All Articles
This is an archive of all articles from the ohTwentyone blog for the last year, or 999 entries, whichever comes first. If you'd like to see a list of articles filtered by topic, choose from the list on right. We've tried to divide them into logical categories for you. You may also view a complete archive here.
New Work: EMRA Welcome Kit
The Emergency Medicine Residents' Association (EMRA) asked us to help them develop a positive brand experience for their new members, in an effort to improve new member engagement. Getting new members involved is a challenge for EMRA due to several important factors. It's an organization for Emergency Medicine Residents. Residents are busy, tired, overworked young doctors, and don't have a whole lot of mental bandwidth to spare. Further complicating matters, most new members of EMRA don't pay for their membership directly, instead having their membership provided by their residency programs. This is a recipe for poor engagement and low perceived value.
Wish We'd Done It: Panasonic Packaging
Occasionally (okay, all the freakin' TIME) we see work out there in the world that we wish we'd done. This is one of those times. We don't normally chose to highlight the work of others, because, well, why would we promote the work of others? Right? Well, this is so brilliant in its simplicity that we just couldn't resist.
New Work: ProsthoWorks ID Suite
ProsthoWorks, PC of Arlington, TX engaged ohTwentyone to design their new logo and stationery suite.
ProsthoWorks is a prosthodontics practice, which is the dental specialty of designing and building false teeth, partial dentures, and tooth implants. Business owner Chia-Ming Lee felt it was extremely important to demonstrate the precise nature of the work he performs, hence the inclusion of the engineer's divider in addition to the dental mirror.
Awards: TrademarksUSA 2010
We're really pleased to announce that ohTwentyone will have ten (10!) pieces included in David E. Carter's Upcoming Trademarks USA.
David E. Carter is one of design's most prolific writers and editors, having written or edited something like 110 design books over his long career, and claims to be the world's best selling design author. If you'd genuinely curious, you can check out the full list on Mr. Carter's Website.
Awards: 2010 AWDAs from GDUSA
I'm proud to announce that ohTwentyone has received three (3) 2010 American Web Design Awards from Graphic Design USA. Screenshots of the winning entries are included below. We're very happy to be recognized for the work we're doing with our clients.
And, because we believe that good design is the result of collaboration between designers and clients, we feel that congratulations are in order for the members of Allied Compliance, Elite Nurses Aide Academy, and ACEP that participated in the development of these pieces.
“Write nothing instead. It's shorter.”
Brilliant, and poignant, and a constant struggle.
Of course, this is a quote from Seth's Blog, but it's a sentiment that we (and by we, I mean people concerned with the effective communication of ideas: designer, writers, artists in general) express every day.
Fitting In
Seth Godin's got another blessedly short entry on a topic I could talk about all day: Fitting In and Standing Out.
Anyone who's worked with me in the last 5 years knows how I feel about this. The goal is to stand out. You have to look at what's going on in your field and do something different. If every software company you see has a conservative blue logo set in Arial Bold Italic, than the one thing you must NOT DO is make your logo blue, Arial Bold Italic, or conservative. It's too hard to make it conservative, blue, Arial BI, and somehow BETTER than your competition. Just steer clear.
Webfonts At Long Last
I've been designing websites since most people didn't know what the web was...and in the last 16 years it seems like EVERY client I've designed a website for has had a really hard time understanding how fonts work (or don't) on the web...and with good reason: It's horribly complicated. But, the good news is, that could all change very soon thanks to Google.
Logo Design - A Case for 1 Color
Since the beginning of what anyone would call the formal study of logo design the masters have extolled the virtues of the 1 Color design. Like many arguments of a qualitative nature, this used to be frequently reduced to some financial or technical (in other words, quantitative) argument in order to convince the non-believers acquiesce. In the age of mimeograph and fax machines and four color process printing that required the creation of multiple physical printing plates, often by hand, it was easy to argue that having a logo that worked in 1-Color was the only fiscally responsible course of action. However, in the age of the web-only company and four color process printing that often costs less than 2 color (or even 1 color for metallics) spot printing, and with the significantly decreased relevance of the fax machine, it's easy to think,
New Work: Kids Money School
ohTwentyone was recently commissioned to design and produce a website for Kids Money School of Plano, Texas.
