Located at the mouth of Zion National Park, the Desert Pearl Inn is a modern take on the hotel experience. The details of the inn are exquisite. From the high ceilings to the wood framework of the inn coming from reclaimed railroad ties. Surrounded by rough red rock, the clean lines of the Desert Pearl Inn create a juxtaposition of old and new, rough and modern that allows you to experience Zion National Park while in ultimate comfort.

Wold Creative Group is working with them on various elements which all could benefit from solid photography. We recently completed a photoshoot at the Desert Pearl Inn. Check it out their website here (we did not design this site by the way).

We just completed a user-generated homeowners association site. This website allows the association to add pages, discussions, files, images, comments and all with a easily-manageable backend. Without the need of a traditional marketing-centric website, we instead focused on a professional look while opening the site up to endless possibilities for the homeowners association.

http://www.pmwloa.org/

We have just completed our first site that is completely web 2.0 (user generated material based on permission levels at logins). This has been an exciting project that was based on the need to have a website that could be added onto by users as well as expandable by administrators as time goes on. This is a wiki with CMS (content management system) that we custom-made to match their needs.

In other words, they have a framework that can be expanded, refined and added to by users with ease.

A couple of the major goals that we addressed through the creation of this site included creating an online knowledge center for their medical-rich content as well as create something that will help them in the recruiting process for the neurology department at the University of Utah.

Because this does deal with sensitive medial information, all of the site is password protected with the exception of the homepage. Check it out at www.neuroresident.com

I recently went to the downtown library in salt lake city. First of all, i love libraries because they are centers of learning as well as the odd, eclectic gathering of different cultures from the intellectual on the hunt for knowledge to the homeless on the hunt for a restroom. Very interesting. Secondly, our library, in particular, has fascinating architecture and design elements. If you are in need of inspiration, i recommend going to a library to think, reflect and people watch. I was looking at their signage. Even though both of the pictures i took are of signs using helvetica, they are used in very different ways that fit their medium. Good stuff.

For some reason, lately a lot of people have asked me about cheap websites for the smaller business that isn’t looking to spend a lot of money on a full website. Perhaps it is the shade of the looming financial situation that is causing some to want small, cheaper sites, but regardless, we just need to talk about what this really means to the balance sheet.

Cheap website options. Firstly, there are a few options to choose from. The most obvious choice is a template. Templates are pre-constructed websites that are already designed and developed where you just take the files (flash, dreamweaver, CSS, HTML) and work within them to change your site to your liking. This could be good for some that are already familiar with code and the programs mentioned before, but even then, there are a few things to consider.

A template is not branded for your business, it is, well, a template for anyone to use. This not only effects how your brand (company image, logo, identity) is perceived within the public, but it also has a adverse effect on how easily your website is found (search engine optimization). There are elements within a website from the meta tags, page titles, alt tags, header tags, html links, html text, xml site maps to submission of site maps to google that greatly effect how "visible" your site is to the greater public. This effects how people find your website through the search engines (organic search is what it is referred to). Having a template site usually means others out there will have the same site (structurally speaking) as you and google and the other search engines discount that.

Another cheap, small option is to use a web-creation online service. This is a step down from templates since you have to relinquish some elements of control. Generally, these options require you to host the website through them and then you can update some text on the site. These are not optimized sites for your business and i cannot recommend any that i have seen to-date.

Blogs are another cheap option for those do-it-yourselfers out there. In fact, instead of a template or an online website creation option, i would and have recommended a wordpress blog as a cheap/free option to those that have asked. The reason for this is that a blog can be expanded and added to over time and, thus, add to your visibility over time. That is one of the reasons that we often incorporate a blog within a website.

The final option is to have a basic site created for you. This would require some expense to have this designed and developed. As stated previously, it is a choice of whether to spend little to nothing on branding or have a site that is branded and easier to be found online.

Over time, i think that you will find that you get out of a website what you put into the website. In other words, if you are looking for the cheapest option, you will get less of a return. This is a basic marketing principal but one that is often thought about for websites, for some strange reason.

Another principle for websites is that a website that is not found doesn’t do a lot of good for you. This means that both the creation of the site as well as some marketing afterwards should be considered so that you ensure traffic to the site.

