Hypno Design Pulling All-Nighter for Nonprofits

All-nighters in college are typically the result of poor planning, laziness and/or procrastination.

But for Richard Cardona and his colleagues at Hypno Design, their latest all-nighter is no accident.

Next Thursday marks the 10th year Cardona, co-owner of Hypno Design in Moorestown, and his staff will take part in CreateAthon—a 24-hour marathon session of pro bono marketing work provided to nonprofits.

Cardona said he stumbled upon CreateAthon—started by Rigg Partners, a marketing, advertising and communications firm in Columbia, S.C.—while reading a trade magazine about 10 years ago and was immediately drawn to the concept.

As a small web design company, it’s difficult for Hypno to regularly service nonprofits on a pro bono basis, Cardona said, which is why the CreateAthon is such a great idea.

“It’s really simple. For us, it’s just a really great way to give back to these organizations that help our community,” he said. 

Cardona figures the crew at Hypno—which includes artists, designers and copywriters—will cram about $150,000 worth of work and materials between 8:30 a.m. Thursday (Oct. 18) and 8:30 a.m. Friday. In that 24-hour period, they’ll provide marketing and design services to the following nonprofits:

• The Arc of Cape May
• The Women's Solo Project
• Orchard Friends School
• Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Ctr.
• Feast of Justice
• Ballet X
• Singing City
• Virtual Tutoring & Mentoring
• Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility
• Perkins Center for the Arts

Alan Willoughby, executive director at Perkins Center, said he’s very impressed with the work he’s seen from Hypno and is excited to see what Cardona and his team will produce. Perkins is seeking Hypno’s help crafting its annual appeal for donations. Specifically, Willoughby is hoping the design team can come up with a creative way for Perkins to present the whole scope of its services to potential donors.

“We have so many art options,” Willoughby said. “People often come to us for just one thing and they don’t necessarily recognize the full breadth of activities we’re involved in.”

Cardona said Hypno has served 70 nonprofits in the 10 years they’ve been doing CreateAthon, and out of that only one or two have turned down the design team’s work.

“For the most part, it’s a big success … Most of the nonprofits that come the next day are very appreciative,” he said. “We have had groups that started with nothing, and they literally just break down crying, because the work, and the recognition for what they do, is a tearjerker … It can get pretty emotional. It’s great to see that.”

Sometimes nonprofits have a tendency to “whittle away the hard edges” of a marketing design, Cardona said— “death by committee”—but by cramming all the creative energy into a 24-hour period, “They’re getting the most powerful creative solutions to their problems.”

And once CreateAthon is over?

“Then you sleep the whole weekend,” said Cardona.

"Like" Moorestown Patch on Facebook to stay current on all the latest news and events.