HAWSE BLAWG

2011 Addy Awards

2011-02-24T11:06:00.008-05:00

We had a great time at the Charlotte Addys last night, celebrating with other Charlotte creatives. We were very grateful for our wins of a Silver for our Real Stories web episodes for Okuma America and Gold / Best of Show for our GUTS campaign. It was a great event and we appreciate the Charlotte AAF and all of those that worked so hard to make it happen.

We especially want to thank our client Okuma for getting behind the concept for the Real Stories films and all the hard work that their marketing/writing team put into it as well as the filmmaking talents of Jewell & Ginnie. And for GUTS, we need to thank the Charlotte creative community that has embraced and supported this event and Charlotte Center City Partners for really helping us make the event special this year.

HAWSE Holiday Card / 2010

2010-12-16T10:13:00.002-05:00

We are sending our holiday cards out the door, hot off the presses from Heritage Letterpress.

Interview in Charlotte Viewpoint Magazine

2010-12-15T15:33:00.002-05:00

HAWSE president and owner, Robert Hawse has a feature interview in Charlotte Viewpoint Magazine this month. You can see it online here.

New additions to the HAWSE team

2010-12-13T10:07:00.006-05:00

We are excited to have added two new members to the HAWSE team. Brandy Newton is our new Studio Manager and has the formidable task of keeping a bunch of creative folks on schedule and on task. She's been with us for a few months and comes to us from Muzak's in house design department.

Just joining us last week is Taryn McCoy as our new Account Executive. She is a key player in client relations, design strategy and equipping the design team to do their best. Taryn comes to us from Lowe's design department. We are glad to have them both aboard.

GUTS on FPO

2010-12-13T09:54:00.005-05:00

Our poster for GUTS 2010 was posted to UnderConsideration's FPO; a blog celebrating unique and creative print projects. Thanks again to Vahalla studios for the excellent printing and for FPO for posting our work amongst such fine creative.

HAWSE Holiday Card / 2010

2010-12-08T15:27:00.002-05:00

Excited to be sending out our holiday cards to Heritage Letterpress/Crayton Printing. Excellent job by our Senior Designer, Joey Ellis on these. Look for some photos soon.

SouthEnd Brand System

2010-11-30T11:02:00.004-05:00

We recently had the opportunity to work on the brand evolution of SouthEnd. This project is near and dear to our heart since our office is located in the SouthEnd area. This was a unique challenge. Through research and meetings with area residents and business owners, we discovered the existing mark had a lot of recognition and brand equity. Our challenge was to evolve and simplify the existing mark, including color palette, illustration style and type refinement. Secondly we created a strong set of usage guidelines and suite of secondary marks that could be used in a vast array of applications by a wide range of users.

Omni photography

2010-11-30T10:29:00.004-05:00

We just wrapped a photoshoot for ongoing client, Omni Montessori. We are in the process of creating a collateral program that will utilize all of the amazing images we captured. Our senior designer, Joey Ellis was art director on the shoot and Amy Free captured some really engaging and honest shots that we are excited to implement in this new work...coming soon.

Real Help. Real Stories.

2010-11-30T09:05:00.012-05:00

This summer we travelled across the country, capturing customer stories for our client, Okuma. Okuma has an extremely loyal and passionate customer base and we worked hard to capture the engaging stories these customers have to tell. We travelled with our storytelling partner, Jewell & Ginnie out of Charleston, SC to six cities across the U.S. and Canada and created short films. These films were shot documentary style and each expressed a specific facet of the Okuma brand story. You can see all of the finished pieces over at the Real Stories site.

While at each location, we also captured still photography and written white papers that fueled a fully integrated campaign, including ads, social media and a massive trade show booth.

Okuma - Martec Final from Jewell&Ginnie on Vimeo.

Okuma - Lighthouse Final from Jewell&Ginnie on Vimeo.

GUTS 2010

2010-11-29T16:05:00.014-05:00

It was our pleasure to put on the 2nd Annual GUTS pumpkin carving competition. GUTS is a design community carving event that benefits Levine Children's Hospital. This year we were generously supported by Charlotte Center City Partners.

