Recently we were contracted by Starla West International to improve and enhance their overall messaging and brand identity. One piece of this included a full website redesign.

Click the image above to see the changes made on the homepage.

Our goal was to increase usability and overall navigation throughout the site, with a fresh new look that speaks to the target market. Below you can see some of the unique features that were introduced on the new website.

1. Collapsible Sub Navigation. The collapsible sub navigation for the Corporate and Individual pages allow the viewer to easily navigate within the current section.

2. Graphic Banners. Along with the increased functionality of the site, we also wanted to enhance the overall message and voice. The banners create a sense of style and hierarchy and aid in navigation throughout the site.

3. Interactive Calendar. We created a custom calendar that allows the viewer to easily find events and view specific event details, all within this site.

4. Calendar Details & Integration. Usability is extremely important on the web, and this calendar allows you to seamlessly toggle between the calendar view and the event details.

5. One Click Registration. On the events page, we incorporated a sidebar feature allowing one click registration for five upcoming events.

6. Custom Twitter Feed. A custom feed that pulls the three most recent tweets.

7. Condensed Blog Posts. Creating condensed blog posts allows the viewer to quickly scan for the post they are interested in. Once you read more, you can Retweet, Like, and comment.

 

8. Randomized Testimonials. We implemented a testimonial randomizer within the CMS, which also condenses and links to the full testimonial.

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Overall they were very pleased with the visual and functionality improvements on this website. Check it out for yourself at StarlaWestInternational.com and see the features live.

We would love feedback, so feel free to comment on the redesign.

Welcome to 2012. Thank goodness. 2011 was a horrible number to kern.

It’s easy to get caught up in the holiday hullabaloo and forget to reflect on what you accomplished. We’ve had the opportunity to work with some great clients in 2011 and 2012 is looking even better. Today we sat down and reviewed the logos we created for 10 companies in 2011. They include a wide range, from a civil engineering firm to a children’s app store resource for busy parents. Each is unique yet fits well into their respective marketplace.

So, take a gander through these works and then take a moment to reflect on what you accomplished last year.

client: 250OK // email deliverability

client: BEA Consulting // higher education resource

client: HWC Engineering // civil engineering firm

client: KinderTown // an app store resource for parents

client: Lappin 180 // consulting firm for sales teams

client: Pam’s Party to Beat ALZ // event to benefit Alzheimer’s

client: PureZen Dentistry

client: RFP Attorney // online resource for attorneys and clients

client: SMPS Heartland // regional professional services marketing event

client: Starla West International // image consultant

Christmas is less than two weeks away now (yikes!), and the time remaining to purchase those all-important gifts is ticking away. No need to panic yet though. In the spirit of holiday giving, we’re sharing a few things from each of our Christmas (or every day) wish lists. Who knows, maybe we’ll spark an idea for that hard-to-buy-for person lingering on your shopping list. Happy holidays and happy shopping!

Brian Gray



Fabien Barral Letterpress Calendar
I bought the 2011 version of this and really liked it. The 2012 is available now.

Moleskine Squared Notebook & Moleskine Pen
I also usually buy a couple of these notebooks every year. I’m sort of lost without them. And, it would be nice to have one of the pens to go with them.



Brooks PureConnect Running Shoes
I’d like try these new minimal running shoes on for a couple of miles.

Joshua Cook



Studio On Fire Book—Iron Beasts Make Great Beauty
The book’s craft and portfolio displayed inside makes Studio On Fire’s Iron Beasts Make Great Beauty too inspiring not to have in my personal library.



simplehuman Sensor Trashcan
My wife and I have been looking for a stainless steel trashcan to match the appliances in our new kitchen. Simplehuman’s purpose statement and sleek design makes this decision a no-brainer.

April Miles



OtterBox Defender Series iPhone Case
I would love to pretend that I need an OtterBox case for my iPhone because I let my 4 year old daughter play games on it, but the truth is, I shattered my first phone myself and likely would have shattered this one by now, without a “Defender.” My current, plain black Otterbox is aging, so I’m hoping I might find this one under the tree this year.

