We recently had the privilege of working with Amanda Boganowski of Discovery Academy Inc., to create a web presence for her growing childcare facility and she provided us with every graphic and web designer’s fantasy: FULL CREATIVE FREEDOM.

Our primary goal, from a design standpoint, was to merge their offline perception as “a fun and exciting place to learn, discover and grow” with their new online web presence.

We begun the design by creating a landscaped background, a bright grassy valley of wildflowers, to serve as a natural setting for the existing kite logo.  The big yellow sun, paper textured clouds, vibrant green grassy valleys, and cute little caterpillars were all custom and individually illustrated for the new website. We also worked with a photographer to help capture the fun and nurturing spirit of the daycare.

The layout is fresh and simple with easy-to-find tabbed navigation, two photo slide-shows on the front page and dynamic Polaroid-style photos on each of the sub-pages. We also incorporated an essence of “discovery” in the websites navigation as one of the main links reveals a portion of the website that is “underground”. The various textured layers mimic that of actual school paper as we wanted to  incorporate a very handmade and hands-on aesthetic to the overall site.

We also utilized the ever-powerful and user-friendly WordPress platform as a Content Management System to provide the client with the ability to add, edit, and update content at a moment’s notice allowing them to be self-sufficient whilst also keeping the website relevant and up-to-date. Incorporating a Content Management System also reduces the need for the client to contract a webmaster for simple updates and therefore increases Amanda’s Return on Investment.

DiscoveryAcademyInc.com also is equipped with a secure password protected portion of the website dedicated to “Parent Only Access”. The secure “Parent-Access” section is visible to authorized users and is as pleasant to look at and as easy to manage as the main website, and contains several secure pages such as an event calendar, Bulletin Board, and Parent’s Forum where the Daycare Director (site administrator) uploads daily photos or videos and brief updates on the facility’s activities. The Parent’s Forum page also facilitates social networking as it provides parents with the ability to comment on posts and converse with other Daycare parents about the day’s events.

Visit and view the website here.

For years now WordPress has been one of the largest and most used self-hosted blogging systems on the web. WordPress is an Open Source application that allow fellow coders from all around the world to contribute on its development with the creation of their own plugins. Nowadays the demand for a simple and powerful Content Management System is high and everyone wants to add and change their own pages – especially in the Flat 3.0 World we live in where publishing your own content is more important than just inhaling information.

Wordpress was introduced to the world as a blogging platform, but it’s infinite extensibility has catapulted it to one of the most popular choices of Content Management Systems on the web. As administrator functionalities are becoming more and more necessary on many non-blog based websites the user-friendly edit-it-yourself ability that Wordpress offers makes it a clear choice for content management system’s and since it can be used for more than just a blog utilizing its ever growing library of plug-ins is becoming more and more practical.

BuddyPress: Your Brand on Your Terms

BuddyPress is an extension of WordPress MU – a multi-user application that allows you run “hundred of thousands of blogs” with a single installation of WordPress. BuddyPress incorporates social networking tools into your website (users profiles, group creation, friend lists, private messaging) and why not let users register on your site to create their own blog (http://userblog.yoursite.com) with a simple form registration?

Having social networking tools on your own website further increases your visibility and accessibility to the world wide web and bridges the gap between website owner and website viewer by creating a two way interaction process so that you’re not just feeding information to your viewer but your engaging with conversations with them too. Social media accessibility also attracts more passionate and engaged visitors and empowers those visitors to communicate with each other while simultaneously contributing to the content and credibility of your website.

Instead of redirecting users to an external Social Networking site (such as a Facebook Fan page) BuddyPress provides websites with comparable social networking capabilities. It is an extremely effective Social Content and Social Media tool. Just like you can adjust and use WordPress as a Content Management System for virtually anything, BuddyPress expands that thinking by letting you create a complete social network from the ground up.

