January 30, 2008

My name is Jane and I am one of the AM+G members. I am a bit embarassed to admit that in 2008 this is my first blog post ever. I am usually long winded but today I am feeling a bit shy. This is totally out of character for me. So here is bit of information about me.

I spent 12+ years of my professional life as a designer for National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. I have traveled all over the world from one of the highest peaks in the Andes, to the rift valley of Tanzania and to the sub zero tundra of Siberia.

I am looking forward to sharing with you some of my thoughts on the design world as I uncover gems in my daily research. Today I stumbled upon Designpolice.org. I think everyone should have a Design Police's Visual Enforcement Kit. This will allow you the opportunity for anonymity in critiquing bad design or you can be brave and forthright with your designers.

Jane

Happy New Year!

The month of January is almost over and we are well under way into 2008. This month the discussion at AM+G has focused on branding and the new look and feel of our company. On January 1, 2008 we celebrated five years in business. It is a great American story of a small business that started with a dream of its founder and has grown to a dynamic marketing communications company full of talented creative people. We plan to celebrate this year with a party for staff, clients and potential clients. The tentative date is May 15, 2008.

On this blog, we will share our personal stories, dilemma's and challenges as we navigate the business.

January is always a time of renewal. This month the team looked at our future, we discussed our current clients, the client mix, and our dream clients. Some would say we are practicing 'The Secret' we are visualizing where we want to be and the clients we plan to have in the next few years.

This week, we are working on a large proposal. A big social marketing campaign. It will require a great deal of writing and a colloborative effort of the entire team.

It is cold and rainy today in Washington, DC. A great day to write!

Karen

A New Year, A New Look

After spending the first 5 years of our company existence focused on the marketing needs of other organizations, we have finally taken the time to focus on our own marketing. We are currently working on the redesign of our website and company materials to create a new identity for ourselves. The whole team is really excited about this fresh new look. Instead of the long name "Alston Marketing Group" we have decided to use the acronym "AM+G" which adds a little edge and trendiness to our identity. We even tweaked our colors a bit, from the orange and brown to red, brown and white.

I particularly like the new company brochure which pulls in all the parts of our new identity. The brochure emphasizes our focus on bringing the clients ideas to life regardless of how big or small they are. "Small ideas! We love them. Small ideas generate endless possibilities. Our team of experienced designers, creative talent and marketing strategists bring our clients brands to life." My favorite visual in the brochure is a sketched hand that shows the different branches of AM+G: Marketing Strategy, Brand Design, Advertising, Packaging, New Media and Environments.

The website is truly the piece that will bring this new look to life. The flash design will create an outerspace environment where the user can navigate through the different topics to learn more about who we are as a company. The user can also click on a video of our President talking informally about the company and what we do. By exploring this outerspace environment, the user will be able to explore for himself what AM+G is all about.

These two pieces, the brochure and the website will form the backbone of AM+G's new image as we embark on the next phase of our growth.