Departika Blog

Bird Nerds for Cancer Destruction

2009-11-09T16:07:00-06:00

Dave and Jenny McGee, are great friends of ours along with their two beautiful children, have been living in El Salvador working with an organization called Enlace. Jenny is an extraordinary person and a talented artist and designer who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and ...Read More » Dave and Jenny McGee, are great friends of ours along with their two beautiful children, have been living in El Salvador working with an organization called Enlace. Jenny is an extraordinary person and a talented artist and designer who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and upon the discovery, they had to quickly move back to the states for treatment. We are pulling together, with other friends and family, to raise money to help them get through this difficult time. To lend a hand, we are featuring Jenny’s Bird Nerd Photoshop brushes she made exclusively for Mediaslap. 100% of the proceeds are going to their family to help with expenses and daily needs. Buy a set of these Photoshop Brushes and help this wonderful family destroy cancer! Other Ways to Help The challenges of this are obvious and financial contributions are a simple way to help. Donate here. Visit their Website and purchase one, two, three or more of Jenny’s Posters, T-Shirts and other creations in the Cure Cancer Store. Join the Facebook group Climb Out Cancer.

Case Study: Smile Zone

2009-11-09T21:52:00-06:00

Smile Zone focuses on making a child’s dental visits a positive experience through education and kid friendly dental practices. Their objective was to increase their new patient visits and retain current dental clients by providing a unique point of difference. We created a marketing plan and small website (a new robust site is currently being developed) to create awareness of...Read More » Smile Zone focuses on making a child’s dental visits a positive experience through education and kid friendly dental practices. Their objective was to increase their new patient visits and retain current dental clients by providing a unique point of difference. We created a marketing plan and small website (a new robust site is currently being developed) to create awareness of Smile Zone’s kid friendly approach. As part of the plan, communication tactics were developed and deployed over the last two years which included a combination of digital and traditional media. In the last two years Smile Zone Dentistry for children has seen an increase in new patients, referrals and awareness for the business. They have also seen an increase in site traffic and a decrease in overall business expenditures to gain new clients and keep existing clients.

Case Study: Basic American Foods

2009-11-09T19:09:01-06:00

Basic American Foods launched a new site in 2007, targeted at Foodservice operators. The site is informational in nature, containing product information, recipes, and ways to increase patron traffic, along with a variety of other value added information. They wanted to augment their traditional marketing efforts to encourage operators to seek out information related to their brand...Read More » Basic American Foods launched a new site in 2007, targeted at Foodservice operators. The site is informational in nature, containing product information, recipes, and ways to increase patron traffic, along with a variety of other value added information. They wanted to augment their traditional marketing efforts to encourage operators to seek out information related to their brand and products. Their data shows if potential customers sample the products, the sales increase. We created a digital marketing program for them to drive site traffic, increase brand awareness and drive product trial though sample request. Targeted programs to existing and potential customers was developed to provide on-going communication related to Basic American Foods products. These targeted communications are seeing above average open and click-through rates and are driving increased awareness and trial for Basic American Foods products. Continued modifications to the site based on user habits have led to users intuitively locating information relevant to their needs. Overall site traffic and product sample request have increased exponentially vs. last year. An above average percentage of those who request samples go on to purchase the product.

Case Study: Springfield Business Development Corporation

2009-11-05T17:12:00-06:00

Springfield Business Development Corporation (SBDC) SBDC came to us a with fragmented web presence and user experience resulting in additional customer service and site updating time for the SBDC team. We developed a solution that includes a clean intuitive interface built with a Content Management System that provides flexibility...Read More » Springfield Business Development Corporation (SBDC) SBDC came to us a with fragmented web presence and user experience resulting in additional customer service and site updating time for the SBDC team. Their objectives were: • Restructure the site so users can easily locate information • Provide more robust tools for information interaction • Reduce customer service and site updating time We developed a solution that includes a clean intuitive interface built with a Content Management System that provides flexibility for the sites growth. The information architecture was overhauled and the design provides a clean interface that focuses on content findability. We developed tools such as an interactive map room, photo galleries and robust news sections based on SBDC’s unique user needs. The new site was awarded the best Electronic Communication at the 2009 Missouri Economic Development Awards. It has reduced customer service time with impressive feedback from their users, for example, “It was really easy to find what I was looking for on your website, no need to call me back!”. The new site provides their users with the information and tools they need as the first point of contact when selecting Springfield, MO for business expansion opportunities. Visit the site