BuddyPress is an ideal tool for organizations, schools, and basically any group that shares a common goal to bring its people working together, sharing ideas, and more importantly, engaging themselves in the right place, with the right content, under their own terms of conditions and brand.

Working on BuddyPress is not entirely different from creating a site in WordPress, and although there are a few templates available online that can get you started on the spot they might not unify well with the rest of your website. To be brand effective you will need to build these new tools inside your current site so your users won’t feel like they are using a 3rd party application. Remember, the goal is to create your own social networking arena on your site. The website should sell your brand, not WordPress or BuddyPress’es, and don’t get me wrong… I love WordPress from its products to its “Code is Poetry” slogan, but a WordPress powered website that doesn’t look like “Just Another WordPress weblog” is the best publicity the Blogging System can get. Overall, the key to incorporating these tools effectively is to empower your website and make it stand out and apart from from the rest, and utilizing the BuddyPress plug-in properly will allow you to do just that.

There are more hazards associated with the 9-5 office job than meets the eye. I recently became a small business owner and my work week increased, as a result, so too did the hours I spent at parked in front of my computer. Working at a desk and behind a computer screen isn’t as safe or as comfortable as it seems. Sure there’s air condition and minimal (if any) physical labor but occupational hazards are on the rise as work weeks get longer and increase in hours. I can certainly attest to that as my hands, wrists, neck, spine and the muscles in my back all simultaneously turned against me. I couldn’t figure out why at first. I’m in my mid twenties and in fairly good health but I felt old and just about every bone in my body was aching. I was clueless and didn’t know what to do. I am a graphic and web designer and I need to sit at a computer in order to work but it wasn’t until I absolutely couldn’t sit because of the extreme discomfort that I realized it was the way I was sitting that was the problem.

Sitting causes back pain?

According to John J. Triano, DC, PhD.,”Sitting in an office chair for prolonged periods of time can definitely cause low back pain or worsen an existing back or neck problem. The main reason behind this is that sitting, in an office chair or in general, is a static posture that increases stress in the back, neck, shoulders, arms and legs, and in particular, can add large amounts of pressure to the back muscles and spinal discs.”

Also, The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) states that the profession of an Office Worker poses the highest risk of back pain (more than any other occupation!!). Tim Hutchful of the BCA stated, “It is assumed that those most at risk from back pain are the ones who have very physical jobs however, as this research has unveiled, whilst lifting and carrying are still common triggers for back pain, it is those with less physically demanding jobs and who are often seated for the majority of the day that could be most prone to back problems.” The same study conducted by the BCA revealed that 59% of the working population sits down all day at work (generally 8 hours or more) and nearly 50% of those who work refuse to leave their desks even during their lunch break.

Although sitting involves less muscular effort than such physically demanding occupations as construction or firefighting, sitting still requires the muscles to hold the torso, neck, head and shoulders in a fixed position causing pain and even fatigue. It is important to keep in mind that employees that can readily alternate sitting with other body positions may not be at risk for injury or discomfort when sitting at work. However, the same isn’t true for those who must sit for long periods with little room for deviation. A fixed working position squeezes the blood vessels in the muscles and reduces their blood supply. Furthermore, an insufficient blood supply has also been proven to accelerate fatigue and make muscles prone to injury. Back pain and other types of discomfort are common problems for those who sit in front of a computer screen all day, but as I scoured the web searching for solutions I’ve discovered that there are steps one can take to reduce and alleviate the contributing factors.

Ergonomics

Although it is important to recognize the user/operator/employee is a critical factor in the workplace and key in minimizing and preventing on-the-job injuries it is equally important to recognize that there are tools designed to help make the workplace a safer and more comfortable place. Designing the job and workplace to fit the worker is just one step in making the workplace as safe as possible.There are tons of ergonomic office equipment in the marketplace all designed to reduce the strain and impact of workplace tasks and increase workplace comfort and safety. From keyboards to office chairs, desks to computer mouses…the options are endless. But wait!!!

