creative303

Colorado's first MMJ PR shop opens its doors

2010-10-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

Let's all take a few seconds to get the weed jokes out of the way, then marvel for a bit as we find ourselves in one of those "the future is now" moments. If you ever imagined that you'd drive down a Denver street and see medical marijuana dispensaries everywhere, then surely you imagined the corollary: a day when all those stores would need their own communications firm. Enter Grow Room Communications, who announced their Colorado opening this week.

A release on PRWeb (there was no direct contact info on the release) positions Grow Room Communications as the "...first and only business development and public relations firm exclusively focused on the medical marijuana industry..." Washington, D.C. and 14 states have MMJ dispensaries, and they're stating a willingness to work with any and all.

Has MMJ really grown up so fast? It seems like just yesterday that these stores started opening, but it looks like market maturity is on overdrive. We're looking forward to seeing how it all turns out in this strange new world. In the meantime, where did we put those rocket slippers we bought yesterday?

Mayor Hick's "cold shower" ad makes Gawker Media political ad roundup

2010-10-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

Regardless of which camp you fall into, political ads can provide a degree of entertainment — especially if someone at Gawker Media is willing to wade through them all and compile the best ones. Among the honorees was John Hickenlooper's "cold shower" spot:

Pretty tame by today's declining standards. Our creative director gives points to the Hickenlooper camp for their use of color and typography in their overall campaign identity. He found it a refreshing change from the usual block type and red-white-and blue color palette. Do you believe any other local political work belongs on the list?

Jeremy Fulco's dual roles bring Creative 303 and Player's Bench closer to the customer

2010-09-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

As content manager for Creative 303, Jeremy Fulco is responsible for gathering and managing all text and images for every client deliverable. But on evenings and weekends, he laces up for Creative 303 client and Denver-based hockey retailer Player's Bench as a sales associate. Like the rare player on the ice who can skate like a forward or a defenseman, Jeremy provides a critical link between agency, client and customer that is bound by the glue of hockey passion.

A former college player from Michigan, Fulco landed the sales job at Player's Bench not long after coming on board here at 303. The advantages were obvious: his in-the-trenches view of what customers were responding to gave him insight into our efforts to boost online sales at PlayersBench.com. And Jeremy's rapport with Player's Bench leadership helps Creative 303's design team be more responsive to client feedback, which shortens overall creative production time. Player's Bench CEO Rick Boh and COO Mike Callahan are, like Jeremy, former players. Culturally, the company prides itself on being a "by the players, for the players" retailer whose employee immersion in the sport results in a better consultative buying experience.

"Being in the sport takes over your mind, body and soul," says Fulco. "To have that connection with your client and their customers gives you a deeper understanding of and commitment to the relationship."

It's the perfect alignment of individual interest and team strategy, and a prime example of how boutique creative agencies can forge the intimate local bonds that keep teammates like Jeremy in service to their passion and in touch with the needs of two critical audiences at once.

DC Shoes branding officer turns personal passion into viral gold

2010-09-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

We came across this sick viral for DC Shoes. It's not hard to see why this video turned into a marketing coup for the brand. It definitely made that empty parking lot across the street look totally different. Check out the video, and an accompanying article from Ad Age below:

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Five years ago, DC Shoes founder Ken Block decided he needed another challenge beyond being his footwear and apparel company's chief brand officer. So at age 37, he embarked upon another career: rally racing. But it wasn't just a lark. Mr. Block, who oversees product design and development as well as marketing, was actually good, winning Rookie of the Year honors on the Rally America circuit, and getting a sponsor in the process.

But the rally-racing marketing executive also recently gained fame with another, perhaps dubious, honor, as having made and appearing in one of the top 10 viral ads of all time.

Read the rest here...

Senior creatives leaving big shops to start boutique agencies

2010-09-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

This NYT article about top-level creative talent leaving big agencies to start their own projects struck a chord here at Creative 303. Our CCO and founder John Meyer — who also bailed on a big shop to start Creative 303 — found it quite resonant. Excerpt below...there's also another great article on the same subject over at Ad Age. Enjoy!

Co:, with a colon, is the name of an agency being opened in New York by Ty Montague and Rosemarie Ryan, who surprised Madison Avenue in March by disclosing that they would leave their senior posts at the giant JWT for an entrepreneurial venture. The name — perhaps one of the pithiest for any agency — is meant to suggest the Co: business model by evoking words like co-creation, collaboration and co-venturing.
Fittingly, Mr. Montague and Ms. Ryan had been co-presidents of the North American operations of JWT, part of WPP; she arrived at the agency in 2004 and he joined a year later. Mr. Montague had also been chief creative officer for North America. They joined a lengthy list of top executives of large agencies who have recently left to open their own shops, take ownership stakes in smaller agencies or, in some instances, quit advertising.

