March 2009
Specialty food market website for unique Chicago dry rub seasonings
We've launched the redesigned Char Crust website, which features this local company's entrepreneurial history, recipes, newsletters, and highlighted retailers-of-the-month.
Hungry? Foodies and barbecue aficionados are firing up the grill year-round armed with a greater variety of tools and seasonings. Char Crust enhances the cooking experience with their dry rub seasonings for all meat and fish that sear and form a beautiful crust that "seals in the juices." The family business has its origins at the legendary Al Farber’s Chicago Steakhouse in 1957. Since then, award-winning signature flavors have been added and carried by merchandisers in their meat and seafood departments, barbecue, marinade, and spice aisles. Check it out!
Ed visits the Country Music Hall of Fame
Being the music buff that I am, I naturally jumped at the opportunity to check out the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum while visiting Nashville this March. The hall was completely revamped in 2001 and along with exhibits it houses an extensive library of audio recordings from the past century. The architecture of the $37 million dollar building - with its clever structural motifs such as the piano key facade, the diamond-shaped radio mast, and the layout in the shape of a bass clef - was one of just a few highlights of the tour.
Another design element of the museum that caught my eye while strolling around was the great use of typography. Museum exhibits often use ubiquitous type and muted accent colors so as to allow the material on display to be the eye-catching element. The designers of the CMF chose a different approach, combining exhibit elements such as instruments and outfits with lively typography and eye-popping color.
The entryway to the museum - notice the piano key motif across the top.
Event Talk: Social networking and digital marketing for small business.
The Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce is developing a monthly program, the Small Business Forum, to track trends and business challenges for small businesses in Chicago. I'll be a panelist for Social Networking and Digital Marketing, a conversation about social networking tools and their impact on businesses. It's April 16th, so come on by and join the conversation!
Nick.
Welcome aboard, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
We're excited to be working with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP). The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy is the independent, international, and impartial association that assists its member boards of Pharmacy in developing, implementing, and enforcing uniform standards for the purpose of protecting the public health.
For the redesign project, we'll be conducting extensive design research with group and individual interviews. We'll be testing design concepts and new navigation strategies, working with IT to implement a content management strategy for marketing and communications, and integrating goal-based analytic tracking throughout the site. We welcome the NABP aboard!
Welcome aboard University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art
We are pleased to work with the talented staff to redesign the website for the University of Chicago's David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art. The museum presents original works of art through their extensive permanent collection, publications, special exhibitions and programs. A part of the University of Chicago campus, the museum is a unique educational resource for the academic and larger community.
