Oxide holiday
cookies

Adam

• Being able to spend time with my very busy wife.
• Holiday cookies.
• Having a boss that values life outside of work.
• The most wonderful gift ever!
  

Mandy

• Spending time with people I love.
• Making new friends, like these goofs.
• Interspecies friendships.
• Slowing down and being with my sweet turkey, playing video games and watching Netflix.

Drew Gourley

• Whiteboards
• Red Storage Ottomans
• Flywheel
• Kerbal Space Program

Nathan

• As always, Jordan, Sullivan, and our kitties, Sasha and Phineas.
• Our wonderful home that is finally coming together. :)
• All the great thrift stores Omaha has to offer. Thanks Thrift America!
• Spending time with family and friends.

Drew Davies

• Technology that allows humans to breathe underwater.
• Hand drawing a really well-crafted letterform.
• Seven Mile Beach and Omaha, Nebraska.
• A family that I love coming home to every night.

And all of us at Oxide are joyful for our great clients, who allow us to keep spending our days doing what we love. Happy holidays to all!

UsabilityWorks logo, before and after

Most important to the process was increasing the clarity and professionalism of the UsabilityWorks logo. The original was based on the concept that Dana uses her expertise to lead clients through a maze to the best solution. Understanding that the metaphor was still perfectly accurate, we worked to simplify the logo to its essential elements. You’ll see that we kept the gray maze and the green path arrow, but streamlined the execution to a basic 16×16 grid to more effectively convey the concept.

UsabilityWorks business card, front and back

The primary sales tool Dana uses is still the tried-and-true business card, handed out to prospects at various conferences and speaking engagements. Because of its importance, the card was our primary focus. We developed a solution that underscores and builds upon the metaphor of maze. On the front, the positive path is highlighted over the obstacle of the maze. On the back, the maze appears in an interactive form, allowing recipients of the card to engage with the artifact by making their own way through a maze. (There’s even different versions of the card, each with their own unique maze.)

UsabilityWorks business card, triplexed and letterpressed by Spark Print Solutions

Since it’s the paramount touchpoint with potential clients, the UsabilityWorks business card also has to stand out. We designed a highly tactile piece, embossed and letterpressed on a triplexed card — three sheets of paper, pasted together, with the corporate green as the middle layer. (Paper and printing nerds: it’s a blind emboss, plus letterpressing in Pantone 368 and Pantone Cool Gray 4, on two sheets of 100# cover Mohawk Superfine Ultrawhite with a sheet of 100# cover Mohawk Via Vellum in Leaf Green sandwiched in between. Printed and triplexed by the experts at Spark Print Solutions.)

We also had the opportunity to work with Dana on a complete redesign of the UsabilityWorks website. The previous site had a lot of regularly updated content, but was set up in a way that made it difficult for visitors to find anything they were looking for. We approached the new site with the primary goal of correctly sorting and categorizing the information, so finding what you’re looking for is highly intuitive.

Restructuring the site also allowed us to more plainly define what UsabilityWorks does, and put that vital information front and center — literally and figuratively. Now visitors can clearly understand what the company offers, and easily find Dana’s writings on usability, her past presentations, and where she’ll be next. (Also, that 16×16 logo grid I mentioned earlier? Turns out it makes for a perfect favicon.) 

We saw this as an opportunity to “build” the invitation, and utilized even the smallest details to emphasize the idea of construction, in the requisite Kiewit yellow and black. Our only requirement was to include an illustration of a tower crane. But we made sure to include other subtle hints to construction throughout the design; including a strong grid, and a brick pattern comprised of the happy couple’s monogram. 

In addition, the piece is literally constructed from a variety of materials: a vellum overlay, Lettra 220# Cover Stock in Fluorescent White, and French Paper 140# Muscletone Cover in Black. Everything is held together with silver grommets in all four corners. Finally they were sent in Glo-Tone Shocking Yellow envelopes by French. The vellum overlay was printed with Pantone 114 (yellow). Both the front of the RSVP card and the invite were printed in two colors, Black and Pantone Cool Gray 5. The back of the invite was embossed with a touch of black ink for definition. The various materials and printing techniques combine to add visual interest and convey layers of meaning.