Good Times For A Good Cause

2009-10-14T14:36:00-06:00

We were pleased to be asked by our good friends at Springfield Brewing Company to develop the identity and posters for this years local Beer Fest. Our arms can be twisted for a good time and especially when it involves a good cause, proceeds benefit Big Brothers & Big Sisters. if you are in the area, be sure to attend to support a great organization and enjoy your favorite craft brew while your at it. We were pleased to be asked by our good friends at Springfield Brewing Company to develop the identity and posters for this years local Beer Fest. Our arms can be twisted for a good time and especially when it involves a good cause, proceeds benefit Big Brothers & Big Sisters. if you are in the area, be sure to attend to support a great organization and enjoy your favorite craft brew while your at it.

Marketing Strategy from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”

2009-10-13T18:24:00-06:00

Twenty-five hundred years ago Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War. Washington, Clausewitz, Mao, Lenin, MacArthur, Stilwell, Patton all memorized what this ancient Chinese general preached in 13 short chapters. If your company is 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th or 10th in market share, you’re a guerrilla. Pay attention to Sun Tzu’s simple suggestion, “Attack a place the enemy does not protect.” Small companies survive, and even become giants in their specialty by listening to this simple advice. For example, Enterprise Rental Cars focused on auto-body repair shops. Enterprise promised to reward consumers who crashed their cars by personally delivering a rental to the body shop. They also rewarded the body shop with a commission. Hertz, Avis, General, Budget, Thrifty all attacked each other for the airport business traveler. They paid no attention to this little company focusing on renting cars to people who crashed their cars. Now Enterprise is the largest rental car company in the world. Don’t forget Sam Walton’s strategy. He attacked the small towns with his Wal-Mart stores for 10 years before he went head to head against K-Mart. He killed them. “Attack a place the enemy does not protect.” Twenty-five hundred years ago Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War. Washington, Clausewitz, Mao, Lenin, MacArthur, Stilwell, Patton all memorized what this ancient Chinese general preached in 13 short chapters. If your company is 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th or 10th in market share, you’re a guerrilla. Pay attention to Sun Tzu’s simple suggestion, “Attack a place the enemy does not protect.” Small companies survive, and even become giants in their specialty by listening to this simple advice. For example, Enterprise Rental Cars focused on auto-body repair shops. Enterprise promised to reward consumers who crashed their cars by personally delivering a rental to the body shop. They also rewarded the body shop with a commission. Hertz, Avis, General, Budget, Thrifty all attacked each other for the airport business traveler. They paid no attention to this little company focusing on renting cars to people who crashed their cars. Now Enterprise is the largest rental car company in the world. Don’t forget Sam Walton’s strategy. He attacked the small towns with his Wal-Mart stores for 10 years before he went head to head against K-Mart. He killed them. “Attack a place the enemy does not protect.”

