Today, we sent out a message to everyone on our email list (yes, we use MailDart ourselves) introducing the new service. A copy of that message is available right here. Here are the highlights:

Top 5 Reasons MailDart Rocks:

1. It gets results! (We know because we use it!)
2. It’s a pay-as-you-go system. There are no monthly fees.
3. No stock templates necessary. We create an email template that looks like YOU.
4. MailDart is fantastically easy to use.
5. Advanced reporting features give you the information you need to fine-tune your campaigns based on viewer feedback.

“MailDart is a great product. The reports allow me to make smart decisions about what I send my customers and the interface is easy to learn and use.” – Derek Cabrera, ThinkWorks

So head on over here for more information, or over here to contact us!

We also feel a special connection to each of them. I certainly enjoyed seeing Garden Gate Delivery’s van, designed by Molly, parked the other day at the Ithaca Festival.

Today I got excited to see Ithaca Carshare on the front page of the Ithaca Journal today! Ithaca Carshare, after many years of hard work (largely from Jennifer Dotson), started operating yesterday. Participating in Ithaca Carshare’s convenient money-saving and carbon footprint-lessening transportation solution makes a lot of sense for so many people in Ithaca, especially those that live downtown but only need a car some of the time.

At AWP, we enjoyed developing materials for Ithaca Carshare, a company whose mission we believe in and is doing a great job in the Ithaca community. I am personally invested in the organization as well, as I first got involved with Ithaca Carshare when I was living with Dan Roth, one of the original organizers of the international car-sharing summit that took place at Ithaca College (January 2006). I later helped developed the first version of IthacaCarshare.org.

I am so happy to see this project come full circle and for all of the people who have worked so hard on making Ithaca Carshare succeed to see their dreams realized! Way to go!

Back To Basics

So almost one year ago (after all new staff settled – myself included) we got busy with our marketing materials, replaced our 4 year-old website and pushed the old brand as far as possible – seen here at right. Chip and Bryan had been working (very successfully might I add) with the frog/red combo for years, and our new flash-heavy website (last year, mind you) was a necessary and huge improvement over it’s predecessor. It felt fresh, got a great response from clients/friends/family/competition and propelled us through the rest of 2007.

A few months ago we found ourselves in a curious position. With a permanent staff of 6 and new content management system we realized a few things:

1) We had evolved/outgrown from our existing brand and wanted something new to represent our current culture and future path.

2) We loved WebTree so much that we wanted it to power our own site

3) We deserved (and felt it necessary) to run ourselves through our own branding/website design process as we would with a client.

The big hurdle in beginning this process, or at least coming to the above realizations, was that we were very much aware of how little time we had to devote to ourselves. We take pride in how much time and effort we invest our client’s work, but that often leaves us with only a few minutes here or an hour there to design or conceptualize internal projects. So our first step was to reserve time to make this all happen, because it needed to happen…

So Now What

With hours to work with we started with two Discovery meetings (as we do with our clients) to assess our needs and creative goals. We laid out our issues with the current brand/website/marketing materials and addressed what the fresh designs should accomplish. We also talked about our feelings and other mushy stuff because as much as this was going to be a visual and technical endeavor, it ultimately would become an extension of the shop personality.

But we couldn’t let that weigh us down. We’re not heavy people. If you’ve come into our shop or talked to us at an outreach event you’ll notice that we’re a fun, easy-going group. And that was something we wanted our brand to communicate.

So the frog was to stay, but what kind of frog. We all agreed that a simpler, more iconic and personable frog was ideal. I sketched for days and days during my daily commute (don’t worry, I ride the TCAT bus). It wasn’t long until these ideas made their way into vector format where we thoroughly dissected out frog (har har har) until we settled on a “top 10″ list of sorts (variations on similar logo treatments). It then took us a week and a half to finalize every detail (from eye shape to color) but we came out satisfied and convinced that we had something representative of the shop and very very lovable. It was during this time that we also realized that as much as we identify with Ancient Wisdom Productions, we had been referring to the shop (internally and externally) as AWP for a long time. It felt very natural to transition the primary usage of our name to the shortened version, using the full Ancient Wisdom Productions as necessary.

Time for Fun

I wish we could say that we labored over the rest of the materials, but the new identity and momentum from the creative process were so strong that our work soon felt very natural (thus, easy). New business cards and marketing materials were necessary and quick to produce, but the website became a bit more involved.

As mentioned above, the real excitement in a new website was the fact that it could be powered by WebTree. Not that we can’t wrangle our own code, but when time is limited a Content Management System (CMS for short) is key. We also knew that using our system on a day-to-day basis would keep us striving to improve our already powerful engine.

Visually we wanted something that we hadn’t seen before. There are obvious design trends that we intentionally steered away from and since we snap photos in our office every day we really wanted to make images a large part of the design. Technically we wanted to move away from Flash completely – not that we don’t love it, but so much can be accomplished with Javascript – and make our content more accessible. With that criteria in place we designed what you’re currently looking at! There was a bit of back and forth initially but the fundamental layout and structure was achieved on the first attempt. Luckily each member of the team brought their own unique perspective to the design process, and the end result (for everything really) couldn’t have been accomplished without the entire team.

