Hello students and graduates! We get lots of job applications this time of year. In honor of graduation, I’ve crafted a little list of 10 things NOT to do when applying for a design job. This most likely applies to other design firms as well as Spoonbend. Enjoy!

1) DO Build a portfolio website. DO NOT email me a giant PDF. I don’t want to open it.

2) DO NOT have any broken links, “coming soon” or strange navigation.

3) DO NOT call. Mail me something cool! That way I can see your craft too.

4) DO NOT ask if “we’re hiring.” Offer to schedule a portfolio review appointment instead.

5) DO NOT pad your portfolio with freelance work just because it’s paid. It is OK just to have student work in your portfolio. Often little flyers and small freelance projects bring the quality of the portfolio down because the concept usually isn’t as thought out.

6) DO NOT feel entitled to anything. In this economy, be willing to take internships, production jobs, anything to get your foot in the door.

7) DO NOT leave your MySpace page with drunken party photos around for prospective employers to see. We will google you.

8 ) DO NOT send long rambling introductions by mail or email. State why you are right for the job, what you can offer the company, and what sets you apart from all of the other applicants in the sea.

9) DO NOT flip through your portfolio too quickly in an interview. Let your interviewer drive.

10) DO NOT have typos anywhere.

Spoonbend is partnering with KAS Consulting and SpryDev to bring you our Lunch and Learn series called “Green Energy Marketing.” About once every two months, we provide a free lunch to emerging Green Energy Technology companies. This not only gives Green Energy leaders in Austin a chance to meet in an intimate setting, but the opportunity to hear how to leverage branding, marketing, and web technologies to springboard companies into getting the attention of Energy investors. Our next Lunch and Learn is Wednesday, June 11, from noon to 1pm. Visit www.greenenergymarketing.com for more information or to sign up.

What you must do before hiring a graphic designer

When: Friday, June 20
Where: 200 E. 6th Street, suite 201
Cost: $395.00

Have you ever hired a graphic designer to create a logo for your company? Whether you have or are thinking about it, this workshop will arm you with the tools you need to make sure your project goes successfully.

In this one day hands-on workshop, you’ll
• Unlock your logo’s psychological profile before engaging a designer
• Create a Creative Brief, the Creative Director’s tool in setting goals for a graphic designer
• Learn the basic lingo of logo design, and what it all means
• Understand how Color Psychology plays into your customer’s impressions of you and create a plan for your business’ color palette
• Leave with a complete Creative Direction that will get you the best possible results from your graphic designer

Tina Schweiger has been consulting with businesses on their brand identity for the past decade. She currently acts as President and Creative Director for Spoonbend, a branding and design agency she founded in 2002. Tina brings an unusual and valuable perspective to businesses looking for an identity—her understanding of both business operations and visual symantics allows her to tie the creative assets of a business with their financial and growth goals.

Schedule:
Morning Session – 9:30am to 12:00pm
• Arrive 9:30 - 10 am
• Introductions at 10am
• Psychological profile test (a fun one!)
• Logo Lingo

Break for Lunch (provided) – 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Afternoon Session – 1:00pm to 3:00pm
• Creative Brief Creation
• Review morning test results
• Tying together your profile with your business’ goals

___

Why this workshop?
Way too often I come across businesses who are unhappy with their logo, and were unhappy with the experience of working with their designer. It doesn’t mean they had a bad designer, it often means they didn’t know how to properly creative direct their designer. Over the past decade, I’ve developed a creative direction process that I’ve tested over the years and have found to be very successful. It allows folks to save countless hours trying to explain what they “see” in their minds and many dollars spent paying an hourly rate to make it come out right. 

___

If you’d like to register, please email tina-at-spoonbend-dot-com for more information.