Artist Laurie Maves interprets Creative 303 in original painting

2010-09-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

Creative 303 recently commissioned the amazing Laurie Maves to paint a piece of artwork for our office. We sought her out because of her unique, fresh, and timely perspective on the work she does. In her own words: "I believe artists have a special responsibility in creating art to be as green as they possibly can, and use their own creativity to explore new ways of presenting the mundane and ordinary to the world in new and challenging ways."

That kind of perspective really drew us to Laurie. Check out the finished work below:

John Common adds musical shine to Ignite Boulder

2010-09-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

We sent our social media intern @eric_alex to look in on this week's Ignite Boulder, which dares some of the most brilliant, insightful and outrageous people in Colorado — from teachers to waitresses, ad geeks to meteorologists — to meet Ignite's one major requirement: be interesting. The presentations are often over the top, as you can see here:

Probably the coolest part of the whole experience was the intermission performance by John Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light. Our friends over at bieMEDIA and 511 Productions worked with him to create a promotional video in January for the release of his latest album. It was humbling to get the opportunity to see him and his amazingly talented band perform.

Overall, a great night of fun with some of the most interesting, unique, and creative people in Colorado! We'll definitely be hitting up the next one, as well as the smaller but equally awesome Ignite Denver.

Check out some of the amazing photos taken by @bradcrooks here.

Creative 303 too busy creating for clients to create for ourselves

2010-08-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry we've been MIA — there have been some big changes here at Creative 303 and a ton of new business that has kept us constantly on the move. We've finally found a moment to breathe/blog, so here it is. We'll be updating you on all the latest Creative 303 news, so look out for new posts this week!

WPP Ogilvy apologizes for BP

2010-06-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

As BP's efforts to end the 40-day-old oil spill still show no signs of success and the Obama administration announced a criminal and civil investigation into the spill, the company is promising it "will get it done" and "make this right" via print advertising.

Since late May the company has been running full-page ads on a consistent basis in major daily news publications such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Washington Post. It has also been running local ads around the Gulf states with information on the clean-up effort and how to contact BP, a spokesman for the oil giant said. The spokesman wasn't sure how long the print campaign would continue but said the company's communications plans were still "evolving." WPP's Ogilvy, BP's creative lead agency, which did not create the print ads, referred calls to the company.

Creative 303 takes over creative for PlayersBench

2010-05-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

Rick Boh – Founder & President PlayersBench | John Meyer – Chief Creative Officer Creative 303

PlayersBench has selected Creative 303 in Denver to handle its creative duties and all of its online business following a review last week. Creative 303 succeeds a Boston shop on the business. “It’s a very important piece of business for us”, said John Meyer, Founder and Chief Creative Officer for Creative 303. “PlayersBench came to us looking to get to the next level and expand their online capabilities”. PlayersBench, one of the nation’s largest distributors of Hockey and Lacrosse equipment, is currently in four states, with its largest retail presence in Denver. Creative 303 creates high profile work appearing across various traditional and digital channels.

Recruiting at Colorado Academy

2010-05-26T15:56:00.001-07:00

Creative 303 was at Colorado Academy today for the “Draw Your Own” class. John Meyer, Chief Creative Officer of Creative 303 in Denver, Colorado took charge of Mrs. Brink’s 3rd grade class. His challenge was to share and demonstrate to a group of 20 kids how to draw a penguin. Drawing on his fine art background and a long-ago summer internship with Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, he led the class in a 30-minute drawing exercise. The drawings were judged by Creative 303 art director Jordan Holloway. The top winner for her drawing was Momo. Creative 303 was asked to come back and give another workshop. We are looking forward to our Summer interns...who will be joining us around 2025.

1200 sf ft of pure awesome.

2010-05-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

new design studio in montreal.

great coupon for the HOW conference in Denver

2010-05-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Free CS5 class at the HOW conference here.

New kid on the block...

2010-05-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is Alix and I am currently an advertising major at the University of Colorado in Boulder. This is my first internship (and my first time blogging about anything) so I am really excited about all these firsts!! I'm pretty fascinated with advertising and give everyone who is a part of it props because it is a very integrated and time consuming process, much more so than I realized. There is never a dull moment and always something exciting going on. What other job combines creativity, art, strategy, planning, and events all in one?? I'm really excited about my opportunity and know that there are many more exciting things to come!