We had a new location and increased turn out of both event visitors and participants. Thanks to the Charlotte creative community for supporting this event. A big "congrats" to Logan Watts from BigNoise who took home Best Individual and one of the 4 teams from BoltGroup took Best Team.

Custom leave behind

2010-05-05T16:34:00.005-04:00

We recently had the opportunity to meet with Elevation Church here in Charlotte about some upcoming projects. We rolled up our sleeves and created these one of a kind leave behind sketchbook/journals to express our gratitude for considering us, and to invite future collaboration.

2010 Vision Awards

2010-05-05T15:55:00.006-04:00

We were honored to be able to work with Charlotte Center City Partners and the annual Vision Awards. The Awards honor those that contribute to the Center City in a variety of ways. We were tasked with creating an event mark, brochure, apparel as well as a graphic kit of parts to be used by the internal design team and the numerous vendors that were also contributing to the event. It was the first big, public event at the brand new NASCAR Hall of Fame. It was a great night, honoring some important folks and we were excited to be a part.

The Hemby Cup Rebrand

2010-02-04T11:28:00.003-05:00

One of our graphic designers, Joey Ellis, recently had the opportunity to rebrand a successful charity group located here in Charlotte, NC.

The Hemby Cup is an annual hockey tournament where the proceeds go towards a local children's hospital.

You can see our branding work here, and find out more about the Hemby Cup here.

HOLIDAY CARD

2009-12-18T10:43:00.002-05:00

We have a yearly tradition of doing a letter-pressed Holiday card to send out to clients and friends. Crayton Printing here in Charlotte did a great job once again. This year's card has little hidden things that reference highlights of our year and little nods to individuals on our team.

HOLIDAY INFOGRAPHIC

2009-12-17T12:22:00.002-05:00

click image for expanded view

So You Want to be a Graphic Designer?

2009-12-10T13:44:00.009-05:00

I often get approached by people interested in becoming a graphic designer. I thought I'd write up my own opinion on what I think it takes to make it as a graphic designer (or any professional artist for that matter).

So you want to be a graphic designer?

Why?

If you can't articulate why you want to become a graphic designer, or any professional artist for that matter, then you aren't serious enough.

For me personally, I became a graphic designer and an illustrator because I love the challenge of solving communication problems visually. Being a professional artist allows me to exercise my imagination in ways that other career paths can't offer. As an added bonus, I am employed to help people and companies express themselves in ways they wouldn't otherwise be able to do.

Articulating why exactly you want to be a professional artist will help you focus on what's important and will give you something to believe in; yourself.

Once you've begun critically thinking about why you want to become a professional artist, you need to evaluate yourself and your abilities.

1. Do I have talent?

Most professional artists have been creative since day one. It's what they were born to do. I'm not saying that this is always the case, but you need to realize what you'll be up against. You need to have the ability, the desire, and the drive to create. Learning how to professionally execute your art will come later. For me personally, I have always had the ability to draw. I sucked at everything else in school, but I have always been able to draw from very early on.

2. Do I have the character?

Being a professional artist (and an art student) will require you to have character. Day in and day out, you will be putting up your personal creations to be judged by judge, jury and executioner. Developing this strength of character takes time. I remember critiques in school where I felt humiliated, angry or vindictive over something someone said about a piece I had done. It takes time to take, sometimes harsh, critiques and channel that into constructive energy. Some of the best artists I know really crave harsh (but always helpful) criticism. If everyone walked about talking about how brilliant your work was all the time, you would never grow into anything beyond what you already are. It takes a strong character to make it as a professional artist.

3. Do I have the patience?

You have to be patient with yourself. Being an artist requires a lifetime of dedication. You will be your only true supporter. Learning how to execute professional artwork takes a very long time to master. Some would even say they hope they never master anything because they don't want the journey to end.

