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Archive for the ‘MG Creative’ Category
Depending on your level of interest, HTML5 might be either a completely new term, a scary new idea you’ve just heard whispers about, or yesterday’s news.
First, the basic facts. HTML is the coding language used to program all websites. Whether you realize it or not, you’re looking at HTML right now. The current standard version of HTML is HTML 4.01 (or XHTML 1.0, but let’s ignore that). HTML5 is the proposed successor to HTML4, and is currently being finalized by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium — the head of the table, they make the rules).
WordPress is a name that has become synonymous with blogging, and rightfully so. It is a completely open source solution for bloggers who want to develop their own site, or just publish through a customizable web-based service. As interesting as they can be, we aren’t here to talk about blogs. What is perhaps more intriguing about WordPress is that it has become a popular platform by which one can build a full-service website with a content management system.
Sure, blogging is the primary intent of WordPress, but much like Drupal, Joomla, or any other open source CMS solution, the ability to customize the platform has made WordPress a tool that can be deployed just about any way the developer can think of.
So, we really wanted a website that kept pace with the state of the Internet today. today. However, realizing that a combination of osmosis and wishing was not going to get the job done, we decided to use actual hard work and thoughtful design.
That’s right, we built this site with the intention that it would grow to represent our work, interactions and employees. Plus, the process was fun.
The time has come. The time is now. Internet Explorer 6, will you please go now?!
Much like Dr. Suess’s beloved Marvin K. Mooney, it is getting to be about time that IE6 went. It will be a solemn passing of once a mega-browser whose life has spanned much longer than we could ever imagine.
It seems like just yesterday that IE6 came packaged with Windows XP. It was a savior. It was newer, faster and prettier. Who didn’t love that default “Luna” theme that came with a shiny new install of XP? It wasn’t just good looks and that little extra zip that made IE6 great. At the time DHTML enhancements, content restricted inline frames, a fancy media bar, Windows Messenger integration and automatic image resizing made IE6 the darling of web. Well, until 2003 that is. (more…)
Typography on the web has been a thorn in the sides of website designers since the very beginning. Currently, a user has to have fonts installed on their system to display them in browsers, which means true web type is generally limited to a few basic fonts (Arial, Verdana, Georgia, etc). A few basic fonts just doesn’t cut it when designing attractive websites, so designers and developers have created a few workarounds.
The most basic is to simply save type like headlines as an image. This ensures it will render properly on any browser, regardless of what fonts users have installed. The problem is that it’s not really type; users can’t highlight it (for copying and pasting), and search engines won’t index it as such. It’s also a bigger file size, although this is less of an issue now that more users are on high-speed connections. In general this is the most common solution, but fundamentally flawed. For various reasons, text on the web should be actual text.
Trolls can be scary. Not necessarily in the “What are you doing under my bridge, and why did you eat my goat?” sense of the word, but trolls can make deciding how you and your company are going to interact online a scarier thing.
If you’re still not sure what a troll is, allow a little help from Wikipedia:
An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.
Sometimes putting your best foot forward is all about your face. Corporate portraiture is just as much about the identity of the subject, as it is about the company it will represent. Just taking a mug shot of an executive or team member to prove that they work for you isn’t enough.
The faces that walk in the door everyday become the collective face of the company, and good photography will bring out the best in that relationship.
Deciding to get portraits made isn’t as simple as the subject putting on their best outfit and standing in front of anyone with a camera. Good portrait photography is about projection. The subject needs to exude the emotion, confidence or charisma of the greater organization. Furthermore, the photographer in charge must be able to understand the missions and public personas of the company so the he or she can best capture that from the subject. Finally, the two must have a report. A good photographer will put the subject at ease, and it will show.
Consultation with your photographer before these things happen can be critical. You should determine if you want simple portraits, environmental shots or a variety of the two. Post production of the photography also plays a role in how your images are conveyed.