Jon McClure



Miniot Cover
Every couple of months, I find myself looking for new cases/covers for my iPad or iPhone—but this cover could end my search. Often usability comes second in most great ideas, but this case has the style and functionality that I need.



UI Stencils Browser Sketch Pad
Using a moleskin notebook can be a great start to laying out your website. But when the time comes to get serious, I think these Browser Sketch Pads are perfect to see the layout and overall proportion.

Josh Miles



BIS Publishers Brand Memory Game
This is a great way to improve your “brand literacy.” I’m guessing you’ll know more of these than you think!

Amanda Blackburn



Baggu Reuseable Bags
I bought a handful of these bags many years ago, and I still use them almost every day. Since, they’ve come out with a whole array of fantastic colors that I’d love to add to my collection.



Tiny TOMS Classic Shoes
My son doesn’t really “need” shoes yet, but I love these little versions of the adult TOMS for when he does. Also, it feels good to support the TOMS One for One Movement with every purchase.

What about you? What’s at the top of your wish list this Christmas?

Even more love to share.

Our team is very pleased to continue our holiday tradition of designing holiday cards for our friends, family, and clients. Each card is blank inside, so they’re perfect for spreading holiday cheer.

We wanted to share our inspirations and thoughts behind each design. We hope you’ll enjoy sending them as much as we have enjoyed making them. Happy Holidays!

Card 1 of 7 // Imagined by Amanda Blackburn

2011 has been an exciting year for my family. We welcomed our first son, Graham, into the world in July, and it’s been pure joy (and sleepless nights) ever since! I’m constantly amazed at how quickly he’s growing and changing, and my wish this holiday season is simply to enjoy him. The hustle and bustle of the holiday season will come and go, and I’m sure we won’t get to everything. That’s ok though. At the end of the day, my joy is sitting right in front of me, playing with my fingers and grinning back at me with his big, bright eyes. And, that’s all I really need for Christmas this year!

Merry Christmas, and may you surround yourself with joy and love this holiday season!

Card 2 of 7 // Imagined by April Miles

I’ve realized recently that with every passing year, holiday traditions become more meaningful to me. I love the nostalgia of childhood memories and the anticipation of creating more memories with our ever-growing extended family and friends.

Each year I look forward to pulling the Christmas decorations out of storage, including my favorite wreath with red berries. We moved into a new home this past summer and have enjoyed finding the perfect spot for each holiday decoration in our new space.

I’ve found myself looking out the window on several occasions, trying to imagine our first Christmas in this new home and the new-to-us landscape covered in snow.

And, I’ve found myself hoping more than anything, regardless of where the days are spent—in very familiar places or places that are just starting to feel like home—that the days are merry, bright, extremely peaceful, and maybe even white.

Card 3 of 7 // Imagined by Ben Seal

Everyone celebrates the holidays differently. I love hearing about unique traditions and one-of-a-kind recipes. To me, they’re a part of the charm of the season. To that end, I hope this card compels its recipients to think about—and appreciate—their own customs. No matter how zany.

Card 4 of 7 // Imagined by Brian K Gray

I wanted something simple and elegant, much like the way Christmas is supposed to be. Too often we get caught up in the retail craziness of today’s Christmas and lose the true reason for the holiday. Soft, whimsical lines create a wintery pattern of silver, while a simple, blue “Merry Christmas” is nested in the middle. Enjoy Christmas with friends and family, but in the midst of all the chaos, remember to take a moment and celebrate the birth of Christ.

Card 5 of 7 // Imagined by Joshua Cook

Before we become immersed in the complexity of the holiday season, I wanted to design a card that focused on a simple, yet profound, aspect to Christmas. Not Black Friday, not snowflakes nor candy canes, but rather a gift offered to all of us. A gift of Love, Grace and Redemption.

Card 6 of 7 // Imagined by Jon McClure

I wanted to create something simple and elegant; something you’d feel good about sending. Because, if you like this card well enough to send it to someone on your list, it just might save you yet another a trip to the store. And, in the time you save, maybe you’ll get a few extra minutes to share with family and friends.