Before you run out and buy most expensive and state-of-the art equipment examine your workplace and work habits. Not only was I suffering from intense back pain,  I was also forced into buying a wrist brace that I alternated from arm to arm since using both of my hands and wrists also became extremely uncomfortable. As a graphic and web designer it is important for me to have state-of-the-art equipment so I already had an ergonomic keyboard and mouse, a fancy flat screen monitor, task lighting and the like but the root of my pain and discomfort were my working habits. I wasn’t taking breaks (to walk around, rest my eyes or stretch my fingers or arms) and I wasn’t using a proper work chair (the proportions and angle of the chair I had were all wrong…I was using a chair that I stole from my patio set because it was cute and matched my decor. Definitely not the smartest move I ever made because the chair was not at all designed for intense usage and it was not at all comfortable. I added pillows and tried adjusting the angles but nothing ever worked). With the pressure I was putting on my back and the strain on my hands, wrists and elbows it was almost no wonder I became injured. What was a wonder was that all of it could have been avoided had I recognized the importance of operator applied ergonomics and workplace set-up and design.

Continued on next page →

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/design/workplace-safety/feed 0 http://graphicatx.com/en/design/workplace-safety http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/4znKwQ30Fm8/whats-in-a-name http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/whats-in-a-name#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:00:10 +0000 Vanessa Polendo http://www.graphicatx.com/?p=456 There is more to our name that you may think…

There’s usually a story behind every name. A meaning either literal or implied that serves as ones identity. When choosing a name for our business we wanted something that was symbolic, bold and strong. Something that would be easy to remember while also not being too commonplace. There were tons of options that we threw around but nothing quite fit, nothing seemed to roll of our tongue with certainty and pride. Our brainstorming process was intense. It was, “What about _____, or how about _____… Hmmm, No. How does ____ sound?” Our 3 x 4 dry erase board was full of options but none of them seemed to call out our name. That is until we decided on Graphic(At•X)…

Need a hit? (a Google hit)

One of the options was Graphic Addicts. We liked it but we weren’t necessarily in love with it because the connotation of the word “addict.” It is definitely more that true that if we had to claim addiction to anything it would be graphic design and the visual arts but we didn’t necessarily want our name to pop-up in the Google search results for substance abuse or rehab. (Yikes! Could you imagine?)

Identity

We also wanted to pay homage to our location because being native to Texas is a trait that we embrace and being located in Austin is really refreshing to us. Austin is a beautiful culturally aware city full of heritage, history and pride and we wanted to tap into that strength when naming ourselves without being so literal as to call ourselves Austin Texas Graphic & Web Design. (b-o-r-i-n-g!)

All-Purpose

We choose Graphic(At•X) because it was multifaceted and gave us the symbolism that we desired. When pronounced, alludes to Graphic Addicts minus the negativity whilst also paying homage to our home in Austin, Texas (a.k.a. ATX). Being typographically inclined we also incorporated the (parenthesis) and the • sign in an attempt to mimic pronunciation guides. Furthermore, when written without the pronunciation guides, GraphicaTx, it seems to marry the Spanish word for graphic (graphica) affirming both our Hispanic ethnicity and our line of work, to the initials of our beloved state of Texas (TX).

We are Graphic(At•X)

We believe the amount of meaning, energy and symbolism one puts into something is equal to his/her efforts and therefore a vital component to ones success. Our name summarizes our identity in a single four-syllable word and we’re proud to place ourselves on the market with a name that so succinctly summarizes who we are.

We are Graphic(At•X) and you can follow us on Twitter at @GraphicAtX and join our Facebook cult.

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/whats-in-a-name/feed 1 http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/whats-in-a-name http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/kGVL9Hglpxs/x-box-natal http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/x-box-natal#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:25:12 +0000 Vanessa Polendo http://www.graphicatx.com/?p=419 The Re-Birth of a Digital Revolution

Thought Microsoft was out of the game? Well, they are actually in the process of reinventing it and about to reclaim their place as major players in the newest wave of the digital revolution with their upcoming release of their project “Natal”.

