The folks over at TerraHawk asked us to design another promotional piece for them. They needed simple piece than can fit in a standard-sized envelope and serve as a mailer as well as a hand-out. After a brief conversation regarding the effectiveness of the "standard trifold" brochure, we decided to try something clever that would create a lasting impression for the reader...something that to create an "Aha!" moment.

Many times when we're starting a new project, we start by making an outline, even something you'd think of as simple...like a logo. It really helps us generate ideas, stay organized, and define the needs of a project. We find ourselves telling more and more people about the virtues of outlining as a creative tool, so we present to you:

TRS Network Professionals of Lakewood, Colorado has engaged ohTwentyone to design their new identity and help them make the transition from TRS Network Professionals to Allygn IT.

TRS Network Professionals/Allygn IT is a total IT solutions provider for small businesses and nonprofits.

We don't get white Christmases here in Dallas, so when the ladies at The Croney Team asked us to design their new holiday card, I automatically thought of all the winter symbolism that stops making sense if you live in an area that doesn't get snow.

The thought was, "Well, if I can't have a white Christmas the good old fashioned way, then I'll make one with what I have." Luckily, the Croney Team was down for the idea as well, so we got to build a white Christmas out of paper snowflakes, corrugated craft paper, and crumpled up copy paper.

The American College of Emergency Physicians asked us to take a stab at designing the new template for their chapter sites, and we were glad to do it. In the past the chapters have been largely left to make their own decision regarding the aesthetics of their site (which, through our research, we've found is the case with a good many national non-profit groups that have state and local chapters) even though ACEP has hosted the sites and maintained the Content Management System for the sites.

Clients sometimes look at me quizzically when they ask, "How long does it really take to design a [insert project type]?" and I answer, "It takes as long as the budget allows."

Really. This is how I answer the question, and it's not because I'm greedy, or that some clients can pay more and therefor should, or any other quasi-ethical flimflam that sleazy consultants try to pass off as enlightened business practices. Every one of our clients gets exactly what they pay for, if not more.

We're inredibly proud to announce that ohTwentyone has been awarded 10 (that's right, ten) American Graphic Design Awards by Graphic Design USA Magazine.

We entered a wide variety of work into the competition and we're really pleased to say that we won an award in every category in which we entered work. We're also really happy to continue to receive recognition for our logo design (4 of our ten awards are for logo design), which is an extremely competitive field, and is one of the most challenging forms of graphic design. We're also incredibly impressed that an award was given to the Croney Team Listing Book, which was an end-to-end product, written, art directed, and photographed by Jon Sandruck.

 Seth Godin has a blessedly concise little thought on his blog concerning the misuse of language in marketing material. When you're done here, go check it out.

So, here's the gist: Seth stops just short of posing the question, "Are your customers assuming you're stupid because you have poor grammar, or misuse quotes and apostrophes?" I would add to that misusing homonyms and 10-Cent words in general.

We do a lot of work with nonprofit groups and, while it's often gratifying enough to do good work for a good cause, it's also extremely satisfying to be selected from among thousands of designers from all over the world for publication in Crescent Hill Books' upcoming release "Designing for the Greater Good: The Best of Cause-Related Marketing and Nonprofit Design".

There's an interesting piece in today's New York Times (which, to be fair, was brought to my attention by Gizmodo) about artists and illustrators being asked by one of the largest and richest (and, until today, I thought one of the coolest and least evil) companies on the planet to develop custom skins for their popular web browser, Chrome, without being paid.

ohTwentyone has been included in a gallery of inspirational logo designs on the popular design blog, Designerside.

The logo included was our design for KeepOpen.com, which also recently won an American Web Design Award.

You can check out the rest of the article at designerside.

That's right. We've just been notified that ohTwentyone has received two, that's right TWO American Web Design Awards in Graphic Design USA's inaugural American Web Design Awards competition.

If you'd like to check out the winners, you can visit the American Web Design Awards Winner's Gallery and check them out.

Anyone who's ever asked me about any of the various "silver bullets" of small business "marketing" has gotten pretty much the same response from me, but it's always nice to be backed up by someone as respected as Seth Godin.

The short version? Fresh, compelling, high-quality content is king. If you have that, you don't need the "silver bullet," which is good, because silver is a terrible material from which to make bullets. ;-)

myIT.com is a small business IT consultant based in Bedford, TX and one of ohTwentyone's original, and best clients. We've been working on this site for a long time and it's nice to push this one out into the world after working with Greg and his crew on it for so long.

It integrates a number of cool features that we're excited to have in the repertoire, such as jQuery, AJAX Search, Modal Windows and sIFR, as well as introducing a clean new aesthetic that should serve them well into the future.

The City of Keller (Texas) asked us to design promotional posters and flyers for their upcoming KIDSfest, a carnival-style event that encourages kids to "get up and get out," or, in other words, stop watching TV and go DO something.

The emphasis was on four areas with different type of activities: Knowledge and Discovery (Science); Arts, Crafts and Creativity; Sports, Games & Adventure; and Plays, Shows and Performances. We also had to incorporate promos for the various musical artists and performers that will be performing for the kids and a schedule of the planned events, such as a 5K run the afore mentioned performances.