As you can tell, this project gave us quite the opportunity to really play around with material selection. We had a great time looking through paper sample books and getting to spec out different papers. (Something we rarely get to do!)

Finally we have to thank our friends at Spark Letterpress who printed and constructed them for us!

The new BeckAg Homepage

The Oxide team put together an awesome design for the site, and we were able to plan out a couple of really nice interface pieces. I was able to flex some front-end muscle on this project and built all of these features custom, from scratch, just for this site. (You may just see a Fun with code post in the future detailing these features.)

A slideshow from the Current/Future
Clients page

One of the core features of the site is a nifty slideshow system, with the next and previous slides peeking in from the sides, as well as a slide preview running along the bottom. Instead of using the usual bulky JavaScript animations, I’m relying solely on CSS3 transitions, which helps with clean, smooth animations. Building this truly unique slideshow was a fun and interesting challenge, and keeps the site more efficient.

An accordion from the Team page

Another great feature can be found on the Team page. What may seem at first glance to be just another JavaScript accordion turned out to be quite a bit more complex. There are several helpful interface elements which allow the user to key in to the intent of the content while allowing for a lot of information to fit into a much more convenient space. (Go ahead and have a look for yourself!)

An example of SVG
use to avoid large complex images

Visually, the site uses a healthy balance of SVG for line-art and images for texture and photos. Overall, the page load speeds are quick and efficient for such a detailed site. This, along with using custom code for the many interface features, keeps the bandwidth demand low so it won’t be so taxing if viewed on a mobile device. The inclusion of SVG for line-art also allows for a more seamless transition to mobile and high-resolution displays.

Speaking of mobile, we’ve also made this site completely responsive, allowing for the best user experience across all devices and screen sizes.

The BeckAg site
when viewed on a
mobile device

This site is a true example of what our team can achieve on a site — from design to development we’ve built a true custom solution for BeckAg which is well suited for their current and future needs.

Parsnippy logo

Our desire for straight-from-the-farmer products is clear. Realizing the need for a way to quench this thirst, a team of passionate innovators approached Oxide with their plan: build a digital destination where you can search nationwide for farmers’ markets, browse their available products, and even order online. They needed a name and an identity to establish themselves in the marketplace.

On occasion, we get the opportunity to concept names for our clients. The way our brains are programmed to solve visual problems actually translates really well to naming projects. The steps of the process are identical to how we solve a visual problem. We start with a questionnaire. Then comes thorough research on the competition. Then, like logo sketching, a large sheet of paper allows us to scribble down any idea that pops into our head. When we’ve exhausted every path, we put together a presentation of our best potential solutions.

One-color versions
of the logo

Our client’s desire to have a name that was short, relevant, easily spelled, and available as a .com domain was the REAL challenge. After presenting five options that met their criteria, the name we all agreed upon as the best solution was Parsnippy. The name is a hybrid of the word parsnip (a quirky farmer’s market product) and snappy (quick or fast).

Once the team approved the name, we moved on to our tried and true logo design process. Like the name, the final logo is another combination of two ideas: a standard map location icon forming the body of a parsnip — “here’s exactly where you can find the produce you’re looking for!”

With a compelling name and logo in place, the team is now working on building their business concept into reality. So get ready to order a crate of cherimoyas, kiwanos, ramutans or even tomatoes direct from a farmer soon!

The Show is Nebraska’s biggest annual design competition, showcasing the best design from around the state. It’s an honor to have our work selected by a panel of national design judges: Ann Willoughby from Willoughby Design, Brian Singer from Facebook, and Doug Powell from IBM.

Oxide’s design of the Zipline beer packaging won a gold award at AIGA Nebraska’s The Show 22

Oxide’s award-winning projects were the corporate website for Contemporary Analysis and beer packaging for Zipline Brewing Co.

Oxide’s design and development of the Contemporary Analysis website won a gold award at AIGA Nebraska’s The Show 22

We are grateful to our wonderful clients, whose collaboration and trust in us turned the design work from good to great.

The winning pieces will be on exhibit at  Kaneko until Friday, November 15, 2013.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that… I sketch a lot.
And I think you should too.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m not really an artist, I really can’t draw, and most

of my sketches are ugly. But I am a designer, and I communicate ideas. Sketching helps solidify those ideas and work through how to present them.