“This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games” — Steven Spielberg

Thought the Nintendo Wii controller was cool? Microsoft didn’t. Their newest creation may just make the Wii and its hand-held motion sensing controller obsolete. In fact, they decided to do away with hand-held controllers all together for their newest video game console. Not only are you in control but you are the controller.

What they’re introducing is a somewhat self-contained module that you plug-in to your Xbox 360. Its a completely hands free device that works with cameras and motion detectors. The system’s monochrome camera works with infrared sensors that actually detect depth so it knows exactly how close or far away your body is and it even knows what you’re doing with it because Natal’s software tracks 48 of the bodies various joints. Natal also a has a highly specialized microphone that can decipher voice commands. It’s sound sensors use information Microsoft gathered via an acoustic study of living rooms in order to allow it to recognize exactly whom to take voice commands from even when other players are talking over you.

It all sounds pretty exciting, and although the release date hasn’t been announced it will be sometime in 2010, we can’t wait!

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/x-box-natal/feed 0 http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/x-box-natal http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/bwDu9fCWm-Y/web-frameworks http://graphicatx.com/en/development/web-frameworks#comments Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:13:14 +0000 Carlos Cabrera http://beta.graphicatx.com/?p=110 Simplifing the Lives of Web Designers

If your job, mission, or passion is to design and/or develop well designed and user-friendly web interfaces, then you probably don’t want to spend most of your time writing a bunch of code just to get to the starting line. With web frameworks you don’t have to.

At Graphic(At.X) we believe than delivering more by presenting less is the way to go. Just as we don’t like to overload your perception with the over use of colors and graphics we feel the same way about the code. Also by using web frameworks it’s easier than ever to recycle line of codes and keep plug-ins, libraries, consoles, etc. organized in your server. Web frameworks also highly increases productivity by making the creation of web templates, applications, features, and animations much simpler allowing its users to work on tomorrow’s solutions instead of being stuck with yesterday’s approaches.

What are the so-called web frameworks?

According to Wikipedia: A web application framework is a software framework that is designed to support the development of dynamic websites, Web applications and Web services. The framework aims to alleviate the overhead associated with common activities performed in Web development. For example, many frameworks provide libraries for database access, templating frameworks and session management, and often promote code reuse.

From the common tools of most front end developers: JavaScript frameworks like jQuery, Yahoo User Interface library (YUI), Prototype, Mootools, to CSS templating frameworks like Blueprint, Elements, Yahoo’s very own YUI Grids, and more, to the under-the-hood ready to develop, maintain, and deploy applications frameworks such as Ruby on Rails (ROR), Django, and cakePhP among others. Each of these frameworks have the common goal of getting more done in less time. Web frameworks help to create web layouts by providing libraries for database access, defining an easy-to-use grid system and typography, promoting code reuse, creating style-sheets for printing, web based session management, etc.

Web frameworks provide a method of website assembly with a broad range of application features without the need for PHP-level coding. Ideally, we simplify yesterday’s complex tasks in order for us to focus on creating tomorrow’s solutions.

Fast, less, and on time!

Learning anything new does require some time and attention. If you’re working on a single project then jumping into something new and kinda big like embracing a new framework might not be worth it. However, if you’re a website builder and your handiwork tends get complex, your time investment will multiply it’s revenues in the long run.

What really makes web frameworks fast is the use of conventions over configuration and that they all come with their own collection of codes, libraries and classes which allow developers not to only bring their own knowledge to the table, but also to utilize the experience and knowledge of other developers. Furthermore, there is no need for developers to solve the common problems that are part of almost, if not all, web projects. Instead, developers can focus in the applications’ logic and functionality. For instance, you won’t need to write layout blocks in CSS anymore with the use of the framework’s grids, or write extensive lines of code to achieve a simple effect with JavaScript, or in the case of PHP frameworks: no configurations needed, just set up the database, follow the framework’s conventions and start working.

