Friday, October 16, 2009

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Yahoo gave us one of their 20 Purple Pedals bikes currently traveling the globe, and invited us to do what we want with it. The bike is specially equipped with a solar powered camera that automatically takes a photo every 60 seconds, which it immediately uploads to the internet.

We noticed almost immediately that the bike brings smiles to anyone it visits, and wanted to share that experience in a different way.

We decided to let the people in our community meet the bike, and answer the question "what makes you happy?"

Labels: events, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 12:54 PM   2 comments

Thursday, September 24, 2009

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Plaid rocks Georgia with keynote at American Advertising Federation Savannah

Plaid founder Darryl Ohrt kicked off the 2009 - 2010 season for the Savannah chapter of the American Advertising Federation with a presentation on Plaid's "attraction engine."

The presentation detailed Plaid's self promotional strategy, and how we've used our magic attraction engine to become the GREATEST AGENCY IN ALL OF THE LAND. You should expect that Georgia will be rising up and taking over the industry any day now.

Learn more, see pics and listen in at the AAF Savannah website.

Labels: events, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:35 PM   1 comments

Monday, May 11, 2009

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Matt Hunsberger just completed design work on the vehicle graphics for the 2009 Plaid tour. Ford Motors is a tour sponsor, and has lined us up with a sweet Ford Flex. Matt decided to take that one step further, and created the hottest looking Ford Flex to ever hit the highways.

Look for the Plaid Flex in a city near you this summer, or watch all of the action live at PlaidNation. See more views of the design on the official tour blog.

Labels: identity, plaid, plaid summertour

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 PM   0 comments

Monday, April 27, 2009

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Current TV needs a new agency. Rather than go through the antiquated agency review process, they tweeted their review, in the world's first ever TwitteRFP. Naturally, plenty of agencies quickly dusted off their Twitter accounts and began pitching away. Plaid got straight to showing Current some hot ideas. Because Plaid invented social media.

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:15 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

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This is big.

We're taking over. Like a gaggle of pirates and ninjas banding together for the creative workers of America, we've taken over the Denver Egotist.

In fact, we believe that the takeover will be so easy that we'd like to take it one step further: We're taking over Denver, too.

As of today, we declare that we are now the hottest creative agency in Denver. We've prepared a video message that alerts the Denver population of this development. We'll post it on the Denver Egotist first thing this morning.

Check the Egotist (soon known as the Danbury Egotist) all day for our fresh content.

(Keep in mind that if you're reading this in the AM on Eastern time, that people in Denver are lazy. They sleep two hours later than we do. We can't actually take over until they drag their lazy asses out of bed and get into their offices.)

Denver residents: We'll need to change your town's name to Danbury. And our Mayor will likely need to take charge, too. We have a feeling that you're really going to like this. Welcome to the PlaidNation.

** This may only be a 24 hour takeover, as we don't really have offices in Denver and would probably find it difficult to breath their weak air on a regular basis.

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:58 AM   0 comments

Thursday, March 19, 2009

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It's on! The third annual PlaidNation tour cuts through the U.S. this summer! We'll be kicking the tour off in Detroit, hitting Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Branson, Memphis, Jackson and New Orleans.

Look for details and loads of other surprises soon on the official Plaid tour site, PlaidNation.com!

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour

posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:09 PM   0 comments

Sunday, March 8, 2009

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Darryl and David will be attending SXSW this year. That means five days of learning, getting inspired, meeting amazing people, and drinking Lone Star beer.

We'll be tweeting, blogging, vlogging and photo posting just about everything that happens at SXSW. We'll even share our notes from all of the panels that we attend. If you're going - look us up. If you can't - here's all of the links you'll need to share the experience:

Twitter:
Minute by minute updates, posts, happenings and adventures will be posted on Twitter. 140 characters at a time.
Darryl's Twitter page
David's Twitter page

Tumblr
This is a fantastic blogging tool that we've completely fallen in love with. Things that can't be summed up in 140 characters on Twitter will be posted on our individual Tumblr pages. Look for photos, videos, notes from the speaker panels and whatever else might happen.
Darryl's Tumblr page
David's Tumblr page

BrandFlakes SXSW Edition
We'll post at least one update daily here. Think of this as the big picture overview of our adventures, without all of the clutter.
BrandFlakesForBreakfast SXSW Edition

Schedules
Going to SXSW and want to hook up with us? Check out our schedule with the most awesome social media scheduling tool, SCHED.
Darryl's Schedule
David's Schedule

Labels: plaid, plaidteam, sxsw

posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:02 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

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It's true.
The greatest agency in all of the land is looking for the greatest Project Manager/Producer/Master-controller-of-the-universe.

We're not big on titles, but some agencies might call this a Project Manager. Or Office Manager. Or Producer. We like to call it the glue that holds us together.

You'll be working with our creative team, working with our clients and working with our partners to be sure we deliver spectacular creative on time, on budget and with everyone smiling.

What it's all about:
Manage all aspects of projects for a super fantastic creative firm.
Interact with (mostly cool) clients, (totally cool) creatives and (awesome) partners from around the country.
Get stuff done.
Get stuff done on time.
Get stuff done on budget.

You totally rock because:
You're a great communicator, with fantastic people skills, and organization/planning skills that would make our heads explode. You might even have previous agency experience, or interactive experience. You likely have an understanding of the production process relative to a design and brand firm. And you'd be even more awesome if you're already on Facebook or Twitter.

Work at the best agency ever created by humans.
+ Open office, open books. No politics. For real.
+ Really fun, collaborative and energetic work environment.
+ Half day Fridays in the summertime, planning trips to fun places, and an office Segway.
+ 100% paid health benefits, 401(k) plan, and super aggressive profit sharing.

(Must be willing to work in our CT office, located in the grayest state in the union, where it's cold during the winter and the skies are usually not always sunny. But everything else rocks.)

Send your details to darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com, with "greatest job in the world" in the subject line.

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:25 AM   10 comments

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Yeah, we're kind of surprised, too. We've been shooting and posting a weekly edition of Friday Flakes for seven episodes. No letters of complaint. People haven't un-friended us on Facebook, out of embarrassment.

Just maybe, this is a habit that we could keep! Check BrandFlakes every friday, or subscribe over at Vimeo.

Labels: plaid, plaidcast, plaidtv

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:28 AM   0 comments

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

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We've just launched Friday Flakes - the first ever podcast from the creators of BrandFlakesForBreakfast!

This is a ten minute-ish weekly show, featuring two Plaid employees talking about the industry, cool stuff we've noticed and life at Plaid. Look for new episodes each and every Friday. FridayFlakes: The ultimate in low-fi video technology!

Labels: plaid, plaidcast, plaidtv

posted by darryl ohrt @ 12:38 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

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Billboard Magazine and Reuters wrote a really nice piece on the promotion that we produced with legendary band Umphrey's McGee.

Technically, they didn't mention Plaid in the article, and instead focused on what's important - Umphrey's, and how this site has revolutionized the music sales process. But if they did mention Plaid, they would have said that this is clearly the work of the greatest agency in all of the land, and that the world should pause for a second to reflect on this greatness. (Pretty sure that's how it would have went.)