Kids Money School is, just as it sounds, a school that teaches financial literacy to children, from Elementary School through High School/Young Adult hood. It was an honor to help a small businesses with such a noble purpose. Financial skills are painfully absent for many americans, especially young people, and that absence has very real social implications for us all.
Who Doesn't Want an Apple Store?
In this video, wherein Fast Company talks to Ford CEO Alan Mulally, he says he wants Ford dealerships to feel like Apple stores. The headline on Fast Company's site reads, "Ford CEO Alan Mulally Wants Dealerships Like Apple Stores..." and that idea initially had my pretty excited, not because I care what Ford is doing, because it gave me an idea.
What is a Graphic Designer?
This weekend, over Easter dinner, one of our family friends asked me how business was and, through the process of telling her about a project we just finished, she discovered what it is we really do for our clients.
Sufficed to say, it's a lot more than make graphics. She was genuinely surprised to hear that we had, for this project, designed a website, helped the business owner define their vision of their company, helped define businesses processes, and specified and implemented a system to manage the business through the website.
The Lowest Common Denominator
Many times, when you're making something for mass consumption you're asked to aim for the lowest common denominator. There is an old vaudeville aphorism made famous by Groucho Marx that speaks to this, "Will it play in Peoria?" Which we are to take as, "Will this appeal to a mainstream (or, more pejoratively, an unsophisticated) audience?" Sorry Peoria. Vaudeville is cruel.
The Value of Pushback
Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for another Seth Godin inspired post. ;-)
Saturday Mr. Godin published a blog on the value of a really great freelancer. He argues that sometimes the highest value proposition is to hire a really talented, passionate, and independent professional who is more interested in making quality work than fitting in, and more interested in the outcome of the project than even you are. The essential point of the post is that sometimes, by paying a tiny bit more than you would for something mediocre you can get something awesome.
New Work: TerraHawk Hand-Out/Mailer
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.
Low Cost = Bad Deal
If you've read the ohTwentyone blog for any period of time, you know how much I like Seth Godin. He has some really interesting thoughts on the subject of marketing, and on the relationship that marketing builds with the customer.
Improve Any Project With an Outline
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:
New Work: Allygn IT Logo
A little while back we announced that TRS Network Professionals had engaged us to help them with an identity transformation project. Although the collateral portion of the project is still ongoing, the logo has been decided upon, and so we're happy to reveal the newly-designed Allygn IT logo.
New Client: TRS Network Pros
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.
WNYC's Radio Lab is Awesome & Fun
I should seriously start a blog where I JUST talk about how often I agree with Seth Godin. Seriously. Anyway. He's right again, but it's not about business or marketing or anything like that this time, it's just a matter of taste. It seems that Seth is a fan of awesomeness, I mean, WNYC's Radio Lab.
New Work: CroneyTeam Christmas Card
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.
New Work: TerraHawk/M.U.S.T. Booklet
When TerraHawk contacted us to design their new booklet for the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police), which if anyone is checking started last weekend (October 3-7th), we knew we'd be working fast and hard to get this thing designed and printed inside of a week. We also knew that there wouldn't be a lot of time to plumb the depth of our creativity. It was one of those, “Don't try to be original. Just try to be good.1” kind of projects.
New Work: ACEP Chapter Websites
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.
New Client: TerraHawk, LLC
ohTwentyone is proud to announce that we have been retained to design a product brochure for TerraHawk's upcoming attendance of the annual Police Chief's Convention.
TerraHawk is a manufacturer of mobile surveillance towers.
Design is a Process
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.
Awards: New Big Book of Layouts
ohTwentyone has learned that we will have four pieces featured in Crescent Hill Books' upcoming New Big Book of Layouts, published by Harper Collins. Our contributions will span the categories of Brochure Design, Website Design and Advertising.
The New Big Book of Layouts is the second in the rebooted "Big Book of..." series. The original "Big Book of..." series was a huge inspiration to many designers, and played a major roll in our educations and the evangelism of good design. It's a tremendous honor to be included in the new series.