4. Scared that you'll fail?

The fear of failure is a fantastic motivator. Every new project I'm assigned, I'm always afraid this will be the one project that ends my career. (I've been at this for 8 years... so far... so good). The fear of failure helps keep you focused on always going above and beyond for clients. Promise them one thing, then strive to deliver far more.

So where to begin.
The best place to start your career as a graphic designer would be to go to school for it.

Just like any other profession, you'll need training in the fundamentals of art and the fundamentals of design. I personally went to a 4 year university for my degree in graphic design/illustration, but that's not the only solution. Many community colleges offer classes that are far more affordable and flexible.

You will not be able to simply pick up a book and learn about how to be a designer. You will need the leadership of a qualified professor/mentor, along with the interaction of your peers. You are attempting to enter into a field of mass communication, so being entrenched in a group of other artists while you learn the trade is essential to success.

While you are in school, you will develop your first portfolio of work. This portfolio will be the tool that you will use, once you leave school, to land your first design job. Your portfolio will never be finished. You will constantly change out old pieces for newer, better ones. We've written before about how to prepare your portfolio for interviews, and we even offer up our time to help review your work in progress. If the portfolio you develop is good, then you'll eventually land a job. If it sucks, then you won't.

Another key piece to your design education is to seek out internships at local design firms. The best way to truly learn the trade of design is to experience it first hand. Don't be afraid to seek out creative directors (or other designers) to see if they have any opportunities for interning. It's a great way to have your eyes opened to the world of making professional art.

One final piece of advice for your journey to becoming a graphic designer would be to seek out your heroes. It's far easier to look at artists you admire and mimic their career path, rather than guess. Don't be afraid to actually seek them out. In the age of email, Twitter, Facebook etc., your heroes are only a click away. The worst they can do is ignore you.

I'd like to close by saying; I have zero patience for lazy people. As someone who reviews portfolios and resumes, I have no tolerance for people who aren't hard workers. I have worked hard and sacrificed plenty to get into the position I am in, and I will continue to do so. I have no tolerance for excuses. I can't tell you how often I have been approached by designers looking for work and they say "I don't have a site yet. I don't have a digital portfolio yet. I don't have this piece of software or that tool yet." If you take yourself seriously, you will leave your excuses at the door and find a way to get it done.

If you have questions, or would like to set up a portfolio review, send us an email. You can also post questions via my Twitter feed.

I am so thankful and blessed to have the opportunity to create for a living. I wish you the best of luck on your own journey.

- Joey Ellis

In my post, I use the words "graphic designer" and "professional artist" interchangeably. The idea of graphic design being art is certainly up for debate. I personally see both sides of the argument, and consider myself to be both an artist AND a graphic designer. To me, the difference between art and design is compromise. Another way to view it is that in art, you are communicating your own message, while as a graphic designer, you are hired to communicate someone else's message. This isn't necessarily the view of Hawse Design, it's my own, personal definition. - JE

GUTS: HAWSE entries

2009-10-30T12:06:00.005-04:00

Team HAWSE made a good showing at GUTS. Joey and Matt both tied for 3rd place and The HAWSE team of Joey Ellis, Matt Stevens and honorary carver, Brady Bone from The Republik won best overall team. You can check out all the pumpkins here.

GUTS: Thanks

2009-10-29T19:12:00.002-04:00

What a great event! Thanks to all of you who participated or supported us financially or otherwise. We enjoyed the friendly competition with some great Charlotte creatives. We had 33 total carvers and a great turnout of folks who just wanted to see what was happening. A lot of money was raised for Levine Children's Hospital. If you didn't get a chance to get a T-shirt or poster we have some left.

Winner List: Individual (based on totals from the 3 judges)

1st place - Logan Watts (BigNoise)

2nd place - Banks Wilson (Studiobanks)

3rd place - Taylor Nall (carbonhouse) / Matt Stevens (HAWSE) / Joey Ellis (HAWSE)

4th place - Kurt Rampton (BOLT)

Winner List: Team (based on combined score of all team members)

1st place - HAWSE
2nd place - BOLT
3rd place - AIGA Charlotte
4th place - Studiobanks

Going Forward:

We'd like to make the contest more friendly for teams. We were blown away by some of the concepts that combined multiple pumpkins into one and didn't feel like we were adequately set up to score those and give them their just due. We will work to make the team vs. individual voting clearer and are thinking about creating 2 separate divisions.