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:46 AM   0 comments

Sunday, November 30, 2008

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Now in it's third year, the Brand Flakes For Breakfast Gift Guide has become a holiday tradition more popular than the tree at Rockefeller Center.

Check out the BrandFlakes gift guide for cool, creative and fun gift ideas for your friends, family and coworkers. We'll dig through the bowels of the internet to find the coolest stuff ever, so that you can sit on you butt and shop from the comforts of your computer.

With new posts nearly every day, you'll be buried in sweet holiday goodness. Need even more? Dig through the old posts from the 2007 and 2008 BrandFlakes Gift Guides.

Plaid. It's the hottest color for the holiday season!

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:58 PM   0 comments

Monday, September 29, 2008

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Chris, the newest member of Plaid has been made official. All of our employees get realized as bobble heads. Because bobble heads never sleep, never run out of energy and don't eat much.

Now that Chris' bobble head is here, we'll have it photographed and featured on the meet the staff page. And then a seed from the Chris-bobble will sprout, grow a pod and eventually take over the real Chris. It's the natural order of things. We're all better now, as Plaid products. Welcome, Chris...

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM   3 comments

Friday, August 22, 2008

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The September issue of HOW is covered in Plaid. First, our 2007 Plaid Summer Tour won a "Merit" award for self promotion. If that wasn't enough, they featured a two page spread on the tour as a unique self promotional tool. (Matt models the cover above)

The story isn't live on the HOW site yet, but we've scanned a copy for you to see. Read the first page of the spread here, and the second page here. We think that you should buy all of the copies at your local newstand and tell the cashier at Borders that Plaid ROCKS!

Funny side story: We told HOW that one of the clients we were introduced to on tour was the genius team at crayon. They assumed we meant CRAYOLA, and printed that we landed them as a client. I wonder if the marketing team at Crayola is reading HOW and thinking, who's Plaid???

Thanks HOW!!

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM   0 comments

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

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Missed all the daily wrap up videos from the Plaid summer tour? No worries. Enjoy this compilation of the best moments from PlaidNation 2008. We're already counting down the days till 2009!

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:32 PM   0 comments

Monday, August 4, 2008

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Phew. Another year on the road has screamed past faster than a Plaid van at 85MPH.

If you haven't had a chance to check in, or missed some key moments, now's a great time to catch up on the most glorious tour ever to hit the highways. PlaidNation 2008.

See all of the daily wrap up videos here. It's the next best thing to being there.

See the interviews and extra footage here. The interviews with Robert Scoble, Biz Stone and Cathy Brooks (coming later this week) are extra remarkable.

Read the Twitter stream. If you're new to Twitter (or just bored at work), this is a great way to see it's value. An entire tour has been documented (and archived) moment by moment, as it was happening. Reading the stream is like re-living the tour.

Watch the 11:40 shows. These vidcasts were recorded live at 11:40, wherever the van happened to be at that moment. You'll see additional discussion about what happened on tour, with extra detail brought to the show by the people on the tour. The most popular episode: Plaid gets kicked out of a popular celebrity cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Check out the Flickr photo stream. Better than your Aunt Lucie's vacation to the Galapagos Islands, you'll see other workplaces, cool locations and Plaid employees mostly avoiding trouble.

We've put all of this and more together for you, on the tour dashboard at PlaidNation.com

Thanks to everyone who wrote about it, talked about it, or became a part of it. We're already in planning mode for next year's tour, and have some incredible surprises. Just wait until 2009!

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:38 PM   0 comments

Sunday, July 27, 2008

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If you're not already glued to your computer watching every detail, be sure to check in on the second annual Plaid Summer Tour - now in its second week, on the west coast. This week Plaid will be spending time in San Francisco, San Louis Obispo, Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas.

We'll be meeting brands, creative people and interesting characters along the way. Watch it all live on the van cams, video, Twitter stream and more - all on the tour's dashboard at PlaidNation.com

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:11 PM   2 comments

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

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Our second annual Plaid summer tour is just days away from kicking into high gear! Be sure to bookmark the tour dashboard and watch the tour live all day, every day starting July 21!

Tell your boss that you're not being unproductive - but that you're busy researching how to put the latest social media tools into action. And then get back to watching the live webcams, as the Plaid van gets pulled over by the California Highway Patrol. Or whatever the crew might be up to.

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:11 AM   0 comments

Thursday, June 19, 2008

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Our coworker Sara was featured on CNN today! She's a girl of a million stories - so we're not surprised. She's featured in a piece about tattoos and the workplace. (Plaid is obviously the kind of joint that appreciates good body ink.)

We're fully expecting Anderson Cooper to show up at the front door any day now, asking for Sara. If Larry King understood what a tattoo was, or could stay awake long enough, we're sure he'd be interviewing her too. Donny Deutsch is soooo jealous that he missed this story. Nice job Sara!!!

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:56 PM   1 comments

Saturday, June 14, 2008

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Plaid - the greatest agency in all of the land is looking for a new designer! Creative Genius! Lover of the internet! Person who gets paid to make things on a Mac! (We're not much on titles.)

Stuff you'll do:
Work on the most awesome projects and create the most wonderous designs.
Work with really cool clients, and one or two less-than-cool clients
Collaborate with the most talented bunch of creatives ever to grace the earth

Stuff you have:
+ At least 2 years design experience
+ Kick ass portfolio, with especially strong interactive work (you don't have to be a coder)
+ Good grasp on the latest internet tools
+ Good energy. Fun to be with.
+ Awesome sense of humor.

Stuff that would be awesome, but not required:
+ You have a Facebook profile, and/or participate in social media
+ You don't like Celine Dion, as an artist.
+ You enjoy doing stupid things and documenting them on a company blog. (Like Steph, who just ate 10 Pixie Stix at once, in the photo above)

Work at the best agency ever created by humans.
Open office, open books. No politics. For real.
Really fun, collaborative and energetic work environment.
Half day Fridays in the summertime, planning trips to fun places, and an office Segway.
100% paid health benefits, 401(k) plan, and super aggressive profit sharing.

Send resume and a link to some of your work, to darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com, with "designer" in the subject line. (If you've sent a resume in the last 3 months - you're already in consideration. Feel free to confirm that we have it on file.)

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:55 PM   1 comments

Friday, May 23, 2008

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Sara's bobble head arrived. We think it looks awesome. Now it's off to be photographed, and get star treatment, before being featured on our Meet the Staff page.

Moments later, her new business cards walked in the door. (With the help of a delivery boy.) She's got the most awesome title on her card: Duchess of Awesome. Sweet.

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM   1 comments

Thursday, April 17, 2008

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We just received our agency's first eeePC. Unboxing video above. Pretty cool.

Labels: lifeatplaid, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:05 AM   2 comments

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

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Plaid, the greatest agency in all of the land, is hiring a Project Manager. Producer. Cattle herder. Whateveryoucallit.

Stuff you'll do:
Manage all aspects of projects for design and branding firm.
Interact with (mostly cool) clients, (totally cool) creatives and (awesome) partners from around the country.
Get stuff done.
Get stuff done on time.
Get stuff done on budget.

