418QE » Promotion

Show Choir Canada’s Glee

James Caldwell — Tue, 03 May 2011 16:16:30 +0000

Show Choir Canada’s mission is to play a vital role in the development and support of show choirs in Canada by creating opportunities, including live competition-format presentations, that inspire youth participants to not only work together through song and dance to achieve a common goal of excellence but also grow and develop as individuals while sharing in the creative process.

Client

Show Choir Canada

Period

07.2010 – 05.2011

Client Bio

The official show choir organization in Canada for high school students. Show Choir Canada runs a yearly competition to find the best show choir in Canada and also has educational services for schools, teachers and students to improve their own talents.

Objective

To help solidify Show Choir Canada as the de facto authority on show choirs in Canada. To help launch, refine and distinguish SCC as the preeminent Glee showcase in the Canadian market. To create a corporate brand and a sub brand for a championship event, an educational/school brand and a brand for the Glee student community. Identity, website, promotional marketing materials, form design, etc., were all combined under the Show Choir Canada umbrella brand to solidify one juggernaut in the industry.

Noteworthy

The branding of a new entity is always difficult when the organization is just beginning to develop who they are and what they mean to the industry as a whole. Constantly morphing, depending on its success in certain areas of the industry, Show Choir Canada was learning about both itself and the sometimes quirky nature of its audience and potential sponsors. But after a considerable number of meetings and group research, four separate but coherent entities were formed to coalesce the vision of Show Choir Canada.

Vendor

Thirst

da Costa Talent Launches Website

James Caldwell — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:11:36 +0000

da Costa Talent recently decided that they needed an online presence. They have expanded over the years to the point where they have numerous agency clients (talent) that need to be quickly referenced by their industry clients. In a time where businesses are connected online, images of their talent on their own office walls was no longer severing their purpose.

Thank you again on behalf of the 150+ excited clients of da Costa Talent Management.

– Peter da Costa, Agency Director

da Costa Talent hired Thirst to help realize their potential online.

Client

da Costa Talent Management

Period

04.2009 – 08.2009

Client Bio

The leading Canadian talent management agency for ‘triple-threat’ talent.

Objective

To further brand themselves via a successful launch online as the premiere triple threat talent agency in Toronto. To make it easier for industry clients to quickly peruse their many talented performers, to help save time and money with their representations and to better serve their agency client’s interests.

Noteworthy

Several years earlier Thirst had rebranded da Costa Talent and because of this we had a solid starting point for the web site. This talent agency has evolved into a mature agency and it needed to have a strong forum for its industry clients to peruse its agency clients (talent). When completed, notices of the launch were sent to every casting director in Canada, LA and NYC, every theatre and commercial production house in Canada and every industry contact that da Costa Talent had made in the past 10 years.

Feedback

I’ve received overwhelming praise on the website from both my clients and the industry just one day after launching. There is a clear consensus that the sites’ layout is simple to navigate and at the same time interesting and unique in comparison to other competing agencies. This is going to be a great tool to both showcase my clients and elevate our status in the industry. I could not of achieved this important milestone without your guidance and expertise.

Vendor

Thirst

A Designer’s Many Hats

James Caldwell — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:09:06 +0000

Lately I have heard a lot of people describe and define what it means to be a leader, an entrepreneur, an innovator and a designer. Each of these requires various skills to succeed and each is hard to master. To an extent, each seems too complex to properly describe.

Then the other day I was asked by a young designer what it takes to be successful and when I was thinking about my reply, I realized how much the requirements for success have grown over the years. So I told him to visit 418QE in a couple of days and this is my reply.

I have performed some due diligence and researched the qualifications for a ‘graphic designer’ on several employment boards and I have come up with the following list of descriptors, tasks and technologies that must be part of one’s abilities to be considered qualified.

Descriptors: have initiative, be imaginative, be cooperative, be creative, be diplomatic, be a leader, be a good communicator, have good time management skills
Tasks: be able to create groundbreaking designs; be able to understand and produce in the following formats which include magazine and newspaper layouts, brochures, print ads, banner ads, websites, e-newsletters, interactive and promotional collateral; understand digital and print production preparation; understand usability, information design, and GUI guidelines; have a thorough understanding of typography
Technology: PC and MAC competent, proficient in QuarkXPress, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Flash, Dreamweaver, PowerPoint, Word, be fluent in HTML, CSS, XML and Javascript

To be assured the abovementioned skill base is important but not the end of it. The designer must also network. In order to network, it is best if they have a mobile number, an email account, and also communicate on LinkedIn and Twitter. There is an advantage to those who join their local provincial/state graphic design guild as these organizations arrange conferences and networking events. And last but not least, the designer may also want to have a regularly updated blog with their latest case studies and articles that best showcase their various ideas about the world of design.

Have I left out anything? Of course, but it suffices to say that the list of abilities that a great designer needs is going to be fairly long if they want to succeed. Thankfully time and experience takes care of most of these issues. Just ask anyone in the field with greying or no hair.

IBM’s w3 Intranet

James Caldwell — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:57:25 +0000

A portion of IBM’s intranet had to be accessible by a dial-up connection but in keeping with the rest of their intranet. (also design by IAB) This particular micro site was to have everything to entice a sales associate to return regularly for updated information.

Client

IBM Intranet

Period

06.1998 – 10.1998

Client Bio

IBM is the world’s largest information technology company, as well as the world’s largest business and technology services provider and the world’s largest IT financier.

Personal History

I had a wonderful time working on this project with Maria Arbusto (who is now Director, Brand Experience at IBM). It is rare that the client with whom you work is of the exact same understanding, but when this happens it makes the project extremely enjoyable. I wish I would have worked on more projects with Maria.

Objective

To redesign areas of IBM’s w3 Corporate Intranet, transforming it into a tool that IBM employees would use on a daily basis.

Noteworthy

Extended the reach of the mobile employees at IBM. Encouraged a sense of community and strengthened the employees’ loyalty and commitment. Empowered IBM’s mobile professionals with an easily navigable tool that retrieves information in a timely manner from the Americas Sales and Distribution Site.

Vendor

Hired by IAB (Roger Black)