Designsensory.com

Debbie Millman: Thinking About Brand

Wed, 22 Feb 12 13:20:47 -0600

Those of us lucky enough to be in Debbie Millman’s presence at Old City’s Remedy Coffee on Thursday, January 20, drank a cup of experiential wisdom. Inspiring? Vehemently, yes! Her passion and story evoke a close-up, walk-in-my-boots motivation, rather than sit-there-in-awe-of-a-cultural-icon inspiration. We can aptly relate to her trials by fire. An early point in the evening taught listeners to not turn down small opportunities. You never know. . . .

When Debbie Millman is onstage, you feel like a cohort, definitely along for one adventurous ride. To those confidence-eroding self-questions we all have: “Will I be able to do it today?” “Can I be great again today?” she tossed back, “Be aware of how you self-limit or self-sabotage. Don’t cut yourself off. You just may be able to do it!”

For the students in attendance—yet, benefitting all—Millman advised, “Be polite, persistent, headstrong. What can you do to make your dreams come true?”

Her emphasis on strategy certainly resonated with me as we espouse the same values at Designsensory. Millman cautioned that great ideas without great strategy won’t work, paying respect to several in her field who she tapped for their definition of “strategy” particularly in the context of brands. Ultimately, the cornerstone of brand strategy is really in differentiated advantage: the ability to either (a) be different, or (b) do things differently. Brand identity and communication design simply work to define and express this point of view.

A brand is a shared relationship between corporate stakeholders and customers. Millman pointed to how we parse reviews before buying on Amazon, as an example of how social testimony can shape brand affinity. Her statement that, “Human beings metabolize their purchases quickly” and ensuing extrapolations gave us food for thought about challenging stakeholders to create brands that are meaningful, sustainable, transparent and purposeful.

And, she caused some serious seat squirming when she announced that people passionately disavow change, illustrating the lengths to which human beings will endeavor to keep comfort close. Brands, like people, evolve but many are unforgiving of the changes to brand identity because of a discomfort with change. Remember the GAP logo debacle? she reminded.

Indeed, it was a great night to be on the front row. Insightful and inspirational.

Debbie Millman, president of the design division at Sterling Brands and president emeritus of AIGA, recently wowed an AIGA crowd at Remedy Coffee.

2012 Trends

Mon, 23 Jan 12 15:07:21 -0600

At the beginning of the new year, we at Designsensory, like to share some forward-thinking design, content and technology insights that, hopefully, you can utilize within your branding, business and marketing efforts. This post showcases the multidisciplinary nature of our firm with insights from several Designsensory team members. Names are included within the post so that you can get to know a bit more about them and our collective thoughts on what’s next in branding, technology and design for 2012 and beyond.

Joseph Nother | creative director, principal, cofounder

Overall:

Physical and digital lines are blurring and converging. Bringing digital/social information into a physical world will be a growth point. For example, in NYC, a collaborative meeting space key fob is tied in with the individual’s social information and work. Swipe a key fob to enter, then wall screens and settings change to showcase that person’s work, websites of interest, tweets and ambient settings.

Distinct work/life modes are disappearing. For example, people will increasingly work personal content access, such as Facebook, into their professional lives, leveraging their own “avatar brand” in their work.

An appetite for access to content, anytime, anywhere, will increase as well as the ability to discriminate between good, bad and trustworthy content.

Dialogue vs. monologue across all touchpoints enabled by mobile devices will have greater implications for brands. Brands will need to identify and/or plant firm, deep, authentic roots in their positioning, legacy, social advocacy, perspective and mission. These values will, more than ever, need to be clearly express by their culture, people, designed objects and touchpoint experiences to convey a differentiated advantage to consumers.

Context + Content are king because devices make consumption instant. This cycle will also be self-reinforcing and have lasting impact on our ability to discriminate, focus and make decisions in our daily lives.

For technology, experience and meaning trump productivity as we are focused on adding meaning to life beyond material wealth and being.

Across all brands, the novelty of digital gives way to delivery of relevant content, conversations and digitally-enhanced experiences. Brands should now have a greater understanding of what works for them in the digital space. This self-awareness should enhance how they use digital to engage and augment.

Shopping and commerce becomes less isolated and segmented, more integrated into the stream of consumer lives. Thus, the concept of “store” is being redefined.

Social media continues to democratize societal and cultural influence. Media celebrities stand toe to toe with the “influencers of niche and micro groups” (i.e., the normal individual).

Medium:

Print, particularly well-curated and well-designed items will trump digital communication as authentic, real and influential, as digital has become ubiquitous and cheap (i.e., if someone prints something, the individual must believe in it because of the cost of publishing inherent to the medium).

Vintage and tangible objects increasing in meaning and/or become luxury items in an increasingly tactile-less digital world.

Video becomes more accessible, more easily created and distributed. Since video mirrors the experience of real life, people hunger for more moving images and content creators will continue to satisfy while looking for ways to monetize or capitalize on viewership.

HTML5 adoption, the proliferation of gadets of varied screen sizes and the notion of responsive, adaptive and liquid layouts will continue to push digital design in directions focused on sustainabile, flexible content delivery.

Culture:

Olympics in London might spawn newfound interest in UK and Old World heritage as well as contemporary European culture, styles and lifestyles.

A desire to leave the economic and societal negativity of the last few years gives way to a projection of more positively oriented themes.

Elections in the fall of 2012 will see a renewed emphasis on personal responsibility, sustainability, economic viability and personal lifestyle choices, as these themes will serve as sub-current to the explicit themes of the election: taxes, economic prosperity in a global world, global competition and cost-reduction.

Will 2012 be the end, as the Mayans predict? What would that portend? Regardless, a contemplation of where we’ve been, where we are going and the metaphysical value in our desires, fears and aspirations will be on our minds.

Susan Hamilton | content developer, editor

Among the larger trends I hear frequently discussed are:

Fully connect with the community you serve, whether that community is geographic or interest-based. Be an outlet that people in that community trust and rely on for information that serves them and matters to them.

Be transparent in all things. That may mean, for some types of information outlet, shedding the cloak of objectivity and showing your passion and concern. It also means being transparent about who you are, where and when you get your information, how you allow a story to develop (in its own time), and what the responses are.

Alison Ashe | senior designer

There are the things we do, and there is the purpose behind the things we do.

What makes people act? Decide? Commit? Exchange their time, effort and attention for the thing that you’re offering, when there are so many other choices available?

Not just the immediate and obvious need. There is always another purpose underlying that need. In the backs of people’s minds, often unknown even to themselves, hiding behind “Will this antiperspirant keep me from sweating?” is “Will this help me live the life I want?” Right beside “Who am I?” and “What do I want to be?”

The strongest brands will make people realize why they get out of bed in the morning and position themselves in harmony with that purpose. Either we have some deeper reason driving every tiny thing we do, or we’re all automatons. Our job and that of our clients is to define the human purpose and inspire action in pursuit of it. Wake people up and engage them on that deeper level. There are probably as many ways to define purpose as there are people. It’s not an easy job, but it’s why we get out of bed in the morning.

Justin Hudson | designer

Back to the basics. Know your brand, but more importantly know what your customers say your brand is. In just the past few months, we’ve seen large companies such as Netflix, GoDaddy.com and Bank of America, to name a few, lose sight of their most important asset, their customers, and their brands have paid the price in customer loyalty.

Matt Montgomery | designer

Look for the popularity of internet-connected TVs to grow as developers continue to build on Android’s SDK (software development kit) for Google TV, and Apple will undoubtedly release a new version of its Apple TV with Siri-inspired voice control and other added functionality. As these products gain traction, a new wave of developers will scramble to build apps and TV-optimized sites for this new platform.

Human Centered Design will be seen as more and more of a competitive advantage as companies seek to offer useful services in the digital age. Services like Simple and Flight Card that utilize technology to help make users’ lives easier by making sense of complex information will outpace clunkier, less transparent services.

Ian Fitz | web developer

Browsers automatically and silently update themselves.

Many of the browsers have always prompted that an update was available, and new versions of Internet Explorer and Safari show up in the list of system updates, but both of those things are easy to dismiss. This has kept many web users on older versions of browsers, making it more difficult for us as web developers to use new techniques and features. When Google Chrome was released, it included a silent auto-updater. The browser would update itself automatically without ever asking the user. Recently, Firefox has included a similar feature, and Microsoft has announced that it will turn on silent updates for Internet Explorer with a Windows update coming this year. This will hopefully lead to more users utilizing the most recent versions of their browsers, giving us as web developers more options when building sites for our clients.

Susan Napier-Sewell | content developer, editor

A business blog can provide very beneficial returns for SEO efforts because of the ease in optimizing posts for keywords. Adding links to pages within a site seems more natural when they are part of the text within your posts. Blog posts establish an ongoing conversation, a relationship beyond the usual. Put yourself out there in thought leadership and differentiate your company from the competition.

Anne Brogdon | designer
My 2012 trend is the end of QR codes and similar tags which offer an inelegant solution for connecting the physical to the online. Better solutions will be found and integrated.

Josh Loebner | strategist

Be Real. Understand and utilize real, meaningful content. Know what real content is. Know how to create real content, and know how to share real content. Most importantly, know that you aren’t the only one creating content. The people who both love and hate your brand create content every day with what they share and do.

Transparency, accountability and trust will continue to shape communication efforts. In other words, branding that builds worthwhile, lifelong relationships will rise above more compartmentalized, on-off campaigns. We are in the midst of an increasingly data-driven culture (whether it’s for personal apps or your company’s website) which pushes analytics and metrics to the forefront of success measurements. Make sure those data points are tied to emotional well-being and trust. Simply ask yourself, how can your brand be more transparent, accountable and trustworthy in 2012.

Ten Magical Years of Designsensory

Wed, 21 Dec 11 09:25:29 -0600

There is a reason the DS10 binary wink symbol was smiling: We have a great deal for which to be happy! It's not a small feat to celebrate 10 years in business, particularly in light of the current global malaise. According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 out of 3 small businesses survive 10 years or more. It's a sobering statistic that only further resonates with me now and during the holidays. Indeed, when I look back on the years and our success, the one word that immediately comes to mind is family.

Long before the Designsensory ship set sail, our parents worked hard to cultivate a sense of purpose, passion, curiosity and entrepreneurship. The values they instilled, the lessons they taught and the support they've shown are fundamental to our success and company culture. Our parents continue to be role models of love, hard work and virtue matched only by the unwavering love, support, encouragement our spouses provide on a daily basis.

