FreshForm Interactive Blog

Denise loves brands!

2011-01-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Today we launched a completely new digital presence for Denise Lee Yohn. Denise is a seasoned brand strategist. Her experience working with top brands like Sony, New Balance, Land Rover, Burger King, and Brookstone has opened doors in the speakers circuit and publishing world. She's been published in magazines and websites like AdWeek, Advertising Age, Business Week, and Reuters.

We had a great time collaborating with Denise on the new digital marketing campaign, which included design and development for the following: website (Drupal), blog (Wordpress), eNews (MailChimp), video channel (Vimeo), and social media (Twitter). We also worked with Denise on creating her new information architecture and directed new photography (Nick Abadilla).

If you're into brands like Denise, take a look (and sign up for the eNews while you're at it)...

Website: http://www.deniseleeyohn.com
Blog: http://www.deniseleeyohn.com/bites
Video: http://vimeo.com/deniseleeyohn
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/deniseleeyohn

Tea Mind - The new website for Halcyon Tea

2010-09-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

We're very proud to announce our latest website release:
www.halcyontea.com

Local San Diego designer James Bowman, his wife Christy and their business partner Paul Brotherton opened Halcyon Tea in Fall of 2008. The shop has primarily been promoted through word-of-mouth, community involvement and stellar reviews on Yelp.

We embarked on a journey with Halcyon Tea to create a blog, email newsletter and an online shopping experience that fit the personality of the tea shop in South Park—a quaint neighborhood in San Diego. We worked closely with James to make sure the aesthetic of the shop and the vision was designed and executed precisely.

Two new projects

2010-07-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

We launched a new blog (with an update to the Flash site) and a new website this week.

The first is for the very talented photographer John Schulz (StudioSchulz.com). We created blog.studioschulz.com to highlight his two passions: beer and photography. We also got him set up with a new email newsletter which you can sign up via the blog.

The second project is for a leasing company based out of Irvine called University Lease. We collaborated with Via Design to create an entirely new web site. The site contains a strong call to action, pulls industry news into the home page and establishes a new landing page structure as a destination for their direct mail promotions.

PIAExpo (formerly Print Week)

2010-01-08T03:35:00.000-08:00

PIA/SD asked FreshForm Interactive and Patera Graphic Design to create a new theme for the 2010 PIA Expo. Patera has lead the efforts on the print side and we've taken the lead with the interactive side. We launched an entirely new web presence for the expo and developed a social media strategy leading up to the event on February 22-26, 2010. We're excited to see the cross-media approach taken by PIA and look forward to a successful event.

Register today to be a part of PIAExpo2010.

Visit: www.piaexpo.com

Happy Festivus (from the rest of us)

2009-12-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays from FreshForm Interactive.

It's time to air your grievances at www.freshform.com/festivus_2009/

iPod takes over ESPN.com navigation - pushes online advertising

2009-10-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, so most of you know that I'm addicted to Apple and can't get enough of their products. The marketing is pure genius and consistently pushes the limits by simply being smart. My latest ga-ga over Apple came when viewing this ad on ESPN.com. It's just a very intelligent way of a smart media buy with an excellent creative execution.

Plan. Test. Measure.

2009-04-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

We just launched a temporary home page for Interpret, a market research firm with locations in LA, NY and London: www.interpretllc.com. We're slated to launch the full site later this Spring.

Play dumb?

2009-03-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

We recently launched a web site for the best kept secret in social gaming... Playdom. Playdom has created 3 of the 4 top games on MySpace and is rapidly moving into Facebook and soon to launch an iPhone app for the hit game "Mobsters".

Visit the corporate site for playdom at: www.playdom.com

Y14 News: Speakers Announced

2009-02-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

Check out the lineup for this year's Y Design Conference:

Nikolai Cornell
Obscura Digital

Liz Danzico
School of Visual Arts

Dan Formosa
Dan Formosa, Ph.D.

Roshi Givechi
IDEO

Deanna Kuhlmann-Leavitt
Kuhlmann Leavitt, Inc.

