front-page-news http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/front-page-news/rss blog.ohTwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone.com, website of the award-winning logo, website, and print graphic design studio based in Colleyville, TX. jon 2009-09-06T03:08:10Z 2011 American Graphic Design Awards http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/2011-american-graphic-design-awards ohTwentyone is pleased to announced that we've been awarded nine (9!) American Graphic Design Awards from Graphic Design USA Magazine. According to GDUSA this year's competition was extremely competitive, drawing over 8,000 entries from all over the country, with only 15% of entries winning American Graphic Design Awards. ohTwentyone's work won awards in the categories Internet Design ; Logos, Trademarks + Symbols ; Direct Mail and Direct Response ; Brochures & Collateral ; and Letterhead and Stationery . A gallery of winning work is below. blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-10-06T22:05:39Z LogoLounge 7 http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/awards-logolounge-volume-7 ohTwentyone is proud to announce that we'll have work included in the upcoming book LogoLounge 7 from Bill Gardner, Catharine Fishel, and Rockport Publishers. The LogoLounge series of books is the most popular and best-selling series of logo design books in the world, and among the most respected design competitions in the world as well. A new LogoLounge volume is curated every 18 months, and this edition of the series drew over 36,000 entries from all over the world. Of the more than 36,000 entries only about 5.5% are selected for publication, representing the absolute best logo designers in the world. We're extraordinarily gratified to be included in this extremely selective publication. LogoLounge 7 is the fourth LogoLounge book in which ohTwentyone will have work published. blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-09-29T16:18:28Z Logo Design Trend: Blatant Fraud http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/logo-design-trend-blatant-fraud There's been a lot of hubbub this week over a new DIY  logo design  site that is selling icons from some pretty notable trademark designers as part of its icon library. It seems that almost any logo designer who has had their work published in recent history has had their work pilfered and put up for sale for the low low price of just under $100. Of course, no one likes having their work stolen or plagiarized, and it really hurts to have someone sell a thing they stole for a bargain basement price (is it really only worth $69? C'mon!), but that's not even half of the problem here. The real problem is that the site in question, and others like it, sell artwork that is copyrighted in most cases, and trademarked in many others, to unsuspecting small businesses all over the world, and indemnify themselves of any damages in their terms and conditions. This means that if your company gets sued by the company or designer who owns the copyright, or the company that owns the trademark on the art you used, you could be liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages resulting from the actions of the people who built this website. blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-08-19T20:46:46Z Old Work: The Solution PR Thank You Notes http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/oldWork-ThankYouCard We're reshooting a few old portfolio pieces in preparation for a new website, and I can't help but grin when I see this old gem for long-time client The Solution PR, so I thought I'd share it. Wendy and I have worked together since I was living outside of DC, and while we don't do a ton of work for them these days (Wendy now lives in Denver and we're in Dallas), it's always nice to know that they call us to do the stuff that just has to be perfect. This piece proves that good design says, "Look at this," and not "Look at me." Nothing says subtle quite like white on white. The only mention of the client on the card is the substitution of the icon from their logotype for the "O" in You. Subtlety like that says, "This is an actual thank you note, not an excuse to put my logo in your face." This note card was blind embossed on uncoated stock. Honestly, it's been long enough ago that I forget the paper specs, but I'll never forget the fine fine folks at Covenant Printing who set the whole thing up for me, and Metro Finishing, the place that did the embossing. blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-08-09T03:19:20Z A Tactful Response to Design Contests http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/design-contests-as-publicity There are a lot of design contests going on right now...and the momentum seems to be building. There's also a lot of grousing on the part of designers all over the world, as manifested by initiatives like No!Spec , which ohTwentyone supports. It's a hot topic wherever thoughtful and conscientious designers are gathered. This morning I received an email from Don't Mess With Texas, an anti-littering campaign, soliciting entries for a contest to design a limited edition litter bag of "over 200,000." Reducing litter is an admirable goal, and we know that