Installation and use difficulties vary depending on the framework you chose. I would suggest to read more about each one, find those who seem to meet your criteria then download and test drive. Did we also mention that most frameworks are open-source? That’s right…several don’t even cost a dime to use.

The possibilities are pretty profuse. Many frameworks also offer their own documentation and demos and for the most popular ones it’s just a matter of searching the web to find videos, examples, and plugins.

If you undertake a fair amount of web projects and find yourself repeating the same mind-numbing tasks over and over, you might want to consider how frameworks will help to minimize and simplify these patterns of work and get you started faster.

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/development/web-frameworks/feed 3 http://graphicatx.com/en/development/web-frameworks http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/bB_DCuzTK78/tsunamic-proportions http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/tsunamic-proportions#comments Sun, 31 May 2009 03:09:00 +0000 Vanessa Polendo http://beta.graphicatx.com/?p=215 Tsunamic Proportions

We’re entering a new era of communication and human interaction. Although the Internet has been around for decades years it’s landscape is about to become dramatically different. Just like putting a note in an envelope became obsolete with the invention of e-mail so to will e-mail become obsolete when Google Wave catches on…

The Newest Wave In Communication

The beta version of the Internet began in the early 90’s and Web 2.0 came along ten years later to streamline the design, development and functionality of the early and insufficient Internet landscape and for years there have been whispers about Web 3.0. It makes sense that something should come after Web 2.0 and there have been several failed attempts to define this ever-elusive 3.0 version of the web as Web 3.0 speculation has been more theoretical than its been reality.

After all, none of the speculation caught on because it was just an attempt to repackage what already existed. Having been around since the early 1960’s the e-mail actually predates the Internet. Sure e-mail has changed since then but it is virtually the same as it was a decade ago. Blogs have existed since the early 90’s and Wiki’s were new in the year 2000. Facebook was invented in 2004, and Myspace and Twitter have been around since 2006. Nothing about the Internet communication has truly evolved for quite some time. Computers have improved along with its networks and Smart-Phones have been invented allowing for mobile Internet access but the web’s landscape has remained fairly stagnate. True, the Internet is becoming more entwined in peoples everyday lives but that’s not because the landscape of the Internet has changed. It is only because more and more people are logging on.

The stagnate waters of the web are about to be washed away with the newest tide of communication and collaboration about to be released by Google later this year. Google Wave will revolutionize communication on the Internet.

According to Google Wave’s website:

• A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

• A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

• A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

Essentially Google’s Wave accentuation on persistent real-time content enables instant collaboration, instant communication, and instant connectivity like never before. The service’s real-time collaborative tools, real-time messaging, and real time language translation tools, will transform the Internet landscape (and the world’s social connectivity) by providing the user with tools and abilities that were once only fathomable. The new (coming soon) Google Wave epitomizes the definition of Web 3.0 with the complete integration of and focus on user contribution, experience, collaboration and real-time transmission.

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/tsunamic-proportions/feed 2 http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/tsunamic-proportions http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/Cz6hQgy7fy4/cheers http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/cheers#comments Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:48:21 +0000 Vanessa Polendo http://beta.graphicatx.com/?p=201 Cheers!

We like Macs and it happens to be our computer of choice. We’ve always been able to count on Apple to deliver a superb product that works like a beauty and looks like one to. From the iPhone to iChat, GarageBand to Safari we find the intuitive interfaces and reliability to be unsurpassable. So Happy Birthday Mac! Cheers to your long and fruitful future.

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/cheers/feed 0 http://graphicatx.com/en/technology/cheers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/g3O1PDqmaI0/ode-to-our-love http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/ode-to-our-love#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:42:55 +0000 Vanessa Polendo http://beta.graphicatx.com/?p=199 Ode to What We Love So Much

In many ways the following excerpt is an “Ode to Design”. These words so eloquently outline and explain the role of design in everyday life and ever so gracefully detail the very essence of why we so love & enjoy what we do everyday and why we are so appreciative for the ability to do it.

