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OFB Designs, Builds & Lanches New Website for Crescent Real Estate.

4/15/2012 10:00:00 AM

Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC commissioned OneFastBuffalo to update its digital presence. That's fancy talk for redesign their corporate website and also some behind the scenes secret digital systems that help them market their many commercial properties. See the new Crescent website for designed by Onefastbuffalo here. Be sure to view the BEFORE pic below of the old Crescent website. The new site is equipped with our custom backend system, Site Shepherd®, and features full admin control of Crescent's Office, Resort, Residential and Development Portfolio. The site serves as the companies corporate home online featuring company history, leadership, services and of course now the best designed Real Estate website in town ;)

Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a fully-integrated real estate company owned by Barclays Capital and Goff Capital. Through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, Crescent owns and manages a portfolio of 35 premier office buildings totaling over 17 million square feet located in select markets across the United States with major concentrations in Dallas, Houston, Denver and Las Vegas. Crescent also holds investments in resort residential developments in locations such as Scottsdale, Vail Valley, and Lake Tahoe; luxury hotels; and the wellness lifestyle leader, Canyon Ranch.

OFB & Founder to speak at AIGA Dallas Design Week.

4/4/2012 8:55:00 AM

OFB and founder Ben Jenkins will be speaking during two events at the upcoming AIGA Design WeekThanks AIGA for having us. We will try and behave. Full Details here.

EVENT 1

Wednesday April 11th, 3PM / Leading Creatives. The Creative/Design Directors Panel. Learn the Joys + Costs of Being Boss. at Dallas Design Center

Join us for this great panel where Dallas’s leading Creative Directors share with us the challenges and joys of leading creatives. If you’ve ever wondered about the complexities of balancing creative thinking, creative management (and life outside of work), this panel is one you won’t want to miss. Panelists Include:  Jeff Breazeale, Founding Partner + Creative Director of Matchbox Studio  Liz Burnett, Founding Partner + Creative Director of Matchbox Studio  Albert Cano, Creative Director of Corgan Media Lab  Ben Jenkins, Founder + Creative Director One Fast Buffalo  Brandon Murphy, Founding Partner + Creative Director of Caliber Creative

EVENT 2

Thursday April 12th, 3PM / Work/Life Balance with Ben Jenkins of One Fast Buffalo

at Dallas Design Center

Ben Jenkins, founder and CD of OneFastBuffalo, owner of Workhaus Lodge , Warstic Wood Bat Co , Treadsmith Board Co, INDIG, Onefastco and father of 3, talks to us about creating balance and how he turned OFB into an open (in every sense of the word) office.

Buy tickets here

OFB Donates New Logo Design to Dallas Little League.

4/1/2012 12:34:00 PM

OFB has designed and donated a new logo for the Dallas Little League. That's baseball and softball for boys and girls ages 4 - 14. Onefastbuffalo, and our Warstic Bat Co, are proud to sponsor Dallas Little League by making stuff...what we do best. The Dallas Little League is a great organization that is growing rapidly. Find out more by visiting their site. The new DLL logo will be available soon on merchandise from the DLL online store. Buying merchandise is a great way to support the progress of youth baseball in our city. And now it will look great too! Thanks to the DLL staff for this opportunity. The logo was designed by OFB's Ben Jenkins.

OFB Launches Treadsmith Board Co.

1/21/2012 12:41:00 PM

We are excited to announce OFB's latest brand creation and ONEFASTCO business venture. Treadsmith Board Co.

Treadsmith® is a new company and brand we created in late 2011. Snowboards (and soon Skis and apparel) online now at treadsmith.com. In other words we are doing more of what we often do for clients….design and launch brands. Treadsmith is another real life expirement we created completely from scratch to prove that good design, good branding and good web tactics can create a GOOD BUSINESS. And do it FAST. Please check out the site and pass along to you anyone you loves snowboarding, but also good design;) Read more to see what we mean.

ABOUT TREADSMITH

Treadsmith Board Co is a US-based independent company making hand-forged snowboards with timeless design appeal for riders of any age, gender, race, religion or nationality. Our boards are not mass-produced but rather they are built one at a time only after being ordered. Treadsmith® snowboards are hand-crafted, hand-painted, environmentally supportive, customized to spec for our riders, and built to last for years. We seek to grow our business one rider at a time by selling high performance boards with timeless design aesthetics. If you found Treadsmith Board co, it was because someone told you about us or you happened to stumble upon us via the web. You didn't learn about Treadsmith® from a manipulative advertising campaign, a contrived viral marketing video, a pay-for-play public relations feature, an event sponsorship, or a paid celebrity endorsement. Treadsmith boards are about your ride, not our brand. You also didn't see a giant 3 foot Treadsmith logo on the bottom of one of our boards. We don't do that either. We are about making something good that looks good. Simple as that.

We don't hate on any of the various types of riding. We make Free-Ride, All-Mountain and Freestyle boards. We just don't understand why a certain look or culture has to be part of those riding styles. We don't plan on sponsoring a team of riders. After all, we don't ride a certain brand of board b/c some dude gets paid to, so why should you. We will spend that money on advancing our technology, improving the sustainability of our materials, and on trips to make tread with you.

Our Story.

My brother and I have been riding since we were young kids (let's say since the early 1980's). Riding for us is about being in the outdoors, first and foremost. We like to hit the backcountry, enjoy the natural beauty, explore, listen to the silence, feel the cold, go hard, burn our legs out, and ride terrain worth navigating. It's about a starting point, an ending point, and surviving the in-between. It's about looking back up and having that feeling of accomplishment and appreciation for the mountain. We love the Zen of a great carve, holding a clean line on huge fast turn, and that weightless feeling of the transition to the next turn. When you ride well, you feel like a graceful being. For us, it's not about tricks, culture, political statements, iPods, or posing. It's about connection to living terrain and the experience of making tread that matters with people we care about. Sometimes it's about solitude, too. For us, it's not about fashion, age, music, or seeing ourself on Youtube. By the end of the day we are spent and have no interest in the scene. More like a hot cup of coffee with a shot of bourbon, and a campfire.

Treadsmith on Design.

Treadsmith is pushing a movement in board sports toward simplicity, elegance and refinement. After all, isn't it about the ride, not about following current fashion trends? We see boards as a simple tool of transport. An elegant tool, in fact, that lets us interact with the mountain fluidly as if we were part of it. I understand part of snowboarding culture has been to use the board as a canvas for graphic designers to express their art and supposedly your individuality. I certainly appreciate graphic design, illustration and other forms of visual art; after all, I have been making a living as an graphic designer for 17 years. But frankly, good design isn't about how much visual crap you can fit in a space. Rather, it's about how much impact you can create and communicate with the least amount of visual elements. I couldn't find timeless design in snowboards so I decided to start making them. I joke that we are we are literally trying to make BORING snowboards. In fact, we hand-paint our boards to ensure we keep them simple. This simplicity and use of solid colors put the rider more in tune with the terrain they are riding because the designs compliment nature rather than visually pollute it. Speaking of pollution, we try to use materials from sustainable local sources and our boards are made using hand tools so less energy is consumed. Our wood veneer and wood cores come from suppliers who are FSC certified. All of the waste within the construction of the boards is recycled and our bases are finished by hand with a final coat of Magic Potion (Eco Friendly Wax). We also support One Percent for the Planet.

A Request.

When you ride a Treadsmith® board…..don't ride like a punk. If you are person who doesn't respect the mountain and other people, please buy someone else's board. If you have been graced with a healthy body, strong legs to stand on, enough money to pay for a lift ticket, and a good hot meal, you ought to appreciate the fact that so many people in the world don't have these options. Ride like it's a gift.

View our boards at treadsmith.com

© 2012. The brand name TREADSMITH® is a registered trademark of ONEFASTBUFFALO CORP and a concept by ONEFASTCO. ONEFASTBUFFALO is a US Design Firm specializing in Brand Design. Treadsmith Board Co is one of many brands we have built from scratch.

The Internet Bites Back

1/19/2012 8:52:00 AM

As many of you may have noticed yesterday some of your favorite sites were either completely shut down or graphically representing their protest to SOPA and PIPA. These include some serious internet heavyweights such as Google, Reddit, Mozilla, Wired, Mashable, Wordpress, Flickr and even I Can Has Cheezburger (who knew cats protested?).

More than just placing a graphic on their website, they urge users to contact their Representative directly regarding the bill. These companies state that not only will the bill require costly oversight and regulatory spending within their organizations, but on a broader scale it violates the First Amendment and the free sharing of information on the web.

English Wikipedia itself provided a full 24 hour blackout from the information on their site. However, reportedly 162 million people still tuned in for their message against SOPA and PIPA. Roughly 8 million of those users went on to contact their representative directly... in a single day.

From Wikipedia today, "More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world without free knowledge. You said no. You shut down Congress’s switchboards. You melted their servers. Your voice was loud and strong. Millions of people have spoken in defense of a free and open Internet."

Reportedly Google had similar luck with 4.5 million signatures to the petition they encouraged users to sign yesterday.

And though it is nice for Mark Zuckerberg to comment, "We can't let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet's development. Facebook opposes Sopa and Pipa, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet." it is nothing compared to the power that social sharing via Facebook provided for this movement.

Like wildfire individuals who otherwise are not aware of policy changes, are now in the mix of the debate and passionately sharing the message with their friends. Facebook provides an exponential platform for movements with social merit and/or provocative content in an instant.

Overall, I think it is powerful and sometimes scary the engine the internet has become. What in the past took weeks and months of preparation for a street rally moves in seconds to get the attention of millions. The internet moves fast to rally the troops. And in an age where government is a slow moving giant, the internet provides citizens with a quick and agile marketplace for movement.

So while discussion on Capitol Hill aren't expected to resume until February, I believe yesterday's actions will have a huge impact on those discussions. Whether you agree or disagree with SOPA and PIPA, I believe the beauty of what happened yesterday is the citizens of America rallying together to have their voice heard. In the spirit of our Founding Fathers our government is supposed to be a representation of the desires of the American people. I believe the internet is a vehicle to have more people heard, informed and empowered to take part in America's future. Perhaps that is a bold statement, but I'm a nerd and I love the internet, so deal with it.

There were some great page graphics yesterday. Click here for a full gallery

Warstic Bats Chosen GQ Best Stuff of 2011

12/31/2011 12:32:00 PM

OFB's Warstic Wood Bat Co is heating up despite spending $0 for paid advertising to date. Recently Warstic Bat Co was featured by GQ Magazine in its BEST STUFF OF 2011 Article. Not a shabby recognition for a brand that was not even conceived until early 2011. And following that, at the Park & Bond pop-up store in NYC where we let TO try out a Warstic.

The blurb for Warstic reads "If Pujols met Warhol. Maybe you're the type of guy who plays in a baseball league and gets up early on Sunday mornings for BP. In that case, Warstic's boldly painted bats—made from northern white ash—are exactly what you need to keep your stick from getting lost in a pile of Louisville Sluggers. But even if you don't swing for the fences regularly, you can just mount one on the wall and tell friends it's your high-style home defense."

Why is Warstic taking off? In many cases these days, brand design is the key differentiator between you and competitors. In fact, we built a little brand of our own just to prove how this works. We wanted to update everyone on our newest business venture. Warstic Bat Co is a company we created completely from scratch to prove that good design, good branding and good web tactics can create a GOOD BUSINESS. And do it FAST. After naming, branding, designing the product, and launching our online store in April 2011Warstic has spread its wings. Daily sales are up 300% above our year one goal. We also have evolved our line of products. Some of the latest bat designs are attached.

Check out all the free press Warstic has received…attached below. Amazing thing is we spent $0 for this PR. Just proves that these days spending all your marketing dollars on advertising is not necessary. If you truly make a good, authentic product the word can spread via the web with just a small push on the special networking side. Especially if the design of the product is great. Good branding is key too;)

Here is a shortlist of all the online features we could find as well as screenshots and clips from some of the traditional print features such as The Wall Street journal and Mens Journal. Not to mention a few kind words from Warstic fan ;)

Online features

http://wsj.com/

http://uncrate.com/

http://www.trendhunter.com

http://svpply.com/

http://www.thrillist.com/

http://designspiration.net/

http://www.zeitgeistmagazine.com/

http://www.mediacollective.nl/

http://coudal.com/

http://www.baseballbatsplus.com/

http://www.core77.com/

http://www.justluxe.com/

http://urban-gear.com/

http://www.datoyshop.com/

http://clothesbeforehoes.com/

http://kaught-looking.com/

http://www.be-street.com/

http://www.huhmagazine.co.uk/

http://ziprage.com/

http://epidemikcoalition.com/

http://squa.re/

http://premiumgoods.net/

http://www.bellyitcher.com

http://www.urbanlifestylegear.com/

http://blog.indeednyc.com

http://www.doobybrain.com/

http://druther.blogspot.com/

http://www.xydo.com/

http://blog.mtgd.org/

http://www.complex.com

http://acclaimmag.com/

http://suburbanmen.com/

http://ashtonkusher.com/

http://www.fusher.be/

http://definitivetouch.com/

http://sportsvibe.com/

http://sfnaba.com/

http://www.trendcrib.com/

http://sportsvibe.com/

http://blog.ammomag.com/

http://clothesbeforehoes.com/

http://www.asportinglife.co/

http://www.individualsole.com/

Kinds words

"How could you possibly go wrong with a name like Warstic? Warstic Baseball Bats ($80-$110) look fantastic, carry an awesome name and would look awesome on the field or the urban battlefield. Forged from Northern White Ash or Canadian Maple with straight grains selected for better performance and durability."

"Texas-based Warstic Wood Bat Co. have truly struck a chord among design-nerds & baseball fans alike with their signature bats. Check out all the sweet colors of these half-dipped bats! Warstic claims their bats are crafted for performance and feel. They believe that exudes confidence in any batter."

"Lovin’ the war paint down the side and the gold Warstic brand just above the handle. To me the bat exudes confidence which is all any player really needs. Check out the Warstic about page for a feel of who they are, once again, another reason why we may just given these guys a shot."

"If Jeter was swingin' with one of these Pantone Bats by Warstic he would have 4,000 hits by now. Baseball players could use a little individuality out on the field, aside from the occasional shoe polished black beard they all tend to look... uniform (that's a play on words people, eh a poor one). These finely crafted Ash wood Warstic bats will hopefully bring some color pop and big swings to your next game."

"From the name itself, the Warstic Wood Bat can easily intimidate a 260-pound pitcher and make him regret the day he first stepped in the mound. Made from the straight grains of Northern White Ash and Maple, the Warstic Wood Bats are available in every size, color, weight, and can even come with an engraving of the player’s name on the barrel. Undoubtedly, it’s still made from wood, but the Warstic Wood Bats are exceptionally developed and can really pack a punch. Now, baseball players won’t have to use steroids to smash a baseball out of the park."

ZeitgeistMag Zeitgeist Magazine

"Even if we don't play baseball most of us own a baseball bat. We love these Pantone inspired bats"

PaddyJ1325 Patrick Johnson

"@warsticbatco looking at your online catalog. Those are some nice looking bats. practically works of art."

Jake_Raymond33 Jake Raymond

@warsticbatco gonna order my warstic this week. Using it for college fall ball. CAN'T WAIT!!!

The 100%

12/22/2011 2:36:00 PM

This is my inaugural post on the Official Blog of OFB. So, I decided to start with an ice-breaker. Here is a list of products I personally endorse. By endorse, I don't mean that I'm getting paid to talk about them (though it would be nice to get a lifetime supply of Starkist Tuna). I mean that I personally will never purchase a different brand of each of these products because they either work exceptionally well all the time or have become so integral in the function of my day-to-day activities that convincing me to use another type of product will be a tough sell and might even piss me off a little. On to the list...

As a designer:

Sharpie Permanent Markers
French Paper
Scotch brand tape
Field Notes notebooks
MacBook Pro
Seymour Chwast-brand humor

As a human man:

Kikkoman soy sauce
Starkist Tuna
Armour vienna sausages
Tom Waits music
Q-Tip cotton swabs
Ivory soap
MagLite Flashlights
Speed Stick antiperspirant deodorant
Twitter

So, as you can see, it's a pretty short list. I bet your list is just as short. As I said, some of these are on the list because I think they work better than the other brands (Q-tip, MagLite, Scotch Tape), and others are on this list because they have become a part of my identity (Twitter, Sharpies, Tom Waits). For a brand to become a "name" brand, it has to do one of these two things for its customers. And in a world where every college sophomore has read No Logo, everyone is more "brand" conscious, which makes things slightly more complicated for young companies trying to make a name for themselves. Actually, it's really complicated. (See: Pabst Blue Ribbon). Young consumers are more aware, more cynical, and irony has more influence than name recognition.

Maybe this means that "design" is more important than ever. I'm not sure yet. I just know the companies I stand behind make things that work 100% of the time, or show me they love what their doing 100% of the time. And smart design does both.

New OFB Clients.

12/15/2011 10:40:00 AM

OFB is happy to announce the following new clients: Texas Bomanite, Firestone & Roberston Distillery, Western Transportation, The Retail Connection, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, The community of Lake Highlands (Dallas, TX), Herbert Goldberg Diamonds, BOOMBOX Mobile, Calamity Gym, John Walters (Brand name to be created), Karavel Shoes (Austin), WTC Engineering. Stay tuned to see the work! Thank you new clients.

AIGA presents Designtrepreneurs

9/28/2011 11:33:00 AM

AIGA presents Designtrepreneurs A panel taking three Dallas creatives who’ve stepped outside of their comfort zones to start their own non-design related business.

Wednesday, September 28th 20011

7pm to 9pm

Calampit Creative Center

Tickets Available here

As designers, we have the natural propensity to come up with ideas upon ideas, for our clients and for ourselves. But most of us just haven’t worked up the cojones to go beyond just talking about ideas. What inititative does it take? Where does the motivation come from? What is it like to be your own client? We are proud to have Jason Franzen, Ben Jenkins, and Aaron Opsal join us to answer these questions and more at AIGA DFW’s first panel of the year.

Ben Jenkins founded OneFastBuffalo in in 1998 after completing his MFA in Art & Technology at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is also founder of Workhaus Lodge and Warstic Wood Bat Co.

Dominos - Putting your money where your mouth is

9/26/2011 2:44:00 PM

How does a longstanding brand like Dominos change what you think about them after 50 years of business and over 5,000 stores???? First, I can say that while I truly dislike the vast majority of advertising, Dominos has done an incredible job in the recent past. With a string of ads and campaigns focused around raw honesty, customer response, high interactivity, completely untraditional thinking and transparency they have accomplished the near impossible of changing people's minds.

If you don't follow the world of pizza quite as closely as I do, here are a few landmarks to get your bearings:

Early last year Dominos launches a new campaign focused on past product quality. Basically stating, "We know it was bad before so we revamped everything and try us now." They describe this strategy as 'blowing up the bridge' and truly thought there was no going back if it did not work (As an example they said it would be as if "New Coke" came out by saying that Coca Cola was terrible).
Ads were then focused on getting their toughest critics to try the new recipe (they even did a secondary underground campaign called "Taste Bud Bounty Hunter" that allowed customers to nominate people to try the pizza with incentives like a free year of pizza)
All ads were documentary style to bring home the transparency and raw honesty vibe. They received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Sales boost almost 15% in the first quarter.
Dominos incorporates interactive tools such as the pizza tracker (one of my personal favorites) which allows you to not only watch your pizza's progress but see WHO is making it and comment accordingly.
Continue to aggressively advertise the campaign showing real stories from real people (meet the chef, meet our team, words from the CEO and user submitted responses)
"Show us Your Pizza" campaign commercials are to follow, including submit photos of your pizza directly upon delivery to ensure quality. Over 13,000 people send in photos and Dominos responded in ads to bad photos that were received.
The second most impressive move (saying your 50 year recipe was crap is most impressive) was integrating a live streaming billboard in the middle of time square to display user submissions. REAL TIME TRANSPARENCY from user submissions, the good the bad and the ugly. You can see this here http://more.dominos.com/wp/2011/07/times-square/ as well as in some follow up advertising they did.

So why do I care? Well...

I think so often advertising is a waste of time because it doesn't really change your opinion about something (especially my non-believer generation) and re-branding is the only key to changing someone's opinion/making the product itself better. This campaign serves to define their rebranding AND tell people about it in an interesting way.
SO many times in branding/rebranding efforts people always try to push for the safest of all options. The bigger the company the harder they push back on drastic changes or 'lines in the sand' due to fear of alienation of current or potential customers. For an organization as big as Dominos, this is one of the gutsiest shifts in marketeering I have ever seen. Drastic times call for drastic measures and Dominos sales had become so abysmal that they knew an enormous shift was necessary to keep the company afloat, or better yet extremely profitable. I have to say hats off to CP+B (their advertising firm) who I am sure had many sleepless nights in the beginning of this campaign.
A brand doesn't exist in a single point in time. Instead a brand evolves over time to gain a much deeper meaning for the customer. So many times valiant efforts in rebranding fall short within the minds of the consumer because after an initial push, they don't grow, enhance or communicate the story in new ways. As you can see from the bullet point timeline above, the beautiful plan of action of the ads really extend the new Dominos brand to so much more. They have done an outstanding job of not being a 'one note song' of 'try the new formula' but rather drawn an entire picture for themselves as a transparent company that has direct communication with their users. If they can do this with 5,000 stores, what is your excuse?
Non-traditional interactivity is what new generations of users are looking for. If I have been asked once, I have been asked 1,000 times "Can we get on this Tweeter thing," but so rarely is there a great strategy put forth on HOW to utilize each of the unique benefits these tools provide as well as a solid process to actually grow those communities themselves. Typically big companies use these in the most traditional of senses and use these tools to talk TO their customers vs talking WITH these customers (a great example however of interesting usage is Jack in the Box....but this is a conversation for another day). Dominos has used connectivity of Facebook with the pizza tracker, Twitter feed feedback for users and SEVERAL online competitions and campaigns to receive the most real time and honest feedback they can. They are truly using each of these tools in tandem with each other vs looking at them as individual components then RESPONDING based on the information they receive (for instance, they were receiving several requests for "In Store Pickup" because of the recession and they tied in a new campaign to solidify the 'we are listening' message along with the transparency of 'come in and talk to Pam who just made your pizza')

At the end of the day, I think so many times we try to convince ourselves of the safest path possible for so many reasons. We try to believe that if we yell loud enough that our product is high quality without ACTUALLY changing anything that people will believe it. However, Dominos knew this wasn't the world we live in. If you NEED to make a change, do it and back it up. Doesn't mean hide the bad it means make things better and then really listen to users and try to respond. Everything won't be right every time, but for Dominos honesty was simply the best policy.

I think one of the most important things to walk away with is....during branding exercises I try to help people define the one word they want associated with their brand. The best defined brands simply have a feeling or singular word that users can articulate (Southwest - friendly, Countrytime Lemonade - summer, etc.) so just think about the one word shift that happened for Dominos because of their concentrated efforts from 'cardboard' to 'honest'.....not a bad move, eh?

THE OFB MOBILE CREATIVE WORKLIFE TOUR. NORTHWEST LOOP 2011

9/22/2011 6:02:00 AM

Year 2 of the OFB Mobile Creative Worklife tour in the books. Burnside Street, Portland USA and back. 7,266 miles.

3 kids in tow. The goal was the same as last year, just longer and slower. Live in our trailer, see the beautiful places in between the big places, live simpler, eat better, sleep more, surf, hike, bike, spend every night by fireside, spend MORE time with family...and well, more proof that the the mobile creative worklife is a good life.

We also do this for a very important business reason. It's real simple. When we get out and see more of the world WE DO MORE INSPIRED WORK. It's true. We do our best work during this time. When you see more things you make more connections and that gives us more creative fuel.

This years pics are attached. 500 of them! Sprinkled in a little family fun this time too;) After all one of the primary reasons we do this is to get our kids outside and seeing more country. Work is usually one of the biggest excused people give for not be able to get them out of the house more than a couple times per year.

One of the coolest people we met this summer was Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co in Portland. He wrote a great post about us so I thought I would let him do the talkin for us this year.

From Aaron's Blog....

One Fast Buffalo Rolls Into Town

Year 2 of the OFB Mobile Creative Worklife tour in the books. Burnside Street, Portland USA and back. 7,266 miles.

This years pics are attached. Sprinked in a little family fun this time ;)

One of the coolest people we met this summer was Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co in Portland. He wrote a great post about us so I thought I would let him do the talkin for us this year.

One Fast Buffalo Rolls Into Town

ALL THE WAY FROM TEXAS: One Fast Buffalo descends upon Portland! Ben Jenkins is touring America! He's got the whole family with him, too. A gang. Working, playing, seeing, camping‚living! All from their Airstream mobile command unit. Just incredible. It's summer, and they are making good use of it. And I'm just gonna tell you: I'm jealous as hell. Leigh is too. Makes me want to uproot the air conditioned meatlockerism of the shop, pack up the Volvo and hit the motherfuckin‚ road. And maybe never come back. Just go walk the earth, from WiFi spot to Wifi spot, sending off vectors here and there. Damn.

I met Ben at my Dallas "Tall Tales From A Large Man" road show talk a couple years back. That room was a bit of a tough crowd, but after the gig Ben came up and we got to the bottom of some shit. Helluva guy. You could just tell. His One Fast Buffalo design business is thriving, and, he recently launched the Warstic Bat Co. Bats, people. Good wood! In this big, wild, colorful world there just isn't much cool than an American baseball bat. Hard to beat. Ben's a ballplayer so he knows a good bat and inspects each one. They are for sale here, so get with it.

Not a ballplayer? No problem. We plan on using our Warstic for follows DDC factory floor concerns: Shop Security‚ and ‚ Client Coaxing. Yes. Feels good in the hands. These bats do not disappoint.

It was incredible meeting Ben's family and seeing the firsthand spoils of the paradigm shift that a few us have been tapping into: You can do this stuff from wherever you want.

Think about that for a second. Here's a guy operating out of his Airstream, all over America. I'm no stranger to the open road, with some wild fall tours under the belt from the last bunch of years. I'm not afraid of working out of the driver's side seat, and have sent many a document from a Motel 6 parking lot. (Free WiFi, man!)

Thanks for coming by, Ben. You pretty much are the best thing we've seen all summer. Come back and keep the rubber on the road! Freeeeeeedom!

Smooth sailing to the Jenkins clan!!!

Read full post here.

When doing good turns bad....

9/16/2011 2:55:00 AM

Customers are not stupid. Making a rewards program, refund, return policies or any of these other rebate programs as difficult as possible to receive the benefit is pointless. Just think about it. Many times people make the customer jump through so many hoops just in the hope that many of them won't go through the whole process and they will have less overall payout costs. Frankly, if you don't want to pay/reward a customer for something than simply don't do it. You are better served at just spending the extra money in some form of customer service, brand development, product improvement or enhanced communication tool to make their overall experience better.

Think to yourself:

A) Am I purposely trying to get less people to go through this process?
Don't be a jerk man. You aren't fooling anyone if the person has to snail mail three different cut outs from the package, fill out two forms they downloaded online and a DNA sample just to get a $20 rebate card. Again, people aren't stupid. Making these programs so difficult are typically the most memorable interaction someone may have of your brand....and it won't be a good one. So here is a $20 bill, but you have to get a sucker punch in the face to receive it. Is it the same thing as giving me $20? Not exactly. Take the opportunity to truly make one of the most memorable interactions with your brand a positive one.

B) Would I go through these steps to receive this?
There has to be an assigned value to the effort vs reward, and they should equate. A good gauge for this is looking at the value of the end item I am receiving. For instance, if the end product is a trip to Europe for 3 weeks people are more likely to jump through a few hoops to get there because of the perceived value. However, if the end product is a free appetizer on your next visit or a $10 rebate card there is obviously a lot less the customer should or would do to receive this. Put yourself in their position and walk through the steps. At the end, how would you feel about your company? Now use one word to describe it. Is it a positive or negative?

C) Am I, as an organization, benefiting from the information I am receiving?
Don't just look at the payout cost for these programs and don't just do them to do them. Think about what you hope to accomplish with this campaign or rebate and how YOU will benefit from the offer. In the cost/benefit analysis for each of these programs, don't simply consider the cost to your team but also the value of the information from consumers you receive. Then make a plan to capitalize on that information. For instance if you are giving 15% off on a person's next in-store visit if they sign up for your email program, think about HOW you are going to maximize the value of receiving all those email addresses and take that into consideration when creating the program benefits.

Sometimes people think 'the thought is what counts' but make sure not only the thought but the intention for a program match up with how you want to be viewed as an organization. Every contact point you have with your customer is one more stitch in the fabric of how they view your company, but don't forget that all interactions are not created equal. An extremely positive OR an extremely negative experience could overshadow hundreds of other contact points. For instance...I have been in Nordstroms 100s of times, I am a member on their email list, have bought several things there and interacted with many of the customer service reps only to simply 'like' that store. One time I bought a pair of glasses and the next day I dropped them. When I took them up to Nordstroms to see if they had a repair service they simply said "go grab another pair." No questions, no hassles just 'go grab another pair.' This resonated with me so much that there have been SEVERAL occasions since then I have paid more money for the same product simply because of Nordstroms positive interaction, no hassle policy with their customers.

I simply think it is a valuable lesson in looking at how a single interaction can be extremely impactful when your customers are asking YOU for something. Whether that may be a refund, rebate or sale price, how will you respond?

Spotify Changes Lives....well at least my life

9/1/2011 2:51:00 AM

If you are not familiar with Spotify, you soon will be. I think I can say it best by Spotify::Pandora what Cell Phone::Pager. Spotify is an online music provider that connects your stationary and mobile devices to the giant online database of music available for online or offline listening on demand. This has been popular overseas but has quite recently completed its US debut. This is different from the Pandora model in that you can request specific songs/artists and create playlists vs the 'radio' model of providing a playlist based on keywords.

Marketing for the program has been somewhat underground in a series of invitation only memberships at first that have for the most part grown organically via Facebook and Twitter reposting then suggestion of friends via those outlets. The interface also pretty easily integrates with these social media tools using Facebook Connect (to show my other Facebook friends using Spotify, their playlists, share songs between us, etc) as well as retweeting or Facebook sharing and commenting on a song, album or artist via the desktop client or mobile app. This is even more apparent with the streaming updates involved in the new Facebook profile (to show the songs a user is listening to in real time and providing a scrolling list).

One of the reasons this is incredibly important is the ability to receive 'PAID' subscribers vs the non paid customers. For a limited time you can use the desktop client at no charge, but they bait you into buying the full service by restricting offline and mobile usage for only the paid customers...this is where they got me. Now I was a Pandora user for a LONG time, but somehow I was never even tempted to pay the 99 cents to be a paid customer. Does this make me a cheap person?? Well yes and no. While the advertising on Pandora was yes very annoying, the service itself was not worth it to me for the 99 cents even sans commercials. I became so frustrated as playlists became stale within days as the song rotation was nowhere near as deep as needed and time and time again I would want to listen to a particular song or listen to the same song again. I wanted CONTROL of the music vs being fed what they had.

Which brings me to my pager/cell phone comparison. Pandora's biggest sale was that you could control your radio service to play only the kind of music you liked (ie pagers biggest sale of being able to be contacted while still being mobile), but Spotify allows you to actual control all aspects of the music itself by being able to request specific songs, artists, playlists, genres and everything in between (ie in comes the cell phone that not only allows you to be contacted while being mobile but allowing you to actually communicate and respond to the contact).

It is probably for this reason that within the few months of the US release, they have already received over 400,000 PAID users at $10/month. I was happy to sign up for this even though it was 10 times the fee for Pandora. My reasoning, I buy more than 1 CD a month on iTunes for $10 so why not have ALL music for $10?

Which brings me to the drawbacks....first they need some serious help with the user interface, and I strongly suggest they make it easier for users to submit feedback! For the desktop client, it is certainly very dry looking and has some linear search issues that are a constant nag for me. The mobile app is worse because many of the playlists users have are several hundred songs long and are not searchable/sortable from within the playlist which is a huge oversight (this is certainly opening a space for competitors like Rdio with a sexier/American market application may gain headway).