As we’ve been working on an upgrade and new design for our website, I’ve come to notice how difficult it is to find out about the websites we’ve designed lately. We have been web-busy lately, so for all you visitors who are thinking of contacting us for a new website, have a look at these:

http://www.austinondemand.com/
http://www.verdanceliving.com/
http://www.chaparralice.com/
http://www.andrewharper.com/
http://www.designopa.com/
http://www.phoenixcommercial.com/
http://www.begreennow.com/
http://www.austinbar.org/
http://www.thecurtainexchange.com/
http://www.enterarchitecture.com/
http://www.patternproductions.com/
http://www.guitar25.com/
http://www.tex-tone.com/

On top of that, we’ve signed on to do websites as part of a larger brand-assets package for: International Biomedical in Austin, Abel Design Group in Houston, Olicon Construction in Dallas, Pi Architects in Austin, Greg Davis Photography in Austin and Balcor Commercial in Houston.

We’ve had great success in implementing a very easy-to-use Content Management System. This means that you don’t have to call us every time you want to change something on your website. Instead, you can log-in and change text, add text, change or add images or links. It makes your life easier and our office run more efficiently.

Another question I get often when discussing websites with prospective clients is: Do you charge a monthly fee? The answer is no, we don’t. Many industry-specific or mass market generated websites will charge you from a few hundred up to a few thousand dollars a month to license their software to run your website. We work completely in open-source code to build your site, therefore giving us the ability to turn it over to you to maintain yourself, with no monthly fee to us.

Thanks for visiting our blog!

~ Tina

BY CONTRIBUTING WRITER: Robert Bell

It’s an oft-told truism that the average person is subjected to 3,000 advertising messages per day. Whether this truism is actually true, however, is another question. The most basic research reveals this claim to be based more on a vague sort of ‘truthiness’—to quote the ever-quotable Stephen Colbert—than it is on any real substance.

First off, it’s worth noting this number is often cited either by those consumers who hold advertising responsible for most of society’s ills (“When the average person sees 3,000 ads a day, what can you believe?”) or else by self-proclaimed gurus proposing to unlock the secrets to the marketing universe—for a fee (“When the average person sees 3,000 ads per day, how do you get him or her to believe you? I’ll tell you how.”) In both cases, the sources’ personal agendas are a fairly good sign of the dubiousness of the claim.

Sure enough, as the AMIC Media Guru points out on his site (http://www.amic.com/guru/results.asp?words=media+exposure&submit=Search&op=AND ), if the average person sleeps seven hours a night, that means they are only awake a little over 1,000 minutes a day. In order to be exposed to 3,000 messages, therefore, they would have to receive an average of three advertising messages every minute of every day—a tall order, no doubt.

Is it possible? Yes, but let’s consider what we mean by exposure in that case. To be exposed to 3,000 ads a day would mean if you were to flip past the classified pages of the newspaper you would be automatically exposed to perhaps a few hundred advertisements. It would mean if you were to go to the grocery store you would be automatically exposed to far more ads. It would mean any commercial informational material in your vicinity—including product labels on cereal boxes and logos on sneakers—would constitute exposure, regardless of whether or not you noticed them, let alone whether they had any conscious or unconscious effect on you as a consumer.

For this reason, a quick Google search reveals there is much argument about what constitutes exposure and how many ads the average person is actually exposed to. Consumer Reports, for instance, gives the average person 245 daily ad exposures, while the Nielsen Report puts that number at 1,600. One marketing blogger counts his conscious exposures in one day at 160 (http://twowaystreets.typepad.com/two_way_streets/2007/07/did-you-see-tha.html), while another blogger asserts the average person is exposed to 1,724 ads for no other reason than he finds the 3,000 ads-a-day people seem to have no other source except each other and, all things being arbitrary, 1,724 seems a more believable number (http://www.publicity.com/blog/index.php/category/advertising/).

