http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/ work inspired en-us Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:46:44 EST Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:46:44 EST http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html Movable Type Commercial 4.25 60 http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/08/be_a_panelpicker.html Those folks at SXSW are so clever. Since 2006 they've let the online community vote on the panels they wanted to see for interactive portion of the event.And we'd be daft if we didn't tell you we wanted you... Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:01:30 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2150 Tim Donnelly Advertising Agencies Career Communication Digital Film Interactive Design Local Networking Events Marketing Movies Music Networking Practice: Graphic Design Practice: Interactive Design Social Media Social Networking Technology Tim's A Day in the Life Blog Viral Marketing Web Design Web/Tech http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/08/ugh_resumes.html Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:16:21 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2151 Joe Rinaldi Aquent Career Career advice Communication Design Freelancing Graduates Interactive Design Interviewing Job Search Networking Practice: Graphic Design Practice: Interactive Design Practice: User Experience Project Management Resumes Trends Web Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/08/the_ringmasters_on_a_smoke_break.html Time management - oh the words sound so simple but are yet so darn tricky. How else are there several books, infomercials, classes, and seminars dedicated to this very topic? How often do we feel like the White Rabbit in... Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:19:36 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2148 Kelly Moeller Agencies Aquent Career advice Interactive Design Practice: Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/08/social_media_recruiting_its_a_tool_not_a_strategy.html I came across a very insightful blog post by Greg Savage (CEO of Aquent International) with regards to recruiting and social media (I felt compelled to mention it here since I recently posted on the topic of the flip side... Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:49:50 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2147 Jenn Tran Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/08/myspace_vs_workplace.html Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:35:35 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2142 Jenn Tran Interactive Design Social Media Social Networking http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/07/tonight_linkedin_networking_event_-_twitter_101_la.html This looks like a great event for anyone interested in learning more about business strategies involving Twitter. This event will be held at the lovely Covel Commons area at UCLA. They will have several speakers on social media strategies large... Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:12:41 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2130 Jenn Tran Interactive Design Networking Social Networking http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/07/congratulations_to_the_honorees_at_aicp.html The AICP (Association of Independent Commercial Producers) Awards 2009, Los Angeles event was held last night at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (or LACMA as we like to call it). I happened upon the amazing opportunity to attend... Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:28:16 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2123 Jenn Tran Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/07/mobile_on_my_mind.html Yes, I was a late adopter of the iPhone.I was waiting for perfection, listening to all the back/forth going on in the world - all the complaints really, and I was so glad to be waiting."I can't copy/paste anything. It... Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:43:28 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2122 Susie Hall Digital Interactive Design Practice: Interactive Design Web Design Web/Tech http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/07/tonight_linkedin_la_networking_event.html Other LinkedIn networking events bring in upwards of 500 people in various cities around the country, and this event is expected to have a similar turnout! PLACE: Busby's East: 5364 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles 90036 TIME: July 14th from 6-9pmCOST:$20... Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:54:33 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2113 Jenn Tran Interactive Design Networking http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/06/free_mobile_blogging_seminar_la_times.html Seems like cool events usually happen on the same night... If blogging and journalism is more your thing, the Online News Association will be hosting a *free* seminar tomorrow (06/18/09) night at the LA Times building. Topics of conversation will... Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:39:36 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2087 Jenn Tran Interactive Design Local Networking Events http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/06/maximize_twitter_facebook_as_networking_tools.html If you're in Los Angeles on Thursday I'd like to cordially invite you to a short presentation I'm giving (sponsored by Staples) to the gracious people at Conexion and the Latina Business Association L.A. It's $10 at the door and... Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:50:18 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2084 Jenn Tran Interactive Design Local Networking Events Social Networking http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/06/aigaaquent_salary_survey_1.html I was planning on blogging about our annual AIGA | Aquent Survey of Design Salaries (which is a bit of a misnomer, as it includes Web Developers and Copywriters), but I don't know if I'm late already. See that's the... Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:30:30 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2083 Tim Donnelly Advertising Career Career advice Design Freelancing Hiring talent Industry Resources Interactive Design Practice: Graphic Design Salaries Tim's A Day in the Life Blog Web Design Workplace http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/06/from_guest_poster_greg_carterthe.html (From guest poster, Greg Carter)The night, I purchased tickets online for a theatrical event. Yeah, I know, very exciting, but why I'm bringing this up is because of the checkout process. Thanks to the email from the theater troupe, I... Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:44:09 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2068 Tim Donnelly Books Content and Content Management Design Interactive Design Tim's A Day in the Life Blog Web Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/05/all_that_was_fit_for_print.html What does the world of print have to offer to the world of Web? A lot, actually. As more of the population shifts to reading their favorite periodicals online, Designers have to keep in mind that readers are still... Mon, 11 May 2009 21:31:50 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentblog//11.2054 Tim Donnelly Advertising Design Interactive Design Tim's A Day in the Life Blog http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/03/interweb_the_rainbow_or_design_as_ambient_arrangement.html Ms. Pistachio was the first to alert me, via Twitter, natch, that Skittles had gone all Social Media on us. Sure as shootin', the current (March 2, 2009) Skittles.com is a mash-up of social media sites where the name of... Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:45:21 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1975 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Interactive Design New vs Old Media Social Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/as_an_employer_can_you_ever_really_detect_a_candidates_true_potential_during_an_interview.html This morning I received one of those motivational e-mails from a friend of mine in Hong Kong. It was entitled Violinist in the Metro and told the story of a musician playing the violin in a Washington DC Metro Station... Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:39:14 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentoracle//6.1963 Paul Slezak Career advice Hiring talent Interactive Design Interviewing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/why_culturepersonality_fit_may_matter_less_to_web_talent.html I'm still trying to figure this out. When you ask web professionals and the people who recruit or hire them to evaluate the importance of the various attributes used to distinguish one Web professional candidate from another, you get some... Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:51:33 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1958 Matthew Grant Careering Interactive Design Job Search http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/are_web_talent_sitting_pretty.html Aquent partnered with Monster to uncover the key to "attracting, keeping and developing Web talent in an uncertain economy" and we presented our findings in an AMA webcast today (I've embedded the slides below for your viewing convenience). It would... Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:18:08 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1954 Matthew Grant Careering Design Management Flash Freelancing Interactive Design Job Search Market Research Trends Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/getting_horizontal_web-wise.html @iamkhayyam turned me on to this inspiredology post featuring intriguing examples of "horizontal" web design (i.e., sites that scroll from right to left instead of up and down). Checking them out made me realize a) that I don't see this... Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:28:26 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1941 Matthew Grant Agencies Careering Design Flash Interactive Design Job Search http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/transparency_casts_a_harsh_light.html Back when it was the latest thing, I wrote about Modernista!'s new "website", which is really more like a widget that connects you to Modernista!'s pages on Facebook, Flckr, Wikipedia, etc. I thought then and still think now that this... Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:34:06 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1936 Matthew Grant Agencies Interactive Design Trends Viral Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/job_hunting_in_the_24-hour_workplace.html This post was written by Aquent's Alex "Anytime/Anywhere" Weaver. This is a picture of him. As fluid and uncertain as it has become (thanks in part to companies shedding full-time employment opportunities faster than A-Rod is shedding fans), the career... Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:06:24 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1935 Careering Design Management Globalization Interactive Design New vs Old Media Talent http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/interactive_advertising_and_the_dearth_of_creativity.html A couple weeks ago, Mr. Randall Rothenberg published a manifesto on interactive advertising creativity, which I missed at the time but discovered thanks to a post by Alan Wolk on whether or not creativity still matters. Mr. Rothenberg's lengthy (by... Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:03:26 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1929 Matthew Grant Advertising Agencies Branding Creativity Interactive Design New vs Old Media http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/interactive_design_is_a_team_sport.html I wrote a post here advocating greater transparency in the staffing business and someone left the following comment: "Graphic design is a tough business. That being said, seeing positions posted for a web designer that knows Flash, web design, and... Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:19:15 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1927 Matthew Grant Design Design Management Flash Interactive Design Marketing Management Project Management Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/attract_without_distracting_the_challenge_of_interactive_design.html Talent Spotlight Jon Billett is a designer represented by Aquent's Philadelphia office who has spent the last several years making the transition from print to web. Of the work he's done that you may have seen are a set of... Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:55:17 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1923 Matthew Grant Careering Creativity Design Flash Interactive Design Talent Talent Spotlight http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/how_to_ensure_roi_from_a_candidates_perspective.html Earlier this week I was writing an article that will appear in an up-coming issue of a market research industry publication. The subject of this particular article was how employers can ensure a return on investment when it comes to... Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:34:30 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentoracle//6.1919 Paul Slezak Interactive Design Interviewing Job Search Talent http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/the_world_of_user_experience_-_february_27_2009_in_los_angeles.html If you're gonna be in the Los Angeles area in a couple weeks and have a geeky streak, I highly encourage you to attend "The World of User Experience," an event Aquent is putting on Friday, February 27, 2009, from... Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:00:26 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1916 Aquent Events Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/do_you_have_a_portfolio_site.html If you're a designer of any variety and don't have a portfolio site, I have one question for you: Why not? If you do have a portfolio site and you think that others would be impressed or inspired by it,... Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:45:13 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1915 Matthew Grant Careering Creativity Interactive Design Job Search Resumes http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/mike_slone_captains_aquentnike_dream_team.html This post was written by Aquent's Alex Weaver. This is a picture of him. Athletes from the local T-ball team to the NBA rely on Nike to outfit them with stylish uniforms. To make that process easier and more reliable,... Tue, 10 Feb 2009 02:21:18 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1912 Flash Interactive Design New vs Old Media Talent Talent Spotlight http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/02/britney_spears_marketing_guru.html This post was written by Aquent's Alex Weaver. This is a picture of him. Though still teary-eyed from the vision of eight gold medals and one giant pot leaf now hanging around the neck of Michael Phelps, I could not... Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:09:24 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1901 Matthew Grant Branding Interactive Design Social Media http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/01/is_your_resume_pointing_you_in_the_right_direction.html Whilst driving the other day Shaun, in his lilting Irish tones said to me, "in two hundred metres, turn left". Shaun wasn't my passenger but the electronic voice on my GPS navigator (don't you just love all the modern gadgets!).... Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:55:56 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/aquentoracle//6.1872 Karen Thompson Career advice Interactive Design careers http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/01/pragmatism_versus_panic_marketers_respond_to_the_recession.html As the scope of the current economic downturn expands and evolves, marketers are responding with pragmatism rather than panic. The pragmatic view, as revealed by research conducted by The Dihedral Group (TDG) on behalf of Aquent and the American Marketing... Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:27:28 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1848 Matthew Grant Careering Freelancing In-House Interactive Design Market Research Marketing Marketing Management New vs Old Media SEO Social Media Social Networking Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/01/great_digital_marketing_managers.html Great digital marketing managers have several things in common: they are passionate users of technology; they exhibit a fanatical attention to detail; they know how to connect the dots in very complex, dynamic systems; and they are skilled at translating... Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:34:53 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1842 Matthew Grant Content and Content Management Interactive Design Marketing Marketing Management SEO Talent Talent Spotlight Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2009/01/webcast_digital_marketing_staffing_trends.html On January 27, Aquent and the American Marketing Association will host a webcast entitled, "Digital Marketing Staffing Trends." The featured presenter will be Eric Waldinger, who recently joined Aquent as our Online Marketing Practice Leader. Eric cut his digital marketing... Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:31:23 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2009:/thetalentblog//5.1841 Matthew Grant Aquent Interactive Design Marketing Management New vs Old Media SEO Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/12/please_critique_me.html A web design firm based in North Carolina, OnWired, has set up a site called Please Critique Me where, "designers can submit their work and have it reviewed (albeit publicly) by one of their industry peers." Seems like an interesting... Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:59:47 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1765 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Interactive Design Market Research Social Networking http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/11/giving_thanks.html This week in the United States, Americans are all celebrating Thanksgiving. So I thought I would hop aboard the Thanksgiving bandwagon and thank everyone who has taken the time to visit the Aquent Oracle over the last four months. Next... Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:31:53 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/aquentoracle//6.1764 Paul Slezak Ask the Aquent Oracle Blogging Career advice Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/11/can_good_design_also_be_ugly.html Interesting post on 37signals' Signal vs. Noise blog on "Why the Drudge Report is one of the best designed sites on the web." "To clarify," the post's author writes, "my definition of design goes beyond aesthetic qualities and into areas... Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:53:13 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1752 Matthew Grant Creativity Design History Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/11/2_links_for_monday.html The first link cometh unto thee courtesy of Johnny Holland Magazine. It's a post by Adrian Chan entitled, "A Social Interaction Primer." Adrian's main point is that design of social media must focus on user interests, not user needs. Worth... Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:15:35 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1714 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Interactive Design Social Media http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/10/how_do_you_measure_the_impact_of_creative.html Five long years ago, I wrote a piece entitled, "Return on Creative." The crux of that essay was that design was critical to business success and, naturally, that a clear understanding of business principles and a focus on creating value... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:44:34 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1686 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Design Management Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/10/job_search.html Dear Aquent Oracle ... I am a couple years out of Business School and I guess it could be said that I am a 'contractor' who has worked for over a dozen companies in the Columbus area. Many of these... Sun, 19 Oct 2008 07:53:43 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/aquentoracle//6.1683 Ask the Oracle Ask the Aquent Oracle Career advice Interactive Design Job Search http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/10/semi-overwhelming_list_of_resources_for_designers.html Thanks to a "re-tweet" by DamienBasile of something ur-tweeted by adellecharles, I present you with this super-extensive and semi-overwhelming list of design resources compiled by a young designer in Hawaii. Some of this stuff I'd heard of, some not. Still,... Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:13:50 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1668 Matthew Grant Blogging Creativity Design Flash Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/go_ahead_ask_the_aquent_oracle.html You probably have lots of career-related questions and don't quite know who to ask. How to negotiate salary packages, dealing with counter offers, asking interviewees the right questions, changing careers, customising your CV, or you may just be thinking about... Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:00:30 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/aquentoracle//6.1592 Paul Slezak Ask the Aquent Oracle Career advice Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/inbound_marketing_summit_-_i_was_there_and_my_brain_hurts.html I was out of the office yesterday attending the Inbound Marketing Summit at the behest of Ann Handley, esteemed editorial doyenne at MarketingProfs. You can view videos of the presentations here, but, for your convenience, I'm happy to provide the... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:51:48 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.1553 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Events History Interactive Design Marketing New vs Old Media SEO Social Networking Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/the_aquent_oracle_wants_you_to.html Over the last few weeks I have realised that this blog is truly international ... reaching our talent all over the world from Auckland, to Paris, and from Perth to Shanghai. But I have also realised that depending on where... Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:53:32 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/aquentoracle//6.397 Paul Slezak Blogging Career advice Graduates Interactive Design Talent http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/a_list_of_incredible_photoshop.html Brian over at Elite by Design posted this list of 23 Incredible Photoshop Tutorials way back in March but I just stumbled upon it today. I was especially intrigued by the glass ball tutorial and the one on creating 3D... Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:40:10 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.375 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/id_rather_be_smashing.html SMASHING Magazine, that is. I wrote about this amazing resource for designers of all ilk back in April but then was reminded of it's magnificence once again after seeing it on theweblist.net (a cool and informative snapshot of popular pages... Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:19:42 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.374 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Interactive Design New vs Old Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/interview_tip_3_the_so_what_te.html A very useful mental tool you may want to consider during an interview is to apply the "so what?" test to whatever you are intending to say when preparing your response to a particular question. This is a tool that... Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:00:00 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/aquentoracle//6.395 Mark Hall-Smith Interactive Design Interviewing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/random_cool_creative_web_toy.html Don't know if y'all use StumbleUpon, but a graphic designer we represent turned me on to it and it is addictive. Basically, you sign up, choose your areas of interest, install a button in your browser, and are fed as... Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:12:35 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.373 Matthew Grant Creativity Interactive Design New vs Old Media Viral Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/09/interview_tip_2_interview_prep.html Ask any employer with experience of interviewing for their number one complaint about interviewees and it will almost always revolve around a lack of preparation. 'Preparation' is not simply asking (and then being told) the name, address and contact number... Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:53:48 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/aquentoracle//6.393 Mark Hall-Smith Interactive Design Interviewing Job Search http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/08/interview_tip_1_first_impressi.html I've got bad news ... our mums are right ... you do only get one chance to make a first impression. Jobs go to the person best suited to do the job, right? Well maybe. What actually happens is that... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/aquentoracle//6.391 Mark Hall-Smith Interactive Design Interviewing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/08/photosynth_is_up_and_running_t.html Photosynth, which I wrote about after seeing this amazing TED conference demo reel, is finally available for the technophilic masses. Not on the Mac, however (insert "sad-face" emoticon here). Nevertheless, I will grant that the Microsofty's have a sense of... Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:30:06 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.369 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Interactive Design New vs Old Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/08/stfu.html Many years ago, in the late early days of the Web, Aquent's Boston office hosted something they cheekily called the NEWD Awards, with "NEWD" standing for "New England Web Design." I was asked to be the MC for the event,... Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:40:20 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.364 Matthew Grant Aquent Events History Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/08/have_you_seen_the_future_latel.html If the future of the web doesn't look exactly like this, it will probably look something like this: Aurora (Part 1) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:30:49 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.360 Matthew Grant Design History Interactive Design New vs Old Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/07/on_the_web_no_one_knows_how_fu.html We recently conducted a survey of internal staff asking them to name the marketing piece or campaign we've run that they liked the best. The most popular item named was a direct mail piece we sent out some years back... Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:51:06 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.349 Matthew Grant Advertising Aquent History Interactive Design Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/07/the_promise_and_peril_of_3d_in.html Back in the days when Second Life was being hyped as the future of the web, Clay Shirky quipped that "3D is a crappy way to search." I totally agree, in part because I've often had the experience of looking... Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:11:09 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.344 Matthew Grant Agencies Content and Content Management Design Flash Interactive Design Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/07/hows_your_web_presence.html A friend of mine had gotten kind of burnt out at his job and had reached the point where he was pretty much phoning it in. Then one day, he up and decided that, if he was going to continue... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:55:39 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.341 Matthew Grant Aquent Creativity Design Experiential Marketing Interactive Design New vs Old Media Public Relations http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/06/the_digital_people_vs_the_trad.html If you're reading this blog, then you probably read this story in ADWEEK, "Agencies Seek the Right Mix." If you didn't read it, the article describes a kind of power shift in agencies from the "traditional creatives" to the "digital... Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:29:55 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.340 Matthew Grant Advertising Agencies Aquent Creativity Design Design Management History Interactive Design Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/05/why_is_web_design_for_roi_a_ho.html The slides from Aquent's recent webcast featuring Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus were "featured" on slideshare.net last week and have already been viewed over 8000 times. Indeed, we had over 2000 people sign up for the webcast in the first... Wed, 28 May 2008 20:56:45 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.329 Matthew Grant Aquent Design Interactive Design New vs Old Media Trends Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/05/first_solo_cast_whither_the_we.html As a follow-up to our webcast with Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus, I thought I would proffer my two cents on ways that the evolution of the web is and will affect careers in web design. It's the first time... Fri, 23 May 2008 13:42:18 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.327 Matthew Grant Aquent Careering Content and Content Management Creativity History Interactive Design New vs Old Media Podcast SEO Trends Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/05/getting_on_sally_hogsheads_rad.html Sally Hogshead is the author of Radical Careering, a book that "helps you visualize your no-compromises future, so you can start to build it, piece by piece." I came across Sally's work via Ad Age where she writes a career-oriented... Mon, 19 May 2008 17:51:52 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.326 Matthew Grant Blogging Careering Creativity Interactive Design Public Relations Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/05/your_website_could_be_a_lot_be.html A conversation with Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus are the authors of Web Design for ROI, and will be featured in a webcast hosted by Aquent on May 22. Their approach to web design, while... Thu, 15 May 2008 14:13:18 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.325 Matthew Grant Aquent Design Interactive Design New vs Old Media http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/05/what_do_web_designers_want.html Greg Kuchmek, who is represented by Aquent's DC office, has been working on the web since 1994. That's when he was hired to help produce a webzine, Stim, started by Prodigy. [Editor's Note: For an interesting flashback to 1996, read... Thu, 15 May 2008 02:29:43 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.324 Matthew Grant Aquent Careering Flash Interactive Design Interviewing Talent Talent Spotlight Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/04/a_simply_smashing_resource_for.html Random searching in Google brought me to this site: Smashing Magazine. Created by two German fellows (they live in Germany, anyway), who claim that, "Our aim is to inform our readers about the latest trends and techniques in web-development -... Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:44:24 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.314 Matthew Grant Creativity Design Interactive Design Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/04/dropping_seo_science.html The other day when I posted Laurie Baldwin's thoughts on the five things that people forget about SEO and SEM, I forgot to mention the sixth thing: you can rap about it. The fellow who made this, Chuck Lewis, is... Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:26:38 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.313 Matthew Grant Creativity Interactive Design Marketing SEO Viral Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/04/june_dershewitz_on_careers_in.html June Dershewitz has been a web analyst for almost as long as that has been something to be. Currently a member of the leadership team at Semphonic, a top web analytics consultancy, June is a passionate advocate for the field... Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:32:35 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.312 Matthew Grant Careering Freelancing Interactive Design Podcast Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/what_is_a_website.html This is a snapshot of Modernista!'s new website. Yes, they are using their Wikipedia page as their homepage (though apparently Wikipedia took it down for a while due to this unconventional usage). They also use Google News for their "news"... Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:46:28 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.308 Matthew Grant Agencies Branding Design Interactive Design New vs Old Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/brains_on_brands_part_2_straw.html In Part 1 of our podcast interview with James Intriligator, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Wales in Bangor, we talked about branding, loyalty, and consumer psychology. In Part 2, we discuss personae and customer motivation, different neuormarketing... Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:50:06 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.305 Matthew Grant Branding Careering Creativity Design Experiential Marketing History Interactive Design Marketing Podcast Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/brands_and_brains_marketing_me.html The other day an SEM specialist told me, "Marketing is a hard science." She said it, at least in part, ironically. "Marketing? A science? Come on! What's next? Fishing?" Marketing may not yet be a hard, or even soft, science.... Sat, 15 Mar 2008 02:46:20 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.304 Matthew Grant Branding Careering Design Experiential Marketing History Interactive Design Marketing New vs Old Media Podcast Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/03/designer_vs_stylist_a_timeless.html Way back in late 2001, Adam Greenfield published an essay entitled, "The Bathing Ape Has No Clothes (and other notes on the distinction between style and design). In this essay, he posits "problem-solving within constraints" as an essential component of... Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:05:26 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.302 Matthew Grant Creativity Design History Interactive Design Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2008/02/integrating_broadcast_and_web.html Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:45:50 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2008:/thetalentblog//5.287 Matthew Grant Advertising Interactive Design New vs Old Media Trends Viral Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/12/plan_on_going_global_with_your.html As part of the follow-up to webcast Aquent sponsored devoted to Seven Key Insights for Global Marketing and Brand Management, I called up Sarah Schuh who is general manager of Aquent's Multilingual Communications offering. Sarah has been working in the... Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:31:49 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.272 Matthew Grant Aquent Design Management Globalization Interactive Design Marketing Marketing Management Podcast Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/11/jim_sterne_the_emetrics_summit.html Jim Sterne, the producer of the eMetrics Summit and the president of the Web Analytics Association, has been talking about the internet and marketing since 1993. Indeed, he was kind enough to talk to me about it just the other... Wed, 21 Nov 2007 22:26:16 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.267 Matthew Grant Careering Data Analytics Interactive Design Market Research Marketing Marketing Management Podcast Web Analytics http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/11/the_challenges_of_localization.html On November 29th, Aquent will be sponsoring an American Marketing Association webcast entitled, "Global vs. Local: Seven Key Insights for Global Marketing and Brand Management." The featured speaker will be Donald A. DePalma, who is a business globalization analyst with... Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:31:08 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.263 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Interactive Design Market Research Marketing Marketing Management http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/10/dont_just_take_any_job_you_get.html Minh Nguyen, a Southern California-based web designer currently working for Sony Electronics, has been represented by our San Diego office for a little over a year. Interestingly enough, his entrance into the Aquent world was fairly coincidental. "A friend of... Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:10:08 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.256 Matthew Grant Freelancing Interactive Design Talent Talent Spotlight http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/10/sticky_advertainment_the_webki.html I was checking out the buzz log over at Yahoo! and came across this ominously titled post, "The Webkinz Will Rise," about the collectible and cuddly phenomenon known as Webkinz. Apparently, "Webkinz" ranks in the top 100 searches on Yahoo!... Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:21:59 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.249 Matthew Grant Branding Interactive Design Marketing Social Networking Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/09/an_aquent_podcast_miniseries_c_2.html In this third and final installment of our podcast mini-series, we speak with Carol Burke, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at AMN Healthcare. Carol discusses how she makes sure that her team is using the marketing channels most preferred... Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:07:09 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.248 Matthew Grant Aquent Branding Careering Copywriting Design Design Management In-House Interactive Design Marketing Management Podcast http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/09/an_aquent_podcast_miniseries_c_1.html In this episode, I speak with Jim Hauptman, Creative Director and Managing Editor at LL Bean. Jim addresses the complexities of "multi-channel" marketing, an approach that seeks to leverage the specific advantages of diverse channels, as opposed to "multiple channel"... Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:42:48 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.247 Matthew Grant Aquent Copywriting Creativity Design Design Management In-House Interactive Design Marketing Marketing Management Podcast http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/09/seo_optimization_is_more_than.html An Aquent Talent Spotlight Bonnie S., who is represented by Aquent's Philadelphia office, got into Search Engine Optimization (SEO) the honest way: by working hard to optimize her own website. "I got a degree in architecture and then worked as... Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:23:53 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.242 Matthew Grant Careering Interactive Design Talent Talent Spotlight http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/07/the_web_is_smarter_than_you.html And by "you" I mean "me." It seems like only yesterday I was making a snide comment about future Live Earth-esque concerts taking place on-line to reduce their notorious carbon footprints. As it turns out, the folks at Zwinky were... Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:52:20 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.219 Matthew Grant History Interactive Design Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/07/the_web_goes_on_forever.html It shows how out of the mainstream I am that I stumbled upon the Live Earth global concert extravaganza pretty much by accident Saturday night. I tuned in to the live concert stream via the Live Earth MSN site, and... Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:51:34 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.218 Matthew Grant History Interactive Design New vs Old Media Social Networking http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/visual_information_design_and.html A friend of mine passed this link along to me. It is a video of a software demo at the TED Conference back in March. The speaker is Blaise Aguera y Arcas who was demoing two software packages - Seadragon,... Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:59:27 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.213 Matthew Grant Interactive Design New vs Old Media Social Networking Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/actionscript_php_music_cool.html OK, W+K's new site was an interesting though kind of messy and, dare I say, "ugly," use of Actionscript and database-driven dynamism. By contrast check out this site created by burst Labs. Burst is a company that produces/composes/records/licenses music for... Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:07:35 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.211 Matthew Grant Creativity Flash Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/the_iphone_and_the_eclipse_of.html The New York Times published an article yesterday on the significance of Apple creating the iPhone without a physical keyboard. While some may find this foolhardy - apparently humans have grown use to the responsiveness afforded by pressing keys with... Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:10:07 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.210 Matthew Grant Design Interactive Design Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/art_from_error_actionscript_2.html Here's a strange but cool use of Actionscript. It's called glich-gen and, as the name would suggest, uses glitches in image files to generate very curious patterns accompanied by unsettling ambient noises. (Thanks to the folks at turbulence.org for... Fri, 08 Jun 2007 19:19:23 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.207 Matthew Grant Design Flash Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/5_things_about_wieden_kennedy.html 1. I checked out their "new" website (launched in April) the other day and was struck by the Yugo Nakamura-esque look and feel of it all. (I was trying to find out if he had anything to do with... Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:44:27 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.204 Matthew Grant Advertising Agencies Flash Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/do_people_read_online.html Brought to you by our Guest Blogger, Nomi. Image courtesy of fo.ol. In the nineties, one of the loudest voices to proclaim that people don't and won't read online was Jakob Nielsen, never one to shy away from sweeping declarations.... Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:47:53 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.203 Matthew Grant Interactive Design New vs Old Media Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/06/time_machine_created_in_flash.html Attention Flash wizards and wannabes! The BBC brings us this interactive timeline of British History. It's a cool and slickly designed use of Flash, Check it out. You just might learn something! (For instance: Did you know that Bishop... Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:53:40 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.201 Matthew Grant Flash History Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/05/usercentered_design_accept_no.html Brought to you by our Guest Blogger, Nomi. Terms like "user design" and "user-centered" design date back to the 1970's. They have their origins in a progressive, politically forward-thinking movement intent on involving the needs, wants, and preferences of the... Fri, 04 May 2007 17:33:32 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.185 Matthew Grant Blogging Design Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/04/design_that_caters_to_a_niche.html Brought to you by our Guest Blogger, Nomi. Amazon had been seeking to up its presence in cutting edge fashion for a while, but their brand was considered too diverse to attract the selective and hard-to-win fashionista consumer. Amazon was... Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:08:28 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.181 Matthew Grant Design Interactive Design Marketing http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/04/science_and_design.html In December I wrote a post about an eye-tracking study conducted by the folks at MarketingSherpa in conjunction with their research partners at eyetools. That study showed that readers of HTML e-mails would click on almost anything and almost... Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:06:21 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.180 Matthew Grant Copywriting Design Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/03/more_thoughts_on_design_thinki.html I'm a latecomer and a slow learner. My thoughts on "design thinking" began as a reaction to something written by Dan Saffer of Adaptive Path. Little did I know as I was penning my post entitled, "Thinking about 'Design Thinking,'"... Wed, 14 Mar 2007 19:37:25 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.152 Matthew Grant Design Interactive Design Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/02/when_business_process_improvem.html A semi-controversial memo from Starbuck's chairman Howard Schultz to Starbuck's CEO Jim Donald is circulating though the Internet's bustling tubes. In said memo, Schultz outlines how business decisions - specifically, the replacement of traditional espresso machines with automatic ones and... Mon, 26 Feb 2007 21:56:08 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.146 Matthew Grant Experiential Marketing Interactive Design Trends http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/01/ridiculously_successful_online.html The New York Times published an article this morning about the surprising success of the ubiquitous dancing cowboy ads created by Jennifer Uhls for LowerMyBills.com. I bring this to your attention, esteemed reader, because it reminds us that designing banner... Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:17:05 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.129 Matthew Grant Advertising Aquent Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2007/01/good_design_should_speak_for_i.html "Art school taught me that design's not just about making something beautiful; it's about taking something beautiful and turning it into a clear message." I was speaking with a talent represented by Aquent's Detroit office, Dan Koenig, who recently took... Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:00:57 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2007:/thetalentblog//5.128 Matthew Grant Aquent Design Interactive Design Talent http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2006/12/helping_developers_understand.html Dan Saffer of Adaptive Path posted this humorous and helpful guide for developers so they can decipher the reactions and behavior of their design-oriented counterparts. I hope in some small way that passing along Mr. Saffer's words helps to relieve... Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:22:31 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2006:/thetalentblog//5.118 Matthew Grant Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2006/12/people_will_click_on_anything.html That seems to be the conclusion reached by the research team at MarketingSherpa in their recently published Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007 (you can get a PDF of the executive summary here or read a brief synopsis here). Tests that... Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:12:17 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2006:/thetalentblog//5.114 Matthew Grant Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2006/12/did_i_invent_the_internet.html I'll start out by clarifying that I did not invent the Internet (and, as an aside, point out that Al Gore never claimed he did either). On the other hand, I do believe that several things I wrote and said... Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:05:00 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2006:/thetalentblog//5.111 Matthew Grant Interactive Design http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/2006/11/flash_action_script_30_and_tot.html This is, like, totally cool. I happened to be on Adobe's website and was wondering if they had any blogs I should be looking at. With that in mind, I made my way to their Communities page and, at the... Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:29:29 EST tag:blogs.aquent.com,2006:/thetalentblog//5.109 Matthew Grant Interactive Design