But one of the biggest drawback... are they working from a bad business model to begin with? Similar to the Pandora model, as popularity for the music service grows so will the demands from the anemic music industry to capitalize on licensing fees. In the suit brought against Pandora for 'eleventy billion trillion gazillion dollars' (which did fail, but they have been successful in hiking the fees so drastically for Pandora that their profitability is pitiful at best considering their popularity), these industry moguls salivate over the potential earnings from licensing for music air time. Pandora must bump up the ad sales on their large number of non-paid users to bring in the money for licensing fees which in turn makes it a less pleasant experience for the listeners themselves (I personally got so tired of the same McDonalds ad over and over again that it made me search for an alternative service). I understand that I was a non paid user and the same reason that when I get water at a restaurant, they hand me the tiny cheap water cup...However, I am a believer that Pandora was in a perfect place to start adding in these features long ago with a HUGE client base already established, but they continued to stick to the same model vs trying to convert more non-paid to more paid using better offerings.

So will Spotify fall into the same trap? In my opinion, no. Spotify's model is based on paid users vs the other way around (they even imply in the fine print that the free service expires in roughly 6 months). I think this will encourage many people because of the services they are providing to make the switch to Spotify as their music resource. Where I believe this is brilliant...aside from my pre-spotify giant iTunes library (which all of your local files integrate with your Spotify libraries as well) all of the music that I have downloaded over the past few months has been via Spotify creating my library. In two months that consists of certainly a chunk of music, but imagine where that leaves me a year from now? Potential for hundreds of albums that require for me to keep up my Spotify account to retain them which will in turn encourage me to continue to pay the fee so I don't lose a years worth of music. Even if they don't remove the 'free' level service, it is unrealistic to have a music resource anymore that doesn't work in a mobile environment.

Curious if you agree...

What In N Out knows that Others Don't

8/17/2011 9:21:00 AM

So here is the magic trick... We take a seemingly identical product and put it in a completely over saturated marketplace at a low price. Let's add to this by providing only a handful of options for people to choose from and oh yeah....you can't advertise. So how would this concept not only work, but get people to wait over 3 hours for a fast food burger? Branding is the answer.

In N Out opened up not a stone's throw from my house, and I have been watching a line wrapped around the building from open to close for the past month (they have 3 on site cops at all times directing traffic and have roped off about a quarter of the entire strip center's parking lot). This included a few weeks ago while no lie tornado sirens were going off, but customers could not be deterred even during severe weather. So what's the big deal?

For starters, scarcity is definitely a big help to their mystique. In N Out has been slowly expanding where others would have grabbed at every opportunity to grow. To quote Rock N Rolla "Greed is blind, and it doesn't know when to stop." Most fast food concepts live by this model and made their mega-billions by this mass expansion once a concept has proven itself. In every town within a certain radius I can drive past 15 Jack in the Box/Burger King/McDonalds etc. and they become part of the white noise scenery of the city.

This is not to say that within the confines of California, In N Out has not received a sizable foothold, but a listing of all locations can still fit on a four page handout. The organization has explained lack of expansion due to the distance from its own meat processing facility. That's right, they make all of their own patties and deliver these daily to their stores. They even claim, "we don’t even own a microwave, heat lamp, or freezer."

Which brings us to the next point, quality. Whether this rational is true or not, it doesn't really matter. The seed is planted in people's brain they are receiving a much fresher higher quality cut of meat, fixins and fries. Don't underestimate the power of this. Perceived quality can be one of the biggest factors in what something actually tastes like to the consumers themselves. Don't believe me? Then make a restaurant with only white walls and dirty floors and ask people what they think of the food. It will actual change the taste for them even if it is only a mental reaction.

This brings us back to branding. I always tell my clients that taglines are one of the most useless things ever if you don't LIVE what you are actually claiming. Don't tell me you are funny, just make me laugh. In N Out's tag is "Quality you can taste".... nothing too flashy or amazing, but what is impressive is what they have managed to do with it. You hold out expansion because you REFUSE to hurt the quality of a $3 burger? Sounds weird when you say it like that, but it is all part of a mental image of the quality that I can expect when I go to In N Out (even if that quality is all in my head).

Another interesting piece of information about the In N Out cult following, they really take care of their people. There are some brands that we just simply like better because of a positive perception about how they treat their own.

The night before the big unveiling of In N Out I saw droves of cars all around the building. It looked like they were having a giant party, which I assumed would be composed of magazine writers, local foodies, news outlets and potentially some local big wigs. However, when I drove by I asked the cop what was going on.

He told me, "Oh In N Out is throwing a party for all of the staff and their families."

When I looked around, the massive crowd was filled with high school kids and their parents. I shook my head, smiled and drove away with a really good feeling. Whether we like to think so or not, how you treat and take care of your own team can have a huge effect on what people think about your brand externally (think Walmart...). In N Out knows the power of creating a dedicated and loyal group of individuals that actually think it is cool to work there within the new communities they join.

So what does all of this mean? I get asked all of the time if we do advertising, and In N Out is one of my favorite examples on why we don't. With a solid brand and well placed strategies for messaging (direct and perceived), expansion, look and feel and external communications, a well thought out brand is much more powerful and resonating than anything I can slap on a billboard. Why am I hungry all of the sudden?

Pop up and do less. Then price on VALUE, not Time.

6/15/2011 7:01:00 AM

Dear fellow creative professionals,

Please price your DESIGN services based on value not by labor. Let's stop this madness. Frankly, I think most clients understand this concept if you will give them the opportunity. Many of us have trained the client to think more about labor rather than about value when it comes to pricing. So I blame us not them.

I'll start with a simple statement.

You can take your Graphic Designer's Guide to Pricing, Estimating & blah blah blah and use it for fire kindlin'.

I made a simple chart (see bad design above) that I think explains the main reason we want to see the hourly design fee go away. It's simple really. The more experience (we might also throw talent into this side of the graph) a designer has, the faster they should reach good design solutions. Why wouldn't they? Nobody in their right mind would purposely take longer if they don't have to. I know many designers will actually wait a few days to show the client the work to ensure the client thinks it took a good amount of time to accomplish. Really? I suspect it's because of something like this. Have you had this happen? The client doesn't understand why something that takes maybe 1 hour, or even 10 minutes for that matter, should cost a lot of $. Or have you had them question the value of an idea (even though they already told you it was good) once they figure out it really didn't take you long? We get it.

My argument is simple. If a designer spends 20 hrs on a logo (or let's say any set of visual brand design components or strategic brand strategy recommendations that have the potential to positively effect the perception of your brand), is it more valuable than one that took 10 minutes? Well, what if the logo that took 10 minutes perfectly matches the clients brand strategy? What if the one that took 20 hrs doesn't? This is purely about solutions that make a difference. In other words VALUE. Time spent does NOT by any means equal solutions that provide more value. All that matters is the quality of the result.

In fact, I'll argue that a client's VALUE for your design solution is raised when you deliver it more quickly! The longer a person waits for the solution the more the shine wears on it, even if it ultimately is as good for the brand. The faster the client gets to use the solution the faster its affect can be felt. So if you are fast, you should get rewarded, not paid less! Now doesn't that sound sane?

An experienced designer (one who knows that the first and most important thing is to understand the brand strategy BEFORE he starts the design process) works out much of the core idea in their head before they ever sit down to "work". The computer time becomes about the execution of what's in the designbrainmind place, a bit of experimentation to ensure you're on the best path, and mostly the crucial refinement that gives the piece of creative its final polished form.

Production vs Design

Don't mistake what I am saying. There is a big difference between DESIGN and PRODUCTION and those of us who do one or the other or both know this. But clients have a harder time seeing the difference in many case because maybe you don't take the time to highlight the difference. If you are laying out a 50 page catalogue for instance, there are 2 things that need to happen 1) Designing the essential set of visual elements that give this catalogue its unique look and feel. Typography, colors, photo style, formatting, good God! all that and more, etc. THIS is where the value is when it comes to determining how effective the piece will be 2) ok now you got 50 freaking pages to layout, there is a lot of redundancy here and it will certainly eat up hours to accomplish those 50 pages according to the DESIGN. So the total price for the brochure should be about pairing that value with the hours. But MOSTLY about the value!!!!

Same goes for Web Design since it is so critical to a brand's perception these days. Obviously, there are many hours that go into the production and development of a site but if you plan and design a TURD, the developer will certainly BUILD A TURD. So again, hours are only a small part of delivering real value here.

How do we measure value?

We agree this is tricky and much harder than counting hours but we still always go with this option. The value of brand design changes for every client. Why? Well, they are in different markets, some are startups, some are 80-year-old companies, some are in big markets, some in small markets. Some clients are in industries where brand design makes HUGE difference in the success of a product. Others are in an industry where brand BARELY matters. This is a fact. Also, a startup has much less at stake and everything to gain from good design. A brand designer can immensely help a startup by incredible brand design so this by no means says working for startups should be cheap. On the flip-side an 80 year old company has less to gain but lots to lose. They are hoping to make a good investment in rebranding in order to make an incremental improvement to their bottom line.

***EXPERIMENT**

To prove the worth of brand design we did a little real-life business experiment. We created a Wood Baseball Bat Company. The trick is, the brand design essentially IS the only difference between our product and the competitor's product. This is not to say the quality of our product is not high. It is, but so are the products of our competitors. The business is successful because of the brand design, which extends into the look of the product itself. Take the brand aesthetics and story away and we essentially have nothing of any real value to sell compared to our competitors. We have MUCH OF THE SAME.

Pricing.

Pricing is and maybe always will be tough in our industry (whatever the hell OUR INDUSTRY is!!) We see it more like we will sell you this specific intellectual property for that compensation. That intellectual property has a value. So we think in terms of these factors in order to propose a compensation:

1) What is the client's business? What are they selling? A product? What kind? A service? What is it? All should be considered.

2) What is the market and what kinds of dollars are at stake for this client? Is this a 2 million dollar market or a 2 billion dollar market? 3) We also relate the value of the work and what it provides to things the client can quantify. For instance, what if you are doing brand design for a restaurant that brings in 2 million dollars a year? What is that total revenue in a month? Now if the client believes that a brand redesign will increase profits by 20% then how much is that brand design worth? Again, keep in mind one brand design solution may achieve this 20% gain, and one brand design may actually cause a 20% DECLINE in profits. So how good the brand design is all important. What isn't important is HOW LONG the designer worked on it!!!!!! Well what about that restaurant putting 1-2 months revenue at stake? Sure sounds reasonable to us for a return of potentially 20% or more. Even further, what if this is a chain of restaurants? More to lose, more to gain. Nothing is a sure shot of course and we all take risks.

3) We measure risk on the clients side, and on giving away our ideas. For instance if a beverage maker comes to us and says "Hey OFB we have a great new beverage product." We say "Cool what is special about it?" Client "Well nothing really. We just know that the world needs another US made craft beverage priced at $x for a 750 ml bottle. And we decided to make it. It is not flavored in any special way, not made in any special way, not made in an interesting place or by interesting people, or even with special nutrients infused, etc. We don't even have a name for it." OFB "Wellll, our opinion is you have NOTHING so far sir. We understand your willing to spend a lot of money on beverage makin equipment and of course spend mountains of time making, and selling this product but at this point (which is what matters when we are making a deal to fix this problem for you) you really don't have anything. We are essentially providing the product." Yes that's right, in this case the brand design IS the product. So yes, we are are creating a huge amount of value if the brand design is strong. We see this often. For the record we do see a good amount of clients that bring us products with a built-in distinct competitive advantage. Great example here.

4) We DON'T think much about what other design, creative, or advertising agencies charge. Who cares and how the hell would we/you know. I mean, surely clients don't share proposals from one group with another group right ;) And surely creative PROFESSIONALS don't undercut each other.

5) We also measure the pain factor of working with a client. This is a big one. We have been doing this long enough to gauge how much work we will have to do to please a client. Bigger organizations simply have a harder time making decisions for example. Some one man companies have similar trouble but for a different reason…they are too personally vested in it. These are the clients from whom we get this response upon sending ONE logo design. "Wow!!!! I love this logo, it's so awesome and really works for what we are doing. However, I hate to just go with the first thing you show me. Can I see some other options." if you don't see the insanity in this statement. well, let's just agree to disagree.

All these factors mean sometimes we sell brand design for $1 and sometimes $1Milllion. Haha. Maybe one takes longer than the other, maybe not. Maybe monkeys will soon be taught to do great graphic design and replace us. Well, if they are good why should the client care if they get the results. And too bad for us, but I bet monkeys won't be able to figure out how to charge for value so we should be safe. This may on the surface seem unfair or showing favoritism towards one client vs another but we don't think so. Simple as this. One brand design may have the potential to push product into the market quickly and be an instant success. Again, it's about the value of the ideas and things we make. One brand design may be BETTER from a "hey check out this cool design in Commarts magazine", but really not very effective inside the market it was made for. In other words NOT MUCH FN VALUE. So again which is worth more $? Ideally, of course we like to provide both good design AND good value. That usually just requires good clients that let us do good design ;)

What to do. What to do.

If you are worried the client will question your pricing if they know it only took an hour. Just quote Picasso. Here is the story "The attractive woman who recognized him, slowly approached him and asked him if he would draw a portrait of her. Picasso agreed and quickly sketched her. After handing the signed sketch to her, she was most pleased with the likeness and asked how much she owed to him. Picasso replied, “$5,000” The woman bristled and exclaimed, “But it took you only five minutes!” “No, Madam, it took me all my life.” replied Picasso, who then raised the price to $10,000 after his self-confirming realization of the drawing’s actual value."

We would love to hear your thoughts (both clients and designers) about this stuff.

Before all you fellow designers tell me that I am causing clients' expectations to be raised about how fast you should execute great solutions. I feel ya. Kiiiinda. The only exception is that of course some design styles (whether you are playing off of something you have seen before, or you just invented a new design style) DO require more time than others. Intricacy can be a tactic in some good design. But many times it means overdone. I'm guilty of this myself. Look at some of my older work. So let your client know if that is the case. Otherwise sit down and knock that s*&$#* out, get the client their goods, get paid for the real value of your work, and get to that bike ride, hike, stroll thru the market, snowboarding or surfing session, etc knowing you really made something that will play a big role in your client's success and enjoy the fresh air.

Now if you are STILL mad at us for telling you to work fast think about this. Ever hear of Parkinsons law? This simply states "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." We see this all the time. If you give a designer (or yourself as THE designer) a week to execute a creative idea….you will certainly spend a week. Will it be worth it? Probably not. If however you give yourself a day (assuming you have already reviewed your brand strategy and KNOW what this brand design should accomplish, you are more likely to create a great solution in 1 day than you are in 5. I have had employees at first be like OMG what a slave driver you are giving one day??? I'm like yup. And then I want you to do 1 more concept for this other brand tomorrow, and another the next day. And just as they are rising from their seat to stab me with their no. 2 pencil I say "and then take thursday and friday OFF!!!! Yes, I want you work less'" It's kinda like what Paul Rudd meant I think in Forgetting Sarah Marshall when he told Peepyopee…"pop up and do less. The less you do the more you do." See the clip here.

Conclusion

If you are a designer stop worrying about time. Stop feeling guilty if you reach good solutions fast. We do and don't feel bad about it. Great solutions can be made in 30 minutes if you have processed the right information and have confidence in that info. Trust your instincts, don't go searching for ways others have solved similar problems. In other words quit opening those design annuals and searching for an idea. No two brands are or should be alike. Do however study the competitors because that is more about the bar that is set. DO kick that brand in the teeth and don't stop until it's beat. Do force yourself to explore the untried. And really do produce something of value. Value for that brand. When brand design MAKES the brand you have created tremendous value. We feel design adds REAL value to a product. It does matter.

If you are a client (anyone who pays for these services) please do consider the value of what you are asking for and receiving, especially in a world where most things are pretty easy to make ;) We do greatly appreciate all the clients that pay us fairly for our ideas. That's MOST of them. And for those of you that keep asking us why you can get a logo on www.logotournament.com for $200 and why we charge so much?? Good luck! Just keep in mind your competitors may actually be paying one of our fine design colleagues (all you badass design firms) to create ideas with real value.

OFB Launches Its Warstic Wood Bat Co.

6/5/2011 1:12:00 AM

We are excited to announce OFB's latest business venture. Warstic Wood Bat Co. We make, brand, and sell these bats. In other words we are doing for ourselves what we often do for clients....Launch brands. But latelfey we have started to take that further. Not only did we name the company and product, design the brand, and build the eCommerce store...we are now digging into the manufacturing of our own products. With our founder's baseball background making wood baseball bats are a real passion for OFB. Hand craftsmanship, Design, and Great wood. In true OFB fashion we are remaking the rules of what a wood bat should look like. Bats for sale online now!

ABOUT WARSTIC BAT CO

Warstic Wood Bat Co is a Texas-based independent company interested in building a unique brand of wood bat for serious players of any age. Frankly, there are very few secrets to making a great wood baseball bat. It's about sourcing and selecting the best wood, craftsmanship, attention to detail and knowing how to achieve the right feel. We know, as players ourselves, what we care about is performance and feel. They go hand and hand. The right feel creates confidence and that affects how you swing it. And of course performance matters once wood meets leather. We can't fake this. We ourselves use these bats and stand by them.

 The added bonus infused in our bats is that Warrior mentality from which we encourage every player to draw from. It's in our name. It's in our Wartip Stain style. It's in the trademark Warstripe emblem that is branded into every bat. It's not about numbers, stats, and rankings. It's about every AT BAT. Make each one count. Battle. Then the success, honors, records and maybe even a paycheck will come.

Our plan for growth is not to grow quickly or out-advertise the competition. It's more about slowly building a following of players with this common approach at the plate. Whether you are a power hitting cleanup man, leadoff hitter or 9 hole scrapper...When you step to the plate with our Signature Wartip bat...please do so with this mentality. Or please use someone else's bat.

OFB Wins 2011 American Web Design Award for Konagrill.com

6/4/2011 3:10:00 PM

OFB is honored to have our web design for Kona Grill featured in the 2011 American Web Design Awards by GDUSA. OFB was hired to update Kona Grill's online image...their website, blog, mobile site and iPhone app. Be sure to view the BEFORE image. In a nutshell this is what we do. We remake, reinvent, update, upgrade and change perception. View the full case study here.

For nearly five decades, GDUSA has sponsored national competitions that spotlight the most important, fast-growing and valuable areas of design for business and society. Our well-established programs and annuals — focusing on Graphic Design, Inhouse Design and Package Design — have provided long-deserved recognition to award-winning creatives. The American Web Design Awards competition celebrates the power of well-designed websites and other online communications to attract audiences, generate engagement and response, and promote products, services and ideas.

THE ALL NEW ONEFASTBUFFALO.COM IS LIVE!

6/1/2011 11:23:00 AM

And you can see it right here of course http://www.onefastbuffalo.com. We really, really, really love this site. It just 100% represents who we are in 2011 and more importantly who we are after 12 years of doing what we do. It's a really good feeling to know who you are, what you're about, what you do well, and what you don't care to be. So please grab a hot cup of coffee, maybe even a tobacco pipe, kick off your shoes and please dig deep into the new site. We hope you enjoy it.

OK I'm gonna admit it. This was just about the hardest thing I have ever designed. I started working on this sometime in early 2010. But I wasn't until last summer OFB Southwest Loop Tour that it really started to come together. As always things I saw started to influence the design. Not other websites by any means, but more the color tones and lines that I saw in things. Even then, I rassl'd this design like a grizzly bear for months until it finally submitted. Not to mention my biz partner Christine who just kept telling mhhhhhh yeah it's good, buuuut I know you get make it better! She was right. So she must receive some credit for driving this towards it's final state.

We want to thank our cutters and developers for all their hard work (you know who you are). We know this was challenging to build and we appreciate your willingness to explore with us. Thanks also to our friends and family who had to endure many rounds of testing and questions like "hey do you like this matte black or this like like real shiny black?"

Where did the old OFB site go?

You can visit the old guy right here.

annnnnd where did the old old site go?

You can visit that old gal right here.

Health & Fitness for Designers...and other people who are crazy.

4/7/2011 3:17:00 PM

Not unlike many modern working stiffs, Designers have a big challenge when it comes to staying healthy & fit. This is because what we do for a living tends to dictate that we put in long stretches of time on the computer and are physically in-active much of the day. So of course the less active we are the more what we eat effects our health. Diet is HUGE for designers. I think being a designer is particularly challenging when it comes to overall health and fitness. I experienced this first hand when I made the transition from playing sports to working as a full time graphic designer. This started in college when I started studying design but at least in college I was playing baseball and for the most part was out there playing or working out for 4-6 hours or more a day. After I finished my minor league baseball tour and turned to design full-time I really was shocked at how fast I went from really fit, to really unfit. After about 2 years of working I was really out of shape, looking bad, and worse feeling bad. So about that time I started trying to find a way to practice design but also practice being fit, feeling good and finding real balance in terms of work and health. Turns out I'm a better designer and happier when I'm fit. So both of those things I find GOOD. After a couple years of experimenting I really developed a lifestyle that manages to be active and healthy without working out to death. I hve time to design. And I really enjoy eating the way I eat.

**DISCLAIMER **I'm not intending for this post to be some kind of HOW TO GUIDE to health and fitness. But I figure I've got 12 years of practice going here and have carved out a simple plan for myself with regards to being fit while not sacrificing the crucial focused time I need to continue developing as a designer. So I'm just telling you what works for me. And of course I'M NOT A DOCTOR, TRAINER, or NUTRITIONIST. So feel free to share your thoughts and contribute.

Tip 1 - Work less

The less you work ( spend time on the computer in our case ) the less inactivity should be a problem. So start there. I'm not kidding here.

Someone sent me this email yesterday…"Hi OFB, where can I send samples to if I was looking for overflow freelance work? I have 23 years of experience... and I'm inexpensive... and I work crazy long hours."

Was I supposed to be impressed by that? Why have we learned to wear overworking as some kind of badge of honor? Work hard yes….well I guess. I say worked focused. Work smart. Then spend time actually enjoying friends and family and hey even meeting new people. Relationships are a big factor in how healthy you are too.

I also really think part of being a good designer is spending time see the world. Without that, you'll never grow and evolve as a designer. So you gotta save time for that too.

My belief is that if you give a designer, or yourself for that matter, a longer period of time to execute a project you will certainly fill every minute of that time. So give yourself less time. I plan to write and entire article on my thoughts related to working less, doing more with less time, not filling time. But here I will just say the first remedy to working less, is giving yourself less time to work. For all of my projects I schedule the block of time in advance. I take the time to read thru the research that my team provides well in advance of that scheduled time so that I get most of the design idea in my head before I ever sit down at the computer. When I sit down it's about executing what's in my head. Fast and good. That really minimizes my computer time. When I sit down to work its will a very clear purpose and focused effort on a particular task. This also is related to my opinions on NOT working by the hour. Sooooooo, you are going to pay me MORE if I take LONGER to come up with a good idea? And you think that its worth more $ that way?.....arg makes me so dam mad. Haha. More on that later someday in the future time.

Tip 2 - Simplicity in Life. This is related to Tip 1 and I see this all the time. But in a modern world it is hard not to be guilty of this one. People work so many hours trying to sustain a lifestyle that mostly supports having lots of expensive stuff that really adds no real value to the experience of life. Just be more conscience of what makes you happy I guess is my point. When you require less stuff, you need less $, and you don't need to work as much. That goes also for size. I am a big proponent of living and working in smaller spaces. Good blog here. And great post about George Bernard Shaw's work shed. And of course trailers are great too! haha. For self employed designers or owners of design firms I highly recommend combining workspace with living space. More on that here. I had large office spaces for years. It's just more space to pay for, more work needed to pay for that, less time to eat well and MOVE more. Less time for everything else I think. I'll also add that once you get into simplicity it's actually quite fun, It's freeing and less stressful. It's a religion itself I think. The benefits are massive I think.

***SAVE EARTH ALERT*** Not to mention think of the crazy amount of energy is spent simply by the fact that most of us both rent or own a house or apartment that we live in AND work in an office. So while that home space sits there being heated or cooled all day we are off at a second location working. That space is also using energy constantly. Much of our energy consumption problems would be solved I think if there was a massive movement towards working from home/work spaces. I'm hoping in the future that more house design considers making good workspaces in the home.

I do some lots of things to simplify. I'll mention one here that I take some crap for. I actually have a quite a peculiar habit of buying lots of the same clothes and pretty much where the same thing everyday. For instance, I have a few pair of jeans for meetings, a few pair of my favorite black cargo pants that I work in when in the studio, a large supply of Alternative Apparel Alternative Earth T-shirts and a long sleeve Alternative Apparel Scout Henley T-Shirts. I have a stack of each in Gray, Black, White and Brown. It may be boring to some but to me its what I feel is my look and I don't have to spend time thinking about it everyday. It's also comfortable AS HELL. I wear what I wear. I have 3 pair of the same burlap Toms brand shoes. I have a couple nice Dress jackets to look decent at a meeting. And I throw in a mix of button down pearl snap shirts of course. I have 3 of my favorite hat. But overall its grab and go and everything ends up looking plenty good together. I think! haha.

*** DISCLOSURE *** I do however kinda go nuts on the vintage belts, vintage rings, vintage boots (43 pair and counting) and vintage leather jackets. All of which work well with the very simple wardrobe of jeans, cargo pants, and Tshirts. And I suppose it makes those things less boring. I also have lots of fun with beard and mustache growing :)

Tip 3 - Simplicity in Diet. When it comes to diet, and I don't mean BEING ON A DIET or starving yourself, I think you have to keep it very simple, reliable, and frankly predictable if you want to eat well consistently. And I think staying fit is 80% about what you eat. I believe in eating the same things over and over. If you rely on taking each days meals as they come and figuring out what to eat….very few of us can make good choices consistently. I know this is true of myself. But I am all about good taste.

So here is my approach:

Make a list of foods. What works for me is basically developing a specific list of foods that are a) good for me….specifically foods don't CREATE fat and have positive health benefits 2) that I like the taste of. Simple.

Here is my current list of foods:

Bison

Beef

Pork

Salmon

Tuna

Chicken

White Fish

Eggs

Bacon or Turkey Bacon

Baby Spinach

Green Onions

Artichokes

Hearts of Palm

Black Beans

Lentils

Guacamole

Avocados

Cilantro

Green Beans

Broccoli

Sun Dried tomatoes

Carrots

Grapefruit

Blueberries

Almonds

Brazil Nuts

Pistachios

Olive Oil

Vinegar

Soy Sauce

Dark Chocolate bars

Smoked Cheddar Cheese

Red Wine

and did I mention a bit of Bourbon?

Make sure you are stocked up on spices too. Makes all the difference. My favorites are black pepper, garlic powder, garlic salt, red pepper.

***Free Love Tip*** Guys, might as well pick up some fresh flowers for the ladies while you are at the market…goes a long way ;)

So I go buy the food. Right. Ok, got it. Then I simply eat off that list of food ONLY. I can go to the market and buy my list in about 15 minutes every 2 weeks and be done. All of this stuff is located on the outer layers of the market. Stay out of the middle of the market. Thats basically where the crap is. So once I by the foods on my list I know mentally that I am prepared to eat well for the next 2 weeks and also that I'll waste the $ if I don't stick to it.

I don't count calories. I'd rather just know that I can eat as much of the foods off my list as I want rather than worry about calories and portions. And that works for me. This comes into play whether its eating out or cooking at home. I just keep the list in mind when Im eating out. If you really make a list of foods that help your body burn fat and that you like it really won't be that long and after a while you just know the list.

*** ANOTHER EARTH ALERT **** And of course, if you haven't started buying organic, wild, cage-free, and local by now…..really? Start buying in those categories so that the market shifts in that direction for the future. Simple as that. Plus your cutting out the bad stuff that is in most of our food system. For our family, my wife and I have fun growing most of our vegetables at our local community garden down the street. We keep a small plot there and the kids have fun with it. Once you get it going its not a huge amount of work compared to what you get out of it.

***Guilt Trip****I'd also challenge you to simply make and effort to buy less food that comes in a package. Sorry designers, I know this means less work but hey trash IS a problem. At least push your clients to think of ways to minimize packaging and even printing. Push for sustainability.

Tip 4 - Protein is the Man. This is related to Tip 3. Not to go into great detail about WHY, but its pretty obvious by the list that I prescribe to low carb and to some extent high fat eating. I'll just say that for me…if I eat lots of carbs I gain lots of weight really fast. If I eat high protein low carb meals I stay leaner and feel better. It also means working out is not about LOSING WIEGHT. So I eat meat, I eat greens, I don't eat white stuff (bread, pasta, milk, etc).

Tip 5 - Cook for yourself. This is HUGE. And simplicity plays a big role here to. I'm no chef but as a designer I bet your actually a pretty good cook. Cooking just takes a little creativity and the right gut feeling about what things go together. I don't own a cookbook and never have. Basically for lunch and dinner I just grab a main protein from my stash, grill it up, grill up some of the veggies with Olive oil, throw em all together on a bed of baby spinach, throw in some spices, drop all of this in a bowl and go. I have attached pics of the meals I ate in the last week as an example. I'm not naming them or even providing recipes. That's not the point. Its just about foods I like (my list), cooked real fast, thrown in bowl. They aint pretty but they taste real good to me. Big thing is its fast…it takes me about 10 minutes to cook up one of the meals in bowl. I don't spend a lot of time FINDING the food. Its all right there. I don't over think it…grill, chop it, mix it, eat it. During the weekdays I am religious about doing this for both lunch and dinner. And this alone keeps my weight in good standing I think. Then exercise becomes about stress relief, fun, and muscle maintenance…. not weight loss.

If you don't work from home or an office where you are able to cook. Just KNOW your list when you go out to eat.

Tip 6 - Eat whatever you want on Saturday. I think this might be the most important tip on the list for me. Because without this one I couldn't maintain tip 3 consistently. On Saturday I really basically eat as much of the bad stuff I love as I can stomach. Hamburgers, fries, pizza, ice cream, all the bad carbs. This keeps your metabolism fired up for the week (I've been told) but more importunely I get SO satisfied on this day that by the time Monday rolls around Im really ready to get back to my list and roll. I don't really crave the bad foods during the week. So mentally I DO get to eat all the foods I crave…I just limit it to Saturdays. Although I will admit that Sunday is the hardest day of the week. Sometimes I just settle for halfzees (1/2 good food 1/2 bad).

Tip 7- Good Snacks. This is big too. In between meals is where many of us go wrong. What works for me is keeping all kinds of nuts around. Almonds, Brazil Nuts, and Pistachios are my favs. Just grab small amounts don't go crazy. Stay away from the chips, crackers, and of course candy man! I also like half and avocado as a snack, or guacamole filled deviled eggs.

Tip 8 - Don't Drink BAD stuff. I don't drink milk, lots of beer, sodas, or juice with lots of sugar. I pretty much drink coffee all morning, Green Tea all afternoon, Water at meals, and red wine at night. Ok some Bourbon too :) I also try and avoid artificial sweeteners and diet drinks. That stuff will kill you man.

Tip 9 - Eat Breakfast. Eating high protein breakfast really helps you eat better the rest of the day. I pretty much eat 3 boiled eggs, some turkey bacon or regular bacon and coffee every morning. Sometimes grapefruit and blueberries. That's it. Stay away from the American obsession of cereals, grains, juice, and toast. I also make a batch of omelet muffins for the week. Get a muffin tray, mix up eggs, green onions, artichoke, a bit of salt and pepper, and whatever else you like in an omelet thats ON THE LIST. Drop that mix down in the muffin try spots….cook it till its puffy. Put them in freezer bags in the fridge. Great to grab and go all week heated or not.