As I consider our Designsensory evolution, I recognize that--given the amount of time we spend together--we are family. We don't just share projects, we share memories and milestones: engagements, weddings, births and significant life events. When one succeeds, we all succeed. When one is hurting, we all feel it. For me, working, learning and growing with our staff has been the highest privilege of my life. Their trust in each other, and in my leadership, and in Brandon's leadership, is an inspiration and an honor. The Designsensory family pushes us to be better managers, better leaders, better people.

Without the trust of our clients, we would not be here. Period. The lights wouldn't turn on, and we would lack a reason for being. To our family of clients who have entrusted us with their brands, I thank you for the opportunity to serve you, to learn from you, to grow through and with you. Your trust, patience and desire to achieve a better future makes everything we do an incredibly worthwhile journey.

I am proud to say a staggering amount has been accomplished in 10 years, yet I feel as though we've just started to hit our stride. We live in exciting times with so much opportunity. Let us celebrate the past by focusing onward! Here's to a strong 2012, and a long, bright future of great ideas that inspire, connect, transform and produce meaningful results.

Stay hungry, stay foolish, and . . . stay thirsty, my friends! ;-)

Joseph Nother

Principal & Creative Director, Co-Founder

P.S. Thank you to the members of our staff who worked hard to create the fantastic 10-year evening. In particular, Kelly Raines did an amazing job of coordinating vendors and DSers (myself included) into making decisions and meeting deadlines for the party while trying to juggle the normal craziness.

Vendors (several are DS clients) worked equally hard to put together a magical evening: All Occasions Party Rentals, with the tent and fixtures; Gourmet's Market, with tasty delicacies; Magpies, with delightful cupcake minis; and, Luxe Catering served up fabulous cocktails. As usual, Hart Graphics provided quality print materials in super swift (translate: less than 24 hours) time.

Beautiful flowers were on display, courtesy of Brandon's mother, Suzan Rochelle, and Lindsay's mother, Bekki Brine, while the delicious coffee in our DS10 mugs came from none other than Goodson Brothers Coffee, who has been a local steward of fine coffee since 1882.

The Night Before A Designsensory Christmas

Wed, 21 Dec 11 09:00:55 -0600

'Twas the night before Christmas, with no clients calling.
Not a creative was stirring, not a programmer coding.

DS Basecamp and Freckle were logged with care,
In hopes that client billings soon would be there.

Kelly was sure projects were placed to bed.
While visions of ADDYs danced in DSers' heads.

And, Joseph and Brandon, with all DSers out the door,
Had just left the office--Bah, humbug, clients, no more!

When out of the corner office, there arose such a clatter,
We all turned our heads to see what was the matter.

Away to the door, Paula flew like a flash,
"There’s a new client coming in with loads of cash!"

The moon on the hood of his Benz did show,
This client means business. Let’s go, go, go.

When, what to our wondering eyes did appear,
But a client giving us work . . . no spec to fear.

He delivered a creative brief, so in-depth, yet quick,
We knew in a moment the work would stick.

More rapid than eagles, his demands they came,
As he whistled and shouted each of our names.

Now Joseph and Brandon, Lindsay and Stephan,
Sarah and Ian, Kelly and Anne,
Josh L. and Josh V., two Susans, two Michaels
Paula, Alison, Erin and Matt.

Get to your desks and out of the hall!
Now, design away, write copy and code away, all.

As ideas that during brainstorms take flight,
DSers met with no obstacle tonight.

So, to the keyboards as a team we flew.
With heads full of graphics and coding too.

And, then, in a twinkling, was had an "Aha"!
The writing and drawing of a creative ta-dah.

The client drew in his head and was turning around.
Down the hallway, the bigwig came with a bound.

The creative, how it twinkled, the copy how merry!
The little IA was drawn up like a bow,
And the nav of the site was as clean as fresh snow.

His review of the work, he held tight in his teeth.
While DSers encircled his head like a wreath.

He handed broad praise, and little negativity.
He shook when he said, "I love DS creativity."

"Products will jump right off the old shelf,"
He laughed when he saw the design, in spite of himself.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon told DSers we had nothing to dread.

The client, he spoke not a word, but went straight to the work.
Said, "It’s spectacular," then turned with a jerk.

And, laying his finger aside the pen,
Signed an approval for creative to send.

He sprang to his car and whistled, "It’s done!"
And, away DSers flew, with corrections not one.

But, I heard him exclaim, ere he drove into the night,
"Merry Christmas to all, Designsensory is out of sight!"

Big Wig Awards

Tue, 22 Nov 11 14:26:59 -0600

Every day, creativity and design are top-of-mind here at Designsensory and, with Halloween near, any excuse to attend an event with costumes and celebrations was more than welcomed. The American Advertising Federation (AAF), Knoxville chapter, recently hosted the second annual Big Wig Awards event, with members of our team among the winners.

Held Halloween week, the evening celebrations were made livelier by many costumed attendees. With my Atari t-shirt, Vans sneakers and corduroy blazer, my disguise was appearing to be a young Wayne Bowman--an industry colleague, AAF member and one of this area’s better-known copywriters.

The awards were created to celebrate the uncelebrated, who have also been instrumental in helping others receive or in nominating others for ADDYs or other creative awards. Enjoying the evening’s lighthearted festivities, I was surprised to hear my name called. I was given the first annual Unsung Hero Award, in appreciation for outstanding dedication and devotion to the principles and ideals of the advertising community.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited and shared a speech that included a short commentary about my personal blog, recognizing the optimism and voice for advertising and disability. The night’s celebrations continued with Haley McCallie, Designsensory’s fall intern, receiving two honors during the evening’s festivities: Best Intern and Graphic Design Student of the Year. We were also glad to see one of our clients, RIVR Media, receive the award for Best Film/Video Production.

Curly Hair, Big Wig

Tue, 22 Nov 11 11:51:40 -0600

Haley McCallie, our fall intern from the University of Tennessee (and AAF Big Wig), recaps her journey here at DS:

When I began the process of looking for an internship for this semester, I already knew that Designsensory was at the top of my list. I have been involved with AIGA since I began the graphic design program at UTK; with Joseph Nother and others from Designsensory a part of AIGA, I knew that they shared similar sensibilities (also, after meeting Joseph, I knew his firm would be a fun place to work). However, even with previous interaction, I was still extremely nervous when I came for my interview. Joseph and Lindsay Miller soon put those feelings to rest. They are so laid-back and personable that, after only a few minutes, you feel as if you have been friends with them for years. After a long conversation, I knew that I really wanted the opportunity to intern here, with their relaxed, fun personalities. I sensed it would be easy to learn from them, and the kind of environment they have created is exactly the kind I hope to permanently work in one day.

When I came to DS, I expected to likely get one big project that I could work on and fine-tune all semester. I hoped for the opportunity to work on branding, websites and/or client relations but, most importantly, learn how a design firm operates and where I will fit in as graphic designer (you know, all that stuff they don't teach you in school). About halfway through my stint at DS, it sunk in that I still have much to learn. There are many things that no one takes the time to teach you in school. After a small and private panic attack, everyone assured me that all new grads start out this way. In our field, we will be constantly inventing, evolving and adapting (if we want to do great work), and this is exactly where I am at this time (even if I wish I were a little closer to the "do great work part").

After almost three months at DS, with my time soon sadly coming to an end, I am happy to report that I now have many projects under my belt--from website rotationals to printed banners to a brand refresh to website design. They have given me the experience of a "real" employee with "real" jobs, while taking the time to supplement my education along the way. Long story short, DS has been everything I expected and more. If that wasn't enough, with their support, I just won two AAF Big Wig Awards (for best intern and graphic design student of the year)! I that doesn't cure my recent battle with senioritis, I don't know what will.

Many thanks to everyone at DS, especially those who have really taken the time to teach me. I hope I've served you well. LONG LIVE DS!

Thanks Haley for your hard work! Interested in a design internship? Contact us to apply.

Party Time

Fri, 21 Oct 11 10:19:16 -0500

We're not shy about it. At Designsensory, we're all about parties. We spend many hours together and look forward to championing small victories in each others' lives--birthdays, holidays, baby showers (a relatively recent addition), farewells and weddings.

The same goes with our clients. We work closely together for a period of time and celebrate with them as a project nears completion. This month, we had the pleasure of attending a website preview party for The Legacy Centre for Family Business and Entrepreneurship. The icing on the cake was a preview demo of their soon-to-launch website.

We've worked with Ed and Cindy Seaver over the past few months to create a dynamic website that embodies their vision and offers a rich set of web-based benefits for members. One key feature to the site is an area that gives members access to an expert panel of family-owned business men and women, ready to answer any business-related questions. The Legacy Centre lovingly calls these professionals, "Tennessee's Finest 'Stache' of Quality Experts."

At the party, Cindy took every opportunity to celebrate the newly developed branding for The Legacy Centre, adding sprinkles of "mustachiness" (see photos below).

Like Designsensory, The Legacy Centre knows how to throw a great party! Looking forward to the official launch of their site soon.

Goodwill Vintage Fashion Show

Thu, 22 Sep 11 15:18:45 -0500

As a graphic designer with Designsensory, I help transform ideas into visions. Now, more clearly recognizing what Goodwill Industries-Knoxville embodies, I see how that remarkable organization transforms the lives of their employees and the community. When I came to Designsensory a year ago, I knew Goodwill as a thrift store. Today, I’m a grateful witness to Goodwill’s empowering and continuous contribution.

I just attended my second Goodwill Vintage Fashion Show, where reused fashions are in vogue! To show appreciation for the continued support from the Knoxville community, Goodwill hosts this and several other events each year as fundraisers and to inform people of the organization’s good work.

Models walking the runway aren’t simply fashion-forward. Rather, the volunteers, community members, Goodwill staff and their clients pay it forward, by supporting such a good cause. Designsensory’s pro bono design efforts helped promote the show to the community.

All proceeds from the fashion show go to support Goodwill Industries-Knoxville’s local mission of providing vocational services and employment opportunities to people with barriers to employment.

Through Designsensory’s involvement with Goodwill, I have gotten to observe, firsthand, the impact made by Goodwill job training. We use the Goodwill cleaning service at our office, and over the last year I’ve become acquainted with this cheerful team. Randy, shown here, is a super sports fan, always smiling and asking about our day as he sweeps floors and empties wastebaskets. It feels pretty good to be linked with a program that reaches so many people through Knoxville’s 24 Goodwill stores and five employment training and rehabilitation centers throughout the area.