Stuff you have:
Previous agency experience preferred, interactive experience a bonus. Great communicator, fantastic people skills, and organization/planning skills that will make us look awesome. Understanding of the production process relative to a design and brand firm.

Stuff that would be awesome, but not required:
+ You have a Facebook profile, and participate in social media
+ You've heard of the Beastie Boys
+ Previous experience with Basecamp or other project management software
+ You like conducting experiments like "what does a Segway sound like when riding over bubblewrap?" (answer above)

Work at the best agency ever created by humans.
Open office, open books. No politics. For real.
Really fun, collaborative and energetic work environment.
Half day Fridays in the summertime, planning trips to fun places, and an office Segway.
100% paid health benefits, 401(k) plan, and super aggressive profit sharing.

Send resume to darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com, with "producer" in the subject line.

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:57 AM   6 comments

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

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Maybe you've heard a little something about Sarah. Or her interview with Mark Zuckerberg. We caught up with her at a party while at SXSW, and asked her the most important question of all....does she love Plaid?

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:36 AM   0 comments

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

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Bored at your own office? Watch ours. Check in on the Plaid Bathroom cam, and monitor Plaid employees as they enter and exit the bathroom.

Or visit one of the Plaid brainstorm areas, and see if anything's going on.

If you see anyone in the bathroom area for TOO long, please notify Plaid management. They like to keep an eye on things like that.

Labels: lifeatplaid, plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:35 AM   1 comments

Saturday, February 2, 2008

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We decided this week that we're officially embarking on a Plaid summer tour. If you missed it last year, we outfit a Plaid van with the latest technology and social media, and fill it with a few agency staffers, and drive. And drive.

Last year, the tour took us from NYC to Dallas. We met some fun and interesting people, brands and agencies along the way. Last year we shared the entire experience on line, with the latest social media tools. This year will be even better.

Our 2008 tour will take place on the west coast. Sometime in July. We're still debating the exact markets where we'll stop, and the route details. One of the routes we're really digging is Vancouver to Vegas. With California in between. Sounds fabulous.

Once we have exact dates arranged, we'll be telling the world. If you're located anywhere on our route - please let us know - we'd love to stop by and say hi!

Once planning gets into full swing, we'll share the details on our tour site, PlaidNation. (Right now, you can see what last year's dashboard looks like.)

See you on the road!

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour

posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:13 PM   0 comments

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If everything goes to plan, we'll be moving internet workers into our new addition next week. They installed our custom paneled wall, and it looks beautious. Better than we ever expected. Some staining (and some more painting) will take place on Monday. Wednesday (fingers crossed) will bring carpet, and then we're in. Once it's all done, we'll share pics of the entire Plaid space, for all to see.

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:07 PM   0 comments

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

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The addition to our space has been separated from our current space with a huge wall of plastic. To protect us from the evils of sheetrock dust. Today, the plastic wall came down. Kind of cool, because the new space now flows into our existing space.

They've finished painting, and the custom wood paneling gets installed on Thursday. And the paneling will need to be stained. Then it's carpet, and lights - and we're in!

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:30 PM   0 comments

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

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The world's greatest design and branding firm is seeking a full-time web developer/programmer. Front-end web coding, working directly with our designers.

Skillz you've mastered:
+ Intimately familiar with some of these (more is good): html, javascript, Ajax, Flash, PHP.
+ Ability to write code. The old fashioned way - not just with wysiwyg tools.
+ Great communication skills, with ability to explain any of the above to designers and clients and people who generally won't know what you're talking about.

Plaid is the coolest agency in all of the world, sporting clients from entertainment industry to action sports to consumer brands and b2b. Name brands you know, and stuff you've never heard of. No cubicles. Open workplace, open books and open management philosophies.

Extremely relaxed and fun work environment, where you'll never wear khakis. (Unless you're into that sort of thing.) Profit sharing, 401(k), 100% paid health benefits, and a salary lower than you'd get at the big stressful agency. (And you won't have to work 18 hours/day, like at the big agency, either.)

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:09 AM   0 comments

Sunday, January 20, 2008

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Giuli was just promoted to the position of Producer! She'll now be responsible for managing all projects at our agency. She'll be the point person for clients to get project updates, keep projects on budget, on time, and work with our creatives to get them the tools and information they need. Basically, she'll be making sure that our agency actually delivers on the promises that people like myself make.

We've never had anyone in this position before. In the past, things like this have been handled by designers, by Giuli, or by Diana and myself. Our agency has grown quite a bit over the last year, and we really needed someone to keep all of us on task. Since Giuli's been performing this role at least half the time anyway, we thought it was a good idea to turn this into a full-fledged position. Hopefully it won't go to her head, where she starts wearing that hat and sunglasses around the office.

So - got a question? Ask Giuli. Need something done? Ask Giuli. Not sure who those revisions go to? Ask Giuli. Sounds like maybe she's turned into a search engine.

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:40 PM   0 comments

Friday, January 18, 2008

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Part-time office assistant
The greatest design and branding agency in all of the land is now seeking a p/t office person.

Vendor coordination, billing and invoicing, purchasing, travel arrangements, and millions of little things that we can't begin to predict. (Things like "purchase a hot dog costume" or "find out what hairspray is best for a mohawk")

Work Monday - Friday, half days. Super bitchin' work environment includes loud music, fun people and collaborative workspace. We promise at least a 25% fun to work ratio. $15/hr. (You won't get rich here, but you'll have a bunch of fun.)

Prior experience should include good internet surfing skills, and Microsoft Office (yech) experience. Quickbooks or basic accounting experience a plus. Facebook profile a super bonus.

Send resume to darryl AT thinkplaid.com

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:21 PM   0 comments

Thursday, January 17, 2008

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They knocked down the wall separating our current space from the new space! Actually...they let us do it.

That is, they took out all of the nails, cut all of the boards, and prepared the wall in just the right manner so that a designer-type person might be physically capable of pulling down the wall. Even someone that works in front of a computer all day, and makes pretty things. Even someone that has never picked up a hammer. You get the picture.

Anyway, you can watch David in the clip above get the satisfaction of his lifetime as he busts through the wall like a fireman. And then Justus brings the house down. Almost literally. Power, internet and all. Oooh boy.

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:41 PM   0 comments

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Deliveries are arriving on a regular basis here, and have us more stoked than ever. Yesterday, our egg chairs arrived. Our place is going to be awesome, once the construction is done.

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:22 AM   0 comments

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Today they remove the wall that's separating our current space from the new addition. Kind of exciting. That is, if you consider wall knocking demolition exciting. And really, who doesn't??

(And why do video processors always choose the most unflattering time to pick the thumbnail?)

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:41 AM   0 comments

Thursday, January 10, 2008

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Here's what the construction dudes were up to, while they should have been working on our new addition. That's Joe, showing us a little hammer time.

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:15 PM   1 comments

Friday, December 28, 2007

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They've completed what is essentially the shell to our new addition. The roof is up, and walls complete. Windows have been ordered, and should be here by next week. We've met with the electrician to discuss ethernet drops, power outlets and phones.

