Bullseye Creative Blog

Eat your heart out Babies R Us. My new VIP parking. Just another reason I love Bullseye. Thanks guys!

A true classic never dies, but it can be replaced and not always by a worthy successor. “Nobody likes a change for the worst!” A conversation I had with Mr. Jimmy James a few weeks back still echoes in my mind from time to time. I had mentioned a re-design of the Bay Area Rapid Transit map (aka B.A.R.T.) and how it’s now a much simpler design. True, it’s now less geographically accurate but it’s much easier to read. There is some controversy over the new design in the Bay Area and some extreme adaptations.

Sometimes designers get lost with all the information they need to display and never achieve an intuitive design that is visually compelling. This philosophy is true for much in the world, making designs user friendly and not just maps. But I’m trying to make a point, so here goes.

I recently traveled to London and used their underground transit system, at first like anything new, it took a few minutes for me to understand all the routes and how the system functioned. But once I got the hang of it, the map was ingenious in its simplicity. In actuality the routes are not as simple as shown, but are laid out in equal increments of one another, at straight or 45 degree angles and have bright primary colors for visibility. The new B.A.R.T. map is very similar to the Underground map but is simpler by nature with less information to display. London is a crazy network of streets and tunnels similar to New York. They too updated their map recently, the map from 1972 seems to be the best so far (Apparently this design style was common in the past) and they abandoned the simpler look only a few years later. I’m sure the locals were not happy with the change…I wouldn’t have been.

The designers of the world create the visual tone of a city (or a country) much like a skyline can define it, so can its signage. I appreciate it when they make a point to welcome a newcomer, not confuse the shhh out of them! I’ve had a few instances driving around the greater Seattle area, getting use to some of the freeway exits and where they were in relation to the signs. Other than that its been a smooth transition and I really enjoy my new home, Los Angeles was crazy city in comparison, as I’m sure you’ll all agree… even if you’ve never been.

While writing this blog I stumbled across this map of all the major freeways and cities in united states. The artist uses the London Underground diagram as his inspiration. Jimmy Jam also mentioned that all odd numbered freeways (like I-5) run North/South and all even freeways (like I-90) run West/East , I knew this subconsciously I swear.

So to sum up, I love change… for the better. I love good designs and great ideas. Especially when they come together as one. I used a Mini-Disc player for years. Until a portable hard drive you could listen to became an option, but thats another story.

Perhaps I should qualify that headline to the more accurately titled, “The Top Ten Team-Ups in Comics Today, From The Pool of Books on the Subscription List of Peter A. Klauser (me).”  As a long-time reader, the term “Team-Up” in comics conjures images of Spider-Man pairing up on the pages with Daredevil, or the good & noble Superman joining forces with dark & brooding Batman. But, for the sake of my article, I am choosing to focus the duo behind the pages … the writers or artists that come together to make magic. Wonder twins activate:

#10. Frank Miller and Jim Lee: Batman and Robin

Frank Miller has always been a writer that I have enjoyed reading (and his artwork is just as dark and dramatic). The work he has been turning out with Jim Lee on the Batman and Robin title is some of his best.  Miller has visited this character many times in the past, and each time he has brought something special to the book. However, with the help of Lee, this title is some of the gruffest, roughest work I’ve seen featuring the Dark Knight.  The duo often lets many months lapse between titles (I suppose that’s the byproduct of Miller’s new career in film), but it’s always worth the wait.

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MRJ Constructors had outgrown its original web site, the technology and design were outdated. The core objective of MRJ Constructors’ new web site was to demonstrate their capabilities for large commercial construction projects. Secondary objectives included streamlining updates to the web site through a content management system and featuring photography throughout the site.

Bullseye Creative designed a new web site for MRJ Constructors that featured full screen background images of large commercial construction projects. Without reading a word of the text, the web site imagery defines the capabilities. The content management system needed to be developed with special features such as photo resizing and cropping to effectively handle the portfolio photo galleries. Organization of projects and project types was also an important feature of the content management system and future web site growth. In over a year now, MRJ Constructors has been able to make all the required web site updates through the content management system.

MRJ Constructors' Homepage

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My job here at Bullseye encompasses a myriad of tasks. One of them is handling the social media for our clients. I have found a number of resources which help me get done what I need to get done.  If you handle social media for your business and you’re not using these three web-based applications you should really check them out. They sure make my job easier.

HootSuite
When I work on our clients Twitter accounts I use HootSuite more than any other application. With HootSuite I can manage multiple accounts, post tweets in advance, see click rates for a chosen time period, see click rates for individual tweets, integrate Google URL building for tracking within Google Analytics, see up automated RSS feeds for any twitter account that I’d like to RT, and a lot more. HootSuite also integrates with Facebook (even Fan pages), WordPress, and LinkedIn so you can post to other social networks all from one place.

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Straight from the 2010 Emerald City Comicon

Since there was considerable interest in last week’s pre-Comicon sketchbook post, I figured y’all might get a charge out of seeing a sample of the latest additions to our collections. Peter gained a couple of nice Dr. Doom Sketches and I added a few to my Hellboy book! Hope you like..

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Yes, we really do. Literally. We’re in the business of developing long-term relationships (that rock) with our clients that extend beyond their brands and campaigns. What our clients love about us, besides our (rockin’) work, is that we become a part of their lives, and they become a part of ours. Every few years or so, we throw a party to celebrate our company birthday and we always invite our clients to be a part of the celebration.

