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

1.31.2009

I CAN HAZ FAMOUZ D3S1GN3R FRIENDZ?

I mean, really, Facebook, REALLY?
Labels: graphic design, social networking

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1.29.2009

Egotist, You little slice of Heavenly-Smoked Goodness

Ever wanted to spruce up your site with some really appealing feature, but didn't want to take the time or spend the money to do anything, er, substantiative?

I bring you cnp studio's bacolicio.us.

See: look what it did for the Denver Egotist.

Spruced up that boring ol' black and white design right there, didn't it?

You're welcome, Egotist, you're welcome.
Labels: bacon, creativity, denver egotist, humor

posted at 3:01 PM Leave your comments here: 1 comments

1.28.2009

Let Social Networks do for your business what it did for the Bacon Explosion

I am a bacon fan, and was thinking this latest article in the Times would be an interesting recipe for one of the mighty Pig's greatest gifts to us. Instead, I found another lesson in social networking:

Mr. Chronister explained that the Bacon Explosion "got so much traction on the Web because it seems so over the top." But Mr. Chronister, an Internet marketer from Kansas City, Mo., did what he could to help it along. He first used Twitter to send short text messages about the recipe to his 1,200 Twitter followers, many of them fellow Internet marketers with extensive social networks. He also posted links on social networking sites. "I used a lot of my connections to get it out there and to push it," he said.

Since then, the recipe has been viewed about 390,000 times.

The over 7 million users of StumbleUpon apparently had their say as well: the Bacon Explosion link was on the service's front page for three days.

So if you think your business, or product, is at least as worthy of attention as a 5,000-calorie, 500 fat-gram roll of various pork products (my mouth is watering already), don't dismiss social networking as a fad. It's real, and it can help you get more eyeballs on your brand, your designs, and your products.

Labels: advertising, social networking

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1.27.2009

Imperfect is the new Desirable

From the perfectly imperfect Cat Ad Girl, her latest.

I think that imperfection actually has more visual appeal than the perfect. But that statement, in and of itself, doesn't rule out perfection; it merely redefines it as something that isn't conventionally "ideal".
Labels: aesthetics, humor

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New Super Bowl Logos

The New York Times asked graphic designers from around the country to reinvent the Super Bowl logo, and have presented eight of their favorites here. Interesting theme is shown in three of them, which intersect two football helmets, Venn-diagram-style, to create a football in the middle, as in this example from Pentagram:

Related article: For XLIII Years, the Big Game as Art Form

Labels: branding, logo, sports

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1.26.2009

The Year of the Ox: It's here!

For those of you who haven't seen the little change to the home page, check it out.
Labels: art, illustration

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Why You Should Celebrate Your Mistakes

I've been literally snowed under here in Denver today, with 6+ inches of snow keeping me in the office while I work on a web site design for a great client, and help others plan their content management strategies. So, in lieu of any original thoughts today, I wanted to share the best post I saw so far this week., from Zen Habits:

Here's a little reminder about why humility and humanity are so important in business, in design, in art in life: Zen Habits' most recent post, excerpted in part, here.

Why You Should Celebrate Your Mistakes:

...mistakes should be cherished and celebrated for being one of the most amazing things in the world: they make learning possible, they make growth and improvement possible.

By trial and error — trying things, making mistakes, and learning from those mistakes — we have figured out how to make electric light, to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to fly.

........

Think about how we learn: we don’t just consume information about something and instantly know it or know how to do it. You don’t just read about painting, or writing, or computer programming, or baking, or playing the piano, and know how to do them right away.

Instead, you get information about something, from reading or from another person or from observing usually … then you construct a model in your mind … then you test it out by trying it in the real world … then you make mistakes … then you revise the model based on the results of your real-world experimentation … and repeat, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, until you’ve pretty much learned how to do something.

......

So if you value learning, if you value growing and improving, then you should value mistakes. They are amazing things that make a world of brilliance possible.

Celebrate your mistakes. Cherish them. Smile.