Andréa Pellegrino
Worldstudio

Shel Perkins
Shel Perkins & Associates

Mark Randall
Worldstudio

Yolanda Santosa
Ferroconcrete

Lorraine Wild
Green Dragon Office

Shawn Wolfe
Shawn Wolfe Studio

Van Helsing? No, Van Vechten!

2009-01-31T16:08:00.000-08:00

Our wonderful friends at Van Vechten Creative have launched their new site. We collaborated to create a Flash/HTML hybrid, user-friendly site for them. After over 16 years in the business their body of work is quite impressive, with clients ranging from botanical gardens to high-end health clubs to luxury resorts.

Visit: www.vvcreative.com

Y14 News: Registration Open

2008-11-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Y Design Conference opened it's online registration today. You can register at the temporary web site or via the AIGA San Diego web site.

Trust me, if you like Pinkberry, incredible design, urban forests, or bleeding-edge technologies, you'll like this conference.

Y Design Conference
AIGA San Diego

Y14 News: Moderator Announced

2008-10-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

I'm please to announce that Debbie Millman will be moderating the 2009 Y Design Conference!

Debbie spoke at Y11 and we're extremely pleased to have her back. This is going to be fun...

Take a look at what Debbie's been up to:

"Debbie has been in the design business for 25 years. She is a Partner and President of the Design division at Sterling Brands, one of the leading brand identity firms in the country. Consider this site the result of that work, and perhaps (but not necessarily) the antidote. Debbie is a board member of the National AIGA, and teaches at the School of Visual Arts and Fashion Institute of Technology. She is also an author on the design blog Speak Up, a regular contributor to Print Magazine and she hosts a weekly internet talk show on the Voice America Business network titled Design Matters. Her first book, "How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer," was published by Allworth Press in 2007, and her second, "Essential Principles of Graphic Design," will be published by Rotovision in Summer, 2008."

Soichiro Honda is a rebel

2008-09-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

After many long nights, weekends and ridiculous in-take of caffeine, we completed Version 1.0 of the Honda "CIP" training workshop presentation. A total of 78 workshops will be presented nationwide with every one of the 1,200+ Honda dealers attending.

The concept "REBEL" was developed to equate the traits of famous rebels (James Dean, Johnny Cash, Mario Andretti) with Honda dealers who are currently going above and beyond their client's expectations and continue to enhance their processes, organizations and ultimately, their bottom line.

The core for the workshop is a rich-media presentation (live presenters, video, voice over, graphics, charts, animations and text) that allows six teams to travel around the country and share the accomplishments of these modern rebels. As a supplement to the presentation, we developed a digital Action Plan to allow the dealers to identify key organizational objectives and map out the necessary steps and milestones for financial success. Each dealer is provided a laptop to enter their Action Plan information, which is passed via WiFi to a local database, then forwarded to a remote database for backup and future distribution.

Here's a partial list of what we have created, produced, managed, tested, purchased, configured, traveled, and/or consumed over the past three months for this project (in no particular order):

3 Creative Brainstorm Sessions
1 Trip to Orlando
1 Pilot Presentation
6,428 Ounces of Caffeine
78 Dell Laptops
6 Projectors
6 Linux Servers
6 Routers
6 Hardware Shipping Containers
5 Mood Boards
3 Rounds of Voice Over
6 Video Shoots
1 Stoner Hardware Vendor
2 Photos of James Dean
6 Digital Cameras
4,000 Printed Workbooks
1 Online Reporting Tool
78 Pages of Documentation
1 Trip to Vegas
1 Bottle of Vodka
200+ FedEx Tracking Numbers
1 Hand-cut Stencil
1 Can of Red Spray Paint
1 6-Hour Flash Presentation
78 Event Workshops
3,000+ Attendees

STEP: 2008 Best of Web

2008-09-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

The Vulcan Motor Club web site is recognized as one of the best web sites of 2008, according to STEP Inside Design Magazine. The two-page spread is in the September/October 2008 Issue.

