The Image Group

What is SOPA/PIPA and why should you care?

2012-01-18T13:49:26-05:00

Today’s blackout protest of the SOPA and PIPA bills is one of the biggest organized protests in the history of the web. Not only are the big web services on board but the Twitterverse is a constant stream of “Stop SOPA/PIPA” “Call your Senators and Representatives” and “Why is Wikipedia down? My paper is due in 2 hours?! Nooooo!!!”.

Some could argue that this piece of legislation is designed to stop online piracy, no doubt a relevant cause and worth fighting. The problem, however, is that SOPA/PIPA legislation is a blanket solution much akin to fighting a toenail infection with euthanasia. It’s too general and too restrictive to be any good for a free and open internet community. Creating a firewall between the United States and the rest of the world is not the answer. By blacking out for the day, organizations like Wikipedia and Google are trying to educate Americans who may not quite understand what this could mean for a free and open internet and how mass restrictions would stifle free speech and change the face of the internet as we know it today. Below are a list of links explaining the issues and providing a few perspectives. I would encourage everyone (regardless of which side of the aisle you sit) to read about these pieces of legistlation and educate yourself on the issues. Not to be overly dramatic but, the future of the free internet may depend on it! (cue dramatic echo)

Google’s landing page provides information and immediately contact your Senators and Representatives.

A good article in CNN Money SOPA explained: What it is and why it matters

An inspiring talk at TEDxUofM Marvin Ammori – Why Internet Policy Matters

The Day the LOLcats Died

Other resources:
Stop The Wall
Americancensorship.org
BlackoutSOPA.org
Craigslist: About SOPA
What is PIPA?
What is the open internet?
While the Net Goes Dark for SOPA and PIPA, Register to Vote by Christina Gagnier, intellectual property attorney and partner at Gagnier Margossian LLP
Websites flexing muscle in push against online piracy bills LA Times

A Thankfulness bib.

2011-11-23T14:29:33-05:00

This year at The Image Group we’re just really, really, really thankful for our clients, our families, our friends and just life in general. We have SO much to be thankful for that this could get messy fast. So the brain trust here at TIG have designed a thankfulness bib. A handcrafted and designed bib printed on premium paper and basted with our personal Thanksgiving thoughts and favorite recipes.

This year we invite you to join us in wearing YOUR bib of thankfulness. So as you gather with family, friends and that crazy aunt and uncle from out of town, you can slather them in love and appreciation for who they are and the joy that they bring to your life.

Please know that here at TIG our thankfulness bibs are covered with gratefulness, blessings and a little turkey gravy for the many blessings the Lord has provided.

If we just take the time to count our blessings, our bibs of thankfulness should be a Thanksgiving masterpiece.

Happy Thanksgiving!

AMA Symposium on Higher Education 2011

2011-11-22T13:34:02-05:00

Ah, it is the end of another enlightening, inspiring and exhausting conference from the American Marketing Association marketingpower.com. Over the past 3 days, the Symposium on Higher Education provided an open atmosphere for higher ed marketing and communications professionals to share with, learn from and even brag to each other.

I am going to need a few days to process the sessions and put into words the ah-ha moments, but throughout the sessions was a push for, or really, a rallying cry for college and university marketing efforts to be authentic and exemplify the amazing product that higher education is. Education is life changing and sometimes it takes a 3-day break from the day-to-day to remember what a privilege it is to promote it. And, as you do so, do everything – video or social, print or web – really, really well.

Here are a few institutions we heard from who are doing things really well and seeing great results.

Boston University Admissions

University of Dayton Undergraduate Application Page

American University

Stone Plastics Video

2011-09-02T17:18:35-04:00

West Michigan. Our home. It has long been a place of strong community where entrepreneurs have been able to breathe life into ideas and watch them grow. Michigan has faced some difficult times as of late, so it is always encouraging to see businesses that are able to thrive in spite of an economic downturn. Stone Plastics is one of them. As a company, they are a youthful 12 years of age, yet they produce parts that make their way onto some of the finest cars in the world, including Bentley and Mercedes-Benz. Their good work is evidence of a great company culture. Each person you meet at Stone, from leadership to engineers to machine operators, seems genuinely delighted to be working there.