We will be attending this. You Should Too.

2010-05-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

TYPO

Great Commercial Shot with only One Camera: Olympus PEN

2010-05-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

Another Great Ad for the World Cup

2010-05-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

World Cup Advertising

2010-05-18T10:11:00.001-07:00

As an avid futbol fan, i am very excited to see the World Cup this year. It is being broadcast from South Africa. There have been some videos from puma, addidas and nike on the subject. All work seen so far has been stunning. So stunning that Ad Age did an article on the matter at hand: HERE.

Luncheon by Design

2010-05-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, John and Liza attended the Denver Art Museum’s annual Luncheon by Design which featured an amazing presentation by the legendary fashion house Hermes. The presentation featured an Hermes craftsman, flown in with the presses from Lyon, France who has worked for the company for over 40 years. He demonstrated the process of printing and finishing an Hermes scarf, while telling the fascinating history of the company. The luncheon hosted 175 guests who were treated to a delicious lunch and a stunning setting, complete with six spectacular, ten foot square ceiling décor pieces made from scarves, and elegant table arrangements. Each place setting was completed with a set of NorthCreek note cards, designed by Creative 303, wrapped in an Hermes orange silk ribbon, that highlighted the elements used in the new ad campaign created by Creative 303.

Totally Sweet Neighbors Moving In!!!!!

2010-05-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

My head is literally exploding with excitement that is Moe's Original Bar B Que. This is the most radical thing that has happened on Broadway between 5th and 6th in 10 years. Words cannot come to fruition because of jaw dropping awe that is Moe's Original Bar B Que.

Too Much?

Mark Evan's Work

2010-04-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.markevansart.com/

just go there. amazing work.

Social Media Awareness

2010-04-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

Cool Article in Advertising Age.

really _______ typographic logos

2010-04-06T09:09:00.001-07:00

these are pretty clever and cool. please take 5 min and check them out.

mad men season 3 available now.

2010-03-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

i was reading ad age this morning and i saw the lucky strike package. i just thought of the mad men developing that idea. the article is a decade by decade breakout of advertising firsts. click to read here.

google news

2010-03-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

google is threatening to pull out of china loosing 2.3% revenue, which only adds up to 500 million. only. read about it here. cool to see the outsourcing come to a halt. way to lead by example google.

just amazing

2010-03-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

real life art blows my mind. naturally this did: CHECK IT

loving the throwbacks

2010-03-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

soda throwback cans in ad age

CS5 Launch

2010-03-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

i'm sure everyone in the graphics world is excited about the release of cs5. according to the cs5.org website it is to be released on april 21. here at 303 we are working on quad core machines with snow leopard OS which means a 64 bit platform. well cs4 and back are written on 32 bit platforms so they are processing SLOWER than a duo core. excited to see what i5 and i7 processors will do with a 64 bit version of adobe.

RED Cameras

2010-03-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

in my quest for being on the top of the game, when it comes to technology, i recently came across the red camera. this camera company, i love. they came out of no where, offered an amazing product at an amazing price. most 720p studio cameras with 1/2 chipset are $5,000.00 or so. that is a 2k camera, or 2000+ pixels wide. just to give you a reference standard television is broadcast in 480i, which is 480 pixels across. the red cameras come at you with a base model of 2/3 chipset and with 3k resolution for $5,500.00. and everything with the red camera to top notch, aluminum body, great lenses, etc. becoming a top end production company requires 2 things, skills and equipment. getting into a business with 2 cameras, 4 lenses and 2 MCP's for under $22,000.00 is kind of amazing. and the real thing that blows my mind is the RED EPIC 617 28k camera. which is 28,000 pixels wide. just mind blowing the resolution on that. literally can't find a screen to place that resolution.

hilarious.

2010-03-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

check this out.

creepily interesting...

2010-02-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

The North Face has i'm assuming the factory labs came up with this marketing strategy. The New York Times posted this and it is very interesting and creepy. knowing that TNF knows where i am at all times, kinda invasion of privacy.

"it's just..."

2010-02-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

'Just' is one of those nasty Four Letter words

'Just' is quite rightly included amongst the C2 wiki list of Alarm Bell Phrases. It's a dangerous word that should be used as sparingly as possible. As a developer, it's a word you hear far too often: "this will just take a few days", "it's just a couple of web-pages", and of course the ultimate: "it should just work."

'Just' is a vague, almost condescending diminutive. Nine times out of ten, it means this:

I do not know, but it is in my interest to estimate optimistically.