—

(Via Zen Habits.)
Labels: advice, performance, web design

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1.22.2009

Notchcode Creative and the Native American Community Development Corporation announce the launch of the new NACDC.ORG website

The Native American Community Development Corporation launched their new website today, allowing stakeholder communities, funders, and the general public to easily access information about this important organization and their work. Notchcode helped them make it happen.

About the NACDC, and what they needed in a website

The NACDC works with Native communities to address underlying factors that inhibit economic development and the productive use of available financial capital. NACDC focuses its efforts in key areas to include financial education, housing, the re-acquisition of indian lands, agricultural lending, small business development and finance, and school-based mini-banks for students.

The NACDC's new website needed to be functional for its audience, and inform prospective funders and current stakeholders about the programs and initiatives that advance the mission of the organization. The website offers an inexpensive outreach option for a group that is dedicated to smart allocation of resources, and focuses primarily on its programs. Current Tribal partners, as well as prospective partners, can use the site to find out more about the initiatives the corporation has that would benefit them. Prospective funders and granting organizations can get supplemental information on the NACDC, facilitating funding decisions and further discussion of their goals.

Notchcode worked with NACDC staff to identify the best information architecture to meet the outreach and marketing needs of the organization, as well as presenting the organization as best in class for Tribal community financial outreach and education.

About the web site's new design and interface

The new web site was designed by Notchcode Creative, working closely with the NACDC, to showcase the vitality that their organization brings to Native American communities nationwide. An analysis of audience needs, demographics, and usage patterns resulted in an improved information architecture and W3C-compliant user interface. An existing financial education minisite is also integrated into the site.

The website also incorporates a new brand identity, developed by Nakota Designs, a Native American branding and design firm. They collaborated with Notchcode to deliver source files which Notchcode staff adapted for use on the site. Notchcode also utilized the brand's typographic and color themes to integrate the site into the organization's other anticipated marketing efforts.

Online donations integrated and trackable

Notchcode also integrated an online donation component throughout NACDC.org, utilizing Groundspring and Network For Good's Donate Now! suite of online tools. Donors can make singular or recurring donations from any page on the NACDC site. Each page has a unique tracking code for donations, enabling the NACDC staff to analyze what page content generates the highest value donations.
Labels: b2b, b2c, clients, interface, nonprofits, W3C, web design

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1.20.2009

Change Comes to the White House Website

There will be time later for a more thorough analysis of the new look and feel of the Obama Administration's revamp of the site of the Executive Office of the President, whitehouse.gov, but in the meantime, the folks at NashvilleIsTalking.com have a visual comparison of the before and after images of the old and new home pages.

The first thing I noticed is that the glossy button effect on the left side of the feature pane ("Change has come to America") is carried over into the photo (or rather, over the photo) that appears to the right. Nice way of tying both of them together. It's a subtle enough effect that you might have a hard time seeing it, but such subtle acts of integration speak well of the attention that has been paid to the website refresh.
Labels: interface, web design

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1.19.2009

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent."
Labels: advice

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1.16.2009

It always feels good, even when it's soft

By which I mean launching a website.

I'm putting the finishing touches on a nonprofit site this afternoon, in preparation for a soft launch--that is to day, launching the site without telling anyone. So, of course, I can't tell you who it's for.

Yet.

Stay tuned. It's a nice site, for a great cause.

Labels: marketing, web design

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1.14.2009

The first official presidential portrait taken with a digital camera

The incoming President, Barack Obama, has many "firsts" under his belt. I won't go through the most significant ones here, but from a photography standpoint, I found this one to be a nice "first" addition from the Obama-Biden Transition Team's press release on the topic:

"Today we are releasing the new official portrait for President Barack Obama.

"It was taken by Pete Souza, the newly-announced official White House photographer.

"It is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera."

(emphasis added)

Souza was President Regan's official White House Photographer, as well.