At Thursday’s Vintage Fashion Show, we heard from a few Goodwill clients who have benefitted from the job training programs. For her 18 years of dedication to Goodwill, Peggy Nenninger was named Goodwill’s International Volunteer of the Year, a very prestigious award decided by Goodwill International’s Volunteer Service Board. After high school graduation, Allison Koontz enrolled in three Goodwill programs. In Work Adjustment, Allison learned basic employment behaviors and work habits; through Driver’s Education, she obtained her license and is now responsible for her own transportation; through Work Keys, Allison received social and life skills training as well as preparation for Pellissippi State Community College’s placement test. Allison is now enrolled in nine hours of classes at Pellissippi State. Jeremy Wallace mastered two Goodwill programs, equipping him to drive and run machinery at Goodwill’s Material Recovery Facility in Russellville, TN. Jeremy also volunteers at the West Hamblen Fire Department and has competed in Goodwill’s Fire and Rescue Challenge.

Overall, I scored some pretty cool new shoes, a retro hip winter coat to cover my ever-expanding pregnant belly and a semiformal dress. I enjoyed a delicious dinner and a fabulous fashion show. Leaving the event, I knew that the entire evening was dedicated to helping people in need. You might say that I’m fresh on the heels of sharing new things about Goodwill every day, including my fantastic new $4 shoes!

Jaclyn Learns the Ropes, Summer 2011

Fri, 19 Aug 11 13:14:40 -0500

Editorial by Jaclyn. Edited to fit your screen:

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know what tipped me off that my experience as Designsensory’s summer intern was going to be a good one, but “sausage and biscuits” doesn’t exactly sound like the most legitimate answer, does it? I swear, though, at my interview, when Joseph Nother and Lindsay Miller were offering me a tasty breakfast as we discussed the “fine pieces of art” in his office (I’m referring to a children’s plastic buzzer-emitting wand and other “figurines” on his shelves) before actually discussing my portfolio, I knew this place would be great for me.

Designsensory has so much character. Even art on the walls is largely staff-created. The staff is so stylish that I practically have to wear a prom dress to keep up! You should see the stellar shoe collections belonging to Alison Ashe, Paula Solomon and Lindsay Miller. It puts my 54-pair stockpile to absolute shame. Everyone at DS has such great taste, with the occasional exception of the controller of the satellite radio. Ha!

The Designsensory kitchen is another story entirely. Something ridiculous is always going on in there: Josh Vittetoe is scrambling eggs; Sarah Mills is baking cookies; Alison Ashe is roasting pumpkin seeds; Susan Napier-Sewell is microwaving frozen spinach; Joseph is pan-cooking a T-bone. The community food table is one of the funniest (and best) phenomena. My already awesome office experience was further heightened by Anne Brogdon arriving with some insanely delicious homemade Magpies’ mini-cupcakes (demolished in under 5 minutes, no lie); another day, Susan Napier-Sewell brought in 4 dozen delectable vanilla thumbprint cookies from VG’s Bakery. It took a bit longer for the staff to work through a gigantic box of peanuts (from University of Tennessee Medical Center), but those, too, are gone.

However, all is not fun and games. Work is the constant, I promise. And, I learned, of course. To be honest, I didn’t go into the internship expecting to be a ninja designer by August. For me, this experience was about discovering and understanding the dynamics of a professional design firm, and Designsensory completely surpassed my expectations. Each person who works here contributes something more than the job that they were hired to do. I’ve always thought that the bestpart of a job is the family that comes along with it, and these fantastic people definitely have that. (Staffers Sarah Mills and Josh Loebner embodied this philosophy, getting married recently!)

This blog post may not be very telling or specifically indicative of my work at DS but, overall, I think the most important thing that I take away from Designsensory has little to do with the new portfolio items that I’ve acquired. Rather, if my time here is any indication of my future life and career as a designer, then it’s definitely something to look forward to, not stress out about. I also have learned to be more cautious with enormous cups of coffee around costly electronics.

Thanks very much to the very talented, creative, friendly staff at Designsensory. You guys made this experience what it was.

---

Well, Jaclyn, thanks for being the super cool, super fun, super talented intern we knew you'd be. - JN

Hard Work Pays Off

Thu, 18 Aug 11 12:01:56 -0500

The start of the school year signals a new season of amazing cheer and dance competitions, but our work with Varsity Knoxville begins long before August. For weeks, we've collaborated on ideas for the upcoming season. It's exciting to design for kids and teenagers but, make no mistake, these cheerleaders and dancers are dedicated young athletes. We had to fuel our inner Sasha Fierce with a few 5-hour Energies, but we were able to get our creative ideas rolling.

The challenge was to develop new ad creative for 5 brands--giving each its own unique style and personality. Here's the process that helped us get it all done:

1. Select themes that differentiate each brand
We started by focusing our creative ideas to one key theme per brand: Futuristic, All-American, Hero, Dreamlike and World Innovators.

2. Develop our themes into concepts
Each theme had an associated look and feel, sketches, photo shoot direction with poses and props, headline ideas and notes documenting the personality of the ads.

3. Get client approval
We took our themes, concepts and sketches to the idea paint wall, charting the course for all ad creative for the upcoming year.

4. Acquire assets needed to create the ads
Varsity Knoxville recruited active cheerleaders and dancers from across the country to join us for three days of a strategically planned photo shoot extravaganza at Jean-Philippe's studio.

5. Deliver finalized ads
The final ads prove our process pays off! We're looking forward to extending these themes throughout the year.

Design or cheer, it takes a team working together to be competitive.

Helping PetSafe Promote the Launch of a New Product

Tue, 26 Jul 11 21:57:00 -0500

Here, at Designsensory, visual design is at the forefront of what we do, but our capabilities go well beyond creating what is seen, to where, when and how it will be seen via media planning.

PetSafe partnered with us to develop a strategy, media plan and media placements for their Stay + Play Wireless Fence campaign. Regionally launched in Birmingham, AL, Nashville, TN, and Richmond, VA, the integrated marketing included print advertising, television commercials, online, social media and public relations.

Strategy and research are central to media planning before, during and after the campaign. Awareness, attitude and usage studies were conducted, revealing what people knew about PetSafe in each market prior to the advertising.

Also, before we launched the campaign, separate A/B testing and focus groups were conducted on the print ads and TV commercial. Once the creative was adjusted and approved, we met with the PR and social media teams to make sure there would be a consistent message throughout the campaign.

Here is a 10-step process to developing a solid media plan:

1. Learn about the product and campaign goals

2. Develop creative

3. Know the customer

4. Agree on a budget

5. Determine markets

6. Gather media info

7. Develop media recs

8. Negotiate rates

9. Place media

10. Monitor campaign and refine tactics

Media planning can often be an intensive process but, if properly executed, well worth the effort for publicity and profits.

Learn more about our how our media planning, strategy and marketing capabilities integrate and augment the value of our world-class creative, design and technical services.

2011 Addy Award Wins

Mon, 28 Mar 11 11:19:28 -0500

Awesome work, Team Designsensory! All Designsensory entries won—with a total of 11—gold, silver and bronze awards. Here's the breakdown:

2 Gold ADDY Awards:

Goodwill Industries - Integrated Print Campaign
Goodson Brothers Coffee Company - Brand Identity and Packaging

7 Silver ADDY Awards:

City of Maryville - Foothills Fall Festival Website
Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce - Corporate Identity Rebranding
Jersey City Economic Development Corporation - Website
North Carolina Outward Bound School- Website
Tennessee Wesleyan College- Website
Secret Safe Place for Newborns - Integrated Campaign
Wesley House - Corporate Identity Rebranding

2 Bronze Citations of Excellence:

FlipFest - Print Publication
Ober Gatlinburg - Website

Other highlights of the evening included recognition of American Advertising Federation local board members, including two of Designsensory’s staff, Sarah Mills, designer, and Josh Loebner, strategist. Paula Solomon, business development director for Designsensory, was in attendance, stating, “Our agency is growing by leaps and bounds, and these wins affirm to our clients and staff that we’re one of the best agencies in the region.”

The Knoxville ADDY Awards is the first tier of the three-tiered National ADDY Awards, the advertising industry’s largest recognition of creative excellence. Founded in 1959, the American Advertising Federation of Knoxville is a professional organization that promotes excellence and awareness of advertising in the greater Knoxville area.

KTSC Website Launch Party

Fri, 28 Jan 11 13:03:38 -0600

Unveiling their new website with fanfare and friends, the Knoxville Tourism & Sports Corporation hosted a launch party in the Sunsphere. Media, city and county officials, area business leaders and the Designsensory team helped celebrate the site as a new way to connect with Knoxville and all that it has to offer. A short video supplementing the launch party’s in-person walk-through highlighted all the robust features and visitor interactions offered by the new site.

Momentum for the site continues to grow with media coverage and interviews of top KTSC officials.

Check it out at Knoxville.org.

Case Study: Athletic Championships

Fri, 21 Jan 11 18:34:13 -0600

Updating the Logo

One brand that we've had the pleasure to work with for a number of years is Athletic Championships. Athletic Championships is a brand of cheer and dance competitions that are as high-energy as they are full of fun.

Each year brings a new season for Athletic Championships, and each year we become involved in producing banners, ads, forms – you name it – to set the look and feel for the year. As a part of last year's efforts, we also refreshed the Athletic Championships logo.

The previous logo (shown below), while well intentioned, wasn't communicating the premium experience provided by Athletic Championships. In addition, it was hard to read and couldn't be easily reproduced in 1-color. By simply rearranging and tweaking some of the elements, we were able to fix these problems and align the logo with the premium quality of their brand.

Also, by moving the "A" symbol above the words instead of behind, the "A" is empowered to stand on its own and become a true symbol of the brand. Although a seemingly small change, it has laid the groundwork for allowing this brand to expand and blossom in the past two years.

Expanding Applications

Below are a few samples of the early applications of the new Athletic logo. In the year the logo was changed, it was applied it to banners, large event displays, registration forms, name tags and a myriad of other things.

The ability of the logo to be rendered in white on top of colorful and vibrant imagery has been taken advantage of in the pieces we created.