So far, it looks like we're on schedule to be complete by end of January/early February. We're getting excited - and our existing space is getting tight. We now have one desk that's shared by THREE part-timers, and we'll have a new hire starting in the next few months, too. We need this space, bad.

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 3:02 PM   0 comments

Sunday, December 9, 2007

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We've prepared our annual Plaid holiday cards, and dropped them at the post office for delivery. The post office hates us.

This year's card is especially special. Like an after school Christmas special. Read whatever you want into that.

If you're on our list, keep an eye on your mailbox this week, and be sure that your mailman is extremely careful with our delicate and important package.

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:22 AM   1 comments

Friday, December 7, 2007

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They delivered lumber for the first stage of our addition. Because our space is located on the roof of our building, they had to bring everything up on a crane. Kind of exciting for a bunch of creative people. I'm sure we didn't get in the way or annoy the construction dudes at all. They're probably used to people dancing around, with digital and video cameras.

They moved our patio to the other side of our space, and it's going to look great. The framers began laying out the floor joists, and next week (snow permitting), they'll frame out what will become our new account services area!

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:27 PM   0 comments

Monday, November 12, 2007

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A couple of us got the opportunity to meet Ze Frank last week, while attending a Core 77 event. And he proclaimed that "Ze loves Plaid." We think that if we gave him the opportunity to elaborate, he would have added quotes like "Plaid is the absolute best agency in all of the land," and "Any brand with any relevance should be hiring Plaid now," and "Darryl Ohrt is a god." But since he didn't have time, he didn't get to say those things. Next time, for sure.

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:25 AM   0 comments

Friday, November 2, 2007

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Here's how Plaid spent our Halloween 'at the office.'

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:44 AM   0 comments

Friday, October 26, 2007

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Our new intern, Katie started this week. We've convinced her that we're the hottest agency in all of the land of agencies. And that all of the cool agency people like to do crappy work like filing, and photo research and building other designer's conceptual comps. So far, she's on board.

Here's a little something about Katie...

I overheard her telling someone else at Plaid that she's single, and 'accepting applications.' We suggested she share her Facebook profile. She was previously boycotting Facebook (college students sometimes do silly things like that), but we've convinced her otherwise. You can friend her here. If you're lucky, she'll accept. :)

Unlike our previous intern, she doesn't own a Zune. We like that. (Sorry Brian)

She's already had a great week:
+ She's done some production work for Talbots and a bank's website,
+ Got a lesson on how to ride the Segway PT,
+ Sat in on the first ever recording session for a Plaid podcast (Plaidcast)
+ And some other boring stuff, too.

Please welcome Katie to the Plaid crew and be nice to her on Facebook. :)

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 5:07 PM   5 comments

Friday, October 19, 2007

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We received our new Segway today. Eric from Segway came down to the Plaid offices and gave us personal lessons and orientation. He can pretty much rock a Segway over anything. And as you'll see by the clip above, I'm still learning how to ride. :)

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:34 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

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We just purchased the Plaid design and brand crew these really sweet video cameras. Flip video cameras that record 640 x 480 digital video (60 minutes of video, without tape!) with built-in usb plugs. They fit in your pocket. Basically, a video camera designed for the YouTube generation. AWESOME IDEA.

Anyway - we're embarking on an experiment of sorts. Everyone's now armed with these cameras. So we're going to try video blogging. Not the vidcast-shot-from-the-laptop that everyone else is doing - but sharing our experiences, as they happen. (You can't carry your laptop camera into the Bodega, can you?) Funny, stupid, creatively inspiring, or people falling asleep at their desks. Low production, no edits, no soundtracks, just video clips. Whatever happens when we're recording.

The experiment kicks off tomorrow morning, as a bunch of us leave for Mexico. Should make for some fun video. We're traveling tech-lite (only ONE laptop!!), so we won't be uploading every hour, but I promise some good regular video. If we like the results of the experiment, we'll get cameras for the extended Plaid team, across the country. This could really be a cool, creative group video blog. Or a complete waste of time.

Stay tuned.

Labels: plaid, plaidteam, plaidtv

posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:19 PM   0 comments

Thursday, September 13, 2007

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Matt's bobble head arrived today. On close inspection, we realized that the bobble company traveled into the future, and sculpted a bobble of Matt ten years from now. Doesn't his bobble look older than he is?

It definitely acts more maturely than Matt does. We're still not sure who works harder - but from the looks of it, we believe his bobble is one of those guys who's 'always at the office.'

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:08 AM   3 comments

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

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They just completed installation on our new front door! Plaid on one side, and galvanized steel on the other. It's plaidlicious.

Labels: plaid, space

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:09 AM   0 comments

Monday, August 20, 2007

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Brian showed off his remote controlled office copter today. He had it buzzing around the office from desk to desk. And then David suggested we take out the Wiffle Ball bat. Brian put his copter away. We need to convince Brian that a copter sacrifice is worthwhile. Think of the video.

Labels: lifeatplaid, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:18 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

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Today, we had a new toilet installed in our studio's bathroom. Not just any toilet. We've affectionately named this poop remover the Plaid Flushmaster 4000. The plumber says it will flush ANYTHING. It sounds a lot like a jet engine when you flush. We kind of like that.

Anyway, on to Brian's art project. We thought it would be cool if the new toilet was decorated with Plaid. And who better for a toilet decoration project, than an intern??

You can see the entire process on our Flickr photo set, and the finished Plaid toilet here.

We're wondering if Brian will include the Flushmaster 4000 in his portfolio.

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:56 PM   0 comments

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

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We've just launched the House of Plaid, a side project and experiment for our design and branding firm.

For creatives, by creatives. The House of Plaid allows us to explore and create inspiring design objects that as creative people, we'd like to own ourselves. Each House of Plaid product is made by an independent artist, manufacturer or craftsperson in limited editions. Once sold out, we'll never produce that particular item again.

People who buy House of Plaid products will be supporting an artist, craftsperson or indie business, and keeping individuality alive. And getting some cool stuff.

You'll also note that we've designed the site not as a retail site, but as a blog - (where you can buy product). It's still a work in progress, and we believe a unique approach to small business on the internet. Like a blog, you can comment. Like a store, you can buy.

Our first product is a super sweet Plaid messenger bag. Coming in the next few days - an awesome sketch book. Stay tuned, and bring Plaid into your life!

Labels: houseofplaid, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:36 AM   0 comments

Sunday, July 22, 2007

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The van is gassed and ready for our second week on tour. Week two will bring us through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Virginia and North Carolina. Should be lots of fun. And brand love.

Stay tuned to the tour on our official dashboard, where you can watch the live van-cam, read the tour blog and so much more.

If you're in a market that we're passing through, let us know - we'd love to share some Plaid love!

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:50 PM   0 comments

Monday, July 9, 2007

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Only six days until the Brand Aid 2007 tour hits the pavement! There's a lot going on behind the scenes, as we prepare for a three week tour. You can monitor some of the current progress on our tour dashboard.

