Design Kompany | Brand Marketing by Graphic Design studio in Seattle

Broader View continues with ‘Breathe’

2008-10-08T18:50:13Z

Gobo Enterprises, one of our clients from this summer, is hosting an event on Tuesday, October 14 called ‘Breathe.’

Gobo’s carried out the brand identity theme Design Kompany set up for their inaugural workshop, The Broader View, an in-city retreat event just for women this past June.

It’s neat to see that titles of some of Gobo’s upcoming workshops—such as ‘Celebrate,’ ‘Connect,’ and ‘Dare’—came right of of the ‘keywords’ session of DK’s design process. It was quite fun to brainstorm with Gobo’s team to come up with the right words to build the brand design for The Broader View.

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Are you an entrepreneur? Should you be?

2008-10-06T23:03:37Z

Do you have what it takes to be successful as a business owner?

That was the main question the Northwest Entrepreneur Network, a local business support nonprofit, posed in a panel discussion called “Think Tank: Are you, or should you be, an entrepreneur?” last Tuesday night, at Schaffer Auditorium on Seattle University campus.

The three panelists gathered for the occasion sure seemed like they had the right stuff.

Andy Sack (Judy’s Book, et. al), Joel Gendelman (N2uitive, et. al), and Kevin Merritt (Blist, formerly of MessageRite), all founded successful ventures, and have gotten “variable degrees of lots of money” (according to Sack).

So, what do they say are the prerequisite qualities that make successful entrepreneurs?

Words from the (business) wise

Andy Sack says, “the only way you can find out (whether you’d be successful at it or not) is, to try it.” Jumping into it, and learning it by doing it seems to be the only sure-fire way to learn.

Kevin Merritt also encouraged hopeful future entrepreneurs to “quit that day job, make the commitment.” The idea is, according to Merritt, to “make failure so painful that it can’t possibly be the outcome.”

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Why there’s a desktop in this picture

2008-10-06T18:55:50Z

People come to this Seattle cafe to enjoy the warmth that comes with being around a lot of people, yet still having the privacy to compute.

Some even bring their desktops.

“There was just so much to think about, and I needed to get out of the house. But all my information is stored on this computer,” the woman who owns the large white Mac desktop pictured here told an inquiring Design Kompany. “I’m just so busy,” she said. “I needed to bring everything with me or I’d never manage to get any work done!”

Coming Monday: October Designers’ Korner

2008-10-04T23:03:42Z

Just a reminder that our monthly beer-down at Stumbling Monk, a friendly neighborhood Belgian pub, is around the corner.

We will start around 6:30, drop ins are welcome: join the conversations, doodle the coasters, or sit, sip and observe!

Designers’ Korner
Monday, October 6 :: 6:30pm
Stumbling Monk
Capitol Hill
Seattle

Also see:
More info about Designers’ Korner and other Design Kompany events

‘Fallen Leaves (2):’

2008-09-22T21:38:13Z

September’s end reminds us of all the beauty of summer, the memory of which shall whisper through the fall and into spring.

Ho ho. Didn’t know I write poetry, didja.

Sushi and Architecture: Japanese Architect Kengo Kuma to Speak at Central Library

2008-10-02T16:36:27Z

Space.City is hosting a lecture by Kengo Kuma, an esteemed Japanese architect with an increasingly international portfolio, on Monday, October 6, at Seattle Central Library. It will start at 7PM, and the tickets are $10 at Peter Miller bookstore downtown, or $15 at the door.

It should be an interesting talk. He started out in the late 80s as a “postmodern” architect (his early landmark building, for example. was shaped like a gigantic Greek-style classic column) but now is a strong advocate for ‘recovering the tradition of Japanese buildings’ — using wood, for instance, for a modern office building in an urban setting. His designs often involves unorthodox uses of materials and motifs culled from traditional and cultural contexts (wood, bamboo, grid and vertical line patterns from traditional Japanese patterns, etc).

Also, he has been quoted comparing architecture to making of sushi.

Make what you may of that seemingly flippant commentary. To me, it shows he’s someone who’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind. I think he will have some interesting things to say about Seattle’s architecture and the state it’s in.

Space.City presents Kengo Kuma
Monday, October 6
7 pm
Seattle Central Library
$10/$15
Pre-sale tickets at Peter Miller Bookstore

Field report: M’s top A’s in surprise upset

2008-09-25T02:51:17Z

When we got to Safeco field in the middle of the first inning last night, the M’s were already down 2 runs.

DK: Hey, wait. So, are the Mariners last in their division?
BS: Worse. They’re the last in the league.

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Decibel Festival starts this week in Seattle

2008-09-23T23:24:25Z

Electronic music fans, this one’s for you. We alluded to this event briefly when we wrote about circuit bent Speak & Spells.

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Design Kompany rebrands U.K./Seattle-based mobile software developers

2008-09-22T03:46:11Z

Coming up with the name Matchbox was the first part of Design Kompany’s total rebrand for a mobile software development company. Matchbox’s offices are in Seattle and Brighton, U.K.

Above is the new logo we made to go with the new name.

And below is the new website for Matchbox Mobile we designed and built.

Matchboxmobile.com launched last week.

Owning your new brand

Design Kompany loves it when our clients can talk about their new brand with conviction, passion and clarity.

So we were excited to read Matchbox’s Richard Stott put it thus in his announcement email:

We’re proud to announce Research Creations is now Matchbox Mobile!

We have a new name, a new brand, and a brand new website. We’re still the same company, same people, and same focus on mobile software development. Our new name and brand reflects how we’ve grown over the past 3 years from a research focused company to what we’re all about today –– creating truly unique custom mobile solutions for our clients.

Check out our redesigned website with all new content, our recent success stories and what makes us special. Why the name Matchbox?

We’re an agile team of bright developers ready to set your mobile ideas on fire.
[emphasis mine]

We’ll share more soon about the rest of the process, including how DK Skyped across time zones to feel we were right there in Brighton.

DK to sponsor Allied Arts/AIA workshop Sept. 27

2008-09-16T20:49:47Z

Design Kompany is a sponsor for a free workshop this month that’s part of AIA Seattle’s Design for Livability conference.

The Taking Action: Advocacy for Livable Cities workshop will be Saturday, Sept. 27 at Seattle Central Community College.

The half-day event is organized by Allied Arts of Seattle, a nonprofit DK worked with recently to refine their brand message.

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