Going Big Time

For this year's season, Athletic Championships asked us to create a new backdrop for their live events. As you can see below, the backdrops they were using still featured the old logo and lacked the visual punch and energy of the performances going on in front of it. Bouncing ideas back and for with Athletic Championships, we pushed the logo even farther, adding dimensionality to allow it to come alive in a futuristic space scene radiating with energy beams.

To top it off, the finished background was 120 feet wide – talk about visual punch! We couldn't be happier with the way it turned out and there is even talk of adding LED lighting to it in the future. All of this would not have been possible without the improvements we made last year to the logo. It just goes to show the importance and value of building your brand on a strong visual foundation.

As a parting shot, check out this video of the backdrop in action:

2011 Trends: A Few Thoughts

Thu, 20 Jan 11 10:28:57 -0600

If we’ve learned nothing else over the course of 2010, design, advertising and technology is in a continual state of flux, and we believe the changes that have taken place, and those yet to come are important to our profession, clients and most importantly, to our client-partners’ many customers.

Here at Designsensory, we’ve asked our team to gaze into the future and share some predictions for 2011. Here’s what a few people have to say:

Technology Sync
Start a checkout or plan on your phone, finish it on the regular website or app later, share your experience with a video from your phone while your friends stalk you with geoawareness.
– Brandon Rochelle

Mobile Contexts
According to an article I read in their in-flight magazine; Someone from Google was quoted as saying 2011 is going to be the year of “mobile” applications. Using your smart phone to decide what can I do right here right now at this moment in this location. Using your phone as a boarding pass is one example.
– Kelly Raines

Web Standards Evolve
From a technical point of view (albeit technology that will eventually effect function of sites in a profound way), HTML 5 and CSS 3 are looking closer to becoming a reality. They still probably won’t become commonplace in 2011, but with the launch of Internet Explorer 9 we’ll get closer to that, and hopefully see an end to wasting countless hours of development time for IE 6.

Something I’m particularly excited about too is the melding of ecommerce and social media platforms. That JC Penny has their entire inventory on offer on Facebook, without the need for the shopper to ever leave the Facebook environment, is astonishing. We’ll see much more of this, I’m sure.

This is a major company apparently talking about how one day they won’t see a need for a website at all, they’ll conduct all their online business via social networks – while I don’t agree quite to that extent, I think this is something we need to keep a particular eye towards: http://vimeo.com/15632643
– Samuel Clarke

Web Design Evolves
This article from Webdesign tuts+ has some great predictions for 2011.
– Sarah Mills

HTML5
More HTML5 use, especially around geo-positioning and video playing
– Michael Pryfogle

Pervasive Tablet Support
As this Mashable article pointed out at the end of 2010, “more and more web developers are designing their web apps with the tablet form factor and features, like multi-touch, in mind.” This trend will gain more ground in 2011 and will likely bleed into general website design as well. The importance of providing users with custom-tailored mobile experiences will also grow this year, both web and apps.
– Mark Schafer

Don’t Be Evil
So companies are going to be less evil in 2011? Trust me. Google’s unofficial motto “Don’t Be Evil” is something many companies are embracing and sharing. Corporate citizenship and relationships between brands and their communities will continue to grow as an important element in sharing company and brand stories. Communication has long ago moved beyond product differentiators to a world where transparency and immediacy of dialogue can take place between brands, their customers and the community at large.
– Josh Loebner

Innovative, Designed Experiences Lead The Way
Consumers continue to crave and demand well-designed and not only functional but pleasant experiences. These experiences are blurred and pervasive now too:

An engaging conceptual print ad with a QR code leads to a easy-to-use mobile website that facilities an ecommerce order. The user can track on an easy to use website or phone app. The product comes with elevated, easy-to-open packaging. The product is tactile, and pleasant to use. The manual is small and environmentally sustainable deferring to usage videos on the website and Youtube. An email confirms successful delivery and cements the pleasant open-box experience with a human touch. The email also links to Facebook and Twitter to allow the user to open a dialogue not only with the company but other buyers of the product. And onward…

Technology and thoughtful design power this but what remains important is business planning that puts human-centered, empathic experiences first.
– Joseph Nother

By the way, we’d also like to hear from you on upcoming trends, predictions and forecasts.

The Intersection of Design & Business

Wed, 27 Oct 10 09:51:45 -0500

In his latest book, Design Is How It Works: How the Smartest Companies Turn Products into Icons, author Jay Greene shares insights from designers, CEOs and strategists. Case studies of Porsche, Nike, LEGO, OXO, REI, Clif Bar, Ace Hotels and Virgin Atlantic provide separate yet similar looks into design cultures of the companies and their customers.

A key element of these successful design approaches is for the company to truly listen and empathize with their customers, to understand their needs and how the products and/or services fit into the context of their lifestyles.

Rather than stay inside safe and conservative parameters, company leaders were also willing to take risks that might result in failure, and were able to accept, admit and grow from those failures when they happened. In other words, they employed Design Thinking.

Design Thinking is a way to solve any problem.

A hallmark takeaway from the book is the rise of Design Thinking as an approach to overall business strategy and consumer engagement that extends well beyond traditional ideas of where design is supposed to fit within the model.

Design Thinking combines empathy, creativity and rationality to solve problems in a balanced way.

Most folks think of design as an applied art, as an action or expression that occurs after someone else analyzes, deduces and solves a problem. The issue with this approach is that analytical thinking does not bear much innovative fruit. The act of design is then reduced to simply translating and expressing a derivative idea, product or experience.

Last year, Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, presented on this very subject at the annual AIGA Design Conference. His presentation (watch the video, download a presentation PDF) delved into contrasts between two dominant styles of thinking: Analytical and Intuitive. He argues that the process of design (Design Thinking) balances the two approaches and confers competitive advantages to businesses.

Design not only concerns itself with the expression of things but can and should play a central role in actually defining them (that's the "thinking" part). What's required is:

• a skilled designer/strategist that can understand the language of business,
• a willingness to engage in an exploratory design process,
• an openness by business managers to challenge deep-seated conventions with insightful questioning.

Here at Designsensory, Design Thinking is something we are very passionate about. It is our design process and something we advocate to prospects and deliver to customers. Design Thinking infuses creative ideas seamlessly into all aspects of our process---business planning, visual communications, technology, strategy and content development---allowing us to deliver greater value to our customers and their end-users.

Golf Tee Typography

Mon, 11 Oct 10 13:05:51 -0500

After months of work, we completed one of the largest, more interesting internal projects to date. Determined to hang something meaningful on the walls of our new office, we embarked on a journey to create an 8-by-4-foot wall art composed of ordinary golf tees and a modified piece of pegboard. Check out the end result. . . .

The Process

In line with how these things seem to go, the process was neither as easy nor as brief as first anticipated. We needed a high enough resolution to clearly display letters of this size, so we began by doubling the number of holes found in an ordinary sheet of pegboard. Put simply, we drilled about 4,000 holes. For the geeks out there, the resolution of our board ended up being about 1.9 hpi (holes per inch).

We also sanded, framed and painted the board to achieve a finished look. After moving the board to our office, we soon discovered that the 10,000 golf tees we had ordered to fill the holes were too large. Actually, Brandon discovered this in an afternoon of epic frustration as he attempted to hammer the ill-fitting tees in the board.

After ordering appropriately sized tees, the tedious process of creating the design ensued. A full-size template of the design was created on the computer, and then tile printed onto letter-sized sheets of copy paper to create a full-size template. After several weeks of team effortâ��pushing tees into the boardâ��and with Lindsayâ��s motivational mantra of â��at least 5 tees a day,â�� weâ��re finally done!

The Design

One of the underlying virtues of this piece is in its ability to be changed. The tees can be rearranged to create a new design. That said, as we put a lot of thought into what we wanted the â��firstâ�� design to be, it wonâ��t be changed anytime soon.

Youâ��ll find the same design on the back of our business card. It says it all: we help our clients connect with their audiences by combining world-class design and technology across a variety of outlets. Not only that, we provide the strategy to integrate a clientâ��s message across all touchpoints.

If you havenâ��t seen the golf tees yet, be sure to drop by and check it out.

Inside out & outside in, part one

Fri, 03 Sep 10 12:34:22 -0500

Creativity effects creativity.

Regarding Designsensory's latest digital launches and our ongoing decorating-our-new-space fervor, one could ponder a conundrum worthier than the proverbial chicken and egg: Are we so inspired along the pathway to fulfill our clients' dreams that original ideas billow over into our personal space, or is it the other way around? Riddle you not, we will leave the question where it lives, between furrowed brows, and initiate a reveal of those client pathways we've traversed of late.

Fall 2010, for Tennessee Dept. of Tourist Development (TDTD), aptly themed Fall Into Adventure, is an enticing riot of colorful images and myriad pursuits for Tennessee travelers.

That Evening Sun, shot in East Tennessee and starring Hal Holbrook, met with critical acclaim, the site evocative of the brilliant production.

Nature & Outdoors (TDTD) presents Tennessee au naturel, ethereally yet earthily, covering parks, recreation, waterways and sports, plants and wildlife, natural wonders and the "Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways" initiative.

Down-home, Maryville’s Foothills Fall Festival floats like a butterfly, alive with concerts, art, and adventures.

Summer 2010 (TDTD) colorfully embraces the Sunny Side of Life, offering up lighthearted summer sojourns, tasty Tennessee fresh edibles and contemporary events.

Further south, Premier Properties of Southwest Florida can now kick back and bask with MarcoIsland.com, BonitaSprings.com and Naples.com.

The new Attractions (TDTD) section packs a wallop, as it explores the fast, fun, quirky, amusing and naturally appealing in the Volunteer State.

Onward and upward to Destination Jersey City, where the site literally sparkles with nightlife sizzle when viewing after the sun is completely down.

And, coming soon to this blog near you: what we've been up to in the world of print and our spirited decorating projects in the Designsensory batcave.

Into High (Tech) Gear: Launching a New Financial Web-App

Wed, 17 Mar 10 15:38:20 -0500

The beginning of March brought us to the end—really the beginning—of a long but satisfying journey. For nearly nine months, we have been hard at work developing a competing product with the likes of Mint and Wesabe. Both products are good at what they promise to do, but for many people who need more "personal attention" they leave much to be desired. Enter Solutions web app found at actfinancially.com.

Late last summer, two women entrepreneurs approached us with a detailed concept for a new financial tracking web application. Drawing on decades of corporate and financial experience, Jo Bittof and Nancy Lowery articulated a vision of a robust, user-friendly financial tracker surrounded and supported by educational materials, coaching and a personal rewards program. Their goal was to create a platform that would allow individuals and families to address bad financial habits the same way people learn to lose weight and get healthy: with an emphasis on education, accountability, habit formation, reinforcement and conditioning.

