Collection of Contacts and Thanks

As we approach the finale of the web design program at Sheridan, I extend a heartfelt thanks to all of our instructors and speakers who have taken time out of their days to help educate us on the world outside of the four walls of S141.

Below is a collection and summary of all the contact information for the speakers featured in this blog in order that they presented.


Adele Wooton
Director for Client Services
Creative Niche, Toronto
Website: http://www.creativeniche.com/
Email: adele@creativeniche.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/adelewootton223
Twitter: @CreativeNiche
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CreativeNiche


Lorraine Fleck
Barrister & Solicitor | Trade-mark Agent
Hoffer and Adler
Website: www.hofferadler.com
Email: lfleck@hofferadler.com
Blog: www.ipaddressblog.com
Twitter: @HofferAdler @lorrainefleck


Alexander Younger
President and Founder
Design Lab
Website: www.designlab.net
Email: ay@designlab.net
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander305454


David Gray
Digital Sales Producer
CTV
Website: www.ctv.com
Email: davidgraydesign@gmail.com
Portfolio: http://www.davidgraydesign.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjjgray


Michael Gramlow
Creative Director
lollipop
Website: http://www.wearelollipop.com/
Email: mgramlow@wearelollipop.com
Portfolio: http://www.michaelgramlow.com/
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/mgramlow


Alison Garnett
Creative Director
Critical Mass
Website: http://www.criticalmass.com/
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/alisongarnett
Blog: http://www.mylalaland.com/
Blog: http://www.alisongarnett.com/


Sonia Janovjak
Senior Creative Recruiter
Sapient Nitro
Twitter: @Soniajanovjak

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sonia-janovjak/1/62b/240

website: http://www.sapient.com/en-us/sapientnitro.html

Email: info@sapient.com

Gail Leija
Manager Marketing Strategy & Analysis: User Experience Research
Sapient Nitro

website: http://www.sapient.com/en-us/sapientnitro.html

Email: gail@gl-ue.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gleija 

Kim Welch
Studio Manager

Sapient Nitro

website: http://www.sapient.com/en-us/sapientnitro.html

Email: info@sapient.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-welch/0/279/874

Norma Penner
Senior Art Director
Sapient Nitro

website: http://www.sapient.com/en-us/sapientnitro.html

Email: info@sapient.com

Twitter: @normapenner
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/normapenner


Genco Cebecioglu
Studio Vitamin C
Website: http://www.studiovitaminc.com/
Email: genco@studiovitaminc.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/genco-cebecioglu/12/b42/8a2
Twitter: @StudioVitaminC

Jon Cebecioglu
Studio Vitamin C
Website: http://www.studiovitaminc.com/
Email: jon@studiovitaminc.com
Twitter: @StudioVitaminC


Meg Kerr
Social Media Integration Manager
Mosaic Experiential Marketing
Website: www.mosaic.com
Twitter: @meg_kerr
Email: info@mosaic.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/megkerr


Jason Bouwman
Owner
Compass Creative Studio Inc.
Website: http://compasscreative.ca/
Email: jason@compasscreative.ca
Twitter: @JayBouwman
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbouwman


Alex Pejcic
VP Managing Director
Sonic Boom
Website: www.sonicboom.com
Email: a.pejcic@sonicboom.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sonicboom
Twitter: @alexpjc


Jay Schacher
Art Director
Henderson bas kohn
Website: http://www.hendersonbaskohn.com/
Email: jschacher@jayshack.com\
Portfolio: http://www.jayshack.com/


John Alabazowski
Group Creative Director
MacLaren McCann MRM
Website: www.maclaren.com
Twitter: @johnala
Email: John.Alabasowski@maclaren.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-alabaszowski/1/b09/5b8


Dwayne Grech
Interactive Designer
Momentum Advanced Solutions
Owner/Designer
Sultan of Beard
Website: http://www.momentum.com/
Website: http://dwaynegrech.com/
Email: Dwayne.Grech@momentum.com
Twitter: @sultanofbeard

Catherine Baird
Associate Creative Director
Dashboard
Website: www.dashboard.ca
Email: catherinegracebaird@gmailcom
Blog: www.catherinebaird.com
LinkIn: www.linkedin.com/in/catherinebaird


Stephen Coomber
Interactive Designer
TAXI
Art Director/Designer/Flash Animation
Coomberville
Email: stephen@coomberville.com
Portfolio: www.coomberville.com
Email: stephen.coomber@taxi.ca

Lorraine M. Fleck

Lorraine M. Fleck
Lawyer, Tade-mark Agent
Hoffer Adler LLP
LinkedIn Profile

Email: lfleck@hofferadler.com
Website: www.hofferadler.com
Blog: www.ipaddressblog.com
Twitter: @HofferAdler @lorrainefleck



Lorraine assists clients in diverse industries with advertising and marketing, contest, copyright, information technology, licensing and distribution, packaging and labeling, privacy and trade-mark law issues.