Here's an excerpt:

"When the site for the Vulcan Motor Club opens on a close-up image of the highly reflective hood and windshield of a sleek, black car, the effect is so sensual and enticing, you could be forgiven for wiping away a spot of drool. Go deeper into the site, and you’ll find a fleet of lust-worthy cars from Ferraris to Bentleys and Lamborghinis that, as a member, you could have delivered to your door for a joy ride or a weekend in the Hamptons."

Thanks for the press.

Re-AIGActivating for y14

2008-07-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

After a two year hiatus, I've decided to become active with our local chapter of the AIGA – The Professional Design Organization. Along with Ken Miracle, the fearless leader at MiracleBrand, I'll be chairing the 14th Annual Y Conference. We've begun the steep accent up the Y14 mountain, but we're well-rested and have plenty of supplies in our fanny packs. We've scheduled to brave the summit March 27-28, 2009. It should be an interesting journey and I hope you'll be able to join us.

Welcome Back Seth

2008-07-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Seth Gravette first joined FreshForm in the Fall of 2005. He honed his skills in web design and mobile User Interface throughout 2006 and then left beautiful, comfortable, familiar San Diego for Mumbai, India. Really? Yes, really. Seth proceeded to spend the next two years of his life trying to navigate his way through the crowded streets, close talkers and wonderful smells. Well, he survived his experience and took the time to enhance his photography, design and code... and landed right back at FreshForm like he never left. We're extremely happy to have this talented designer back in the office – plus he's incredibly organized, so his desk will stay nice and tidy.

New Project for American Honda

2008-06-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

FreshForm has been selected to work with Resource Automotive and American Honda to produce a workshop presentation for Honda dealers. The presentation will include a multi-disciplinary approach to re-enforce the CIP (Continuous Improvement Process) initiative.

FreshForm is charged with the creative direction of the workshop experience, art direction, design and development of the rich-media Flash presentation, online action plan, website, and workbook. FreshForm will be collaborating with Van Vechten Creative on the project for the printed workbook and general creative development. The workshop will be presented approximately 80 times around the U.S.

Stop in to see the outcome in early Fall 2008.

Y13 Conference - Seeds of Change

2008-04-02T10:21:00.001-07:00

What is going green? What is so natural about being natural? How organic is organic? Though many of these points and others were discussed at this years Y Conference held by the AIGA chapter of San Diego, most could say, what was it the we accomplished this past weekend? Did we solve global warming? Did we develop an alternative resource to our depleting oil reserves across the world? Hardly. We simply discussed the power we contain of spreading a message of change.

Its hard to believe that graphic design can actually make a change or difference in our world. The use of paper, toxic materials, and electricity are obviously a major contributor to the rise in the depreciation of our already suffering world. How do we change this? The truth be told, there is only so little we can change that has already changed. We are entitled to create and innovate new ideas to help create an even larger global impact than the products that we produce in our everyday lives. And it goes beyond just using recycled paper.

Below are some of the ideas of changed discussed and shared over the 3 day conference.

Use efficient layout practices when laying out die-lines for packaging, also utilize your creativity to based your layout to allow more use of one sheet of paper.
Think of alternative usage of your product, rather than providing it as disposable item. (ei. Elephant Pharmacy)
If it isn't broken, don't fix it. Why do we need to develop products with post-modern intentions? Many of our histories structures and designs were perfected many years ago. We shouldn't be reinventing the book, just adding to what already exists. (ei. Greenroofs, Solar Parking Ports, Flexcore)
Captain Obvious... Cut down on printing. PDF or reuse 1 sided paper print outs for test prints / sketching.

These are only a few points of many that were discussed. When it comes to designers, many can be over-dramatic, to a point were they think, "I'll have to stop doing print design, I'm destroying the planet otherwise." This is not the case. As designers, we create truly beautiful pieces of art that should be celebrated, not shunned.

This conference was not all pointing the finger and trash talking (no pun intended) one another. We came together as a community to acknowledge our delima. There is an obvious need for change. And of course, as said by many speakers, no one is entirely green by any means, sometimes you can't help but provide a product that was made from pvc and contains millions of toxins, clients want what they want. But that only gives us more incentive to help use our resources to provide our clients with environmental friendly options and change our processes and creativity to be more efficient and beneficial for our clients, our design community, ourselves and our planet.