Bookmark the dashboard, and then check in daily starting Monday, July 16th. You'll be able to watch us live in the van (woohoo, sure to be exciting), follow the live tour blogs - and most importantly, capture some ideas for use in your own business. We plan on pulling off a handful of 'ambush brand-overs' for a couple of the brands we meet along the way. Sure to be fun for all.

That's Giuli pictured above, with the Plaid van, prior to having it pimped out in Plaid.

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:57 PM   0 comments

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

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The first ever Plaid Summer Tour is now just days away.

Today we launched PlaidNation, which is the dashboard for everything related to the tour. From this site, you can check in on the tour blog, Twitter log or Flickr photo set. You'll also be able to see the van's actual location, and watch its progress, with our Google GPS map.

Want more? While we're in the van, we'll be streaming a live webcam, so that you can watch us picking our noses. Or whatever we do while on the road for hours on end. We'll also videotape all of our adventures - and will upload regular Brand Aid webisodes to YouTube.

On Monday, we GET THE VAN. Look for exciting pics and video as we wrap a van in Plaid!

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:24 PM   0 comments

Saturday, June 23, 2007

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We hired Matt this week! He's been freelancing here for a few weeks now, and we convinced him to make it permanent. He's a super talent, great designer, illustrator and even a stop motion animator. And he has some pretty cool t-shirts.

Most importantly, he's not named Rob. We already have too many Robs around here. New Rob, Old Rob, and Boston Rob. Geez.

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:49 AM   1 comments

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

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New bobble heads have arrived at our office - including Rob, the newest member of Plaid. (Pictured leading the pack, above.) We'll be having them photographed, and added to the site in a few days. We actually have enough bobbles to form a bobble army. Or a baseball team. Or a dance troupe.

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:53 PM   2 comments

Thursday, June 14, 2007

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Our limited edition Plaid messenger bags are complete. They were built by hand, in Hungary! They're shipping tomorrow, and I'm guessing that process will take about two weeks, with customs and everything.

These will likely be the first product to sell on House of Plaid. And there's only THIRTY of them, in all of the world. They'll each be numbered as limited editions.

I can't wait to get mine - judging by the pictures, these are going to be awesome bags. We'll share details and photos soon.

Labels: houseofplaid, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:32 PM   0 comments

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Brian's setup the GPS tracking, so that you can follow the Plaid van on tour. Every step of the way. Keep an eye on us, to make sure we stay on track, stay on schedule, and stay away from casinos.

We'll be incorporating the GPS feed into a Google maps mashup, and it will track the van in real time. Since it's still four weeks until the tour kicks off, Brian's been testing the system on Plaid employee cars. We think he caught someone going to a strip club at lunch the other day.

Can't wait to see this live.

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:16 PM   0 comments

Friday, June 8, 2007

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We're officially doing it. The first ever road tour by an agency. With a tour van. And agency employees. And lots of energy drinks. The tour will kick off on July 16, and end (in Atlanta, we think) on August 4.

Anyway - we're looking for sponsors to help ease the pain of financial costs, or to make life more enjoyable for those on the road.

Have a brand that wouldn't mind being seen on our 2400 mile trek across the U.S? Or on the tour's internet dashboard? Or on the tour blog? Or the tour Twitter? Or included on the YouTube videos? We're poor, We're whores, and we're not ashamed. There are opportunities that range from product placement to cash deals. Limited only by your imagination.

Anyway - you can learn more at PlaidNation - which for now, is something better than a PowerPoint deck about sponsorship. Eventually, this site will become the dashboard for everything related to BrandAid 2007.

Stay off the roads. Lock your doors. Plaid is coming.

Labels: plaid, plaid summertour, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:43 AM   0 comments

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

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We met the newest member of the Plaid team for the first time today. You may remember that we hired Rob, without ever meeting him in person. Oh, the glorious internet.

Well, Rob and his wife just completed their trek from Arizona to Connecticut, and stopped by to introduce themselves. Super cool people. And - btw - any New York or CT agencies looking for design or illustration talent should let us know. Rob's wife is ALSO in the biz, and she's looking for a gig on the east coast. Cuz she's all about grey, depressing weather. (Oh, just wait Suzy, till November through March. You'll see.)

Rob starts officially on Monday!

Labels: plaid, plaidteam

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:05 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

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What a night. We probably would have been perfectly happy with just a plate of chicken cordon bleu - but the ad club decided to give us FIVE ad club awards tonight. And that's not all...we also won the show's GOLD PEN Award for Santa Hunters, our holiday greeting card. We're totally stoked. You can see the crew juggling trophies on our Flickr page.

Here's what we came home with:

GOLD PEN: Santa Hunters self promotion
Gold award: Spherion Meeting Bingo
Gold award: Santa Hunters direct mail
Gold award: Santa Hunters website
Silver award: Mohawk Mountain outdoor
Bronze award: Flambeau River Papers swatch book

Lots of love and kisses to all who helped us bring home wood: Paul Reilly, Brent Meyer, Chris Dornfeld, Chip Simons and of course Eliza Sweet. (A gold pen!)

Oh yeah - I guess we couldn't have done any of this without the most wonderful clients....lovin' you too!

(And - special nod to my son, who won an Ad Club scholarship. Nice job, Devon. Good night for all.)

Labels: plaid, plaidteam, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:31 PM   3 comments

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

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We received the test printing of the Plaid Sketchbook. It's awesome. We approved the rest of the books for printing. We'll have 50 books - each signed and numbered by the artist - and then we'll officially retire this particular color scheme, so each book will be a true limited edition.

Paul is working on building out our House of Plaid site, where you'll be able to purchase these, and other cool limited edition design goods.

They'll probably sell for around $30, but we're still figuring that out. We'll look to essentially cover costs. This isn't a money making venture for us, but instead a creative exploration where we get to design fun objects. All while supporting independent artists and craftspeople.

Available soon!

Labels: houseofplaid, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:39 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

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We just hired Rob as our newest Designer at Plaid. Rob lives in Arizona. He's convinced his wife that New England will be so much nicer than having sunny warm days everyday, like they do now. How boring. Better to be surrounded by grey clouds, on and off rain, 30 degree temperature drops and of course, snow and ice.

We're totally stoked to have Rob join our team. He comes to Plaid with an impressive resume and portfolio. He's worked with JJ Sedelmaier, and most recently, Blufish Design Studios in Tempe. He's a super design talent, and we're lucky to have him join us.

Most interestingly...WE HAVEN'T EVEN MET HIM YET. As a true testimonial to the Plaid way of doing business - and to today's wonderlicious internet tools that are available, we feel like we already know him.

How'd we get to know Rob? All of our interviews were conducted using iChat cameras. We shared Flickr photo sets of each other. And of course some email. We've only spoken on the phone once - AFTER he accepted the position - and won't meet him in person until he arrives after Memorial Day. Isn't the internet awesome??

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:32 AM   0 comments

Friday, May 11, 2007

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We've been talking a LOT about the concept of a Plaid Summer Tour, as a part of our self-promotional campaign.

The more we talk about it, the more we're falling in love with the concept. Currently, we're looking at two potential options:

+ Buy and remodel a bitchin' custom van as a Plaid van. Tour the hottest brands in the nation and spread Plaid love and cheer.