We'd love your thoughts on how to make it even better next year.

Thanks.

GUTS: Final participant list

2009-10-29T10:13:00.002-04:00

carbonhouse

Taylor Nall

Matt Stover

Joel Kuehn

Boone/Oakley

Bill Allen

Keith Greenstein

Matt Klug

BB+M Architecture

Heath Wickline

Nick Barnes

Lacey Johnson

AIGA Charlotte

Carolyn Colonna

Rachel Martin

Trent Edwards

Studiobanks

Banks Wilson

Keeley Carrigan

Michael Glasshoff

Will Jardine

HAWSE

Matt Stevens

Joey Ellis

Brady Bone

DAS Architecture

Pat Campbell

Matt Gower

Joe Monico

BOLT

Kurt Rampton

Luca Camarda

Mandy Smith

Lauren Allison

Muzak

Ben Gelnett

Joey Richey

Megan Sharkey

Individual carvers

David Barron (Mistri Hardaway)

Jason Gammon (Little Red Bird)

Josh McGlinn (MCG Studios)

Logan Watts (BigNoise)

REASON TO ENTER GUTS: 06

2009-10-19T10:40:00.002-04:00

Visit the GUTS site.

REASON TO ENTER GUTS: 05

2009-10-16T15:37:00.002-04:00

Visit the GUTS site.

REASON TO ENTER GUTS: 04

2009-10-15T11:16:00.002-04:00

Visit the GUTS site.

REASON TO ENTER GUTS: 03

2009-10-14T13:05:00.001-04:00

Visit the GUTS site.

REASONS TO ENTER GUTS: 02

2009-10-13T14:39:00.004-04:00

Visit the GUTS site.

REASONS TO ENTER GUTS: 01

2009-10-12T14:36:00.003-04:00

Visit the GUTS site.

GUTS: Invitations are out, site is live!

2009-10-09T10:02:00.004-04:00

We just sent out invitations to local design firms, ad agencies and architects for GUTS; our pumpkin carving competition to benefit Levine Children's Hospital. We had a blast putting these together and hope for a big turnout on the 29th. Check out all the details here.

GUTS: COMING SOON

2009-09-14T13:30:00.004-04:00

We're putting the finishing touches on a big design community pumpkin carving event that will benefit kids in need. Details are coming in the next few days.

We will be issuing the challenge to Charlotte design firms, ad agencies and architects. We've got our list together, but let us know if this is something you'd be interested in, so we can make sure we keep the competition fierce.

HAWSE CERTIFRIED PORTFOLIOS

2009-08-14T14:54:00.006-04:00

We recognize that there are a lot of hurting Charlotte designers out there. We also know there are a lot of kids right out of school (or who will be graduating this December) who just can't seem to land a gig. The economy sucks, our market has taken a lot of hits, and it's easy to lose hope.

No sweat. We're here to help.

While we aren't currently hiring, we want to offer up our expertise to anyone seeking honest, constructive (ahem...brutal) feedback. Starting August 20, Hawse Design will begin conducting portfolio reviews for eager participants. Creative Director Matt Stevens (@stevensmatt) and Senior (Señor) Designer Joey Ellis (@joeyellis) will be offering one hour, one-on-one review sessions where you'll have an opportunity to share your work, ask questions about the business or simply seek career advice.

It's a safe environment to say stupid things and make mistakes (we do it everyday). We're offering you a chance to practice your pitch.

What's in it for us?

We're always up for seeing fresh talent, and we really want to see who's out there. The better we are as a design community, the more clients will value us, and that's good for everyone. Plus, we know what it's like trying to score a gig. It's tough. Hawse is here to help.

