VisualGraphics marks 30 years
Firm helps clients define their brand
in print, online and beyond

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Catalogs, Web sites, product literature and trade journal ads — in any given month, VisualGraphics Inc. could be crafting any or all of the above for it clients, which range from well-established banks and manufacturers to new entrepreneurial efforts.

“Our niche in graphic design is for the small business,” said VisualGraphics owner Don Whitson, who started the firm 30 years ago in a Paine Field barracks building that he shared with a commercial printer.

Snohomish County Business Journal/ KIMBERLY HILDEN “Catalog work is a big part of our process,” said Don Whitson, founder of VisualGraphics Inc. The Mukilteo firm also designs other marketing tools for clients, such as coloring books for the Washington State Dairy Council (foreground).

Today, the company has a home of its own in a 3,100-square-foot design studio in Mukilteo and a staff of five whose services include brand creation and image management.

Often, that begins with a logo and grows to meet the clients’ needs.

Case in point: Frontier Bank, which has been working with VisualGraphics since 1978, when it was a one-branch bank in need of a logo, Whitson said. In the years since, Frontier has grown to be a leading regional bank with more than 40 branches. Likewise, its need for branding tools has grown.

“VisualGraphics has grown with them, designing ads, annual reports and many image-building projects,” he said.

Other longtime clients include Precision Replacement Parts of Monroe, a leader in the after-market automotive glass industry, and Mukilteo-based HydraMaster Corp., a manufacturer of professional carpet-cleaning equipment and supplies.

“We started working with them in 1978, when they had just moved from a garage facility, and now they’re a world leader in their industry,” Whitson said of HydraMaster.

Also, the Washington State Dairy Council has used the graphics design firm for years to develop nutritional promotional products such as posters, games and catalogs.

VisualGraphics Inc. Address: 8425 44th Ave. W., Mukilteo, WA 98275 Phone: 425-353-6667 Web site: www.visual-g.com

Recently, VisualGraphics added a number of new local accounts to its client base, including Madison Records LLC, Allied Construction Associates, U.S. Cold Patch, Builder Paules/McGrath and Group 4.

“We live and breathe on referrals,” Whitson said of his company’s core marketing strategy, a strategy that relies heavily on providing excellent customer service.

At VisualGraphics, such customer service is provided through a team approach that capitalizes on the best ideas and abilities within the group to maximize a client’s budget, Whitson said.

VisualGraphics also makes use of the latest high-tech tools — from state-of-the-art computers and image scanners to a photo studio complete with medium format film cameras and digital technology — to ensure a high-quality project, he said. “Computers have given clients more options and VisualGraphics the ability to make more changes quickly.”

The computer age, complete with the Internet, also has given rise to a new branding medium — the Web site, and its impact on VisualGraphics’ workload has not gone unnoticed.

“The Web is an immediate fix for getting client products and updates out to the consumer,” Whitson said.

“I used to have my Web designer do the initial Web conceptual design; now, I have the head designer do it. This is passed on to the Web designer to implement into the Web site mechanics,” he said.

“I’m using the best of my people to do the design, no matter what the medium.”

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