The truth about advertising exposure and its effect would seem to actually favor the advertisement-phobic folks and the marketing gurus, though perhaps not in the way they may expect. As Massachusetts-based Copernicus Marketing points out, based on their research the targets of advertising must be highly engaged in whatever they are watching or consuming in order for advertising to have its optimal effect (http://www.copernicusmarketing.com/about/mzine/monthlyeds/jun07.shtml). Rather than the average person being the passive target of an incessant advertising assault in control of the subconscious, their research implies that advertisers must instead work very hard and demonstrate a great deal of savvy to actually reach most people. In fact, according to Copernicus’s findings, a variety of factors both controllable and uncontrollable to advertisers—the type and size of a person’s television, the level and number of distractions in their room, how engaged they are in the program being watched, etc.—influenced how likely folks were to actually act on the messages being put forth by TV advertising. One can imagine, then, how much more difficult it will be for advertisers to influence far less captive consumers of the far more interactive media that appear to be our future.

In other words, unless we are so susceptible to subconscious suggestion that we are affected by every advertising message available to us within a mile radius, it would seem the average person’s exposure to truly impactful advertising is much less than most people think.

For over 30 years, Dallas-based O’Brien & Associates Architecture has produced award-winning, signature designs for projects nationwide. With offices in Denver, Chicago, and Hanover, New Jersey, their team of over 70 professionals offers a full range of architectural services—including site and master planning, design development, and construction administration—to clients throughout the country.

O’Brien & Associates recently came to Spoonbend looking for help with designing a new logo for the company. We spoke with Jack O’Brien, the firm’s founder and president, Patrick O’Brien, his son and associate, and Miya Kim, the firm’s marketing director, about their experience.

Spoonbend: Why did O’Brien & Associates decide to get a new logo?

Jack O’Brien: We had transitioned into a new product type and the old logo didn’t represent us anymore. We operate on a national scale, doing town centers, offices, mixed-use, industrial, municipal and residential developments throughout the country, but our logo just showed an old, traditional-style building. And we didn’t want to be identified just with old, traditional buildings.

Patrick O’Brien: You look at the old railroad companies—Pacific Union and such. When transportation evolved into automobiles, planes, and so on, those companies had the money to get involved in other methods. Yet their names and missions remained the same. They call this marketing myopia, which is when you can’t clearly see the future of your company. Our logo was a bit myopic. We needed to change it to fit what we’re becoming.

SB: Why did you decide to hire an outside consultant to help you redesign your logo?

JO: At first, Patrick and I tried to design the logo ourselves. Our design didn’t get a good reception, though—it was too similar to other architects. We then decided to set up a design competition at the firm. We got some nice solutions and handed out prize money, but I didn’t really like any of the logos. We were still at an impasse. Our problem was that we were handing out the old logo with my new design at the same time.

PO: That’s when I got the tentative OK to investigate third party firms for other designs. We ended up interviewing a few firms, but Spoonbend had by far the most professional presentation. They were the most put together, had the best portfolio, and Tina really provided Miya and me with a level of comfort. We ended coming back to Jack and telling him how we felt about Spoonbend, and we got the OK to move forward with them.

SB: How would you describe the experience of working with Spoonbend?

Miya Kim: They were so responsive. Throughout the entire process, AnneMarie and Karl and Tina always came back promptly with a solution to any question we had. From a day to day correspondence perspective, we received great service from my end.

JO: I feel like they really led me through the process. Tina came up here and interviewed me. After that, Karl did a great job, too. We just kind of turned him loose, let him free his mind to come up with something and he did. I didn’t want our logo to restrain us, but he came up with something free-form and non-restrictive. All in all, they’ve been great. Everyone in the firm loves the logo. We all love it! The response has been terrific.

We know how much everyone hates searching for street parking, and we realize there isn’t much of it to be found near our home on busy East 6th Street. That’s why we are thrilled to announce, starting this month, Spoonbend clients won’t be giving parking hassles another thought when they come to visit our office.

That’s because Spoonbend has arranged an agreement with the Driskill Hotel that will allow our clients to utilize their valet service. Effective Jan. 21, 2008, clients can simply tell the Driskill valet they are visiting Spoonbend. The service will be covered under our account—we just validate their ticket when they come up to see us.