As an active legal writer, she publishes the IP Address blog (ipaddressblog.com), her personal blog on Canadian IP and related news which was selected by Osgoode Hall Law School's IP Osgoode blog as a Pick of the Week. Lorraine is also a regular contributor the Canadian Bar Association's quarterly IP case law summaries.

**** NOTE THE  INFORMATION PROVIDED SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED LEGAL ADVICE ****

The following information is specific to current Canadian Copyright legislation.

What is Copyright?
The exclusive right to reproduce original content and stop others from reproducing that content.

• Means that you must get others permission to use their content unless your activity falls within an exception to infringement.
• Applies to the internet
• The law in Canada and the US can differ dramatically

What does Copyright Protect?

ORIGINAL literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works

How is Copyright Created?

• The original work is created by a Canadian citizen or citizen of a Bern Convention country.
• The work must come into physical existence; copyright does not exist in ideas.
• If the work is published, the work is published in Canada or a Bern Convention country.
• No need to register or mark (e.g. ©2012, Lorraine M. Fleck)
• Registration is a rebuttable assumption of copyright that can be useful for litigation purposes
• Best to register early; Canadian courts are skeptical of registrations obtained shortly before or during a lawsuit

How long does Copyright exist?

Depending on the type of work and whether there are joint authors

• Most works: life of the author + rest of the calendar year in which the author died + 50 years
• Joint Authors: Term lasts to the end of the 50th year of the last author death
• Unknown Author: Lesser of the end of the 50th year after publication or 75 years after the work was made
• Photographs: To the end of the
• Movies: To the end of the 50th year from the first publication and if not published, 50 years from the making of the movie
• Sound Recordings: 50 years from when first recorded
• Broadcasters: 50 years from communication

Who owns the Copyright?

Usually the person who creates the copyright work, but there are exceptions.

• Photographs: The first person who owns the negative of the photo (not always the photographer)
• Employees: Employers are the first owner of the works created for the employer by the employee.
• The owner: Ownership can be transferred, but must be in writing. The ownership transfer agreement usually is called an assignment.
• Anyone who has permission ("liscense"): The terms of the license dictate what the licensee can do under the license. The fee paid under the  license to the copyright owner (licensor) is a royalty.

What is Copyright infringement?

• The making of an unauthorized copy
• There must be a substantial portion of the material copied.
• No hard and fast rules as to what is substantial
• Test is quality, not quantity. Does the copy take enough of the work so to convey at least a portion of the value of the work?

There are two types of infringement:

Primary: A copy is made without permission

Secondary: The sale, rental or distribution or display or possession for that purpose, of an unauthorized copy provided the person in possession of the copy knows it was an infringing copy.

Exceptions

Fair dealing (research/private study, criticism/review, news reporting)

Note, parody is NOT currently an exception in Canada

The factors used to assess what is fair in the context of fair dealing:

1. Purpose
2. Character
3. Amount
4. Nature (of the work)
5. Available alternatives
6. Effect (of the dealing of the work)

What are Moral Rights?

The authors right to:

• Retain the integrity of the work
• Not have his/hers work distorted
• Have his/her name associate or not associated with the work
• Activities must be shown to be the detriment of the authors honour/reputation
• Cannot be transferred, but can be waived
• Term is the same as copyright in the work

Alexander Younger

Alexander Younger
President and Founder
Design Lab
ay(at)designlab.net

Today we were joined by Alexander Younger, President and Founder of Design Lab. Design Lab doesn't only focus on the aesthetics of design, but more importantly, strategy, solutions and technologies. Design Lab is a truly green company that creates it's own power through solar panels.

The only constant in the industry is the continuous change. It's important to stay on top of technology.

The big focus for our presentation today was "mobile" and how the world is evolving towards mobile devices, the adoption rate and how to leverage mobile for marketing. This infographic, credit of www.lukew.com shows the relationship of how many new babies are born a day, to how many mobile devices are being purchased and activated.

