The End of Summer

by: Kristine Svehla-Brown, Senior Designer

Ah, the end of summer has arrived. Here in Seattle we are enjoying a late, but wonderful burst of great weather, no matter if the calendar says summer or fall. Everyone is squeezing in outdoor activities before we are forced inside with our books and lattes.

Each September, my co-workers at e! generously contribute to my fundraising for the Bike MS Washington Ride. The Bike MS event is a two-day cycling event through Skagit, Whatcom and Island Counties. The routes range from 22 to 92 miles on the first day, and 52 and 72 miles on the second day. There are scenic views along the routes, stocked rest-stops, and a festive finish line party. It’s a great event for a great cause and this year’s event didn’t disappoint with such amazing weather.

To ride a bike more than 100 miles over 2 days might seem a bit crazy, but it has become a great love of mine. 6 years ago I did my first long-distance bike ride. It was a 50 mile route on a Cascade Bicycle Club event called “Flying Wheels”, and it was the longest I had ever ridden a bike. I was riding an old mountain bike that my husband reconditioned for me with slick tires and a new seat. I know he was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make the whole 50 miles, but I proudly called him from a rest stop with just 10 miles to go before I finished the ride. Back then, I was in awe of fit bikers in black spandex that seemed to pedal so effortlessly up our Pacific Northwest hills. I loved to joke that I was just riding from rest-stop to rest-stop for the snacks! (Delicious snacks!)

The following spring, I invested in a road bike. I was hooked on cycling and surprised by my own ability to ride far distances. I took on the challenge to get faster and better at riding the hills. I trained and rode in my first RSVP (Ride from Seattle to Vancouver, BC), a 186 mile, 2-day ride. And then at the suggestion of a friend, triathlons came into the picture! I realized the time I spent swimming, biking and running was countering the time I spent sitting at a computer all day. In my profession and our society filled with gadgets, I enjoyed the time to detach from computers, tv and electronics and enjoy the world around me. Now don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, but at a certain age it becomes apparent that sitting sedentary all day is not the best thing for a person physically or mentally. I’ve been a graphic designer for more than 20 years. That’s well over 40,000 hours of sitting!

Over the past 6 years I have a good collection of event t-shirts, finisher medals and MEMORIES. This summer alone I’ve done: Ironman Texas 70.3, Seattle Rock n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon, Chelan Man Olympic Triathlon, RSVP (Ride from Seattle to Vancouver, BC) and the Bike MS Washington Ride. I’m also ramping back up for another 70.3 Triathlon in November in Texas. I’m not fast, nor do I break any records, but I’ve taken on the motto to “keep moving forward”. I’ve found that endurance is my thing and I love the challenge. I also love to encourage others to participate in cycling and triathlon. You are stronger than you think!

SO HOW CAN YOU GET STARTED?

We are fortunate that Cascade Bicycle Club, the largest bicycling club in the US, is based right here in Seattle. In addition to their organized events, they offer free daily rides to everyone and they also advocate for better, safer cycling for all. I also have joined in on free workouts with the Luna Chix Triathlon team. Luna has local teams all around the country in running, cycling, and triathlon. Their mission is to support women of all ages and abilities who want to be active and inspire others to do the same. Not surprisingly, triathlon is one of the fastest growing sport in the U.S.

So, whatever your motivation for getting out there.... fun, adventure, fitness, or just snacks.... go for it!  Below are a list of resources, and if you have any questions or need some advice on how to get started, please don’t hesitate to contact me at kristine@effectivedesign.com.

And always, KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Cascade Bicycle Club
Amazing cycling club. Website includes forums and links to their famous organized rides like STP, RSVP, Chilly Hilly, and more.
http://www.cascade.org

Luna Chix
Great advice and free workouts for women. (And always free Luna bars!)
http://teamlunachix.com/

Active.com
Great resource, links, and registration for hundreds of events. Find an event, sign up, and go for it!
http://www.active.com/

Hal Higdon
As a non-runner, I love Hal's approach! His website offers free training plans for whatever race distance you’re going for and whatever level you’re starting at. He’s also very realistic and forgiving for people with busy schedules!
http://halhigdon.com/

5 Reasons Why Websites Still Matter

We came across a great article on why websites still matter.  Check out the article below.  Here at Effective Design Studio we not only do great website design, we can give you a complete content management system that allows you to keep your website up to date yourself.  Contact us today to learn more.

Five Reasons Why Websites Still Matter
by: Mikal E. Belicove

Source: The Daily Dose blog

You know you must leverage Facebook, Twitter and word-of-mouth marketing to increase awareness of your brand. But the fact is, websites remain infinitely more popular with consumers than all of the business pages on social media sites combined.

Only 22 percent of those of us online in the U.S. visit a branded social networking page such as those found on Facebook, while 62 percent of us regularly visit branded websites, according to the latest Global Web Index report. If you were starting to let your site become outdated or haggard, consider a refresh. After all, as these figures note, websites still matter.

Here are five reasons why you shouldn't ignore yours:

1. Branding: Since it's your site, you set the design, which affords you the flexibility to optimize the user experience in ways that directly support your business model and brand-related goals. There's no competition on your website, just a branded experience that you direct yourself.

read the rest of the article here.