Good luck!
-jeremy

Love it or hate it, the environment has been an increasing point of conversation. Personally as well as with Wold Creative Group, i believe that it is important to be as conscious as possible about the use of resources. This is both because i think the environment is our responsibility to treat with respect but also because i think that such a philosophy actually helps the bottom line.

A good example of this within Salt Lake City is the e2 Business Program that the city itself has put together. I have recently become a member and to do so requires an extensive look at everything from a company’s waste, utilities to setting goals for the following year to work towards a more environmentally-friendly company. This program allows for like-minded businesses to connect (goodwill) as well as causes us to refocus on efficiency…both help the bottom line. Here is a link to the program.

It is that time, once again, where we say goodbye to a year well-spent and say hello to what is to come. May your resolutions be resolute and your new year be a good one. I, for one, have been grateful for this past year for the clients that we have worked with and the fact that they are willing to look outside the marketing box with us. We are looking forward to another good year.

Happy New Year!

-jeremy

So, if you are in the market for a logo, then you have probably heard the terms “identity” and “brand” in addition to “logo” somewhere in your research. You may be wondering what the difference is. Different firms may define these terms slightly differently, but this is how i see them.

Logo. Logo is simply a non-marketing agency term that everyone is familiar with. This is a mark or symbol of an organization. 

Identity. Identity goes a little farther than just a logo, although a logo is typically involved in this process. When creating an identity for an organization, everything from the name to the final application must be considered. Therefore the target audience as well as marketing goals are factored into the identity so that it is as effective as possible.

Brand. The brand is the perceived image of an organization. This essentially means that the identity is carried out within all marketing initiatives so there is consistency of the brand. Branding packages often include the business basics, such as business cards, letterhead, envelopes,…etc, but the brand does not stop there. It should be continued to all ads, web, print and any other media so that it is consistent. Consistency of brand creates recognition and positive recognition leads to strategic (long-term) sales.

TIP: Now that terms have been defined, what does it mean for an organization that needs a logo? Well, a logo should never be just a logo. All elements of your organization need to be factored into the design and direction of the logo so that it is a solid identity that can be carried out through a brand that has positive brand recognition. Do not just go with a logo because you like the way that it looks, choose a direction based on the larger picture of why it was designed the way it was (audience as well as organizational identity in mind) and how it can be applied to all marketing initiatives in an effective manner.

jeremy

I am currently in Eldoret, Kenya with a team of physicians from Utah. While the doctors that are in the hospital helping patients that have severe need, i have had the opportunity to work with AIDS testing clinics in remote villages. Since addresses and even houses themselves are next to impossible to determine or distinguish (essentially, they are 10′ by 10′ shacks), the teams here have been using GPS devices to mark the coordinates of the “houses” as they test the patients.

Part of my job while i am here is to figure out the best way to utilize the GPS devices and then train the 80 person staff on these devices. There is a reason that the guy that started this that i had the opportunity to work with, Dr. Mamlin, was a runner-up for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is very unique in Africa, a place that needs so much help with AIDS care, follow-up, education and, above all, hope. I think the rough number that they are providing food, work, drugs and assistance to in the area is 120,000 people infected with AIDS. Testing the population is just a small portion of what they are doing over here. They also have farms, workshops, micro-lending and many other programs that are completely employeed by AIDS positive people that allow them to make money in order to pay for quality AIDS treatments.

I have been taking pictures of just about everything except too many people since it is culturally taboo to do so but those will have to wait until i come back to the states. In the meantime, check out the site of the organization that we are with over here. They are revolutionary on approaching the problem of AIDS in Africa.

AMPATH Website

I realize that this post is slightly divergent from our normal posts about marketing and design, but this is important and i thought that i should share.

-jeremy

UPDATE: Here are a couple of photos from the field (villages). The kids all loved the camera because i was able to take a picture of them and show it to them. 

Wold Creative Group is currently working on a very interesting website for the University of Utah’s Department of Neurology. Unlike most of the websites that we have put together for clients, this site is not going to be used primarily as a marketing piece but rather as a knowledge center. In other words, we are creating a custom back-end application that will allow there to be file sharing, discussions, online scheduling, feedback and many more features that all center around sharing knowledge and information.

Just because this site is largely internal, don’t think that it won’t look good as well. With this knowledge base, we are developing a site that will help move the department into national prominence with the best website for their residency program in the country. That is our goal.