Card 7 of 7 // Imagined by Josh Miles

Growing up outside of South Bend, a regular recipient of “lake effect snow,” there was often a blanket of white drifting between the trees in my parents’ back yard. It would begin falling in late November and finally recede sometime in April. But every so often, through all of the sleet and snow, one of Mom’s backyard bird feeders would be graced by a pair of cardinals. It’s amazing what a little splash of color will do for your soul during a long, cold winter. It always brought me hope that perhaps spring was near.

This year my wife, daughter, baby to be, and I moved into an older home with lots of trees. Looking out at our back yard I’m greeted by squirrels, chipmunks, and of course, a multitude of birds.

While thinking about my Christmas card design for this year, our new setting brought back memories of my parents’ back yard, and those colorful splashes of inspiration.

It’s with these warm feelings that I’m passing along to you: Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and be sure to keep those bird feeders full this season. Matthew 6:26

Note: We do have a few extra sets this year, so please contact us if you’d like a set yourself.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Are you on our mailing list? If you’ve never received our Holiday Cards, you’re in for a treat! Please add your information below and we will send you our seven-card set of the 2011 Miles Design Holiday Cards.

If the form isn’t visible below, click here to submit your info.

After we redesigned the BSA LifeStructures website, we wrote a blog cataloging the architecture firm website redesign to show off some of the new features. And while it’s always fun and exciting to see the design before and after, sometimes the website analytics can be even more impressive.

Okay, so maybe you have to be a little geeky to care about web analytics. The real problem with any kind of statistics is getting them into a format that can be easily understood, especially at a quick glance.

So, we created a report to share with BSA Life Structures, full of infographics, highlighting some of the most statistically dramatic improvements. The following infographic is based on the activity on their website 72 days before the relaunch, as well as the 72 days following the relaunch.

We had so much fun visualizing this data for BSA LifeStructures, that we’re going to have to create more of these for other projects. If you enjoyed this infographic, please feel free to share on your social networks, just please link back to these original files:

http://www.milesdesign.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/infographic-bsa-analytics-sm1.gif

http://www.milesdesign.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/infographic-bsa-analytics.gif

If you didn’t hear, I was one of the lucky four people to win the Brand New Conference ticket give-away (video). Of course dropping everything and flying to San Francisco for the day isn’t always the most practical thing to do, but it’s tough to pass up the opportunity.

I’m just crazy (and busy) enough, that I decided to fly out and back the same day.

I’ll be chronicling my 27-hour adventure on this “live blog” – assuming my various devices will have enough charge to make it happen. Wish me luck.

6:58AM – in-flight wifi, thanks to US Airways and Gogo. I’ve been up since 3:15 already, but this morning couldn’t have gone any more smoothly. Roomy exit row seating + wifi = awesome.

7:05 – almost forgot. This “free” ticket was “sponsored by the first ever Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and one of the conference’s Presenting Sponsors.” Thank you so much to SVA and Brand New!

7:15 – Attendees. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise that most of the attendees of this conference in San Francisco are from California, but I was somewhat surprised just how few people are from anywhere besides CA or NY. Of course, Jacksonville is well represented (as always). Looking forward to seeing Russel, Varick, and Katy!

7:26 – Speakers. I’m not sure anyone will top the over-the-top presentation last year by Erik Spiekermann, but I’m definitely looking forward to hearing branding experts: Christopher SImmons, Marina Willer, and let’s not forget, Matteo Bologna’s facial hair.

7:32 – Let’s pause for Station Identification. Just realized a flaw in my time code posts… I *was* on Eastern time (probably flying over Central right now). So in case you’re keeping score at home, the time I show will be whatever “local” time I post from. Capiche?

7:40 – Hooray for turbulence. And the captain has turned on the “fasten seat belts sign”, so please have a seat. Fortunately, turbulence wouldn’t appear to be impacting the wifi.

9:05 – Planning to meet BART. I just figured out how to take the “BART” once I land at SFO. Seems simple enough. Wish me luck. As a side point, seems kinda silly that their logo isn’t, uh… BART. Go figure.

9:15 – Prepare for landing. Making a pit-stop in Phoenix for a battery charge, and hopefully an Egg McMuffin.

10:53 – Rut Roh. Stuck in PHX with a two-hour delay. Going to miss at least the first few presenters. Dang.