Momentum

2008-03-26T16:07:00.000-07:00

FreshForm Interactive was asked to re-design a web site for Strategic Momentum, a San Diego business consulting firm, lead by Richard C. Eppel, John R. Krill, and Kobe Bogaert.

Strategic Momentum offers Employee Relationship Management (ERM™) through Breakaway Innovation™. Essentially, these guys help companies realize the importance of their employees and develop techniques to enhance workflow and productivity through proper trust and communication. What a concept!

Find your momentum at: http://www.strategic-momentum.com

A New Spin on Driving

2008-03-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

"The luxury of choice. Vulcan Motor Club provides you with convenient access to a distiguished collection of the world's most prestigious vehicles, so you can enjoy exhilarating performance without the inconvenience of ownership."

In conjunction with Mires+Ball, we developed and launched a new web site promoting a very cool concept — fractional vehicle ownership. Vulcan Motor Club, headquartered in New Jersey has a fleet of vehicles from an Aston Martin DB9 Coupe, to a Lamborghini Gallardo, to a Shelby Cobra 427 S/C. They offer a number of membership plans, but I think my favorite is the "Wind and Fire Tour". You get to drive 6 different cars, one after another, for 20 miles and then switch.

With an ultra-clean interface and dramatic fades, this site is simple, pure, and smart.

Take it for a spin at:
http://www.vulcanmotors.com

Time will tell

2008-03-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Are you a Duck? If so, you're an alumni of the University of Oregon, you should take a look at the latest creation from chronomundi. This beautifully designed, limited edition mens wrist watch offers subtle, yet memorable moments of being a part of the Oregon culture.

Today we launched the new Homage Series web site. Take a look and read about this new approach to connecting with your alma mater.

http://www.duckwristwatch.com

USD : School of Law

2008-02-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

FreshForm and SotoDesign have been selected to re-design the University of San Diego's School of Law web site. The target launch for the project is August of 2008.

Aloha PREL

2008-01-31T17:42:00.000-08:00

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) contacted FreshForm Interactive to breathe new life and style into the web presence for the organization. The site provides information and educational resources (traditional and multimedia solutions) to numerous islands within the Pacific Region. We handled the User Interface design and Front-end Development for the shell of the site while collaborating with the PREL team to integrate the assets into an open source .NET content management system called Umbraco. The PREL team will maintain the site design and content using the Umbraco system.

Learn more at: http://www.prel.org

Halcyon Tea Blog

2008-01-19T00:07:00.000-08:00

Downshift your life by sipping a nice, warm cup of tea. We recently launched a blog for our good friends at Halcyon Tea. Halcyon Tea offers a new/old way of thinking about tea, life, community and everyday treasures.

Stay tuned for the complete Halcyon Tea site (http://www.halcyontea.com) due out early 2009.

RUFF-RUFF

2007-12-21T17:26:00.000-08:00

We've designed and developed a Flash site and associated blog for a San Diego based design firm – Ruff Haus Design. Located on the first floor of an elegant Victorian home, this pet-friendly business creates beautiful marketing collateral, invitations and identities for non-profits and corporate clients alike.

Talk a walk on over:
www.ruffhaus.com

Brandon Baker joins FreshForm

2007-12-17T11:51:00.000-08:00

Brandon Baker joins FreshForm as the lead front-end developer. Brandon provides pixel-perfect integration of our user-focused designs on the web using HTML, CSS, and javaScript (aka AJAX).

Welcome Brandon!

Artist: P-Jay Fidler

2007-11-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

FreshForm has just launched a new site for illustrator, art director and motion designer, P-Jay Fidler. His work has been seen in everything from Surfer Magazine to Burton Snowboards (2008 Shaun White Model) and in galleries across the U.S.

"P-Jay Fidler's art is a non linear narrative unfolding onto canvas. The viewer is as important to the story as the painting itself. Because his audience brings with them a major part of the story, the results are often surreal, ambiguous, and yet very much familiar. His work reflects a mixture of adolescent archetypes with dark psychological aspects of the human condition."