+ Rent a rock star tour bus and wrap it in Plaid. While likely more expensive, this would allow actual Plaid employees to travel along on the tour (while working on the road of course) and see the Plaid nation. Could be a real adventure. Leigh found the Paul Frank bus above, as inspiration.

Giuli's pricing each of them out, and then we'll likely need to scale down to reality. Know anyone who rents buses? Or any cool drivers?

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:43 PM   1 comments

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What an awesome week. We launched a new company! And a new way of doing business.

We're still in the midst of the many logistics related to our re-branding. You have no idea how many places your logo appears, until it's time to change it. Everyday, something new comes up.

Next week should be pretty fun as well. We're planning our self promotional campaign (more on that in a few), and setting up House of Plaid.

House of Plaid will be a cool side project for us, where we'll sell limited edition design goods. Basically, stuff that we wouldn't mind owning ourselves. The first two products will be a custom sketchbook, and a messenger bag. We should see prototypes for both objects next week. Can't wait.

We'll also officially design this blog. It was originally intentionally left 'un-designed' while we established a brand for Plaid.

In the meantime, we're busy as heck turning VIA logos into Plaid logos. On our invoices. On our checks. And envelopes. And front door. And building directory. And so on...

Have a very Plaid, Plaid weekend.

Labels: collateral, houseofplaid, identity, plaid, via

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:32 PM   0 comments

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Last night at around midnight, we launched our agency's new website, and VIA is now officially known as Plaid.

This is a first stage launch, and there's so much more that we'll be adding in the coming months - but for now, this is a wonderful representation of who we are, and what we can do for clients. Special props to David and Paul for loads and loads of last minute content and design adjustments.

Meanwhile, we'll continue blogging about everything happening behind the scenes at our firm, here on the ThinkPlaid blog, at it's new address, http://blog.thinkplaid.com. There's some pretty fun developments coming in the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

Special thanks to all of the ThinkPlaid readers. (YOU!) For what I believe is the first time in history - a design and branding firm's brand has been directly impacted and changed based on real input from others in the industry, and the general public. Gotta love blogging.

Have a Plaid day.

Labels: collateral, plaid, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM   1 comments

Thursday, May 10, 2007

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We're launching our new site tonight, at this url!

This blog will continue, in all it's Plaid glory, at a new address: http://blog.thinkplaid.com.

We'll continue with fun posts about what's going on at Plaid. And there's a load of cool stuff coming up -

+ Plaid Summer Tour
+ House of Plaid
+ Plaidcasts

Here's the deal...if you're reading this from an RSS feed, you may have to re-subscribe, or adjust your feed. Those readers using Feedburner should be fine (in theory) but other RSS feeds might require a re-subscribe.

Again - this blog will continue at it's new address, http://blog.thinkplaid.com. We'll be posting additional news tomorrow, so please check your feed!

In the meantime, please enjoy our new site. Coming to this url in a few moments...

Labels: plaid, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:28 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

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What a cool day in our office. So many Plaid things came to life today.

Our first batch of business cards arrived.
We received our Plaid promotional buttons.
Our new voice mail system went live. (I'm in love with the voice talent's super cute laugh. You can hear it at 203-730-6300)

And our website is almost ready, too - which is good, as the countdown clock ends in a little more than twelve hours. Programming is mostly complete, and we're making our final tweaks for our first stage launch.

We're becoming more Plaid with every day! And getting more stoked by the minute.

Labels: collateral, identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:31 PM   2 comments

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

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This is pretty awesome. The first test of our new integrated Plaid team was for ourselves. We've had a few brainstorms on self promotional concepts. With our in-house crew at our studio in Connecticut, AND the extended team - spread across the country. A virtual brainstorm using our favorite web 2.0 tools.

Anyway, there's one concept that we're all universally in love with. We'll call it the Plaid Summer Tour for now. (Although we'll have to work quickly to get this off the ground in time for summer.)

Here's the basics of the concept: A custom Plaid van (oh, soooo cool), touring some of our existing clients, as well as some brands that could use the power of Plaid. We'd be spreading Plaid love and cheer across the Plaid nation.

Waddya think?

Labels: plaid, selfpromotion

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:38 PM   6 comments

Monday, May 7, 2007

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So much Plaid-action here this week. It's exciting. We've recorded the new voice for our phone system. I think I'm in love, based entirely on her accent.

Right now, it looks as if we're launching the new voice system on Wednesday. Cross your fingers.

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:00 PM   0 comments

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Once we launch, we'll need to redirect all of the ongoing traffic from our old site.

Here's what we'll put in it's place. I figure that we'll keep this live for about six or eight months, dependent on traffic stats, and then eventually just auto redirect the old url to the new one, here. Sounds more confusing than it is.

Labels: collateral, plaid, via, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 12:06 PM   0 comments

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Paul's making fab progress on the coding for our new site. When launched, the site will incorporate THREE blogs.

1. We've organized our portfolio in a blog. Works really well. Not at all traditional, but if you think of the typical blogger tools, like tags and posts, they work great for a portfolio.

2. This blog. We intended this to be a temporary project - to share the behind the scenes of a re-branding. The original plan was that the company's site would replace this blog, when launched. But we didn't expect the kind of popularity that we've achieved here - so we'll be integrating this into the site, and keep updates to what's happening at the agency.

3. Brand Flakes For Breakfast. Our company's primary blog is now enjoyed each morning by over 100K super smart readers a month, so we'd be fools not to feature a feed in the new ThinkPlaid site, too.

Labels: collateral, plaid, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:20 AM   3 comments

Thursday, May 3, 2007

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We're proud to announce another set of partnerships that will help make Plaid be all it can be.

One of the really cool things we're doing at Plaid is expanding our abilities and talents beyond our current offerings. I've already posted about our first partnership that will become PlaidTV. Today, we're announcing two new partners, that when combined with our crew here, will create Plaid Emerging Media.

The first is Bill Green. You've probably heard his name before, because he writes one of the most read blogs in the advertising land - Make the Logo Bigger. A favorite blog of mine for as long as I can remember. He's also an accomplished Art Director, and boasts some brand experience that we know you'll appreciate - including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Range Rover, and Jose Cuervo. Mmmm. Jose Cuervo.

Bill will assist in creative strategy, campaign development and brand management. In short, Bill's the guy we'll count on to turn our awesome concepts into full fledge campaigns. Bill will work out of the Plaid "New Jersey office," which means he lives in New Jersey.

Next, is Robert Druyff. Rob's also done time at many an impressive agency, including Mullen, Arnold, Digitas and a few other names you'd recognize. His brand experience includes stuff like AT&T, XM Radio TAG Body Spray, and General Motors. He's an interactive genius.

Rob will play the role of interactive creative lead for emerging media and social media campaigns. This means he'll help dream up things to do online that you've never imagined. Because he's pretty much done everything interactive. Yep, even that. Rob will head the "Boston office," which means he calls bean town home town.

Since no single photo could capture the awesomeness of both Bill and Rob, I've used the image of Magnum PI, to represent them both.

