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Posts Tagged ‘Brand Labs’
Posted: Friday, May 21, 2010 in Corporate Culture
 We’ve been having a bit of a bird problem in the ol’ Brand Labs offices lately. Maybe it’s because we’re on the edge of a local park or maybe it’s because of our new side business – a combination worm farm/sunflower seed processing facility. Either way, it’s like Trafalgar Square up in here these days.
Today was no different, except for two things. First, we actually managed to coax the bird in question out a window before he escaped back into the ceiling. Second, the little fella was captured, mid-flight, by our quick-fingered staff photographer, Ashleigh Altemann.
We’d say that we’re going to miss our little feathered friend if it weren’t for the fact that we’re pretty sure he’ll be back in the ceiling before the end of the day. More updates as events warrant…
 Volusion just launched their new website and we’re pretty sure they’re hitting on us.
If you click around the site, you’ll get to see a decent amount of Brand Labs designs mixed in as examples of the sort of fantastic sites that can be created for the platform… including the most prominent example on the landing page for the Showcase Gallery itself: National Geographic UK. That’s one of ours!
Also, though they’re a bit harder to make out in the background, they’ve also included the Red Hat Society Store and EcoMowers.com, two of our oldest clients.
Click through to see some more of our work featured on Volusion’s new site…
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Posted: Thursday, May 20, 2010 in Business, Corporate Culture, Industry
 From the LessConf 3010 website:
LessConf is a conference with talks ranging from startups to design to marketing to business. It’s a casual two-day event in Atlanta, Georgia with awesome speakers here to inspire you.
That sounds good. We’re in. As a matter of fact, our president, Kevin Harman will be attending both days of the conference.
So, if you see a guy that looks just like this, feel free to come right on up and say hi. He’ll happily answer your questions about Volusion, eCommerce, online marketing or the proper way to serve Corona.
Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 in Community, Inspiration
 As we’ve previously mentioned, we’ve recently begun to donate a laptop a week to the One Laptop Per Child program. In addition to the warm feeling that we get inside from the thought of a new laptop finding its way into the hands of a needy child every single week, we also received a more tangible benefit as a result of our philanthropy – a brand, spanking new OLPC XO 1.5 laptop!
When the box arrived on Friday, we held our enthusiasm in check just long enough to break out the camera and document the unboxing for the benefit of those who will never have the opportunity to get their hands on this remarkable little machine. Please excuse the occasional blurriness. Our hands were shaking with the delight that we feel whenever there’s a new gadget in the immediate area.
Check out the pics after the jump…
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Posted: Friday, May 14, 2010 in Clients, Testimonials
 We’ve posted before about the tasty-monials we’ve received from clients to thank us for work we’ve done for them, but today marks a new era… the Booze Era.
We recently completed some merchandising for TrainersRoom.com and in order to express their gratitude for a job well done, they sent an empty bottle of Grey Gooosh to ush. It prolly had shome booze in it at shome point, but it’sh empty now, shomehow…
… you know what? We love you, man. No, no… lishen to ush. We mean it. Really. You’re the besht. Thanksh for jusht being sho aweshome, man.
… you wanna go get shome pancakesh?
Posted: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 in Clients, Film, Television
 The Red Hat Society Store was our first client (back when they were known as Red Hats and More). We’ve been working with them for years, but without a doubt, the release of Damon Wayans’ novel, “Red Hats”, is the most unexpected bit of Red Hat news we’ve ever come across.
Damon Wayons (most widely known as a member of the comedic dynasty that includes his brothers Shawn, Marlon and Keenan) starred in the ABC sitcom, My Wife and Kids, as well as the films “Mo’ Money” and “I’m Gonna Get You Sucka”. It’s fair to say that with that professional history, Wayans seems the least likely person to write a novel about the Red Hat Society in the voice of an elderly woman… and yet, here we are.
Wayans is already a bestselling author for his book “Bootleg” – a collection of jokes and observations from his stand-up act, but “Red Hats” is his debut novel. We haven’t read it yet, but from the reviews that we’ve seen, if you’re an old lady or someone who TIVOs Hallmark movies, you’ll love it.
… in related news, Dane Cook has announced that he’ll soon be releasing 7 volumes of poetry based on the works of 17th century French philosopher, René Descartes, and Dora the Explorer will be starring in an off-broadway production of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross”.