More on Pete Souza here [browser-resizing flashy site].
Labels: photography, politics

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Thoughts on Hirschfeld declaring bankruptcy, and the future of newspapers

102 years old and Bankrupt

I heard yesterday what was made official today: National Hirschfeld was closing their doors, citing a lack of financing. Over 250 people were laid off immediately. Hirschfeld had been in business in Denver for 102 years.

I have also heard from industry insiders that national Hirschfeld owed nearly $2 million to at least two paper vendors, along with debts to other smaller vendors.

Hirschfeld had a number of reputations in town. For a while they were the go-to printer for large offset work, and even some web, depending on who they were competing against. They wanted the big-name, glamor pieces, and would price aggressively to get them. Because they had so much printing capacity on the floor they often underbid the competition by a substantial amount in order to keep the presses running.

Unfortunately, I never had much luck with the projects I sent to Hirschfeld. I would say well over half of them developed issues related to poor prepress preparation of the job, inadequate proofing internally, and a lack of attention to detail. This caused myself--and many of my design colleagues--to avoid printing at Hirschfeld whenever possible. I hadn't sent a job there in over eight years. But Hirschfeld kept rumbling along, powered by Barry Hirschfeld's good humor, charisma, and an eventual merger with two of the other largest printing concerns in town.

But in the end, even Barry's smiles, bow tie, and glowing white halo of hair couldn't keep things moving. National Hirschfeld is declaring chapter 7 bankruptcy; the presses and other assets will be liquidated in order for outstanding debts to be (at least partially) repaid.

What does this mean for designers?

As a designer with over 15 years' experience in print, it's disheartening to see any established printer go. Even though Hirschfeld wasn't one of my preferred vendors, the reduction in competition will hurt, a little. And I feel the pain of the prepress folks, the pressmen, and the sales reps that all worked hard to get our projects turned into a tangible product.

Mostly, however, it's a sign that, as a designer, if you're not diversified into online, experience, or other forms of interactive design, you'd better get started. Print will never completely go away--it's an important part of almost any integrated marketing campaign--but that's just what it is: a part.

The future of the printed newspaper

On a related note, I listened to two good podcasts this morning regarding the future of the printed newspaper. The local angle was handled by Colorado Matters, produced by Colorado Public Radio. They interviewed Mike Littwin, columnist for the beleaguered Rocky Mountain News, and Andrew Hudson, former press secretary for Wellington Webb (among other things) and man-about-town. The upshot was that the Rocky is probably going out of business, despite its history as a founding father of the city of Denver. Hudson would like to save it as a cultural institution, using a sales tax to support its operation.

On June 12th's broadcast of Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed the former managing editor of the Washington Post and the publisher of the Christian Science Montitor. She discussed the future of the printed news with both of them. Both interviewees said that while the daily paper may be in decline, journalism has never been stronger. Delivery of a newspaper's product online has a broader reach, and in the end, may provide the successful way out for newspaper companies. The Christian Science Monitor, for example, will cease publishing a daily paper, and go all-online with its daily content. A weekly edition will remain in print.

The CSM's strategy seems like a good one. Reading ink-on-paper newspapers is more of a luxury, and something that you like to take your time doing. I get the Sunday New York Times delivered to my door, and I take two days to get through it (longer than that for the Crossword). I read the Times' website during the rest of the week because it's more convenient, and more in step with my workweek pace. Don't doubt that the Times, with around $1 billion in debt, won't be watching the Monitor's strategy unfold. I wouldn't be surprised if, by 2011, even the Gray Lady will be cutting her newsprint diet back to one helping a week.
Labels: advertising, advice, b2b, b2c, customer service, denver, graphic design, paper, press check, print, printing, web design

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1.13.2009

Non-Profit Design Feature: Education

I'm in the process of redesigning the website for our childrens' preschool, Steele Cooperative Preschool. The current site is static, and takes someone with knowledge of HTML to maintain it. This makes even small changes (like tuition amounts, which change yearly) hard for the layperson to perform. I'll be using Joomla to create an easy-to-use, simple-to-maintain website for the Co-Op, which will allow parents and teachers to spend more time where it counts: in the classroom!