Please welcome Bill and Rob to the wonderful world of Plaid.

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:31 PM   2 comments

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

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We're sending the second batch of business cards out to print for a couple of other people (more on that later) and we've had this ongoing discussion about whether or not it's necessary to have a fax number on your business card anymore.

We have two clients who use the fax machine. And we're working hard to ween them. When was the last time you used a fax? Or had to give someone a fax number? I'm thinking that we should have left this number off the card, and replaced with IM, Twitter, etc. But we caved to tradition, for most of the cards.

Labels: identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:30 PM   1 comments

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One of the fun 'leave behinds' we've always used for VIA is a set of collector buttons (poorly pictured, above.) Clients love them, so we decided to update them for Plaid. Leigh completed the design, and the order has been placed with the button guy. We should have them by next week. Here's what they look like.

Labels: collateral, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:15 PM   0 comments

Friday, April 27, 2007

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We've crafted a handful of fun Plaid slogans to use in some of our collateral materials, email signatures, etc. Trade them with your friends:

Plaid. It's the new black.
Plaid goes with everything
Plaid is so slimming
Once you go Plaid, you never go back
Go Plaid or go home
Plaid never goes out of style
Plaid means never having to say you’re sorry
The Plaid will set you free
It’s a Plaid, Plaid, Plaid, Plaid world
We’re Plaid as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore

Have any other ideas?

Labels: collateral, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:50 PM   7 comments

Thursday, April 26, 2007

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We've found a voice that we like for our new voice mail system. You can listen to her reel here.

We plan on directing the read (and the script) to feel a little more sassy than the pieces on her reel, which we think will come off well. Similar in attitude to the Orbit Gum girl. The recording session has been scheduled for early next week.

We'll also build some light humorous lines deeper into the script - so that regular callers won't have to listen to the same jokes over and over, but some callers will get a cute surprise.

We have Melissa to thank for this - as it was her comment on our original post that prompted us to more seriously consider a female voice for the role. Thanks Melissa!

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:38 PM   1 comments

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

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We've had a setback on our voicmail system. I've mentioned that we need to re-record our company's phone greeting - so that when people call us, they are greeted with a Plaid greeting.

The process takes a while, as there are a couple of vendors involved. We had planned to use voice talent with a Scottish accent - thinking it seems random and unique to callers, and yet ties to the heritage of plaid fabric.

Today, we received an audition clip. The voice talent was fine, but hearing it live, we weren't feeling it.

So now, we're back to square one.

We need a voice mail voice, that feels appropriate for our brand (fun, creative) but yet won't get tired for people who call us frequently. We're convinced that the solution is in the voice itself - not the script so much, as script humor or accents will get REALLY tired and annoying for regular callers.

Any ideas? We really need to settle on this by end of the week, if possible.

Labels: collateral, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:56 PM   3 comments

Monday, April 23, 2007

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We changed our countdown. Actually, Giuli did. Late last week, as the clock chimed down to eight days - eight days until the launch of our new site, it was pretty obvious that we had more than eight days of work left.

One nice thing about your own projects, is that (more or less,) the deadlines can be moved around. Of course, that's also a curse. Since the website is the foundation of all of our promotional materials, we can't begin to get the word out (aggressively) until it's live.

We've brought in some additional freelance help (thanks Rob!) to assist with the overload, and will be devoting hard time to it. This time, we're sticking with the clock.

Paul is coding up the home page, and Eliza and I are working out the remainder of the copy for the site. Meanwhile, David is finishing out the additional pages while we pull together pieces for the online portfolio.

Eighteen days, as I type this...seems so far away...

Labels: plaid, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:06 PM   0 comments

Monday, April 16, 2007

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David completed the logo. He's made what looks like minor tweaks to it - although I'm on vacation, so I'm only paying half attention.

Regardless - Giuli's getting our business cards all ready to print. Should have new cards in hand in five to ten days. We'll have cards available in three colors - blue, green and orange. Each with brown. Sweet.

Labels: collateral, identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:22 PM   2 comments

Sunday, April 15, 2007

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We've chosen a logo. We needed to live with them for a few days, just to be sure - and we've picked the one featured above. We believe it suits us well. The "i" will be dotted in one of three different colors, dependent on the usage.

We're going to try making a couple of minor modifications - tweaking either the "P", or the "L," as suggested by Hugh, in on of the comments from a previous post. If we like the tweaks, we'll incorporate them - if not, we'll go with it as featured above.

As soon as the fonts are purchased and files complete, we'll post the final! Up next...ordering business cards.

Labels: identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:53 PM   2 comments

Thursday, April 12, 2007

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We're going to be introducing a few new business units and service offerings with the launch of Plaid. One of these will be The House of Plaid.

Separate from our service offerings for clients, this is purely a fun, creative outlet. House of Plaid will feature limited edition design goods. Cool stuff that designers, marketing and brand managers, or other creative people might dig. We plan to continually offer new items - and each product will be produced in a limited, numbered production run.

One of the first items is going to be a messenger bag. We're working with this really cool company in Hungary, Bagaboo, that makes custom sewn bags. Really nice stuff.

We're in the process of designing the bag as we speak. The photo above is some other bag made by Bagaboo. Ours will be cooler. So far, it's black, with some really sweet Plaid elements. There will likely only be 50 of these bags manufactured (still working on the numbers). Each one will be a hand-sewn special slice of art. That you can keep stuff in.

We'll keep you updated as this progresses, and as other House of Plaid products materialize.

Labels: houseofplaid, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:06 PM   3 comments

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

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We're playing with some new logotypes. This is so difficult, when it's for your own company.

If we don't make a decision by the end of this week, we're going to blow a few of our deadlines. Nearly everything related to our name change requires a logo, and some of these items will be at a standstill until we make a choice.

We've narrowed down three options today. We're split between them, and agreed we'd sleep on it, and revisit tomorrow. Thoughts? Opinions? Ideas?

Labels: identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:06 PM   6 comments

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

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When we first decided to rebrand, it sounded so simple. "Everything's digital," we said. "It'll be easy." Then as we really started to dig in, we realized what we where in for.

One of the kabillion and two things that we need to update to reflect our new brand is our voice mail greeting. This is the first thing clients hear, when they call us. For some clients, this is their first impression.

So, we've been toying with a few ideas. It's a real challenge, because you can't create something that's funny the first time, but annoying as hell the 300th time a client calls us. And we like clients who stick around past the 200th call.

Eliza suggested we get an older male, with a deep Scottish accent to read for the part. At first we laughed, but the more we talk about it, the more we like it. Kind of like having Fat Bastard as your receptionist.

He could read the primary greeting straight, and we could work some funny lines into the more obscure phone mail functions. And Fat Bastard does wear plaid real well. Not that everyone with a Scottish accent is like Fat Bastard. At least, I'm pretty sure. I've never been to Scotland, now that I think of it.

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:28 PM   3 comments

Monday, April 9, 2007

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The first stage conceptual design for what will become our new website is pictured above. (The site this will replace, for reference: www.viaworldwide.com)

The top panel (with the bobble heads) will be an animated Flash program, which will showcase a couple of A-list projects, or whatever we think is hot at the moment.