In addition to ensuring safety, we hope our new valet service will be a great help in eliminating downtown parking troubles for all of our clients.

What is design?

Design is everything. Design is life. I can’t imagine my life without it, though there’ve been points where I’ve felt far from it. Life without design is boring, and messy.

Design is watching the rain drops on your car windshield (which we’ve had PLENTY of lately) and tracing their pattern, then using that pattern in a project.

Design is projects. Fixing the house, painting, cleaning…taking away what isn’t necessary.

Design is life.

Design is dressing yourself in the morning, and deciding whether it’s a t-shirt and jeans day, or an oohh la la day…or somewhere in the middle.

Design is simplifying.

Start with something, say, your closet, and take out what you don’t wear, (or what you know you shouldn’t wear).

Design is inspiring & aspiring.

Look at magazines and see the way you want things to look, whether it be your home, or your next project…then Be that.

Design is making the ordinary extraordinary, it brings order and serenity.

It’s taking notice of things, it’s the way light attaches to something.

Design is essential — the essence of things.

For me, design is a reflection of my passion for life. My own tastes are as eclectic as my background – growing up a country girl, and now living life as an urban dweller. I have a deep love and appreciation for anything in nature and the outdoors including all animals (wild and domestic) and quiet tranquil settings. But I can also feel the energy of busy streets, noisy clubs and high rise buildings. The design of a perfect day for me can include spending a lazy afternoon fishing at a pond, and then dressing up for a fancy dinner at an elegant restaurant.

Even when it comes to food, I like to sample the fare of a small town café, and also to have the adventure of trying exotic dishes at a sushi bar.

You might think I’m conflicted (or confused), but I prefer to think of myself as “well rounded” or open minded. I believe that perfect design in the larger sense of the word means that we all stop to notice and even appreciate the smaller things in life and especially the qualities that make everything unique.

All in all, I think design is always important, and like life, needs to be fun! At my house, whether I’m working on design in the studio, or the kitchen, there’s always a funny white dog chasing a grey cat around to remind me that all of us should take time out to “smell the roses” (or chase the cat, as it were)…… don’t take life too seriously, and celebrate the unique. Take notice of the beauty around you. Live well.

Hart Intercivic unveils new website dedicated to their Vantage product line

While governmental entities are traditionally considered slower on the adoption of technology, local officials are seemingly more open to the idea of efficiency given the growing complexity of urban (and rural) environments.

Hart Intercivic’s, Hartvantage.com hosts a new suite of geo-content products, which heightens operational productivity through an integration of IT and GIS capabilities. Because of the complexity of these products, DocAtlas, ParcelSync, MapMetrics, and AddressOne are data management systems positioned to serve a specific demographic.

Spoonbend assisted Hart Intercivic in the branding of Vantage, from the creation of the logo to the design and copywriting on their beta site.

Hart Intercivic has been a Spoonbend client for 5 years and both continue to see the mutual benefits of this relationship.

Begreennow.com website fuels consumer awareness of carbon offsets

Austin’s webscape just got a little greener with the launch of Green Mountain’s Energy Be Green Now Website. At www.begreennow.com, consumers can learn about the affects of global warming and then take steps to offset their output of carbon emissions through the purchase of renewable energy credits.

The launch of www.begreennow.com is reflective of growing trend amongst utility providers aiming to educate their consumers and encourage conservation over wasteful use. At Be Green Now, the goal is to reduce individual carbon footprints by providing lifestyle-changing tips and/or the ability to purchase carbon offsets as an investment in technology geared to preserve our environment. Between the carbon reduction tips and the Gift of Green, consumers can quickly see how easy it is to make a difference.

Spoonbend played a critical role in the imagery and design of this site. Be Green is one of Spoonbend’s environmentally conscious client – and the list seems to be growing daily.