I’m going to dive into further details about the new site by the end of the month but we’re incredibly excited about all the new changes that have taken place and appreciate all the kind feedback we’ve received so far. Feel free to comment if you have specific questions or comments regarding the transition here at AWP.

Anna (left) & Katy (right) at Showcase Tompkins 2008

Sure!

Well, the point is, if you haven’t yet: get Firefox.  As a Mac user, I am blown away by the improvements in speed and memory management in 3.0.  I honestly did not enjoy the Firefox 2.0 Mac experience, and used Safari as much as I could.  Windows users on the other hand, should already be using Firefox (boo, Internet Explorer), and 3.0 should be an upgrade.

The Firefox download site was down earlier today (did they not expect the traffic?!?) but we managed to get access by the end of the day.  I couldn’t wait that long and used BitTorrent to download what turned out to be an Italian version of 3.0 (I’ve sense switched back to English).

I’ve already stated my initial reactions.  The new look is great, too, it really opens up some more screen real-estate, which is something we always wrangle with as designers.

Compatibility-wise, there are updates availble for the Google Toolbar, Web Developer Toolbar, and the YSlow Firebug extension.  Firebug itself has a beta that works with 3.0, but the Firebug site has been down for the past few days.  You can find a mirror that has the code and a list of Firebug mirrors here.

Other than that, I’ve been enjoying the new experience.  I’m sure other AWP-ers will chime in over the next few days.

Did I mention boo Internet Explorer?  (explanation of previous link).

It’s finally happened! Ancient Wisdom Productions is now officially AWP (short for Ancient Wisdom Productions). It’s just a little easier to say, easier to write, and takes up less space in your Browser Location bar.

So Yeah! We’re AWP, website: http://www.awpny.com

You may also notice our fantastic new logo by Tyler (one of our star designers). I’ll let him go into the details about it later, but suffice to say: it rocks. We turned a lot of heads the other day at the Tompkins County Showcase.

We hope you enjoy the brand-new, beautiful, WebTree-powered site of ours. We spent a lot of hours in the past few weeks putting this together, and it debuted yesterday. We’re still working out a few kinks, but it’s mostly there. Make sure to check out the brand new project portfolio page, and our new Welcome Video on the home page.

With the new site, you’ll see a lot more content from us, including regular WebTree tips by Casey, essays on design and process, and more details about our company, from its people, to its products.

So go forth and enjoy the new site. If you haven’t worked with us before, you should! Give us a heads up at our project inquiries page, or drop us a line through the feedback form if you just want to say hi.

So relax, browse around, and welcome to the new AWP.

I grew up in Iowa City, which is cut down the middle by the Iowa River. Most of the time, things work out ok. The river behaves, and you can boat on it. Everyone wins. Occasionally, though, it can out of hand.

This year we’re flooding again. My parents, luckily, live on high land, and are not affected by this, however, large portions of the performing arts center, the city park, and several main streets are. My Dad, who tends to know something about the performing arts scene in Iowa City, took these photos yesterday:

I’ve heard that the flooding this year may be worse than ‘93. Hopefully this will not be the case.

And to think, last year was a drought.

The general public is welcome, nay, encouraged to come and see our booth.  We’ll be sporting some pretty cool stuff.  You’ll be able to spot us by our (new!) T-shirts.  

Also, I wanted to publicly welcome our hard-working summer intern, Anna, to the AWP crew.  She just started on Monday, but she’s already doing some great work for us.  Stay tuned to the blog and you’ll be seeing her posts before too long.

One last thing. If you’ve seen our YouTube clips of the office band, and have wondered to yourself: “Where is Casey’s musical talent?”  Well, it went mostly into my brother, Derek (on drums):

Pretty flippin’ sweet.

Anyway, keep an eye on http://www.ancientwisdompro.com/ over the next few days. It’s an exciting time.
 

So I’ve been keeping my eye (and ears) on Portishead’s new upcoming album for a while now, and I’m beyond excited. Giddy, would be the best word to describe it.

All Things Considered had a super interview with Geoff and Adrian (and amazing clips from the album) over the weekend. It was so fascinating while I was driving home that when I finally got home, I stayed in the car to listen to the whole thing.

Last night I was all over YouTube looking for clips from last weekend’s Coachella, which would have been pretty nice to attend. I found a lot of other stuff, and Casey chatted Prince’s version of “Creep” over to me this morning, which was in my opinion, alright.

But the new Portishead album is already giving me the chills. I don’t care if it sounds completely new, or if it is re-hashing the same old (which, doesn’t seem to be the case). Sadly, their only US show this year happened on Saturday, but who knows, maybe they’ll hit Roseland again sometime. Get that video if you are even remotely familiar with them. I still have my VHS copy from 8 years ago. Yeah, they’re that good.