Fail-Proof Design Process

2009-09-25T14:38:01-06:00

I have been noticing a pattern in my designs—not the kind that I use as a design element, but a pattern in my design process. When I start a design, I have all these ideas swarming around my head, I start sketching, then quickly get to the point where I want to start implementing. Hours go by, I continue to dump all the stuff from my head into the design. Frustration sets in—because my brilliant image isn’t quite working out in real life. Years ago I started using this trick to bring me out of my design hole—it always seems to work. When I hit the point… I have been noticing a pattern in my designs—not the kind that I use as a design element, but a pattern in my design process. When I start a design, I have all these ideas swarming around my head, I start sketching, then quickly get to the point where I want to start implementing. Hours go by, I continue to dump all the stuff from my head into the design. Frustration sets in—because my brilliant image isn’t quite working out in real life. Years ago I started using this trick to bring me out of my design hole—it always seems to work. When I hit the point of frustration, I’ve learned that if I bring it back to the very basics of design, all of a sudden, everything comes together and I have a successful image to show from it. What I mean by the basics is, using those elements and principles of design that I learned in my very first art classes—balance, unity, alignment, repetition, contrast and white space. I repeat something which results in texture/pattern, or create contrast by making one of my elements HUGE. I know what to do when my design is in trouble, now what I wonder is, why do I keep going through the same process of hitting the point of frustration before I decide to take a step back and apply my fail-proof approach? Apparently I have the unconscious need to apply one of the principles (repetition) to myself in order to consciously apply them to my work. My latest in the recurring episode of the Katie Design Process took place a couple of weeks ago when preparing our gallery wall for the Friday Night Artwalk. I was milling around the office one day and realized how many dead electronics we had sitting around: an ipod, coffee maker, keyboard, monitor, record player, mouse, phones, CDs… useless, but somewhat hard to throw away. I thought it would be great to paint all of these dead things and display them in some interesting way as our electronic graveyard. The idea evolved as the other Departikans chimed in with ideas of putting name plates to the “art” telling how each item died—example: iphone, death by drowning (Corey went swimming with his iphone and was never able to resuscitate.) This was brilliant! Then we were able to get a hold of a bunch of old dusty macintosh computers to add to it—this was going to be cool. We got all of this stuff into the gallery area and started to arrange this motley crew. Hours passed. It started to look like Bob’s Discount Computer Dump instead of an artful electronic graveyard. After feeling really horrible about the mess I had created, we decided to stare at the wall for many silent minutes… then we decided to simplify. We had spray painted a bunch of old cassette tapes and started hanging them on the wall side by side in a straight line with all of the tape pulled out hanging in a pile below. This looked great, but the rest of the stuff had no order and looked repulsive. Although it was very difficult to let go of the original, seemingly cool idea of the graveyard, and the hours of work which went into bringing it all together, I just knew we had to remove it all and continue to hang the tapes. There they were, the basic principles of design screaming at me. The tapes created this lovely repetitive pattern, the rest of the wall was empty, creating nice white space. What was even better was that we got to tie a piece of our original idea back into the newly ordered design. We placed a name plate above each tape, stating the name of the tape, band name, and the date of death—when that particular album was released onto CD. Surely designers’ methods vary greatly. Hopefully, few struggle through the same retarded design process that I do. My story about the gallery wall is just one example of how applying the basic principles of design can pull you out of a design rut. If you Remember to include these fundamental ideas in your process—the results will most likely be successful.

Become a Logo Designer for istock??

2009-09-23T14:52:00-06:00

I think this really sucks. istock.com is going to start selling logos? boooooooo!!!!!! Other opinions? Find out more here. I think this really sucks. istock.com is going to start selling logos? boooooooo!!!!!! Other opinions? Find out more here.

Kanye I Still Believe

2009-09-17T02:30:00-06:00

We know this shirt is pretty good, and we are gonna let you wear it, but Beyonce has the best shirt of all time. For those of you who love Kanye, like a Departikan that shall remain nameless who refers to him as Mr. West, you can show your respect and support with this lovely garment. If you are like the rest of us who see the patronizing jest of “Kanye I Still Believe” and agree with President Obama that he may be a jackass...Read more We know this shirt is pretty good, and we are gonna let you wear it, but Beyonce has the best shirt of all time. For those of you who love Kanye, like a Departikan that shall remain nameless who refers to him as Mr. West, you can show your respect and support with this lovely garment. If you are like the rest of us who see the patronizing jest of “Kanye I Still Believe” and agree with President Obama that he may be a jackass, it’s sure to turn heads and spark a few questions the next time you decide to cover your torso with it. Woman’s T-Shirt Visit our store to purchase Men’s T-Shirt Visit our store to purchase