Visit www.lukew.com for more on the article of reference.

Best Practices for Mobile Design and Development

• Establish business goals and know your audience
• Keep it Simple
• Get Inspired
• Go Social
• Remember the rankings
• Measure

Case Study - The BeerStore

Alexander shared some of Design Labs experience with the BeerStore and how they dealt with updating their website, adding a mobile site and their future plans for a BeerStore mobile app.

One of the big lessons with the BeerStore is not backing down. It would have been easy to just throw together an app as per the clients wishes. But by getting to better understand their business goals, learning about the market and listening to the audience they have been able to make stronger marketing choices. The research data gave them the support that they needed, so that it wasn't just a matter of saying "we don't recommend an app", but more about "you're going to miss out on your audience without these other measures in place"

QR Codes

Alexander briefly spoke about QR Codes, which is something I've been investigating a lot lately. His findings mirrored mine. QR Codes are neat, but they're not for everyone. The software can be inconvenient, and there is a slow adoption rate. So use them wisely if you use them at all.

Responsive Design

Responsive Design appears to be a newer trend in the web/mobile world. It has to do with technology/code that is built into a site that allows the site to recognize the browser dimensions and adjust the design accordingly. More or less making a single site automatically friendly to any browser window dimensions.

Sample sites that use Responsive Design include:

www.barakobama.com

 

www.foodsense.is

www.palantir.net

How to Impress an Agency

• Put together a great portfolio
• Have a great attitude
• RESEARCH the company and your interviewer
• ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS
• Don't Settle

"Attitude determines your Altitude"

David Gray

David Gray
Digital Sales Producer
CTV
LinkedIn

2007 Sheridan Grad, David Gray has recently joined CTV as a Digital Sales Producer. As a digital producer he manages the production of interactive media.

His experience and passion for banner advertising has allowed him to specialize in banner advertising on both the client side and agency side of the industry.

Like many of our previous speakers, David spoke about the long hours and heavy workload affiliated with the agency world. However, their are perks that come with the demanding workload. You either learn to love it, or you get out.

David doesn't recommend as grads that we expect too much too soon. It takes time to build your experience and move up the ladder. Those who work hard and invest extra hours on their free time into their work will excel and their hard work, if it's good it rewarded as they move up the ranks.

His career started with a company called Publisis, where he started as a web designer and slowly transitioned into banner advertising and production. Although many find production boring, David loves what he does.

In the world of banner advertising things are changing as Flash fades into history. Most ads that integrate motion are incorporating HTML5. It's also about whether or not your ad will be supported on servers like ireturn.com, dart.com and other ad servers.

David enjoys helping and educating designers on banner ad production. There are specific guidelines, files size restrictions etc that dictate the world of banner ads. One of his many responsibilities is quality control.

Although the money in doing freelance is good, it's hard work to manage your networking and the inconsistency in income. Working for a company offers a level of security that he was ready for.

Recommendations

• Don't take things personally
• Get great references
• Pitch yourself and pitch your friends
• Be organized
• Know your browsers
• Learn about Mobile

Here is a sample of a project that he was involved in

Michael Gramlow

Michael Gramlow
Creative Director
mgramlow@wearelollipop.com
416.399.6236
LinkedIn Profile

Michael Gramlow is a co-founder and Creative Director for lollipop, an interactive creative production company. Lollipop was founded in 2009 with executive producer and partner Amanda Loughran, in partnership with Crush.

Together their "agency" background has allowed them to approach a different, yet similar type of business with a new perspective. As in interactive production company, they mirror the broadcast production model.

As an example, an agency would provide a strategy, lollipop would pitch a treatment. Once awarded they would shoot, produce, design, edit, post, audio and do development.

It took me a little bit to understand exactly what services they provide, but ultimately I came to understand that they provide "broadcast" type services for web applications. So they incorporate film into the interaction of their work.... really, pretty cool. They only work directly with agencies.

Other companies that provide services like theirs include: Barbarian Group, Big Spaceship, First Born and North Kingdom

An Interactive Agency Provides

• Larger sites
• Big budget clients

Intergrated Ad Agency Provides

• some more brand development
• campaign work
• Apps and microsites
• Often work and support larger agencies

Production Company

• Partners with agencies
• Brings with it production techniques
• Brand range

Ten months ago lollipop signed up with a sales rep/agency which has been able to help them gain access to bid on higher end projects in the states with bigger and more sophisticated budgets.