Here are a few thoughts to get you started:

In the beginning, make them quick and dirty.

The really great thing about sketching is it lets you work through a large number of different ideas very quickly. At Oxide, most projects kick off with all of us sitting around a giant sheet of paper and getting all of our ideas out there.

They don’t have to be pretty.

Concept, not execution, is the name of the game. Like I said, my sketches tend to be pretty ugly. But they help to refine and clarify my ideas. In fact, sketches shouldn’t be perfect. They should be loose and helping you work toward the solution of the conceptual problem.

Take notes. 

Design is as much about thinking as it is about creation. So write down your thoughts, make notations. Why do you want it to look that way? What are you trying to get across? This not only helps you remember where you’re coming from, but it helps you to explain your work and process later.

Refinement comes next.

Once you’ve got your ideas out there, then you can start to refine where you want to go. What concepts are rising to the top? Can you combine any of your ideas? How can you make it better? This is the point where sketches can get more detailed.

Use sketching to work through your problems. 

After all the initial sketching, and finding the right concept to work from, I most often find myself sketching to work through the problems that come up along the way. Even the best-laid plans can fall apart once you start translating things to the computer. Sketching throughout the project makes it even better.

Grab a pencil (and a sketchbook) and start sketching!

We’re happy to announce that, in addition to celebrating our anniversary this week, we’ve also made arrangements to stay in our location for the long-term future. So you’ll be able to find Oxide Design Co. at 3916 Farnam Street for years to come.

Oxide World Headquarters, located at 3916 Farnam Street in the heart of the Blackstone District

It’s more than just not wanting to ever have to pack up all our LEGOs. We’re quite comfortable in our home in the Blackstone District — the neighborhood we started in 12 years ago, just down the street from our current spot. Exciting things are happening all around us, and we get to keep a close eye on it all. We’re proud to continue supporting the efforts to make Blackstone District one of Omaha’s most vibrant and active neighborhoods!

We also want to take a moment to thank our amazing clients for partnerships that have continued to inspire us and keep us going. We tell new and potential clients who ask about our ideal clients that we love the variety of backgrounds we work with — from brewing companies to zoos. Digging in and discovering all we can about each individual client and then finding the right solution for that client’s needs — this is our lifeblood. We’re grateful for the continued opportunity to do what we love and to meet awesome people like you.

Thanks for being great!

Earlier this summer, we began work with Nebraskans for Civic Reform on a new logo and corporate identity for the organization.

Nebraskans for Civic Reform logo

In the process of our initial in-depth research and interviews with Nebraskans for Civic Reform, a few themes emerged, giving us a clear understanding of the organization, and our starting point for building an effective and appropriate identity:

• Creating a modern and robust democracy
• Equality and common good
• Community-focused
• [obviously] Nebraska-centric

Nebraskans for Civic Reform concept sketches

Perhaps the first thing you’ll notice about the new logo is that it looks like a seal. This is an intentional allusion to our Nebraskan state seal — the blue color and the simplified line work of the rope outline are a modern take on the state seal. The seal is a symbol in which all Nebraskans can take pride, celebrating the fact that — politics aside — we’re all Nebraskans.

While many symbols are used to represent democracy, we wanted to find appropriate but unexpected imagery. Through our research,  we discovered the seemingly unlikely candidate of the honey bee.

The honey bee is Nebraska’s official state insect. We found that bee societies are often mistaken as a monarchy — or even a dictatorship. But it turns out that the so-called “queen” bee is not the deciding member. Every bee is equal.

This insect society is actually a great example of democracy. The book Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley goes into great depth on this concept, including how a bee colony will select its new home. (A process outlined with clever graphics in an NPR article, aptly titled  “Why Honey Bees Are Better Politicians Than Humans.”)

Honey bees, Seeley explains, use “collective intelligence.” In the instance of finding a new home, it means that 300 elder bees will represent the colony of 10,000 that’s looking to move. Those 300 will go out and scout some potential new homes. They’ll come back and report on their best findings by performing a dance that gives directions to the site. The more repetitions of the dance (like, 300 times), the better they think the site is. A second wave goes out to examine the top choices. More dancing. In the end, each bee has a voice.

And then this incredible thing happens: Once a bee expresses their opinion on the site, they stop caring which site is chosen. They’ll go along with whichever site is chosen by the collective. Because the collective will choose the best site. 

