modern8 eNews: November 2002

modern8 Principal and Creative Director Randall Smith has been in business for himself for over 20 years, but the current manifestation celebrates its first birthday this month. November 2001 marked the end of Smith Sligting Partners and the beginning of modern8. Surprisingly, it took a full year to wind-up legal matters surrounding the break-up of the Smith Sligting partnership.

The name modern8 has no real meaning, but was chosen to avoid calling attention to individuals' names. We recognize that creativity is a collaborative process between clients and all employees, all contributing to successful solutions.

This issue of the modern8 eNews looks back at our first year, with photos of our office spread throughout.

With a little remodeling, we move into another cool old building at 561 West 200 South just a half a block from the new Gateway development. With exposed brick, hardwood floors, 14-foot ceilings and room to grow at 3,200 square feet, the new office is a hit with employees and clients. The modern, techy look of Herman Miller "Resolve" office furniture and Aeron chairs contrast well with the 100-year-old building.

In between working on websites for others, we finish our own in February www.modern8.com. The site is substantial, but organized into three simple sections: About Us, Portfolio and Contact. Of course, websites are never really done. We're adding to it all the time. Check out the news section for recent press releases and past issues of this newsletter. The portfolio section is the heart of the website. Organized by project type as well as by industry, the portfolio shows photos of completed projects, many with multiple views.

Perception Branding, a proprietary methodology developed by modern8 for implementing branding programs, makes its debut. The methodology defines the brand's persona as an emotionally charged platform for developing brand-design solutions. The white paper entitled "Perception Branding" posted to the modern8 website in PDF form receives a remarkable amount of downloads: www.modern8.com/whitepaper.pdf

Discover, Distill, Depict, Design, Deploy: the five-step process known as 5d, is outlined in a Flash demonstration in the About Us section of the modern8 website: www.modern8.com/?page=what. The brand design process is employed by modern8 for implementing Perception Branding programs. The first three steps in 5d are the pre-design steps that define a profile of the brand attributes, the brand contract and the target audience. These three steps are used alone in a Perception Branding consultation or they can be used as a critical first step before a major design or advertising initiative.

"Living the Brand" model introduced. A successful brand implementation touches areas not always associated with marketing. Congruence occurs when all marketing efforts, no matter how indirect, are speaking with a unified voice, each aligned with the Brand Contract. The Brand Contract is the target audience "take away" after engaging the brand.

In the past year we've created four significant identities www.modern8.com/?page=project_type, designed and programmed three major websites (besides our own), www.crs-retail.com, www.kepcoplus.com, and www.becdendental.com, with another in progress. We also designed and placed five magazine ads, created numerous items of corporate and promotional literature, an annual report, a poster, a retail display, a 100-page magazine and a 72-page book, with postcards, Power Point presentations, forms and pocket folders in between. No wonder we're tired.

We look forward to another year of success and thank our clients who give us the opportunity to do what we love.