coexist

Here at Coexist we love a good milestone and we wanted to send out a sincere thank you to our friends/clients that have allowed us to complete project #500 this week.

It’s been an amazing ride from zero to 500 and with the recent addition of our Portland Studio – we couldn’t be more excited about the future. Without our rewarding relationships with (you) the retailers, farmers, doctors, lawyers, chefs, philanthropists, architects, entrepreneurs and game-changers, we wouldn’t have anything to celebrate.

Thanks again for all those that made up our first 500 – and here’s to the next 500. I feel like I should go dump a cooler of Gatorade on someone in the studio.

With summer just around the corner (and productivity invariably slipping), it was the perfect time to break away—1300 miles away—to sunny Denver, CO for a nice jolt of inspiration. The city hosted the 2010 HOW Design Conference, which I was thrilled to attend on behalf of the CX design crew last week.

The conference boasted a panoply of sessions on design, business, and inspiration, delivered by a panel of industry luminaries, including my personal favorites: Gail Anderson (of SpotCo), Debbie Millman (AIGA president), Mike Perry (midwestisbest.com), and Armin Vit (of Brand New). (more…)

At least once a week, someone asks us what the recruiting secret is at Coexist. Our default answer usually lies within the culture of “Free Range Design” that we have cultivated through the years, but that’s really just the beginning. A bigger part of the answer is that we are always on the lookout 24/7 for the next digital design rock star.

To find our future team members – we step away from our laptops and actively pursue the good ones. Earlier this month, I was honored to serve on the judging panel for The Ohio State University 2010 Senior Design Exhibition. This was the perfect opportunity to interact with the best and brightest graduates from the esteemed Visual Communication program at OSU.

The student presentations were very inspired and the enthusiasm could barely be contained as each designer dug deep to explain the key moments that led them to their project conclusions. Keeping pace with technology – a few Apple iPads were already being incorporated into student work to show proof of concept. We will forever feed off of the youthful exuberance of these future design stars – and yes…we did hire one of the top graduates. Seth starts at Coexist this July.

With Q1 / 2010 in the rear view mirror – we finally have a chance to catch our breath and share our enthusiasm for 3 new talents that have joined Coexist.

As we continue to harness the power and possibility of emerging media – Noah Jablonski and Tony Schneider have joined our ever-evolving and growing development team. Noah brings a passion for design and a background in IT consulting with Deloitte & Touche to the mix, while Tony joins us as our summer intern from the Computer Science program at The Ohio State University. Most recently, Tony has been sharpening his skills on multiple development teams for local startup companies focused on both mobile and social applications.

A round of new hires at Coexist wouldn’t be complete without another addition to our client service team and we are proud to announce that Sarah Paul has joined us in this capacity. Sarah comes to Coexist by way of Chicago where she spent time at MWW PR Group. Beyond Sarah’s savvy writing and media skills, she brings a true appreciation for people and relationship building to the Coexist family.

As Coexist continues to help educational & vocational institutions embrace emerging media – a perfect partnership was born with The Delaware Area Career Center (DACC).

The DACC is a vocational school focused on providing formal preparation for technical or professional occupations to both high school students and adults. In essence, the DACC is the launch pad for future architects, firefighters, zoologists, nurses, chefs and so much more.

When DACC came to Coexist in need of a new website, we realized our task was to engineer a fresh online personality. The old site lacked the polish and professionalism that DACC embodies. Therein, we sought to create a more sophisticated site that was user-friendly, leaving prospective and current students both informed and inspired.

Coexist drew up the plans for a complete website re-design, evoking a new identity for DACC.  The re-design incorporated comprehensive course descriptions and allowed for online class registration, reducing the stress of becoming a new student.  The internal calendar paired with a rich news/events section invited students to be up-to-date on all DACC happenings.

What came to life was a vibrant new site, exuding strength and potential in the institution of DACC.  Just as DACC graduates enter the workforce more prepared, so will viewers of DACC’s new site, receiving a comprehensive understanding of what makes DACC so unique.

“The DACC staff & board were afraid that our old online experience was not up to par with other Career Tech web sites – and now they’re excited that we’re blowing them out of the water.”

–Alicia Mowry, Public Relations Coordinator, Delaware Area Career Center

www.delawareareacc.org

It’s tough to see our old florette mark go into retirement. I saw it go from a doodle to a mark that has served us well for the past five years. The redesign is a forethought of who we will be as a business in the near future and the mark is the first element in what will be a complete brand refresh of Coexist. A new Web site will follow in the next few months along with big improvements to our client experience tools and our office.

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Just ripped through Ignore Everybody on a cross-country flight the other day. It’s a fun read and a good book to give the creative soul a stir.

A few themes grabbed me. The hard work thing is covered in Outliers (another good read) but this book touches on it too. “Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. Ninety percent of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort, and stamina.” I don’t know about saying “failed people”. That seems a little strong and it’s possible to fail at something and not be a failure. It’s truth though that anything worthwhile typically comes from hard work of the above and beyond variety.

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If you want to know which companies in the United States make the most money then turn to Fortune magazine and check out their Fortune 500 list. If you want to know which companies on the Internet have the largest online audiences of like minded individuals then turn to The Big Money website and check out their Facebook 50 list.

Do you spend time wondering who makes the most money? Maybe maybe not. Do you spend time wondering what your friends and peers are getting into? Probably. With 350 million Facebook users (50 million just added in the last 2 1/2 months) this is worth paying attention to.

The Big Money Facebook 50

It was really interesting being a part of a brand communication fire-drill recently that was a direct result of the fundamental shift in how people interact and how we view “confidential” information.

Dealing with sensitive information is something clients and agencies do every day. It’s taken seriously and given a touch of common sense is not a big deal. This week, our client realized that it’s a bit more challenging when dealing with “don’t tell” information that affects the people that were asked to keep it a secret. (more…)

Coexist is proud to announce that recent efforts for Local Matters’ first-ever Local Foods Week have proven to be an overwhelming success. Coexist volunteered to head up the inaugural event’s branding efforts this year in addition to sitting on the not-for-profit organization’s steering committee.  (more…)