What is Solutions?

Solutions contains a full-featured set of budget planning and reporting tools. The transaction register is based on manual entry to force the user to maintain top-of-mind awareness of each and every transaction. For convenience, transfers between multiple accounts, cash withdrawals, reconciliation tags and commenting areas are supported under the register. At any time, the user can run reports on their spending and saving patterns as well as comparisons against their ideal budget.

Those interested in learning more about the whys and hows of financial planning and management can turn to two main areas for education and personal growth: the community and coaching sections. Community features forums, where people can ask questions, get opinions, be inspired by others’ successes, and learn from mistakes. A rich knowledge base is made available, easily accessed in the coaching section. There, the user can find skillfully written articles--sorted by topic—as well as quizzes, videos and a blog published by Jo and Nancy.

Finally, Solutions features a rewards system, to reinforce learning and good financial behavior. Each time the user completes a task in Solutions—such as reading an informative article or completing a step toward financial independence--they receive a reward in the form of "Golden Eggs." The eggs can then be redeemed for prizes.

It Takes a Village

As Designsensory moves from project development to release, our role transitions to one of promotion and refinement. We launched a beta-testing program to capture early adopters and early bugs, and now we provide an integrated online-marketing strategy.

Of particular note and pride to me is the sheer breadth and scope Designsensory played in the creation of this product. Starting with the brand identity and positioning we moved through architecture and feature planning, usability and interface prototyping, and design and technical development of the web-application itself. We deployed E-commerce to fulfill the user transactions and wrote the logic behind the rewards tracking. On the marketing side, we have concept, strategy and artwork in place for display, social and email campaigns to get the word out.

To sum it up, our entire team did a bang-up job on this application. The interface is magic, and the logic behind the number tracking, reporting and rewards programs is particularly amazing (woot to our tech team!). Also noteworthy is the detailed and inspired work Mark put into the construction of the user interface. We both worked hard to identify the values of the brand and to structure the flow of an elegant user-interface experience, but Mark stayed on tactical point throughout the whole development. His stamp of diligence stretches across every page, grouping and button, resulting in something cohesively articulated and pleasurable to use.

So, if you are a parent looking to find the money for braces or a recent grad with a new job looking to save for a home check out Solutions today. You bring the goals and it'll help get you there.

DISH: A Hearty Helping of Design

Mon, 15 Mar 10 12:44:04 -0500

Today's post comes from our beloved design intern Erin Slattery. A writer by education but now pursuing a design career, Erin elegantly captures her recent experience at the DISH Conference in Nashville.

***

Last Thursday, I packed up my portfolio and headed off to the DISH conference hosted at Lipscomb University by AIGA Nashville. I figured it would be a nice opportunity to get some feedback on my work and maybe hear a few good words from industry professionals. Little did I know, I was headed for two amazing days of candid advice, industry insights and inspiring words from the creative minds leading the world of design.

The event kicked off with studio tours of Bohan Advertising, Red Pepper, Advocate Printing, St8mnt Design, Lithographics and Anode. Students met at Plaza Artist Supplies, where we signed up for the tours we wanted to attend. I chose Bohan and St8mnt, Bohan being the first on the list.

Mr. David Bohan, CEO and founder of Bohan Advertising greeted us warmly and said he would be our tour guide. He led our small group of 8 through the walls of the renovated industrial building, stopping at each of the massive portfolio pieces adorning the walls. At each pause, he shared with us the concept behind the piece and the collaboration it took to bring the project to completion. We continued the tour, passing individual offices marked only with the work and whiteboard critique hung on the sliding barn door that guarded the busy designer inside. Finally, we stopped in front of a painting of individual colored squares. He explained that this painting was essentially their first office, where the designers were allowed to paint their spaces in any color they liked, allowing the designers to express themselves as they saw fit, helping the company save on redecorating fees. He shared with us the importance of being able to tell a story in every piece we create, a theme I would see repeated throughout the conference. The tour ended with his business card and a warm handshake, and a newfound appreciation on my part for this man who had started from the ground up and built something absolutely amazing.

Next, I headed to St8mnt, which proved a perfect complement to the large firm I had just left. They were a polar opposite, operating in an open office with just four people. They spoke about their former work at recording studios and displayed some of their current projects, offering great advice about keeping positive relations with the people for whom you work. It was nice to see another side of design in the real world, although I did find it ironic that they too had sliding barn doors. Maybe there was a sale.

Day gave way to night and the conference participants congregated back at the university, waiting on a speaker of which most of us only knew about his hair. The speaker was Stanley Hainsworth, well noted for his work at Nike, Lego and Starbucks, and of course for his hair. He spoke candidly with us about his background, and the ability to look at design outside traditional bounds. Design, he said, was a great combination of not only print, interactive and the like, but also industrial design. He spoke about the need to tell a story in every project, and to remember that designers, in the end, are there to sell. What I found most fascinating is that when asked where he got his inspiration he merely said, "Get out of the studio." Thank you Mr. Hainsworth. I will remember that for the next sunny day.

The next day began early, with breakfast and talks by Project M and Mohawk Paper. Industry professionals shared some great insight about getting a fantastic design job. After lunch, students split into two groups and gathered for the portfolio review. Area professionals donated their time and energy, offering some insightful advice on each student's portfolio. Critique, at least in my case, was limited to not only work, but extended into design environments that might be a good fit in the future, and tips on the importance of branding oneself. For this insight alone, the 3-hour drive was worth its weight in gold.

Creative Circus, a portfolio school from Georgia, and a panel discussion rounded out the afternoon. IO Studio donated a MacBook Pro to the Best of Show winner. Prizes were raffled off, and goodbyes were said.

Once again, I packed up my portfolio, heading home to Knoxville. This time I was not thinking about getting some helpful advice on my portfolio, but rather thinking how excited I am to work on that next piece.

And, possibly, to get some barn doors if things work out right.

Endless thanks to AIGA Nashville for hosting such an inspiring event, also to the volunteers and professionals that donated their time to make it so.

2010 ADDY Award Results

Tue, 23 Feb 10 21:56:31 -0600

Way to go, Team Designsensory! As you know from my last post, all eight of our submissions received recognition at this year's Addy Awards program. The "unknown" was the color of the awards.

Well, at the end of the evening this past Saturday, we proudly walked away with 4 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze Addy Awards from the 2010 competition (featuring work created in 2009). Our gold winners are entered into the regional District competition, and we have elected to also send one of our silver winning entries.

Here are the details:

Gold ADDYs:

• Event branding and print collateral work for Lifesaver Luau 2009

• The digital experience for a new Tennessee Tourism initiative called Tennessee Trails & Byways

• The seasonal winter website for Tennessee Tourism

• The new visual identity for Knoxify

Silver ADDYs:

• Website development for Bonita Springs

• Print collateral work with Miller Energy Resources

Bronze Citations of Merit:

• Branding campaign and print collateral work for Premier Athletics 2009 Summer Camp

• Magazine publications for First Tennessee Bank

We thank the folks at AAF Knoxville for a festive, memorable awards show, send congrats to all the winners and participants, and offer a heartfelt note of appreciation to our clients for extending us the opportunity to create.

Clean Sweep

Sat, 20 Feb 10 15:10:30 -0600

I am proud to say this blog post title has two meanings. One, we are slowly making headway with all the accumulated junk that made the trip from our old office to the new one. Of late, we had Goodwill pick up several older computers, screens and monitors for recycling. This action has restored some semblance of order to our storage closets, bringing us one small step closer to putting together an open house.

The other meaning, perhaps of great blogging merit, is our sweep of the Addy Awards. Like last year, I am happy to report that all of our 2009-2010 submissions have earned recognition. Again, the question now is what color are we going to walk away with---bronze, silver or glittery gold.

Being a proud American Advertising Federation member we thought to not only shamelessly plug our success but also the AAF Knoxville event itself. The awards presentation is Saturday, February 20 at the Crowne Plaza in Downtown Knoxville. It is at said proceedings where one finds out the color of their victory. Needless to say, the event is a victory for all Knoxville creatives! Congratulations to everyone and check back with our blog for an update of the final results!

Here are our 2009-2010 entries:

• Magazine publications for First Tennessee Bank
• The new visual identity for Knoxify
• Print collateral work with Miller Energy Resources
• Branding campaign and print collateral work for Premier Athletics 2009 Summer Camp
• Website development for Bonita Springs
• Event branding and print collateral work for Lifesaver Luau 2009
• The digital experience for a new Tennessee Tourism initiative called Tennessee Trails & Byways
• The seasonal winter website for Tennessee Tourism

Which color (gold, silver, bronze) would you give to each?

Beginning the Year with a Farewell

Tue, 05 Jan 10 18:06:39 -0600

As we say hello to a new year we find ourselves saying farewell to a friend and colleague. After several years of service, Sara Lewis has decided to pursue an alternate career path and will be leaving the Designsensory family as a full-time employee this January. As a tribute to her service and time with us we thought we'd simply testify to her awesomeness as we wish her well in the future.

"It has been excellent to work with Sara - as my very first job in a strange new country, I was especially pleased to discover a work colleague who could be so professional and hard-working, yet still retain a great sense of humor and consistently upbeat attitude. Thanks, Sara! I will be sorry to see you leave the company, and wish you the very best of luck with your new career."

- Sam

"Sara is fluent in lolcat and was always happy to chat with me in that vernacular when the situation called for it. And the situation called for it often."

- Alison

"When I first joined Designsensory, it was Sara who made me feel at home. Lost in a sea of anagrams and protocol, she guided me through and helped me become a healthy, happy DSer. Always a smiling face, she made even the worst client requests seem mere trifles. I'm glad she's only going to be a small jump away."

- Anne

"In my one month working with you, Sara, I’ve come to respect you immensely as a co-worker and like you very much as a friend. I will be coming to nab you soon for some shopping, gabbing, cupcakes and ice cream so start saving your pennies!"

- Paula

"Sara's great! She works hard and is fun to be around. We took a detour one day to go up in the sunsphere for a little tourism research. (Then we had to stop by the candy factory for a little taste bud research.) I'll miss her happiness."

- Lindsay

"Sara has the unique ability to bring order and organization to the office when there might otherwise be chaos. This unique skill, her happy personality, and her cake-making experiments (of which I was a happy taste tester) will surely be missed."