To schedule your one-hour appointment, simply email us with a few times that best suit you and we'll coordinate from there! (Obviously these reviews will be fit in around our own schedules, so we'll do our best to meet with you as soon as you want to).

We look forward to meeting you!

DISCLAIMER: Hawse Design is not hiring. We're simply offering our time. Due to time considerations, please be patient in scheduling. Obviously, we want to offer you a valuable experience, without it exhausting our own. One interview, per person, per 6 months (although we are willing to make exceptions).

If you have any questions, send us an email!

Don't forget to download the CERTIFRIED Desktop wallpaper too!

Creative Juice

2009-07-29T16:05:00.004-04:00

We just launched our Creative Juice mini campaign. We sent out these special glasses to a targeted list of potential clients, each with a personalized URL to come and check out our approach to creating inspired work. We also pumped it up on Twitter and awarded glasses to one person a day who helped us get the word out.

The campaign was a blast to work on and we have appreciated the responses from the recipients as well as the design community. Check out the Creative Juice for yourself.

Coming Soon:

2009-07-09T09:19:00.003-04:00

We've got a new mini-campaign launching soon. Keep your eyes peeled.

New campaign mark

2009-05-27T17:31:00.003-04:00

We are working on a new campaign for Okuma America. We have an approved mark, and more campaign elements are coming soon.

Cory Fights Giants

2009-05-27T17:29:00.004-04:00

Our own Joey Ellis has created a way cool site, poster and book for a great cause. Check it out and get involved.

Omni Montessori School

2009-03-30T09:57:00.001-04:00

This is the branding work completed for Omni Montessori School. We really enjoyed this project, and knew it would be a lot of fun. We took great care to chronicle the entire experience so that we could learn about our own process, and share with our friends how we like to work!

Check out the series via our Flickr page.

Download an Ollie the Owl wallpaper here.

The Label Detective

2009-03-30T09:57:00.000-04:00

One of the more interesting projects that we recently had the pleasure of working on was a series of illustrations for the Lied Discovery Children's Museum in Las Vegas. One of their new attractions featured a touch-screen video game entitled "Be A Label Detective" where kids were taught all about how to make informed, and healthy choices when eating.

You can check out a sampling of the storyboards and final illustrations here.

You can also download some swanky new desktop wallpapers, featuring our new faux brands here, here, here and here!

Yummy indeed.

Gordon Ramsay and Sweet Kicks: A Lesson in Restraint.

2009-03-26T12:34:00.007-04:00

I was struck by this Nike ad I saw today. It was so simple, but so brilliant. Now, I must confess a minor affinity for (obsession with) the Nike brand and particularly their footwear design. What made this particular ad so great? Restraint. Captivating product design, great photography and solid typography and layout.

This is part where you begin to wonder what Gordon Ramsay has to do with anything. Yes, he is that foul-mouthed caricature of a hard-driving, world class chef on TV's Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares (check your local listings). What you may not know is that his Kitchen Nightmares began in England and has run for several seasons. This version from the UK is pretty insightful and inspiring. His message is continually, know who you're target is and more importantly for my point, get great ingredients and keep it simple.

I understand the reality of doing brand work in lean times and a competitive environment. We don't have unlimited budgets even in the best of times, but whether you're talking about pan seared sea scallops or the latest Fly-wire technology, the message is the same. When you have access to great ingredients, let them be great.

Carlisle Soccer Identity

2009-03-24T14:06:00.005-04:00

Back in late 2008, we had the opportunity to design several identities for Carlisle Soccer Club here in Charlotte, NC. You can see some of our work via our Flickr page.

You can also decorate your desktop here & here!

Red River Kids Magazine

2009-03-18T10:09:00.004-04:00

We recently were offered an opportunity to help promote one of our own upcoming super top secret hush-hush projects through a partnership with the new Red River Kids magazine (you can check out the parent site here). While we can't go into the details of the partnership just yet, we would like to show off the fun new Red River Kids identity we got to do. Yes yes... letters... monsters.....

Can you guess what the super top secret hush-hush project is yet? Stay tuned!