You can check out these resources if you want to know more about the cooperative preschool model.

As long as I'm talking about education nonprofit design work: I also wanted to show off the work I did in the 2004 general election cycle for the National Education Association. They needed an information packet and resource guide for their campaign to raise awareness of education issues in the general election, and asked us to design the components. We created an original visual concept, to match the information and delivery concepts the NEA staff had created. The result won a Pollie award, as a component of their online campaign (which was handled by CTSG/Kintera).
Labels: graphic design, nonprofits, web design

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1.11.2009

Punchlist options for the graphic designer: opinions?

I am looking at a number of project management tools, and have been very happy with Basecamp for the last 2 years. I will be sticking with them, but am looking for a more "local" to-do list management tool...something that can track not just odd bits of project pieces, but administrative and office tasks as well. I was using Kinkless GTD integrating with OmniOutliner, but that sort of went away when the developer got sort of swallowed up in the development of OmniFocus--a product that's a bit too robust for my taste. Anyone have some suggestions? Let me know!
Labels: advice, productivity

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1.09.2009

Where do you go to complain?

As we all know, it's no fun having to spend extra time tracking down someone to complain to when you've already spent time using a broken product or process and have been trying to make it work.

My wife, Robyn, used to do a lot of high-end hand-holding for clients of a software company. She acted as the liason between the client and the software engineer assigned to them. She was there to basically translate engineer-ese and make sure the client's concerns were being heard by the engineer. It was also a really good P.R. tool to have someone there just for them. It made the client feel special.

We all want to feel special (at least a little), and especially when we have an issue that we feel needs to be addressed. We want to be heard, and have our feedback acknowledged.

Different organizations have different ways of dealing with feedback like this. Some have a phone number and an e-mail address that you contact when you have a question or concern. What happens once that call is taken or message is received varies widely, ranging from indifference to a complete commitment on the part of the organization to make sure you're listened to and taken care of. Just depends on the culture and community that the organization wants to build around its stakeholders.

I was talking with an old friend this week about strategies for getting good feedback from your audience. "Your audience", of course, can mean many things:

people you are marketing your product to,

website visitors,

software users,

restaurant patrons,

internal stakeholders in your business,

and so on.

The company he works for has a hand-built trouble ticket system for handling user complaints. But it's getting to be more trouble than it's worth to maintain. And I suspect they aren't into paying for a big-name system like Siebel's etc. So, they are shopping around for another feedback tool that will allow them to take care of their stakeholders (users of their product). He mentioned a number of ways to get users engaged with their customer support team, including social media (twitter, Facebook) and services like Get Satisfaction.

This last service has been intriguing me lately, as it isn't industry-specific: it's not, for example, just a place for software companies to host support networks. You could set up a Get Satisfaction page for, well, yourself. Imagine a page where people could complain about (or praise you for) the tip you left them at their restaurant the other night. Or offer suggestions on how to better shake hands?

Say you're a non profit organization looking to get feedback on your outreach, or engage in outreach via creating a dialogue with your stakeholders. Set up a Get Satisfaction page and drive people to it via mentions in your other outreach materials: e-mail blasts, direct mail, postcards, webpage plugs, and plain old conversations with people. Once there, the stakeholder can leave feedback, ask questions, and even rant. You as an organization provide one or two voices there to answer concerns, offer suggestions, and just LISTEN.

Here, however, is the problem that my friend posited with the Get Satisfaction (or similar) route: You have to create a new username and password to use the service. If an organization has an existing feedback loop on-site, or on another system, having their stakeholders create another account on another system to leave --what is in their minds-- the same feedback they used to leave somewhere else is a little aggravating for the stakeholder.

Hence the image at the top of the post. I ran across this in the Men's room of a coffee shop the other day. Notice the soap dispensers; there are two. One installed to the right of the faucet in the sink, and another installed on the wall. The user of the sink, wanting soap, has a choice to make: which soap dispenser to use? Either one should provide a similar soap experience, but which one should be used? The one conveniently embedded in the sink? Or was the one in the wall installed because there was some problem with the in-sink dispenser?