- Mark

"What will we do without Sara? She managed both the best and worst of situations with grace and humor. As Isaac Newton said, 'Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.' In other words, Sara."

- Susan H.

"Sara Lewis...where to start? First, lets change your middle name to Rocks, because that's all you ever did, was 'rock!' You made life so much easier and I am forever going to miss the pleasure of working with you. I do wish you the best of luck in your new adventures and hope nothing but the best for you!! Good bye my friend."

- Josh

"Tis true . . . where you are concerned . . . 'Parting is such sweet sorrow.' Working with you has been a joy! You always come back with answers (good answers!) to issues raised; you are quite unflappable (and, goodness knows, we have surely tried your patience on a daily basis!); and you are most witty & pleasant (great tools in the workplace). So, I say not goodbye, rather "a bientot," which the French use as an informal farewell, meaning "See you later." Take care and great success in your new position."

- Susan S.

"Anytime, we lose a member of the team I am not only reminded of how fleeting time is but also how special a family we have become. I am reminded of how for a period of time our lives become intertwined, and you learn to appreciate the family, friends and colleagues that bring meaning to your short time on Earth. On a daily basis we fight the good fight shoulder to shoulder and it is those experiences that are minted in the history of our lives.

But with Sara, that loss is deeper. Since her first day, I have been honored and impressed with her devotion to spirit of Designsensory. She is professional yet fun, confident yet humble, diligent yet flexible and she has helped us grow this company with her dedication to service. As time went on she earned our trust, and as we grew larger she became the real face of Designsensory. The time spent with her has made us all better people as she has led the way with her compassion, strength and understanding for the needs of our customers, vendors and other team members. Now in the wake of her departure we must confront the void of her absence and reflect on the lessons she has taught us.

It has been a great privilege to have lived and worked closely with Sara. I am confident we will find a suitable successor but that special spark of positive energy, that ample and generous laughter and unwavering smile will never be fully replaced. Thank you Sara."

- Joseph

Sara, you will be sorely missed. Best of luck in the future and remember you will always have friends here at Designsensory.

Exploring New Ground. A Retrospective on The Tennessee Trails & Byways Website

Mon, 07 Dec 09 17:41:59 -0600

Several weeks ago, Designsensory proudly and excitedly played a crucial part in the launch of a new Tennessee statewide tourism initiative: Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways. Governor Phil Bredesen, along with the Commissioner of Tourist Development, Susan Whitaker, announced an initiative that will take Tennessee Tourism to the next level.

The premise is simple: most travelers visit well-known cities within a state or region. Unfortunately, this often leaves so much left to be discovered begging the question: Is there an easy way to get people to leave the tried-and-true behind and explore new things. Tennessee's new tourism initiative answers that call.

The mandate from the State on this project could not have been more clear---create a wildly memorable website for people to engage a new ground-breaking, state-wide tourism initiative in Tennessee. We were simply told "Have fun and just run with this one." Well, we did!

This was one of those projects where we threw ourselves into an idea not exactly knowing how we would pull it off. Let me just say, I love the pressure and creative breakthroughs that come from this type of scenario. Creatively, my goals for the user experience were quite clear: meaningful movement, whimsical yet contextually-specific imagery, and visually something different from the conventional page and site structure. We wanted movement---not gimicky but something that made sense within the concept.

In surveying possible new ways to create movement without Flash I came across a jQuery plug-in called jParallax. As usual, our tech team and Josh, in particular, worked a miracle to get past the learning curve and make it work with everything else. The integration of this plug-in allowed us to implement the key conceptual element of the website---the left-to-right, east-to-west browsing action of the view-port area. Later, we would return to this code to deploy custom interactive trail maps based on the graphical print map found in the brochures.

It's quite incredible to think that the entire site, which when all the trails finish development and go live will include thousands of backroad finds and hidden gems all served up from essentially one "page". In the end, what is most experimental is not the visual or technical design but the organization and browsing behavior. This website could have easily evolved into a typical "menu, click-to list, click-to tertiary page with a sidebar" routine. Instead, as the emotional appeal of the initiative suggests, we left our comfort zone and explored new ground. Hopefully, the ends will be as satisfying as the means.

The early feedback could not have been more promising. Here is a videocast from a well-known online design resource (Thank you Unmatched Style):

tnvacation.com/trails from Unmatched Style on Vimeo.

Anyway, give the website a go and see what you think. Better yet, travel to Tennessee and experience the trails firsthand. As the initiative blossoms over time, we hope the interactive experience leaves a memorable impression with the explorer in all of us compelling people to...hit the trail!

***

If you want to learn more about the website, visit our portfolio page. You can also interact with the initiatve on social platforms (courtesy the hard work of our partner agency Paramore|Redd). Participate in the development of the trails on Facebook, stay informed on Twitter and post images from the trail to Flickr.

Under Construction, Part 2

Wed, 04 Nov 09 08:33:32 -0600

Great progress has been made on the space since my last post. This pics show the progression of various architectural features at about the mid-way point of construction. One of the elements we are excited to see rendered is our entryway ceiling. Above is the framing for the circle feature. Here is the frame drywalled and integrated:

The other element we are all excited to put to good use is our new conference room. Lately, we have not been able to fit our entire team into our conference room let alone larger client teams. Thankfully, that will all change with our new space.

Our new open area has elevated drywall ceilings and great natural light. This will be a huge improvement over our current cave-like collaborative area.

And, of course, your truly and Brandon will need to find some new furniture to fill our new larger offices. The main reason for the expanded personal office space is so we have a smaller area to hold small team meetings, critiques and scrum sessions. Here is the framing to my office:

That's not to say it has been a walk in the park. It's amazing how easy it is to take the most mundane things for granted until you realize what goes into making it so transparent in everyday lives. Take electrical power for example. Due to scheduling and logistical issues, the majority of the build-out will have been rendered with a generator as on-site power has been absent.

As I write this, we look (and have) to move in 10 days. Fingers-crossed.

Making and Thinking in Memphis

Wed, 21 Oct 09 13:28:47 -0500

Two weekends ago, I had the opportunity to attend AIGA's Make/Think national design conference. It was a great experience that was as fun as it was inspiring. The theme of the conference (Make/Think) focused on the designer's dual role of both making artifacts and solving problems with creative thinking. It also provided multiple opportunities to engage in both activities. Here are a few of the things I learned at Make/Think:

You can do anything that you want. Really.
As I heard Stefan Sagmeister describe the things he learned from his year-long sabatical in Bali, it occured to me that the solutions to a design problem really can be anything. So often we model our work after existing solutions that we limit ourselves in what we can achieve. Watch Sagmeister describe the Casa da Música identity (skip to 10:00) to see what I mean.

Making things is fun, and I need to do more of it.
Before the conference, I had been thinking that I needed to draw more. For me (and I imagine it to be the same with most designers), my love for art and design began with drawing as a child. Drawing anything and everything for the pure joy of drawing.

At the conference, I got a chance to draw for the joy of it by participating in Stefan Bucher's workshop on how to draw ink-blot monsters. My end result wasn't nearly as cool as Stefan Bucher's monsters, but the experience of drawing was what I needed.

In the same way, participating in the Hatch Show Print letterpress workshop provided the joy of making something beautiful with the simple elements of wood, ink, and paper. As a designer in the digital age, it was a great reminder to step away from the computer every once and a while and just make something.

"Our approach to design creates the value."
This quote comes from perhaps the most impactful speaker I heard at Make/Think: David Butler, the vice president of global design at Coke. He challenged his audiences to take a holistic approach to design – thinking about the system within which a particular design or product exists instead of narrowly focusing on the minutia of design.

It was great food for thought and was fascinating to hear about how those ideas have played out in real life at Coke. It also has me thinking about the different systems which I work within and how those can be leveraged for greater value through design. Be sure to check out the recent Fast Company article featuring David Butler if you haven't already.

Connect. As the rest of our design team has unfortunately found out by experience (obviously I think this was Joseph's motive in sending me), I could literally discuss for hours the different people, experiences, and ideas I encountered at Make/Think. So, as this is a blog post and not a book, let me close with some pictures and end with an open invitation for designers and non-designers to connect with me if you want to hear more.

Stefan Bucher presenting on the main stage

A slide from the Hatch Show Print affinity session

3 floors worth of designers

Main Street

Under Construction, Part 1

Fri, 25 Sep 09 15:48:08 -0500

As all 12 of our readers have probably noticed, our blog posts have been far and few between for the past several months. Now, what reason could there be for this travesty?

Have we run out of things to say or post? Yeah, right. That'll be the day.

Have we gotten so lazy, the mere thought of having to type on a keyboard is met with the strongest dose of apathy? Not so much. I can't think of one person in our office that would fit the bill for this.

Are we busy enough that finding the time to write is coming at the risk of missing out on the next episodes of "Mad Men"? There is truth in this but certainly not the real reason.

No, the reason largely rests on one bit of news: after over four years in our current home, Designsensory will be moving into our new digs in October!

The truth is, we have simply outgrown our space. That, by itself, is great news. What Brandon and I didn't know was how complicated and time-consuming this process would be.

It started back in early spring when we canvased Knoxville for our potential new home. Doing this during an economic downturn posed both challenges and opportunities, but in the end we found a great space with the right numbers that made it all work. We closed at the end of August, and construction began in earnest the first of September.

Here is the new space in all of its glory---it even came with plant life!

Gravel prepped for the concrete pour.

Look at the shiny, new concrete sub-floor.

The red line indicates a wall and, in this case, shows the new conference room area and Sara and Lindsay's new offices.

Check back for the latest news on our new space. We hope to be settled by the end of October. And, don't worry (because I know you are all worried), we will try harder to post more often between now and then. :)

Demystifying Direct Mail, Part 3

Fri, 24 Jul 09 15:10:20 -0500

This continues our series of introductory posts on designing for direct mail. Part 1 introduced your friend at the post office, the Mailpiece Design Analyst, the basic mailpiece shapes, and some helpful online resources. In Part 2, we looked more closely at the shapes and other ways that the USPS categorizes mail. Here in Part 3, we examine requirements for getting your mailpiece through the USPS's processing equipment.

Nonmachinable mail
A mailpiece is nonmachinable if it has any physical characteristic which prevents it from being processed by the post office’s equipment, and is subject to a surcharge. Unless you are doing something unusual with your mailpiece on purpose and electing to have it processed manually at extra cost, your goal is to make all mail machinable by meeting all of the specific guidelines in the reference documents available to you (and with the help of your Mailpiece Design Analyst, printer, and/or mailing service representative). All discount mail must be machinable.