Recently, we had the opportunity to work with Stone to produce a video that highlights what makes them unique as a company. We had a lot of fun shooting this piece. Acquisition of B-roll in the plant brought me back to my days as a kid watching Mr. Rogers show how stuff is made on the Picture Picture. There was no lack of visually interesting things to shoot. However, we went one step further and enlisted the help of Matt Johnston, a rally car driver turned aerial video shooter. Matt originally custom-built a remote helicopter camera platform for shooting rally cars, but as it turns out, it also works great inside a plant. This unique platform, combined with Matt’s ability to actually fly the darned thing, enabled us to get some really unique shots that would not have been possible otherwise. It also provided a decent amount of entertainment for the Stone employees. Engineers stood by gazing drop-jawed with iPhone cameras rolling as the flying lawnmower buzzed overhead. And in case you were wondering, there were no collisions and no one was injured in the making of this video.

West Michigan: Home of Mike Tyson

2011-08-10T14:13:37-04:00

CBS recently launched a new reality show called “Same Name.” Each episode features a celebrity and an average Joe who share the same name. When they trade lives for a few days, they discover how much or how little they have in common beyond having the same name. Sunday night, Mike Tyson was on the show. That’s right, Mike Tyson, the part-time nurse and stay-at-home dad from Zeeland, Michigan…and Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champ.

Not only did West Michigan get some national airtime in this episode, but two identities created by The Image Group were prominently displayed. “Michigan Mike” and his wife work for Metro Health. Their logo—that The Image Group created as part of a comprehensive brand campaign a few years ago—was shown numerous times throughout the episode. Metro received some great free publicity as a result of the show, particularly in regard to the work they are doing in their community clinics for low-income and/or uninsured patients. In addition, the City of Zeeland got a little shout out as the home of Mike Tyson, and the Z! logo and Feel the Zeel tagline that The Image Group created were shown onscreen as well.

*iPhone photo stealthily taken by resident paparazzi photographer Jason Kehrer

Tulip Time 2011

2011-05-27T10:04:53-04:00

Every April in Holland, Michigan, flower beds begin to show signs of life. Tiny green leafy fingers begin to part the soil and reach skyward, announcing the coming of Spring, and more importantly, the arrival of the tulips. This sends an unmistakable signal to the community—if you live or work anywhere in the vicinity of downtown, get ready, Tulip Time is coming.

Tulip Time is a major event here in West Michigan. Tourists from all over the world come to see the massive tulip bulbs, go sightseeing downtown and watch Dutch Dancers and street scrubbers dressed in Dutch costumes and wooden shoes.

This year, we decided to record this annual celebration, not just by enjoying the carny food stands everyday at lunch, or stopping what we’re doing to watch the parades go by our windows above 8th street. Instead, we fired up our cameras, muscling our way into the throngs of parade spectators, and recorded the event for posterity. The result is a quick, one minute slice of Americana, celebrating the sights and sounds of Tulip Time 2011. Enjoy!

SXSWi: My g33k spring break

2011-05-23T11:02:08-04:00

It was reported this year that South By Southwest Interactive’s attendance was over 19,000 people. That’s a 36% jump from last year. At this year’s base price of entry, starting around $450 per person, that’s pretty amazing. And I can tell you from personal experience, yes indeed, it felt like there were 19,000 people there—all trying to get the same free t-shirts in the tradeshow, to get the same seats for the panels and to stand in the same lines for the nightly sponsored events. The conference feels big.

So, let me add a bit of perspective here. In the past, over the span of an hour, there would be 8 panels/talks, ranging from web development, semantic code and maybe a Flash panel or two. You could get to each one easily and there was no shortage of seats… unless, of course, Veen or Zeldman were speaking. This year, there were 45 panels per session(!!), with topics ranging from web development to social media, healthcare to higher-ed, video to online comic strips and even a few on human sexuality in the digital age. Over 1800 speakers and panel members(!!), all vying for the attention of anyone who will listen or has feet to carry them to the over 10 offsite venues throughout the city. An almost overwhelming number of topics means it can end up being like trying to drink Oberon from a fire hose. It’s a great Michigan beer that you wait for every year but there’s just way too much to take in at once. You know a tech conference is big when Apple creates a “temporary” store and stocks it with (and sells out of) more iPad 2’s than anywhere else in the country. And now there is speculation coming from the dark, monitor lit halls of the bloggotwitterverseosphere that SXSWi will soon buckle under it’s own weight and collapse in on itself like a star that has expended all of it’s fuel. #winning

But seriously, in all honesty, I had a total blast this year. The events are always a riot, the people in Texas are friendly and the Foo Fighters played an awesome set at the Media Temple closing party. How cool is that? Not to mention that after I come back, I always have a new appreciation of web design and a better, bigger picture of how great it is to be able to do what I do. It’s great to know what is out there, who is working on it and to be affirmed in the web development processes we still live by here at TIG. I may not get into every panel or event, but at the end of the day, I come back to work energized and ready to apply some new techniques to my design work and apply new thinking to my overall creative process.