Tip 10 - Be Mobile and MOVE. So again, focus on tips 1-9 because I think this is 80% or even more of the battle to stay fit as a designer. Get that right, and then focus on this one.

Humans just weren't meant to sit in chairs for long periods of time. It's not only inactivity its bad for your hip flexors. The less flexible you become the less good you will feel. The more you will not feel like being active.

Here are some things I do during the work day to keep moving:

- Start off the day talking a 15 minute walk. I walk my dogs. This is just as much to clear my head for the day as it is for the exercise.

- I keep my mailbox down the street at a post office box which happens to be near my local coffee shop. So in the middle of the day I usually jump on my trusty OFB Beach Cruiser single speed bicycle and ride down to get mail and coffee. Skateboards and ripsticks work here as well. So ride a bike for small errands.

- I take a couple 5-10 min breaks during work sessions to just get outside for a few minutes, stretch, throw the ball with my kids. Yes, I work from a studio I built at my house so I have it good in this area. I consider myself lucky. Much happier than when I used to go into an office everyday. I think my co-workers feel the same.

- I will occasionally work standing up.

- I lift weights about 2-3 times per week for about 25 minutes. Usually late at night. I have a simple dumbbell setup in my garage to its right there when I need it. I prescribe to this simple theory... Do 1 set of each exercise TO FAILURE and only 1 time per week. Simple as that. I work all major muscle groups. This one is also good for designers so we can build bigger muscles for this parking lot gang fights with regular folk. We as designers could stand to be a bit more "fierce" in my opinion ;).

- Most nights right before I go to bed I do as many pushups as I can. And a set of some type of abs exercise…..again till failure. That's it. Just a good burn.

- I run a couple times a week. I jog for a while but mostly do sets of sprints. This is also as much for the brain as it is for the exercise. I get more ideas running than at any other time. So I run with my iPhone and have apps that transpose voice recording into text that I can email myself. Dragon Dictation is a good one. Also, try barefoot running….http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ or http://lunasandals.com/.

- Yoga is great and I do it a bit…..It just bores the ever living hell out of me. I'd rather sit on the porch (or Airstream front step) and smoke my tobacco pipe to get that calm feeling. Ha ha.

- Other than these things, I work to NOT work….so I like to do long Airstream trips with my family and mostly places where we can surf, snowboard, fly fish, explore, hike, etc. So we are active when we are on the road.

- Exploring/Junkin/Pickin…you name it. To me, as a designer if you are out finding "stuff"… you ARE working. It's not just leisure time. You are finding sparks of inspiration that lead to the new ideas we make.

- Oh I also still play about 40 baseball games year. Thats for fun and there is some exercise involved. And I might mention here my awesome wife who is totally cool on me playing that much :)

- Last, when I can, I get my feet up. This is not of course active but its less sitting in that god awful workstation position. I only sit in that position when I am doing design. If I am doing other tasks on the computer my feet are up and head is not leaning over my laptop.

BONUS TIP - Screw Stress. Stress just simply kills us and kills happiness. I'm not saying it's easy to just not worry about things but….its mostly internal. And for me really trying to practice simplicity is the best way to prevent stress. I read message once by a Shaolin Warrior I keep it around because it helps me manage stress. I think as a creative person yourself you will get it.

"Focus solely on the movement (the act of being creative and making) with the breath. Worries circle in our minds, and the more we think, the more momentum our worries gain, making art is a pair of scissors, which cuts through the thoughts and gives our mind and body a place of stillness."

Billy Gibbons Hot Sauces Online!

3/23/2011 9:57:00 AM

Our Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) BBQ and PIQUANT Sauces are online and ready to ship! Great for Fathers day. I personally vouch for the quality of this sauce. Which means nothing cause I'm just a designer. But its real good.

Buy BFG no 44 BBQ sauce here.

Buy BFG no 44 Piquant sauce here

Buffalo, Inc Hires One Fast.

3/21/2011 2:36:00 AM

With offices in Japan, USA, Germany, UK, Ireland, and Taiwan, Buffalo, Inc. is a leading worldwide provider of innovative network solutions for the home and business - from wireless networking and storage to memory and multimedia devices. Since 1975, Buffalo has proven its commitment to delivering innovative solutions that have put the company at the forefront of infrastructure technology.

Believe it or not these guys hired us for our brand manufacturing capabilities not their love our shared name. OFB has been commissioned to revamp this 35 year old technology brand with updated brand aesthetics, brand messaging and a new web site. Stay tuned for the results!

OFB Wins 2011 American Package Design Award for SansSoda.

2/9/2011 12:32:00 PM

OFB is honored to have the packaging design for SansSoda featured in GDUSA.

Manufacturers, retailers and marketers are challenged as never before to convey the message, promote the brand and close the deal. Think fragmented audiences, information overload, eroding loyalty, global competition, economic uncertainty. Package design and related disciplines are increasingly the difference makers in the purchasing decision. The outstanding work showcased in the March 2011 Issue of GDUSA — 100 or so elite design firms and departments are represented — is testimony to that. The annual GDUSA competition celebrates well-designed graphics, of course, but more importantly, the power of design to forge an emotional link with the buyer at the moment of truth.

Village Burger Bar Seeks Brand Enhancement by OFB.

1/26/2011 11:13:00 AM

OFB is excited to announce it's newest branding client, Village Burger Bar . This 4-year-old brand has a great product and is poised for growth. OFB is going to help them do it. We are already knee deep in burgers, sweet potato fries and paninis. VBB is owned and operated by some super nice people that we have enjoyed getting to know. Stay tuned to see the results of this brand overhaul!

Old Blankets on Plycraft Chairs.

1/7/2011 9:48:00 AM

Had some fun this past weekend giving my vintage plycraft chair a brand makeover. Not that the old fabric wasn't cool but just wasn't quite my style. I have had this old southwest blanket for years and have always loved the stripes, stitch, and colors.

I'm a Graphic Designer.

12/1/2010 8:08:00 AM

My 6 year old just confirmed it.

New BFG Gear by OFB.

11/10/2010 1:44:00 AM

Wanted to show everyone a sneak peak of the new Billy Gibbons Brand T-shirts and Dickies gear we are about to produce. We developed a limited edition set of BFG Custom T Shirts that tout hand-drawn illustrations of his fleet of custom hot rods. These first 2 are rough drafts. A treasure for any BFG fan or Hot Rod lover! We also have custom designed embroidered BFG patch and BFG tag done for our collaboration with Dickies.

You can buy soon at www.billygibbons.com.

Baker Brothers American Deli Brand to be Overhauled by OFB.

11/9/2010 9:15:00 PM

OFB is excited to announce it's newest branding client, Baker Brothers American Deli. Founded in 1998. Baker Bros is a US based, upscale, fast-casual deli chain that serves award-winning salads, incredible oven-baked sandwiches served on specialty ciabatta breads, huge stuffed baked potatoes and gourmet pizzas. OFB is going to shine this brand all up and re-serve it up on a brilliant silver platter of awesome that destroys all fast casual concepts in its path. Stay tuned to see the results of this brand overhaul. Expect an updated brand look, all new menu designs, interior design changes, catering campaign, and full online upgrades. **Update** see the Baker Brothers brand makeover here.

New Website For Ojos Locos Cantina.

11/9/2010 7:36:00 AM

OFB is designing a new site for Ojos Locos Cantina, a concept opened by Front Burner Restaurants, LP who also owns Twin Peaks. Having fun with this one and doing our best to help this concept on its journey to becoming a national chain. Great people, great food, sports, and fun times. Here is a sneak peak at the concept.

Freedom to Work. Remote.

11/8/2010 5:38:00 AM

I was thinking about FREEDOM today as I made my way around town visiting some old friends at their current places of work. I made three stops and later realized that none of these friends had any good reason to be working FROM the office. Not just today but not on most days. Do you? Do your employees?

OFB loves freedom when it comes to worklife. We will fight you over this. No really, like physically fight. These beliefs come from our real experience. We suggest some real therapy when it comes to the corporate world's office addiction. So I am here to say if you can, set your employees free from the office.

To be clear this post is NOT specifically advocating that people work from their home, or any place in particular or even working in the same place on a daily basis. We actually don't advocate that. This is about having an individual choice about where to work other than the company office. Now we understand of course it profits the commercial real estate industry for us all to believe that old model of "WHERE BUSINESS SHOULD BE DONE" is a good model. And of course for some office space really is needed. For instance, I have a good and talented buddy who owns a special fx house. There is one good reason they need an office and need to be at the office most of the time. Doing what they do requires a vast amount of equipment, controlled studio space and lighting, sound booths, and high-end software running on special systems. Not something you can just throw on a laptop and go. Its a hands-on sport over there. In other words the work they do is in many respects about the space and physical stuff in it. It allows them to produce their product. So for those whose jobs require that they need tools, hard goods, and machinery to make things of course you need a place to house that.

But when those physical restraints don't exist. I mean seriously, why are you at the office? At least why are you there EVERYDAY? We say let those employees execute the tasks that don't require the equipment to be done off-site in the setting they choose.

I'll argue that many of us business owners and mangers as well have really created a day prison to a certain extinct. I promise that insisting on making employees be at the office, no matter how "fun" you attempt to make the environment, at a certain time and leave at a certain time is not inspiring them to stay forever, but freedom might. I'm not suggesting that you employ people to goof off, although we actually end up creating great places to goof off when we make offices. I'm simply saying give them the freedom to work at their highest capacity, stay fresh, be inspired, have a connected life, and utilize technology as a real gift so that your business benefits.

It is real simple to figure out if letting your employees work remotely would work. Do I really have to explain this?

1. Their job is about communication, managing logistics, planning, design, creating ideas. In other words the real part of their work is done in the brain man.

2. They can do the majority of their job with these tools: a laptop, access to internet, mobile phone, and electricity.

OFB's 15 Reasons to Let Employees Work Remotely:

1. Happy employees are more productive. Humans like Freedom. Most of your employees are probably Human.

2. Build trust. When there is trust, there are just less problems and crap to worry about. You want to lead not babysit right? Most employees would appreciate being trusted. Why not give them a chance to be trusted. Worklife freedom flows to people who are ultra responsible, accountable, hard working, self sufficient, and self- motivated. Really, if you have employees who aren't these things…why do you have them?

3. It becomes more about quality and productivity rather than filling time and space. If there are no time cards to judge "effort" then all that is left is the results. This allows the employees who are ACTUALLY productive and create value, be recognized and float to the top. Ass kissers, yes men, lazy people, number two leaches and rankmongers have a harder time surviving in this environment. In other words people who are good at filling time and creating the "appearance" of producing results have to actually produce.

4. More talented employees. The freedom to work for you but live geographically where they want is a HUGE benefit to employees. So essentially it makes you a more attractive employer. This is one of the biggest reasons we do not require our staff to live in the same city. We want the BEST creative talent. Not just the best in a specific town.

5. People have more time in their day when their is no commute. I don't care if it is 2 minutes or 2 hours extra to enjoy…and thats good for you. If people have more time to socialize with friends and family, take a walk, walk the dog, shop for supplies, etc they will be less stressed and more focused when they are working.

6. Greener. I don't need to go into this in detail but its pretty obvious we would spend less time in the car, use less gas, use less electricity, etc. if more people worked virtually. People can only be in one place at a time. We really double up on electricity when most workers are leaving a dwelling that is powered and working at a second place that is also powered....uhhhh while still powering the place they aint at.

7. More Personal Energy is good for your bottom line. Give employees the freedom to figure out for themselves what times of the day they are most productive because of their natural energy levels. We all have them. Most people are more productive, inspired, alert and focused during certain times of the day. Breaking the day into 3 or even 4 pieces is healthy and more productive. If you try to work in one long stream much of your day will certainly be unproductive, uninspired, half-assed, and lack polish.

8. Fresh air is good for them, so is sunlight.

9. Exercise and movement are as well. Encourage them to set aside time for it.

10. Stagnation = Bad. If your bored, you start to just go thru the motions..is there anything worse you would want from an employee? Let employees change environments to stay stimulated, not just caffeinated.

11. Better ideas. Ideas are OUT THERE…Let employees go out into the field and find them. Experiences breed innovation, experimentation and problem solving. Being in the same environment all the time just breeds much of the same thinking. Having employees working out in the world gives them a chance to be closer to customers. We see this all the time. The executives at many large companies are very disconnected from the experiences of their customers. We go out into the field where the customers are to learn how they think. We also don't stick them in an observation room and expect them to behave naturally. We spend more time in customer environments where we gain valuable insight.

12. Working remote makes you a better planner. You are forced to create a plan, a process, and delegate well. You also become good at goal setting and tracking progress. And thats where we learn how to do things better, smarter, and faster. You learn to build with simplicity in mind.

13. Eating Better. We even found that we tend to eat less, eat healthier, and cook more for ourselves working remotely. Why, mostly because we have time to do so. So we feel better.

14. You want a patriotic reason? I think of our grand parents. Lots of Vets died for our freedom and it honors them to live a life of freedom. Work is a BIG part of life. We tend to use work as an excuse to not be free simply because we don't question why we physically need to be in the office to do our job.

15. Save $. I am listing this reason last because it is what people often think of first when considering having less office space or no office space. But I just see it as a side benefit. Not THE reason to move towards virtual working environments.

OFB's 13 Reasons You Probably Won't Do this.

Remember, I have been guilty of most of these in the past.

1. It's mostly about your ego. Walking in and seeing 5, 15, 50, or 500 people in one place is only necessary if its necessary from a physical standpoint. If not, its because you learned this behavior from others or it just makes you feel powerful to have people do what you say, where you say.

2. Your a control freak. You think if you are not watching over an employees shoulder they are not working hard enough. And somehow you believe this is also HOW they are most productive. That's called being a slave driver. Another way to look at this is...maybe they aren't working every minute of the day. But are you paying for their time? Or are you paying them to complete tasks, handle situations, and create? Focus less on how much they work and more on why you need them.

3. You use having employees butts in seats to make yourself feel better about that office lease you signed. Its not their problem, its yours. Just because you feel guilty not using the office you leased, doesn't mean they should feel guilty.

4. You think it's not "professional" to be virtual or have employees working remotely. Being professional does not mean you have to be in an office. Your no less legit. Being legit is about offering a valuable product or service and making a profit; all about being professional where it counts. Most of the touch points where we intersect with clients and customers these days happens remotely anyway. Think about it.

5. You are afraid people won't be focused. I totally advocate FOCUSED seclusion during task times. And thats why I really DON'T recommend the typical office environment. Easily one of the first things I think of when I think…"mmmmmhhhh where could I really waste some time today. Ah yes, the office!"

6. We can't collaborate if we are virtual or employees work remotely; we cant interact, we can't innovate together. Seriously? I don't buy it. Not at all. What you really mean is we can't have in-person meetings. Haven't you heard...meetings are so 2008! A topic for another day. At OFB certainly there are times when we need to "sit-down" and hash something out via conversation with internal staff and/or clients. But its not like we need to freaking TOUCH or SMELL each other when we do this!!!! And with simple video or audio chatting and even desktop sharing this all happens perfectly well. And everyone spends more time executing tasks. Less time driving to that meeting. After the first minute of everyone connecting into the online meeting you forget that its video, and it just is irrelevant that it is.

7. Clients won't think we are legit, real, or serious if we don't have an office. Maybe the old school thinkers will but old ideas will fade away. But young people with new ideas are coming and some of the best businesses around these days are virtual, you just don't know it. It's all about perception witch is mostly begotten online now. Trust me we have changed the perception of our clients businesses by simply designing a better identity and/or website. It's more importantly about customer service, delivery, and execution. All of which are done better by happier employees.

8. But how can I manage people I cant see? Really!!!!! I love this excuse..its the most common. Isn't management about motivating, leading, inspiring, providing clear instruction, trusting and most of all DELEGATING? If you can't do those things well you shouldn't be managing you should just be a in-school suspension teacher or something. I actually have people tell me that they go to the office because their boss goes. So!!!!! Haha, an why is he going? Because his boss is goes tot he office? And so on. Insanity. That's why this post is directed at the boss. Most of the insane things we do in the corporate world were created by you or your just following the rules of someone pro-motting that insanity. My next door neighbor told me he drives 1.5 hours each day to work. Monday and Wednesdays he visits the factory floor for much of the day. On the other three days he goes into his private office and proceeds to work from his laptop mobile phone. The only time he sees people is when they pop in to ask a question that really they usually know the answer to. They are just stopping in because he is their. When I asked him why he goes into work on those days rather than working from home or a co-working office down the street he says well, because everyone else is there. I feel guilty if I don't go. But I also struggle to have time to play with my kids at the end of the day because of the drive.

9. Without an office we have no company culture? Ha ha. Well you do have a culture, its just different. All that matters about culture is what it produces and peoples happiness. Happiness of customers and happiness of employees. I do admit that people use work to get their social life to some extent…but co-working facilities are great for accommodating this need if people really want it. But really, there are lots of social things that are probably more intersting, more beneficial, more education, more inspirational, more full-filling than the social life at work. Your employees will discover many options…And hey they may even get their work done faster to get to that real life they are creating. And since you are measuring their value on results they will also do GOOD work.

10. You need more??? Ok well what about this. "Kids bother my employees when they work from home." Mmmmmhhh, I have three kids under the age of six. One or all of them come into my home office everyday…when I work from my home studio. Frankly, most of the time they are just eager to show me something. Something they made, something they have question about, something they just think is cool, or maybe they are upset about something. These are great opportunities to interact that I am glad I am around for. And it really doesn't take that much time. After about one minute they realize "hey, ok now I showed you what I made and I'm glad you like it. But this is really boring in here, like you are just working and that is way less fun than all the other things I could be doing. Ok, love you dad, hug, kiss…bye!" In and out in 1-3 minutes. As far as noise, I have headphones when I really need them, and frankly hearing the kid noise they make helps me realize WHY I am working. SURVIVAL. It's grounding, and keeps me going when I have tough assignment that I need to finish in order to get paid. Another trick I learned. I built a large art desk in my home studio for my kids. I keep it stocked with every art supply known to mankind. My kids are now great co-workers. They love doing what dad is doing. They know they have an open invitation to "work" anytime at their desk. Art is great for a kids mind and hey they are getting less and less of it in school these days. Maybe another post for another day.

11. They will work less. Awesome! See reason number 2. And, if you really think I am advocating that people should't work hard; your confusing hard work with filling time and seats. Unless you are running a restaurant, or a movie theater stop worrying about filling seats.

12. You like Office Drama. If you like office drama keep everyone in the same space on a daily basis. That's exactly how reality TV produces much of it's drama. Office drama will exist in every business that has an traditional office environment to some extent. It's just in our nature. I have to say this is but a distant memory for me. A memory I never wish to revisit again. I don't remember when office drama ever produced a positive solution, idea, or result for our clients.

13. But our Employees need to share docs, files, and client info. Cloud servers or virtual online shared folders (dropbox.com) and/or online project management systems like those offered by 37 sginals.com make this a none issue. All of your employees and clients can share online in one central location. Simple as that. And if your still creating an actual physical paper trail....really?? Go paperless.

It may sound like I am like promoting a world where we don't interact with each other in person and become distanced from human experiences. Well, via work I am…because it means you get to interact in person much more with the people and places in your life that really matter to you. You only have so much time in this modern life, save the in-person stuff for the relationships and places that are most important to you.

All of this said I 100% advocate having a comfortable place to sit and work. More on that, in a future post. I think the future of new home construction will heavily consider the home office for instance. I also, advocate getting out of the office leasing business :)

So that's it, let me hear from you. Again, I can say this stuff because I used to be you boss. But now I'm rehabilitated. And really enjoying my worklife.

PS - I posted this from my garage where I have a spare computer and was using a few extra minutes I saved not driving to work to change the spark plugs on my vintage car that I bought with the money I saved not paying for electricity at a huge office I used to have that I hardly used.

OFB Builds Site for French Snowboard Co.

11/1/2010 3:13:00 AM

OFB has launched a new web site for Windlip Snowboards based out of Village De La Mouche, France. Great people to work with and we are proud of the results. AWESOME boards. These are real deal hand-made custom boards. If anyone is interested we can design board graphics for you. Let us know. Windlip is the company we worked with on the Custom OFB real wood snowboards.....that we love.

The site features a BUILD YOUR BOARD module and a French language version of the site.

Windlip specializes in custom hand-crafted snowboard design. They build boards for big lines, steep couloirs and fresh powder days. Boards with blistering performance that carve hard on the pack and are equally at home in tight trees.

The OFB Company car.

10/15/2010 4:57:00 AM

We recently picked up maybe our best vintage treasure to date and new company car. 1967 Plymouth Barracuda. We couldn't resist the 60's vintage detail and muscle car lines. Anxious to meet some clients out for a race and some serious branding talk under the hood.

ps - watch the leather man

What Does OFB Do?

10/5/2010 4:21:00 AM

I get asked this question on a weekly basis. I wish in every instance I could just show a before and after pic to illustrate what we do. You can't beat them. What we do can be expressed by taking a look at what this company looked like before and after we did our thing. It's simple, we change perception through better strategic design and digital communication systems. Life Benefits was actually a VERY GOOD company before OFB designed this new identity and web site. But now they look like one. We believe this re-branding effort will help them grow and flourish and that makes us happier than a tornado in a trailer park.

If you know of a company whose image does not equal the quality of their product or service we would like to help them. Please send them our way.

OFB Approved Macbook, iPad, & iPhone skins.

9/7/2010 12:56:00 PM

Recover has released great wood based skins for the iPhone 4, the iPod Touch and the iPad. The skins are precision laser-cut from authentic wood veneers and for that extra oomph have been hand sanded, stained, and lacquered in Recover’s woodshop which ensures beauty and quality. We got ours in the mail yesterday and this is by far the nicest wood skin product we have tried. Well done Recover guys. The skins feature grade 3M adhesive backing and are available in finishes like maple, cherry, and my personal favorite walnut.

The OFB Mobile Creative Worklife Tour. Southwest Loop 2010

9/1/2010 8:41:00 AM

Big Sur and back. Kerouac, Red Rock country, 50 pawn stops and 4,853.7 miles.

The goal was simple. Live in my trailer, see the beautiful places in between the big places, live simpler, eat better, sleep more, surf, hike, bike, spend every night by fireside, spend MORE time with family...and well, prove that the the mobile creative worklife is a good life. As far as getting my work done...Of course I did this with my mobile office in tow. I had everything I needed. Computer, mobile internet card, great online communication tools, iPhone and of course my New Mexico Pinon Coffee.

I wont say much other than I have never been so creatively inspired in my life and never felt more refreshed...and I can't wait for the Fall tour! North by Northwest.

Living in the trailer, especially with family, makes me realize how much clutter exists in our modern lives. Simplicity = good. And as always, seeing new things brings new ideas. I'm anxious now to execute those ideas.

I took literally thousands of pictures on this loop to the west coast and back via the great US Southwest. I thought it would be fun to post 406 of my favorites (non-family pics) shot with my iPhone using the Hipstomatic app. Yep, look to your right...all 406 are posted. Hope yall enjoy. More on this trip soon.

New Brand Launch. Sans Natural Soda

8/14/2010 3:47:00 AM

OFB was given the task of developing the brand strategy for a new natural diet soda. Sans Natural Soda will launch fall 2010. We executed our Brand Design & Launch program to create this brand. We can't reveal the secret ingredients in this new natural beverage until later. For now we can tell you we developed the name, the brand design, and packaging. View the case study for more pics.

OFB Launches Billy F Gibbons Brand.

8/12/2010 4:31:00 AM

OFB has partnered with Mojo Products LLC to concept and develop retail products for Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top as well as design online systems to sell the products. Take a look at the web site and the first batch of product designs. We love this stuff. The most fun is comparing vintage vehicles with Billy. We lose every time. Check out more pics here.

New Logo for the Great Osage County

8/11/2010 6:49:00 AM

Osage County is the largest county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 44,437. They needed a logo the size of Texas to broaden the reach of their tourism efforts. We made it for them. We dig it.View the Case Study.

New Brand Launch. Eclos.

8/7/2010 3:48:00 AM

Introducing Eclos.

Researchers have found that Plant Stem Cells extracted from a rare Swiss apple, (Uttwiler Spätlauber), show tremendous ability to
stimulate skin stem cells, encouraging aging skin to behave like
younger skin.

Our job. Name it and give it a look.

And now you can buy it here.

New Logo for Village Theatre.

8/5/2010 2:00:00 AM

Check out the logo we just created for Village Theatre. Our Client Twomey concepts is reinventing the historical theatre. Fun project. Stay tuned to see more of our brand design for Village Theatre located at highland Park village in Dallas, TX.

OFB Launches Konagrill.com

8/3/2010 11:31:00 AM

The new Kona Grill website is live. OFB was hired to update their online image...and what an update we made. Be sure to view the BEFORE image. In a nutshell this is what we do. We remake, reinvent, update, upgrade and change perception. We are now working on a mobile site and iPhone app. Stay tuned.

Logo for Macho Nacho

8/1/2010 2:35:00 AM

Heads up for this new restaurant concept from our client Scott Jones.....Macho Nacho. Coming soon to the Cedar Springs neighborhood in Dallas! And stay tuned to see the rest of our Brand Design.

New Logo for Outwest Guides.

5/4/2010 1:42:00 AM

Yeeee haa. New website coming soon too!

OFB announces Workhaus Co-Working Lodges.

4/1/2010 10:47:00 AM

Onefastbuffalo Corp has launched a new business venture that further expresses our belief in mobile work life and the utilization of digital communications to efficiently run our businesses. The Workhaus Co-Working Lodge brand is OFB's venture into the new global trend away from the traditional office as we know it. Co-working is simple concept (although we plan on adding some new twists, more about that later) where independent professionals or even small companies work together under the same roof for the purpose of collaboration and the ability to focus on work in inspiring spaces. Membership-based co-working also provides freelancers and contractors who may typically work from home a "basecamp" to meet with clients in a professional environment, receive mail and deliveries, socialize and talk shop with other professionals, and frankly get out of the house...or even more importantly get out of the office!

Don't take our word for it. Here are some great articles about the Co-working trend.

Co-Working Spaces Grow in Popularity (Inc Mag)

Where the Coffee Shop Meets the Cubicle(Business Week)

Reasons-to-start-coworking (Machable.com)

"For OFB the Workhaus brand concept developed out of the gradual virtualization (related content - great article here about the productivity gains, savings, environmental benefits and even increased safety of going virtual from Inc Mag) of our business and love of working in interesting places outside of our office. As our staff and clients spread out around the country to live in places close to family or their favorite mountain or terrain, the idea of one central office was not only impractical but more importantly not needed." Said OFB and Workhaus founder founder Ben Jenkins. "I have also always enjoyed and am a bit obsessive about creating workspaces. I'm excited about creating collaborative workspaces for people who usually don't get to work in inspiring creative spaces. And I don't just mean people who work from home. I am hoping we attract people who want a more healthy environment to work in than their "regular" office. This will also be great for traveling independent professionals who want to avoid the coffee shop shuffle. Imagine your office away from the office. Companies could use Workhaus to provide their employees who travel to Dallas with a comfortable place to work at a cost-effective price. Workhuas lodges are for people who really love their work. It's not a place to just socialize, but its is surely a place to get a lot of focus, collaborative support and business mentoring. We are hoping to attract members of all ages and backgrounds and from many industries. The idea is to create an environment where people are serious about their businesses and have the support and social life of working in an office environment without the boundaries of working with ONLY their company. It's not for everyone. It's for people who can conduct their business in a light, mobile, and relatively paperless fashion. I have seen co-working work well for graphic and web designers, techies, writers, consultants, sales people, marketing gurus, and especially bootstrappers who are doing all they can to get a business idea off the ground."

The first Workhaus Co-Working lodge opens in Dallas, TX on Greenville avenue in a neighborhood near the Granada Theater, Snuffers, Gloria's, and many other great Greenville avenue establishments. The 3723 location opens April 1st in great free-standing historic building that resembles a gas station. We have attached few pics of the raw space. New construction is underway currently in collaboration with Bloc DS Architecture and Interiors who is collaborating with OFB on this Workhaus location.

Workhaus co-working lodges will be the size of a large coffee house or restaurant and be available to approximately 50 - 100 members. Workhaus Co-Working Lodges will combine the feel of a coffee house/diner/retail environment with creative workspace. Mix in a bit of ski lodge feel as well :). Sharing ideas over a beer is always on the table at Workhaus. We have lounge areas for that.

Members will have set desks or the ability to work at any open desk in the space.

Memberships in Workhaus Co-working lodges include: access to desk space in creative industrial boutique style space, 24 hour access, business mailing address, WIFI, Workhaus Coffee, Company profile on the Workhaus website, access to the Workhaus conference and presentation room and meetings lounges, print/fax/copy (if you still need that kind of thing!), kitchen, on-site chair massage, monthly guest speakers and round tables, and happy hours for members.

Workhaus Location 3723 offers 2 membership plans:

Level 1) $95/month. Level 1 membership allows you to sit in any open seat, lounge chair or patio seat and work as long as you like each day. Use of all membership services below.

Level 2) $375/month. Level 2 gives you an assigned seat. So the main difference here is you can set up a desktop computer and leave some needed items in the office.

Two additional locations are being planned in Dallas with hopes to take the concept to other cities that OFB professionals call home. We also have some special plans for additional product and service offerings at Workhaus that will be announced soon. Big secrets.

Please email the Workhaus membership staff for more information. Tours of the space are available during the week.

The Workhaus full site is coming soon.....www.workhauslodge.com

New Fun at Cowboy Chow.

3/18/2010 7:15:00 AM

Our partner Chef Jason Boso has made some fun tweaks to the Cowboy Chow menu. Come try the 7 hour baby back ribs or the 21 day aged ribeye. Yall come taste it up. There's also a new brand ritual. Bet your Appetizer! That's right, you win you don't pay. You loose you pay double son.

Vintage Sign Near Alpine, TX

3/11/2010 11:34:00 AM

I think? It's all a blur. Marathon?

World's Largest Chicken Fried Steak...in the world.

3/4/2010 11:16:00 AM

Our client Scott Jones (Cowtown Diner) was featured in the latest issue of D Magazine with his World's Largest Chicken Fried Steak and the WLCF Tshirt we designed. OMG that thing is huge man! What we want to see is someone eat this 10,000 calories beast ad then run an ultra marathon the next day to run it off. If anyone is up for the task let us know. We will sponsor you.

2010 OFB Baseball Unis.

3/2/2010 7:27:00 AM

This the biggest news since about this time last year when we revealed the 2009 OFB baseball unis. Especially excited about the new hand stitched fitted caps. Going back to the old school v-neck on the jersey. Yep, black is hot.

Welcome to 1973. Skate on.

3/1/2010 9:43:00 AM

Recently my 6 year old son had his birthday party at our local roller skating rink. From the second I walked into White Rock Stake Center I was instantly transported back to 1973, the year that it was built. And not in a wow this a dump kind of 1973. The family owned business has been kept up like like a fully restored vintage car. The old brown skates are in full effect, the red shag carpet locker area, the lockers, original DJ booth, the wood paneling and old school menu boards.The giant back wall with red/white/blue 70's stripes was a thing of beauty and I nearly took out a mess of kids staring at it. This is a true vintage treasure that perfectly complimented my 2 older sons "Luke Skywalker" haircuts.

Would also like to point out my friend Banks Baker's handy work on the giant roller skate birthday cake. Amazing. Built in his garage.

If anyone knows of an old school skate rinks like this and has pics please send us some. Bowling alleys too.

Brand Launch - Cowtown Diner

2/23/2010 5:07:00 AM

OFB was commissioned to forge the brand design, story and interactive communications for Cowtown Diner. CD, a new concept from restaurant visionary Scott Jones, is about coming home to all the foods you love, only much, much better than you have ever experienced. Jones is known for his innovative concept creations, including Dallas’ long-time favorite southern Italian concept, Cafe Italia, and the hip Screen Door Cafe in downtown Dallas’ One Arts Plaza.