Generally, you'll find that if you have a definite idea of the size of something, or the amount of effort required, the word 'just' quickly vanishes from your vocabulary. Not because the thing is necessarily large, but because even being certain that something is small removes the need to qualify its smallness: it becomes what it is, no more, no less, no 'just' required.

good article

2010-02-15T11:51:00.000-08:00

banner ads, to many graphic designers, are a thing of annoyance, but this article in adweek exlpains how to have fun with banner ads...

not to be political, but...

2010-02-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

yesterday, obama talked about the 2010 budget. well in 2008 our GDP was about 13.5 trillion and our debt was 8.7 trillion, which is 64% . well with the new budget for 2010 we have a 3.94 trillion dollar budget with 2.19 trillion dollars in our pockets. that means there will be a 1.75 trillion dollar deficit added to our federal debt. if china calls in to the US we are screwed. we did it do the british over the suez canal and china can now do it the US. not sure if it is a good time to be a young person. the future does not look grim. maybe we will go the way of denmark with 90% tax rate? we have to make this budget up some how. i think it was stated that if everyone american citizen puts in $175,000 we will be back at sea level. do you have that kind of cash lying around?

ipad

2010-02-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

as with a lot of people, we were all busy watching the keynote of the ipad being brought to life. after much analysis of the product I have come to decide I do not need one. having an iphone and mac computer. it is interesting, the battery is an amazing advance, but everything else has kinda been around. and what I can't believe is there is no isight camera. the ipad would have been the perfect tool for skype-ing. for $500 to have a slim tab to skype with family members would be great. to have a screen that big with resolution that they can now put into those cameras. it would have been an amazing device...but i guess to keep the price point at 500 was hard enough. they should release an option to have a camera.

my two cents.

aesthetically...it looks beautiful with the exception of the bezel...but i guess for the power button...not sure.

thank you for bringing this to my attention...

2010-01-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

the denver egotist brought something to light that i have books on but would love a website instead. this article is a great thing for burgeoning web designers, graphic designers, art directors, and so forth... it is as follows the article explains all of these shortcuts that are in Photoshop (Ps) that you always mouse to. like, cmnd + shift + (.) increases your type by 2 points. time saving is an understatement. check it out, will do you some good.

The Big Swinging....Technology

2010-01-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

This article in Ad Age reminds me of my Commencement Speech for my undergrad. Raymond Kurzweil was the commencement speaker. he spoke of the singularity, and how present it really is. what he talks about is how technology and price points are increasing/decreasing at an incredible rate. as technology gets better, the price goes down. something that really hit me was the iphone 3Gs. in 1999 the Pentium 3 chip came out. with it came with 500MHz of processing power and less then 256 MB of RAM. that was ten years ago. the iphone 3Gs comes with 866MHz and 512 MB of RAM. and it is about 1/20th the size. it is so crazy to think how fast technology moves. also, that computer was $5,000.00 US. the iphone OFF a plan is $600.00 US with the plan $200.00 US. it blows my mind to think what technology will overcome in 2020. hell, i am excited to see what apple comes out with in the next 3 years.

Guy Kawasaki "The Art of Innovation..."

2010-01-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

cool work by Guy Kawasaki. HERE.

Adrian Shaughnessy

2010-01-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

I am reading one of Adrian Shaunessy's books right now. And he has some great quotes that, even in my short time in the business, are completely relatable. i.e.

"During the time that I ran a studio, and despite having some blue-chip clients and, at one giddy moment, 40 members of staff, I never employed account handlers. Why? Because 'account handling' was something done by advertising agencies and big soulless design groups as a way of distancing their clients from the messy business of creativity, and this was the opposite of what my studio stood for. We believed in letting out clients see the blood on the floor.
But in truth, account handling was what I mostly did: hand-holding nervous and mistrustful clients; listening to them; placating them; remonstrating with them; and sometimes admitting to them that we'd screwed up. But although this is what I did, I refused to call it account handling. I called it: looking after clients, and showing them what we do, and letting them know where and how their money was being spent."

I am enjoying his book immensely.

Big Ups for Small Creative Cos.

2010-01-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

This article published in ADWEEK today, explains how small business in the creative industry will grow in 2010. Interesting article for sure.

new year, new...

2010-01-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

here at 303 we are excited for the new year.

we are starting out with new hires, on the management side.

more info to come soon.

Come Meet Scott Mcinnis

2009-12-28T09:00:00.001-08:00

Here is the Invite

Republican Candidate for Governor, Scott Mcinnis, will be discussing campaign topics for the 2010 Governor election. This will be a chance for you to come in and talk with Scott, one on one. If you know me then you probably know how I feel about republicans. Scott is not your typical Republican. The is really great chance to ask him questions about his campaign, the future of colorado, and any other random questions you might have. he likes to answer any questions you throw at him, no matter how hard/pressuring they might be.