Scrap Sub: The Fox

2009-03-16T10:14:00.004-04:00

There's a local sub shop, that has this thing called a "scrap-sub." It's all the left over little bits and pieces of meat and cheese left over from making the other subs. You don't get to choose, but it's cheaper (and a little disturbing, I'll admit).

We're going to do design scrap subs here on BLAWG. Stuff we did, that we like, but it just never made it.

This is a logo concept we did for a local start up. The name and the mark will both never see the light of day, but hey, we had fun doing it, and wanted to share.

It didn't get ordered, but that doesn't mean it's not tasty. Enjoy!

New Identity: Charlotte Soccer Academy

2009-03-10T10:34:00.018-04:00

Two of the most respected and successful soccer clubs in Charlotte have merged to become Charlotte Soccer Academy. We had the privilege of creating their new identity.

It was a truly a collaborative process and we had the opportunity for a lot of face time with several of the key players in each organization going into the merger. We explored several options, trying to strike a balance between maintaining the equity each brand had earned and also to create something completely fresh and new.

Early studies:

The new mark:

Identity and uniform standards excerpt:

Check out more pics at our flickr page.

How to Conduct an Interview Right Out of School

2009-02-25T17:05:00.004-05:00

Hey! Are you a college student studying to become a graphic designer? Are you graduating in May? Guess what?! The kids who graduated back in December are still looking for jobs that aren't there! The economy is in the toilet! What are you going to do?!

Now, before you turn in that application to work a few more years at Orange Julius, I wanted to share the top 10 "first time interview" pointers that I wish I had known when I graduated back in the 1870's. First interviews are always important, but with the job market as sour as it is, you'll need to make sure you nail any interview you land and leave that creative director wanting more.

Pencils ready? Here we go:

#1 - Carry yourself, and speak with full, 100% confidence. Nothing is worse than hearing an interviewee apologize for their work.

#2. Be precise, simple and efficient with everything you do. This rule applies to everything. The handshake, your attire, your portfolio, the small talk. Everything.

#3. Never refer to your work as a "school project". Do not reference your class. Do not reference your professors. Treat the work in your portfolio as if it is real. Tell the interviewer what the problem was, and how your design solution solves that problem.

#4. Keep your portfolio to 5 to 10 pieces. Creative directors can tell, in as few as one to two pieces, if someone has or does not have talent. Remember Rule #2.

#5. Do your homework before interviewing with a firm. Know who their clients are (you'll find that on their website) and the kind of work they do. This will help you when trying to assemble your portfolio. If you want to be truly successful, you'll want to customize your presentation/portfolio for each interview that you do.

#6. Start with your best piece. Do not save the best for last. See rule #4.

7. Create a leave-behind. A card or something similar works best. In most cases the interviewer will forget your name the minute you leave. Don't let them forget you.

8. Why should anyone hire you? Be prepared to sell yourself, and explain why the company you are interviewing with can't go on doing business without you.

9. Network, network, network. Join AIGA. Create a blog. Sign up on as many social networks as possible, but be consistent, professional and make smart choices throughout.

10. Keep going. Practice makes perfect. If you really want to be a graphic designer, do not give up. This are very trying times, and if you can make it through this, you'll be that much further ahead than the competition.

If you have any questions, or want to discuss further, you can find us via Hawse Twitter!

Good luck!

Hawse Row-Butt Desktop Wallpaper

2009-02-25T12:55:00.003-05:00

Our sweet little killer robot mascot, Row-Butt, has asked that we include him on BLAWG. So to keep him happy we've released a new set of desktop wallpapers that you can put on your "computer".

We hope you enjoy. Check 'em out via Flickr >

Special Edition Letter Monster Download

2009-02-19T15:59:00.003-05:00

So, one of our designers, Joey Ellis, decided to share the wealth from his Letter Monsters series. He's really been quite annoying, showing us every comment, every blog and every single update he's received over the past few days.

Anyway, he's decided to release the first in a series of paper models through Hawse Design.