A few of our favorite brand creations for Cowtown Diner include: The CD wallpaper, the Free pie card, and the vehicle wrap.

Cowtown Diner opened in January and is receiving great reviews. Check out a few words here:

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2010/jan/13/cowtown-diner-opens-fort-worth-longest-press-relea/?refscroll=592

http://fortworthology.com/2009/09/15/cowtown-diner-coming-to-sundance-square/

New Client - PJ Trailers.

2/17/2010 7:05:00 AM

OFB is dang proud to announce a new client who makes great products... PJ Trailers. We have been commissioned to execute our diagnostic branding program, evolve the company branding, and design/build a new corporate website. Our 3 favorite things to do!

Established in 1991, PJ Trailers has become the premier trailer manufacturer in North America. The PJ Trailer brand is synonymous with high-end, superbly constructed trailers. We manufacture Flatdecks, Deckovers, Tilts, Dumps, Carhaulers, & Utilities.

Farewell Vic Chesnutt

2/1/2010 12:47:00 PM

Last night I was watching the Grammy's. That part came on where they show the industry people who passed away during the year. The name and image of Vic Chesnutt appeared and my mouth dropped. I simply could not belief it and despite this being a person I only met one time I was instantly sad. Legit sad. I don't spend a ton of time online reading news and Vic was not real mainstream so I had not heard about his death. I just had not checked in on his current tour schedule recently.

I discovered Vic Chesnutt's music in 1996 when I was reading about one of my favorite movies "Slingbade" (Vic was the guy in the wheelchair in Doyle's band) Then I heard the band LIVE do a cover of Vic's incredible song SUPERNATURAL. Once I heard that I bought every album he had made up to that point. I have gone to every show he plays in Dallas since.

I dont know really know how to descibe Vic Chesnutt to you other than to say that as an artist he was more human than anyone I have every seen, and more supernatural in spirit. He energy was simply incredible and I would say this video of a recent performance (video below) says it all. Check your pulse on that. His last album AT THE CUT is great. Read about it here.

This statement will give you a sense of how other artist feel about Vic.

Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel): “In 1991, I moved to Athens, Georgia in search of God, but what I discovered instead was Vic Chesnutt. Hearing his music completely transformed the way I thought about writing songs, and I will forever be in his debt.”

Seth Godin recently blogged this..

Art is made by a human being.

Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.

Art is a gift.

Thanks for the gifts Vic.

RIP.

The OFB 1958 Airstream Mobile Office.

1/21/2010 5:03:00 AM

There was certainly much to forget about in 2009 for many people, myself included. But looking back I have to say it's been one of the best years of my life. First, all of the challenges we, our clients, our friends, etc. experienced just got me re-focused on what was most important to me. And I am happy for that. In 2009, my third son Shaw was born and he is just well....AWESOME. I was honored with a very nice award and I appreciate that. I got to rebrand (more like restore) my favorite childhood restaurant in 2009. And then I realized a long time big dream of mine. So I wanted to introduce everyone to the 1958 Airstream OneFastBuffalo mobile office. The OFB mobile office has been a vision on the giant cork board in my home studio for many years. And in 2009...it got done.

ABOUT THE TRAILER

I've been searching for the right trailer for many years and never found the right opportunity. But a while back I came across a great guy named Eric Stoltz who restores vintage travel trailers and I knew the time had come to get started. The OFB rig is 100% rebuilt on the inside, not just refurbished. The 21 ft 58' aluminum shell was brought back to life, rivet by rivet. The project took about 15 months and I was able to work with Eric to customize his already great floor plan to fit my specific work needs and OFB brand stylings. Eric takes a minimalist approach and every inch of the trailer is thought out for how we live today...not 1958. At the same time it's what he chose to leave out that makes it so great. It's anything but overdone. I love the simplicity of my trailer. The inside consists of real mahogany cabinets built in a classically modern style, off-white vinyl and leather hide seats with black countertops. We also did roll-down shades made from plain burlap. The mobile office is ultra lightweight due to the lighter weight aircraft aluminum used in the 50's as well as the use of real wood. Today trailers mostly consist of particle board and an abundance of gears, gadgets, tons of wiring, pumps, etc. For example a new Airstream of the same length would weigh about 2000lbs more than this one. I'm able to pull this with my small Toyota FJ Cruiser...no problem. It's truly mobile. I also designed an "Airstream" version of the OneFastBuffalo logo and had emblems made for the trailer.

I'll probably set a new record for pics attached to a blog post here.....so please forgive me. The Airstream is my 4th kid so you know how we parents are with the family portraits. There are tons of pics so be sure to use the NEXT button to scroll. Also, my kid sister Katie Norris is a photographer and did a nice photo shoot for me. I wanted to show off some of her work as well.

WHY A TRAILER?

"Working from anywhere" is always something that I have enjoyed exploring. I see more things, and the result is I have more ideas. I'm not a huge fan of product tag lines, preferring more the approach of building a great brand story and executing that story. But Airstream's tagline is one I do like.

Live more. See more. Do more.

I appreciate the Airstream brand in every way, a company started by one man's vision, passion and relentless pursuit to change the way we experience the world.

Lots of people ask me what I do for a living. I have played some ball in my life, worked as teacher, a consultant, and few other things. But MAKING THINGS is WHAT I DO. Simple as that. The mobile office, to me, is the ultimate marriage of HOW I work best, and WHERE I work best. By this I mean, I work WHERE I AM. And WHERE I AM, is where I need to be to explore and see what I need to see...in order to make things. I don't mean that in a "hey I'm a wandering hippie" kinda of thing. It's not an aimless type of exploration really. It's more of a sojourn for the purpose of making what ever it is I'm supposed to make.

This is a fact. Most of the best design that I have ever crafted was surely not done in the office or studio. In our industry that kinda scares some clients. They are just more comfortable with the idea that the professional WORK happens in the professional OFFICE/STUDIO. We have that, but for me, the key to "where we work" is that the art of making things happens via a not so simple 2 step process of:

Step 1) Exploration.

Exploring and taking in information of all forms. For instance I am a huge "junker" in that I like finding old things and using parts of those things to make new things. I'm certainly influenced by "new" things as well. I classify "junk" as anything I find and keep or document for the purpose of inspiration. That includes things I hear as well so I record lots of sound bites. Currently my iMac has around 25,000 pics on it. I just take pics of anything I see that is well..."creative food." I really don't believe that I have many ideas that come solely from me even as a designer. My brain is just not a repository or wellspring of good ideas, good designs, or original thoughts. That is, not if you just ask me to sit in a room and think for you. I do however know how to have good ideas. All those ideas come from absorbing relevant information and living with it until we find insight and inspiration. I do admit there is a talent to being a good designer but without exploring the outside world our ides don't connect with our audience. And so our key techniques at OFB are built around this idea. We simply look harder for ideas than most people. We don't sit around in a brainstorming tank and "conjure" ideas. We surely collaborate with each other. But I think ideas are gifts we receive when we pro-actively ask ourselves to learn about things. And I do mean that in a super hippie kind of way. HaHa. One of my favorite tricks is using long distance running to process what I have learned into ideas. About mile 6 I am screwed if I don't have a sketch pad or voice recorder.

Step 2) Intense Creative Focus

A place to sit and dig into ONE project for long streams of time until you have forged something new...uniquely new. Once we have gathered enough research we start to learn. When we learn we start to reprocess all that we have seen, and heard up to that point. We begin to see the key insights that reveal good ideas. Then we need to get focused and find some solitude. I'm talking about lock me in a small space, 2 gallons of coffee, 18 hour workday day, my entire iTunes library of music, no shoes, favorite jeans, with nothing but a laptop, a wireless mouse, some power, a huge box of research, "I won't come out until i've forged something BETTER... dammit. So just crack a window and put the food outside the door" ...... kind of solitude.

From a focus standpoint, you can't beat the 1958 Airstream OneFastBuffalo mobile office. One of my favorite things to do is head out early in the morning to one of the Texas State parks (we have over 200 hundred I think) in the Airstream, set up camp, grill some buffalo steaks, brew up some New Mexico Pinon coffee, and work on ONE specific client project until it's done. That usually means 2 full days with a chunk of sleep and a jog or two. Its not like I disconnect from the world completely...I have a mobile internet card and many state parks even have wireless internet now. But I surely turn off my cell and try to answer messages and email only once a day. It's an incredibly rewarding experience to get to focus on creative work that intensely with minimal distractions. I thank my AWESOME wife for these focus days. I also have a great team of people at OFB that carve out those days for me and our designers by focusing their craft on planning and strategy. After the work is done I'm mentally spent. And then I like to have my wife and kids come meet me for 2 days of fun (camping, fishing, hiking, shootn cans, and junkn around.

NEW PLACE FOR CLIENT MEETINGS

We are giving an all new meaning to the phrase, "we'll come to you." Since we have acquired the trailer we have done many of our initial new business meetings from the trailer, or just outside the trailer, even though we have a nice office for that kind of thing. For instance, we were invited to meet with Cinemark movie theaters recently and instead of meeting in a conference room we had a BBQ in their office parking lot. Then we met with Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) in the parking lot of the Four Seasons Resort. The trailer is also great for literally LIVING at a client's place of work where we can really dive into learning about their culture during our strategy sessions.

Stay tuned for more Airstream adventures in Mobile Creative Worklife.

Watch a video where our Mobile Office was featured on San Antonio living

Shelterbox Helping Haiti.

1/20/2010 12:20:00 PM

I saw a story about this great company ShelterBox on CNN last week. Check out how they are helping in Haiti and around the world.

ShelterBox instantly responds to earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict by delivering boxes of aid. Each box supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster, with great care taken sourcing every item to ensure it is robust enough to be of lasting value.

Really cool the spirit of starting a business is focused on helping people. Please let me know of other businesses you know of like this.

1000 Mentors.

1/20/2010 9:04:00 AM

I've never met marketing guru and author, Seth Godin, but he mentors me every day. I suppose 1000 people have mentored me via the web. Somehow he manages to post a full thought every day of the week. I would highly suggest all marketers sign up for his newsletter. He takes a stance on all of his topics. Most post take about 15 seconds to read in your inbox.

Here is a blurb from todays post. This is a stance I agree with. In our business for instance the diagnosis and research we do is not shooting for a comprehensive scientific market analysis. Instead we are learning up to the point where we find a recurring nugget of key insight about a customer, a market, a product that we can all believe in. We keep it 100% relevant. I hate fluff in research.

Too much data leads to not enough belief

Business plans with too much detail, books with too much proof, politicians with too much granularity... it seems as though more data is a good thing, because data proves the case.

In my experience, data crowds out faith. And without faith, it's hard to believe in the data enough to make a leap. Big mergers, big VC investments, big political movements, large congregations... they don't usually turn out for a spreadsheet.

The problem is this: no spreadsheet, no bibliography and no list of resources is sufficient proof to someone who chooses not to believe. Read More...

Kona Grill Chooses OneFastBuffalo.

1/15/2010 10:33:00 AM

OneFastBuffalo is excited to get 2010 started with a great new client. OFB welcome's Kona Grill. Interestingly, OFBr's are often spotted at the Dallas Kona location for happy hour. These Kona guys are smart. If you're are going to hire someone to build your new corporate website...hire someone who will eventually give all the money back via weekly cocktails on your patio!

Kona Grill, Inc. owns and operates 24 upscale casual dining restaurants in 13 states, in the United States. The Company’s restaurants feature a selection of mainstream American dishes, as well as a variety of appetizers and entrees with an international influence, including a selection of sushi. The menu items also incorporate over 40 signature sauces and dressings that Kona Grill makes from scratch. The menu offerings are complemented by a full service bar offering an assortment of wines, specialty drinks and beers.

Updated OFB Logo. Why?

1/6/2010 7:34:00 AM

Because! That's what we do man. It's better. You know it.

OFB's Little Sister.

1/5/2010 12:13:00 PM

My talented younger sister Katie has launched her new web site. Katie Norris is a great photographer specializing in portraits and weddings. You can check out her work atkatienorris.net and katienorrisblog.net. Check her out! Very proud.

OFB Wins American Package Design Award for RedJak.

12/21/2009 9:56:00 AM

OFB is honored to have the packaging design for RedJak featured in CDUSA magazine.

Manufacturers, retailers and marketers are challenged as never before to convey the message, promote the brand and close the deal. Think fragmented audiences, information overload, eroding loyalty, global competition, economic uncertainty. Package design and related disciplines are increasingly the difference makers in the purchasing decision. The outstanding work showcased in the March 2009 Issue of GDUSA — 100 or so elite design firms and departments are represented — is testimony to that. The annual GDUSA competition celebrates well-designed graphics, of course, but more importantly, the power of design to forge an emotional link with the buyer at the moment of truth. View the winners here.

OFB Working with Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top.

12/12/2009 9:49:00 AM

There are two things we know for sure about ZZTop front man Billy F Gibbons. One, he is a heck of nice guy and two, he really loves our mobile office. We met Billy a couple weeks ago to discuss plans for his new website. Billy toured the1958 OFB Airstream trailer and showed us his giant skull diamond rings. Good trade. OFB is working with Billy to develop the Billy F Gibbons brand and online store where he will sell anything from Billy Gibbons custom guitars to tamales. The site will also feature an extensive look at his vintage car and guitar collection. Most embarrassing moment goes to our creative director who was caught humming "la grange" while walking out to the Airstream. "Sorry man, didn't realize I was doing that."

We have attached some initial layouts for the website. Stay tune for the launch!

Also, here's a La Grange video...and our favorite ZZ Top outfit. Have mercy.

Also, here's a good you tube video of Billy giving a blues guitar lesson.

OFB Launches Native Agency.

11/3/2009 10:24:00 AM

Introducing INDIG (short for Indigenous), a Native (as in Native American) Owned Advertising agency specializing in print, tv, radio and new media campaigns for Indian Country but available to all industries.

OFB's focus is designing and launching brands. We have two goals with INDIG: 1) Create a Native-Owned creative agency where the work is executed by Natives and all the vendors used by INDIG will be Native-Owned businesses. 2) Create a sister company to OFB whose focus is Advertising not branding. The service INDIG offers is as simple. We study the clients situation using the diagnostic techniques that OFB has developed over an 11 year time period, we develop a new advertising campaign strategy for the client, and then we execute the radio, tv, print and new media for the campaign. Last we offer media buying services and help the client manage the campaign.

"The idea for INDIG formulated for several reasons I think. One, I attribute much of our belief systems, core values, creative energy, and inspiration to my days 11 years ago spent in Indian Country (South Dakota) doing documentary and youth work. That is where I got the idea to start and name OneFastBuffalo and I just simply see it as the starting place for OFB. That start continues to guide my vision today. OFB would not exist without those times. We have been able to become successful business people but remain artists. Those days always remind me about what is important and what is just about money. Two, we have spent 11 years fine tuning OFB and developing the core strategic approach to creative brand building and awareness that has made OFB successful. So there is a real formula to our approach. We do what we do, we do it well, and I see us doing that for a long time. So we are soley commited to that focus. That means traditional advertising is not somthing we mess with at OFB anymore. Three, I have worked over those 11 years to maintain positive relationships and clients in Indian country and have made many good friends who happen to be creative people. We have worked with the Osage Nation for many years as well as a handful of other tribes. One of my favorite accomplishments was helping the Osage Nation to broadcast its first Tribal Council meeting online. Helping tribes utilize communication tools of today is helpful to them and rewarding for us. Good business too." said Ben Jenkins, founder of OneFastBuffalo.

"But one truth kept hitting me in the face...There are no EXCELLENT Native owned creative agencies out there. That is of course a subjective statement and I know there are some good people out there doing it. But compared to the general market the competition is very weak and many of the Native-owned creative agencies out there do not feed the work to native people either. Once the work is in the door the work goes to non-natives. It's just a front to attract the big Indian casino business. Also, Native-Owned clients traditionally would prefer to work with a Native-Owned agencies but because there are such limited choices they are forced to spend Indian country money outside of Indian Country. One thing we did know though was that there are many quality independent native creative professionals in all types of disciplines but especially in film and video and new media. There are some real native creative "rock stars" out there. They just work independently for the most part, not as a team. So a while back I had the this idea to start a new company, similar to OFB but with Native business partners and employees. The idea being not that that is just native owned. But really the key difference being that the the creative work is all done by native people. People such as acclaimed Creek/Seminole filmmaker Sterlin Harjo, Navajo Graphic artist Victor Pasqual, Salt River Pima Photographer Thosh Collins, Lakota/Navajo Video artist John Paul Giego, Osage Designer Ryan Red Corn, and Interactive Developer Joseph Brown Thunder (Lakota) to name a few. We actually hope to extend this company to indigenous artists from all around the world. These artists will directly benefit from the success of INDIG and the more business we get the more native artists we can support. We are bringing all of these talents together with the systems and techniques of OneFastbufalo and intend on not only dominating the Indian Country business scene but moving out into the general market to compete for clients who may be looking for a fresh new perspective.

Check out INDIG at www.goodbrandmedicine.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

New OFB Cruiser Bikes.

10/19/2009 3:48:00 AM

Check out the new OFB Cruiser Bikes. Yeaaaaaaah. Built by a great small company in Hermosa Beach, CA called SIX THREE ZERO. The bike features vintage brown grips and saddle, Fat Frank cream tires, annnnnnnd a cup holder. If you see one of these in front of your local coffee shop it means one of 2 things: 1) There is an OFB person in there enjoying some local coffee while designing your next great brand identity or 2) Someone stole one of our bikes. Look for Bike designs like this in our online store...coming in the FUTURE.

OFB Featured in Dallas Morning News.

9/19/2009 9:56:00 AM

Thanks to Cheryl Hall, long time business columnists at the Dallas Morning News, for the great full-page feature article in the Sunday edition of the business section recently. The article does a fantastic job of describing what OFB does within the context of a real world project. The article also touches upon our 10 years history and how we came to be. Thanks also to our client El Fenix for the kind quotes.

Here is the beginning of the article...

El Fenix project feeds creative spark at Dallas branding firm

09:47 AM CDT on Monday, July 20, 2009
by Cheryl Hall

Ben Jenkins is in the midst of the greatest branding challenge in his 12-year marketing career. That's because the 35-year-old owner of Dallas-based One Fast Buffalo doesn't want to be the guy who screwed up El Fenix.

Mike Karns, the new owner and chief executive of El Fenix, hired Jenkins four months ago to help return Dallas' Tex-Mex icon to its glory days.

Jenkins, a Lake Highlands native and lifelong El Fenix aficionado, sees this as a restoration project, not a rebranding effort. "In the '50s and '60s, El Fenix had style and class – an I Love Lucy and Desi Arnaz feel. But since then, the aesthetics have slipped.

"I'll go there no matter what, because I love the food, the authentic service, and the prices are great. El Fenix cult members get that. The problem is that noncult members have this perception that it's like a Pancho's. There's no reason it can't have more style and class now and still be true to itself."

Clients such as T-Mobile USA, Peterbilt Motors Co., Rockfish Seafood Grill and Haynes and Boone LLP currently get branding expertise from Jenkins and OFB.

Karns hired Jenkins seven years ago to design a corporate logo for Karns Commercial Real Estate. He says Jenkins is a perfect fit for the El Fenix task, given his artistic and creative abilities and the fact that "chili con carne runs through his veins."

Brands need a color scheme. Jenkins is going with bright, bold and the glimmer of gold. Icons need instant recognition. A red El Fenix oval and an updated phoenix have officially supplanted more than a dozen logos that indiscriminately cropped up over the years.

Jenkins intends to integrate the brand essence into everything visual – menus, product labels, uniforms, restaurant decor, Web site, napkins, matches and billboards.

And to think all Karns wanted at the outset was Jenkins' opinion on a label that another graphic agency had designed for its jars of queso.

Instead, Jenkins and his creative crew spent five weeks doing a "brand diagnosis" – eating at El Fenix and talking to patrons and employees.

"Ben studied 90 years of history and design, and pulled it together for me," says Karns. "We're restoring the authenticity of El Fenix in the marketplace."

Jenkins believes branding is all about selling your soul in an honest way. "Authenticity is huge. It's the only thing that truly differentiates you."

Jenkins has never been afraid to be himself.

He played quarterback for Lake Highlands High School and was its star baseball player. But he also loved to draw and paint. "I had my art friends and I had my jock friends, and they didn't talk to each other," says Jenkins, who graduated in 1991.

He went to Mississippi State University on a baseball scholarship and majored in fine arts. After graduating in 1996, he joined the Philadelphia Phillies' minor league team. It was his dream come true.

"But I got super-bored. I loved the baseball part. But in minor league ball, you sit in a motel, eat at 7-Eleven for dinner; you ride buses," he recalls.

Off the bus

Instead of soaking up soap operas with his teammates, Jenkins used his downtime to create logos for local dry cleaners and shops in the towns he passed through. He designed album covers for wannabe bands.

Jenkins lasted a season and a half before deciding to go to graduate school. His selection process was based totally on applying to U.S. News & World Report's top five graphic design schools. He was accepted by the top-ranked School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

As part of his master's program, he spent a year on an American Indian reservation in South Dakota making a documentary film.

"It flipped my world view upside down," Jenkins says. "I'm a suburban kid from Lake Highlands. It's great, but it's Pleasantville. There I was, sitting in one of the poorest places in the country. It told me that no matter what, I'm going to do what I love to do in the way I want to do it."

That's also where he came up with the name One Fast Buffalo.

He relates to the buffalo's story of coming back from near extinction. Add in fast, and you've got an anomaly.

"The cool thing about the name is people always ask about it," he says. "The point of branding is to create a little mystery."

It's also a mouthful, so the agency mostly goes by OFB.

Research in an RV

Jenkins and his 12-person staff often do free-wheeling research and creative work on the road, piling into an RV and eating in small-town diners. "We drive around, see things, collect things and get input. We fill each other's tank with creative energy," he says.

For Christine Edgington, 25, who handles the agency's business side, her biggest challenge is also the thing she loves the most. "Every single day that I wake up and come to work, I'm working on something different."

Last year, OFB became one of T-Mobile's three key agencies and Peterbilt's agency of record for traditional and digital marketing.

When Jenkins made his sales pitches at T-Mobile headquarters in Seattle and Peterbilt's offices in Denton, he knew he was going up against some of the biggest agencies in the world.

So he wore his typical dress-for-success attire: well-worn blue jeans, old boots and a belt with a huge American Indian buckle bought off eBay.

Atypical dress code

His three accompanying creative team members adhered to OFB dress code: Boots and jeans are musts, but above-the-waist attire is up to the individual as long as he or she sticks to agency-branded hues of brown, black or white.

"We definitely have our own feel when we meet with new clients," Jenkins says. "They go, 'Whoa! This is different.' "

OFB's year started in a downturn after several clients cut back in late 2008.

"We weren't getting fired, but they were saying, 'We can't spend money,' " Jenkins says.

He sulked for a month or so. Then he rallied his troops. He told them his goal for the year was to not to fire anyone. They agreed to waive bonuses, take salary cuts and do without office perks to keep that from happening.

So far, he hasn't had to do any of that.

The second quarter was better than last year's, and OFB has received a stack of requests for proposals in the past three weeks.

That's because Jenkins hired three sales reps to scout for new business. "We're 10 years old, and we've never done any marketing of ourselves."

He also came up with an unusual payment for one new client.

The owner of Cowboy Chow restaurant in Deep Ellum couldn't afford One Fast Buffalo's rates. But Jenkins likes the concept, so he agreed to be paid with a stake in the open-range, kettle-over-fire restaurant. "If the restaurant does well, we'll do well."

If it doesn't pan out – hey, he and his crew will have had fun on the job.

----------------------------------------

Read the full article here.

OFB Interviewed by Drifting Creatives.

9/17/2009 12:00:00 PM

Recently we were invaded by the Drifting Creatives. Some young fellows who are designing their way across the country. We are very excited to be sponsoring their efforts and encouraging their mobile worklife. We ourselves fancy the working on the road. Big news regarding mobile worklife at OFB coming soon! Stay tuned. Anyway, watch the video interview they did of our studio and read the blog post here. Thanks guys! Don't starve.

ONEFASTBUFFALO from drifting creatives on Vimeo.

OFB Designs Best Soccer Logo of All Time.

9/9/2009 10:59:00 AM

OFB just executed maybe the "toughest" project in our 11 year history. "When you are designing a logo for a youth soccer team....well all I have to say is soccer moms are tough clients. So the pressure is on." said Ben Jenkins. "The last thing you want is soccer moms talking bad about you."

The OneFastBuffalo sponsored soccer team recently outgrew their old unis and it was time for an upgrade. "The goal really was to take youth soccer way too seriously and make the 5 year olds on the opposing teams feel poor and insignificant. If we shatter the ego of the other team before the game starts we have done our job. That should lead to a crushing defeat and years of therapy." said Jenkins with a wink followed by a thumbs up.

See the video of the new jerseys in action.

Kid Tattoos for El Fenix.

9/8/2009 4:18:00 AM

This is one of my favorite design projects of all time. Hand drawn temp tattoos for kids for El Fenix Restaurants. This is an example of our strategy team identifying places where our clients can connect more with their audience. El Fenix is a great place for kids but was not doing much to make sure the kids felt appreciated. OFB designed these cool tattoos and they are a huge hit....prooven by Shane and Shepard Jenkins here who proudly display multiple El Fenix Tattoos. The El Fenix servers pass these out to kids and the full sheet is also available for purchase.

Another OFB Vintage Treasure.

8/28/2009 12:31:00 PM

On our last monthly trip to our favorite East Texas Flea Market we found this old Easy Rider style helmet. Perfect for well, riding a motorcycle, a bike, a snowboard, driving this pickup I saw, or as my wife discovered...driving a mini-van home from the flea market.

Mockingbird Station.com Gets New Feathers.

8/27/2009 4:02:00 AM

A good example of how flexible the web sites we design/build are. This week we gave the mockingbirdstation.com website a full color makeover. This is a site that we have designed for nearly 10 years. We were able to re-skin the site graphics and freshen up the look without making any changes to the system we built 3 years ago. The brand colors had changed and they wanted to freshen up the site to match. Check out the before color scheme to see what it looked like before.

OFB Wins 2009 AMERICAN WEB DESIGN AWARD.

8/19/2009 4:59:00 AM

2009 AMERICAN WEB DESIGN AWARDS competition celebrates the power of well-designed websites and other online communications to attract audiences, generate engagement and response, and promote products, services and ideas. Recently the winners of the inaugural American Web Design Awards competition were announced. The inaugural competition has generated more than five hundred entries from around the country, in categories running the gamut from websites to enewsletters to blogs to banners, and from companies ranging from independent design firms to ad agencies to corporate and non-profit inhouse departments. Of the hundreds of entries, 60 were selected as winners, representing a highly selective 40 individual companies and organizations. Read more here.

Onefastbuffalo.com has also been featured on more than 20 international web showcase sites and we thanks each and every one. See the screenshots attached. Some of the best links are featured below.

http://www.cssclip.com/archives/onefastbuffalo/

http://www.dailyslurp.com/

http://www.dezinspiration.com/

http://www.divvoted.com/

http://www.fantasticss.com

http://www.cssmania.com

http://www.my3w.org

OFB Drinkware.

8/11/2009 2:39:00 AM

We have a good assortment of essential coffee mugs, travel mugs, and "other" contraptions for holdin a drank here at the OFB studios. Just thought we would show you. Come by anytime and you can grab one for yourself.

FC Dallas Signs with OFB.

8/7/2009 12:47:00 PM

OFB is excited to announce its newest client FC Dallas of Major League Soccer! OFB will lead the FC Dallas marketing team through our Brand Revitalization and Brand Range programs working toward to the 2010 season. Anytime we get to work with someone in the sports industry it is extry special for our team.

FC Dallas, a charter member club of Major League Soccer, will open its 14th season of play on March 21, 2009 at home against the Chicago Fire.

Some intersting info about their last re-branding ...originally named Dallas Burn (1996-2004), the team changed its name to FC Dallas after the conclusion of the 2004 season. As part of the club's rebranding, new uniforms, and a new logo were unveiled along with the name change. The logo features the name FC Dallas and the number 96, signifying the year that the club played its inaugural game, above a drawing of a bull, signifying the kind of Texas cattle that were driven along North Texas trails throughout the 19th century. The logo features the club's new colors red, white and blue, (all of which can be found in the American flag and the state flag of Texas), and a hint of silver.

Get Yer Dead Animals.

8/6/2009 6:04:00 AM

Wow. I drove up on this place in Gunnison, Colorado call Traders Rendevous. I've never seen such a big selection antlers, stuff bears and coyotes.

OFB Hits Nvision Osage Nation Tour.

6/10/2009 4:29:00 AM

Shout out to all the NVision trainers for such a great workshop. To name a few...Bunky Echo Hawk, Ryan Red Corn, Sterlin Harjo, Crystal Echo Hawk, Sara Ortize, Quese Frejo LittleEagle, Happy Frejo, Myron Dewey, Thosh Collins, David Bernie and Jason Braveheart. These talented people put on workshops that inluded photography, graffiti art, video, screen printing, creative writing, theatre, and dance.

Best College Baseball Brand

6/10/2009 1:22:00 AM

As we get close to the start of the College World Series I thought it would be a good time to highlight the best brand in College Baseball. The dogs may not be going to the CWS this year, but I think from a brand ritual standpoint, they can still claim the top spot in the battle of college baseball brands. Anyone who loves the great game of baseball needs to experience an SEC baseball game from the the Left Field Lounge, at Mississippi State University. It's nothing less than a sports and grilling spectacle. I wish I could bet back there more often.

Sports Illustrated has dubbed MSU the best place to watch college baseball and this tailgating-cowbell-football-atmosphere is the reason why. Writer Matt Meyers awarded “Best Tailgate Scene” to Dudy Noble Field’s “Left Field Lounge.” Meyers writes, “Make friends quickly and you won’t need to spend another dime.”

I found a great article about it here. Another one here.

See the attached pics and this video ....and you will get a good feel for what the Left Field lounge is all about.

Also for your entertainment...a great video of legendary coach Ron Polk arguing a call.

OFB Launches MyVillageapts.com

6/8/2009 4:11:00 PM

OFB is proud to announce the launch of one of the most ambitious web projects in our history...myvillageapts.com. The Village, owned by Lincoln Property Company, is one of the most unique apartment communities in the United States. Offering 14 different properties and more than 130 floor plans, the Village fosters a true "city within a city" atmosphere. The Village offers its own country club, jogging trails, athletic facilities, and much, much more. The new website bring this entire community together online. Tenants are able to conveniently pay rent and bills, rent movies, sign up for team sports, network, and make maintenance requests.

Thanks to the LPC marketing team and all those who worked so hard to plan andbuild this site.

OFB Launches Dallaswestend.org

6/8/2009 1:08:00 AM

OFB is proud to announce the new dallaswestend.org. Built for the West End Association of Dallas, the new fully content managed site features a news and events blog, full dining and retail directory, attractions, history, and interactive maps. OFB also created a new logo for the West End. Check it out and be sure to visit the West End soon.

OFB Visits Sac & Fox tribe.

6/5/2009 4:13:00 AM

Recently the OFB Design team made a 2 day trip up to Stroud, Oklahoma to conduct an NVision creative workshop for Sac & Fox Nation youth. As always, we enjoyed the experience of working with native youth AND road-tripping. We took the OFB FJ Crusier and ate plenty of firehot cheetos. The future looks bright for these young designers who we hope to see out on their own running creative firms someday.

El Fenix Irving Opening

6/3/2009 12:46:00 PM

Recently, El Fenix Restaurants opened a brand new store in Irving, Texas revealing for the first time the restored prototype for the El Fenix brand. OFB was on hand for the grand fiesta along with EL Fenix owner Mike Karns, 3 mariachis, and the rest of the executive staff and family members. Also making an appearance was Jones Baker, the guys who helped bring this restoration project to life from an interior design standpoint. Congratulations to El Fenix and to Irving! Happy Enchiladas.

