Notes from Notchcode

providing graphic design, branding, photography and marketing expertise to denver and the world

Quote of the Week:

All solitary dreamers know that they hear differently when they close their eyes.

-Gaston Bachelard

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Notes from Notchcode

11.30.2008

I hope it's a graphic designer they're hiring

Noticed this teeny-tiny "people wanted" ad on the front page of nytimes.com today....an ad for the CIA. Have a look at the nasty dithering in the background gradient! Nothing says "we're a government agency that's ten years behind the times" than a static GIF for an ad. For that matter, the "www" at the beginning of published URLs is also becoming quickly obsolete. If it is a compound word, or an acronym, and has a dot after it, followed by two or three other letters, (like, you know, .com or .tv) people get the fact that it's a URL:
Labels: graphic design, marketing, web design

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11.26.2008

Book Cover Design back from the Printer

I just got my samples of a book cover we designed for Ben Leichtling. It looks great!

Here it is:

I really enjoy designing book covers. You have a very finite, very defined brief (the content of the book) and have to create an interesting visual solution to fit the content, tone, and personality not just of the book, but of the author (and the publisher, if they have a large stake in it). This is the fourth book I've done a cover design for, and it was a lot of fun.

If you want a copy of Ben's book (or any of his other ones), head on over to his site, Bullies Be Gone.
Labels: book cover design

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Need a Ham? I got your ham right here.

Non-design-related, but still tasty and relevant post for you:

Alton Brown is one of the less annoying Food Network personalities (I think he brings the right amount of awareness to his campy "announcer" role on Iron Chef America, for example). His Good Eats recipe show is also very approachable, and not over anyone's head. He is almost the food host equivalent of my favorite Let-Me-Explain-It-To-You guy, Bill Nye The Science Guy.

Well, last year I made his recipe for City Ham for Thanksgiving. Mostly because it calls for both bourbon AND gingersnaps. And of course, ham. So if you're looking for a nice easy way to spice up your Thanksgiving, give Alton's Ham a try.

(Alton Brown cartoon courtesy of the amazing Natalie Dee)
Labels: food

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Information Graphics for the space geeks

Gizmodo has whipped up a little infographic that compares humanity's real space-based exploration platform, the International Space Station, with some fictional space-going vehicles from our favorite films and television series. Have a look, and you'll see that real life is giving science fiction a run for its money:

Labels: information graphics

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11.25.2008

Gröna Nyckerhålet = GOOD

The Swedes have a lot of things going for them: amazingly beautiful people, enlightened public policies, and--I am just assuming here--an IKEA on every corner. But as my old friend Jen Buley recently pointed out, that's not even the best thing about Sweden. the best thing about it is the Green key.

.The Green Key is a symbol you find on all sorts of food and household goods, and it basically means that a particular product ~~has been produced in a way that is environmentally-, socially-, ethically-, and consumer-friendly~~ is low-fat and/or high in fiber. It's a "green key".

As a graphic symbol, it's very simple: a traditional 19th-century keyhole knocked out of a black circle. Fits very easily on almost any space. And its visual density is great enough to set it apart from the visually gray blocks of text and bar codes that it will inevitably be placed near. Very nice example of good design for a good cause.
Labels: design, icon, illustration, information graphics

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Great Design Firms have Great Clients

A big slice of roasted turkey, heap of mashed potatoes and gravy, and a side of dressing for my wonderful clients and creative partners who have made this year so good (listed here in no particular order):

The Division of Reclamation, Mining, & Safety

the signage and exhibition display design projects, in particular were a lot of fun!

The National Association of Abandoned Mine Lands Programs

the National Conference branding, website, and print materials turned out great!

Leichtling & Associates

2 new websites and lots of book cover design

Gillingham & Associates

they were so successful that they were purchased by a larger firm--who kept the existing brand we developed for them

Walker Media

a new company branding effort and some product photography

Classical Public Radio Network

ongoing website support

Clear Creek Watershed Foundation

consulting with them on a branding effort, which helped them clarify their vision

University of Denver College of Law

work on a to-be-completed project, that is shaping up to be awesome

Colorado Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting and Prevention

design and production of their annual report of pregnancy and prevention-related issues in Colorado [PDF]

