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Metro/9 Residences with an Industrial Aesthetic

Metro/9 is a bold transformation of a century-old storage facility in Somerville, Massachusetts. Developed by Berkeley Investments and marketed by The Collaborative Companies, this Boston-area project included Great Island Design’s full suite of creative services and branding. Starting with the property’s rebranding from apartments to luxury condominiums, Great Island Design introduced the Metro/9 name to reflect its new identity.

The visual branding combines industrial chic with a cosmopolitan lifestyle, perfectly capturing the property’s unique character.

Metro/9

Metro9 logo

Logo and Branding

Great Island Design created the Metro/9 name and logo, drawing from the property address at 9 Medford Street. These dynamic elements are the foundation of the entire project’s visual brand and are carried through the website, signage and all print collateral.

Marketing Website 

The website highlights the appeal of the 9 Medford Street environs to professionals, artists, and graduate students, emphasizing Somerville’s vibrant amenities.

Sales Center Video 

A custom video loop in the Metro/9 sales center conveys a high-energy lifestyle narrative inspired by Somerville’s dynamic culture.

Click at left to view.

12-Page Brochure

Great Island Design developed a brochure with a pocket to promote the luxury condominiums. The brochure showcases area and onsite lifestyle amenities, highlights the industrial chic condo features, and celebrates the unique support for local artists through dedicated studio spaces and art displays.

Metro9 brochure pages
Metro9 exterior signage

Entry Signage 

Great Island Design created an entry sign for Metro/9 using industrial chic elements that reflect the building’s history. Materials such as rusted steel, aluminum, and cement were used to tie the signage to the building’s original aesthetic

Building Signage 

To direct potential buyers to the website and sales office, Great Island Design developed three-story-tall exterior signage, ensuring maximum visibility and impact.

Metro9 exterior banners

“Please accept this statement of reference for Great Island Design, a firm our company has had the privilege of working with for over a decade. Ken and Debra’s work spans a variety of genres from single-family projects to expansive multifamily communities. Their creativity, responsiveness and breadth of services makes them a pleasure to work with and a “go to” for our company. Please feel free to reach out tome for further comments.”

— Sue Hawkes, President, The Collaborative Companies, Marketing Consultant for Metro/9

Services for this marketing program include:
Nomenclature & Brand Implementation  •  Logo Design  • Website Design and Programming  •  Video Lifestyle Presentation  •  Print & Digital Marketing Collateral  •  Sales Center Displays  •  Permanent Building Signage  •  Marketing Banners  •  Photography  •  Copywriting

Great Island Design

Great Island Design is certified as a woman-owned business by the State of Massachusetts.

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Great Island Design

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Great Island Design offers and encourages an inclusive and diverse environment with all of our strategic partners. Through our business practices and community engagement, we strive to amplify the voices of all underrepresented businesses and individuals and to promote and support social and economic progress for all. 

Sustainable Jersey

Website for a nonprofit environmental organization in New Jersey that manages a partnership with PSE&G to create greener energy use for customers.

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NF Northeast

Website for a nonprofit organization that supports people, families and researchers dealing with Neurofibromatosis, a disease of the nervous system. 
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Envisioning Access

Website for a nonprofit whose mission evolved from service animals helping the disabled to working with VR, AI, & robotics developers. 
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DNK Architects

Website for an architectural firm in Cincinnati, OH.  The gallery which presents over 150 images to maximum advantage.
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Redbrook Homes

Marketing website for 1200 home development in Plymouth, MA. Won PRISM Gold Award for “Best Website” from BRAGB.
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Metro 9 Condominiums

Marketing website for these luxury condos in Somerville, MA. GID also provided a full marketing communications and branding program.

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Rhode Island Environmental Education Association

Website for a nonprofit that promotes environmental education throughout the schools, colleges, businesses, and other organizations in RI.
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Salem Harbor Power Plant

Website design for Footprint Power, a company transitioning old coal plants to cleaner natural gas plants, and eventually to renewable green sources like wind and solar.

