Happy Holidays!

e! wishes you a great big Happy Holidays to you and yours. We just finished with our annual Holiday Luncheon and it was a smashing success. A great time was had by all and we are now all officially in the Holiday spirit! We look forward to 2010 and all the fun projects that it is sure to bring. We wish you comfort and joy in the New Year. And now, here's Guido to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

that's what I said, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

e! Wins Silver Award at Nationals

Effective Design Studio is excited to announce that we are a 2010 Nationals Awards Finalist and recipient of a Silver Award for the "Best Website for a Community" for One Main Street's website: www.onemainstreet.com. The Silver Award Winners are the top vote recipients in each category and are finalists for the Gold Award, winners of which will be announced and presented at The Nationals Awards ceremony on January 19, 2010 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Now in its 29th year, The Nationals pays tribute to superior new-home sales and marketing achievements by individual sales and marketing professionals, homebuilders and associates, and sales and marketing councils. The competition is presented by the National Sales and Marketing Council (NSMC), a council of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

We are proud of the work we are doing on the One Main Street website and appreciate the recognition. These luxury condos in Bellevue, WA have been fun to market, and the development and sales teams have been wonderful to work with. We look forward to the awards ceremony in January and are hoping to bring home the Gold!

Harnessing the Power of Social Media

Our team at Effective Design Studio has been analyzing the effects of social media on the business marketplace with tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs. Social media is the hottest new marketing innovation in the today’s business marketplace and it’s a trend that keeps growing.

Let’s start with some facts. The usage of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter now span the globe. The current global audience for Facebook alone is over 300 million users and Facebook reports 50% of those active users log on any given day. Even President Obama has a Facebook page! To better understand the demographics of its users, there are a handful of sites that track data and generate daily reports from Facebook's advertising tool. This helps marketers and researchers understand how to best utilize Facebook, and what messages would resonate with its audience outreach.

So, is social media the right opportunity for your company?

The answer is most likely, YES! For example, recent Facebook data reports suggest that social media is catching on across all age groups. As you may assume, the younger tech-minded generation is the largest market segment, and this still remains true. However the 35-54 year old demographic grew by almost 300% in 2008 and the 55+ demographic was the second fastest growing with an increase of almost 200%. That same group of 55+ users continued to grow in the first half of 2009 by a staggering 513%. With this data, most companies will find their target market falls within the parameters of Facebook audiences.

It is important to remember, although Facebook is generally seen as a social platform i.e. sharing personal photos and events with friends and family, Facebook also allows businesses to publish up-to-the-minute information when users become a “fan” of your page. This can make it a very easy and effective tool for keeping audiences informed and engaged in your company.

Easy updating doesn’t mean meaningless content. Like all marketing communications, social media should be brand-centric and meaningful to your company’s target audience by reinforcing key points of differentiation. With every communication, keep your marketing goals in mind. Building brand influence through social media is completely possible if used correctly. More than 10 million users become fans of pages on Facebook each day. These real-time updates might be information you would not spend time and resources to update constantly on your website. Who would see them? But with so many users on Facebook daily, these smaller tidbits of information can be updated and seen frequently.

Interested in more ideas on how you can harness the power of social media?

Give us a call today to find out more. 206 328 8989 or email caroline@effectivedesign.com.

e! is in the top 25

Just released last week by the Puget Sound Business Journal was the list of the "Top Graphic Design Firms" in the Seattle area. Effective Design Studio was number 25 this year. We are happy to be included on this list and have enjoyed working in the Puget Sound region and beyond for the last 28 years.

Contact us today for any graphic design needs you may have. Email: info@effectivedesign.com.

Plymouth Housing Group Luncheon Huge Success!

One of our favorite clients, Plymouth Housing Group just had their annual Key to Hope Luncheon and it was a huge success! Effective Design Studio once again helped out with the design of collateral for the event. We are proud to sponsor such a worthy organization.

Paul Lambros, Executive Director of Plymouth Housing gives us the wrap up:

"Wednesday's 6^th annual "Key to Hope" luncheon was a wonderful day for Plymouth Housing Group. Over 1,100 people attended the event at the Seattle Convention Center, which was a record breaker for us.

We are deeply grateful to you, our luncheon guests and sponsors, who contributed almost $400,000 to support Plymouth programs and services! This generous funding will help keep the over 1,000 people who live at Plymouth stable in housing for the long term--thank you!

And best of all, we were all deeply inspired by Dr. Maya Angelou, who gave a wonderful talk full of wit and wisdom. Who knew she was so funny?

Thank you for battling the rain and parking snafus to join us. We hope to see you again next year, hopefully without the above impediments!

Thank you again for all you do to help end homelessness."

We look forward to next year's event and our continued graphic design work with Plymouth Housing, one of Seattle's great charitable organizations.

A Fun and Effective DIY Project...

Here at Effective Design Studio we do a lot of Real Estate Marketing design work. The Real Estate market is on the rebound, but competition is still fierce to make your product stand out from the rest.