Honey bees, it seems, have a perfect democracy.

The honey bee in the new Nebraskans for Civic Reform seal also looks upwards toward a star shape — an aspirational nod toward the ideal democracy.

In total, the visual elements capture everything at the at the heart of Nebraskans for Civic Reform’s work: everyone having equal voice, each an active community member, all working together to find the best solution for the whole of Nebraska.

We’re very pleased with the final product, and we’re excited to see it help grow Nebraskans for Civic Reform and the great endeavors in which they’re engaged. Today they unveil the new identity, and in the coming months we’ll be helping them implement it across all of their touch points in the community.

A few weeks ago Oxide was asked to present at Omaha Advertising X! on just that topic. So to help demystify the process for everyone, I thought I would share my presentation with you. In an ideal world, these are the steps you would follow to take your shiny new website from an idea to completion.

1. Establish a plan.

The first step for creating a new website will always be figuring out what you want to accomplish, and setting some restraints on the scope of the project. You need to ask yourself what are you trying to accomplish? When do you need to have it completed? ( Be reasonable here. Great work takes time and thought!) How much, in resources and money, do you have to spend?

2. Assemble your team.

At this point, you need to figure out who is going to make this happen. Typically your team will include internal stakeholders (such as yourself and any other people of importance within your company or endeavor), copy writers or content strategists, designers, and web developers.

I can’t stress the importance of having everyone on the same page throughout the process of the project. Establish a plan for communication early to help facilitate a good working relationship between everyone involved.

3. Develop a content strategy.

The most important aspect of any website is content. Relevant, well-targeted content is your greatest asset to build trust with your users, and to optimize your search engine results. To develop your strategy:

• Know the purpose of your content. What are you trying to achieve?
• Know your Audience. What do they want and/or need? What are they looking for?
• Develop your key messages. Convey your purpose, tailored to your audience. Reinforce your purpose.
• Anticipate your audience’s next steps/questions. What do they need to move toward?

Once you have a strategy, you need to determine what content you have available, what content needs to be repurposed, and what needs to be created. Remember that content is more than just words, it’s photos, videos, PDFs — anything that is needed to tell your story. Have the best content you can. The most beautifully designed site won’t mean anything if your users can’t find they information they need.

4. Determine website structure.

Create a sitemap. Start at your home page. What will your users need from
there? Identify and organize all pages and navigation. Revise and update your content needs.

Once the sitemap is completed and approved, start wire framing. Highlight
all features, elements, and content for each unique page. This is to establish function, behavior, and content priority, not the layout or design of the page.

5. Design.

At this point, once the content is completed, and the function of each page is established, then the design can happen. Design is a critical contribution to the perception of your company. Great design — not merely aesthetically pleasing, but also easy to use and understand — equals happy users.

If there are established brand guidelines, they should be followed. If not, the design should accurately reflect your business. Some tips:

• Design with real (or realistic) content in mind.
• Design to exact pixels.
• Plan for future growth.
• Don’t involve too many people.

The design process typically begins with initial mock-ups of key pages. Once there is approval of the general style, secondary pages, and other elements are designed. Finally (and ideally) a style guide that codifies navigation, type styling, color palettes, image usage, and other commonly used elements is established to help in the development of the site, as well as any future updates.

6. Development and CMS Integration.

Once the design is squared away, it time for the developer to take over. Ideally your development team has worked with you to establish the technical aspects of the site — the hosting environment, the DNS settings, and the Content Management System.

Using the mock-ups, style guide, and final content, the developer will code and create the final site. They will continue to work with the copy writer and designer on any necessary tweaks or changes.

7. Beta-testing.

Once the site is coded, take some time to review all pages and all content.
It’s much better to find and fix errors before going live! At the same time get feedback from trusted sources and make any relevant changes.

8. Launch and promote!

Let everyone know about your new site. Twitter, Facebook, your blog! Get the news out there to draw traffic to your new site.

9. Maintenance.

Not something you typically want to think about right after launching your new site, but it is very important to have a plan in place for the upkeep and maintenance of your site. Clarify roles and responsibilities for site review and maintenance. Stay reliable and relevant!

Download a PDF of the presentation here.