WinterView Group

Great Island Design provided branding and a new B2B website for this business consulting company. The brand was also applied to collateral.
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Quinton Oliver Jones

A website that tells the story of eclectic 20th Century artist Quinton Oliver Jones of Salem, MA. QOJ was a Harvard-educated painter, sculptor, and illustrator. 
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Testimonials

Rhode Island Environmental Education Association

“With Great Island Design as our partner, completely redesigning our website was so much easier and enjoyable than I had expected! They asked the right questions, took all of our needs into account, and even provided evidence for why we should go in one direction or another. I really appreciated how organized yet flexible the process was, and how easy they made it to keep to our schedule. We couldn’t be happier with the new website and it’s a hit with our members, too!”

— Jeanine Silversmith, Executive Director

Woodstock Corporation

“Great Island Design has advised Woodstock over the last fifteen years, first as we redesigned our logo and then as we moved through three upgrades to our website. We’ve found Great Island offers a wonderful combination of technical expertise and creative, artistic expression. They listened to what we wanted to accomplish and then showed us how to do it. Great Island has helped us manage the complexity of moving to new forms of client engagement.”

— William Darling, President


Envisioning Access

“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Great Island Design on our new website. They were much, much more than a design company. They were partners in looking at our organization from all angles as we re-imagined a new site. Helping Hands is undergoing a great transformation and Debra and Ken, and the Great Island team, helped us design a website that is not just good for the present but will take us into the future. Great Island Design understood our needs completely, had great insight into the complexities of working with board and staff and the delicacy of our transition. Finally, it was just enjoyable to work with a team as smart as Debra and Ken – they just got IT!”

— Diane S. Nahabedian, Executive Director


Footprint Power

“With Great Island Design, we received prompt, cost-effective service and a high-quality product — all of which are critical in an economic environment that asks us to do more with less. What we did not expect, however, was how Great Island Design made our excitement about our project their own — and brought with them the capacity to channel that excitement into a website that informs, entertains and engages the audience of potential stakeholders. We could not have been more pleased with the process or with the results.”

— Peter Furniss, CEO


TNTP, Inc.

“It has been a pleasure to partner with the Great Island Design team, led by Debra Glabeau. The work to support the InSPIRED Initiative with growth through social media platforms has exceeded our expectations. Not only does Debra produce high quality work, but she also demonstrates her investment in truly supporting our team to meet our goals. During this partnership, we have aimed to expand the presence of InSPIRED to support more BIPOC educators across the state of Massachusetts, and Debra has been a valuable advisor and executor on best practices for content design and audience reach. I am appreciative of Great Island’s support.”

— Crystal Hall, Director

The Salem Museum

Website for this unique history museum and visitor’s center in Salem, MA. The Museum featured colorful exhibits on a wide range of topics from Salem’s past.

Samaritan Charitable Society of Salem

A website and full branding program for this historic charitable association which has provided assistance to deserving Salem residents since 1832. 
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Our Philosophy

At Great Island Design, we believe great marketing is where creativity meets strategy—a perfect blend of art and science. Every project is a collaboration, and we see our clients as true partners in creating something extraordinary. Our process thrives on inspiration, is driven by engagement, and rooted in exceptional execution that delivers results.

We don’t just love the work; we also love the journey.

The Principals

Debra Glabeau is the president of Great Island Design, leading the firm and acting as a key facilitator between clients and the entire Great Island team. She ensures clear communication and alignment, helping clients navigate the intersection of business and creative solutions to achieve communications goals.