Native American Community Development Corporation

an excellent website design, which is almost ready to launch

Whitman Interior Design

we're creating their website as I write this

Carl Socolow

we designed an excellent website for this Guggenheim-recipient photographer

Andrew Bale

a website design and subequent revision for another great photographer

Tamzin Architecture

notchcode did brand identity development and a website (in development) for this Evergreen-area architect

Rhombus CGI

a website design which builds on their existing branding and raises their profile
Labels: branding, design, graphic design, information graphics, web design

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11.18.2008

Matrix of supported CSS styles for e-mail clients

Ever wanted to know if ANY e-mail readers support background-image in inline CSS? Campaign Monitor has a handy matrix that shows you the ugly truth.
Labels: coding, css

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11.17.2008

New CD cover design

I just received samples of a 10 CD set I designed the cover for. Here's a look:

It's part of a larger integrated marketing campaign I've been working on with my client, including four other book covers. Lots of fun.
Labels: b2c, graphic design

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11.14.2008

Product Booklet with photography--lots of fun from start to finish

Over the summer I worked with a great client in Golden on a product booklet for an industrial lighting fixture that they designed and engineered. I created the look of the brochure, with a design concept that fit the product perfectly.

As a bonus, I got to shoot photography for all of the product images in the booklet. I want to devote a longer post to the process, as well as show off some of the interior spreads that I think worked particularly well in terms of conveying information to the target market in an understandable and compelling way....but for now, I just had to show off the back cover shot. Shooting lighting fixtures is notoriously difficult, but I think we pulled it off (with a big assist on-set from one of the fixture's designers, who knows more than I will ever forget about the science and application of optics, refraction, reflection, etc. etc. etc.):

Labels: b2b, b2c, design, photography, print

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11.13.2008

Open Source CMS tools like Joomla make it easy to manage your own content

For years I have hand-coded all my clients' websites. When developing a website it's just been the quickest, most reliable way to get the clean code I want. It makes me sound like more of a nerd than (I think) I am, really. Lately, however, I have a number of clients who need to update their own content on a daily or hourly basis. Conference websites, non-profit organization websites, NGO websites--they all utilize the web to get time-sensitive information to their audiences. This is where open-source Content Management Systems like Joomla or Drupal make it a breeze for the client to update their site.

It's also dead easy to develop for, once you learn the syntax and structure of these CMS tools. Joomla, especially, is very flexible when it comes to designing the user interface which is most appropriate for the information architecture and user base. Use of standard CSS for styling makes it easy to design a site to integrate with branding and other materials used by your organization.

I still manipulate a lot of the code by hand, just because it's easy for me; but the end result is a lot more dynamic than the static, XHTML-only sites many clients used to think of when they heard the term "website".

One example of a Joomla-based site I've recently developed is 4ToAll.org. It's the online companion to a national conference I created the branding and marketing materials for, which was held here in Colorado last month. Since the conference ended, the front page is now mostly a "thanks for attending" page, but check out the sections on the events, etc. at the top to see just how information-dense this site is!

Contact me today for more info on what notchcode can do to help your organization create a content-rich, dynamic website that anyone in your organization can administer.
Labels: CMS, web design

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New York Times: Not a Bad Time for Small Businesses to Raise Prices

Paul B. Brown writes that recessions are the EXACT time you should spend more on marketing:

ZIG WHEN THEY ZAG “If your competition is busy nursing their recessionary wounds, then you should become aggressive in marketing yourself and your products,” argues Morebusiness.com, a Web site that describes itself as a “one-stop resource Web site for entrepreneurs.”

By increasing spending when your competitors are cutting back on theirs, you will have a chance to increase market share and be much better positioned to be profitable when the downturn ends.

This isn't something that's necessarily intuitive, but it's true. Your competition is cutting back, and the first place most organizations look to is the "cost centers". I can't tell you how many times I've heard employees of a company tell me that management sees marketing as a cost center--something that doesn't directly generate revenue--and so therefore is always under the gun to do more with less.

That sort of thinking doesn't work too often. Unless you are Coca Cola, you need to market yourself, aggressively, every time you open your collective mouth. Why? Well, if you are in a market where more than one organization is competing for consumer/grant/government/business dollars, you need to separate yourself from your competition. If you don't, you let both your competition and your market define you. If you aren't in control of your marketing message, you're in trouble. And if your bottom line is already suffering because of market forces or other circumstances out of your control, take control of what you can, and promote your vision of your organization while everyone else runs for cover. Your marketing footprint per dollar will be larger than it would be during the good times, since your competition is spending less to get their message out to your market.
Labels: marketing

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Photos that Work

I love getting out into the field, and actually put my degree in Photography to good use for my clients.