If your company is trying to project engineering proficiency and hard work, you might opt for black and white headshots of determined managers and engineers. A company that is aiming to showcase creativity might, for example, choose environmental portraits with vivid colors or thematic settings. A combination of moods might also be helpful, if you want to use the shots in the media or as part of newsletters or releases.
At the end of the day, determining what the pictures are going to say, before they are taken, will be critical in having the desired outcome.
Photography has an immediate impact on viewers, who will assign a personality, temperament and level of approachability to a subject with just one glance. Creating the right image is putting your best foot forward.
Chances are you’ve heard about Twitter already, probably recently — people tend to talk when you grow by 900% in one year. For those who haven’t, here’s what you need to know: Twitter is a social networking and “micro” blogging service founded in 2006. Users post updates to their pages via twitter.com, third-party Twitter clients, or even their cell phones. Twitter posts are limited to 140 characters, so instead of in-depth discussion and discourse like you might expect on a blog, you get tiny snapshots of what all of your contacts are up to. Compete.com recently ranked Twitter as the third largest social network (behind Facebook and Myspace).
The key to Twitter’s success has been staying small (only 29 employees) and just focusing on one thing and doing it well. There are no ads on the site and they currently make no profit. The minimalist design and functionality also means that everyone on Twitter, from your nephew to Shaquille O’Neal [twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ], has an even playing field to broadcast their thoughts to the world.
The biggest development in Twitter over the last year has been the rise of corporate Twitter usage. Originally conceived as just person-to-person connections, Twitter now features some of the biggest brands in all areas of business, and this has sparked some debate on best practices businesses should follow when using Twitter. The beauty of Twitter is that unlike Myspace or Facebook, following people is not a two-way street. If your brand account isn’t adding value, people don’t have to follow it just because you’re following them. In general, Twitter users are web-savvy and need Twitter-specific content to make following your brand account worthwhile. One of the best examples of this is Comcast Cares [twitter.com/comcastcares], an account set up by Comcast to get feedback on their service and to respond to customers in a personal, one-to-one way. Comcast currently has over 10,000 people following them on Twitter.
The single most important thing about brand accounts on Twitter is that they sound human. Twitter users don’t want to see their personal pages overrun with commercials for your brand, they want interesting content. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh takes this a step further by personally updating the Zappos.com Twitter account [twitter.com/zappos] with interesting things that have happened to him (which once included getting a photo of himself giving “bunny ears” to Bill Gates, the man who paid him $265 million for LinkExchange). In between posts of what he’s having for dinner and his opinion of MacGyver there are photos of employees, links to relevant news stories, and tips about how to run a successful business. This all adds up to paint a picture of Zappos as an industry leader, a fun place to work with and for, and a brand with real personality.
In the next few months we’ll be writing more about how Media Genesis is using social networking, including Twitter, both for ourselves and for others. If you are interested in working with us to create a Twitter brand account, please contact us at [inquiry@medaiG.com].
For decades photographs have told stories – whether it is about an event, culture or a representation of the times. But as digital cameras are becoming increasingly widespread, being able to tell a story that is unique and compelling takes more than the standard point and click.
Data from Kodak indicates that digital photography printing alone increased by more than 25 percent from 2004 to 2007 to 10.8 billion prints, and with the increasing use of cameras on phones as well as the pace at which new cameras are becoming affordable, it’s little wonder that digital photography has begun to saturate both online and traditional media.
Media Genesis realizes this and has researched and tested different methods for creating innovative and engaging photography. For our training endeavors, we used a stylized form of photographic composition, which was loosely inspired by the work of photographer Dave Hill.
The photos ride the line between illustration, composite and portrait, accentuating hyper-real aspects of ordinary life. In our case these photos speak directly to our employee culture at Media Genesis, which is artistic, edgy and just a little crazy.
MediaG CEO Brad Frederick shows off serious boarding skills - and yes, this is a real picture