Our favorite party to date, and one that our clients talk about most, is our “Bullseye Turns It Up To 11″ party.  Planning began many months before the big night. We held many brainstorming sessions with the creative crew discussing exactly how we’d like to wow our clients, friends, family and ourselves this time around. We chose our party’s theme for three important reasons. First, because our Bullseye family was 11 years old. Secondly, Bullseye is Seattle’s loudest Rock n Roll firm – so we needed to represent that in the creative. Lastly, we are lovers of pop culture.  For the uninitiated, the phrase “turning it up to 11″ or “this one goes to 11″ is a popular line from famous mockumentary, “This is Spinal Tap”.  Wikipedia describes “Up to eleven” or “these go to eleven” as phrases from pop culture which have come to mean anything being exploited to its utmost abilities (which is what we do).  Similarly, the expression “turning it up to eleven” may refer to the act of taking something to an extreme. (Like marketing, and great creative!) This made a Spinal Tap themed party the obvious choice.

Watch this video snippet and you’ll see what we mean.

In true rock fashion, we sent out signed and numbered screen-printed concert posters as invitations, with a follow up online RSVP. We prepped our office, turning it into a rock club and painted rockstar quotes and a 13-foot winged and flaming Bullseye logo on our walls.  We hired The Great Nabob as bartenders and brainstormed specialty rock drinks as well as contracted Gallucci’s Catering to design, cook and serve our rock menu.  One of our favorite rock-star quotes, “For Those About to Rock, We Salute You” (AC/DC) stands as a testament to how we see our clients – as those about to rock. Our clients had a great time that night – they got an opportunity to see a different creative side of Bullseye, and we got to show them how much we appreciate them. Bottom line is, we rocked it.

We created an online post-party site. Check it out. Stay tuned for news of the next over-the-top event!

Seattle's Loudest Rock-N-Roll Creative Agency

To encourage students of the on-line educational program Insight Schools to check in with the platform regularly, Bullseye Creative worked with partner, Team Soapbox, to develop and deliver a frequency participation program. The campaign awarded students for logging into their schooling system on a daily basis. Bullseye designed and developed a custom “Build a Band” Flash game where students would be able to interact with a progressively expanding collection of musicians, instruments, backgrounds, special effects, and more. In the end, an accumulating point total also rewarded the students with fun gifts and prizes. The “Insight Rocks” campaign was a smashing success with the students as the participation was high and the post-campaign feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Bullseye Creative developed a mini version of the overall game to be used as a demo. Elements of the game have been changed to make a quick demo possible, visit http://buildabandgame.bullseyeclient.net for a sample of the game interaction.

Screenshot From the Build a Band Game

Interactive online games continue to grow, Facebook has effectively leveraged this phenomenon. In Aug of 2009 Facebook had over 11 million daily users of Farmville (Source mashable.com). Last week Myspace announced they think (hope) gaming can save its platform.

Online interactive games can have objectives that range from advertising (advergaming info),  pay-to-play models or even education. One thing’s for sure, consumers spend a lot of time interacting with online games, that could be time spent interacting with your company’s brand.

A Cool Project for Any Fan of Comics

I Just wanted to drop a quick post on you — in light of the Emerald City Comicon coming to Seattle March 13 and 14. A number of years back, when Peter and I started going to this particular show, we got an idea from our friend-in-comics, Jim Demonakos, to create a book of illustrations from industry artists coming to the show. As many people know, the artists will gladly sketch something for you, if asked (a small fee might be necessary). Sometimes they’ll even do it for FREE!

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Create a Celtic Knot in Nine Easy Steps

This is a totally harmless little Adobe Illustrator exercise. I recently got an e-mail from a former intern, asking for some advice on a celtic knot graphic he was trying to re-create. I told him I was happy to oblige. Maybe you can get something out of this, as well. If you are an average user of Illustrator, I think this is up your alley. Keep it loose and have fun.

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Recently, web developers around the world have pushed hard to end support for Internet Explorer 6.0 (often going toe-to-toe with clients who insist on developing alternate versions of their sites for this small segment of their audience).  One glance at Browser Statistics from W3schools.com shows how much IE6 usage has dropped off over the past several years.  In February 2010, the percentage of world-wide users on IE6 dropped below 10% for the first time (down from more than 30% just two years earlier).  However, our theory is that this number is skewed by an army of developers who are using the browser for development testing.  The actual percentage of end-users who are still on IE6 is likely a lot lower.

One creative solution we often recommend to our clients is to feature a warning message to IE6 users and invite them to upgrade their browser.  We’ve seen some creative ways to present this warning, but our favorite has to be the blunt message displayed in the footer of Tyler Thompson’s newtoyork.com web blog.  With the frank honesty you can only find on a personal soapbox site, Tyler speaks on behalf of all web developers who wish they had the balls to be as direct:

“Hi, if you are coming to this site via Internet Explorer 6, you might not be getting the best experience possible. Honestly, I can’t even begin to think about what your entire experience on the internet must be like? (…probably like riding a bike on the highway while cars blow by you on their way to Costco to get gallons of mayonnaise and 60-inch plasma TV’s). How will you ever be able to use this website?????? You wont. You’re an asshole and your browser is an asshole. So look, I’m going to be honest: I kind of hate you. BUT we c-a-n make this work. Here is what I am going to need you to do: fire up your Toshiba ShitBook© that weighs about 45 pounds, wipe the Cheeto dust off the screen, download Safari, delete Internet Explorer from your computer, punch yourself in the face, and get me a pulled pork sandwich.”

Pulled pork? Perhaps. Pulled punches? Nope.

Our site has changed a lot over the years, as we change with ebb and flow of the branding, design and development world.

Here’s a few screen-shots of of the life and times of our own site. Stay tuned for the launch of our new site coming out later this year.

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