Check out the El Fenix brand restoration case study to see the work we did.

Great Buffalo Art.

6/3/2009 3:25:00 AM

This is a buffalo head made from small pieces of steel. Beautiful. I saw this in the bar of the Wooden Nickel in Crested Butte, Colorado. If anyone knows who the artist is let me know.

Little Buffalo TBall Team.

6/2/2009 5:45:00 AM

The OFB TBall team hits the field for their second season. Check out these intimidating warriors.

Check out Billy Reid.

6/1/2009 3:36:00 AM

If anyone is a fan of OFB style and hasn't checked out Billy Reid in Dallas, do so. A great clothing store, rooted in old southern style, that I hear was opened by some Texas A&M folks. I especially like the decor in the dressing rooms. Check it out.

Another nice sign...New Mexico

5/29/2009 5:34:00 AM

Saw this in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

La Madeleine Embraces French-ness

5/14/2009 10:00:00 PM

Has anybody else noticed lately that La Madeleine, our favorite Dallas-based French cafe chain restaurant, has been feeling just a bit more... French?

One day a few weeks ago, I dropped by a La Madeleine for a quick but delicious dinner. As I entered, one of the servers behind the counter cheerily greeted me with "Bonjour!" After I placed my order for a Chicken Friand, she told me "Merci!" while adjusting her beret. I made a trip to the ladies' room and I learned from the wall of French lesson tiles that 'avoir du chic' means 'to have flair and panache.' I noticed French vocabulary words were playing over the speaker and another tile on the back of the restroom door said 'Au Revoir' as I left. Vintage French posters lined the walls.

I was pleasantly surprised with the decidedly more French experience. I've never been to France, but La Madeleine's brand position is a restaurant that brings France to the masses, to places like Dallas, Texas, to people like me. It's an accessible, approachable, convenient French experience. You order and get your food as fast as the mini French lesson you get in the restroom. La Madeleine has always had a nice atmosphere with a French feel, but I can tell the company seems to be more fully embracing its French-ness by thinking about each and every touchpoint (from the greeting to the uniforms to the restrooms) and finding a way to inject some French flavor into it.

The restaurant has even changed its identifier from La Madeleine Bakery-Cafe-Bistro to La Madeleine Country French Cafe. I like that. It's so much more specific to La Madeleine's unique position. Not as many restaurants can identify themselves as a 'country french cafe' as a 'bakery-cafe-bistro' hybrid.

The one area I felt like the rebranding was weak is that La Madeleine's new visual brand aesthetics seem to take it away from the quaint French feel that's being added within the other aspects of the brand. Check out the new website -- with the clean white and swirly floral embellishments, it looks like a stylish, modern French 'bakery-cafe-bistro.' To me, the previous website (see screenshots) looks more like a cozy, quaint 'country french cafe' than the new brand look and feel does. Maybe it could've used an update on the organization or usability, but I think the look of it expressed the brand more than it does now.

Other than that, good job La Madeleine. Or should I say... Bon travail!

OFB Heads to Chicago for NRA Show.

5/14/2009 12:02:00 PM

Come visit us in Chicago! OFB will be exhibiting in booth 1463. Look for the big buffalo tall grass landscape. We want to tell you about our new Brand Forge, Brand Revitalization, and Brand Range programs specifically geared toward restaurant brands.

Celebrating its 90th year, the annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show is the largest single gathering of restaurant, food service and lodging professionals in the world. NRA Show 2009 will be held May 16-19, at McCormick Place in Chicago. The event attracts attendees and visitors from all 50 states and 100+ countries, and showcases more products, services, innovative ideas and other growth opportunities than any other industry event. For more information, visit the Show Web site at www.restaurant.org/show.

What: 2009 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®
When: May 16-19, 2009 (9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
Where: McCormick Place, Chicago
Why: The number-one industry event for watching trends, meeting industry leaders, gaining culinary inspiration, and getting a year's worth of story ideas in only four days.

Founded in 1999, ONEFASTBUFFALO is The American Southwest’s Leading independent, Strategic Branding Agency. Rooted in Premium Design and Interactive Solutions, we seek to mentor, coach, and lead our clients with warrior-like intensity, to tell an authentic story by re-inventing dying ideas, and to inspire a culture that nurtures that story.

Flight of the Conchords!!!

5/12/2009 9:07:00 AM

Here at OFB we love comedy. One of our favorite groups is this the New Zealand duo Flight of the Conchords. Whether we are watching them hate Austrailans or run away from their greatest fan Mel, they always make me laugh uncontrollably.

I was fortunate to see them on May 5th at the Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie. The place was sold out. It was amazing. Check out some videos below. The first one was their first song. They came out dressed up as their famous Robots.

This next one was by far the funniest act they had.

You can also learn more about their act here.

The Official Flight of the Conchords Site

OFB loves The Avett Brothers.

5/12/2009 3:44:00 AM

Here is a pic of a recent OFB trip to an Avett Brothers show at the Granada Theater in Dallas. Here is a video for your pleasure.

OFB to Develop new Skin care line for Delicious Brands.

5/7/2009 12:24:00 PM

OFB is excited to announce our newest client Delicious Brands, LLC.

Delicious Brands has made its way into food, drug and mass retailers such as Walgreens, HEB, Target and Walmart with a range of bath, body, hair and home aromatic products. OFB has been engaged to research, name, brand, create packaging design, and market Delicious Brand's latest line of 15 skin and hair care products. Stay tuned to see the results! And see attached pics to see some of their current brands.

OFB Launches Lareuniontx.org

5/6/2009 4:45:00 AM

OFB launched a new site for a great friend of ours. La Reunion TX.

La Reunion TX (est. January 2006) is creating an arts residency in Dallas that will host artists in both new and traditional media for periods ranging from one week to one year. In exchange for live/work space, artists will be expected to give back to the community through programs, exhibits, performances, and installations. Our residency will be built on a 35 acre site in Oak Cliff and will be as green and high performing as possible, modeling to the community sustainable living. In addition, our business plan has an eye toward long-term sustainability not only with our facility, but also with the bottom line.

OFB Launches New site for Quorum Hotels.

5/6/2009 1:27:00 AM

OFB Interactive is proud to announce the new quorumhotels.com site. Check out the attached screenshots. The site is clean, sophisticated, and user-friendly web 2.0brochure site featuring a few special modules such as a project map, resource guide, media center. Thanks for your hard work Quorum team.

Quorum is one of the nation's leading hotel management service companies. For 20 years, Dallas-based Quorum has provided owners of lodging assets with value-driven advisory and management services. Our clients include owners of such prestigious brand name hotels as Ritz-Carlton, Westin, Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton.

Shopping for 1/2 Price Parachutes

5/5/2009 5:52:00 AM

If you're anything like me, you probably spend a good chunk of your daily life working. Whether it is staring at the computer screen, chatting with co-workers or burning the midnight oil, most of my day...my life is spent working. So, I better like the place, right?

I am one of the lucky people to LOVE what I do everyday (and I am not just saying that because my boss reads these). But I, like everyone else here has had a job that they absolutely cannot stand (please reference video 1). In today's job market, we take the 'beggars can't be choosers' mentality when it comes to salaries, but it seems we have had that mentality for a long time when it came to being choosy about WHERE we work.

Right out of the gate the most important things in people's minds is usually how much cash we make, the 401k plan, health insurance benefits and number of vacation days (this is an important one for those people who use every last sick day and vacation day in the bank to avoid their workplace at all costs). But most of the time we really need to be looking at things like the pet policy, if they have a beer Friday and how much you could learn while you are there.

Working at a job where you aren't growing, learning and evolving is wasting your precious time. If you work for a real idiot (please reference video 2) not only will you not learn anything, but you will dread that long drive to work even more. Even though it is a paycheck, being in a job where you aren't surrounded by people (boss and co-workers included) that both inspire and push who you are as an employee you are 1 step forward and 5 steps back from where you started. Use where you are (or where you're going) to become the most knowledgeable and desirable hire a company could hope for.

So don't trust the best and brightest years of your life to someone or some company who couldn't care less about you and your growth. Be as picky about where you work as you would be about a parachute. Life is too short to risk wasting 5, 10, 15 years hating every Monday morning. You spend way too much time there and you deserve better than a half price parachute.

cite: see also Seth Godin

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/be-careful-of-w.html

New OFB Baseball Uniform Designs.

4/27/2009 4:02:00 AM

The Buffalo Baseball club is back for its 10th season. We are celebrating with new unis. Take a look at the news design. We will upload pics of the real thing when we get the merch in. The Buffalo Baseball Club consists of ex-professional and ex-college athletes. The wood bat NATBL consists of 6 teams who compete against each other over a 30 game regular season schedule.

Iconic Colors

4/22/2009 5:08:00 AM

A few weeks ago I was in Cancun for a weekend trip to celebrate my sister's bachelorette party. On the sidewalks outside of the resort hotels, there sat Mexican ladies and their cute daughters, offering handmade bracelets and trinkets to tourists as they walk by. "Bracelet, 1 dollar?" they asked with their big brown eyes. I gave in and stopped to look. I picked one from the first bunch she offered - this lovely bracelet you see here. The black, cream, and brown combination stood out to me from the rest, a combination that I like but also felt familiar. I realized why - it's an OFB-colored bracelet. This stylish, vintage color combination is one I've seen in everything from our client presentations and business cards to our website and Ben's outfits. (Yes, he has outfits.) The OFB colors are so iconic that I recognized them even in Mexico.

Don't underestimate the importance and strength of iconic colors. If you use colors in a consistent and meaningful way, they can become as strong a symbol of your brand as your logo itself.

Check out a few other examples of iconic colors:

Red and blue: Such an iconic symbol of All-American power that the teenaged Superman is constantly clothed in non-superhero-suit red and blue clothes in the television show "Smallville."
Burnt orange: Consistently used as a symbol of UT pride. The university uses the official color beyond just football... even on nailpolish and earrings.
Pink: An iconic color full of meaning, tied to feminine strength in the fight against breast cancer.
Purple, green, gold: A very unique and dynamic combination that can mean only one thing - Mardi Gras.

The Best Business Card in the WORLD!!!

4/17/2009 3:03:00 PM

Now, this guy is on to something! I mean, he has his face on the card ... AND ... It doesn't FIT in a rolodex because it doesn't BELONG in a rolodex!

Serious or not? You be the judge!

My new favorite tagline...

4/8/2009 2:01:00 PM

I've been wanting to blog for about 2 weeks about this tagline. Every day on my way to work, I pass by a giant billboard for the new Red Tea Pomegranate Passion Fruit by Nestea.

The tagline: "Liquid Awesomeness"!

Now I'm in my 20s, and awesomeness is just in my vocabulary. I see liquid awesomeness, and I want it! That and I love tea.

I'll definitely say this whole campaign is geared towards people my age. Just another way to target one age group: use their crazy vocabulary. Not only that, check out their site: liquidawesomeness.com (completely targeted towards us youngsters).

So now I'm off to the store to buy some. SOLD!

Not Your Typical Hotel Site...

4/8/2009 1:06:00 AM

Stumbled upon this site while researching my trip to the Pacific NW at the end of May. Love how fresh, young and vibrant it is... especially when comparing to the standard hotel website. Looks like they still have a few kinks to work out and they do use a 3rd party reservation system, but overall I really like how out of the box it is for a hotel site.

Unfortunately, they're booked for the dates I'll be in Seattle :(

They have locations in Seattle, Portland, Palm Springs, and New York.

Check out the site here.

Go Hard

4/7/2009 9:34:00 AM

Jay-Z released a video for his song "Brooklyn (Go Hard)" not too long ago that was made by a designer named Evan Roth. What's unique about it is it doesn't feature any rappers in it, well, not literally at least. The video consists of imagery of Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. composed entirely by the word BROOKLYN. It was created in Flash using Actionscript. The source code is available through Evan's website.

Get it while you can!

4/3/2009 5:49:00 PM

So the laws of supply and demand have been ingrained into our minds as the basic principles of the market. The point is to create that perfect equilibrium of providing just enough supply to meet the needs of your consumer (and the more consumers you can get, the more supply you need). Inevitably, businesses do the dance of determining this magic number and selling as many widgets as the market will support. That is....unless you are Tony de Maria's.

For anyone that has been to (or more likely, pass through) Waco, Texas you know there is not much there. Keep in mind, I do love that town, but I can easily see how people wouldn't look there for lessons in branding. However, if you have ever had a chance to stop by one of my favorite places, Tony de Maria's, you'll see what I mean.

It is Friday at 12:15 pm and a line wraps around the small building. You can see a crowd of approaching customers fill with disappointment as they see the 'SOLD OUT' sign being placed in the parking lot window and turn back to their cars with a hungry belly. For the regulars, they start arriving at 11:15 usually to solidify their meal.

If you are punctual enough to grab a meal, you can get inside the shabby bbq shack. You have a simple choice of a few different meats, a couple sides and a big ole helping of some home cooked southern deserts. You can then grab a big soda and shimmy in between some other customers on the big community benches. Some of the staff come by and bring you full loaves of thick bread and meat grease to dip your sandwiches in. As you sit there and work your way through the mound of bbq covering your wax paper, you can look at all the old faded family photos that cover the walls depicting the history of the joint, and wonder to yourself if you have stumbled across heaven.

So you might ask yourself, if they sell out everyday why don't they just make a lot more meat? Well, simple as this, they don't really want to because they don't really have to. They have a set amount of money they want to make to keep the place going and live a good life. Once they sell the amount they need everyday...you are out of luck. Seems crazy to our 'more more more, sell sell sell' mentality, but I can tell you that it has given them some die hard fanatical fans. People will wait outside in the rain to get a chance to eat here, and honestly I can't blame them. So in the land of plenty, creating a bit of scarcity has made this place a Waco phenomenon. But I will recommend you get there early, lest you be turned away by the famous "SOLD OUT" sign.

"Wild" About Simplicity

4/3/2009 4:22:00 PM

If you looooove hot dogs, then you should loooove Wild About Harry's over on Knox Street in Dallas. Now, this little hole in the wall serves the best hot dogs in Dallas by my opinion. Everyone has been to a Deli that has a lot of different styles of sandwiches with different combinations of condiments, veggies and meats on it. Wild About Harry's does the same thing those deli's do to sandwiches to their hot dogs. They not only have hot dogs, they also have delicious custard with unique flavors. You can smell the sweet aroma from a block away, and it makes your mouth water.

But this post isn't about their hot dogs and how yummy they are, this post is about... you guessed it... their website. Now, the site isn't the best in the world, but it is so easy to get around on. Their navigation isn't hidden, it is right out front for you to see. There are no complications to really mess with what is actually there. It serves its purpose beautifully. People want to see the food, they show it. People want to see the menu, they supply it. There is no beating around the bush... everything is right there for you to find.

It also really captures the atmosphere of Wild About Harry's. Every time I go in there, every one is so friendly and patient. Plus with the human sized hot dogs and french fries that are laughing in the corner really brighten up the mood. If you ever go into the place with a bad attitude, you won't leave with one. The site being so simple also really reflects their attitude. The restaurant isn't a complicated place... so why have a complicated website. Now, is this the design that we would have done at OFB, no. There are a lot of different ways we could have made the design more interesting. (Maybe more pink... you can't have enough pink!!! wink wink) But as far as functionality goes, it fits in with this family run business.

So next time you are at the Apple Store or Crate and Barrel, stop in Wild About Harry's and get one of their special hot dogs or delicious custard. My favorite is the Key Lime Pie Custard.... yum!

Road Trips

3/6/2009 2:27:00 PM

The road trip is a distinctly American phenomenon. Due to Eisenhowser's plan to construct a highway system across the States instead of a train system like Europe, Americans have been roadtrippin' it since the 50's (think Kerouac's "On the Road").

This comes to mind as I am heading down to Austin this weekend, with a stop in Waco along the way. The evolution of the road trip is an interesting thing... from the Egyptians to the "Manifest Destiny", a ride up to Sturgis, or an impromptu trip to Austin... there's something about getting out on the road with a good music mix and just driving.

I'm a Texas girl. Never lived anywhere else. The road trip in Texas is one of my favorite things to do. And as a "buffalo", it's in our nature to be nomadic and spontaneous (see our RV Trip or Taos Retreat post). Traveling is one of my passions. I enjoy experiencing new cultures, new places, and new people. The people you meet along the way on a road trip can make you or break you.

I recently met some backpackers from Denmark in a Kinko's. We randomly started talking and they ended up crashing with me for about 3 days. Backpacking in the States is pretty much unheard of, but apparently it happens. Now, they were doing it WITHOUT a car. They were taking trains and buses. This isn't the 60's... roadtripping via bus when you are a 20 year old girl from a country as safe as Denmark is quite an experience! However, I just happened to run into them and I set them up with friends across the country for the remainder of their journey. In addition to being nomadic and deriving inspiration from a new environment, it is the OFB nature to make new friends in all places.

See some of my favorite road trip pictures!

Read here for a complete "Road Trip" history....

United Mechanical to Experience Brand Revitalization.

3/2/2009 1:06:00 AM

OFB Welcomes United Mechanical to our family of OFB Clients. OFB will lead the UM executive team through our Brand Revitalization program with the goal of helping this outstanding 50 year brand create a fresh feel, updated web systems, and greater brand awareness. Possible projects include an updated logo and identity package, new website, online marketing, fleet graphics, uniform design, new brand rituals, and marketing materials. Check back soon to see what we come up with.

Pizza Hut Brand Identity Crisis

2/27/2009 5:45:00 PM

Pizza Hut seems to be going through an identity crisis. The long-established pizza restaurant chain has been referring to itself in marketing messages, pizza boxes and signage (as pictured) as The Hut. Because the company sells more than just pizza now, I do see that it's more fitting to refer to itself using a name that doesn't pigeonhole the company into pizza when in fact it also serves pasta, wings, and more. Makes total sense. Clarity in a brand is always a good thing, especially for consumers. A name sets expectations for the brand. If it's called Pizza Hut, you expect it to serve pizza. If there's more on the menu, you expect it to be not as good as the pizza. Of course the company might be faced with questions whether The Hut sells huts... but if Pizza Hut wants you to know that their pizza, pasta, and wings are all equally good, then Pizza Hut is no longer a fitting name. From a branding perspective, the brand positioning and focus has changed, so a name change makes sense.

The only problem is - they haven't made the name change. The Pizza Hut name still remains very much in play on the website, advertising, marketing materials, etc, at the same time as The Hut is being used. The Pasta Hut moniker has been used as well. Add WingStreet to the mix and all clarity goes out the window. The company has no clear identifier and no clear standards of use of its various names, nicknames, and sub-brands.

What seems to be missing is a brand that is a strong foundation behind whatever marketing promotions the company may have. Marketing promotions express messages focusing on certain aspects or products, and Pizza Hut seems to have tied their brand too closely to the promotions. When pushing their wings in 2003, they created a sub-brand called WingStreet that actually was positioned as its own restaurant under the Pizza Hut roof. When pushing their pasta, they temporarily changed its name to Pasta Hut for a PR-bait April Fools' joke in 2008. And now, they included pizza, pasta, and wings under the all-encompassing The Hut roof while still using the Pizza Hut name. They've confused marketing promotions with brand names and, in turn, confused the heck out of consumers.

OFB Loads Up With 2 New Hires.

2/26/2009 12:28:00 PM

OFB is so extremely excited to announce the hiring of two exceptional additions to our team. Frankly, the most talented people we have ever had. These hires raise the creative and technical capabilities of OFB to a new level. We were good before. But this is almost unfair.

Greg Wolverton was selected from a pool of over 250 applicants as our new Design Director. This guy blew us away with his design and illustration talent, vast skill set, experience, attitude, spirit, natural "OFB ways," and even his ability to maintain his Vintage 66' Mercury Comet with his own two hands. This guy was born to work at OFB. Greg puts the "fast" in OneFastBuffalo. "The amount of skill Greg possesses is astonishing and when you see how fast he works it's just about unbelievable. I have always considered myself the fastest designer I know... but I just met my match," said OFB Founder Ben Jenkins. We measured Greg's design brain and it's twice the normal size. Other designers fear him. Greg was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and was the design force at FOSSIL for 8 years where he designed the best products and packaging. We are extremely excited for our clients to meet Greg and experience his thunder. Please see the attached images to view his work.

John "Wayne" Hoang was recently hired as our new Interactive Director. John is equally impressive as a technical guru, flash wizard, and accomplished designer. A multi-talented professional who also recently opened a new retail clothing boutique in Fort Worth called SHOGUN. Very cool stuff and shows the kind of entrepreneurial spirit and motivation OFB people embody. John just about single-handedly built the new Corgan Architecture flash site. Check it out and view some more of his work in the attached images.

We are so excited to combine the talents of these 2 new buffalo with our herd. Both of these warriors will be on the blog soon and you can read their full bio there as well.

OFB Founder Earns 2009 MSU Alumnus of the Year.

2/23/2009 4:10:00 AM

This month our founder was recognized as the 2009 Mississippi State University Alumnus of the Year representing the College of Architecture, Art & Design. The annual awards banquet honored the university’s College Alumni of the Year.

The MSU Alumni Association recognizes outstanding service and dedication to MSU, professional achievement, and leadership through Recognition Programs. The College Alumni of the Year program recognizes alumni who have made a significant contribution to human or institutional progress in which a situation, institution or movement has been materially changed for the better because of their participation. The award recognizes the achievements of outstanding alumni whose personal lives, professional accomplishments and community service best exemplify the mission of Mississippi State University. Ben Jenkins was specifically highlighted for his creative and business accomplishments at such a young age and also attended a round table discussion with Alumni association presidents, MSU president Dr. Mark Keenum, and the athletic director Greg Byrne. On Saturday Ben was recognized at the MSU vs. Arkansas Men’s Basketball game at Humphrey Coliseum.

Graduates being honored by the separate academic units include (by hometown):

College of Education
Joe Ray Underwood (’67, ’68)

College of Arts and Sciences
Larry R. Grillot (’68)

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Charles Randy Dismuke (’77)

College of Business
Richard H. Puckett (’77)

College of Architecture, Art and Design
Benjamin “Ben” T. Jenkins (’96)

Bagley College of Engineering
Danny J. Windham (’81)

College of Forest Resources
Charles Eddie Thaggard (’83, ’87)

College of Veterinary Medicine
Cassandra Vaughn (’88)

OFB To Help Restore El Fenix Brand.

2/19/2009 5:29:00 AM

OFB is incredibly excited and proud to announce it's newest restaurant client, El Fenix. The great Tex-Mex franchise was sold in late 2008 to a private group. OFB is partnering with the new ownership to serve as a brand shepherd. The OFB strategic team recently completed a 6 week study of the franchise and made recommendations to execute what we are calling a brand restoration. Our hope is to solidly position and define the brand for future growth. That should relieve some of you El Fenix fans. We are not here to change what is great about this brand. We are here to bring back, retain, and revive all that is great about El Fenix and make sure it continues to flourish in its own uniquely authentic way. Being loyal fans ourselves, we feel confident we can accomplish this mission in collaboration with the new ownership and the insight of Martinez family members who remain on board. "We intend to to bring quality design back to El Fenix...it's inherently part of the brand but has just been lost over the last 20 years," said OFB Drover Ben Jenkins.

The history of El Fenix

...as told by members of the Martinez family on restauranteur.com.

The story of El Fenix begins in Old Mexico where Mike Martinez was born in 1890. Early in life, the founder of El Fenix learned what it was to endure hardships and long hours of labor, with only brief periods of rest in between. He started to work at the age of seven, driving a string of burros to and from the mines for only a few pennies a week. Later, at the age of fifteen, Mike would go to work in the mines for years. With his meager wages, he supported himself and his mother. After her death, Mike Martinez left his native land for the United States. He eventually arrived in Dallas, where he got a job washing dishes at the old Oriental hotel, then located across from the Adolphus Hotel. There he learned the art of cooking, first from observation and later as a cook's helper.

In 1918, Mike felt he knew enough about catering to the Dallas restuarant trade to go into business for himself. He opened a small eating place on the corner of Griffin Street and McKinney Avenue in that part of Dallas, then known as "Little Mexico".

However, when Mike first opened his eating place, he served only American dishes. On insistence of many of his customers, who saw him eating his native foods, he began to prepare Mexican dishes as well as creations of his own. Soon Mike's other customers acquired the taste for enchiladas, chili, tamales and frijoles a la Tex Mex. Thus, on September 15, 1918 a food revolution was started in Dallas at El Fenix.

Mike's menu and friendly atmosphere drew more and more customers from all parts of Dallas until a move to larger quarters became necessary. He purchased and converted a grocery store building at 1608 McKinney. Here Mike's vision, energy, and capacity to work long hours were given full expression.

From this point forward, "The Story of El Fenix" is also the story of the Mike Martinez family. A short time before Mike opened his first cafe, he married the beautiful and gracious Faustina Porras. Their children grew up in the cafe business. As each boy grew up, Mike gave him practical experience in the cooking and serving of El Fenix foods. Reluctantly, Mike also permitted his daughters to help as hostesses, cashiers, and with business details.

When World War II descended on the U.S., Mike said good-bye to his four grown sons in succession as each answered his country's call to service. Then, following the safe return of his sons from the Armed Services, Mike Martinez decided to retire from El Fenix in favor of his children. Calling them together, he entrusted them with continuing his vision and dream. El Fenix Restaurants now has many locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

As for Mike, he believed more than ever in the symbolism of the El Fenix name. He saw himself, in this new cycle of his life, as more vigorous through the achievements of his family. Mike Martinez died on February 22, 1956.

Mr. Red Corn goes to Washington

2/5/2009 10:39:00 PM

On the day before the eve of what is supposed to be one of the most historic days in American history, I found myself at the Wakon Iron in the Pawhuska Indian Village (Wa.hxa.k'o.lin district) lending my support to the singers that had gathered there to help raise money for the Pawhuska wrestling team. Our community had come together and put on a hand game (traditional Native guessing game) to help raise money to support their children in a sport that teaches resilience, respect, and self-discipline; all characteristics that are part of the foundation of a strong community.

As I sat there thinking about the events that would transpire over the next few days I couldn't help but think about the parallels of world I found myself in that exact moment and the one I would be transported to the following morning.

I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at five a.m. and headed to the airport to catch my plane. As is customary with flying out of the Tulsa airport, you just never know what you are going to get when you get there. For instance, being plucked for extra security; a favorite past time of mine. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of this experience, the Tulsa airport has now upgraded from the standard procedure of manual groping and now use a space age tube with spinny things. I was ordered into this contraption that looked like it came off of the Star Trek the Next Generation set and these giant black wands rotated around me. When I stepped out, the nice gentlemen was getting some information over his little black ear piece. He then asked me what I had in my right front pants pocket. I pulled out my folding money and showed him. He said "Thanks". At this juncture I'd like to thank the terrorists for giving the airport an excuse to buy some secret spy technology to see into my pants. I feel a lot less violated now than the manual groping I had become so accustomed to.

At any rate, I was on my jet plane heading to my layover spot in the wonderful city of Newark, New Jersey. It was at this point I discovered a strange phenomanon; dudes who appear to be manscaping their eyebrows. Men of all races under the age of 30 seem to be on an eyebrow plucking kick. It appears to be all the rage, I'm sure it will be no time before this stylish fashion sweeps the residents of our community. During my layover in Newark I must have heard a half dozen different languages. Some of which I have no clue of their origins. That's America. And that's the America Obama has inherited. As people assembled at our departure gate, you could see people coming fully decked out in Obamamania. You would have thought we were already there in D.C.

I arrived safely on the ground and upon stepping off the plane, one could tell you had hit the epicenter of Obamamania. Everywhere you looked people of all colors and creeds were decked out and ready to see what was billed as one of the most historic moments in American history.

Now is the part where I tell you that I am a newbie to the world of underground mass transit. After dropping my bags off and parcelling off a little shut eye in my hotel room, I decided it would be a good idea to try my hand at the "Metro", a gamut of 5 or 6 different color coded underground trains that go to and fro all over the city. I studied the map longer than I studied for any test I ever took in school. And upon getting independent verification from three separate transit employees as to my route, I put my dollars in the machine, withdrew my newly purchased transit card and went down the biggest escalator man ever created, where I boarded in a giant cavern that looks like something from Batman's underground lair. I was sitting there waiting for everyone to get on the train when one last guy climbing aboard had the door shut on his backpack. He was inside. His backpack was outside. And he couldn't move. He squirmed like a turtle does when you pick it up by the shell. In my America, I find this funny. He of course did not and I was greeted with a salty look when the doors finally freed him after holding him hostage for a few seconds. For the record I was the only one out of the twenty or so people on that car that laughed.

You would think that in a city large enough to require a mass transit system with an extra one to two million people scheduled to drop in for the shin dig there would be a lot conversation going on inside that metro car, but it was dead silent save movement of our car jostling on the tracks. This is the part of America where I guess we don't talk to each other. I turned quiet time into study hall as I wobbled over to the map on the interior of the car to check, double check and triple check I was headed in the right direction and on the right train. I finally arrived at what I thought was my exit, and was presented with a whole new host of obstacles. I was looking for the Crystal City Hyatt, the location of the Inaugural Pow Wow. Unfortunately for me, no such hotel existed on the maps. Furthermore there were a host of exit passages, I picked the one that looked the least threatening and ended up wondering around underground for another 15 minutes before I was spat out of an elevator in the lobby of a Marriot hotel. The door man there was kind enough to give me the direction of they Hyatt and off I started walking.

Five blocks later and after negotiating some shady looking underpasses I found the Hyatt. I went inside and located the ballroom where the Pow wow was being held. Something I have noticed when you travel eastward from Oklahoma to Indigenous events, the chances of you seeing something bizarre increase exponentially. Your eyes are served various stages of cultural erosion and processes of perceived reclamation, thrown in there with your average pow wow trail folks, who are out there almost every weekend singing and dancing. It was like pow wow trail-mix. Yes, there were some raisins and some m&m's but there were a whole lot of nuts. That's America. And those nuts belong to America.

After the pow wow I successfully turned in for the night by retracing my steps on the metro back to my hotel. At 8am the alarm sounded and myself and the folks whose hotel floor I was crashed out on headed towards the capital. When I entered the station this time an Asian lady handed me a Jews for Jesus pamphlet. I still have not figured that one out, but chalked it up the random quantum mechanics of an American inner city. The metro cars that were holding about twenty last night were now forced to carry over a hundred. We rode to our exit and started hoofing it towards the National Museum of the American Indian (located on the National Mall). I was told I would have some kind of special 5th floor VIP status pass since I did the art work for the Smithsonian's "Out of Many" multi-cultural festival. I hung out with my friends on the 4th floor before heading up to the 5th floor. There wasn't any difference between the floors except the 5th floor had a north facing outdoor balcony to view the inauguration from. Upon stepping onto the balcony you are repeatedly round housed in the face by the breath of Jack Frost until you figure out what many have thought for a long time. The day America sees a black president will be a cold day in hell. Wish granted, it was cold as hell. Welcome to Inauguration day America.

I watched from my perch at the National Museum of the American Indian where I would see every rooftop with sharpshooters and police as far as the eye could see. I was told that Obama had set the record for most death threats against a president-elect. During this day, during one of its greatest hours, America is forced to realize that America's greatest threat maybe itself. Our armed service men and women are not only charged with the task of protecting our citizens from outside threats, but protecting our president from being killed by our citizens. The level at which this fear or this legitimate threat had pervaded the planning of this event was about to be made evident, when following the inauguration roughly one to two million people found the metro stations that delivered them there closed when they tried to leave.

During Obama's swearing in and during his speech, I made what many might consider an odd decision. I didn't watch him. I turned my back to him and looked at what he was looking at. I watched America watch Obama. Because this election has never really been about Obama, it's about the America that elected him. There was a middle aged Native American woman sitting on the floor a few inches from me and halfway through Obama's speech I saw her eyes start to well up. One of the greatest commodities (besides cheeze and condensed milk) you can give to a community is hope. And as a I sat there I couldn't help but wander why she was crying. Was she hopeful? If so, hopeful for what? Perhaps hopeful that things she has experienced in her lifetime won't happen to those that come after her. I wanted to ask, but thought it was best she have her moment.