I’m personally trying to sell my condo right now (great timing eh?) and my Realtor suggested some large artwork to highlight the 19’ walls in my unit. I decided to make some pieces myself, a little DIY project. It turned out to be so simple I thought I would share it with you. Now you can make your own fabric wall art. Enjoy!

Supplies:
* Fabric
* Canvas Stretcher Frame Bars (art supply store)
* Staple Gun
* Measuring Tape
* Scissors

I got my fabric at IKEA, they have big bold prints that are perfect for this. Here are some of the options that they had:

Measure your wall to see which size will fit best. Choose your frame sizes. I went with two 44” squares. You can mix and match stretcher bar frame pieces to create any size you wish. They snap together, so minimal assembly is required.

Iron your fabric and lay it out on the floor. Place your assembled frame on top of it and make sure the print lines up in the frame they way you like. Trim off any excess and staple the remaining fabric to the frame. Pull the fabric tight so it is smooth on the frame. Begin in the center of each side and work your way out with the staples. For the corners – fold them like you are wrapping a present.

Voila! You now have a new piece of artwork! Here's how mine turned out:

Good luck and have fun!

A Visit to the City of Roses

It’s always fun to visit Portland, for work (installing displays at a new Polygon Northwest Sales Center) or play (eating my way through the city).

Despite the downturn in the housing market our long-term client Polygon Northwest has been selling strong. (Yeah!) Their communities offer great value and quality to savvy homebuyers. Their newest offering, The Overlook, features amazingly livable home plans including flats and townhomes. AND they are priced from the $160’s. Seriously, I may move to Portland and buy two. Such a deal!

The Overlook is located in the master-planned community of Timberland, which has grown by leaps and bounds since the last time I visited. Where once there were just a few buildings and a small sales center, there are now strolling neighbors, charming parks, apartments, town houses, condominium suites and more.

For the new sales center, we were asked to help with the design of the sales path and all of the displays. We needed to meld the previous rustic look of Timberland with a bit more urban flavor. These are a few pictures of the install in progress.

Besides making sure the install went smoothly, I took an extra day to play, eat and shop. (Tax free – whoo-hoo!) It was exciting to try some of Portland’s well-know street food vendors. My favorite bite came from a vendor at the Saturday Market. They were making hand dipped corn dogs. All organic and local sourcing of course, and it was fabulous! And, no trip would be complete without a Voodoo Donut. They were out of maple bars with bacon, so I settled for a simple chocolate glazed treat. Not as exciting, but still delicious.

If you’re planning a trip to Portland, I highly recommend the deLuxe Hotel. This is my second stay with them, and it’s been lovely both times. The hotel is located just outside of downtown, but is walking distance to all the attractions, and the Pearl and Nob Hill neighborhoods. Their staff is always extremely professional and helpful, but never stuffy. And the renovated historic building takes you back to a time when elegance was the rule, not the exception.

Marriage Between Digital Media & the Traditional Print Ad

Clipped from wired.com.

"In the latest example of finding media innovation where you’d least expect it, CBS is embedding a video player in a print ad in Entertainment Weekly that will serve up a buffet of its fall TV lineup.

The CBS foray into a print-digital alliance plays full-motion video at a crisp resolution. The ad, dubbed by CBS and partner Pepsi Max “the first-ever VIP (video-in-print) promotion,” works like one of those audio greeting cards. Opening the page activates the player, which is a quarter-inch–thick screen seen through a cutaway between two pages concealing the larger circuit board underneath."

Read the full article...

Supporting Plymouth Housing Group

It was back in 2007 that I ran into my friend, Marianne Painter, on the street in front of the office. Marianne was a former client from my pre-Effective Design Studio days. The chance meeting was rather serendipitous -- Marianne had recently taken a position at Plymouth Housing Group and needed graphic design help.

I was excited to introduce Marianne to the team at Effective Design. We had a meet-and-greet where Caroline and Joy explained our qualifications and Marianne introduced us to Plymouth’s mission in-depth. The meeting was successful and it looked as if Marianne would use e! for several projects. (Score one for me -- right?)

Not long after Marianne left our offices, Caroline and Joy came to my desk. They were hovering with "Cheshire Cat" grins on their faces. (Was I in trouble?!) Caroline proceeded to tell me, “We just wanted to let you know... (oh no, here it comes!) ...we have decided to take on Plymouth Housing Group as a pro-bono client.”

That was BEYOND what I was expecting that day. And a real “win” for all involved. Caroline had been impressed by Plymouth’s commitment to ending homelessness -- providing not only low-cost housing, but also essential services to its residents.

I'm proud to say, e!’s relationship with Plymouth continues today. We just finished their 2008 Annual Report, we are currently working on materials for Plymouth’s annual benefit luncheon (featuring Maya Angelou), and designing materials for their 2010 fundraiser “Seattle Dances”.

We hope you’ll join us in supporting this amazing organization. http://www.plymouthhousing.org

More Updates to Our Website

We've been redeveloping our website over the last year and the full site is finally finished. Phew! It's true what they say about doing work for yourself -- it's always much harder, but worth the reward. Check out our new website and let us know what you think.