Nonmachinable characteristics for letters:

• Has an aspect ratio of less than 1.3 or more than 2.5.
• Is polybagged, polywrapped, enclosed in plastic, or is made of a non-paper material. Windows and certain other types of external attachments are an exception to this.
• Has clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices.
• Contains items such as pens, pencils, keys or coins that cause uneven thickness or are loose and able to move around.
• Is too rigid (does not bend easily when subjected to a transport belt tension of 40 pounds round an 11-inch diameter turn.
• For pieces more than 4-1/4 inches high or 6 inches long, the thickness is less than .009 inch.
• Has a delivery address parallel to the shorter dimension of the mailpiece.
• Is a self-mailer that is not prepared according to DMM 201.3.14
• Is a booklet that is not prepared according to DMM 201.3.14.2

Machinable mail
This means the piece meets all of the physical requirements which allow it to be run through the USPS’s high-speed processing machinery. Machinable mail must meet all of the same requirements that Automated mail must meet (see below), except a barcode is not required.

Bookmark the USPS Quick Service Guides for detailed requirements for machinable and automated mail.

Presorting
Presorting is required for discount mail. This done after addressing, either by a presort bureau/letter shop/mailing service, or in-house using specific supplies and methods required by the post office.

Automated mail
Think of this as “machinable plus barcode.” To qualify for the lower automation postage rate, a barcode is applied by a presort bureau along with the address before delivery to the post office. There are minimum quantities for getting automation rates. Learning to design a mailpiece correctly for automation will most likely require the help of an MDA or other mailing adviser.

Barcodes
A barcode will be applied to your piece at some point in the process; it is either applied by a mailing service along with the address before it goes to the post office (in the case of Automated mail), or it is applied at the post office after a machine has read and interpreted the address.

If your piece will not be mailed at the Automation rate, you must leave a strip of clear space in the bottom right corner of the address side, the dimensions of which are based on the shape of the piece. If the piece is letter-sized, for example, the barcode clear space must be at least 4-3/4×5/8” and extend all the way to the right and bottom edges. Your MDA can provide you with an up-to-date plastic template and measurements.

If designing for Automated mail, the barcode will in most cases be printed as part of the address block by the mailing service / presort bureau. That address block will only need a clear space a few inches wide and tall, and the additional clear space in the corner is not needed. There is a great deal of flexibility in where the address/barcode block can be placed, as long as the barcode is within 4 inches of the bottom edge of the piece. The minimum size of the space needed will vary a little depending on the mailing service, so communication is key.

Background color/paper
In the aforementioned clear spaces, the background should be of a uniform color with adequate light reflectance for the barcode reader or address reader to read properly against. White is preferred, but lighter colors can also work. The USPS has reflectance meters which can measure a sample of the paper you are using. Certain types of coated papers should be avoided.

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In Part 4, we'll cover addressing and postage.

Demystifying Direct Mail, Part 2

Wed, 01 Jul 09 12:29:47 -0500

This continues our series of introductory posts on designing for direct mail. Part 1 introduced your friend at the post office, the Mailpiece Design Analyst, the basic mailpiece shapes, and some helpful online resources. Here in Part 2, we'll look more closely at the shapes and other ways that the USPS categorizes mail.

Factors determining the type of mailing
As a designer, unless the format of the mailpiece and the class of mail are already decided for you, you'll be basing decisions about the design of the piece on what kind of message, information, or material needs to be conveyed, weighed against how much the client is willing to pay to get their piece into the hands of the recipients on their list. This cost analysis tool can help start that decision-making process if the client is unfamiliar with commercial mailing.

Retail or Discount
In most cases, commercial mail is discount mail and is designed for easier processing by the post office's equipment. Not meeting the specific physical requirements will bump you back up to full retail price or incur a nonmachinable surcharge. Retail is synonymous with Full Rate First Class. There is also a discounted Presorted First Class category for commercial mailings.

Size and Shape of Mailpiece
As mentioned in Part 1, any piece of mail will be classified as a postcard, letter, flat, or parcel, depending on the dimensions of the piece.

Postcard
Small postcards only
To qualify for the postcard rate:
• Minimum size 3-1/2 x 5 inches and .007 inches thick (equivalent to 80lb text weight stock, or an index card).
• Maximum size 4-1/2 x 6 inches and .016 inches thick (about as thick as 120lb cover weight stock).
• Postcard rate is only available if using First Class.

Letter
Larger postcards, letters, booklets, self-mailers
• Minimum size 3-1/2 x 5 inches and .007 inches thick (equivalent to 80lb text weight stock, or an index card).
• Maximum size 6-1/8 x 11-1/2* inches and 1/4 inch thick.
*Maximum length for a letter will be 10-1/2 inches effective 9/8/09.

Flat
Larger envelopes, newsletters, magazines, larger booklets, larger self-mailers
• A flat has at least one dimension that is greater than 6-1/8 inches high or 11-1/2* inches long or 1/4 inch thick.
• Maximum size: 12 inches high x 15 inches long x 3/4 inch thick.
*Maximum length for a letter will be 10-1/2 inches effective 9/8/09.

Parcel
Anything that isn't a postcard, letter, or flat
• Length + girth cannot exceed 108 inches (130 inches for Parcel Select).

Class
Classes can be thought of as service levels. The class affects postage rates, speed, and services included such as forwarding and returning.

Express Mail
Anything mailable can be sent Express
• Highest cost
• Fastest service available

First Class Mail
Anything mailable can be sent First Class
• First Class Mail offers a discounted rate for small postcards
• Faster than Standard

Standard Mail
Advertisements, circulars, newsletters, magazines, small parcels, merchandise
• Maximum weight is 16 ounces
• Slower than First Class

Periodicals
Newsletters, magazines
• Must be published at regular intervals and meet other specific qualifications
• Requires a formal application procedure

Package Services
Merchandise, books, circulars, catalogs, computer-readable media, film, recordings, educational materials, binders, other printed matter
• Subclasses are Parcel Select, Bound Printed Matter, Media Mail, and Library Mail
• For merchandise, Priority Mail (First Class) may have similar postage costs to Package Services but is faster.

____

In Part 3, we'll look at what you need to know to get your mailpiece through the USPS's processing equipment.

Demystifying Direct Mail, Part 1

Mon, 08 Jun 09 15:28:03 -0500

We recently attended a breakfast talk hosted by AIGA Knoxville on designing for direct mail. Sheila Kirton, our local USPS Mailpiece Design Analyst (did you know those existed?), gave us a great refresher on what to do and not to do when designing direct mail and alerted us to some upcoming changes in mailpiece requirements. Since we found this so helpful, we decided to put together our own introductory guide to mailing standards. Even if you’ve worked on mailpieces before, there can be many gaps in your knowledge. Mail can be pretty tricky, and it’s difficult to know where to go for a comprehensive overview from a designer’s perspective.

Interesting Findings from the AIGA Knoxville Breakfast Talk

• The maximum length for a mailpiece in the Letter category is being reduced from 11.5 to 10.5 inches on September 8. Anything over 10.5 inches will be mailed as a Flat instead of a Letter. (This applies to Sumo-sized postcards, self-mailers, booklets, etc.)
• A square letter-sized mailpiece will receive a nonmachinable surcharge because it will tumble end over end instead of sliding smoothly through the equipment. Flats can be square, however.
• Glossy paper stocks can cause problems in the machines because they generate static electricity. They can also interfere with machine readability and incur additional charges.
• Some paper coatings or printing methods can interfere with the barcode your piece will receive during processing. A mailer that we received recently had a barcode which was badly smeared over a field of solid color. The color appeared to have been printed by a color laser / quick run method.
• Blue inks are more difficult for machines to read.
• Your envelope’s flap can be on either the front or the back side, but cannot be on the bottom edge.
• Your piece can have rounded corners, but they can have a radius no larger than 1/8 inch.
• Don’t use an open / cutout address window in your self-mailer; it can get caught in the machines. A booklet that we received advertising a well-known design conference demonstrated this error!
• Those clear tabs for closing self-mailers look nicer, but they often don't stick as well as the opaque ones.

Mailpiece Design Analyst

Something you may not know even if you have been designing mailpieces for a while is that there is someone at the USPS whose job it is to help you design mail correctly and prevent unexpected postage costs and delays for you and your clients. Sometimes this information finds its way to you through others, such as printers or mailing services / presort bureaus, but the MDA is closest to the source.

From the USPS site: “Mailpiece Design Analysts (MDA) are postal employees specially trained to answer your questions regarding mailpiece design. These employees provide advice and issue rulings regarding acceptability for automated rates. MDAs provide technical assistance on mailpiece design to envelope manufacturers, printers, advertising agencies, and graphic designers.”

This includes testing your chosen paper stocks, if needed, and checking your artwork via email/PDF for problems before you send it to print.

To find the analyst assigned to your zip code:
http://pe.usps.gov/mpdesign/mpdfr_mda_lookup.asp

Brief Introduction to Mailpiece Shapes

We’ll look more in depth at how mail is categorized in upcoming posts, but one of the first things you should know, which will make it easier to navigate the USPS’s reference documents, is that there are only four categories of mail shapes.

• Postcard
• Letter
• Flat
• Parcel

Any piece of mail will be classified as one of these, depending on the dimensions of the piece. Many things which do not seem like a letter, for example, actually fall into the Letter category, such as a small booklet, a self-mailer, or a large postcard.

Small postcards under 4.5×6 in. and being sent First Class are the only things the USPS places in the Postcard category; a Postcard is really only a type of discounted Letter.

Other Resources

For those who would like to dive right in, these have been the most helpful online resources for us. The USPS publishes an overwhelming number of reference documents, many of which repeat the same information in ways that are tailored for the different audiences to which they speak. The more in-depth resources also tend to include lots of information on sorting methods, barcode creation, etc. which most designers don’t need to know; that information is targeted at mailing professionals (presort bureaus; postal employees; in-house mailing departments).

Business Mail 101
Online introductory tool for beginning or infrequent mailers (this applies to a lot of designers!), including a glossary.

Quick Service Guides
A more user-friendly version of the information in the Domestic Mail Manual. Includes visual diagrams of sizes and shapes of the different types of mail (see the sections labeled “Physical Standards”).

