Monthly Archives: August 2008

Earth Share

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As part of our involvement in 1% for the Planet, we have the opportunity to learn about so many new local environmental organizations. Our latest donation is to Earth Share of Oregon. We were drawn to their commitment to not only the environment, but also to people; Earth Share has a three-fold goal of keeping people healthy, reducing global warming, and preserving places for wildlife.

We have another giving cycle coming up at the end of the year and would love to hear of local environmental non-profits that are dear to your heart!

Olio Anniversary Party

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Looking for some fun this weekend? Just down the street from the Needmore Studio, Olio United (chalk full of fair trade and sustainable clothing) is kicking of a one-year anniversary extravaganza filled with a number of Needmore friends and clients!

To start it all off, there is a party tonight from 7 to 10 where 10 local artists, including friends like Amy Ruppel, Jill Bliss and Trish Grantham, have decorated Tom’s shoes for a silent action benefiting Transitions Cambodia. Like these super-cute custom shoes by Jill Bliss.

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Then, on August 30 (11-6 pm) take a peek at the Form & Flora plant show (we’ve talked recently about what fans we are of Lacy’s designs) and the Entermodal Pop-Up Factory. We’ve had the privilege of touring Entermodal’s studio and have to say that seeing these folks in action is an experience not to miss!

When I first stepped into Olio, I fell in love with the design of the space; it was created by Beam (who also developed the building our studio is in), with the same high ceilings and natural elements as our own studio.

Hope to see you there!
Address: 1028 SE Water Avenue at Yamhill

A Dream

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“People ask what has changed, and I say don’t trivialize the changes,” Mr. Fauntroy said. “I’m seeing the fruit of the changes that began in 1964. I was close to Bobby Kennedy. He said to me: ‘You know, America’s going to change. Forty years from now, a black man could achieve what my brother has achieved.’ ”

A moving article in the Times notes that Barack Obama is making his acceptance speech 45 years to the day since Dr. Martin Luther Kin Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream Speech.

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Tonight’s 7 pm speech is incredibly exciting (check out a couple early shots of the set-up at Mile High Stadium).

Architectural Websites

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The folks at 37signals have a point about how difficult it is to get to a project on an architect’s website.

As it stands today, if you want to show someone an interesting piece of work you usually have to give them a step-by-step guide on how to get there: First go to the home page, wait for the countdown timer to expire, then hover over the logo, then grab a magnifying glass, then squint, then click the 4th tiny icon on the left (I can’t really tell what it is), then use that custom scrollbar that looks like an elevator, then take a screenshot, then pull that screenshot into Photoshop, then zoom in about 8 times so it’s all nice and big on your screen, then take about 10 steps back from your computer, then look.

True enough, for architects that corned with ease of fining projects. And, unless you are so busy that you aren’t interested in new clients, this should be a concern.

What should we focus on then?

Architects have so much to gain from the web. Big huge photographs of their work, clear statements of who they are and what they believe in, easily linkable and sharable portfolio pages, daily links of interest.

37signals gives a couple of examples of architecture sites that don’t make the cut. One is Perkins + Will. Personally, although I largely agree with their blog post, I like this website quite a bit. Now, it would have driven me crazy if the only way to get to a new project from the home page was to mouse over those squares floating in Flash, but a quick view work drop-down helps those of us in a hurry. I see this site as a good example of wow mixed with ease of use. The other positive is that the entire site is not Flash, only a bit on the home page (thus, one can easily link to individual projects).

Over the next month or two, we’ll be working diligently with our architectural clients to produce websites that are clean, modern, gorgeous and easy-to-navigate.

Graham Fisher Law

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There is a certain je ne sais quo about Graham Fisher and his project that we were instantly draw to. Perhaps it was his affinity for clean, modern websites (that gets us every time). Or, maybe it was his command of memorable quotes. Or, it may have been Graham’s desire to make the law more accessible to people through a sraighforward and comprehensive resource area. Regardless of the source, we enjoyed the opportunity to flex our design wings and present a wealth of information in a clean, straightforward manner.

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Related: we recently did a bit of sprucing up work on the site for our very helpful and friendly lawyers over at Alto Law Group.

Fare Thee Well

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As many of you know, we have been largely out of the office for the last week due the loss of my dear grandfather. I’d like to thank each of our clients for their warm responses and understanding about moved deadlines.

We had much time over the last week to learn about my grandfather’s incredible life. One story that touched me deeply took place during his 20+ years at IBM. My grandpa believed wholeheartedly that businesses should be a place of camaraderie and joy (one fellow worker talked about how my grandfather took him under his wing and acted like a father to him at IBM, even though they were roughly the same age). So, he began the first annual IBM employee picnic, which grew in numbers throughout the years. My grandmother recalls one year where my grandpa rented out a huge tent and bought steak dinners for hundreds of co-workers, causing panic in my poor grandmother who fussed diligently about their budget. Grandpa wouldn’t hear of charging folks before the picnic – he was confident the everyone would show up and make their donation; he just wanted everyone together to celebrate the hard work they had done over the past year and expected that the rest would work out. And, he was right. The picnic was a huge success!

I had the pleasure of seeing some of the photos of these first picnics (circa 1981) for the first time this weekend.

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Grandma and Grandpa picutred on the left – what a fabulous duo! image image

If there is anything we can take away from this last week, it is the desire to be able to say, at the end of one’s life (as my grandfather said to me): I’ve had the best life ever, kid. I’m ready for whatever is next. What I worry about is the rest of you.

Here’s to an incredibly witty and intelligent man who sparked my own passion for reading, traveling, cooking and learning.

 

Form & Flora

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We’ve recently launched a new website for Portland’s Form & Flora. Lacy Lowery is both a floral and interior designer and so we focused on the intersection of these vocations: natural materials, texture and color. As flowers change from season to season, Lacy’s home page is a captivating (and easy to change) montoge of the shapes and colors of now.

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We hope you’ll stop in for a while and enjoy a glimpse through Lacy’s gorgeous creations (her designs have been gracing Needmore’s studio for months now).

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SMART: Heading South

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We’ll be heading to San Francisco this week to attend the start conference, a one-day conference in San Francisco designed for smart, talented Web people to take hold of their ideas, follow their dreams, and start their own companies. Now, that sounds just up our alley! Not only does the conference promise much insight, but we’ll have plenty of time to talk shop on our 12 hour drive south. That’s right – we’re driving! Hello, Prius (the scooters just aren’t up for the gig).

We’ll be back in the studio Tuesday, August 12. Until then, enjoy our latest release and we’ll have more to show upon return!