Building Your Multi-family Brand

With the uptick of new apartment buildings in the Puget Sound region, competition for those signed leases will be high. To capture your market share, there are a few things you should know about renters.

Apartment renters are historically fickle, moving to the latest hip new apartment at the end of every lease. They love the carefree lifestyle of renting – and enjoy being a part of what is new. Consequently, apartment marketing must appeal to their gypsy souls. This is where the fun begins.

Start building a brand with the right name and brand identity that differentiates your apartment community from the competition. Each community has its Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This might be building amenities, location, transportation access, architectural style, luxury, sustainability, views and more. We dug into our archives to share a few favorites that really delivered on their USP.

The Bravern — modern luxury lifestyle
Island Square — classic Mercer Island style
Equinox — South Lake Union living
Site 17 — funky, old time Belltown vibe

Great branding and design as the foundation of a robust marketing program quickly delivered signed leases for these communities.

Who is the one-stop design firm for naming, branding, web design, mobile sites, SEO, social media, blogs, online ads, eblasts, newsletters, and events? It’s Effective Design Studio! We are creators of robust marketing programs that get the word out and the renters in. Find out more by contacting us today.

Asset Management Marketing Toolkit

Maximizing your commercial property’s marketing potential is critical in the current market conditions. Developing a smart marketing toolkit gives properties the boost they need to bring in the leases.


Oakhurst Center is one example of a property that needed a new toolkit. We recently completed a branding and signage system design for this Bellevue, WA property. Working with the leasing and building ownership teams, we developed a new brand identity for the business center, along with a complete interior and exterior signage system – expertly implemented by The Sign Factory.  The site enhancements created a fresh look for the campus, and broadened its market appeal.

Effective Design Studio designs complete Asset Management MarketingToolkits, including collateral systems, signage programs, websites, mobile sites, and leasing environments. These branded marketing systems build ROI for your property. On the boards – Columbia Center Leasing Center – stay tuned!

Call us today at 206.328.8989 to learn more!

e! Goes Mobile

We're excited to announce that we have launched the mobile version of our website (whoot!). Please experience it for yourself — simply visit our website from your mobile device and you'll automatically be directed to the fast, slimmed-down version of our site.

Before creating our site we set a few simple goals:

• Make content easy to find
• Files should be as small as possible to minimize load time
• Maintain the visual identity that is established for our brand

Our mobile site meets all of the goals while maintaining our high standards of functionality and design.

Certain experiences are different on desktop computers than on a mobile device. Take scrolling for example. The fundamentals of good web design tell us that scrolling is bad, but touch technology has made scrolling fun, thus shifting the paradigm. We’ve embraced this shift to make our site easy and fun to navigate.

The mobile nature of handheld devices means that an Internet connection cannot be assumed to be consistent. As anyone who's traveled through downtown Seattle while surfing on their smart phone can attest (not while driving, of course!), data connections can be incredibly spotty when you're on the move. Planting enough data on each page helps us to minimize page transfers. This allows our user to absorb a good quantity of information before they commit to visiting another page.

Mobile usage is growing every day. The data from our top clients shows a 500% increase in mobile usage in 2011 compared to the year before. To keep growing numbers of mobile viewers (i.e. potential new clients) from experiencing the frustration of long download times and difficult navigation, now may be right time to develop your company’s mobile site. And, of course, we’d be glad to help.

Guido's Corner

Well hello there! Long time no bark. It's still summer and there's still time to take some quick day trips from Seattle. Since I visit Yakima a lot (my Mom's from there) I thought I would share some of my favorite stops along I-90. I really like riding in the car so when the folks say "let's go bye-bye" my tail starts wagging and I'm ready to rock.

One of my favorite towns along I-90 is Snoqualmie, just a 30-minute drive and you're there! It's so close, yet feels so far away. I'm not allowed to go to the Falls there but you should check them out, I hear they're amazing! If you can splurge a little why not do lunch at Salish Lodge overlooking the Falls? There's also a casino nearby and don't forget to check out downtown Snoqualmie, it's quaint and loaded with shops and restaurants to browse. With Mt. Si nearby there is also tons of hiking in the area.

A little further east along I-90 and we find ourselves in Roslyn. This town was made famous by being a filming location for Northern Exposure back in the day, but it's so much more than that! With the recent addition of Suncadia Resort nearby you can golf, dine, shop and play in this very small town. Don't leave without stopping by The Brick, Washington's oldest operating bar!

And finally, have you been to Yakima lately? It's booming! Stop by the visitor center when you get there, but here are some fun ideas: winery tours, a visit to Ummelina Day Spa, lunch at Geppetto's, shopping at the Farmer's Market, dinner at Gasperetti's, float the Yakima River, and more! The fun things to do there are plenty and the sunny days last well into the fall.

Gotta run, I think I hear the car starting up!

Good Examples of Responsive Web Design

We love responsive design -- sites that adjust the layout according to a user's screen size, platform and orientation. It means that the site looks good and is easy to read in practically every scenario.

Here are some examples that we like.

Three Column - Standard computer

Two Column - Tablet in portrait orientation

One Column - Phone

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One Column - Phone 

Three Column - Standard computer