In another room an elder black man was waving an American flag and dancing joyfully. Next to him, an elderly Mexican immigrant grinned uncontrollably leaning forward in his seat to hang on every word. As you looked around the room you could see how the America the younger generation is inheriting is very different from the ones our parents and grandparents inherited. People are mixed. White, Native, Black, Asian...everything. You saw about every combination you could think of.

At sometimes during the last few years some would say that they thought George Bush thought he was Jesus. And at sometimes during the last year you would think that some people thought Obama was Jesus. Neither could be further from the truth. Obama is not going to come to your house and balance your checkbook no more than he is going to turn water into wine. His message has been clear. It's people that make America better, not its leaders. If we expect Obama to fix all the problems out here on the tall grass prairie we are going to be sorely mistaken. That responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of the people that live here. You. Me. Everyone.

Our election process many times is just like that handgame I was at. We do our best to guess, but we don't know how we did till the game is over. What we failed to realize is that we had to come together as a community to afford ourselves that right in the first place. We come together for a slew of various reasons in our community, and things get done. This is where the power of our community lies. And THAT more than anything is what this election was about.

So as a community we can choose one of two paths. We can choose the path where we come together to hash out our differences and find a shared agenda or we can be an America like people on a subway car, not talking to each other. Many times we are blasted by so many political messages that we feel that our choice is at best a guessing game. In addition, many feel, and rightfully so, that the information they receive from media sources can never be objective. America will not really know what they got with Obama until we see the effects of his decisions over the course of his term. And I honestly think the history America witnessed on inauguration day that it's hoping for under his presidency has little to do with Obama being black and more to do with the direction he might take us.

As I set out of the metro station, what I thought was going to be a fifteen minute walk turned into a two hour haul trying to find an open metro station. My path was diverted over and over again as I walked amidst a crowd. We were all trying to get to the same spot, and many of us wanted to take different paths to get there, but we couldn't. That day all of us had make the exact same journey together, along the exact same path; that was only way. Despite the extreme temperatures people were celebratory. As I walked past the capital building with its frozen pond I saw one lone black man ice skating, and was once again reminded that this is America. This is America with our dudes who pluck their eyebrows, old asian lady's representing Jews for Jesus, and our ice skating black men. It might not be the America we see day in and day out in our part of the country but it is the America we are all walking to the same destination with.

At best I try to remain objective in my analyzation of leadership of all levels, but I think this moment is summed up best by a young Kiowa man, who was able to vote for the first time this election when he said, "You know man, I'm actually a little bit proud to be American right now."

1st Annual OFB Super Bowl Beer Design Awards.

2/1/2009 10:17:00 PM

Introducing the most classy, and biased, design awards in recent memory. Awards were presented at today's OFB super bowl party. Winners determined in the Duncan's beer and wine stop near my house. Winners were graciously purchased and drank up.

Best new design on a white can design - Old Milwaukee

Best Design by a beer with great TV ads - Miller High Life

Best Texas Beer Design - Shiner Bohemiam Black Lager

Congratulations to the graphic designers who created the packaging for these beers. We have no idea who or where you are. But you did a great job.

Cheers son.

OFB Hits Sundance Film Fest.

1/30/2009 4:12:00 AM

This past week I flew out to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival to support OFB friend Sterlin Harjo. Sterlin is a Seminole/Creek Filmmaker from Oklahoma and his new film Barking Water premiered at Sundance this month. Ryan Red Corn and I are supporting Sterlin via graphic and web arts. I designed a blog style site for the film and Ryan designed the movie poster.

Barking Water received a warm welcome, great reviews, and both screenings were sold out...read more here. It was a whirlwind, and we had a blast. Check out the nice Sundance Branding pics. If anyone knows who did the branding let me know.

Shout out to Bird and Chad Burris for the lodging. Shout out to the Late Night Lounge in Park City...great place, and coolest vintage wallpaper I have ever seen.

Here is the Barking Water Trailer

and here is an interview with Sterlin at Sundance.

Dancing in Dallas

1/29/2009 4:32:00 PM

I've started spending my Saturday mornings teaching ballet and jazz at the Dallas Bethlehem Center to girls ages 2-4.

Check out the cutest girls in Dallas!

OFB Video Production Suite & Library

1/19/2009 10:56:00 AM

We like to do things in-house. Recently, we completed a long awaited construction project that brings video and film production back to OFB. Welcome to the OFB Hunting Shed, a place where we intend to bring the same high quality creative to video and film arts that we bring to design and web arts. Don't be scared, it's safe in there.

View more pics of our studios here >>

OFB 10th Anniversary Party Highlights

1/18/2009 7:20:00 AM

OFB wants to thanks the more than 200 guests who came out for our holiday celebration marking 10 years in business. The party was a great success and went over 6 hours! It was great seeing so many old friends. Thanks to all the people who organized this event and made it happen.

Thanks to our restaurant clients for the great food....El Fenix, Rockfish, Dean Fearings, Cowboy Chow, and Metropolitan Cafe. Thanks to Jennifer Morgan for the incredible art show. Thanks to La Reunion Texas for the exhibit. Thanks to Bunky Echo Hawk for the live painting show! Thanks to Deadman and Steve Collins for the incredible live music...they literally brought the house down.

And most of all thanks to our special guests from NVision...Crystal and Bunky Echo hawk, Ryan Red Corn and Sterlin Harjo. Together we raised a good chunk of change to support NVision programs. The highlight of the evening was the traditional 49 songs offered by the NVision guys. This was unplanned and a surprise to the OFB team...and we really appreciate the gift.

Enjoy the pics...although we had so much fun we forgot to take pics so we had to pull some video stills...whoops!

View more pics of our studios here >>

New OFB T-Shirts

1/14/2009 6:21:00 PM

OFB is officially in the screen printing business. We recently converted an old photo storage closet into a screen printing shop. To get started, we created a load of OFB 2 color logo tees on alternative apparel grey and brown shirts. We will soon offer limited edition graphic tees by OFB artists that will be available via our online store.

Check back soon.

OFB Inks Deal With Quorum Hotels

1/13/2009 12:47:00 PM

OFB is excited to announce that we have secured a new working relationship with Quorum Hotels. Quorum is one of the nation's leading hotel and asset management service companies whose clients include owners of such prestigious brand name hotels as Ritz-Carlton, Westin, Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton.

Quorum is challenging OFB to help advance its brand image and clarify their message via a new online presence.

Our tribute to old.

1/9/2009 8:41:00 AM

During a recent photo shoot for T-Mobile we had some fun with portraits. This was my impersonation of one of those 1800's scary dude on the wall portraits. And then there is one of the OFB directors pretending we have class.

The OFB Coyote Lives.

1/7/2009 6:50:00 AM

On a recent OFB RV trip ....or "mobile creative research project" if you will, we found a special friend in a vintage sort of shop near Comanche, Texas. We just call him "Coyote" and he now salutes visitors as they leave our office. Call him scary or call him sweet, but don't call him a wolf for god sakes. He really gets offended at that. When asked about why OFB chose this peace of "art" to grace our walls, OFB Peacemaker Katie Williams simply stated..."I don't know, we just love that damn Coyote." Amen!

View more pics of our studios here >>

OneFast Osage

1/2/2009 9:26:00 AM

No branding lesson here. No design tips. No latest trends in web. No, today my talented friend Thomas Ryan Red Corn (Osage Designer & Musician) is simultaneously demonstrating his larger than life bravery, and showing you something you should never do.

Fact: The American Bison is the largest land animal in North America. The male Bison stands 6 feet tall from hoof to shoulder and weighs from 800 to 2000 pounds.

Fact: Ryan Red Corn stands about 5' 8" tall from vintage Chuck Taylor to shoulder.

Fact: Bisons have shaggy brown fur, short black horns and the characteristic hump at the shoulders.

Fact: Ryan Red Corn has none of that but does have some nice ball caps.

Fact: In its natural habitat the bison roams plains, prairies and river valleys.

Fact: Ryan roams around in the ugliest blue pickup truck I have ever seen.

Little Known Fact: Bison, especially the large bulls, look very slow and clumsy. But in fact, they can run up to 35 miles per hour.

Problem: Ryan can't.

Learn about what Ryan CAN do here.

Nice Sign. Stroud, Oklahoma

1/2/2009 9:17:00 AM

We saw this off a section of old Route 66 in Stroud, Oklahoma. Not only a great sign...but that's a hawk. And that good.

Be sure to check out the vintage sign gallery.

Cowboy Chow is Open...Y'all.

12/30/2008 11:03:00 AM

Our first joint business venture into the restaurant world opened this month.

www.cowboychow.net

We don't know what our partner Jason Boso puts in these cookies, but it is really just ridiculous how good they are.

About Cowboy Chow.

Cowboy Chow "open range dining" is a concept inspired by chuck wagon cooking, which was started by a Texas rancher in 1866, Charles Goodnight. A chuck wagon was originally a mobile kitchen that carried cooking equipment, and food, also known as “chuck”, for the nomadic workers like cowboys and loggers. Often the cowboys were given the tougher cuts of meats which needed long hours of cooking in order to break down the tissue. In order to make the flavor-packed cuts of meat tender enough to eat, chuck wagon cooks would braise the meat for 5-8 hours by cooking it in a flavorful liquid.

Come visit, y'all!

OFB to Work with Insight Communications

12/24/2008 12:31:00 PM

OFB has agreed to terms with Insight Communications to design a new corporate website for the full service telecommunications company who provides phone, high speed internet and video services to more than 700,000 customers.

CSS Zen Garden

12/23/2008 1:27:00 AM

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) have changed the way designers and developers work on the web.

In the past, the shortcomings of html tied designers' hands behind their backs when it came to positioning, page layout, sizing, and color. Even someone who is not a designer can understand how challenging it could be to not have control over these very basic design principles and elements.

Over the last 8 or so years, CSS has gradually been handing design power over to designers and developers. We can now control almost as many elements as our print counterparts for static pages without choking the bandwidth of our end users.

One source I have found that illustrates the powers of CSS is the CSS Zen Garden. The website was created to show the power and versatility of CSS.

Here is how the site describes the exercise:

"There is clearly a need for CSS to be taken seriously by graphic artists. The Zen Garden aims to excite, inspire, and encourage participation. To begin, view some of the existing designs in the list. Clicking on any one will load the style sheet into this very page. The code remains the same, the only thing that has changed is the external .css file. Yes, really.

CSS allows complete and total control over the style of a hypertext document. The only way this can be illustrated in a way that gets people excited is by demonstrating what it can truly be, once the reins are placed in the hands of those able to create beauty from structure."

These are the rules of the exercise:

"You are modifying this page, so strong CSS skills are necessary, but the example files are commented well enough that even CSS novices can use them as starting points. Please see the CSS Resource Guide for advanced tutorials and tips on working with CSS.

You may modify the style sheet in any way you wish, but not the HTML. This may seem daunting at first if you’ve never worked this way before, but follow the listed links to learn more, and use the sample files as a guide."

It's stunning to see how a page of html can be styled to look so many different ways with the addition of CSS. I encourage you to go to the site and explore the different pages. If you've got the skills, you might even be inspired to participate. Or if you don't have the skills, you might be inspired to develop them.

Enjoy! www.csszengarden.com/

Signs in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

12/9/2008 9:30:00 AM

If you ever pass through Tucumcari, New Mexico be sure to see the Trail West lounge and the Ranch House Cafe signs on Route 66. They don't make em like this anymore :(

Be sure to check out the vintage sign gallery.

OFB Open Range Holiday Party

12/8/2008 4:39:00 AM

So this year, we've decided to bite the bullet and have an actual holiday party! We are so pumped about opening up our office to everyone! It will be held at the OFB Studios on December 10th, with festivities starting at 5:30pm.

There will be food, booze, music, games, etc. so come hungry and ready to have fun! We'll also have art of all kinds, with proceeds benefiting NVision.

We've got a lot of ideas but we're welcome to more, so please feel free to post them here!

Check out our e-vite!

OFB Joins the NVision Clan.

12/1/2008 5:41:00 AM

This week OFB made arrangements to commit the majority of its ongoing community involvement and pro-bono efforts to a cause that we are very proud to be associated with.

NVision is committed to the development of Native youth leadership and traditional and contemporary expressions of art, culture, education, and media from a Native core and perspective. To this end, NVision will promote the development of a new generation of Native leaders, artists, educators, and activists within a context of respect and understanding for traditional Native lifeways, sovereignty, community, and importance of holistic wellbeing. NVision will strive to empower Native youth and young adults on a local and national level to become leaders and culture bearers of tomorrow that will help to preserve and strengthen Native cultures and Nations for generations to come.


Specifically, OFB will help in the following ways:

1) OFB has already started designing a new website for NVision in collaboration with Red Hand Media. OFB will fully donate the time and effort to build this site....and do it in a big way.

2) OFB will assist in creating other media and PR to raise awareness about NVision.

3) OFB will be sending teams of our designers out on the NVision Tour to serve as on-site trainers. NVision trainers are comprised of award-winning artists and respected professionals in their fields of expertise. Our designers are very excited about going out on the road, visiting reservations for several days at a time, and working with youth to teach and help install training centers where native youth can learn graphic design. I know our designers will benefit from the experiences they have and it will be time well worth spending.

4) Last, we are challenging ourselves to work with local (Dallas, TX) native youth who need this same kind of training. Dallas has a large native population. But there is no one tribe or core center that you can identify where NVision can install training centers. So we essentially want to create a training center here at OFB. We have the space to do it and room to grow. We simply plan on investing in a small classroom full of Mac workstations equipped with Adobe software. We will conduct free ongoing training seminars for selected local Native youth. The purpose is simple. Train youth in creative software applications, train them in graphic design and web development, build portfolios, and help earn scholarships to practice their craft and find great employment. We hope that we can work here locally to support the NVision mission and cause.

The experience for my staff will be invaluable...I know because a similar experience 10 years ago changed my world view and inspired me to start OFB. Spending time in Indian country is where OFB really started. We are at a place now where we can begin to give back. There are thousands of great movements and organizations that we could donate our time, talents and $ to, but for us this is the one. I really want to be specific and focus in on one movement so that we can have an impact. Our Osage friend and designer Ryan Red Corn introduced us to NVision, and we believe in the cause. We are fortunate to have grown up in systems that gave us advantages and learning opportunities, and I am so excited to try and help create positive environments for Native youth where they can learn skills to empower themselves and their communities.   For the most part OFB people do not provide a native perspective, and we don't pretend to...but we are able to provide real world experience, training, mentorship and support to native youth.


For more information on how you can donate and support our vision, mission, programs, and special projects, please contact Crystal Echo Hawk.

Here are some videos created at recent NVision Tour stops.

The new look of Pepsi

11/23/2008 6:19:00 PM

As some of you may have heard already, Pepsi is revamping the design and identities of their key brands. According to Chairman-CEO Indra Nooyi, from and article in Adage.com, they’re changing every aspect of their brand proposition for their key brands. How they look, how they’re packaged, how they will be merchandised on the shelves, and how they connect with consumers. They’re also changing the identity for the whole Gatorade line, Mountain Dew, and Sierra Mist. Actually Mountain Dew will now be called “Mtn Dew”.
When I first saw the new Pepsi logo, I wasn’t too sure what to think about it. I didn’t think it was necessary for a huge brand like Pepsi to do this. As time goes by, it’s starting to grow on me. One of the things that I like about it is the fact that the white line going across is a series of smiles depending on the product. A “smile” will be for the Brand Pepsi. A “grin” will be for Diet Pepsi, and a “laugh” will be for Pepsi Max. I like that because it gives the brand a little more personality across all products. Also, it gives it a friendlier and more adventuresome attitude. Even though I enjoy clean, simple type, I’m not sure the type for this new logo works too well. I don’t think it has enough character to represent the massiveness of Pepsi.
Pepsi has updated their look many times in the past, and they have been successful but I don’t think they were as successful this time around.

Branding Ain't Just For Cows

11/22/2008 12:28:00 PM

On our recent RV trip, we spent some time interviewing locals from small Texas towns such as Glen Rose, Hico, and Comanche. One thing we talked to them about was branding. When we first planned to ask them what branding is, we thought we'd get funny responses from locals confusing cattle branding with 'real' branding. We definitely underestimated the relevancy of their responses.

A lot of locals did identify cattle branding as the first thing they thought of. They described branding as a way to show ownership of livestock so that nobody would confuse your cattle with another's. This definition, although it was given specifically for cattle branding, really does apply to the kind of branding we do as well. We seek to create a brand that is unmistakably yours -- a name, symbol, color, or story that you own and nobody else can imitate. A brand is a mark of ownership, whether on a cow or a consumer product.

We learned a lot on the RV trip -- where to find good pancakes, how to drive an RV, what kind of movies we like -- but we never expected to get a tried and true branding lesson from the locals. It was great to get a fresh definition of branding from a completely different perspective. That's what these RV trips are all about!

Natural Inspiration

11/21/2008 4:55:00 PM

Most everyone when they start art school of any kind has the question "What is Art?" presented to them. It is a question that has no exact answer, because everyone has a different interpretation of what "art" is.

Art can be the graffiti on the side of an abandoned train car. It can be a master of a certain skill, or it can be a famous deteriorating, oil on poplar painting of a reserved woman sitting in front of a washed out landscape with folded arms. Art is... everything. It can be just as much intentional as unintentional. So where do artists get inspiration for something that is "everywhere and everything"?

This past week the OFB Directors went on a trip to get inspired for an upcoming project, but what happened, was so much more. We rented an RV, all piled in it, and drove south of Dallas. We hit sites such as the Dinosaur Valley State Park, where we saw real dinosaur footprints. We visited the small, interesting towns of Glen Rose, Hico, Hamilton, and Comanche. We experienced the locals, bad driving, and good food. In these small towns, collectively we found inspiration in old signage, beat up campers on the side of the road, and assorted trinkets in antique shops.

But what truly inspired me? What caught my attention the most out of the whole trip? Was it watching our film crew take stellar photographs, or learning more about my fellow coworkers? Just like art is everything and everywhere, so was my inspiration. I found it in the strangest places.

My main source of inspiration was the vastness of the Texas countryside. I am from a small town, and I am used to looking out and seeing nothing on the highway, but this took it to new levels. Just the orange soil hitting that extremely rich blue sky had my eyes dancing with excitement. And at night seeing a fresh sky with sparkling stars, made me miss the country. There is so much inspiration that can be drawn from the natural earth, such as color, textures, rhythm, and harmony.

I have seen the best examples of nature literally in the front seat of a car, bus and RV, so this trip was just the ticket. If you want to see another example of an OFB nature packed road trip, check out our Taos, New Mexico post.

**Photos by Summer Berdin

OFB Launches site for The Retail Connection.

11/20/2008 4:52:00 AM

You don't have to work with the team at The Retail Connection too long to feel the intense energy and passion they have and their immense knowledge within their field. One big problem: their website only allowed them to post static content and did not utilize any current web technology. Our primary goal with the project was to produce online business tools that gave the team at TRC a new outlet to connect with their clients/potential clients. This transformed page after page of text into a website of dynamic video integration and user smart content.

"Although a lot of branding firms promote this, it is not always easy to find innovative talent that can interpret your business strategy in a way that makes for a more productive outcome for your marketing team, provides tools for your business, promotes your clients, and saves you money. OFB's intuitive and strategic thinking about how to extend our brand and services, combined with the team's ability to execute those ideas has benefited everyone, and we receive constant positive feedback on what he has delivered."

- Leisa Barger, Sr. VP | Marketing, The Retail Connection

"OFB's Leadership combines an extensive technical knowledge with creative talent that makes their services unmatched. The OFB team was able to develop a new site for our company all while teaching me the tools & skills I needed to make the site our own. One Fast Buffalo has a very personable, fun and friendly team that makes working together a pleasure.

- Jessica Bass, Marketing Coordinator, The Retail Connection

Read the full case study here.

Tagline Spotting: Pei Wei

11/14/2008 5:21:00 PM

Pei Wei, the little sister to PF Chang's, recently started identifying itself as 'East of Usual.' This tagline clearly identifies and encapsulates Pei Wei's unique selling points as an Asian fusion casual restaurant. In the competitive landscape of quick in-and-out lunch spots, Pei Wei's exotic offerings from the 'east' easily stand out among the 'usual' sandwiches, soups, and salads. Repositioning the competitors as boring and ordinary is a good strategy to differentiate and gain a competitive advantage. Good job Pei Wei!

Having fun with RSS Buttons

11/14/2008 4:15:00 PM

RSS is a web feed that allows users to subscribe to certain websites. People use them to get updates such as new blog entries, headlines, podcasts, media uploads and much more from their favorite sites. This way, the user doesn't really have to keep checking a site constantly to see if it is updated. It also keeps the user in touch with a specific website. Sometimes the feed can be just a summary encouraging the reader to go to the full article on a site, or it could be the whole article.

The trick about RSS feeds, is getting people to actually subscribe to them. Everyone knows the typical RSS button. Now, since they are some sort of a necessity, RSS feed buttons are becoming more and more clever.

Just an average RSS feed button can be boring and not jump out at anyone; however, you have to take into consideration who you are designing for. I am not saying, that if your site is reaching for a very professional, sophisticated audience your RSS feed button should be super stripped down and boring. You could have a basic button, but have it more sleek or glossy. The thing is, you WANT someone to see the button and not skip over it because it fades into the actual design.

You also have to make sure that your RSS feed button is still easily identifiable. The actual icon shouldn't be hidden. Its surroundings are what is important and the most creative. Creating scenarios for this specific icon can be so original. Think about designing a restaurant site. Maybe your RSS feed icon be in place of meat that is on a fork. Or the RSS icon could be presented as a meal with the whole table setting. The ideas are endless.

I have uploaded some very interesting RSS feed icons that are just so unique and fun. From aliens to martini drinks, nothing can stop anyone's imagination.

**Please note these buttons uploaded are for viewing only**

Buffalo Shepherd's Pie

11/6/2008 5:15:00 PM

Here at OFB we all have our favorite buffalo dishes. Mine is Buffalo Meat pie. Katie's, Jennifer's, Christine's and Cameron's are buffalo burgers. Ann's is meatloaf, and Ben's is tenderloin.

Now, here is a recipe that will definitely make your mouth water while not overloading your caloric intake. Buffalo Shepherd's Pie.

    * 2 heads of Cauliflower
    * 1 small tub of light Philadelphia regular cream cheese
    * 1 large egg yolk
    * 1/2 cup chicken broth
    * 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
    * 1 3/4 pounds ground bison
    * 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
    * 1 onion, chopped
    * 2 tablespoons light margarine
    * 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    * 1 cup beef broth
    * 2 teaspoons Worcestershire
    * 1/2 cup frozen peas
    * 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
    * 1 cup of 2% cheddar cheese

Clean the cauliflower and boil it until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain cauliflower pour them into a bowl, and start to mash them a little. Combine cream cheese, egg yolk and chicken broth in a separate bowl. Add the mixture into cauliflower and mash in until smooth.

While the cauliflower boils, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to the hot pan with the bison. You can season the meat with salt and pepper for more flavor. Brown and crumble meat for 3 or 4 minutes. Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together for about 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken the gravy, which might take a up to 5 minutes. Add gravy to meat and vegetables. then stir in your peas.

Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon cauliflower over meat evenly. Top cauliflower with paprika and cheese and broil until the cheese has a crispy texture on top.

Last... enjoy!

You can also use substitute the cauliflower for potatoes for a more traditional Shepherd's Pie. Other meats you can use are lamb and beef.

Pumpkin Taste Explosion

11/1/2008 5:11:00 PM

No its not QUITE Christmas time, but Thanksgiving is on its way. Now that Halloween is over, we can put away all of that candy corn and chocolate and focus more on things like pumpkin pie and dressing.

Everyone knows at OFB that I love to cook. I am not the best cook in the world, but I do use to great recipes. One of my favorite Holiday treats is Paula Deen's Pumpkin Bread. It is so easy to make, and is fun for your tummy. If you don't know who Paula Deen is, then SHAME ON YOU! She has her own show on Food Network Channel and has many many cook books. She also has a great website! She runs a fabulous (so I hear) restaurant with her two sons called The Lady & Sons in Savannah, Georgia. She is a true southern belle, and she definitely cooks like one. Her food is terrific!

This specific recipe is from her Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics: The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons, Too! I cook this every year for the office, and let me just say that it lasts maybe a day. It is good on its own, but even better with butter or cream cheese spread on it... of course it is Fat free, calorie free and has no carbs. NOT!

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, your pick
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cups water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans (or 3 smaller loaf pans). Combine the sugar and oil together in a mixer. Blend the eggs, pumpkin, and water separately. Now, take another bowl and combine the rest of your ingredients. Once you are done, add it slowly to the cream mixture. Fill the pans equally and bake for one our or until the loaves are golden brown.

Right before I put my batter in the oven, I like to sprinkly brown sugar on top for an extra sweet explosion.

Halloween Brand Symbols

10/31/2008 5:48:00 PM

Every year, when the 31st of October rolls around, people start thinking of Halloween costumes. What makes a character or person iconic enough for people to emulate them in a costume? More importantly, what makes people instantly recognize who you are?

One popular costume this year, for example, is Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. (In fact, our very own Katie Williams dressed up as Palin for Halloween - see a photo here!) But what makes a person undeniably recognizable as Sarah Palin? Sexy librarian glasses. Updo with bangs. Northern accent. Professional attire. Gun. Ding ding, you've got Sarah Palin. The Joker is another costume that will be popular this year, due to Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight. What do you need to be the Joker? Stringy green hair. Smeared red smile. Dark rimmed eyes. Green or purple suit. A crazy look in your eyes. How easy it is to identify the attributes that are iconic to these characters shows how unique and defined the 'brand' is. People have a specific image of these characters in their minds, and without those brand symbols, the character is not complete.

Brand symbols represent the brand and add layers of depth and meaning. Think about your brand and its icons. Do you own them enough that it would be hard for your competitors to emulate you and not come across as phony? If competitors did attempt to imitate you (consider it a form of flattery), would customers still recognize it as your brand? Creating iconic symbols that are inseparable from your brand is the foundation of a strong brand.

Musical Memory

10/31/2008 5:44:00 PM

During lunch today we were talking about the "state song" we learned in grade school. You remember this, you sing each of the states in alphabetical order to a tune and this helps children to commit all 50 to memory. Looking back, we did this for all sorts of things: capitals, countries, multiplication tables, even the alphabet is a song (you must admit that in your mind you hum this tune when going through the alphabet even to this day). Using music is a great way to apply things to memory. I used to know several bits of Shakespeare by heart, be able to rattle off all of the major historical dates within American history etc. but through the years I forget and they all become fuzzy. However, I can still sing every last word of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' even if I haven't heard it in years.

In advertising, it's no surprise the same thing happens. Think about your favorite commercials. What were they advertising? Most of the time, people can't quite remember. It was some light beer but was it Miller Lite or Bud Light....can't remember? Companies spend billions to make their ad popular, but being popular does not equate to being remembered.

One of the methods for remembering a company through commercials and radio is the age old jingle. Love them or hate them, you have to admit years after a campaign you can still hum the jingle for so many brands. From the very first jingle (supposedly Wheaties "Have you tried Wheaties") to some of the newest jingles like "I'm lovin it," it helps people to have a consistent point of reference throughout various campaigns. It isn't as important that a single commercial was funny if it is not reminding all of the users of the brand with a certain formula. These jingles become a greater and more powerful extension than a tagline alone and have staying power in the minds of your audience. So even though these things get stuck in my head to the point of madness, I can't help but think "Oscar Meyer" when I'm buying b-o-l-o-g-n-a.

Pepsi "You got the right one baby"

Mentos "The Freshmaker"

Klondike "What would you do for a Klondike bar?"

"Special" Pumpkin.

10/31/2008 5:11:00 PM

Lets play....

spot the politically motivated pumpkin carvers work in this scene.

OFB Halloween

10/31/2008 4:38:00 PM

Here at OneFastBuffalo, the leadership team takes Halloween VERY seriously. We basically dress up, and find a place where we know NO ONE will be dressed up for lunch. Today we went to Rockfish, and yes, everyone stared! It was awesome. Here is what we all dressed up as:

Katie - Sarah Palin

Ann - Where's Waldo's girlfriend Wenda

Christine - a Las Vegas flamenco dancer

Caroline - a banana

JP - Ali G

Ben - a Jedi Knight

Also, we had 2 OFB dogs. Lucy, a Yorkie, was dressed up as a pumpkin. Sydney, a Scottie, was a bumble bee.

Wall Art.

10/30/2008 4:43:00 AM

Wall Art has been around since caveman started drawing on stone walls depicting the events of their lives, and when pharaohs talented artists were decorating their pyramid walls. For many years, humans were not able to leave the surfaces of the walls around them untouched.

These days, a lot of people seem to be afraid to touch their walls. It seems like painting a mural its a thing of the past. We might see a picture or two on a wall, but most spaces are following a clean, modern look, where less is better. Or is it because we live so hectic lives that when we are home we want the walls to be blank to have that peacefull and quite feel? There might not be a right answer, but I definitely like a wall that makes me stop to look at it just like any other piece of art. I might not want it in my house, but I enjoy seeing them in restaurants, hotel rooms, etc.

I admire painters and designers who are not afraid to go beyond the limits of canvas or paper and create art that makes us see walls in a different way.

I wanted to share with ya'll how some painters and designers these days are making use of empty wall space according to the environment they're in.

Designing for Your Audience

10/29/2008 5:29:00 AM

When you first start to design, you have to think of one MAJOR element. Your audience. Knowing your audience is a key element in having a successful website. A good example of how to design for your audience comes from National Geographic.

Their regular site is definitely geared for an audience that is more mature audience that definitely has a passion for learning. The navigation is thorough and easy to find. Each section of their navigation leads to a different audience. When you click on MUSIC, it takes you to a page that is targeting a younger audience than the main page. It has very urban, hip hop elements that keep this section young and fresh.

Their KIDS section is perfectly appealing to that very young age. Bright colors and games are just what kids want. The navigation is completely different. It is on top and has images to help communicate with that young audience. Even the advertising at the top of the page is entertaining. There are little frogs jumping across the screen. This page has what it takes to keep a kid occupied and entertained.

The HISTORY page isn't that much different than the main page. But what it does, is very subtle. It has several textures that are applied to create this sense of time, and its effect it has on the site. It definitely grabs hold of the history buff type.

So, I am not going to go through every page and discuss it with you. But I can ask you to go through their site and decide yourself on who the audience is for each page. You might even learn something interesting while you are there.

It's a small world after all

10/24/2008 5:39:00 PM

From CNN to ESPN, websites have taken on a new shape over the past few years. Mobile websites are becoming the way users connect to their favorite sites and search new information. This is nothing new to people, but it might come as a surprise how pervasive this medium has become. More and more people are accessing the web through their phones as their numbers have more than doubled in the past few years. I'm sure this is the first of many blogs regarding the mobile world and how it will change the face of client interaction and advertising, but I think it might be helpful to start on what to look for in a mobile website.

Typically people use mobile web applications for anything from checking their email to checking the news, mainly on sites they frequent daily. It is becoming less of a luxury and more of a regular part of doing business for those organizations that have high frequency traffic on their full website. SO what does it take for an easy to use mobile website? This list is certainly not 'all inclusive' but when accessing the web via your mobile device, here are some things to look for and expect.