This past spring I went out near Blanding, Utah, and photographed the wonderful staff of the Utah Office of Gas and Mining's Abandoned Mine Land Program. Basically, they close up old mines that are hazardous or are releasing pollutants into the air or water. Here are some of the shots from the trip. They were all shot with a large-format camera (my Deardorff 5x7, fitted with a 4x5 reducing back and a readyload holder), using available light, on Fujichrome Velvia 100:

Labels: photography

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11.12.2008

I, for one, welcome our new Google-enabled Health Overlords

Google is tracking the geographic distribution of search queries related to the flu, and has assembled a chart that shows us how worried we should be about getting the flu this year.

The data is shown in 2 graphics: one is a map of the US which is color-coded by state to show the relative danger of getting the flu at this moment. The other graphic is a line graph showing the flu danger now, relative to past years. You can see the historical data running along with this year's data. You can also view data on a state by state basis, if you are only looking out for yourself.

Right now, it looks like I can breathe easy ( I also got my flu shot, thank you very much, and you should, too!). If the historical trends for Colorado are any indication, I should get more concerned around mid-January.

Labels: information graphics

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Heller on Humor in Graphic Design

This post from Steven Heller over at the AIGA on whether or not there's anything funny about graphic design makes some good points. In general, I find that any creative endeavor turns out better (more effective, more compelling, more "tight") when some humor or playfulness has been applied to the process.

And besides, if you can't have fun while you're working, what the hell is the point?

A short excerpt:

Why are puns necessary in graphic wit and humor? The rules that govern verbal language do not translate precisely into visual language. Thus, The New York Times has no rules governing visual puns. Graphic designers’ canon of usage is different because our means of communication—our language, syntax and grammar—are different.
Labels: graphic design, humor

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Modified Logo for the Rocky Mountain Region Porsche Club's Anniversary

I was asked to design a logo commemorating the Rocky Mountain Region/Porsche Club of America's 50th anniversary. We modified their existing logo--which is used on everything from car badges to hats to letterhead to environmental signage-- and came up with this:

Labels: logo

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11.11.2008

Too Much Information

Well, the internet is all about information. This site from sprint (screenshot of just a portion of the huge interface below) has lots of it. Because the internet is all about knowing how many seconds remain until doughnut day....

via kottke
Labels: information graphics, interface

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New Book Cover Design

I created a new book cover design for my client, Ben Leichtling, who is an author of half a dozen books and audio recordings on how to deal with bullies in the workplace, at school, and at home. This one was for his soon-to-be-released book on Parenting Bully-Proof Kids.

I don't know about you, but I was terrified of the tetherball court when I was a kid.
Labels: book, design, typography

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11.10.2008

New branding for a B2B client: Walker Media

I wrapped up a branding effort for a new client in the Denver area a couple of months ago, and wanted everyone to have a look:

Walker Media is an independent consulting firm that helps public radio stations nationwide improve their fundraising and outreach effectiveness. Previously, I had worked with the firm's principal, Karla Walker, when she was with the Classical Public Radio Network, and she asked me to create her new brand when she began her new venture.

Here it is:

We used the initial caps as a standalone graphic device in a number of areas, as well, such as on the letterhead:

It's a simple, clean, and effective typographic solution for this business, and reflects (pardon the pun) Karla's approachability, flexibility, and professionalism. It also raises the bar for her competition, which in comparison, has been left in the dust.

We also did some quick-turnaround product photography for her as well, showcasing pre-loaded iPods that she sells to stations for their premium subscriber benefits:

Labels: b2b, branding, photography

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T

After waiting months to hear back from a prospective client on a proposal I had submitted (and followed up on repeatedly) I finally got word from them that I wasn't being considered for the project.

That's fine; happens all the time, and it's part of the gig.

What is not part of the gig, however, was the fact that the client had proceeded with their project some time ago, and in fact had already completed it with someone else, without extending me the courtesy of a call/note/call telling us we weren't getting the project.