it's their intention to generate publicity, not take paying work away from designers, but we're getting really tired of people treating our profession like a PR Piñata, so I quickly wrote out the following response. Let me know what you think: Katherine, blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-06-09T20:32:28Z 2011 American Web Design Awards http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/2011-American-Web-Design-Awards ohTwentyone is proud to announce that we've received three 2011 American Web Design Awards from Graphic Design USA Magazine. According to the publisher, entries nearly doubled this year, while the number of creative firms to be honored stayed the same; 100. We're tremendously honored to have received multiple awards in such a competitive environment. Looking through the winners gallery confirms that the quality of entries this year was also quite a bit higher than years previous, and we're thankful to have done so well. If you're interested, you can view GDUSA's complete Winners Gallery  or Alphabetical Listing of All Winners . Or, if you just want to see ohTwentyone's winning work, you can check out Our Winning Entries . blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-05-27T14:56:21Z New Work: AffordableTexasWills.com http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/new-work-affordable-texas-wills.com Estate Planning is tough. It's uncomfortable to think about, or it's complicated, or you're unsure how the probate process will work if you misunderstand the implications of your directives. That's what Attorneys are for. But, they're expensive and intimidating, and many people fear them like the dentist. Most online legal services let you avoid the lawyer's office, and a lot of the expense, but they also skimp on the personal attention and expertise. AffordableTexasWills.com is an online service from the Law Offices of Jonathan Geserick , which attempts to strike a balance between the time and expense of the traditional estate planning process and the lack of unguided, error-prone process of using a piece of software to generate legal documents on your own. blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-05-18T17:37:56Z Awards: Visual Marketing http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/awards-erdr-visual-marketing-book ohTwentyone is pleased to announce that our ER/DR T-shirt has been selected for inclusion in the upcoming book Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design from Wiley Publishing and co-authored by David Langton of Langton Cherubino Group and Anita Campbell of smallbiztrends.com. We're tremendously proud to have our design for the ACEP ER/DR shirt included Visual Marketing. VM is a case study book, which means that unlike many design inspiration books, which can have hundreds, if not thousands of examples included, this one will be limited to 99, and will focus on telling the story of how and why each case is successful. Secondly, the ER/DR shirt is an excellent example of audience-focussed design that was tremendously successful for our client, and is an excellent example of a piece that required genuine understanding of the client's needs beyond simply following a brief. blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-05-12T13:00:00Z Logo Lounge Master Collection Vol.4 http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/awards-logolounge-master-collection-volume-4 ohTwentyone is pleased to announce that three of our logos have been selected for inclusion in the upcoming Logo Lounge Master Collection: Volume 4, Enclosures and Type . Logo Lounge is the world's best selling series of logo design books, co-authored by Bill Gardner of Gardner Design and Catharine Fishel, one of the most respected design authors in the world. This will make the third Logo Lounge book in which ohTwentyone will have work featured. blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-05-11T14:20:48Z Now Hiring: Junior Graphic Designer http://blog.ohtwentyone.com/blog/now-hiring-junior-graphic-designer ohTwentyone is looking for a Junior Graphic Designer. As a junior designer you will be responsible for assisting our Principal and Creative Director in designing print, web, and branding materials for our clients, as well as for internal projects and initiatives. You will also manage assets for jobs you are involved with (this means scanning things occasionally), preparing materials for use (meaning converting, retouching, or retyping things clients provide in an unsuitable format) and preparing files for production (meaning preflighting press jobs and slicing up web graphics). This requires a solid understanding of Adobe's Creative Suite (Specifically Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Dreamweaver) on an Apple Macintosh platform. It would be really helpful (like, really helpful) if you had at least a working knowledge of XHTML, CSS and a little jQuery. It also requires a passion for problem-solving and collaboration, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a compulsion for making things that are more awesome than they need to be. blog.ohtwentyone.com is the news engine for ohTwentyone, a graphic design studio based in the Dallas Fort Worth area. jon 2011-03-21T15:20:26Z