First, extremely stripped down graphics. These guys aren't going to blow you away with bells and whistles. They want to keep everything with low graphic downloads as well as minimize the clutter overload for the user. Because as you can imagine, this is not only for display quality but also that the user is accessing the internet via 'best case' a 3G network connection. So the smaller the download the better.
There should also be cut down navigation elements within the site. For instance many people keep the mobile version of their sites to about 5 tabs in order for quick browsing by using a more tabular approach.
Also, all of the most important information for the user needs to be placed at the top of the page. Because of the small vertical space and difficulty for many mobiles to scroll, you want to make sure your users are seeing the valuable information first.
Another item to remember, it is difficult to type typically from a mobile device (especially while eating and putting on makeup while driving). Mobile sites should utilize lists to choose from or auto content completion technology for text areas to ease usability.

If you have a site that you visit all the time on your mobile phone that does not have a mobile specific version, there have been new applications that translate the website into a more friendly version for your mobile. Check out http://www.skweezer.com. This will automatically reformat websites to fit in the smaller display of your mobile phone and removes the clutter so you can easily view and browse through the site quickly. Not a 100% answer, but no fear I feel it won't be too long until most high traffic sites will have a mobile ready version for you.

Sweet on Sprinkles

10/24/2008 5:23:00 PM

Considering that I work in the branding industry, it's not a surprise that I would be a complete sucker for branding and marketing. One brand that I've completely bought into is Sprinkles Cupcakes. Sure, some may claim that they sell overpriced cupcakes that you could make from a box, but they have convinced me that I want, need, love those cupcakes. My appreciation for delicious baked goods, combined with my appreciation for good branding, makes Sprinkles Cupcakes one of my favorite brands.

Every touchpoint of Sprinkles Cupcakes is consistent and on-brand -- modern, stylish, sweet. The chocolate brown and girlish pink brand colors and modern cursive handwriting tie the store, packaging, and website together. The stores, for example, are designed to be reminiscent of European bakeries and create a warm atmosphere with light woods, large windows, and plenty of sunshine. It's the perfect place to sit on top of the world and people-watch while enjoying your cupcake, either with the adorable little knives and forks provided in stores or down and dirty with your hands -- my preferred method.

One reason why I think I love Sprinkles so much is that I'm actually in their target market. Sprinkles really targets women over any other group. The brand look has a clearly feminine feel but beyond that, they really cater to the wants and needs of modern women. One example is that they provide all-natural doggie cupcakes and Sprinkles-branded doggie tees for spoiled, beloved pooches. Sprinkles also allows you to accessorize your cupcakes with decorations such as modern dot candy sprinkles or pink hearts. They even offer wedding cupcake towers and an engagement cupcake adorned with a diamong ring and comes in its own individual cupcake box. What girl wouldn't want to be proposed to with that!

With a strong brand that caters to the modern woman's style and lifestyle, Sprinkles makes cupcakes special and a joy to eat... and boy do I enjoy eating them. The brand is so strong that it even sub-brands the tasty little treats for special occasions and holidays. In fact, we can't wait to order a Boo Box for the OFB office on Halloween!

Video: Designing Sprinkles Cupcakes

The Movie Poster

10/24/2008 5:00:00 PM

Graphic Design reaches to the mass media in so many ways. One way that I really notice is through movie posters. Now a days, movie posters are becoming better and better. You can tell that more and more research has gone into them.

What got me really thinking about movie posters and their design all started with V for Vendetta. This poster really had an impression on me. Having gone to design school, I noticed that this poster looked somewhat familiar. I felt as if I were looking at a German propaganda poster.

It is amazing the impact that World War I and II had on graphic design. With this particular poster, it had an even bigger impact. Of course the story was heavily influenced on fascism and totalitarianism, similar to the WWII period, inflicting us in the modern world. So, it is only right to make a movie poster that is heavily influenced on that same idea...right?

Well, this is was the first movie poster that I actually researched, and apparently I was not the only one who was intrigued by it. I learned that the poster WAS in fact inspired by Pre-Soviet/Bolshevik propaganda posters from the Lenin/Stalin era.

Joel Silver, who produced V for Vendetta said that "(he) wanted people to feel as if the posters came directly from the movie, that they were actually in the movie" He wanted the person looking at the poster to FEEL that it were an actual propaganda poster and not just a movie poster. He wanted it to feel real, as if the movie weren't a movie.

So, now whenever I go to the theater, which is fairly often, I really like to study movie trailers. They truly do inspire me to push myself harder than ever. I can honestly say that if a movie poster is really bad, I probably won't go see that particular movie. Just like any design, you want to invoke an emotion where someone wants to know more about it. That is what design is all about. It is there to intrigue your senses, to get you involved.

I have posted other posters besides V for Vendetta for you to enjoy, and I challenge you to research them. Don't try to find out who did them, but what inspired them. The answers you may find could be more interesting than the movie material itself.

Beer Fridays

10/24/2008 4:47:00 PM

Happiness ensues.

Creative Business Cards

10/24/2008 4:25:00 PM

I wanted to share with you guys some really cool and creative business cards I came across with. Whenever someone gets your business card, they are getting a first impression of who you are as a company or organization. That's why it's important to have a creative and unique business card. All if it's appropriate of course. If you have a conservative company, it makes sense to have a conservative and boring business card rigth? WRONG! I think a very conservative company could still have a cool business card, through the use of colors, type, embossing, die-cuts, paper, layout, different materials, foil stamps, etc.

Think of how many different cards people get though out the years. If they happen to save them, they will look through them every once in a while. More than likely they are going to look at the ones that stand out the most to them. So next time your thinking of your next business card design, weather it's for you or somebody else, think of all the possibilities available.

I’m a PC. Well not really, but I do own one.

10/24/2008 3:56:00 PM

I'm a PC.

I'm not a designer.

I do not own a Mac.

I am... the lone PC in a Mac world... or at least the OFB office.

So, I get harrassed about my Dell laptop I carry around everywhere. Yes, Macs are cool. Yes, Macs are sleeker looking and probably a little more user-friendly. I've played on them, and I do actually use one on occasion at the office. I find them harder to use than the PC, but that's because I've only used PCs my entire life.

However, my PC and I have been summoned on multiple occasions to test sites in Internet Explorer. And now, Google Chrome is only compatible with PCs. So... harrass all you want... most of the computing population uses PCs.

It seems my trusty Dell might be on its last legs. Do I spring for the uber cool, trendy Mac? Or stick with the PC for the benefits of those testing times?

And for a little fun....

Moshi and the Apple Aesthetic

10/20/2008 1:34:00 PM

Most of us here at OFB are Mac users. Many gross generalizations can be made about Mac users, but I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that we are more image-conscious than most other computer users. We can't help but be attracted to the clean, minimalistic design of Apple products. The Apple aesthetic reflects upon the user and is considered an extension of our personal style.

Too bad one common problem with the iconic sleek cases of Apple laptops is that they only stay clean and pristine for so long. Especially if you have a white Mac, it's inevitable that the dirt and oil from your palms and wrists will accumulate over time and result in an unsightly smudgy stain on your once-beautiful computer. You can understand how the typical image-conscious Apple user would be not be happy with that. Well I was in the same boat, and I came across a company that solves the problem and really understands the picky and particular Apple user at the same time. Moshi is a company that identifies itself as a "purveyor of electronics fashion." About a month ago, I purchased a Moshi Palmguard, which is "designed for demanding users who really care about preserving the look of their precious MacBook." Hey that's me! And most Mac users, I'm sure.

The Moshi Palmguard is perfectly shaped and color-matched to my computer and feels just like it too. Most importantly, it blends right in. You would hardly know it's there except for the tiny 'moshi' branding in the bottom right corner, about 1/8" in height. It keeps my computer clean while being clean, sleek, and minimalistic itself. Compare this to the Marware Protection Pack, which is the cover I used previously. The company name and logo calls attention to itself in the top left corner or bottom center, about 1/2" in height, thick white lettering on dark gray. Very gaudy and loud... a couple words that are the exact opposite of the Apple aesthetic and the typical Apple user's style.

Most companies, for some arrogance-related reason, love making their logos huge on their products. They think the bigger the logo is, the more people will see it and, hopefully, the more people try to find out about the company. Moshi took another route. They made their logo tiny, made the Apple user happy, and made those happy users tell other users, who then want to find out more about the company. Bigger is not always better, and making their logo almost unnoticeable made users notice them. The company understands that the Moshi brand is secondary in its relationship with Apple. Users identify with the Apple brand a million times over Moshi or Marware. Companies like Moshi capitalize on the Apple users' image-conscious sensibilities and, therefore, are smart to cater to it in its design and messaging as well. Now that's a big idea from a (literally) small brand.

Politics inspiring art.

10/17/2008 4:44:00 PM

This post is not about politics. It's about how politics is inspiring artists and designers to create beautiful art. With this years elections, many artists have shown their talent by creating very cool graphics of Barack Obama. Even the Obama Camp created an open submission called "Tees by the people for the people"where anybody can submit a t-shirt design and be part of history. It's amazing the amount of support that this campaign has gotten from the Art and design community to make it the most colorful campaign in history.

Hands-On with Peterbilt

10/15/2008 12:40:00 PM

As you can see, we like to get hands-on with our research. Here, a few of us visited a Peterbilt truck dealership and really got to see what Peterbilt is all about, inside and out!

Magic Paper?

10/13/2008 1:16:00 AM

Personally and in the business world, sustainability is a larger and larger issue in our daily lives. This is imperative both for the future of the planet and the future of our businesses (as now creating green friendly programs are becoming less of an option and more of a necessary part of doing business). Together, the world is trying to discover more efficient and effective ways to control our carbon footprint and decrease the amount of waste we produce in everyday work activity. With the entry to the digital age, the percentage of physical prints both in office activity and marketing have been greatly decreased. However, there is still the ongoing need of tangible documents for a multitude of applications within the daily workplace.

If we must print, let's print smart! Studies show that nearly 40% of all pages printed are discarded within the first 24 hours. To combat this issue, Xerox has created a new way to print in order to create truly re-usable paper, or what they term as "erasable paper". The secret: they have discovered a method of printing with light onto the page. Then the compound reacts to certain wavelengths of light that are natural within your environment. As the paper absorbs these wavelengths the color changes and the ink will seem to gradually fade. Within 24 hours the page will again be completely blank and ready for its next usage (to instantly erase the paper, all you need is heat). This can create several prints to be distributed throughout the office and re-cycled time and time again.

Unfortunately, you can't go buy this printer/paper now. Xerox is still within the development stage of creating the concept for full commercial use. But you can't help but think of the amazing impact a product like this would create. I try to encourage people to utilize digital resources as much as possible and avoid physical printing if possible, but this product can bring the best of both worlds. You get the convenience of printed pieces (for absorption of complex information and increased data retention) and the eco benefits of truly re-usable paper. Bravo Xerox!

** additional source treehugger.com

Obama Wants YOU

10/10/2008 4:23:00 PM

Disclaimer: This post does not endorse one candidate over another regarding where they stand on issues and how well they would lead the country... unless all that is indicated by a logo.

In the midst of an election year, politicians are throwing a plethora of messages at you in the hopes of receiving your support. Barack Obama's campaign has taken a really smart approach to making sure these messages are targeted to the right group of people.

The overall campaign logo for Barack Obama is beautifully designed and strategically well thought out. He owns the 'O' in his name and, with the sunrise imagery, the logo has subtle meaning and communicates a message of change, hope, and a new day. The logo flexes its versatility in his adaptations for each group on the People page of his website, BarackObama.com. Adapting the logo to connect with different audiences, he becomes more relatable and shows that he understands each group's nuances in issues. The subtle designs draw from the heritage, culture, and pride of each audience and manages to steer clear of being overdone and insincere. The Obama O never looks out of place, and he takes his targeting further by providing each group with its own specific sub-site with resources, a blog, video, and other media.

Whether you're an Asian-American, an environmentalist, an American Indian, a kid, a student, or a woman... Barack Obama has a specific message for you. His targeted messages cut through the haze of political messages. In the branding world, that kind of targeting and positioning to specific audiences is a necessity to stand out and gain a competitive advantage.

One pair at a time

10/10/2008 3:58:00 PM

Sometime in 2006, I read in a fashion magazine about a new company selling shoes. But there was a catch... a good catch... every time a pair of shoes was purchased, the company would donate a pair to a child in need.

How it Started...

The founder, Blake Mycoskie, was on the Amazing Race... random right? Well, he went to Argentina while on the show and noticed what a burden the lack of shoes were having on children (disease, death, etc). So after returning to the states, he vowed to start a company to give away shoes to those in need around the world.

The Shoe...

The shoe is based on the typical Argentinian shoe and is made of natural fiber in sweatshop free conditions. I now own 3 pair and am in need of a 4th.

My first pair were purchased at SoLa in Austin after reading about the brand in the magazine. I got an email from SoLa saying they were now carrying them... I love when brands I love reach out to me.

My second pair were purchased at the ACL Festival in 2007. They had a booth this year as well, and I hope they keep coming back. Actually, I spotted so many people (both men and women) in TOMS at the festival... it kind of blew my mind how much they've grown in such a small amount of time.

And my most recent pair were purchased specifically for my trip to Italy last May. I will never forget running around Rome in the rain, sloshing in my TOMS. They are a trusty shoe.

The Good...

Basically, they do a shoe "drop" every year. They gave 10,000 pairs to children in Argentina, 50,000 to children in South Africa. This year they plan to drop 200,000 pairs. That... is a lot of shoes.

I think this is a good company with an original idea doing GREAT things. I wear my TOMS multiple times a week, I have a sticker on my car... it is a true badge brand. (Oh... I also have a hat!)

So next time you're thinking about a new pair of shoes or a good gift to give this year... think about TOMS...

(Also, TOMS sends me emails about new lines, web exclusives, the shoe drops, etc. Sign up for their newsletter here.)

SYTYCD Lifestyle Brand

10/8/2008 11:36:00 AM

For those who don't know, So You Think You Can Dance is a dance competition show on FOX that challenges dancers to perform in styles outside of their element -- break dancers try ballroom, salsa dancers try hip hop, contemporary dancers even try bollywood dancing, etc. It is one of my and Katie's favorite shows, so when the SYTYCD Tour came to the DFW area in Grand Prairie's Nokia Theatre, we were very excited to see our favorite dancers live in person.

Now I've been to my share of concerts but never really to a dance competition tour... Not too surprisingly, they're very similar. The overcrowded parking, the long bathroom lines, and the high-pitched screams from middle-school girls were all there. Another staple is the ridiculously overpriced tour merchandise. One thing I noticed though is that the SYTYCD merchandise embraced the show's dance roots and made it almost into a lifestyle brand for dancers and dancer wannabes. Of course there were the ubiquitous t-shirts, buttons, and posters, but the leg warmers, dance bags, and dance leggings were what stuck out. What drove it home for a lot of the fans, I'm sure, was seeing the dancers themselves wearing the merchandise onstage in between their performances as they introduced the next one. This kind of promotion makes the audience want to associate themselves with the talented role models onstage and makes the brand into a badge brand.

At first I thought SYTYCD had played it too safe by not going all the way and embracing the dancer lifestyle through branded dancewear, leotards, dance shoes, etc. But thinking about it again, the SYTYCD brand isn't necessarily about professional dancers only. What makes it unique and authentic is that the dancers come from all backgrounds, whether professional dance academies or the streets. Street dancers don't wear leotards. Furthermore, the SYTYCD audience doesn't wear leotards. Keeping the merchandise accessible and within reach to all dancers alike as well as keeping their actual audience in mind, the SYTYCD merchandise is a great reflection on their brand.

Here's an example of a SYTYCD dance performed live on tour. Mark Kanemura, a contemporary dancer, and Chelsie Hightower, a salsa dancer, perform a hip hop routine to 'Bleeding Love.'

Creating Brand Loyalty, While Rocking

10/8/2008 9:53:00 AM

This September held the 4th annual Christine and Katie Austin City Limits Festival Road Trip Extravaganza!

Christine and I have been attending the ACL Fest since college... it's become a bit of a tradition. Both of us are pretty much obsessed with all things music, and ACL is a perfect excuse to break away from office life for a weekend and become pseudo-hippies for 3 days of the year.

I started thinking about why we return each year and how the ACL Fest has improved over the years....

Wristbands -- every year the wristbands are different... the first couple years they were green hard plastic with black design, last year they were a flimsy white plastic (very uncomfortable), this year CLOTH! It's always interesting to see what the wristband is going to be like... it's your ticket in... it's your wrist accessory for 3 days (or longer if you like to keep it on for months like we do to remind us of the good times). The fest keeps the audience guessing... they mix it up each year... we like that.

Food -- Christine and I eat the same thing pretty much every day at the fest: Solar hummus wraps and Sweet Leaf Tea. Now, I know you can find Sweet Leaf Tea outside of Austin, but the Solar hummus is only found in Austin. It is my favorite hummus. I do not eat any other hummus. Ever. So this is a big deal for me. They also have Austin only foods like Stubb's BBQ, Saltlick BBQ, etc. And this year, we were introduced to the Chicken Cone. Yes, a Chicken Cone. Wanna know what it is? Attend the fest next year.

Ambiance -- A big part of the fest for me is just being outside for literally 3 days straight. Zilker Park just before fall, no shoes, lots of walking... it's nice to feel a little more connected to nature than the usual day in Dallas. Yeah, we get sunburned, we inhale a lot of dust, but that's just part of the fest. Being in a massively huge crowd of people just so you can be that much closer to Jack White... totally worth it.

Information -- I'm a planner... I like to know what's going on. The fest has done a GREAT job of keeping us informed at all times. I know when tickets are going on sale, when the lineup is being announced, when I can redeem my tickets, where to find anything at the fest, when bands will be giving autographs, where a friend can pick me up, etc etc etc. Website. Their website is full of information, from bios on bands to an interactive customizable schedule. Email blasts. I receive these year round about the fest... the day after the fest I had one in my inbox about next year's ticket sales. Text messages. I received texts throughout the fest regarding autograph signings to free Sweet Leaf Tea. Nothing is better than free Sweet Leaf Tea.

By keeping things fresh and keeping their audience informed, ACL has grown as a festival over the years and continues to attract more music lovers each year. And yes, I'll be returning next year.

Check out my pictures from the festival over the years...

Vancouver 2010 Graphic Identity

10/8/2008 9:38:00 AM

As some of you may know, the winter olympics of 2010 will be held in Vancouver, Canada. I just saw the graphic identity of the games and they look pretty awesome. The graphics tell a unique story of the culture of Vancouver through great design. They bring together a balance of urban and natural representations to form really cool illustrations.

One of my favorite things about the graphics is the way they handled the figures representing each sport. In past Olympic graphics, most of the illustrations representing each sport have been done in a simple silhouette style. That's not the case this time. Even though they are still silhouettes, the Vancouver graphics give a very detailed, almost photographic sense of the athlete performing the sport. They give the athletes facial expressions to show all the hard work they go through to reach their goal. "The sport illustrations are highly stylized with an exaggerated, close-up perspective of the athlete’s performance. The designs were inspired by modern sport photography, pop culture, fashion illustration and Manga-style comics, giving the athletes a heroic look to serve as an inspiration for young spectators"

Olympic games have a long tradition of creativity and great design. Each country hosting the games creates a unique story to represent who they are and to bring the world together, and that's exactly what Vancouver did.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

State Fair Website.

10/8/2008 4:58:00 AM

We at OFB take the State Fair very very seriously. We went this past week as a group to enjoy the sun and fun. Ann Bui, our Brand Strategist, is a regular visitor of the State Fair’s website. She even used it to print off the list of fried heart attacks, I mean fried foods we're going to all try. She even highlighted them. (Shhhhh. Act like I didn’t tell you.) So, I decided to check out the website for myself.

The site has been well planned out to consider its broad audience. The site is bright, but the colors blend together so well that it doesn’t distract. The colors don’t really target a specific audience either. They are playful while staying professional and informative. The vignettes to the right have been created in this softer web 2.0 feeling to keep the site modern for the more web savvy crowd, while sticking out enough for anyone to find the most common areas of the site easier.

The homepage has a green carousel that slides through pictures. This is a quick interactive piece that shows the user that the Fair DOES have something for everyone. Plus the movement is a great way to communicate with a user.

Even though the site is easy to use and super clean, there are areas that naturally I will pick at. Since the site is very informative and has a lot of information, the Calendar of Events feels like an afterthought. There is SO much going on at the Fair, which I feel that they could have made it more visual. They do have a good sorting function where you can find certain events by categories. Also they have a function where you can make your own schedule. I just wish they would have made the calendar more interactive. For example; they could have made the calendar full sized. When you rolled over that day, they events all popped up. Or maybe they had a full sized calendar with that same sorting function. So if you wanted to see all the shows, you could see them actually on the calendar rather than a list. It is just easier, in my opinion to see were the actual day falls in a week than seeing it in a list.

Another annoyance, the site has a few places that when you click on a link, it opens in a new tab. However, when you click on Livestock’s Competition, it goes to a different site on that same page rather than opening up a link. I know that the average user really doesn’t like to have a tab or a new window open, but if a site is going to do it one way, it should be consistent and do it the same way throughout the site.

Ok, I really could go all day nitpicking this site to pieces, but I am not. But I will leave you with this. If you do visit the site, there is one thing any user should not miss. You can’t visit the site without hearing Big Tex Speak.

Outside Beauty.

10/7/2008 3:24:00 AM

I wanted to talk a little bit about the importance of Packaging Design and how powerful is it in our daily lives. It is through packaging design that we largely determine what products to buy.

The clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the houses we live in tell who we are. Packaging does that for products.

Let's say you're in a grocery store in a foreign country where you don't speak the language. You're trying to buy some cereal, but you don't know which kind to go with. You can't open the box and try the product. So your first instinct is to go with the one that stands out the most to you, right? It could be the color of the box or the unique graphics that the box has.

We are a brand driven society. Even though some would deny it. They tell you they don't buy things because of the packaging, but I think in one way or another, they do. We identify with certain products because they promise something and the packaging carries a lot of that promise. We look for those original packages that makes us take notice, talk, think, smile, and buy.

Here are some other examples I like.

Vintage in the Heart o' Texas

10/6/2008 2:10:00 PM

A couple weeks ago, I made a trek down to my beloved Austin for a friend's birthday. On the way back to Dallas, I stopped at the old shack on the southbound side of I-35 between Waco and West... STYLE STATION.

The place has old cars, vintage signs, and mannequins in hippie garb strewn about to draw in people like me looking for odd things. So I ventured inside to find the usual: vintage cowboy boots, tshirts, pearl snaps, dresses, leather jackets, etc. They also carry some mod style clothes and some tacky 80s garb as well. You gotta dig a little for the random finds, like my boss's new business card holder.

The owner's wife also designs some items like skirts and shirts of all kinds. I've seen some skirts made from old jeans and such, but her line is currently the trendy peace sign oriented garb... from tank tops to skirts to mechanic button-ups.

It's a cool little place with a funky vibe for the location. Being from Waco, you don't find many places in the area with such personality. The owner likes to talk politics, so make sure you enter with an open mind :)

Map Style Station

Check out other OFB Favorite Places

My "New Walmart" Brand Experience

10/6/2008 12:09:00 PM

When the world's largest company rebrands itself, the world notices. I had already noticed the change in the Walmart logo, the face of the company. Its strong, blocky navy blue type has been replaced with a more approachable type in a friendly lighter blue. Instead of a blue 5-pointed star, it's now a 6-petaled yellow/orange asterisk flower. The tagline has changed to match this softer, friendlier direction as well -- instead of just providing "Always Low Prices," the new Walmart promises to help its customers "Save money. Live better." How nice.

A logo and tagline are often mistakenly thought to be the most important part of a brand. Sometimes people think a logo and tagline ARE the brand. But without fulfilling that promise made by the new position as indicated by the logo and tagline, the new 'brand' falls flat. You have to live it, bring it to life, make good on your promise.

I actually visited a rebranded Walmart this past weekend. Driving up to it, it's hard not to get drawn in by the warmer brown and terracotta brick and that soft new logo. Walk inside and be welcomed by a bright and open Walmart. Gone are the inconvenient, narrow aisles and the intimidating shelves stocked high as the ceiling. They've been replaced by luxurious wide aisles you can do cartwheels down, and you can actually see wayfinding signage above the shelves. I think there was even natural light inside too. Doing good, Walmart. Much better than expected.

Since I was there to look for rubber balls for a dodgeball game (don't ask), I looked for the toys and sports section. I found it easily using the nicely designed departmental signage and strolled through decidedly more sophisticated but still approachable product presentation and innovative endcaps. In the Home section, one endcap was cleared to show a welcoming, comfy-looking chair with features and information displayed in a tower of rotating cubes... Very cool.

Once in the toys and sports section, I couldn't find the rubber balls I was looking for. I saw a nice looking gentleman in khakis and a blue Walmart polo and decided to ask for his help. With that, my lovely Walmart experience quickly took a turn for the worse. First off, he looked scared and miserable even as I approached him... and I'm not a very scary-looking person. He responded to my question with an unconvincing mumble about the rubber balls being in the next aisle. I went to the next aisle and, surprise, they weren't there. I quickly turned back to where he was to ask for further guidance and, surprise, he wasn't there. Thanks Walmart. I quickly exited, empty-handed and unfulfilled. Maybe I would have 'saved money' but the less-than-spectacular service certainly didn't make my 'life better.'

In its rebranding efforts, Walmart seems to have forgotten a big touchpoint between a brand and its consumers - the people. In a store that was almost unrecognizable from the old Walmart, that one encounter let me know that Walmart hasn't really changed that much. But hey, maybe that one gentleman was sick on the day of the rebrand training... if there was one at all.

Companies - take a brand lesson from Walmart and make sure EVERY aspect of your brand is on track with your brand promise and position. Consumers WILL notice those holes and they WILL weaken your brand.

Ideas Live On.

10/5/2008 11:27:00 PM

Whether you are a designer, writer, new business director....whatever. You need to write your ideas down WHEN THEY ARE FOUND. It's fresh and you will you have a clearer understanding of what made the idea good if you write it down at that moment. And it's best to write out a full thought. It gives that idea a better chance to live. For whatever reason I tend to get ideas when I am driving, walking, jogging, biking, etc. Moving has always helped me clear my mind and think. But of course this also means I am not sitting at my computer where I keep all of my full thought plans and ideas to execute.

So I tend to have notebooks stashed ALL over the place and with me at all times.

Rather than trying to use one notebook at a time and worry about where it is...I keep notebooks in my car, in my laptop bag, in my living room, in my wife's car, everywhere I hangout. Honestly if I go for a walk or even a jog I have a phobia of not carrying something that I can write on in case I find an idea. Driving and running tend to be where I most often have this problem.

I started buying Moleskine notebooks a while back and I can't imagine using anything else. Specifically the Moleskine Cashiers Notebooks....kraft brown. I really like the simple design and small pocket size. I like that they don't have a ton of pages in each book so if I use some of it and it gets trashed it's no big deal. I buy the 3 packs and keep our cars stocked with them. They don't look trashy in the living room or kitchen and I can easily keep these in my back pocket when I am walking to lunch downtown or even when I am jogging.

Check them out if you haven't already at www.moleskineus.com

OFB "Business card holder"

10/3/2008 12:41:00 PM

Really enjoying this old Mexican cigarette holder given to me by my friend Katie Williams. Works great as my new business card holder.

Flash. Why and When.

10/3/2008 10:02:00 AM

The first thing when someone thinks about a website is its interactive ability. Most sites that have games and animated feedback are usually all Flash sites. A really good example of a fun, interactive site, is the Altoids site. It has SO many fun games, and you in a way forget that you are on a site that is for breath mints. You can paint your own beard on The Unbelievable Beardo, experience the magician Sour-O that takes over your desktop, and send someone special a singing telegram.

With Flash sites, you can say what you need to say through this visual message. You can have animations that really attract the viewer in a way where they don't want to leave your site. Everything has been story boarded out and created into a movie to get the viewer to receive your message in a very effective way.

Another great thing about Flash sites, is that you don't have to worry about your site looking different on Explorer than on Firefox. It doesn't matter! It should play the same. The only thing is, that the user must have the most recent Flash player, which is easy to get and free. Someone might consider downloading the Flash player a downside, but I just think if you are one of those people who consider that as a bad thing, it just means you are lazy. It isn't hard to search "Flash Player" and find what you are looking for.

So, while an all Flash site maybe fun and entertaining, it does have downsides. We have clients, who don't really understand the web, want us to design a site where they can upload their own videos, images and content. Basically they want a site that they have complete control over, then they show us the example they have envisioned....an ALL Flash site. So here is my first problem. We CAN build you an awesome Flash site with fun extras on it, BUT once it has been created, the site you have, is done. You have no control over changing the site. There isn't a backend system where you can change out a sentence or an image. What you see is what you get.

The main reason of having a website is for a bigger population to see your company or work. And a way to do that is through SEO (Search Engine Optimization). You want someone to be able to find you on the big internet super highway easily. Flash sites hide a lot of information that can help users find your site faster.

Another downside is the loading time. Now, not all Flash sites take forever to load. But there are some sites that take long enough to lose its views. No one wants to wait more than 30 seconds for a site to load.

So, there are pros and cons to an all Flash site. But if you want a Flash site that has it all, you really have to incorporate Flash and HTML to create a hybrid site. This is extremely popular. Flash is used for the navigations of sites, main advertising, and much more. So, don't count Flash completely out, it still has that interactivity that can improve any site.

Latest Glamour.

10/1/2008 12:19:00 PM

Recent after-hours strategy session for Peterbilt Motors Company with our good friends Picasso's pizzas, a six pack of Shiner and a six pack of Hefeweizen.

Red Jak is "Re-Born"

10/1/2008 9:28:00 AM

The first batch of Big Red Jak cans was produced at the Crown plant in Mississippi.

We recently were invited to visit the Crown plant in Northern Mississippi to see the first batch of Red Jak cans come off the line. The technology was amazing. Simple as that. We received a grand tour of the facility and learned all there is to know (or understand) about how aluminum beverage cans are made.

The process reminded us of a press-check at the printer, but with much bigger consequences. We had to make a few small adjustments on the press as expected but the engineers amazed us with their precision and enthusiasm for helping us attain the perfect can.

The big moment came when we saw the first pallet roll out of the dryer....a few thousand cans at once. A virtual Red Jak mountain. "I think I shed a small red tear when those little guys came down the line. Yet for some reason, I wanted to run full speed into the stack and form tackle them." said Ben Jenkins.

Help a friend out...

9/30/2008 11:29:00 AM

Hello all. I have a favor to ask...

Our good friend/client/business partner, Jason Boso, owner of Cowboy Chow and Twisted Root Burger Co., was in a serious accident recently while driving to work. Being a good citizen and saving the environment, he was driving his Vespa... when a Hummer hit him. Not good.

He's been in the hospital for a couple weeks now, and we'd love for everyone to show their support by eating lunch at Twisted Root and Cowboy Chow as much as possible!! We love the food and both places are regularly visited OFB favorites.

Show your support!

Get well, Jason!

______________________________________________________

Read about our relationship with Cowboy Chow

Peruse the Twisted Root menu

Come and get it!

Don't try and fool me, man!

9/24/2008 2:04:00 AM

You have to know "when to say when." Don't let the need to market to customers actually cause you to execute tactics that turn them away.

So the OFB folks made me go get a haircut today. Apparently the "mullet" had just gone too far. This was more of an intervention than a suggestion. I did not know when to say when, when it came to my mullet.

Facing reality and taking care of this problem today led me to another example where this concept can get you in trouble.

Having an ongoing dialog with your customers is important, but what you want is their permission to sell to you. Here is one way NOT to go about getting that permission.

Anyway, I walked in to this very "manly man's" salon :) and proceeded to walk up to the reception desk. She asked who I was there to see. I told her. But then she said, "Fill this out," and handed me a small piece of paper. Not "please," no explanation. She just said it as if it was part of the process. I have to admit the way she did it was quite clever...I reached for a pen and started to write. But looking at the paper I noticed it asked for my name and email address, and in small type also mentioned something about a $250 lottery.

I said "no thanks".