The Great CMS Debate

2009-09-10T16:07:00-06:00

Over the last several months, the topic of CMS (Content Management Systems) has been widely discussed within the office. After several years of doing custom development on all of our projects it was important to find a CMS solution that could streamline projects and lighten the dependency on ruby developers. Over the last year we have stuck with one CMS that has helped offer our clients an affordable solution as well as lowering cost on our end. Now we are reevaluating our options in the hope of finding a couple solutions that can meet project needs in unique ways as well as continuing to do custom development. So here we are. I should first mention that my initials happen to be CMS, so it seems all too fitting that I should write this post. There are plenty of avenues to go down in regards to the benefits, pitfalls, cost effectiveness, etc. of using a CMS. However, the goal of this post is to get varying overall opinions on what’s important, what isn’t important, and past experiences in regards to a CMS. This will aid in our internal goals but hopefully shed light to users with similar issues as well. Based on input and further research I will follow up with more detailed posts on specific aspects. You might call this a series of sorts. Over the last several months, the topic of CMSs (Content Management Systems) has been widely discussed within the office. After several years of doing custom development on all of our projects it was important to find a CMS solution that could streamline projects and lighten the dependency on custom developers. Over the last year we have stuck with one CMS that has helped offer our clients an affordable solution as well as lowering cost on our end. Now we are reevaluating our options in the hope of finding additional solutions that can meet project needs in unique ways as well as continuing to do custom development. So here we are. I should first mention that my initials happen to be CMS, so it seems all too fitting that I should write this post. There are plenty of avenues to go down in regards to the benefits, pitfalls, cost effectiveness, etc. of using a CMS. However, the goal of this post is to get varying overall opinions on what’s important, what isn’t important, and past experiences in regards to a CMS. This will aid in our internal goals but hopefully shed light to others with similar issues as well. Based on input and further research I will follow up with more detailed posts on specific aspects. You might call this a series of sorts. Below is a recap of some generalized input we’ve compiled internally relating to multiple types of disciplines/interaction with using a CMS. Developers This is the group of people that you will find most of the input from on forums, blogs, and other web outlets. Opinions from this group generally focus on the functionality of a CMS. What can it do? How can it speed up development? How hard is it to develop within? These questions/views though important only make up a small portion of the discussion. Sometimes this gets overlooked by them. Things That Are Important It is easy to extend. There is the option to develop out custom sections and implement them seamlessly into the admin section. There are no restrictions on development. It should produce clean, semantic markup. It shouldn’t require javascript to perform functions that can be done with markup. Development time is actually streamlined. The development language and and features should make it faster and easier to develop sites, rather than be cumbersome to workflow. Things That Are Not Important Themes. Having the ability to change themes or look and feel of a site at any point is useless. Rather than be bogged down by themes, the chosen design should be able to be integrated with ease. How the admin screens look and function. Design and UI come second behind performing the tasks needed and meeting the development demands. Designers/UI Gurus This group of people are a valuable extension to developers. They are a bridge between understanding development needs while still focusing on how the end-user will function with the CMS. Often this area is where the major pitfalls in most CMSs exist. Things That Are Important The CMS must have all the functionality needed but not muddy up the process for the end-user. Most likely if the CMS can “Do it all” then it is going to be confusing when performing simple tasks. Custom fields. Content fields should be associated with specific content. Having all content input based around a blog platform creates confusion when creating entries for other types of content like portfolios, news articles, etc. The aesthetics should be at a good enough quality to make the user experience successful. Usability of the admin screens comes first and the design should family with the functionality and be pleasing to the user. Things That Are Not Important Everything is important. Any issues whether it be from the end-user or development side deserve consideration and a resolution. End-User/Client From a business stand point this may be the most important group of people. They are most likely paying for the project, use it the most after launch, and will be the recipient of any flaws or successes with the CMS. Things That Are Important All people in company/department can do content population and light tweaks without major technical knowledge. The CMS is easy to use. Training should be painless and simple enough to pass on to other users. User restrictions. It is nice to have editable content restricted to specific users. Cost. The licensing and monthly fees should be sizable to the scale of the site if any exist at all. Things That Are Not Important What’s going on in the backend. Development is important for SEO but beyond that it doesn’t matter what the means is to the end. The CMS does all kinds of other stuff. As long as it does what it needs to do for this project, it works. Again, this topic is very broad and the hope for this initial post is to get as much real world feedback as possible. Please use the format above to response pertaining to your specific group. Also, tell us about specific CMS platforms you have used. Don’t be shy, express your deepest darkest hate for your particular CMS or tell us what you like about it.