The Athens Area Community Foundation (AACF) is a public grantmaking organization that acts as a philanthropic “hub” for the Athens region. Founded in 2008, it manages over $42 million in assets and serves a seven-county area: Athens-Clarke, Oconee, Barrow, Greene, Jackson, Madison, and Oglethorpe.
The Athens Area Community Foundation partnered with us to evolve their visual identity and brand strategy. As a cornerstone of regional philanthropy AACF needed a brand that mirrored its institutional strength while remaining deeply accessible to a diverse range of stakeholders—from individual donors to grassroots nonprofit leaders.
We created a modern identity that translates complex financial stewardship into a clear story of local impact, helping AACF inspire the next generation of givers.
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Our uber-talented Front-End Web Developer Grace grew up in a town called Fairyland (not joking) where she attended Fairyland Elementary and lived on Aladdin road (still not joking). Needless to say, she wanted to find an equally magical place for college — so moving to Athens was an obvious choice. As part of our talented Creative Team, she helps build and implement beautiful, modern and design-savvy websites with a focus on responsive design, cross-browser compatibility and accessibility for clients and end-users. When not coding the interwebs, Grace can be found dangling from a trapeze bar, in a yoga class, or hanging with her loved ones and super cute pup.
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Will couldn’t resist coming home to Athens after working his way up the East Coast. A graduate of the University of Georgia with a BFA in Graphic Design, he formerly worked as an in-house designer with the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Will lives close to downtown Athens with his wife, their three children, and Ginger, his beloved pit mix. During the early mornings, you may spot Will out running around town.[/one_half_last]
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Matt, one of our most dedicated Jittery Joe’s Coffee addicts, brings over fifteen years of web development experience. He’s got quite the range of talent, with expertise in HTML, PHP, MySQL, and various CMS systems. He also plays the lottery – though he never wins. Ever.
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If anyone knows design, it’s Harold Dean. He’s been cranking out print materials and winning awards for our friends at the UGA Athletic Association, among others, for as long as we can remember. As a seasoned Adsmith Designer, he makes up 1/3 of the tried-and-true trio, complete with Scott and Kirk. When Harold’s not at work, he enjoys a good old-fashioned game of football or basketball.
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Raised in coastal Georgia, Scott began drawing pictures at a young age and hasn’t stopped. As a teenager he created designs and color separations for silk screening, buried his head in comic books and learned about lettering in a local sign shop. Scott earned his BFA from the University of Georgia and later taught graphic design there for 10 years. For the last 20+ years at The Adsmith he’s enjoyed creating solutions that help clients achieve their goals. Scott serves on the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF) board of directors and enjoys volunteering with the organization to promote the arts in his community. Scott lives in Watkinsville with his wife, Allison, his daughter, and Daffodil the cat. In his free time he enjoys drawing, painting, and attending his daughter’s dance and musical theatre performances. [/one_half_last]
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Kirk Smith, president of The Adsmith, has over 35 years of working experience in advertising, graphic design and marketing. His interest grew from a youth surrounded by the business of “creating” — where as a child he would try to draw cartoons or help with ad “paste-up” alongside his father, an accomplished artist, cartoonist and the entrepreneur who created The Adsmith.
Kirk graduated from the University of Georgia where he majored in Graphic Design while working part-time at the company’s original downtown Athens office. Upon graduation, he began working at the agency full-time as an art director, eventually becoming a partner and now president of the firm. During his tenure, the agency’s work has been honored by Communication Arts, Print’s Regional Design Annual, Adweek, the Telly Awards, Addy Awards, Outdoor Advertising Association, Cooperative Communications Council, NRECA, the National Bank Marketing Association and many more.
A native of Athens, Kirk has always believed in doing what he could to help the community and area non-profit organizations. His primary focus in recent years has been as an advocate for people living with cancer, serving on the board of The Cancer Foundation and serving on the Committee for the Free to Breathe 5K. He was recently honored with both the PPD Hero award and the Hero of Hope award from the National Lung Cancer Research Foundation for his work raising money for lung cancer research as well as advocating for the importance of clinical trials. He has also volunteered on patient advocacy committees for Pfizer Pharmaceutical and was a guest panelist for Novartis Pharmaceutical as an advocate for lung cancer patients.
During his career, he has also served as a Mentor to the same young man for almost three decades, and has loaned his leadership skills to the board of the Clarke County Mentor Program, including two terms as president of the steering committee and several terms on the executive committee. Kirk is a graduate of both Leadership Athens and Leadership Georgia and has served a term on the Board of Directors of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. He was Co-Director (along with his wife, Jayne) of the Winter Games of the Georgia Special Olympics when they were held in Athens, and served as publicity director for the same event the two years prior.
In recognition of his community involvement, he was chosen as a “Community Hero” to carry the Olympic Torch during it’s route to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta (an honor he shared with both his wife and father). He was also awarded the Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal for creative achievement and community involvement, was a finalist for the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Person of the Year and recognized by the Athens Banner-Herald as a “Super Citizen.”
Kirk lives in Athens with his wife, Jayne and dog, Maximus. He is an avid runner, hiker, cyclist, mountain biker, Dawg fan, and advocate for those most vulnerable.
“People can’t pay you to care. People can’t teach you to care. But when you find something that you care about, you give it everything you’ve got. You never settle. And you are always pushing to learn and be better and support those around you. All I’ve tried to do in my career is care.” — David Droga
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures” —F. M. Alexander.
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