11:50 – What? They’re starting to board! Here’s hoping they leave earlier than promised…

Saturday 6:40 AM (O’Hare Airport, Chicago) – A little catch-up. Okay, my bogging platform didn’t like me using the iPad to update it. It was stripping out all of the styling, so without power for the laptop, I gave up on live-blogging.

Ultimately, I arrived near the end of the third speaker in the morning. So, I completely missed Vince Frost, Christopher Simmons, and only got to see Marina Willer’s garden hose videos. Not exactly sure what that was about…

However, I did take notes on my phone for the following speakers. So here’s what I’ve got. Contact me if you need more info on these, because the iPhone notetaking became a bit of a short-hand.

12:30 – finally here. (Back to Friday Notes)
Notes from Paddy Harrington

- Brands are for cows, stories are for people.

- Branding= burn

- Brand helps people notice the product, but the product still had to be great

- At one point marketers realized, if the brand was beautiful, it would sell more product.

- Brand and story became even more important than the product.

- Kraft sold to Phillip Morris for 6x the value of the assets on paper, because of brand value

- Designers by nature, think holistically, and in systems

- Stories are part of what make us human beings.

- Stories stick because they hold true value.

- Companies “survive” over time by being a deep part of the world around them

Project samples:

- Fogo island inn.

- Brand Design changed drastically after visiting, and experiencing it.

- Big reveal= potential of big failure. We like little steps, so at most you get knocked down one step

- BOOM: Configuration gave residents a chance to inform what to build

- Dorado Puerto Rico

- World’s first eco-resort

- NY group revitalized it

- Dorado clock image as a brand compass. Hands read: Sleep, eat, golf, sex, sleep, eat, etc.

- Marian bantjes did the secondary pattern (very nice!)

- Don’t forget about texture. You can’t just rub your scene and say, “oh, that feels awesome.”

- Any project can be an awesome opportunity.

- OWN  – interesting to hear his mixed feelings on the work. Proud, but Paddy seemed somehow disappointed. Didn’t necessarily elaborate why / how.

- OCADU – Start was very “serviceable”

- Involved the students in a meaningful way

- This identity was “Freedom within a framework.” < love that.

- Beautiful, flexible identity! (note: this was my favorite project that he showed)

(outta juice – I’ll drop more notes in Saturday from Indy)

3:00 pm – Sunday post zzz… Apparently, flying across 3 timezones twice in one day really takes it out of you. Go figure. Here’s the rest of my notes.

Lunch: I hung out with the Jacksonville crew, and hit up a crepe place called Honey Honey. I had the Miami Heat, which had sala, chicken and avocado, maintaining my commitment to eating avocado every time I visit CA. Tasty.

2:37 – post- lunch

Notes from Jonathan Notaro – Brand New School.

- Brand New School is a motion graphics studio launched by Jonathan 10 years ago

- “We design for anything with a screen”

- Clients: Brands, agencies, Architects, marketing & interactive firms

- Sample work: Jack Daniels Old #7 TV spots

- Focused on Jack Daniels’ history, amazing stories

- Label told the story.

- Filigrees created a black and white cinematic tone

- Outdoor, print, stadium graphics

- Sample Work: Cartoon network

- Checkerboard logo informed the grid for animations

- Positioned as “Tv for kids, not kids’ tv”

- B/w icon set

- Defined program set – collect download, define you.

- Showed a great cartoon network trailer

- Interesting note: Some clients are “Victims of a small rebrand. Repaint the car, not just redesign it.

- Sample work: Fuel TV: “The network eats itself, then throws it back up.

- Side note: Although all of this motion work was incredibly impressive, as a branding firm, I think I related the least to Jonathan. Their process seemed to require some speculative “pitching” and more of an “art” than a collaborative design process between them and the client.

Next Presenters:

Claudia Boggio & Alfredo Burga from Infinito

- Interesting statement: Peru was a great design colony until 16th century

- Great sources of inspiration: Nazca lines, Machu Picchu, 80% of the worlds microclimates, Andes, Amazon, Surfing, 3000 potatoes

- There are “many perus” that make us Peru what it is

- First organic coffee maker

I loved how Claudia talked about “rescuing” elements of the Peruvian chocolate company, and reintroducing them to the brand.

