most are dreading the sixth grade, we're looking forward to the second chapter. And getting more excited by the minute. Because if the first few pages are any indication, it's going to be a really sweet read.
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Champaign, Illinois, March 18, 2011 — On the same day that the iPad 2 made its long-expected debut, Spinlight Studio launched TallyTots for the iPad. And one week later, it's making an impressive run skyward on the App Store charts.

"Last night around midnight, we broke into the Top 200 at 197," says Matt Hutton, partner and creative director of Spinlight Studio, based in Champaign, Illinois. "Not long after that, we were at 186 and the numbers just kept climbing!"
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Champaign, Illinois, March 11, 2011 — Officially, the company's motto is "Design everything." But unofficially, the creative team at Spinlight Studio seems to live by another motto — pigeon holes are for pigeons. From product development to retail sales, the innovative design firm has never been afraid to cross the line that separates advertisers from entrepreneurs. And now, they're doing it again, joining the long list of companies making apps for the Apple iOS.
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"The first time a client walks through the door, you can hear the surprise register in their voice," says Matt Hutton, partner and creative director at Spinlight. And there's a good reason. On the outside, there's little to distinguish the company from a long row of low-slung, metal-clad industrial buildings, nestled on the eastern edge of Champaign. But on the inside, it's a different world, with dramatic lighting, sliding-panel doors and a vast, concrete table — emblazoned with the company's logo — all baring the tell tale marks of a company that just celebrated 10 years of living out its mantra to "design everything."
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Rain or shine, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District transports 10 million riders annually, using a fleet of buses and advanced GPS tracking that makes the company a model of modern efficiency. Five years ago that experience was enhanced, with a new website loaded with many useful tools. But a recent customer survey conducted by MTD indicated that today's riders wanted something more.
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While they didn't know it when they joined thousands of others on a midnight bike run through the streets of Chicago last summer, Matt Hutton, Chris Phillips and John Turner were also beginning a journey that would take their lives on a whole new path. At the time, they were just three guys from the office enjoying a 25-mile ride that benefits Chicago's Friends of the Parks. But today, the three are partners. And their fun ride has become a fitting metaphor for three entrepreneurs who are always up for the next adventure that lies waiting around the bend.
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Times are tough in the housing world. Money is tight. Construction is down. And there’s a large surplus of available homes in the market. Which means good branding is now more important than ever. Because when there are fewer homes being sold, you want to make sure that those homes are yours.
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BBDO New York was there, along with Deutsch LA, Leo Burnett Chicago and Publicis Worldwide. But among the companies receiving Gold ADDYs at the world’s largest advertising competition this past weekend just outside of D.C. was a small dog that’s increasingly making itself at home in the back yard of some of the world’s largest ad firms.
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For some, the idea of an Amish brand being recognized by the arbiters of modern graphic design is hard to imagine. But that's what makes their inclusion in Print Magazine's Regional Design Annual doubly sweet for Matt Hutton and Debby Winter, the owners of Spinlight Studio and the Simply Amish Furniture Boutique in downtown Champaign, Illinois.
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Organized by Graphic Design USA, the American Graphic Design Award annually draws over 10,000 entries from advertising agencies, graphic design firms and corporations across the nation. Big and small, well known and hardly heard of, this much-coveted honor brings designers from across the country to compete toe-to-toe in a single arena where the only deciding factor is talent. And it's that spirit of open competition that draws Spinlight into the fray.
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Asking an innovative company like Spinlight to "do something a little different" with your marketing is kind of like asking a Trading Spaces designer to "use a little color" on your walls. You don't know what you're going to get. But you know it's going to get noticed. Such was the case when Krannert Center for the Performing Arts asked Spinlight to develop a new marketing campaign to introduce their new season to the hip and happening that populate Champaign's downtown scene.
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"Sometimes the best way to think outside the box is to lose the box altogether," says Matt Hutton, co-owner of Spinlight Studio, in a moment of Zen-like reflection on the company's unique, circular website navigation system. "Plus, we wanted to do something really cool." No matter how you look at it, the new website is taking the local ad agency's growing portfolio of award-winning design out of the box and put it on prominent display.
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Building on a five year agency/client relationship, Spinlight announced today that they have taken their interest in Simply Amish furniture of Arcola, Illinois, to a higher level, becoming a dealer of the brand and opening a new retail venture, the Simply Amish Furniture Boutique (www.simplyamishchampaign.com).
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At this point, leading the pack comes naturally to the small Champaign-based advertising agency and design studio. They've garnered 23 national and international awards over the last 2 years alone, with at least 47 additional local and district awards in the same period of time. And with recent multiple entries into the National ADDY Awards competition, they stand poised not only to run, but to win.
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Sponsored by the American Advertising Federation, the ADDYs are the world's largest advertising competition, drawing nearly 60,000 entries every year. Spinlight garnered 10 Gold and 13 Silver ADDYs, along with the 2007 ADDY Judges Award in the local tier of the show. All 24 entries have been forwarded to a district showing where they'll compete to advance to the national show.
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It's starting to look like a definite trend. Last year Spinlight Studio dominated the American Graphic Design Awards, taking home more awards than any other competing firm. And this year, they returned to the national spotlight again, garnering eight more AGD awards—including three for a product they actually invented.
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In 1953, Sir Edmond Hillary climbed Mt. Everest "because it was there." In 2006, the designers at Spinlight Studio invented a new gadget for storing and displaying CDs because it wasn't.
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Staley Road is about as far from Madison Avenue as you can get. There are no skyscrapers. Or neon lights. On a hot summer day, you'll find more corn stalks than coffee bars. And yet, on this quiet back road at the edge of the city lies a graphic design studio that's making national waves. And Madison Avenue is taking notice.
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Spinlight walked away from the 2005 American Graphic Design Awards with 12 awards, the most won by a single agency in this year's competition.
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We'd also like to take this opportunity to introduce our new logo and identity. We've changed our look completely. Because we're designers. And we like to do that stuff.
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SpinLight takes home 13 awards at this year's regional advertising club competition. That's almost half of all the awards...if one were counting.
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The publication, Graphic Design USA received thousands of entries from around the country. Only 12 percent of those entries made it in, and 10 of them are ours. The winners are published in the December magazine and will also be published in a hard-bound design book. Look for it in your local book stores early 2005.
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