USPS Domestic Mail Manual (the Bible of mailing)
It’s actually not easy to locate this online version of the ultimate domestic mailing reference when browsing the USPS site.

USPS International Mail Manual

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In our posts to follow, we'll examine the different shapes and classes of mail, and discuss how to ensure that your mailpiece will travel safely through the post office's automated equipment.

Demystifying Direct Mail, Part 2

The Stage is Set (again) for Designsensory

Thu, 12 Mar 09 17:59:02 -0500

What a year 2009 has been already! Here's the latest bit of heartfelt news. I am pleased to announce Designsensory has officially been awarded a second term with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development as their interactive agency of record.

In turn, we are partnering with our peeps at Paramore|Redd on the online marketing initiatives which includes email, social and viral initiatives all driving back to the tnvacation family of sites.

If you spent any time with us for the past several weeks you would know this was a more emotional win than the many we are thankful to be awarded. So, why all the mushy gushy sentiments you ask?

Well, our work with the state has always been a labor of love. For nearly five years we have poured hour upon hour on this project. In many ways our stewardship of tnvacation.com has defined our professional and personal lives. It made many things possible when we were just starting out as a going business. We have grown steadily through this time and have developed some great relationships in the process. Most of all, a lot of life was lived in those five years!

When the rebid process finally arrived in late 2008, it certainly brought with it moments of retrospection and a great deal of stories to boot. As you can probably guess incumbent agencies do not eagerly await the rigors of the rebid process. Nevertheless, what a way to re-evaluate, refresh, research and recommit to a program. It's a great way to stay hungry and keep the fire burning.

This victory was especially sweet to me, Brandon and the crew here at Designsensory. Though the results were released a few weeks ago and I am most happy to share the news with you now.

Here's to another great five years. I know the best is yet to come!

Final Addy Results are Golden

Thu, 05 Mar 09 20:14:17 -0600

Though this news is a little late making it to our blog, I am happy to report we had a stellar showing at this year's Addy Awards. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we went 5 for 5 entries to awards. We were happy to get that notice but ecstatic when the results were finally revealed. Your favorite (I hope) design and tech peeps walked away with 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.

• Tennessee Vacation Seasonal Sites - GOLD
• Hunter Museum of American Art - GOLD
• Designsensory Website - GOLD
• Designsensory Stationery System and Identity - SILVER
• Lifesaver Luau (Secret Safe Place of East TN) - BRONZE

Respectfully, I would disagree with their awarding of the Bronze to Lifesaver Luau. The design team worked incredibly hard on that campaign in particular. It featured time-consuming hand drawn visual elements across all pieces and the campaign worked very well from a conceptual and results standpoint. In particular, Mark S. and our then-intern, Sara N. did a wonderful job. Bronze is nothing to scoff at but you guys were golden in my book.

Anyway, this isn't the end of the road for the Addys. The gold-awarded projects move on to regional competition, so keep your fingers crossed! Thank you to everyone who showered us with kind words. It is much appreciated.

Early Returns for the 44th Annual Addy Awards

Tue, 10 Feb 09 12:07:30 -0600

Early this year we decided to submit a few projects to the Addy Awards for consideration.

I am happy to report that early indications are favorable. As the letter for Exhibit A (above) states, all five of our entries have been awarded an Addy. The question now is, what color are we going to walk away with---bronze, silver or the almighty sparkly gold. Personally, we are hoping for gold---these days, it's good for a diversified portfolio. Ok, bad joke.

Anyway, being a proud American Advertising Federation member we thought to not only shamelessly plug our success but also the AAF Knoxville event itself. The awards presentation is Saturday, February 21 at the Crowne Plaza in Downtown Knoxville. It is at said proceedings where one finds out the color of their victory. Needless to say, the event is a victory for all Knoxville creatives! Congratulations to the other local winners and to our talented Designsensory peeps.

Keep up with the AAF Knoxville's blog for highlights of the event and check back with our blog for an update of the final results!

Here are our entries:

• Our very own Designsensory (1) identity, stationery, and (2) website.
• The new Hunter Museum of Art website
• Our 2008 Lifesaver Luau campaign for Secret Safe Place of ET
• The four seasonal mini-sites of tnvacation.com

Which color (gold, silver, bronze) would you give to each?

Christmas at Designsensory

Thu, 18 Dec 08 16:50:47 -0600

Well, what can I say? You blink an eye, the year goes by and it's Christmas once again. It used to be that we'd get a little snow, and that would help to make the season feel more like a winter wonderland. Now, what generally signals the approach of the holidays is our frantic search for what has become a Designsensory tradition---our yearly ornament gift to our new client friends.

Over in design, this is coupled with designing our package label and Christmas card. For the past several years it so happens this honor has been bestowed on the newest designer to join our ranks. I am happy to report that this year's designs come from none other than our Mark Schafer. They continue the festive Designsensory tradition and sparkle with a little of Mark's signature goodness. If you are one of the lucky ones to receive this gift you will see the card and ornament as well.

What makes this tradition even more sweet is seeing the progressive years of ornaments on our Christmas tree. Every year we reserve one of our winning ornaments to put on our tree. I suppose it is our version of tree rings---our way of keeping track of many years in business. It's a sweet realization that makes a season already steeped in symbolism and meaning all the more real. It represents the many blessings we share and the many relationships that make our lives possible. For that, we are most thankful.

On behalf of everyone at Designsensory, let me wish you a wonderful Christmas season. We look forward to sharing these sentiments with you again in 2009.

Five sites on "Best of CSS Design 2008"

Wed, 17 Dec 08 09:36:25 -0600

Once again we have had the fortune of having our work recognized over at the popular design-blog Web Designer Wall. None other than five of our websites have been selected and included on this years "The Best of CSS Design 2008." Our seasonal site series for the State of Tennessee and the website for local Knoxville favorite, Dara's Garden are included with 45 other examples of great web development. Five out of 50 ain't bad but 2009 is almost here! New year..new challenges...new inspiration. Let's see what 2009 has in store. Appreciate the nod Nick.

Here are the showcased websites:

Cut & Paste: The 2008 Greeting Card Competition, AIGA Knoxville

Tue, 11 Nov 08 16:40:39 -0600

As many of you may know, Designsensory is a proud and active member of our local chapter of the AIGA, the professional association of design. Given that Alison and I both serve on the Knoxville AIGA board we thought we'd do our part to get the word out for this year's greeting card competition.

The theme is handmade and the competition is open to everyone! Here's more info:

We're encouraging you to step away from your bright computer screens this holiday season and get back to working with your hands. Create an original holiday greeting card(s) and mail it in to our competition by December 1st for a chance to win one of four locally handmade packages: 1st prize = $150 value, 2nd = $75 value, 3rd = $30 value, 4th = $20 value.

Then, join us on First Friday, December 5th at the kickoff of the Handmade Holiday Show in the former White Store Building on North Central (get directions). The Glowing Body / MagPies reception will open at 6.00 pm with music starting at around 8.00pm. Proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, Downtown North Redevelopment and AIGA Knoxville.

Fifty designs will be chosen from the submitted entries. All fifty chosen designs will be on display and offered for sale in a silent auction on December 5th.

So break out the pens, pencils, and brushes to show us what beautiful things you can make. Be it cross-stitch, screenprinting, letterpress, collage, illustration, spraypaint, etc...the options are limitless!

Go to Knoxcards.org today to download your application.

P.S. Also, don't forget we have our PM: Happy Hour coming up this November 18, 2008 from 6:30-8:00pm at the Urban Bar. Come join us for drinks and good conversation with folks from the local creative community in Knoxville! In fact, if you mention you learned about this event through this blog post, I will personally buy you a drink.

And...no, I am not resorting to bribery. :-) See you there!

From Abingdon, Virginia with Love

Thu, 16 Oct 08 10:33:20 -0500

Several weeks ago we had the pleasure of taking a quick trip to Abingdon, Virginia. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Highland region in Southwest Virginia and steeped in Old World tradition, Abingdon succeeds in transporting the lucky traveler to a different time and place. Rumor has it that Abingdon is also an old childhood stomping ground of a certain Technical Director here at Designsensory.

Anyway, we found Abingdon a magical setting when we were there last but it is surely going to hold a special place in our hearts now. The business that brought us there weeks ago (bidding on their tourism website RFP) has concluded and we have been graciously selected as their new development firm. Our task: redesign www.abingdon.com.

With visual inspiration like the photographs above and a heritage that goes back to the formation of our country and the Revolutionary War it should prove to be fertile ground for some great authentic design. Thank you to our friends in the Abingdon Town Government who granted this opportunity. Time to work some magic of our own. ;-) Stay tuned...more to come in early 2009. In the meantime, experience Abingdon for yourself!

Work Honored by Graphic Design USA

Fri, 12 Sep 08 13:39:52 -0500

Just a few days ago the mailman brought a little dose of love in the form of a good ole catalog envelope. There was nothing special about the envelope except for what was inside---five awards for design excellence and a special note of congratulations. Our selections were picked out of a pool of 10,000 plus entries as part of the top 15%. A big pat on the pack to everyone who worked on these projects! Check out the certificates below. More importantly, click on the projects and see the work!

Recognition for the new Tennessee Theatre ID mark (logo) | View project»

Recognition for the Goodwill Industries 2007 Fashion Show Campaign | View project»

Recognition for the redeveloped AC Entertainment website, Concertwire.com | View project»

Recognition for Careers and Education website for the State of Tennessee | View project»

Recognition for the Lifesaver Luau 2007 Fundraising Campaign | View project»

Again, congratulations to everyone for their passion and hardwork. Awards are great but effectiveness and business performance are better. I am happy to report that in each case above, the customer AND their constitents benefited from great design. Anyone have a favorite?

A taste of our own medicine: Designing one's own Identity

Tue, 05 Aug 08 09:56:51 -0500

Why is it so difficult to design and develop your own identity system, print collateral and web site? Besides the time and personnel commitment, many design and web development agencies often struggle to capture the essence of their organizations when it comes time to do all things brand, identity and web site. Perhaps it is deciding on one path from a myriad of creative possibilities. Or perhaps it is a battle between aspiration versus pragmatism with respect to positioning.

Be it a large, hundred-man enterprise or a small, two-person shop, it is always a decidedly difficult task. Having said that, focusing the mirror of the design process on oneself has its rewards as well. Turning a process reserved for clients on ourselves ultimately shows how painful, yet rewarding, the design process can be.