Want a way to ensure you won't get any respect? Don't give any.
Labels: advice, b2b

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11.07.2008

Obama extends his visual branding past the campaign

I was watching the press conference Obama gave this afternoon regarding the economy, and was amused (pleasantly so) to see the sign on his podium reflected the typography, color, and iconography used so successfully in his campaign for President:

Labels: branding

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11.06.2008

Flickr and the President-Elect: Behind the scenes on Election Night

While professional photojournalists often get the most incredible shots, which discerning photo editors then cull through and present to us the most incisive of the bunch, what happens when there's no "professional" around to capture history?

This has often been the case throughout the last 169 years, ever since the birth of the photographic medium. And even more so since the masses popularized photography as a cultural phenomenon--ever since flexible film was developed by George Eastman in 1885 and sold by his company along with the soon-to-be ubiquitous camera, the Kodak Brownie (slogan: "you press the button, we do the rest"). Once everyone and their brother started running around with their little black boxes filled with rolled film, we started accumulate a record of the lives normal, interesting, boring, and even exceptional people.

Well, Flickr has been around for a long while now (it's probably a hundred years old in Internet Years), and it's the flexible film of the 21st century. "Isn't the digital camera a better applicant to the "new flexible film" moniker", you ask? Not really. Before photo-sharing sites like Flickr, I would say that while, yes, the digital camera allowed you to very easily take LOTS of images, that wasn't really any different than what you could do with flexible film-based cameras (although digital cameras made "processing" the images a lot cheaper).

No, Flickr is more of a game-changer than the digital camera. Why? Because it allowed people to easily share their images (even ones scanned in from "real" photos made with film). It also allowed the rest of us to find those photos we were interested in. Combined with some interesting search-and-show algorithms for presenting images with more "interestingness" to us, those abilities make Flickr a witness to the history, both sacred and profane, both amazing and mundane, that is being made around each of us, every day.

And now we get to the title of this post. While there have been some great photos of the presidential contenders this year, There's been one candidate that--very early on--got their own flickr account, and started documenting their journey to the White House: Barack Obama. The images that show up in Obama's flickrstream are (almost certainly) not taken by him, but by the people around him: campaign staff that follow him from town to town, local organizers who pass along shots of work being done in small towns and big cities, and perhaps a professional or near-professional photographer or two, as well (David Katz took these, and many more in the flickrstream...anyone know anything about him?).

This has given us a wonderful peek behind the curtain of a campaign's facade. A very closely-managed and controlled peek, of course--these shots were vetted at some level by the campaign, and shouldn't be considered to be objective (as if that term has any real meaning in photography). Despite that caveat, Obama's Flickr photos show him at times when no other cameras are around. Case in point was the scene in their hotel room at the Hilton in Chicago, on Election Night, as the networks called the race for Obama. The photos aren't always properly exposed, the framing isn't necessarily graceful, but they give the world a glimpse of the back room of history, as it's being made. We got some great images from that night, and because of Flickr, some nice insights into the more private moments, as well.
Labels: flickr, photography, politics

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11.04.2008

NY Times' Front Page county-by-county electoral results map

The New York Times is featuring county by county results on its front page results map this evening. This lets people see the results come in on a very detailed level of granularity. Nice information design, once again....It's a Flash-based map, and by the end of the election will show a finely-resolved picture of who people want to run their country for the next four years.

From Jim Roberts' notes on their coverage:
All of the coverage will be accessible from the homepage of nytimes.com. Starting at around 6 p.m. Eastern time, when polls close in a handful of states, we’ll be presenting you with two versions of the United States map: a statewide view that will allow you to track each state as it is called (or as each candidate builds up a lead), and a county-by-county view that will display the counties in which returns have begun to arrive. The counties will be shaded according to the candidate who is ahead.

The states on each map are clickable; that allows you to zoom in on a state and then by rolling your mouse over each county, you’ll get to see up-to-the-minute vote totals for each county as well as the percentage of precincts reporting. So for instance when the results start coming in from Florida, one of our favorite election-night states, you’ll be able to check out returns in Pinellas County or Palm Beach County or Pasco County, just by scooting your mouse over the zoomed-in map.

Yes, you can see this sort of information on television, but we let YOU decide which states and counties you want to explore.

And if you haven't gotten out to vote yet, what are you waiting for? GO VOTE!
Labels: information graphics, politics

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