He will be coming to my place of work on January 6th at 6 pm to discuss the issues. I would really suggest you come and enjoy the food and listen to him speak.

This is an open invitation to all who read this. Please come, see our space, and meet Scott.

2009-12-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

this is the ad we put out in DINING OUT for our client mor beverage.

CD - John Meyer

AD - Jeff Previdi

AD - Jordan Holloway

Photo: Yours Truly

sorry it's been a while, we have been busy.

2009-12-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

we started working with this client named at the time "The Vault." named for the building they worked out of. they came to us with a rush project of getting their logo, mission statement and identity book done. well 2 weeks later it's done. all 30 pages. along with over 100 logos. here is the book and as follows, is the logo they landed on. they are now called ELEVEN. without further adieu ... ELEVEN

Denver’s most exclusive “membership only” social club. ELEVEN will offer world-class amenities coupled with unparalleled personal service. Members will have access to the best experiences in the hospitality, dining, nightlife and entertainment worlds that Denver has to offer.

photoshop vs. paint

2009-12-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

“I understand that you prefer to use photoshop, but we don’t feel like that program is universal enough. If you could do all of the design work in Microsoft Paint it would be easier for us to edit what you do and give you an idea of the changes we want.”

i found this very hysterical. we here at creative 303 are lucky enough to have clients that 'trust' our work. they pay for our creative, they do not pay to critique our creative.

thanks john

2009-11-30T10:08:00.001-08:00

"give me more ideas to reject."

a few hours, and 15 years experience.

2009-11-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

great client story.

Shanahan's Work to date.

2009-11-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

Marc Steron formerly the GM of Del Frisco’s approached John Meyer, now of Creative 303, last October of 2008 to create his logo for the new restaurant he was creating with Mike Shanahan and Steve Mooney – Shanahan’s. It started with a signature from Mike Shanahan then we took it from there.

The logo mark was created as a custom signature with a slight italic. The final decision was to go with the logo in a rich brown, to symbolize a classic steak house. For our signage, we selected YESCO signs, a nationally recognized sign company specializing in high-end outdoor signage. (The Wynn Hotel, etc.). We worked on a technology that during the day the sign was it’s signature brown, but at night the sign would glow white. We were also asked to design the letterhead, business cards, menu, matchbooks and to-go bags. Marc Steron has done an amazing job with the overall project from the design itself to the interior design, furniture, custom art work and the technology. What a place it will be to get a great steak, seafood and a cocktail.

Now some pictures...

new favorite site...

2009-11-20T08:48:00.001-08:00

http://clientsfromhell.tumblr.com/page/1

new clients

2009-11-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

sorry for the delay on blogs, recently we have been busy designing sites for larraz construction, mor beverage, as well as our own. in the big picture, we have been having a lot of client meetings, and shopping books meyer has done to people. today we are meeting on a new fitness chain of gyms. excited to see the space and start working on the brand, logo, website, and outdoor. the egotist said, "Interesting time to be starting an agency, to be sure." i whole hearted agree with him. if you do good work, and know people who need work done, then it is a most fruitful endeavor indeed. good luck to the dinosaurs, the time of the small boutique shops, i think, are on the increase. how many shops has the egotist brought to light with 3 people leaving crispin, ddb, bbdo, deutsch, y&r, hal, and others? all top people are starting their own shops with 2 clients. just enough to keep 10 people busy and well fed. i like the philosophy. 3 cents.

mondays

2009-11-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

here at creative 303 we have noticed that mondays seem to be slower and contain no good news. after a fair number of mondays with this mentality we are thinking about working tuesday - saturday. not sure, it just seems that tuesdays are always better and contain better news. i mean today is a beautiful day and the broncos are playing. we are hoping to get outside for lunch and enjoy the weather. maybe the spicy pickle on broadway and 9th. they have outdoor seating. regardless, lets all have a good monday and be excited for the week ahead. we are, clients are coming in and they are excited to do so, so that's good.

Smartwool Fashion Show

2009-11-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

Creative 303's Photographer/Art Director Jordan Holloway was busy the past 2 days covering the Smartwool Fall Line Fashion Show. A very promising line indeed.

aluminum bottles, seriously?