You can download "Hawse" (so aptly named) here.

INTERNET FAMOUS: JOEY

2009-02-17T09:49:00.003-05:00

Our own Joey Ellis has created the "Letter Monsters." A few blogs we follow have picked it up and posted about it. You can see it on his blog or check it out on boingboing, Monoscope, or Drawn!. Nice job, Joey.

FOUND: ANTI-THEFT SANDWICH BAG

2009-02-02T12:45:00.003-05:00

seen here.

NEW: THE SIX OF SPADES

2009-01-30T10:24:00.002-05:00

Our resident Feltician and AE extraordinaire, Helen Greenstein, is part of a deck of artist cards for a project called, Art in Hand. The deck will be for sale in the Charlotte area in May. All of the original art will be part of a show hosted by 3 area galleries. The final pieces will be sold and proceeds will go to a children's art foundation. See the rest of Helen's work here.

NEW: JOEY'S PERSONAL BLOG

2009-01-30T09:48:00.003-05:00

Keep an eye out for more coolness to come from our own Joey Ellis.

DOCUMENTED: BARRY'S FIRST DAY AT HAWSE

2009-01-29T11:24:00.002-05:00

Well, not really. More here.

FOUND: ALTERNATIVE SUPER BOWL LOGOS

2009-01-28T13:10:00.004-05:00

Good link in the NY Times online. Several renowned designers invited to give their take on the Super Bowl 2009 logo. Interesting that several have a similar element. Check it out.

BIRTHDAY: HELEN

2009-01-27T10:13:00.003-05:00

We try and do it right around here at Birthday times. Joey had the opportunity to create Helen's "card"...9 billable hours later, voila! A set of dimensional letter monsters spelling out her name.

ESTABLISHED: NEW HOPE

2009-01-21T09:59:00.005-05:00

Got this email from our esteemed colleague, Joey Ellis today...

FOUND: GREAT ARTICLE ON BRIEFS

2009-01-20T10:08:00.002-05:00

Change Order is one of my favorite blogs on the business of design and design thinking. They have a recent post about creative briefs that is well written and timely. I've found that when times get tough, the deadlines get shorter and the process can tend to fall apart. This is a great reminder to try and get the most important aspects of a design problem in focus before beginning.

FOUND: HEAVY METAL INFOGRAPHIC

2009-01-20T09:59:00.004-05:00

Best infographic I've seen in a while. Click for a larger view.

2009-01-07T09:55:00.003-05:00

The Brand Labs are a place for us to experiment, dream big and make up stuff we'd like to work on. We've got our first experiment lined up and will be keeping you posted as it develops.

2009-01-05T12:17:00.021-05:00

The first annual HAWZEE awards. With the Oscars approaching, and all of these year end lists floating around, we had to do our own set of awards. Some are relevant to design, some are completely random. We hope you enjoy.

FAVORITE BRAND WORK: THE WE CAMPAIGN

You can read all about the We Campaign here. Suffice it to say, the simplicity and the concept here is pretty inspired.

LEAST FAVORITE BRAND WORK: PEPSI

This has been covered exhaustively this year on numerous design blogs. Any more we'd have to say would just be piling on. There's a little motion graphics piece here that's not half bad, but can't save this misguided approach.

BEST OFFICE GAME: CALL OF DUTY 4

Some of us do a little gaming here at HAWSE and Call of Duty 4 was the game of choice for some serious (ahem) "team-building." What can we say? We don't have a foosball table.

BEST OFFICE MOVIE OUTING: THE DARK KNIGHT

Not much to say here. Great movie, fun to watch and discuss as a group. If you don't have your own copy yet, check this out. It really captures things pretty well.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN AE IN A BUNNY SUIT, INSPIRED BY HER OWN FELT CREATION OF SAID BUNNY, IN A COMMERCIAL: HELEN GREENSTEIN

CREEPIEST BIRTHDAY CARD (EVER): "THE BARRY MASKS" / JOEY ELLIS FOR BARRY BECKER

We're cheating a bit on this one. This actually happened in January but was too good to pass up.