Below, I’ve compiled a list of a few of the panels that my colleagues and I attended and thought were particularly interesting. Some topics/statements I agreed with, some I didn’t. Either way, there was a ton of information and it’s all great food for thought. Maybe not nearly as tasty as Texas BBQ, but I mean c’mon, what is?

ANATOMY OF A DESIGN DECISION

HOW PRINT DESIGN IS THE FUTURE OF INTERACTION
and on Slideshare

NO EXCUSE: WEB DESIGNERS WHO CAN’T CODE

METRICS DRIVEN DESIGN

DESIGNING IDEAS, NOT OBJECTS by Robert Brunner

MADE IT SO

ABOLISH THE HOURLY: HOW VALUE PRICING WINS CLIENTS
Rethink Canada
TeehanLax Blog

VIRAL MARKETING WITH THE OATMEAL with Matthew Inman

CLOSING SPEAKER: BRUCE STERLING

Sites and other new technology of interest seen at this year’s tradeshow
Bloomfire
Venmo
GroupMe
Red Rock Micro, DSLR video rigs

I gave up air—I mean beer—for Lent.

2011-03-18T11:11:46-04:00

The season of Lent. I love this time of year and I hate it. Over the last dozen years or so I have practiced Lent in some sort of fashion or another. Rather, I should say I have failed at practicing Lent in one way or another. I’ve tried to give up certain types of beverages, certain habits, sweets, coffee, certain types of meat and media. My track record looks more like a March madness bracket sheet—as I fail, I check off the fasted item till no items remain. I seldom win. This past Saturday I heard about a guy (on NPR) who decided to give up everything but beer for lent. Forty days of beer and water. He’s a brewer. Is it a sacrifice or is it a wonderful self-promotion?—something I can appreciate. (You can track his “Lenten” journey here.)

The idea of Lent as I understand it is to do without something for a time in order to gain or be filled with something of value. Something positive—To feel the pangs of hunger is to be mindful of the hungry. To know silence is to appreciate music.

Here’s some stuff I wish I could give up and not just for 40 days. I’d like to fast from:

squandering my time
not being grateful
sarcasm
globalization
HVFCS
putting stupid stuff on my head
settling for the first idea
settling for the cheap idea
settling for the safe idea
settling
refusing to teach, train, explain, coach, defend, enlighten
fear
the blank page
conspicuous consumption
not saving
thinking of myself first
thinking of myself often
thinking of myself
driving
speaking first
shopping
snoring
negative attention-seeking behavior
large portions
lonely Saturday afternoons
snow in March
joint pain
anger
sloth
pleasing clients

I’d like to give up working for our clients.
And I’d like to replace it with working with them.

Too often have I caught myself providing or allowing solutions that I think a client wants vs. what is right for a client’s audience. To work with a client is to identify needs, speak the truth, defend what is right, describe the full measure of the effort, not over promise, yet not settle. And do it together. It requires educating clients on process, listening to clients—not just for input but for ideas, too. The less familiar a client is with process, the more time it takes to guide them through.

Too often we’ve taken a job with little resources and time and have promised to deliver. And we’ve worked hard at living the mantra “A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” But what about a bad plan? Doesn’t a rush to execute against a bad plan do more long-range brand harm? We’ve even justified this course of action with a rapid-prototype rationale. But a prototype is for a controlled audience not a mass audience. There is too much to risk to test ideas en masse.

My business card says that I’m a bridge between what to say and how to say it. I see my role being to identify, uncover, and exploit insight. And then to coach talent to interpret that insight into memorable and effective communication. But there’s a fine line between being a bridge and being a roadblock. Maybe I’ll give up getting in the way.

And the Addy goes to...

2011-08-03T11:35:26-04:00

Each February, as the cold, gray West Michigan winter seems endless, advertising, marketing and communication professionals from around the area emerge from their winter caves and gather for the Addy awards. The Addys are a time when people like us get to share our work with others in the industry and recognize one another for some of the best work that we’ve produced throughout the year. Those who attend, whether winners or not, get to soak in some rays of creative inspiration from the work that is shared and the conversations that are had.

The Image Group is very excited and honored this year to take home a Gold Addy in the Public Service category for a short video piece we produced for Triple Quest, distributor of the Hydraid® Biosand Water Filter.

We’ll admit, we are proud of the work we did on this project. However, we are even prouder of the product and the people who are saving lives by bringing it to people around the world that are in need of clean, safe water.