Education

  • Simmons University, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, BA Design Communications
  • Yale University, Graduate School of Art & Architecture
  • Salem State University, MA Literature.
  • Goldman Sachs, 10,000 Small Businesses at Babson College

Community Service

  • Samaritan Charitable Society of Salem, Board Vice Chair
  • Dean’s Advisory Council, Salem State U, Past President
  • Historic Salem, Inc., Past Vice President

 

Ken Harris is the creative director and founder of Great Island Design. As creative director and lead designer, he works closely with clients, overseeing all stages of project development for print, digital and web communications to ensure consistent messaging and highest quality across all platforms.

Education

  • University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture and Art

Community Service

  • The Whiting Club, President
  • Salem Athenaeum, Past Vice President
  • Boston Art Directors’ Club, Past President
  • The Salem Museum, Past Creative Director

Our Team

Brian Johnson and BKJ Productions have comprised our technology team for over seven years, providing a seamless experience with web development and website support for all Great Island Design web clients. Brian is a perfectionist who began his career as a graphic designer and has been creating interactive media since 2001. He and his team are experts in WordPress core, themes, plugins, user interface design and construction, troubleshooting, and security.
Education: U South Carolina, Media Arts

 
Kate Victory Hannisian is a gifted copywriter who helps our clients find their voice and assures that copy is polished and perfect. She has extensive experience with B2B and B2C writing and editing, first as a journalist for 17 years and now as an editor. 

Kate has taught writing at Emerson College and conducts workshops on business communication, social media, marketing, writing, and publishing for Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Kate will provide copy editing and assist with content strategy, as required. Kate has been part of the Great Island team for over eight years.
Education: Boston College, Literature & Speech Communications
Non-Profit Board Service: North Shore Business Forum; Homebased Businesswomen’s Network, Inc.

Commercial Clients - A Partial List

  • Woodstock Corporation
  • Avangrid / Iberdola
  • ATOA Carbon
  • Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Walt Disney World Special Events
  • Disney Village Marketplace
  • WCVB-TV
  • Footprint Power
  • Fidelity Financial Services
  • Metromedia, Los Angeles
  • McDermott O’Neill & Associates
  • Price Waterhouse
  • Bingham Dana, LLP
  • Nellie Mae
  • WNAC-TV
  • Coopers and Lybrand
  • AT&T
  • Lightbridge
  • NYNEX
  • Hasbro
  • Scitex Corporation of America
  • Comcast
  • Boston Duck Tours
  • Sheraton Tara Hotel
  • Keyes North America
  • TCC – The Collaborative Companies
  • A.D. Makepeace
  • The Beacon Companies
  • Boston Properties
  • Cabot, Cabot & Forbes
  • The Codman Company
  • The John Drew Company
  • First Realty Management
  • Meredith & Grew
  • Hunneman Commercial Corporation
  • JMB/Urban Development
  • Spaulding & Slye

Nonprofit Clients - A Partial List

  • Rhode Island Environmental Education Association
  • Historic New England
  • Sustainable Jersey
  • Mass. Environmental Trust
  • Envisioning Access
  • Brandeis University
  • Consortium for Energy Efficiency
  • The Franklin Park Zoo
  • TNTP – The New Teacher Project
  • The Salem Athenaeum
  • Metro Parks
  • DESE – Mass. Dept. of Elementary & Secondary Education
  • Salem State University
  • Mil Milagros
  • Historic Salem Inc.
  • Teacher Diversification Professional Learning Community
  • Pathways for Children
  • The Boston Chamber Music Society
  • Metropolitan District Commission
  • The House of the Seven Gables
  • The Wang Center
  • Salem Boys & Girls Club
  • Mass. Hospital Association
  • Tufts University
  • Mass. Dept. of Public Works
  • The Salem Museum
  • Mass. Water Resources Authority
  • Marblehead Arts Association
  • Great Woods Performance Center
  • NF Northeast
  • Marblehead Public Library
  • New England Journal of Medicine
  • North of Boston Library Association
  • City of Salem
  • Muhlenberg College

Woodstock Corporation

A website created for this highly respected wealth management firm. The site is fully integrated with Woodstock’s full marketing program.
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