2009-11-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

for our client mor beverage we have been looking up aluminum bottle designs. seriously how can coke land on the fat boy style can. there is literally an endless sea of possibilities. crazy tops, shapes, and everything in between. some companies out there are really having fun with the milling and shaping of aluminum. cool stuff.

snow snow, keep a comin'

2009-10-29T13:29:00.001-07:00

the snow is a fallin' and we are loving it here at creative 303. some of our employees have passes to eldora and are biting their nails because to the 30+ inches of snow that eldora is getting. yet due to the fact that it is on state land they cannot open till Nov. 20th. working from the office today. hope the snow stays till the weekend for some serious sledding.

the fugees

2009-10-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

ready or not here i come, you can't hide.

we are playing the fugees here at 303.

website proposal

2009-10-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

sorry i have not been up to date recently, we are kind of busy doing websites. we have 3 website proposals that we need to put into action. also we are listening to some kanye west, again. i got john introduced to him and he has become a staple here at 511 broadway.

Republican Candidate for Gov.

2009-10-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight Creative 303 will be shaking hands with Republican Candidate for Gov. of Colorado, Scott McInnis. The meet and greet is being held at a private residence. We are looking very forward to meeting Scott in person.

weather, weather, come this way

2009-10-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

the snow is on its way. hurry up and hit the mts. get a good 36 inch base this weekend. that would be nice. thanks.

clients who change their minds at a moments notice

2009-10-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

it is funny as i have seen clients come and go, the clients who stay trust the creative. the ones who leave don't. they are constantly changing their mind. and then they don't understand once they have approved a piece of work, it goes through the rigorous mechanical stage of work, where everything is made perfect, which costs money. then after all is said and done, it is sent to the printer and they have worked it up in their software. at this point the client has an Epiphany and says we need to scrap it all. but they don't want to pay for it all, not having realized all of the hours that go into finalizing an idea. well it is too late now, and kind of funny to us. good luck with trying to get free work for 40+ hours. getting back to really good clients, we have a meeting with mor beverage this week.

vita here in denver

2009-10-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

last night creative 303 was on the scene for Liz and Doug Browns Wedding that took place over yonder on the other side of I-25. after the wedding there was a reception at Vita in denver. great restaurant. had the bacon wrapped chicken half breast. delicious. you should go to vita.

whoa youtube

2009-10-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

we got a youtube page. just search creative 303 and you will find it.

finalizing the website

2009-10-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

we have been working diligently on our website to get it up so we can get rid of that splash page. we are about done, just need to implement our files. this afternoon having a new client meeting, it really is crazy how doing a good job for someone means them spreading word of mouth about our business. 2 new clients, thanks jeff.

2009-10-13T10:41:00.001-07:00

it was a fun night on thursday. thanks a lot to mitch peterson for taking the images. next time we are thinking the wynn hotel for our destination.

musician vs. instrument

2009-10-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

as i was driving into work today, Beyonce's song 'Halo'. the song itself is really good, Beyonce has a brilliant voice. then i got to thinking, Beyonce and people like her are not musicians, for they do not write, they are purely an instrument. the have a voice coach who tells them how to sing, a producer who making the backing band, and a write to give them lyrics. the only thing they have is a voice, which is still an amazing gift, but everything else is spelled out and bound. they, being wealthy contracted vocalists/bands, only have to do what is on the paper. after thinking about all this i appreciated starting bands, and bands that write all their own material. bands like white stripes, and anything Jack White does for that matter, Metallica, Radiohead, and a bunch of the big bands that could higher all the needed help. granted there is always a producer here, but a lot of musicians are becoming musician/producer. and the ones that aren't are bringing in people like Rick Rubin to guide the helm. i would be really interested to have a line up of the top bands/singers of 08/09 and see of the albums released who wrote their own material, both music and vocals. i bet everyone would be surprised who would step up to be real musicians.

on a side note, i really wish U2 would stop making music/performing. i saw them on SNL and it was a joke, bono kneeling giving parents advice on raising their children. i wonder if they write all of their own material?

new clientele

2009-10-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

we are in the process of closing a new QSR client. should be good, went to try the food, was very happy. needs a lot of work though. the brand work that is.