The column on the far left will feature copy detailing our core service offerings. The middle column will feature recent developments or things we need to shout out loud.

The panel on the far right will include flexible promo areas, that we can swap out, dependent on what mood we're in at the moment.

None of the copy has been written yet - but will be in our typical dumb-ass style.

Navigation is simple, short, and runs across the top bar. Logo is placeholder for now, as we're still working that out.

Overall, you'll see a lot of flexibility, which is key, so that we can grow into this, not out of it. We only have time for a redesign every couple of years. ;)

Labels: plaid, via, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:41 PM   5 comments

Friday, April 6, 2007

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After overwhelming input from email, comments and friends calling for "all plaid", we've updated the back of the business card design to feature nothing but a plaid pattern. David says: "Told you so."

We're still not 100% on the logo/type treatment. We've dropped the circle for now. We're playing with some other type treatments, and will share ideas next week.

Personally, I can't stand brown and orange - but you can see the other schemes from our plaid pattern post. I'm partial to the green, or blue. Or purple! What about purple?

Labels: collateral, identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:34 PM   8 comments

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David's updated the wire frame for our new home page, to reflect the more recent discussions we've been having about content and organization. Can't wait to show you his conceptual work.

Labels: plaid, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:20 PM   0 comments

Thursday, April 5, 2007

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We just sent an email blast out to our clients and friends, officially announcing the changeover of our agency. VIA will become Plaid in the next few weeks.

Labels: plaid, via

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:39 PM   0 comments

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We've completed (mostly) the planning phase of our new website design. The wireframe for the home page is pictured above.

For clients and noobs: A wireframe is a tool we use for planning and organizing a website design. This allows us to understand content hierarchy, and how the page will be structured.

David's already knee deep into the conceptual design based on this wire frame, and we'll share his ideas as soon as he's comfy with them. We're hoping to get to an in-house critique of his work on Monday.

Labels: collateral, plaid, website

posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:32 PM   0 comments

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

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We're still playing with logo ideas (and welcome your input), but in the meantime, David put together a business card concept. Here's the question we always ask in our in-house critiques: How can this be better?

Labels: identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 4:19 PM   8 comments

Monday, April 2, 2007

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Just when you think there's nothing on.....Introducing PlaidTV

We have so many fun and exciting things planned for Plaid, I'm about to pee my pants. Here's one we can tell you about today. We've initiated some pretty awesome partnerships to push the level of talent in our studio through the roof. One of them involves film and video.

We've struck a deal with Director of Photography Brian McAward and Producer/Director/Editor, Colin Russell, two accomplished talents from the film and television world, to help us realize what will become PlaidTV.

We will now offer full production for episodic programs, commercial and music videos, and of course 'viral' style video and film production. BRAGGING ALERT: You've seen Brian's work in television commercials for Ethan Allen and Goodyear, and a host of cool indie films like "Zombie Prom," "Blackmale" and "Far As The Eye Can See." Colin's reel is equally impressive and boasts producing, directing and editing credits. We're impressed and we're in the biz! END BRAGGING They're both pictured above, at a recent shoot of ours.

Television is morphing into a new form as we speak. The viewer has become the programming exec. Media distribution outlets are growing exponentially and are hungry for content to distribute. All this adds up to an unprecedented opportunity for brands. We're ready to fill that need and capture the moment with television content that generates attention, audiences and results. Just wait.

Labels: plaid, plaidtv

posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:19 PM   0 comments

Thursday, March 29, 2007

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1.

2.


We've got a couple of logos we've been playing around with.

We're really digging the simple approach - number 1 above, shown in orange, blue and green - the same colors as our proposed Plaid patterns. Here's what it could look like on the back of a business card. What do you think?

Labels: identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 12:44 AM   4 comments

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

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We couldn't have a name like Plaid, and not have our own custom Plaid pattern. We've created a pattern, and possible color scheme, that we're really liking.

For future design and printing purposes, it's important that we create a pattern that can be reproduced digitally. So anything photographic wouldn't work. The pattern needs to be vector art - so that our identity has maximum flexibility, for any possible use.

David created the scheme reflecting three possible colors, above. We could assign a color to a different service offering, or just mix 'em up. Lots of options.

We're feelin' it. What do you think?

Labels: identity, plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:15 PM   7 comments

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We've had quite a few people ask about our new name. Why Plaid?

First, we needed a name that was versatile enough to grow with us, and to properly represent some of the things we have planned, and what our agency has become.

Next, we wanted a name that 'sounded' cool, when said out loud, and was easy to pronounce, and not so easily misspelled. We also wanted something that looked good in print.

Of course, we needed a name with appropriate and available urls.

Then, we began digging into our shortlist of names. We instantly loved Plaid, and everything it represents:
Patterns, colors, texture & depth brought together produces something unexpected & extraordinary.

We've twisted this, to represent how we see Plaid Design and Branding:
Design, ideas, strategies and know-how brought together delivers something unexpected & extraordinary.

Lastly, we trademarked the name. Something we never did with VIA. In the last year or so, we discovered that there were close to TEN other VIA's - scattered all across the land - but all providing some level of design and branding. I'm sure there will be other companies with Plaid, but we at least wanted to protect ourselves in our industry.

So here we come. We're Plaid. We're proud. Get used to it.

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:59 PM   0 comments

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So much to share. As you might have noticed - this site has not yet been designed. It's completely missing an identity. That's intentional.

This is a temporary blog, which will eventually become the official site for Plaid Design and Branding. You'll notice the countdown clock in the upper right - we've given ourselves a deadline to launch. And the clock is ticking.

If you subscribe to our feed, or check back here frequently, you'll see the Plaid brand developed in front of your eyes.

Our firm's re-branding will be blogged in detail, right here. We intend to share the majority of our 'back room' discussions, meetings, and news for everyone to see. And to participate.

We're planning a gradual rollout of our new brand, with a targeted completion in early May.

We invite your input, and are more excited than ever with where this is going. Stay tuned in the next few days as we share possible identity solutions, additional partner plans, and so much more.

Plaid. It's the new black.

Labels: plaid

posted by darryl ohrt @ 2:13 AM   0 comments

Monday, March 26, 2007

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A little more than ten years ago, we founded VIA. The Visual Intelligence Agency. 1996 was a fun time. Remember dial-up? So much has changed, and we have too.

More importantly, we're in a position to offer our clients new and exciting services that didn't even exist back in 1996. We're doing some things now (and planning on some others) that won't fit well under the old banner of VIA. So we're about to embark on a complete re-branding of our firm. Proof that even a branding firm needs a re-branding every once in a while.

VIA is about to become Plaid.
Within the next few weeks, our agency will officially become known as Plaid.

As a great example of how things have changed, we plan on sharing the entire process of our re-branding. We're plaid-blogging. We'll have a weekly update on our official blog BrandFlakes, and more frequent details here, which will eventually become our official new site.

There's so much to tell you, and we're more stoked than ever about where things are going. Get ready to paint the town Plaid.

Labels: plaid, via

posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:50 AM   0 comments

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