BEST AIGA MEMBER PROFILE: ROB HAWSE

He didn't pay me to say that...well, he kind of did.

What have we learned here? When we say multi-disciplinary...we really mean it. Your likeness CAN be used without your permission. Be nice to people in big animal costumes, you might know them. Batman is cool. Despite what momma said, video games don't rot your brain. Branding can really make an impression, both good and bad.

We look forward to the new projects and new challenges '09 will bring.

HAWSE Holiday Card 2008

2008-12-10T22:06:00.007-05:00

Our holiday cards just arrived hot off the letterpress. Thanks to Crayton Printing/Heritage Letterpress for the fine work. Kym and Duane got the job done quickly and knocked it out of the park once again. We did something that to us captures the mood of the season, this year in particular.

Helen: Life isn't lived, it's felt.

2008-12-10T10:08:00.002-05:00

Our Senior Account Exec, Helen Greenstein will be participating in the NoDa / All Arts Market tonight. Her artistic explorations in felt are legendary and we will have visual proof soon. Come check out the show and support your local art scene.

Joey: Back from Disney

2008-12-10T09:48:00.002-05:00

Our resident Disney nut, Joey just returned from a family trip to DisneyWorld. He took this shot which I thought was particularly cool.

Criterion Collection

2008-12-02T14:22:00.004-05:00

The Criterion Collection is the creme de la creme of dvd special editions. A good collection of their finest dvd packaging can be found over at WELL MEDICATED. Really beautiful stuff.

2008-11-25T16:39:00.002-05:00

We at HAWSE wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Observed: title cards

2008-11-24T10:14:00.007-05:00

Found in the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace. More than your standard location title screens in a globe-trotting action film. Much thought and attention to detail to be found in these. The movie wasn't half bad either.

2008-11-24T08:52:00.003-05:00

Jeff Bridges, yes that Jeff Bridges, is quite a talented photographer. He shoots with a wide format camera called the Widelux. Many of his photos are very photojournalistic, behind the scenes shoots that offer a pretty interesting perspective of the movie making process.

The latest is behind the scenes of Iron Man. The typography and hand lettering found throughout is great. Definitely worth a look.

Birthday card of note

2008-11-21T14:47:00.002-05:00

From the cluttered desk and sharp mind of our very own Joey Ellis. For Matt Stevens' Birthday (Creative Director, father of three, and Batman wannabe).

2008-11-05T10:23:00.007-05:00

We have a series of internal events here at HAWSE intended to get the creative juices flowing, keep us up to date on what's going on in the broader world of design, or just drool over some great work. We have dubbed these events "SPARK."

Under this umbrella is our Show&Sell series. Each member of our team chooses a design topic and does a 10-20 minute presentation to the rest of the team. The series thus far has included the VW GTI campaign, Trader Joe's branding, design concepts from the UK Kitchen Nightmares Show, The Dark Knight viral campaign, Cargotecture, urban vinyl toys, the mysterious appeal of Folger's coffee, unconventional campaigns from abroad, and the dramatic story of Ub Iwerks, the creator of Mickey Mouse.

We have just begun a new series with the topic "design heroes." Our first presentation was given by Matt Stevens, our Creative Director and was about David Eggers and his 826 National Projects. You can see more here.

We will be posting what we can of these presentations and are looking forward to what Helen (our Senior Account Executive) will have to show us on November 10.

Pumpkin Carving 2008

2008-10-31T16:17:00.011-04:00

Each year the stakes are raised and the competition is fierce. Well, the guts have settled, a winner has been declared, and a good time was had by all. Thanks to all those that chipped in to make it happen. Check out all the pics.

Little Corner

2008-10-28T16:30:00.011-04:00

Welcome to our own little, completely self-indulgent corner of the web. This is a space for us to share ideas, inanities and random stuff. This may be an insight into us as a company, or could just keep us sane. Either way, we're glad you're here. Check back to see what's going on. Thanks for visiting.