Linguistics

2009-10-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

i was reading a book this week that was talking about the word 'sincerely', it was extremely interesting. so sincere, comes from Latin 'sine' 'cera' which means without wax. apparently when sculptors of the Renaissance would make a mistake in a sculpture, they would hide the mistake with a combination of wax and stone dust. when a sculpture was sincere it was without wax, it was 'true' so to speak. so when we sign our letter sincerely we mean truthfully. i thought that was interesting. know any other history of the spoken word?

irving penn passes away

2009-10-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

i was reading the times this morning and noticed that Irving Penn passed away yesterday in his NY home. His obituary is posted here in the NY Times. very good read, i suggest it. he truely is one of the last great masters. as mark sink put it an end of an era.

great tag lines that you sing

2009-10-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

i was singing in the shower, like i do most days, and the tune that came to mind was one from my childhood. it went as follows, "the best part of waking up, is foldgers in your cup." what a great line/song. what are some of your favorite tag lines/songs combos.

price per unit

2009-09-28T09:54:00.001-07:00

i wonder what price per unit on these dorito bag/boxes are? pretty cool concept, but how does it seal? i just thought it was pretty damn interesting. more images at here.

the lost symbol

2009-09-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

last week i bought Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. well i am in deep and enjoying the read very much so. as i read it i realize how much research goes into writing a book of that magnitude. after his 2 other Robert Langdon book have been scrutinized so vividly this book had to have about no fallacies, and if they did they would have to be stated. well i am learning a lot about Washington dc that i was not aware of. regardless its a great, fast read. i am still a large fan of deception point. i am kind of a science geek and the plot about NASA being a monopoly and explaining why they are so in debt because they undercut every small space exploration company out there. it was a great book.

anyways also an interesting fact about this book, is the kindle(tablet) version of this book has more sales than the hard copy on amazon.com. really stressing the fact that the virtual age is upon us, books that aren't printed, just put onto a flash drive. think of how many books you could hold on a 16 gig flash drive for your tablet, that is lit, slim, and cool to show off.

color switch

2009-09-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

after much debate we are switching from our cyan blue to a chocolate brown. it looks pretty rich and classic. lets hope the business cards come out the way we think they will. we are getting them at rob's foils and dyes down off 6th and 25th. pretty awesome place i suggest checking it out.

new slang

2009-09-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

keep f**king that chicken = keep up the good work. you can now use that phrase in the work place fyi.

kanye west

2009-09-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

i think you can say what you want to about kanye west, but he does make some good albums. 808's and heartbreaks was not great, but his first and third cd were extremely good. i think he really came out strong in the first and then got his rhythm in the third working with good artists and mixing good samples. i will be honest i am looking forward to his new work. so he has an ego, and he is a little brash about it. i think he is good at what he does - producing, marketing himself and rapping. now dressing is a different subject. he needs a stylist.

"THE NEW PHONE BOOKS ARE HERE!!! THE NEW PHONE BOOKS ARE HERE!!!"

2009-09-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

our new signs arrived this morning. i think they look pretty sharp. how do you like it? now when you walk past 511 broadway you can clearly see that we are taking up space. have a good/rainy monday. now if only the snow will start up. i would love an early winter.

friday day

2009-09-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

so its friday and we have reason to celebrate. we just can't explain the reason yet. soon to come to fruition. excited to get this started.

new shirts

2009-09-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

You too can look stunning in our blue athletic tees, avaliable now, from us.

MOR Beverage

2009-09-15T14:21:00.001-07:00

here's a new company we are working with. they are a sparkling enhanced water, not to be confused with an energy drink. MOR Beverage is the company, they have three flavors: Cranberry (pictured), Pomegranate Lemon, and Raspberry Strawberry. They are amazing. Go buy some. The image was taken by our in-house photographer Jordan Holloway.

we are re-positioning and re-branding the product line. i am thinking we might do some changes to the can. any suggestions? what do you like/dislike? open forum. these cans are available at king soopers, sunflower market, and city market. they are also available online here.

2009-09-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

john and jeff hammering out some details on fresh gourmet. john says, " what the f**k is this about a super bowl 30 second spot?" when you have only have half a million for production on a spot you know you are in a recession. john likes big budgets. jeff is impartial, he just wants to get the work out. i like documenting it.

ran into an old friend last night

2009-09-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

Ran into an old friend last night. John Harris, the previous CEO at K\H. In the target parking lot after not seeing him for well over a year, ran up, extended my hand, he threw his arms up and gave a hug. its great when after time and bulls**t you can still have a good relationship. i always felt he got a bad rep and im glad to say we are having a beer together this week.

mondays are good, but tuesdays are always better.

fall tv

2009-09-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

not sure how many people watch television on the TV anymore. as fall season approaches i was wondering that myself. i haven't had TV in about 4 years. and i still watch all my favorite shows, which include: the office, 30 rock, entourage, true blood, it's always sunny in Philadelphia, nip/tuck and man vs. wild. i download or watch streaming video of my favorite shows. now this week are the openers for the office and always sunny. i am excited for this Thursday. i think the shows have good writing and keep you entertained throughout the program. and they are not linked episodes meaning that you don't need to watch the first 5 seasons to understand the 6th season opener. it helps but its not necessary.