Posted: Thursday, May 6, 2010 in Community, Just For Fun, Michigan, Rochester
 If you follow this blog at all, you know Pauline Alexander. As one of our lead designers, her work has been featured here regularly, which is why we have mixed emotions when we tell you that Pauline Alexander is no longer an employee of Brand Labs. She was great, but as of last Saturday night, she’s long gone.
She’s been replaced by this new woman, Pauline Turner. Sure, she looks just like our old Pauline, but who knows what she’s capable of? All we have to say is that this Turner woman has some pretty big shoes to fill when she shows up here next week. We sincerely hope she’s up to the challenge.
Our congratulations and good wishes go out to Pauline and her new husband, Nathan. May each of your days be better than the last.
… now get your ass back here. Your work is really piling up.
Posted: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 in Sporting Goods, Volusion Site Design
 Michigan is an outdoorsy state. We camp. We hike. We definitely fish. Being surrounded by the largest supply of fresh water in the world makes fishing almost a requirement. Sometimes, you’ll just be driving around Michigan, minding your own business, not really paying attention to anything in particular, when – before you know it – you’re wearing hip waders and complaining about how nothing’s biting today. That’s just how it goes around here.
This spontaneous need to fish is part of the reason we’re so pleased to present Silver Creek Outfitter’s new Volusion store. Covering everything from hunting and fishing supplies to apparel, accessories and accouterments for the avid sportsman/woman, Silver Creek is a one-stop shop for those who spend a great deal of time communing with the natural world. Just look at that shot of the website… you can almost hear the crickets and feel the dusky breeze on your face.
… that reminds us. We gotta go fishing. Welcome to the Brand Labs family, Silver Creek!
 We’ve been very lucky here at Brand Labs over the last several years. We’ve managed to grow our business by several hundred percent since the Great Recession began. We’ve added hundreds of new clients and a couple dozen employees while our neighbors here in Michigan have seen some very dark times… and Michigan isn’t alone. It’s been rough for everyone and even though we like to believe that most of our success has been due to hard work and skill, we’ve seen enough clever, industrious people who have fallen on hard times for us to comfortably dismiss the idea that we’ve also been amazingly fortunate. For that good fortune, we are grateful.
If we may paraphrase the immortal Stan Lee: With great gratitude comes great responsibility. With that in mind, we’ve chosen to launch our first ongoing philanthropic effort: Brand Labs’ One Laptop Per Child Per Week program. Through this program, we will be donating one OLPC XO laptop every week. These laptops are given to children all over the globe (and right here in the States) to encourage education and connectivity in communities that are lacking in both.
We’re proud of this effort and we’ll mention it every single chance we get, and not because we want you to think we’re super awesome. We’re going to keep mentioning it because we’d like to encourage all of our customers and friends to consider giving to this very worthy cause… or the worthy cause of their choice.
Over the past decade, the world has proven two things to us. First, it can be a very cruel place. Second (and more importantly), mankind has a seemingly boundless capacity for giving, both from the heart and from the wallet.
We’ve taken a small step toward becoming the kind of corporate neighbor we intend to be. We’d be delighted if you’d like to join in…
 A couple of days ago, Volusion announced the upcoming introduction of their new Partners Program. In addition to being thrilled about the program itself, we were also flattered that they chose us to represent the type of partnership that they hope to build with each of the program’s members. You can read the announcement here. (Read all the way to the end to read our contribution.)
Of course, we’ve always made our feelings about Volusion pretty clear. We’ve counted and there are over 23 bazillion uses of the word Volusion scattered throughout our site and at least one member of our staff has the Volusion logo tattooed on a very private region of their body, so we’re obviously down with the V, but it’s gratifying to know that our devotion is reciprocated. How reciprocated? Well, here’s what Volusion has to say about us:
“Over the past ten years, we’ve had the privilege to develop several relationships in becoming a leading ecommerce provider. One that stands out above the rest is our partnership with Brand Labs, an indispensable asset to our community. When we launched the Volusion Partner Network, we gladly welcomed Brand Labs as an Agency Partner. We are eager to further extend our collaboration with Brand Labs into the future by focusing on what is best in helping our merchants succeed.”
James Booker – Business Development Manager – Volusion
… to be fair, we added the bold to the “indispensable asset” part, but that was our favorite bit.
We look forward to the continuation of our long and happy partnership. Thanks Volusion!
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