By SUSAN FROST  

Think you got what it takes to be EOS’ next graphic design intern?

We are looking for a graphic design intern for the EOS summer internship program. Our ideal candidate will be a graphic design student or recent grad with experience in Adobe CS4 - Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. S/he will have the opportunity to participate in brainstorming sessions, help to produce print and web marketing materials and assist with day-to-day office duties. 

This paid internship is a great way to gain real world experience and work with some of the best creative minds in the business. If you’re interested, please click here to download the job description and learn how to apply for the position. Thanks and good luck!

By LAUREN ELDER  

Happy Earth Day from the EOS Goddess!

Last Saturday morning, we met our friends from Tomorrow Pictures at Riverside Community Garden for the Corporate Green Day Challenge. Every year, EarthShare of Georgia hosts a work-day to give Atlanta businesses an opportunity to celebrate Earth Day by volunteering in local community activities. Hundreds of volunteers have participated over the years, and the event was expected to be even bigger this year. 

Our group worked with the neighbors in Riverside to prep the Riverside Community Garden for planting. The project , which started last year, provides low income residents in the area with access to fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits. We spent the morning mowing, tilling, weeding and building raised beds so the garden would be ready for the neighbors to start planting in the coming weeks. While landscaping the garden entrance, we discovered a beautiful oak tree tucked away behind ivy, an old chain link fence and trash. It was an amazing transformation, and I am planning to go back later in the season to see what is growing (and hopefully get a taste of some fresh produce)!

I love opportunities to give back to the community and what better to do it with co-workers and the extended EOS family at Tomorrow Pictures. Check out pictures from our adventure to really see how much fun we had!

By AMBER LUKE  

The Client Factor

Last week Lauren and I went to SCAD Atlanta to speak with students about life after art school. Well, I spoke with them about life after art school. Lauren had much more professional and beneficial insights to share.

Since I’ve been working here at eos, my life has been a whirlwind of designing websites, concepting, creating print collateral, logo redesigns, anything creative you can imagine, I’ve had the great fortune to do it all here. And I love it. So on the way to speak to these design students, I took a moment to reflect on how different life is when you leave art school and enter the corporate world.

The biggest and most important difference is what I like to call “The Client Factor.” Simply put (but not so easily executed), you are no longer creating for yourself, you are creating for the client.

And creating for the client takes modesty and professionalism (something that a lot of artists have trouble with). It also requires you to establish a level of trust with your client. After all, this is THEIR money you’re spending. Their hard work has earned that money. It’s imperative that you are empathetic to this.

That said, The Client Factor requires thorough planning before you even consider the execution. A lot of times people think creative work is just making something pretty. Not true at all. You must have a concept. A strategy. A support system that assures your client you are handling their hard-earned money with the utmost amount of sensitivity and smarts.

Look at good design out there today, I promise you it was made possible because of a domino-effect series of events between the client and the creative.

1. A plan was established
2. Trust developed between the client and the creative team because of this plan
3. This trust allows the creative to have more leeway when developing the work, leaving both companies with work that they all can be proud of.

So, in looking back after art school, I’ve learned that it is no longer about me. It’s about the client. It’s no longer about me. It’s about the client. If you’re a creative, say this over and over and over. And then over again. Because it can be tough at times. But if you can get that burned into your brain, I assure you, everyone involved will come out on top.

By GLYNN MURPH  

Million dollar comma

Last week Friday, Lauren and I attended the the Fred Pryor mistake-free grammar & proofreading seminar. The class was a great refresher on grammar basics. It’s always nice to take time to stretch the old grammar muscle every now and then.

If you know me, then you know that I love when presenters have entertaining anecdotes that tie into the their lessons, and Dr. Faye Fulton was full of them. The story that stuck with me the most was a multi-million dollar lawsuit that was decided by a comma.

An extremely wealthy man passed away and left his estate to be divided evenly among his two nephews and one niece. In his will, it clearly stated that “Bob, Andrew and Leslie” would all receive an equal share of his estate. Bob contested the will stating that because there was no comma between Andrew’s and Leslie’s names, they were legally one entity. This means he would inherit 50 percent of the estate and the other two siblings would split the remaining 50 percent. The court ruled in favor of Bob.

Now obviously this judge was not aware of the Associate Press Stylebook, and I have no way of verifying the validity of this story - I wasted a full 30 minutes searching for it on Google - but, it still goes to show how important it is for our written work to be grammatically correct. A simple punctuation error could completely change the meaning of a sentence. And if a comma is the difference between $15 million and $30 million, you darn well better have it in the right place.

By LAUREN ELDER  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER!

Today, another EOS goddess donned the  pink crown and boa in celebration of her birthday. The team surprised Amber , whose birthday was Saturday, April 3, with cupcakes from A Piece of Cake and a spirited rendition of the  ”Happy Birthday” song. What could be better than being serenaded by your colleagues while munching on cupcakes?

By GLYNN MURPH  

Hold the onions on my left-handed Whopper, please.

For years, major corporations have used April Fool’s Day as an opportunity to launch large-scale pranks on unsuspecting consumers. While it’s all fun and games, many are unaware that these “jokes” are merely viral marketing campaigns packaged an April Fool’s shenanigan.

It’s a brilliant concept. Whether it’s Google changing its website name to “Topeka” or Starbucks adding a 128 oz cup of coffee its menu, these “pranks” result in loads of consumer interest and free publicity. Consider the following “gotchas” pulled by a few very well-know corporations:

·          Taco Bell sparked an uproar when the company announced it had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the “Taco Liberty Bell.”  When asked about the sale at a White House press briefing, then-secretary Mike McCurry reportedly announced that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and renamed the “Ford Lincoln Memorial.”

