OOTO Design

EWHT

troup — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:03:35 +0000

Edinburgh World Heritage Trust (EWHT) commissioned us to work on their newest project “Heritage Detectives” in which a group of kids 12-15 were given free reign to question some very prominent Historians and debunk some of the ubran myths and mistruths people hear about the history of Edinburgh. We were to design clothing for the kids to wear while participating and a range of other promotional materials to raise awareness of the event.

This ended up being a lot more work than we anticipated but well worth it for the final outcome!

Innovation Afghanistan

Gary — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:05:09 +0000

We were approached by Raaz Hassan, the CEO of Siemens Afghanistan, to develop and launch a new site with the goal of reaching the consumer electronics market in Afghanistan and the surrounding areas.
Innovation Syndicates was to have a very clean, corporate polish, but also had to show the company had a heart and a genuine interest in the Afghan people. The site was intended to inform the customer on what was available in their region and to establish Innovation Syndicates presence in the marketplace.

We have continued this work with both Raaz and Subhan on a marketing strategy to help them grow and develop in the region. Visit the site to see!

The Caves

troup — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 21:34:12 +0000

The Caves is a unique private hire venue built into the sub-structure of the 18th century South Bridge in Edinburgh. They came to us because they wanted a slick new brochure that promotes this unusual venue’s various services. First, they asked for a brochure that they could offer for download or email to prospective clients. We decided that this venue was so beautiful that it should be the centrepiece of the design, and used a professional photographer to capture the atmosphere there.

In order to ensure The Caves could best communicate their brand effectively, we also updated their logo and have been asked to produce a full set of marketing materials for the venue’s many other offerings. To find out more about The Caves, visit their website use this link, The Caves, Edinburgh.

The Southern Bar

troup — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 21:31:04 +0000

The Southern Bar, located at 22-26 Clerk Street, Edinburgh asked us to produce a range of new promotional materials to express their fresh image to attract the local student population. The bar is steeped in history, with many different images and clientele mixed up over several decades. The new management have performed brilliantly, by refurbishing the décor and introducing a simple, affordable and appetising food menu.

The menu and flyer we have produced so far in this project were made to be eye-catching, functional and fun.

Daisy Chain Associates (Full)

troup — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 21:15:34 +0000

Daisy Chain Associates is a social enterprise established in 2004 that stands by those afflicted by drugs and alcohol in the family. They do this through plays that are based on real life research which tackle some of the most serious and controversial issues that many face at some point or throughout their lives. Through Daisy Chain Associates we have also carried out work that has been used in Simpson House of Edinburgh, a major institution that helps children and families that have been affected by issues such as substance abuse. With the serious nature of the themes we used subtlety and sincerity to convey the fundamental messages of the projects we have worked on. The owner of Daisy Chain Associates, Maggie Aitken has returned to us for several pieces now, and recently left us this testimonial:

“These were two complex briefs, which required the Designers to have a serious understanding of, and empathy with, the short plays involved – our work is intense and important, and the impact that we make has, of necessity, to be pretty much immediate in dramatic and in visual image terms. Their strength is in producing simple but intensely focussed work, memorable and apparently straightforward but when taken in conjunction with the plays, revealing of layers and levels of interpretative capacity. This is an almost unique ability, and when you add the understanding of colour to design, you do have work that is very memorable indeed – Ooto’s work with us now adorns the desks of our varied audiences over the last few months and that means from Politicians to Psychologists, Strategists to Support Workers and Event Managers to everyone else! And in every case, the design on postcards and folders has attracted attention. Which is exactly what we want.”

Graphic Design

Gary — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:34:48 +0000

Every business, large or small, needs a concise and lasting brand message or runs the risk of alienating potential new customers. The more competition your company has, the more effective your branding must become. And the customers trust will most likely lie with the business that represents itself in the most professional manner, as the assumption will be made that other areas of your business are held in equally high regard.

So it is in your company’s best interest to make a good first impression and represent your brand effectively. The same way that somebody going for an interview wants to dress smart and look their best, your logo should do the same for your business. By this we don’t mean your logo needs to look fancy, but it should appear professional.

Website Design

troup — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:19:47 +0000

With web design, there is no magical fix, no silver bullet. What works for one client wont work for another. There are however a number of elements common to all. We listen to you, your ideas, your wishes. We research the market and draw inspiration from a wide variety of sources. We then get down to work. Blending creativity with a keen business nous, we create design that really communicates with your key audiences.

By using the latest CMS software such as WordPress combined with social media and dynamic features our websites always look alive and put you in the best position to convert your visitors into customers.

Crowdsourcing – Monica Hamburg

troup — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:00:24 +0000

A very quick, informative video about Crowdsourcing – what it is, examples, issues and tips A different version (and one with narration) will be posted soon on the subject.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Brian Bednarek, CEO of Mesh 01 and Industry Analyst, spoke with Up to the Minute anchor Michelle Gielan about crowdsourcing and how it’s changing the way companies work.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

What is Crowdsourcing?

troup — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:18:54 +0000

What is Crowdsourcing? go to what-is-crowdsourcing.com and join the debate.

Crowdsourcing Lukas Biewald, CEO, CrowdFlower Sharon Chiarella, Vice President, Mechanical Turk at Amazon Lilly Irani, Ph.D. Candidate, UC Irvine, Dept. of Informatics; Previously a User Experience Designer, Google Leila Chirayath Janah, Founder and CEO, Samasource Brad Stone, Technology Correspondent, The New York Times – Moderator Since Jeff Howe coined the phrase crowdsourcing in 2006, the idea of tapping into the power of the human cloud has brought both innovation and controversy. From building a people-powered online encyclopedia to algorithm contests, crowdsourcing might be the worlds largest real-time workforce. But questions remain: Can you trust the crowd to give high-quality information? Will this movement allow a whole new way to work for the disenfranchised? How will being able to share knowledge more efficiently than ever before change the world?
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Jeff Howe – Crowdsourcing

troup — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:18:53 +0000

Crowdsourcing” has, virtually overnight, generated huge buzz, enthusiasm, and fear. It’s the application of the open-source idea to any field outside of software, taking a function performed by people in an organization, such as reporting done by journalists, research and product development by scientists, or design of a T-shirt, for example, and, in effect, “outsourcing” it through an open-air broadcast on the Internet. Crowdsourcing has already had a huge impact on big companies like Procter & Gamble, as well as start-ups like Threadless.com, which rapidly became the third largest T-shirt maker in the United States. The fuel sparking the crowdsourcing flame is the potent combination of more highly educated people working in fields other than those in which they were trained (think of the art historian peddling financial advice at Merrill Lynch) with the greatest mechanism for distributing knowledge and information the world has ever seen: the Internet.
Video Rating: 4 / 5