Design Influences – Hatch Show Print

Almost a year ago several of us were fortunate enough to hear Jim Sherraden of Hatch Show Print speak about his life, and business. He’s a Kansas native, a great story teller, and was even nice enough to cut us a deal on a large poster featuring a donkey to hang in our conference room. Jim is the purposeful recipient of a lot of visual history. It didn’t just land in his lap though, in fact he worked quite hard to get where he is today.

Since the founding of Hatch over a century ago, they’ve done promotional posters for the likes of Elvis, Johnny Cash, and even more modern acts like Pearl Jam, and Coldplay. For the most part the Hatch portfolio revolves around music, and due to the fact that they’re in Nashville; -a lot of country music. After much coercing Jim eventually talked the Country Music Hall of Fame into purchasing Hatch, and allowing Jim to do what he seems to really love… Curate the Hatch legacy, and make it relevant to future generations.

Today Hatch does a lot of reprints of old posters, and even continues to take on client work for new projects. But there is something else going on at Hatch. Jim and his crew are taking very old, elements and combining them together to make something very new. It’s a bit fine art, and a lot graphic design. It might not be Andy Warhol, but it’s somehow in a similar vein. They take bits of commercial art, and combine them into something totally different.

Due to Jim’s hard work, the Hatch Show Print legacy is practically carved in stone. There’s a popular book, speaking engagements, product design, and even a museum. We’re big fans of the long Hatch history, but we’ll be disappointed if posterity doesn’t make room for this most recent chapter. Jim might blush if you called this new work “fine art” or “design”, but despite his modesty, -it is something important. Hatch, and Jim are changing the way we see collage, typography, and our past.

A few of our favorites:
link

The Hatch website:
Hatch Show Print

Southwestern College Website

This website has been a long time in the making. As far as total number of pages, it’s probably the biggest website we’ve ever made. It’s complete with Flash, content admin, 100% CSS/XHTML, and lots of nifty features.

Southwestern has been a great ally during this project, we would like to congratulate them on helping us finish strong. If you want to find a smart discerning client, work for a college…

We’ve enjoyed getting to know how technology is helping modern students learn quicker, and simpler. You can’t help but feel a bit optimistic for the future when you see how quickly education is evolving. Southwestern is educating students from all points of the globe, and using the internet as the classroom. It’s a powerful message, and an amazing change. We’re happy to have helped them document their successes.

southwesterncollege.org

Our only product

If Entermotion had a warehouse it would be stocked to the ceiling with hours. They’re our only product, and we’ll happily sell them to you in any quantity you like. We’re pretty proud of an Entermotion hour, – each one is backed up by a lot of college, self-learning, real world experience, and talent. Still, they’re hard to quantify. There is no ingredients label for an Entermotion hour. There is not a definition that says 60 minutes later you’ll have this…

We’re constantly pressed to provide estimates and quotes for projects. It’s part of our business; people are concerned with value. As a service based business it’s tough to provide default plans, and concrete pricing. We don’t sell kits, or packages. We have a lot of great ideas and we sell them by the hour.

Part of the problem is that the world is changing. People tend to want certificates, and coupons, and expect 10 pages of fine-print. That’s just not what we’re about. Partnership is a beat up word these days, it seems a handshake doesn’t mean anything anymore. Clients are cynical, and we don’t blame them. There are a lot of pitfalls to avoid when choosing a design firm.

Even though it might be easier to sell our customers package x, y, or z. We believe in customization, creativity, and the power of reinventing yourself. We stand behind our process, and the value of our hour. We sell them one-by-one, and as long as we’re alive our inventory is stocked.

Glimpses of genius, beauty and novelty

• Bruce Mau – Incomplete Manifesto
• Chris MacGregor – A List Apart – Web designer and proud of it
• Merlin Mann – 43folders – classics
• Matt Cutts – Google employee speaks
• Saul Bass – father of most of us

Fundamentals – Do you need a website?

First things first
You’re looking to build a new website, -but have you considered why? People often embark on this path without really understanding why they are traveling it. Websites have become one of those things you just have to have, like business cards, or letterhead. It’s true that most businesses need a website, but if you’re going to expend as much time and energy as it will take to get one, you should have a clearer focus.

Think about some of the ways a website will help your business. For instance websites can:

• Provide contact information to potential customers
• Instruct the uninformed about the types of products or services your company provides
• Qualify your customers before they contact you
• Provide customer support
• Directly or indirectly increase sales
• Extend your brand
• Legitimize your business
• Organize back-office functions

All of these are good reasons, and there are probably lots more. Keeping sight of your purpose will help guide you through many challenging steps that it will likely take to get to the finish line. Keeping a simple, narrow focus will allow you to distinguish between vital, and unnecessary steps.