Here is my point. It is certainly a good idea to have an online newsletter to create an ongoing dialog with your customers. But just ask for their permission. Don't trick or bribe me into giving you my contact info unless you have an offer where I cannot lose.

Maybe they could do this.

Create a simple online reservation system so my lazy American self can sign up for that haircut without picking up the phone. Then when I walk in, say, "Hey by the way, we have this new online reservation system. You might check it out. It just gives you another option to make your appointments and it will send you appointment reminders via email."

I think I would say..."uh sure!" that would be great.

Now my second idea would be for newsletter content. What about an eNewsletter topic showing the latest trends in hair styles ...."mullets for the proud modern redneck"?

If you sport a fancy mullet...you might get famous here. www.ratemymullet.com

I posted some audio for my old Mississippi friends. Not that this topic reminded me of you :) But, hey, I think that guy is pretty smart actually, and I think there is a good chance he rocks a mullet.

OFB Hardball Team Wins League Title

9/20/2008 11:28:00 PM

The OneFastBuffalo sponsored baseball team completed a 4 game undefeated playoff run this week to win the North Texas Amateur Baseball League Championship. The Buffalo Baseball Club, playing in its 9th season, consists of ex-professional and ex-college athletes. The wood bat NATBL consists of 6 teams who compete against each other over a 30 game regular season schedule.

The Buffalo finished the season with 17-11-2 record. Commenting on the season and championship series manager Ben Jenkins said in an old-timey broadcast voice, "The boys really played swell out there tonight. We had a good Nobody broke an ankle, landed in jail, or got paid to play. What else can you ask for?" Asked if the Buffalo will return for a 10th season Jenkins replied "that depends on how well we behave in the off season, if our wives decide we can, and if we can come up with a new uniform design. A lot has to fall in place but the good lord willing, we will be back for another run."

Vinyl

9/20/2008 9:25:00 AM

The music industry has not been able to accurately determine it's course of action in terms of a medium for the last 2 years. Sales of vinyl albums are only two percent of the music market both over all and for the independents as well, but more and more people are buying them. Why? According to several sources, Vinyl, at least in some music markets, is poised to take over from the CD as the leader in physical copies of music. This is hard to believe, since vinyl is such bulky medium and not as portable as the CD, but that may be one of the points that is driving it forward. People have long argued that the consumer has lost the "bond" with the audio medium they are purchasing in exchange for convenience. Now when a person purchases a song, they simply download a digital file, which may or may not have any more emotional value as an experience or as a file to them than a general word document. It's hard to distinguish the tangibility of your music from your tax documents, at least in terms of where you go to experience it. People who truly love to purchase music and dive into the culture of the album they have just bought, long for the "time-out" experience of opening the record, putting it on and pouring over the artwork, trying to learn, conjure or understand more about how this piece of music was made. And in so doing, they've laid out a part of their day to discover an actual album or song by the old fashioned method of spending time with it. Isn't that what all relationships need more of? More time together, more time to discover one another?

As an experiment, I decided to print my up and coming record, called "Take Up Your Mat and Walk" on vinyl and see how it fairs in generating true listeners. I just got the copies in recently and the record is slated for a Jan 2009 release. I haven't been able to determine whether or not it is forming a bond with the consumer, but I was able to take one and go to a friends where we put it on side one and for the next 45 minutes listened to it in it's entirety, with out skipping songs or going back to re-listen. And though it was my own work, I shared that experience with friend that I had not shared in almost 15 years. That was getting a record, and sitting there listening - making a few comments - but "spending time" using our ears and sonic imaginations. I don't think I can go back to CD after doing that. At least for a while.

More to come,

Steven

source info:

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029

Welcome to the new OFB site.

9/19/2008 12:57:00 PM

Welcome to our new site and the new addition, Buffalo Tread, a blog culture created by OneFastBuffalo.

This is a place for our extended tribe of creative professionals to bring our audience (designers, clients, and in-house marketers) content relevant to the worlds of branding, marketing, design, interactive, and other creative explorations. But more importantly we want to discuss the movements, businesses, and strategic thinking that make the world better, not just more branded. We believe the most authentic ideas are found via long journeys of creative exploration. Our passion lies in discovering ideas and passing them on to other people. We hope to provide marketing and design professionals in all industries with insight and recommendations to help them create real change within their organizations. We hope to learn from them as well. We hope to dismantle the need for advertising as we know it. We hope to help our many freelance and contract creative associates showcase their work. We hope to help designers to more fulfilling lives by exploring creative spirit the OFB way. We hope to inspire young creatives to become Onefast. We hope to have fun. We hope to tread heavily.

The story of where this site was found.

I have to first thank my wife Jenn for this site. When I decided it was time to design a new OFB site she gave me the gift of an entire week of solitude in mountains of New Mexico this spring to get started.

Soooooooo, this site was born in an Airstream trailer in Northern New Mexico, over 6 days and nights, favorite hemp socks, bison brisket, and 2 bags of dark pinon coffee.

I actually never left the camp and never saw another human person. I did meet an interesting local dog, a hawk or two and trout. Honestly, despite the fact that I missed my wife and kids terribly it was the most enjoyable work time of my life. I really didn't sleep much and worked about 16 hours each day. But I am not complaining. I had satellite internet, plenty of Son Volt, and about 20 lbs of Buffalo brisket. Hardships included ruining my favorite old pair of Texas Brand vintage boots in a mud hole and running out of mesquite seasoning for the buffalo.

The next week my family joined me. We stayed in a great adobe house near Taos where I continued to flush out the design at night. During the day we hit Taos Ski mountain for the first day of snowboarding ever allowed there, did some hiking, took some landscape photos, taught my oldest son to ski, shopped our favorite vintage boot shop, bought new guitars at Taos Pawn, at 3 times at Orlando's, had a family guitar jam, and ate many smores.

Other Thanks.

Thanks to Caroline, our Interactive Design Director, who helped me flush out the detailed interior pages. Thanks to Christine for her hard work to get this to development. And huge thanks to LEO, our development director whose team built one the most complex site I could have thrown at them.

View more pics of our studios here >>

Where did the old OFB site go?

You can visit the old guy right here. And we may unearth even older volumes soon.

Be a Developer's Dream Come True

9/18/2008 8:42:00 AM

What is the worst thing you can do once you handoff your artwork to developers? Not having completed work. I have learned that developers do not like to guess. Reason is, they do not know what you are thinking, and they shouldn’t have to try and figure out your design.

But I am also not necessarily referring to missing pages within a website that you, the designer, honestly forgot about or just didn’t think about. I am also referring to the art files. If you give the developer an art file in which the layers and or groups are not organized, this just makes it a million times harder for them. Being organized within your files is very important. What I am going to do is give you tips that will help you become a developer’s dream designer. Another plus is, it will help you not pull your hair out late at night when you are skimming through your million of layers to fine the smallest design element.

Group Your Sections: Either create a separate page for each main section and all its subsections, or one massive psd with the whole site in its entirety, group them. For example, if I am working on a site with 4 main sections in the navigation, I will have each in a different psd. So make sure the developer knows what order they go in, I number them. Yes, I am sure that if they looked at the jpgs they probably can figure it out, but that takes time. Their work is already hard enough, make it as easy as 1, 2, 3….literally.

Clean up your files: For me being such a pack rat, cleaning up other people’s psds, is one of my favorite things to do. I know, strange, but I am the Monica Gellar of web file cleaning. So, as a designer, don’t be lazy. If you aren’t going to use a layer, don’t just turn it off… throw it away.

Communication is the key: Now, when the client has approved the design, and you have your files ready to go, help a developer out by creating some kind of document with thorough explanations. Have rollovers in your file? Write out where they are and what group they are in. Have a special way you want something to work? Take screen shots of examples, and or give links to examples. Basically, go through everything you can possibly think of. Doing this, you also should realize if you are missing anything.

When you think about these three steps, you really have to look at it as forming new and good habits. Trust me, the better your files and explanations, the more awesome your final piece will be.

Only Game in Town.

9/9/2008 4:06:00 AM

World, meet Sugars. The best BBQ....on HWY 68.....between Espanola and Taos in New Mexico.

I can with all honesty say they do the best job branding their lovely little establishment....along that strip of road. But hey, if you're within 20 miles and hungry, you know where to go and it's mighty fine food. The name is easy to remember. You can't miss the simple "Sugar's" red and white sign and the colorful decor. Local patrons like to walk up and place their order, then hang out in the front seat of their car until the order is ready. For those who like to venture around the property, the most interesting brand ritual at Sugar's would be visiting the grave of their beloved mascot, a bulldog named Sugar. There, you can also read their brand legend.

The lesson for today: it's ok to just own ALL of a very small market. They are the best in the world, when you are on this stretch of road.

Buffaloes to Work with Rockfish.

9/5/2008 11:24:00 AM

OFB is excited to announce that we have secured a new working relationship with Rockfish Seafood Grill. Rockfish is a casual, neighborhood restaurant company based in Dallas, Texas offering fresh, delicious tasting seafood at reasonable prices. Rockfish has grown to 25 locations and was formerly owned by Brinker International. Rockfish is now owned by a private company who is challenging OFB to help advance the brand image, achieve more brand awareness, and to introduce catering to its existing audience. What we do know is that the food is great, and the culture is great. Good things are already happening with this brand.

Check back soon to see how we do it.

Google Battles Microsoft?

9/5/2008 1:36:00 AM

Chances are if you have ever used a computer 'Google' is a very familiar term for you. From the humble beginnings of what was originally a dissertation topic for Larry Page, the incredible search engine was created and quickly changed everything. It is now how we navigate through the infinite abyss of information that is the internet. While others have emerged over time to compete, Google still maintains over 60% of the total searching marketplace ahead of others like Yahoo and MSN. Their algorithm continues to evolve in the unceasing effort for the best and most relevant search results in the industry. I know because I found all of the information above using, you guessed it, Google.

So what does this have to do with Microsoft? Well I'll tell you. Google has recently announced they have created a new web browser utilizing their 'no nonsense' approach to graphics and perfectly balanced simplicity in functionality. This will go head to head in many consumer's minds with the release of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8. Both of these browsers have released the beta versions in order to test out the system and gain user feedback, so feel free to go check it out (both are free).

What can you expect? The biggest difference, the overall graphic role a browser has on its contents. Google takes the approach of providing a minimalist housing for your websites while IE 8 has more of a CNN ticker tape banner approach around the content. No right or wrong here, just comes down to preference. A big visual difference is having tabs ABOVE the address bar and removing all but a handful of essential commands (the user has an address bar, back/forward capability, refresh, and two very simple menus for copy, pasting, new tabs, etc.).

But the tabs aren't just for looks alone, I myself am a Firefox user. Typically I run at least 8-15 tabs at a time (I know, I know). The issue that I have had in the past with Firefox is if a single tab fails, it brings everything down (this also occurs in IE). Google Chrome prevents this by isolating each of the tabs so if one goes down, no fear. The remainder of your sites should stay up without a problem. The new release of IE 8 also utilizes this technology (however the tabs remain below the address bar).

One of the reasons I see our team and potentially many graphic/interactive firms converting to the Chrome browser is the pure representation it gives the artwork and applications within sites. Although, we have trained ourselves to ignore the surrounding window portal that is our browser, it seems to be taking up more and more space. With additional menu tabs, favorites, history, headlines etc etc our tool bar continues to grow and build a thicker frame around websites. After all, websites are pieces of art, and this just might be the 'purist' way to view them.

Unfortunately, I can't use the Google Chrome everyday to test it out as (sorry Mac lovers) the betas are only available for PC. Google has not yet completed the Mac or Linux based versions for the browser. While I understand the market share implications of systems for PC vs Mac (PC holds nearly 90% of the market), I think it is unfortunate that the initial release did not include a Mac version. Mac users are typically the early adopters of secondary/alternative systems and using sites like Digg.com and TWiT.tv, they are typically the most likely users to build the buzz and attention for these systems. Mac users are a lot of why browsers like Firefox became so popular in the first place.

Overall, I say touche Google. Like the approach, and maybe this will help us get back to our web browser roots a bit. I can't wait for the Mac version to come out and really get a good feel for the new browser. But now the biggest question remains, will the Google Chrome logo dress up on the holidays like Google's? I sure hope so.

Stay....Cuil?

9/3/2008 9:37:00 AM

First I bet most of you are thinking, what is Cuil.com? Well, Cuil.com according to wikipedia is a "search engine that organizes web pages by content and displays relatively long entries along with thumbnail pictures for many results. It claims to have a larger index than any other search engine, with about 120 billion web pages."

Basically it is a new search engine that was created by former Google employees. It is supposed to be bigger and better than Google's search engine, which is the search engine I rely on most.

But is it really better?

With any site, it did have its problems, but my personal opinion is that I am SO used to how other major search engines layout their information, seeing Cuil's really got bothered me. For me, Cuil's search engine is pretty good. I found information quite easily, but the columns...YUCK! I don't know why, but it is really hard to for me to decide which result is the best one. With Google, Yahoo and Ask, they lay it out for me with the first result being (usually) exactly what I need. Does Cuil have to "look" different to be better? Can Cuil have an option to view your results in a list like the other search engines?

One more huge aspect of Cuil is their name. For me, it is a little hard to remember because I am terrible at names and spelling. Do I spell it "Cool" or "Cuil"? The first time I went to the search engine, it took me a couple of times before I even found it. It isn't as easy as Google or Yahoo.

Like anything else, users will break out of their routines and really start using Cuil.com fluently. I have already started using it as just an extra resource. Having another search engine only helps us find exactly what we are looking for.

So, what do you think about Cuil?

OFB Snowboards in the House.

9/2/2008 12:12:00 PM

The new OFB snowboard prototypes were built and tested this winter. The boards were hand-made by our friends Windlip Snowboards (Dan & Lisa Robinson) in Village De La Mouche, France. These were designed by the OFB design team and built by Windlip with real wood veneer tops. All we can say is WE LOVE THEM

The Glamour

9/1/2008 11:55:00 AM

This is what happens when we "collaborate." A recent strategy session for a T-Mobile promo.

My Brand Likes Boots.

9/1/2008 2:13:00 AM

Ok, I like them a lot. And they are a big part of our brand culture here at OFB. Started wearing them back in South Dakota and never realized how comfortable they are. These are just the ones that make the wearable rotation. I have a couple rules when it comes to collecting boots: 1) Never pay more than $75 (my record low is $1.99, I won those on Ebay, the shipping was $10). 2) They have to be used. 3) I only get them if "I have to have them"...from a design perspective, I am fascinated by them. Simple people fascinated by simple things, I guess.

The collection is growing, and I will be updating the blog with new babies. I have a gallery here where you can see the best of the best.

PS - I wear 11D, so if you have a sweet pair you are looking to unload, let me know.

Gary Linden’s Eco-Friendly Agave Surfboards.

8/31/2008 5:18:00 AM

I ran across an article in Outdoor magazine about Gary Linden. I am only a casual surfer, but the instant I saw these pics, I was blown away. Wow. I have to admire someone who takes his craft to this level, and at the same time, limits his business growth to maintain his ideal lifestyle. This is one of those small business guys that gets it. It's not all about HOW BIG YOU ARE. It can be about HOW GOOD YOU ARE.

His agave and balsa wood boards are a thing of beauty. I want one. And if I ever get one, I am not sure if I should use it or hang it on wall over my fireplace.

From Outside -

Surfing, more than many other sports, is both more closely connected to and heavily dependent on the health of the planet, yet the industry's been slow to get away from the use of toxic and harmful materials in boards. This is mostly due to the fact that untraditional materials just don't perform as well. A great eco-friendly alternative without compromising board performance is Gary Linden's Custom Agave Singlefin.

Made from dead Agave harvested from SoCal deserts, it's a sustainable and extremely durable material that provides a bit of flexion. Each agave board takes over 60 hours to shape making for a smooth ride in a variety of conditions. More importantly, Agave is a light material that greatly outperforms the heavy wood boards of the past making people rethink the wood surfboard.

Crafting surfboards since 1967, all are custom and original productions. For more info visit Linden Surfboards.

A 'Brand Symbols' Lesson from Justin Timberlake

8/29/2008 9:48:00 AM

Justin Timberlake inspired me to write this post. He and the Fall 2008 issue of Fashion Rocks, a really cool fashion/music magazine supplement I receive with my September issues of Lucky Magazine. In his cover story interview, he discusses how music and style are interrelated, and how music icons often are style icons as well. Of particular interest to me and this blog, he talks about his idols -- Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Prince -- and their iconic style:

"All those people, they were just doing what they did. They were not planning on becoming iconic or a photo image in people's minds. You think of Stevie, you think of the glasses, the braids, and his voice. You think of the Beatles, you think mop-top, haircut, suits. You think of Prince you think purple."

Justin, you may not know it, but you're talking about branding. Each of those musicians is a brand. That "photo image in people's minds" can be considered a definition of a brand (although I'd say that a brand is definitely not a still photo). And the icons of their style are what we call Brand Symbols. In OFB Brand Strategy, we consider Brand Symbols to be one of the Brand Bones, which are the pieces to build a great brand story.

I think the Brand Symbols that Justin cited are great examples that should help you understand what Brand Symbols can do for a brand. Think of the Beatles and think of all the fans that copied that moptop haircut -- they bought into the Beatles brand in a big way. This easily translates from music to companies. There are plenty of great examples in the business realm. And also keep in mind that Brand Symbols are sensory icons... whether it's a color, shape, smell, or sound. Think of the three chimes of NBC -- an iconic sound that was the first ever audio trademark. The iconic smell of Cinnabon is a big part of the company's marketing tactics. Tiffany blue is a trademarked color and the company's 'little blue box' is instantly recognized.

These Brand Symbols can give consumers (and fans) something to grab onto, to relate to, to connect with you. The stronger your brand symbols, the deeper the connection and the more your brand will stand out in the consumers' minds.

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Frogs are an acquired taste...

8/26/2008 5:05:00 AM

My personal thoughts on "Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy."

As someone constantly plagued with a to-do list 8 pages long that slowly but steadily continues to grow, any advice that makes my list less daunting is greatly appreciated. For the most part, time management principals have never really helped me very much. Even as I become more efficient with my time, the list continues to grow nevertheless and there never seems to be enough time. I can't help but think of David Gilmour singing my feelings exactly "And you run and run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking....racing around to come up behind you again." It is something that I have heard myself and others say countless times as an unending list of tasks surround our busy lives, "so much to do and so little time."

According to Brian Tracy, this does not have to be the case. The problem is not that we have too much to do, but that we are going about what items and the order of those items on our list all wrong. This is where my favorite point from the book comes in, the idea that, "there is NEVER enough time to do everything but there is ALWAYS enough time to do the most important things." He also points out that usually the most important things on our to-do list (the things that could make the largest positive effect on our lives) are the very items that we procrastinate on the most because of their size or difficulty. Thus enters the frog analogy...

Mark Twain once said, "if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long."

Sounds pretty gross, I know. But to tell you the truth it is a great piece of advice and it has changed the way I organize my day. By identifying and 'devouring' your frog first thing every day, you will see the greatest results from what you accomplish. This prevents you from procrastinating using easier, less important tasks to consume your day. Being busy does not mean you aren't being lazy! Be effective by identifying these most important tasks and motivate yourself to push through them to completion.

Tracy uses a list of several tips in his book that allow you to identify your frogs, organize them and execute these objectives in way that is more efficient and satisfying. A highly suggested read for everyone, but I will give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of my favorite highlights from the book.

Start each day by identifying the most important task for that day and work on it unceasingly until it is completely done. If you have multiple frogs for that day, eat the biggest, ugliest frog first. Just get it over with! Once you start, it is much easier to keep going, and once it is complete you feel a rush of gratification. Avoid being tempted by clearing up smaller, less important tasks first. Checking your email first thing when you get into the office can be an addiction, but focus on getting your frog done first and do not deviate!
Prepare before you begin. As a strategic firm, everything we do has a definitive plan of action, the foundation is key. We can bring that dedication to all tasks client or non-client related. Before you start any task, clear your desk (throw away the 20 empty Red Bull cans too) and only put the items you will need in front of you. Get all files, papers, research, etc. in front of you. Don't give yourself an excuse after you have started to get side tracked looking for things. Also plan out on paper all of the items within the project you will need to accomplish the goal, and steadily move through your plan.
Constantly ask yourself throughout your day "Am I being productive?" This isn't a question of "am I playing around on YouTube" this is a question of are you working on tasks that will have the biggest positive effect on your life rather than smaller unimportant tasks first.
Create scheduled time blocks dedicated to a particular important task. For large long-term projects or ongoing projects, schedule blocks of time to shut off everything and focus unceasingly on that objective. By having a dedicated time block for that activity you are more likely to stay on track and get more done.
Determine your prime time for activity. Years ago, I never would have believed that I would be a morning person, but slowly I have discovered early in the morning is my most productive time (I blame Starbucks). For some people the wee hours of the morning are the most effective times for your work (mainly my techy developers). Identify when you are most effective and take full advantage of this knowledge.
Use the Swiss Cheese Method. Especially for some of our larger projects, we can be working on an objective for years. It is best to break big tasks down into smaller pieces, and complete these individually. You won't get overwhelmed by the enormity of the project, but rather accomplish the individual chunk of the task at hand.
Put deadlines on yourself (arbitrary or not). Now anyone that has been to college can tell you a thing or two about procrastination, they're experts. The idea you have all semester to write a paper, but somehow wait until the day before and you find yourself up all night with empty beef jerky packages and a bottle of NoDoz. Even in our adult life, we find ourselves doing this. Because of inaction on these important tasks we find ourselves rushing to finish and sacrificing the quality of our end product in the process. Put deadlines on yourself (AND KEEP THEM) by planning out each step of a project and scheduling them accordingly. Put the pressure on.
Learn to say no to unimportant tasks. That's right Lumbergh, I won't file that TPS report. Identify unimportant and unnecessary tasks and simply say no. Eliminate them from your list because they are getting in the way of tasks that can really make a difference.
Sharpen the saw and be the brightest Crayon in the box. Be an expert! Whether it is reading at home, listening to audio books in traffic, attending conferences or speaking with a mentor, learn the skills that make you a leader in your field.

So I would highly recommend this book for everyone that suffers from the same overwhelming to-do list issues I have had. Of course, this won't answer all of your questions for evaluating your time. We can't always "ignore" lower level tasks as he discusses in the book. However, if you want to make a big difference in the IMPACT of what you do each day, listen to Brian Tracy and just Eat That Frog.... figuratively speaking of course.

Episode 2 "Amazing" Class

8/14/2008 11:06:00 PM

This is going a ways back. But once, my soon-to-be wife told me that I could choose any groom's cake I wanted. Considering she had chosen the most well respected cake company in town, Dallas Affairs Cake Company, this appeared to be a pretty safe statement. Think again. You never know how bad someone's taste can be. I am pretty sure the impression my "cake of pure class" had on our guest was pure "amazement." I don't know if they were more amazed that someone was able to create a cake that looked like a cactus...or that someone actually decided to have it as their wedding cake. Many of the guests actually thought these were just floral decor and asked where the grooms cake was.

Not sure why us guys find choosing our groom's cake to be the ultimate moment of self-brand expression. At least these other two cakes make sense. A cake with a hunting theme and big ducks tells everyone..."Hey man, I love to hunt. That's who I am! Deeeeaaaaal with it. Or I'll shoot you." Another local favorite is anything with a UT theme. Obvious message is "my love for my school knows no limits." But all a set of 3 cacti says is "Hey, I'm a total idiot," or "Stay away from this cake, man!"

Now to be fair, they really do make great cakes and take their craft very seriously. In fact, as you can see, they are very serious about helping grooms express their true nature with these tasty works of art. A little too good.

Congratulations to a great small business. Perfecting cake art for over 20 years.

Grease and Gears Cali Style

8/14/2008 9:31:00 AM

Looks like vintage is everywhere these days. Some take it a tad to far, some just sprinkle it on certain areas, but some live an all out homage to a better day. There is a new uprising in the Hot Rod world to go totally 50's greaser style, right down to the rolled up Levi's and Chuck Taylors. Now to be a hip hot roader, you need a brand. While some people live by there designer shoes and slacks, these guys live a life that was more familiar to there grandparents than to the average youth. I admit this is a wonderful marketing ploy, but it makes me wonder if that is what they truly intended?

I'm on a mission....find out what this greaser lifestyle is all about.....and where can I sign up!

Come see some of the men and their beast first hand, this Saturday, Deep Ellum. One of the biggest greaser clubs from California (THEM!) will be showin off some Cali style Rods, and I'll be there, camera in hand!

www.theinvationcarshow.com

Another "Amazing" Observation.

8/1/2008 9:53:00 AM

One thing designers can't help but do is observe the environment around them. We are always on the lookout for something that inspires ideas. But sometimes things just "amaze" us. On a recent visit to Washington, D.C., I saw the most "amazing" pairing of classic architecture...and over the top food stand menu. It really shook me up.

iTunes … the greatest work companion.

8/1/2008 7:44:00 AM

We at OneFastBuffalo are huge music fans. From rap to bluegrass, we all have our favorites. Music also helps us not only get things done, but keeps us doing great work. Sometimes we play music out loud, but mostly we listen to them on our headphones.

Basically music keeps us focused. For me, I have a very random mix of music. From T.I to Etta James, I have a little bit of everything. But what do I listen to that really keeps me going? I have different tunes for different types of work.

For more corporate work, I really love to rock out to 80’s alternative rock/pop. I know, I know. Sounds a little silly. But one of my favorites is the 80’s band New Order. Maybe its my love for Molly Ringwald movies such as Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink, but New Order with their quirky sound really keeps me going.

When I am finishing out projects, I have a tendency to listen to film scores. This type of music is very soothing and calming. I have a playlist that will last me all day long. My favorites are those of James Horner (Braveheart and The New World), James Newton Howard (The Village and The Dark Knight), David Julyan (The Prestige and The Descent), Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings Trilogy and A History of Violence), Tyler Bates (Dawn of the Dead and 300) and former Nine Inch Nails band member Charlie Clouser (Dead Silence and the Saw movies). Movie scores just have this magic to them. Even if I haven’t seen the movie, the music is just so enchanting and gives me a little creative drive.

I also like to listen to music from certain soundtracks. I will list just a few, because I could go on for days. First is the Garden State soundtrack. This soundtrack had so many new and fresh music paired along with some oldies that I just adore. The music on this soundtrack compliments each other so well. It is the perfect balance. The second soundtrack is the Marie Antoinette soundtrack. I love Sophia Coppola movies, and the soundtrack for this movie was so eclectic and quirky. Bands such as New Order to The Cure seem to make me forget that this is from a movie where the French monarchy is on the verge of being overthrown, yet it has some music that actually fits the period in which Marie Antoinette lived. This soundtrack particularly keeps me on my toes. The last soundtrack is the Batman Forever soundtrack. I know you really want to laugh right now, but I am serious. This soundtrack has tunes such as U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” that I can put on repeat and never get tired of. This is a definite work soundtrack from the best pre Christopher Nolan Batman movies.

Now, I bet if you asked everyone around our office or your own, we all have our styles of music that listen to during the day. Bottom line, we listen to what keeps us happy and creating great work. If you listen closely, you might even hear one of us singing.

OFB Refuels in Taos.

7/21/2008 4:52:00 AM

In mid-March, the core OFB leadership held their bi-annual retreat to the desert/mountains of Taos, New Mexico.

Traveling in OFB style (prefer the highway to the skyway) we broke up into groups and headed North - then South after a wrong turn in Wichita Falls (oops!) - and West to meet up with Ben and his family! Our favorite car game was seeing who could spot the most Peterbilt trucks on the way... PETERBILT!!

We stayed in a adobe house in Arroyo Seco, NM just north of Taos.

Typical day in Taos: Buy OFB team rings at Taos Pawn, ski half of the day, work, walk into Arroyo Seco for a milkshake at Taos Cow, work, jump in the hot tub, dinner at Sabrosa or Orlando’s, and some “The Office” watching before bed.

Not all of us are expert skiers... I had only skied once or twice. Ann, however, had never skied before! Though she eventually got the hang of it, Caroline, Ann and I took 3 hours coming down the green!

We all had a great time soaking up the sun and seeing some snow!

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OFB Carpentry

7/7/2008 11:20:00 AM

This past spring we moved into our new office. It was really great but lacked something. What all agencies need is a real impressive reception desk to let people know "Hello, welcome, we are better then y'all are". Please stare at this impressive desk while we take 10 minutes to notice you are here because our receptionist is rolling around somewhere on a ripstick.

We decided to take this on ourselves. We thought, "why pay someone else to do a shotty job when we can do it ourselves?" Plus, designers think they can make anything. Not to mention, this was a great chance to show our dads that we could do it even without the right tools.

Reception desk by Caro, Tiffany, Aaron, and Ben.

View more pics of our studios here >>

Customer Service... RIP??

7/1/2008 6:42:00 AM

Being OFB's "PeaceMaker", I get to deal with vendors of all kinds. Be it internet/TV service, new barstools for our conference bar, or the metal covering for our workspace tables, I have come to realize customer service is slowly going to the wayside. When did this happen? Why? Can it be resuscitated? Soon? PLEASE??

When I was 16, I worked for Domino's pizza... haha I know, right? But seriously, it was a good first job, and I learned plenty about how to treat customers. We would have people calling not knowing what they wanted (yelling back to their friend/wife/dog to figure it out). Or the wrong pizza was delivered to them. Or they want to use all five coupons but we’re only allowed to use one, etc. Basically bottom line from our managers: Do what it takes to make them happy… with a smile on your face. Applicable side note -- I think people forget to smile on the phone nowadays. It makes the biggest difference in the tone of your voice.

When did this stop happening? When did “the customer is always right” policy go out the window? Are people just overwhelmed?

Word of mouth, no matter how big the company, goes a long way. And poor customer service is the best way to get a bad rep.

Therefore, we're going to start recognizing random acts of good customer service. Those people/companies who are going out of their way to do a good job and fix mistakes deserve a shout out!

Not the Original.

7/1/2008 4:53:00 AM

Copying other people can only get you so far.

In this case, it only got me second place in the 2007 OFB Halloween competition. I think the real mustache and scotch :) in this case at least got me in the top 3.

Branding Lesson. Be authentic. There can only be one original. Emulating other successful strategies is not the worst idea, but at least add something innovative to what people have already done.

OFB attends Rangers' Game!

6/25/2008 4:54:00 AM

The OFB office + family ventured out of the office down I-30 to A-town for the Rangers vs. LA Angels on April 15, 2008. All the players wore #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson day. Hot dogs, beer, baseball players... nothing beats America's favorite pasttime!

Mucho fun had by all! Check out the pictures...

Buffalo Love.

6/5/2008 12:42:00 PM

Earlier this year, the key OFB Brand Strategy members on the Lincoln Property Company branding account traveled to Atlanta for the LPC marketing conference. We had just gotten off the plane and had a couple of hours until our presentation. Trekking across downtown Atlanta and Centennial Olympic Park, we were on the hunt for lunch.

Ahoy! exclaimed an OFB team member. She pointed, way across the park, at a buffalo. Emblazoned on the side of a building in the middle of Atlanta, we had to wonder if it was a hunger-induced mirage. In hindsight, it was more like a buffalo beckoning to fellow buffaloes. As we came closer, we saw that it was the logo of Ted's Montana Grill, a place that quickly became an OFB favorite.

It's easy to see why we would love Ted's Montana Grill. From the western speakeasy feel and the landscape art on the wall, to the buffalo head above the bar and the unusual cardboard straws, we immediately liked the place. The bison chili cheese fries, bison burgers, and bison meatloaf really sealed the deal. We found out from our polite, friendly waiter that Ted's is one of the largest US restaurant companies to feature bison on its menu. He also explained to us that the cardboard straws was just one of the restaurant's eco-friendly initiatives. To read more about its commitment to the environment, click here.

With so many truly authentic and unique aspects, Ted's Montana Grill is a great brand as well as a great restaurant.

Now we're just waiting for one to open in Texas!