·         Burger King announced the new left-handed Whopper. The company took out a full page ad in “USA Today” highlighting the first ever burger designed for 32-million left-handed Americans. The company issued a release detailing the hoax after thousands of customers either ordered a left-handed burger or made it a point to mention they wanted to stick with the classic, right-handed version.

·         Kodak has launched Aromatography, “a breakthrough in digital imaging processing” that uses Neuro-optic nasal sense imaging technology, known as NonSense, to bring pictures to life with scratch-and-sniff aromas.

These gags are great examples of how companies have managed to turn tomfoolery into an opportunity to expand their brand presence. Click here to check out a list April Fool’s Day 2010 pranks by some of our favourite brands. 

By AMBER LUKE  

Is advertising dead?

Ah, yes. Is advertising dead…the most frequently asked question in this ad-soaked world we live in.

The truth is, it’s not dead. And I’m not just saying that because if it were, I would be out of a job. A few days ago I saw a commercial that proved this very point to me. It was one of the new Amazon Kindle commercials.

The light-hearted tone, cheery music and unusual film technique spoke to me. I actually walked away from viewing this commercial not wanting the last 30 seconds of my life back. And it got me thinking…why do I like this commercial so much?

I liked it because it spoke to me emotionally. It didn’t tell me how great the Kindle was or how much my life would benefit from it. No. In half a minute, they managed to do nothing more than create a world I want to be in. A world where things are whimsical and fun. It was a break from reality for me. And sometimes that’s all that advertising needs to be to be effective. An emotional break.

So to those who think advertising is dead, I ask you this: What is your definition of advertising? Because if it is spouting off the benefits of your product or service with no regard to your target audience or watching an inanimate object crack dumb jokes and use bad puns, then yes, advertising is dead.

But if your definition is connecting to the consumer on an emotional level, then advertising not only isn’t dead, but never will be. Because in pulling an emotion from someone, advertisers must continue to challenge themselves to speak to the consumer in a way that hasn’t been done before.

Click here to view the Kindle commercials.

By MARGARET GEARING  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!

Today is Susan’s birthday, and to celebrate, we have made her head goddess for the day at EOS! Doesn’t she look chic in her pink boa and crown? This afternoon, the team will treat her to a special birthday lunch. Don’t forget to Facebook, tweet or email her you birthday well-wishes.

By MARGARET GEARING  

Every Picture Tells A Story!

Two weeks ago, EOS was presented with a plum opportunity - to develop the World Water Day exhibit for the corporate headquarters of The Coca-Cola Company.  Of course, we jumped at the chance, because we recognized that it was the ideal place to bring attention to a very important cause-marketing effort RAIN - the Replenish Africa Initiative from The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation.
 
Through the use of some amazing photography from The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, we were able to tell the story about the daily struggles Africans must endure to obtain one of our most basic necessities - water.  Yet, we were also able to show many of the wonderful clean water initiatives RAIN and The Coca-Cola Foundation have been able to provide to children and families in water-starved locations.  Read more about Coca-Cola’s commitment to global water stewardship.

We’ll be launching the website for The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation/RAIN the week of April 19.  Be sure to sign up and become a RAIN Maker, which is a supporter of this very important cause.  Because with many drops, we can create a wave of change - around the world!

By GLYNN MURPH  

Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation

A few weeks ago, my former mentor and I had a friendly debate about one of her new employees. This “young kid” - as she put it - fresh off an internship thinks he can run the entire office. He’s only been an employee for 3 weeks (her exact words were “a whole 15 days”) and he’s ready to advance to the next level. I explained that he is just an ambitious young man who is excited about his new position, and if given the opportunity and guidance, he could accomplish great things. 

She rolled her eyes and smugly retorted, “I knew you’d say that. You Millennials are all cut from the same naïve cloth. Come talk to me in 20 years when a kid with next-to-no experience strolls into your office and demands to be promoted.”

Even though I was mildly offended, I knew I wouldn’t win the argument, so I humbly bowed out. Two days later, just to drive her point home, she sent me an article entitled “Managing the ‘Me First’ Generation”, which discusses the workplace power struggle between Boomers and Millennials. For those of you who aren’t up on your demographic lingo, a Boomer - or Baby boomer - is anyone born between 1946 and 1964. Millennials - or Generation Y - are those born after 1982.

Being a proud Millennial, I found some parts of the article validating. It points out that most of my generation was raised on a healthy dose of self-esteem from our über supportive parents who incessantly told us that we could do anything. Imagine being conditioned to think that way for more than 20 years. When we enter the workforce, we naturally think that no task is beyond our skill set - regardless of how limited that skill set may be. Now imagine the sheer terror and frustration we feel when our bubble is burst.

I understand this mindset can lead to some rather difficult challenges for our Boomer managers - who coincidently are from the same demographic as the parents who helped foster this attitude. Pretty funny, huh? 

Much like the author of the article, I am here to offer advice to all Boomers who are going bald from the stress of wrangling in Millenials. Are you ready? Take a chill pill. It’s that easy.

We may bring a hint of informality to stuffy - I mean traditional - work environments. And occasionally, we may have a misplaced sense of entitlement when it comes to leadership positions. However, we are fearless risk takers who are eager to tackle any project put in front of us. We crave training and opportunities to learn from you because we want to grow professionally. We just need you to be a little patient with us as we experience our growing pains. And, it couldn’t hurt for you to acknowledge that you were once in our shoes.

I hope this insight into the mind of a Millennial has given you Boomers some comfort. And if it doesn’t, know that in about 20 years, we Millennials will be going through the same thing.