“Graphic design is the most ubiquitous of all the arts. It responds to needs at once personal and public, embraces concerns both economic and ergonomic, and is informed by numerous disciplines, including art and architecture, philosophy and ethics, literature and language, politics and performance.

Graphic design is everywhere, touching everything we do, everything we see, everything we buy: we see it on billboards and bibles, on taxi receipts and on websites, on birth certificates and on gift certificates, on the folded circulars tucked inside jars of aspirin and on the thick pages of children’s chubby board books.

Graphic design is the boldly directional arrows on street signs and the blurred, frenetic typography on the title sequence to “E.R.” It is the bright green logo for the New York Jets and the monochromatic front page of The Wall Street Journal. It is hang-tags in clothing stores, playbills in theaters, timetables in train stations, postage stamps and cereal box packaging, fascist propaganda posters, and junk mail. It is complex combinations of words and pictures, numbers and charts, photographs and illustrations that, in order to succeed, demand the clear thinking of a particularly thoughtful individual who can orchestrate these elements so that they all add up to something distinctive, or useful, or playful, or surprising, or subversive, or in some way truly memorable.

Graphic design is a popular art, a practical art, an applied art, and an ancient art.

Simply put, it is the visualization of ideas.”

— Jessica Helfand, from “Paul Rand: The Modern Designer,” an essay included in Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media, and Visual Culture.

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/ode-to-our-love/feed 1 http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/ode-to-our-love http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/LdBQSkAh--Y/marketing-in-a-recession http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/marketing-in-a-recession#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:34:29 +0000 Vanessa Polendo http://beta.graphicatx.com/?p=197 Advertising In Adversity

During a recession many businesses have a natural inclination to scale back on marketing activities in an effort to save money. However, there are numerous independent research studies that confirm businesses that implement and maintain marketing budgets during a recession, experienced “significantly higher sales growth”; a growth in sales that averaged 2.5 times higher than their competitors, not only during the recession years but also in the three years that follow a recession (McGraw-Hill).

These same studies have discovered that businesses that maintain and increase advertising during times of recession can actually improve their market share and get a higher return on investment at costs much lower than during good economic times. And in 1985, the sales of companies that were “aggressive recession advertisers “were 256 percent higher than those which “did not keep up their advertising.”

Dr. Gary Lilien, co-author of the study “Turning adversity into advantage: Does proactive marketing during a recession pay off?” goes on to state that “Companies that have been looking at marketing as an investment, and not an expense, and have been running their business through customer knowledge are the ones that are going to come out of this [recession] really, really well”.

Time after time it’s been proven that a recession is a time
to increase your marketing budget.

Just recently it was reported that two of the world’s biggest advertisers, Unilever and Procter & Gamble, would not cut their marketing budgets. Why?Because in an economic downturn, the shortsighted companies will reduce their advertising spending which in turn allows businesses that retain or increase their spending to steal the market share from those that don’t.

Also, during a recession advertising space and marketing services may reduce in price so that the same advertising spending buys you more media. There is one more encouraging fact we found that was established by a study from independent research firm, Meldrum & Fewsmith. The results are both reassuring and insightful: Aggressive advertising not only grows revenues; it even increases profits. Let’s face it… an increase in profits is something we can all appreciate.

This video is a great visual representation of the effects of advertising in times like these. This early-90’s British TV ad addresses advertising during the recession of that era.

“In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage.”- Robert Collier

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/marketing-in-a-recession/feed 0 http://graphicatx.com/en/culture/marketing-in-a-recession http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/VvB8tc6cV7k/dressed-to-impress http://graphicatx.com/en/design/dressed-to-impress#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:25:25 +0000 Vanessa Polendo http://beta.graphicatx.com/?p=194 What is the cost of a first impression?

