Originally, this undertaking began as something called the “Calendar Project”. It arose out of a need to have a centralized, one-stop online events calendar for all of the Twin Cities’ marketing and communications professional associations. But it evolved into something more once there was a clearer idea of the primary audience that would be using the site: creative knowledge seekers looking for enriching experiences with not a lot of time on their hands. These are individuals who like their information served up tapas style and don’t need all the details, just the “gist of it.”
Thus, the name Gistr was born. The brand identity came out of the user persona — a logomark set in a script typeface to resemble a signature. Orange was used to represent the vibrancy that comes with a passionate creative spirit.
Gistr became the first site to bring together all of these varied marketing associations and their event schedules into one location—giving visitors easy access to explore current happenings in the Twin Cities.