now this week, will be a lot of work.

prime time of your life

2009-09-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

it is an interesting time to be in advertising, that is for sure. i think smaller, potent agencies are the future. no more conglomerate dinosaurs, just focused groups of like minded creatives that get the job done fast.

work day

2009-09-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

todays workday was till 11:35 pm. and i really enjoyed it. granted i took some off to rock climb at the BRC, but i actually just got done typing up the days work.

tomorrow comes today.

a quote

2009-09-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

early bird gets the worm.

but,

the second mouse gets the cheese.

my roommate in college, chet logue, told me that quote about the mouse. it has stuck with me for about 8 years now.

great line. you should use it today.

now the 4 day week begins

2009-09-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

well labor day is over and now it is back to the grind. i really do believe that if people worked 4 longer days and had a 3 day weekend, that would come back completely refreshed. there is a big difference between 2 and 3 days. i have to admit i love these long weekends, not because i can sleep in or because i can lay around, but because i come back to work fully refreshed and ready to start, not dragging my heels. hope everyone had a good weekend, but it's time to dominate the work week.

creative303

don't be fooled

2009-09-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

smash burger is awesome. go eat there.

i don't know if this is awesome or insulting

2009-09-03T08:24:00.001-07:00

this ad was produced in germany by das comitee. i had an interesting reaction. not sure what to think. i mean its kind of nuts, you have to admit, but maybe thats what makes it good. tell me what you think because i am still stuck in the middle.

seriously just awesome.

2009-09-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

wow i saw this and it blew my mind. watch and appreciate.

smoky smoky smoky

2009-09-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

so all of this fog/smoke/haze is coming to us from the fires in california. the gulf stream is carrying it out way and apparently for like 3 days it will continue. not to psyched. on an ad note, this was pretty good, and it came out of chicago.

the tagline being, "Gain Detergent with Febreze Odor Removal. Your clothes were never there."

done with a large project

2009-09-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

we finished our presentation for _____ ________. it looks stellar. excited to go there and get some feedback. there being LA. im looking forward to getting on a surfboard, and saying hi to Lee Clow, while on said surfboard.

and its time for the sink and their 2 burgers and fries for $10 tuesday special.

i.love.componentry.

2009-09-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

go see it

2009-09-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

art&copy

"we didn't invent the [NOUN], we made it [ADJECTIVE]."

2009-08-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

"you know i would almost go as far to say we do have an account team. they are called iphones, and we all have them. this way you pay less and get a better creative product."

an unnamed creative. kinda fun.

we.made.it. and in only . . .

2009-08-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

well the denver egotist debuted us today in a suprising fast manner. makes me feel like one of us could be the woman himself (really wish we could put a sex on this apparition.) i liked the title . . rising from the ashes.

oh btw . . .

2009-08-31T12:43:00.000-07:00

we are having a soiree on sept 24. it's at our space. as it stands, there are going to be a lot of important people there.

private gallery show for Peter Max

2009-08-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

creative303 was also in denver for the Peter Max private showing in cherry creek this saturday. creative303 has some work by Peter Max and was lucky enought to get it signed and even to discuss the art at hand. he has an amazing color palate and expresses it via paint brush on canvas. our creative director, john, had his picture taken with Peter Max for the new Denver Magazine.

gallery show in boulder

2009-08-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

creative303 was in attendance at the Mr. Pool gallery for Mark Sink & Kristen Hatgi show. it was great. there is something to be said about photographers who aren't chasing the megapixels, who use\shoot film. i was very impressed by the process they use, called wet plating or collodion process. if you need some fine art shots these are the guy\girl to see, brilliant work.

creative303 picked up a new client.

2009-08-31T10:19:00.001-07:00

creative303 has picked up a new client. they are in the food catagory. if you stop in and say hello at 511 broadway, denver you can probably catch us working on brand identity & package design.

the sun is out, have a good monday.

creative303 has a blog.

2009-08-31T09:57:00.002-07:00

hello to you all out there, the Denver egotist specifically. this is creative303 saying hello and we are open for business. a little back story; creative303 is the brainchild of John Meyer, the Creative Director behind such campaigns as POM Wonderful, Levi's, Virgin and American Crew. He parted ways with Karsh\Hagan mid summer and decided to start anew with a fresh idea and fresh palate. Starting off strong with Shanahan's Restaurant as a client and now having two more unnamed clients to add to the list. creative303 is off to a fruitful and promising start.