This is a perfect metaphor for the CRM solution dilemma my friend finds himself in. If you have two places for people to go to for customer support, which one is the RIGHT one for their needs? And how will they know?

And even more importantly, will they both be staffed and managed effectively? Both the soap dispensers in the Men's room were out of soap.

Here's the bottom line: you should use whatever customer relationship tool works best for both your company and your stakeholders. And make sure that once you decide on a solution, you commit enough resources to it to make it effective for both your customers, and for you.
Labels: advice, customer service, marketing, social networking

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1.06.2009

Why working on spec and logo design contests and "tournaments" are bad...for designers AND clients

Saw this little ad on Facebook today:

"Excellent Results for only $250", the ad states. Hmmm. Let's explore the reasons why the client who engages in a logo design competition or tournament will not get excellent results. According to the AIGA, there are several reasons why such contests are bad business for companies looking for a brand. In its letter to a foundation that was soliciting design submissions for a logo competition, the Cleveland chapter of the AIGA asserted that:
AIGA strongly discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted on a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a project.

AIGA cites many reasons for this position:
To assure the client receives the most appropriate and responsive work...

...Capable and professional designers do not work for free.

...Requesting work for free demonstrates a lack of understanding and respect.

The letter goes on:
There are few professions where all possible candidates are asked to do the work first, allowing the buyer to choose which one to pay. Just consider the response if you were to ask a dozen lawyers to write a brief for you, and you would then choose which one to use and which to pay. We realize that there are some creative professions with a different set of standards, such as advertising and architecture, where billings are substantial and continuous after you select a firm of record. In these cases, you are not receiving the final outcome (the advertising campaign or the building) for free up front as you would be in receiving a communication design solution.

There is an appropriate way to explore the work of various designers.
A more effective and ethical approach to requesting work is to ask designers to submit examples of their work from previous assignments as well as a statement of how they would approach your project. You can then judge the quality of the designer's previous work and way of crafting solutions. When you select a designer, they can begin to work on your project by designing strategic solutions to your criteria while under contract.

The authors of the article have a good point: where else would you expect a professional to do the work first, then decide whether or not they would be paid?

But this is just the ecomonic issue. The more important issue for the business asking for the logo is this: Asking people to submit logos that you select a "winner" from won't allow you to get the most effective result. Here's what you will most likely get:

a logo that uses a color or typeface the boss likes

a logo that looks a lot like the other logos in your industry

a logo that doesn't take into account the unique attributes of your organization

a logo that is, in short, "safe"

It's not just small companies or nonprofits that can get burned by taking what they think is the easier, better way out: the Goverment of Spain had the exact same problem. Their logo contest winner's entry was amazingly similar to the German government's logo. I wish I was making this up. Check it out:

The German government's identity:

And the Spanish government's "winner":

The AIGA's position of spec work can be found here. As they say:
AIGA believes that doing speculative work seriously compromises the quality of work that clients are entitled to and also violates a tacit, long-standing ethical standard in the communication design profession worldwide. AIGA strongly discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted on a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a project.
Labels: advice, aiga, branding, design, logo, marketing, nonprofits, work for hire

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1.05.2009

Feel like a slow start to anyone else?

I'm posting this in the hopes that it will kick-start the blogging for 2009...all day today things have seemed really slow, as we got back into the flow of work. How is it out there for everyone else?
Labels: vacation, work

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1.03.2009

Notchcode's Turning Ten

It's hard to believe that we've been at it for this long, but Notchcode is turning ten this year, and we want to celebrate it with you! We're still formulating just how, exactly, we'll be celebrating, but don't worry--you'll be among the first to know about it.

If you have suggestions on how we should make this year extra-special, drop us a line.

Our official birthday is in December, but we won't let that stop us from having fun all year. Stay tuned!

photo via spud, on flickr.
Labels: new year

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