Thought provoking and extremely insane, check out his new collection of his work at: www.pjfidler.com.

Joelle Steiniger joins FreshForm

2007-11-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

Joelle Steiniger joins FreshForm as project coordinator and studio manager. Joelle will be charged with coordinating project assets, scheduling and various client requests, all while holding down the fort.

Welcome Joelle!

mixture - v2.0

2007-10-01T23:43:00.000-07:00

Inspired Modern Living... (online). Our good friends at mixture in Little Italy San Diego, house some of the most styly furniture, art and lighting on the planet. FreshForm was contracted to design and develop their brand new online presence. Try stopping by the site at www.mixturehome.com.

USD : School of Leadership and Education Sciences

2007-09-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

FreshForm and SotoDesign have been selected to re-design the University of San Diego's School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) web site. The target launch for the project is May of 2008.

"I AM" TROOPER

2007-08-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

Our wonderfully talented and creative friends over in NY asked us to collaborate on their new web site. Former art directors from RCA Records and MTV combined their creative forces to create some truly unique and award-winning pieces. Tracy Boychuck and Jen Roddie are my favorite Canadians.

Check out the site we just launched:
http://www.trooper-ca.com/

Some good work, eh!

FreshForm has moved

2007-07-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

It must have slipped my mind, but on July 1st, 2007, FreshForm moved from Old Town San Diego to Mission Valley. We're now sharing a creative space with Van Vechten Creative. Van Vechten Creative will be celebrating its 15th year in business this Fall and in lead by Charlie Van Vechten. Charlie is active in the design community and is currently serving as the president of the AIGA - the professional association for design.

Van Vechten Creative is a full-service firm specializing in graphic design, marketing and advertising.

We like our new home.

USD : College of Arts & Sciences

2007-07-26T23:46:00.000-07:00

FreshForm and SotoDesign have been selected to re-design the University of San Diego's College of Arts & Sciences web site. The target launch for the project is September of 2008.

Stop Smiling Magazine Launches New Site

2007-07-26T23:41:00.001-07:00

FreshForm Interactive re-designed and completely re-developed Stop Smiling Magazine's web site. The site includes an all new Blog and Content Management functionality.

Say hello to the "High-Minded Lowlifes" at:
http://www.stopsmilingonline.com

USD : SBA Launched Version 1

2007-07-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with Ken Soto of SotoDesign, we've completely re-designed the University of San Diego's Business School web site. Version one launched on July 2, 2007.

Take a look at:
http://www.sandiego.edu/business/

USD : School of Business Adminstration

2007-05-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

The University of San Diego School of Business Administration hired FreshForm Interactive and SotoDesign to collaborate on the information architecture, creative direction, user interface design and style guide for the school's web site. The new site will be rolled out by USD this summer.

Bonjour Marie

2007-04-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

FreshForm welcomes Marie Bernet as our new project coordinator. She's French, likes coffee and is extremely organized. Marie earned dual bachelors degrees in International Business from the University of Plymouth, Britain and Business School of the ESC La Rochelle, France. Marie has lived in France, Spain, England and the United States.

Fehlman LaBarre : : : Architecture + Planning

2007-04-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

We just launched a Flash site for Fehlman LaBarre - a local San Diego Architecture and planning firm. The site was developed in conjunction with Bennett Peji Design.

Check it out: http://www.fehlmanlabarre.com

Mobile411

2007-03-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

We just launched a microsite for V-ENABLE for a new mobile application called Mobile411.

Check it out: http://www.v-enable.com/411/

McCullough-Ames.com

2007-03-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

We launched a new project for dream home builder McCullough-Ames in early March. This was a collaborative project with local firm Hollis Brand Communication.

Check it out: www.McCullough-Ames.com

PUSH

2007-03-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

"Push", this year's AIGA San Diego Y Conference starts this Friday with an amazing lineup.

Check it out: www.y-conference.com

Flash Framework

2006-10-19T08:29:00.003-07:00

Check this site out: Bombay Sapphire . It uses the Gugga Flash Framework.

Note to self...

2006-10-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

Don't take on clients with 4-day deadlines - it's never as easy as it appears to be.