dogwood lakes

I created this newspaper ad design series while working for Dogwood Lakes Camping Resort in Dunmor, KY. The long beloved Western Kentucky campground held annual motorcycle rallies and concerts during my time working as their in-house Graphic Designer. Dogwood Lakes also held smaller community events, such as yard sales. Holiday parties and haunted houses also became popular.

The campground had grown in recent years, so I designed these ads to promote their upcoming events. The Greenville Leader News and the Central City Times Argus local papers featured the ads.

Newspaper ad design for clients in Kentucky

Dogwood Lakes Camping Resort and Fun Park - Newspaper Ad Design

Dogwood Lakes as it appeared in the early 2000s.

My coworker Ricardo Lowenstein conceived the adorable Top Dog character. He provided a total of four posed illustrations for me to use in the newspaper ad design series. I then dressed the pooch up in Photoshop to fit the themes of these events.

Top Dog portrayed many diverse characters for a variety of special occasions. TD dressed as a vampire, Uncle Sam, a jolly pirate, and a mariachi singer. He rode in a go-kart for Memorial Day, hawked a velvet Elvis painting for the yard sale event, flew a kite, and munched on a yummy chocolate bar.

Other designers might have felt limited by the black and white newspaper format. However, I chose to look at it as a challenge. Without colors, I still used the elements I had on hand to create vibrant and fun newspaper ad design pieces.

The ads were so successful in getting the word out in Muhlenberg and Logan Counties that they attracted huge turnouts for the events. I always have fun reimagining characters in different scenarios in order to breathe new life into them.

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Print Brochure Design for Dogwood Lakes Camping Resort in Kentucky

Dogwood Lakes Camping Resort / Dunmor, KY

Dogwood Lake(s) was a popular campground which featured two man made lakes. I grew up in Western Kentucky, just a few miles away from the park’s location in rural Dunmor, in bordering Logan County. I have many fond memories of swimming there as a kid, as well as watching their fireworks displays on the Fourth of July. During this period, Dogwood Lakes also operated an amusement park on site. The camping site held many special events throughout the year. I laid out and updated their annual print brochure design when I worked there on site in the early to late 2000s.

Print Brochure Design story for Western Kentucky Campground

This twelve panel fold out features on site photos Dogwood provided me. These demonstrate the fun activities potential visitors could expect. I also used several images of their mascot Top Dog. Talented illustrator Ricardo Lowenstein created TD. I dressed the lovable furball up in a variety of festive costumes to suit each of the events’ descriptions. Top Dog starred as a racecar driver, Uncle Sam, a pirate, as well as other fun characters. I also took this approach for Dogwood’s newspaper event ads.

I colored the print brochure design background simply in vibrant gradients of blue and yellow. These hearken to sunshine and clear blue waters, the perfect backdrop for outdoor fun. I set the main titles in the bold, lighthearted Badaboom font. Thus, the whole piece retains a fun, comic book style feel throughout. Recipients unfolded these big, beautiful brochures, and instantly knew they were in for a good time when they visited the park.

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