- They showed very charming work for Punto Organico.

- Gorgeous brand and environmental graphics for “Coffee Box” – coffee stain inspired illustrations

- We think in food, so Tai Loy looked like a Chinese restaurant than office supplies.

- Impressed by the flexibility, and breadth of execution from traditional to modern design showed by Infinito. Definitely one of my favorite presenters.

Next Speakers:

Ben Barry & Everett Katigbak – Facebook

- Side note: kudos to Armin and Bryony for bringing in a very mainstream, ubiquitous brand like Facebook. Their presentation was a refreshing contrast to all of the “design firms”. While few of us will ever work in a place quite like Facebook, much of what they talked about inspired me in thinking about everything from teamwork to office space and timelines.

- Another side note: My notes get pretty light here. Sorry.

- Move fast & break things

- On the Facebook brand: A universal wrapper, but rebellious and disruptive.

- UX, minus content, was cold and not very human

- showed a cool “Token” – donation on behalf of their top advertising clients

- Gorgeous poster, emboss, foil

- Defined a “Hackathon” as a team-building, positive experience.

- Sweet poster… Love the HACK art

- Building everything

- Have their own design wiki tools for sharing brand assets and standards

- F8 Developers Conference appears to be their most serious duty at FB. Hosted for developers of anything that sits on FB, like: Farmville, CNN.

- This year they’ll expect 1750 attendees

- Social graph poster id (kinda reminds me of my poster design)

- Mark Z: – “This (F8) isn’t about us, it’s about the community.”

- “processing” allowed them to make the social graphs more quickly and programmatically.

- Name badge as conference book – great idea!

- RFID token posted to FB when you checked in to a session at F8

- Internal print studio

- Analog poke notecard – love it.

- Lockdown: a 60 day hack

- A push towards emotional storytelling in videos, even though many were not used.

- The term “Hacker” is a good thing internally. Just a disruptive positive thing.

- What’s your daily duties? Kinda like college. Reg semester, brakes, final exam.

- Lots of storytelling and “figuring it out”

Final Speaker: Matteo Bologna

- Matteo has fantastic facial hair in person too.

- He jokes about being “Nervous up here… like a virgin.”

- “I’m the guy who she just introduce you”

- Branding: repeating themes from Paddy. And a repeat shade of blue.

- I’m the guy running and yelling at cows

- I’m a procrastinator

- I spent the last 2 weeks designing a typeface. Because I’m an idiot.

- Been addicted to type since the first version of Fontographer

- Jokes that although he’d rather just speak on type, he’s “Getting closer” to speaking about branding.

- Type speaks without saying anything. Even without real words. Adds nuances to the message. Shows two examples of “non word” typography.

- Shows an example of another type design done by someone he knows. It “Destroyed the content, but is super cool.”

- I like to use “Visual brief” becaues if Joe Duffy says it, it must be cool.

- Matteo talked extensively through his design process for Brooklyn Fare. An identity system for a local food market, driven extensively by the custom typeface and “voice” of the brand.

- I enjoyed how similar his process sounded to ours! Positioning, Voice, Visual Brief, Identity, Execution.

- Probably doesn’t translate from my notes, but Matteo was hilarious – nearly as funny as Erik Spiekermann.

Closing thoughts:

- Next year BNConf will be back in NY, and will be in NY every other year, with another interesting location as the even years.

- Hoping to find an international location in the future.

My Feedback:

San Francisco was awesome. The theater worked out very well. Next time, I’ll need a few extra days in SF. It turns out, 27 hours isn’t enough time, but definitely was an adventure!

The identity for the conference was a somewhat odd choice for me. The hand painted type aesthetic worked really well to the brochure, and even worked okay on the website.

What confused me was applying it to the souvenir bright red t-shirt and bag, making the cost of the shirt and bag the primary visual. To me it really undercuts the likelihood of anyone who wasn’t at the conference to ever know what the heck the shirt was for. And coincidentally, reduces my chances of ever using or wearing them. Maybe that’s really picky, but that’s my two cents. So if the worst part of the conference was having a less than perfect $4.15 shirt and a $2.45 bag, I’d say Armin and Bryony still get a A+ for this conference.