Celebrate with us. Learn more about Hydraid®, the world water crisis, and what you can do to help. Visit hydraid.org

Celebrating with WMU

2011-01-20T16:40:19-05:00

For the past three, going on four, years, we have partnered with Western Michigan University to create marketing initiatives that would elevate the brand, impact enrollment and enhance perceptions of the University. As many of you know, it takes commitment, strategy and university-wide effort to move the needle in the highly competitive education marketplace. Semester after semester, WMU has shown that they are ready for, and meeting, the challenge.

Today we celebrate again with WMU as we see three more signs that the needle is moving in the right direction:
1. Freshmen enrollment is up.
2. Diversity is up.
3. GPAs and ACTs scores are up.

Read the full article, “WMU 2010 freshman class a little bigger, smarter and more diverse than 2009” from the Kalamazoo Gazette.

These figures are even more exciting as each ties back to specific goals of the current “Smart Ride” campaign. Starting in 2009, billboards, radio, web, social media, video tools and other supporting collateral pieces were used to showcase recent high school graduates from the Lansing, Kalamazoo, Detroit and Grand Rapids areas, who were successful academically and who chose to go to WMU. These efforts sought to give a round of applause to these students for their hard work in high school, highlight different reasons for choosing WMU and let the market know that WMU offers a high-quality academic experience that will help students continue to be successful. The message is simple: WMU is a smart choice.

It’s exciting to do work that is rooted in strategy and can win awards for creativity. It is exhilarating to see that work help achieve results for your clients. So congrats to WMU – Admissions, University Relations, the seven academic colleges and all the people and programs that work hard to tell the WMU story. And thanks for letting us be a part of it!

8th Street's longest website

2011-01-06T16:15:26-05:00

As most people know, a website usually consists of pages. Those pages usually lead to other pages and those pages ultimately lead to (you guessed it) more pages. A little over a month ago, we decided to take a step back and rethink our pages. We asked ourselves, “how can we tell our story quickly, succinctly, in a way that is compelling, easy to maintain and navigate?” Basically, how can we do all of that in less pages.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we have nothing against web pages. We love ideating, designing and building websites that have many pages. Sometimes, a multiplicity of pages. A gaggle of pages if you will. For most of our clients, it’s imperative that there be a fair number of pages with lots of pertinent information for students, customers or clients—all managed by CMS technologies like Drupal, Harmony or Radiant. However, we felt it was time for us to simplify and build something that utilized more of the social outlets we’ve been using over the years (Twitter, Facebook and Vimeo) to help tell our story.

Blasting through a somewhat agile design process, followed by a fast paced build, we were able to launch our new site and unveil a new brand identity, all at once—quickly, efficiently and most importantly, before the start of the new year.

And so, we begin the year twenty eleven with a new approach and a new outlook, culminating in a new, one page website. 8th street’s longest website to be exact. It’s different than anything we’ve done before and yet, it fits us. We think it’s pretty cool and we hope you do as well.

Letterpress Love

2011-01-12T10:13:14-05:00

In an era where zippy e-mails pulse from our fingertips, and the only “snail” mail you get consists of the reluctant bill and an occasional sweet note from your grandmother—The Image Group chose to celebrate the slower pace of the holiday season.

How?

By sending our friends, family and collaborators a good, old-fashioned letterpress mail parcel.

For a behind-the-scenes look at this unique printing method, check out the set on our Flickr feed!

You and your coworkers are what you eat

2010-12-20T15:58:40-05:00

Most days I just feel spoiled. Less than two blocks away from TIG’s front door lies one of Holland’s greatest assets—The Eighth Street Market Place. At 11:30 on Wednesdays it’s nearly impossible to find anyone at their desk, because it’s then that we meander down 8th Street to hit up the Holland Farmer’s Market!

It is awesome.

And here is why:

(for reasons beyond the obvious—amazingly fresh, high-quality food and the opportunity to contribute to the local economy.)

Lunch with coworkers at Ray’s (The Tamale King)
Crane Dance Farm’s heirloom eggs
You can spy on local chef’s purchasing produce for the evening special
Love Buzz organic coffee from Lemonjello’s
Run into friends
Free Good Life Granola samples
A single stem Dhalia that instantly cures any sign of a bad day
A lovely street bustling with happy people
The Great Bread Company’s no-preservatives, multi-grain bread
Beautiful food stuff that’s straight from the earth
Carrots that will blow your mind
An opportunity to meet your farmers—some very kind, knowledgeable and important people.

A big thank you to the City of Holland and all those who contribute to make the Holland Farmer’s Market such a success. It’s an incredibly high-quality market that substantially increases quality of life for the city’s residents and workers!