Nowadays first impressions can either make or break a business. Recession is upon us and this economic slowdown has consumers clutching to their credit cards and cash flow with more tenacity. The value of the American dollar is diminishing with every government bailout and for some it truly seems as if there may be no end in sight to these difficult times. Impulse buys have become a thing of the past. Shopping for non-necessities is now for “recreation only” and for the most part those too busy struggling to make ends-meet have no time for recreation.

The era of Consumer Consciousness is upon us

Just about everyone with some solid common sense would rather invest their money instead of burn it. And where do consumers turn when trying to decide on where their hard-earned-dollars are spent? Thats right, more and more people are turning to the Internet. People are no longer just getting online to check their e-mail. Nowadays most consumers are logging on to doing some serious market research. In fact, according to a recent study by the US Census Bureau, the second most popular Internet use (after e-mail) was gathering information on products & services. Consumer inquiries are no longer as simple as calculations and mere cost-comparisons. As consumers become more concerned about how, when and where they spend their money so to do they become more concerned about “with whom” their money is being spent.

The marketplace is extremely competitive and unforgiving

If your business is not highly visible, accessible and differentiated disappointment and frustration will most likely clutter your road to success. It is an indisputable reality that uncertain consumers need the reassurance of known brands. A strong and solid market identity is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. Choosing the right identity from the onset is the fastest way to ensure market success. Starting from a strong brand foundation, streamlines your business, confirms your credibility, connects your target prospects emotionally, motivates consumer and solidifies client loyalty.

Well..what is the cost of a first impression?

For businesses of any size first impressions can either make or break your bank account by either sealing or stealing the deal. This very second, someone somewhere on the web is looking for the products and services you offer. Will they be able to find you? And when they do find you will they like what they see? A website is like a billboard on the information superhighway. It’s visible to anyone who comes by and it’s promoting yourself, your business and your services to the entire planet and to over 73% of the American population 24 hours a day. Plus, a well designed website can be far more than a billboard, it can be like having a full-time sales force, getting clients and generating work for your business day after day.

Are you generating the client-base that you desire or are the clients’ first impression of your organization turning them away?

]]> http://graphicatx.com/en/design/dressed-to-impress/feed 0 http://graphicatx.com/en/design/dressed-to-impress http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/graphicatx/~3/l5z7b6eDvcY/lone-star-love http://graphicatx.com/en/news/lone-star-love#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:10:10 +0000 Vanessa Polendo http://beta.graphicatx.com/?p=191 “ATX Baby!”

We have relocated from Omaha, Nebraska to the beautiful cultural oasis that is Austin, Texas and can barley contain our excitement! Originally from the Lone-Star State it was unfathomable to think that we would never move back because “Once A Texan = Always A Texan.” We couldn’t live the remainder of our lives without a little B-B-Q, sweet tea, mariachis, Fiesta, and Southern Hospitality AND we couldn’t imagine a better climate for our business to thrive.

When we left Omaha the temperature was just 4 degrees above zero & when we arrived in Austin there wasn’t a could in the sky and it was a warm 75. Although Texas is our new home our ties to Nebraska are still very strong.

If you have worked with us before, our work system flows as usual. We can be reached by IMs, SMS, phone, email. For all first time visitors to the site, please feel welcome to check out our portfolio and thank you for stopping by. We are an up-and-coming graphic design studio now located in Austin, Texas. We specialize in Print, Identity, Multimedia and Web Design and Development. This is our blog and it will contain updates and news on the industry as well as cultural and local events.

With the move have also come a few other great changes. We have changed the look of our website and proudly partnered with a tech-savvy ally that will be working with us in the development of new products such as our very own Content Management System due mid year along with the creation of other applications still making their way through our rigorous brainstorming process because we love what we do and we never stop doing it.

If you would like to be updated on coming developments, please sign up to receive our monthly newsletter. We won’t share your information with third parties or send you junk mail. We believe in clean marketing and dislike solicitation. You’re also invited to follow what we are doing with Twitter.

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