Traveling home, I just missed my “BART” and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. I thought for sure I was going to miss my 10:51 flight from SFO to ORD. I managed to skip the entire security line, and reach my gate with time to spare!

My flight to Chicago was on a 777, with another awesome exit row aisle seat. Unfortunately, they guy next to me tapped his iPod against his tray table at 120 BPM the whole way home. My nerves are still a little on edge.

By contrast, I flew a tiny plane home from Chicago to Indy, and the lady next to me literally slept on me most of the way… And not a word when she woke up. People are strange.

From Indy the trip was fairly uneventful. Final trip clocked in from 6AM on the first flight, to 8:30AM on the arrival back in Indy. Total round trip, 26.5 hrs, and including the car, about 29 hours of total travel.

Of course, it’s good to be back home.

Our recent branding work for Doppelpager, a software as a service (SaaS) solution for marketers, was recognized by the distinguished judges of The Brand New Awards. The Doppelpager logo design was entered in the “professional logo design” category. Among the entries of this category, only 13% of the entries were recognized as winning entries.

The fine folks at Under Consideration created a beautiful book of the winners, as well as an interactive iPad app. Both of which are available for sale on The Brand New Awards website.

Below are a few photos of Doppelpager, as featured in the book and iPad app. Click on any of the images below for a larger view.

To be recognized as one of the twenty-one winning U.S. logo entries was a huge honor… especially to see giant brands like Comedy Central and Pfizer among the winners.

Have you ever driven past a billboard for an insurance company?

You know the one. A headline set in comic sans about protecting you for the things you care about. A badge-like logo. A photo of two aging guys in suits, smiling grimly, over-layed with a stock photo of a typical family, or summertime activity. Boating. Baseball. Fishing. Family time.

While vacationing in Florida I saw a really “nice” insurance billboard. I was amazed at how professional and vibrant the photo of the surfer in the background was, and how well the two guys in suits really stood out. (I know, only a designer would notice that stuff.)

Yet immediately after driving past, I didn’t know what the billboard said specifically, or why this company was different. Come to think of it, it may have been for a law practice after all.

The problem with these billboards in the past wasn’t only that their photos were goofy. It was a lack of differentiation, messaging, and reliance on an over-used concept that rendered them billboards as “visual noise” along the highway.

As digital cameras, software, and even just having an iPad makes it easy for just about anyone to design, advertising may be getting better looking, but unfortunately, no less cliché.

So a word to aspiring designers: as you’ve upgraded to better design tools, take a moment to improve your messaging. Be different. Keep the concept simple. Keep the imagery simple. Use as few words as possible for those highway drivers. And be sure it’s easy to read.

Because in the end, design tools are still just tools.

This week I had the honor of representing AIGA Indianapolis (The Professional Association for Design) by introducing Stefan Sagmeister at the IMA (Indianapolis Museum of Art) for “Design & Happiness.”

Aside from the pure thrill of sharing the stage with a design legend for three whole minutes, here are a few life lessons I was reminded of that night.

1. Patience pays off. Enjoy the moment. Sagmeister’s flight was delayed by several hours. The people who stayed (the majority did stay) until his eventual arrival were not disappointed. By sticking around, all of us not only got a chance to catch up with one another, but also catch a truly legendary design speaker, right here in Indianapolis.

2. Design your schedule. One of Sagmeister’s stories was about time blocking his schedule. The better he planned his day, even on his sabatical, the happier he was with his personal productivity. We have to be intentional with how we pursue our time.

3. Famous people have the same problems we do. Have some guts. Stefan talked at length about how challenging it was for him to be gutsy, even knowing that it always made him happy to do so. The attendees last night gutsy enough to ask questions or introduce themselves after his talk were treated to very warm, personal conversations.

Kudos to Stefan Sagmeister for making it out last night (in spite of the travel issues) to share a few happiness lessons with Indianapolis.

And a special thanks to Seth Teeters for sharing his photos with us!