Samples of work:

This site for Coffee had a very interesting approach. You'll have to click and see for yourself.

This site for Marshalls was really neat as it uses the google image date base to include a location of your choice, along with some really neat options for personalization.

Alison Garnet

Alison Garnet
Creative Director
Critical Mass

Alison Garnet is one busy lady. This Mother of two, Wife and keeper of three dogs juggles responsibility daily and generally manages to cram everything in before midnight. With few exceptions, this hardworking Flickr member, blogger and designer has her priorities set - Family comes first.

Following her graduation from OCAD in Drawing and Painting, she headed to Florence for a year. While she was there, her Mom saw an article in the local newspaper promoting the multi-media program at Sheridan and in 1994, with fifteen other people, she began her journey in digital media.

Following her graduation she worked at a company formerly known as ICE. She later went on to do Freelance work, then worked for Henderson Bas (where she worked with Sean Patrick another former grad); managed her company (Super Capacity), then onto Taxi for 6yrs before her recent move to Critical Mass.

If you ask Alison what she does, there is no simple answer. At any given time in her career she has played the role of Creative Director, Art Director, Project Manager, Account Manager, New Business Development, Stylist, Photographer, Blogger, Writer, Illustrator and Good/Bad Cop.

Alison's web design experience started by a simple curiosity of how things work. She would copy and paste code and just figure it out. While with ICE she worked on her first intranet and live events; however, back then web design was as simple as a GIF and a link – Times have certainly changed.

Following the international adoption of her daughter, she focused on her company "Super Capacity". The name was a screen name she used online and she adapted to her company. Inspired by the "super capacity" setting on the washing machine as it seemed to be truly reflective of everything Alison does.

Her transition to Henderson Bas as an Art Director gave her the opportunity to work on some big name brands, like Levi's, Molson and Nike. The more recognized client list launched her career and gave her award winning opportunities.

"It's not about the Perfect Company – Get as much experience as you can"

With that said, her coolest job came while at TAXI. Working with amazing people, great learning opportunities, great clients and a creative environment made for a very happy 6 year career at Taxi. Although she truly loved her time there, she recognized that the time had come to move on. She is now very happy in her new role as Creative Director at Critical Mass.

Some of her projects with Taxi included:

TownShoes, where she had her first professional photo shoot experience. She shared with us what it was like to work with a "gold fish handler", and picking the right fish for the shoot.

Another one of her accounts while with Taxi was with the LCBO. Here she focused on Micro sites. It was a challenging account with low budgets and a mixed bag of experience on the client side. The unionized staff were mostly from the marketing department, along with the "IT Guy" because he "surely would" understand the internet because he's and IT guy.

A memorable project was her work with Cadillac Fairview where the focus was on brand building. Because of a new new facility being built they were able to take advantage of incorporating their new innovative, sustainable building into their campaign development.

Alison has a love for identity design, so much so that she will eagerly take on freelance work to "get her fix".

While at Taxi the work she did focused a lot on micro sites and banner campaigns. Often the artwork would be smaller pieces to a bigger puzzle. Along with the fact that it was just time, Alison's desire to work on "a big site", along with the planning (IA), mobile, iPad etc. drove her move to Critical Mass.

With her move to Critical Mass, came the opportunity to work a big site, just like she'd wanted. Theodore Alexander, a luxury furniture designer and manufacture needed a redesign on their huge ecommerce site, which included over 4,000 pieces of furniture that desperately needed new photography. Working closely with the client, they were able to set up specifications and guidelines so that all the pieces were able to be photographed consistently.

Other big brands and sites that Alison has been able to work on include: Brita, Nestle (and sub brands) and Sears. Even with big agencies, their clients are faced with similar budget restraints that smaller companies face. These are the types of challenges they faced when working with Sears. Here they had to keep the same back end infrastructure and basically reskinned product segments as they could. It took 7 months to get through all 21 departments.

"Ask plus" is a big concept that goes a long with with Critical Mass. Alison works on a lot of pitches for new business and for each pitch they do what was asked - Plus! their recommendations on how they could take the original idea and make it into something better. This isn't just providing the ideas of what else could be done, but also has to do with how the information is presented. Long gone are the days of powerpoint. Now video and digital technology do it all.

Another recommendation from Alison is to look into entering competitions for students and other award programs. Most have small fees associated with them, however the recognition is likely to be a solid foot into the door for most potential employers.

As mentioned earlier, Alison is an avid social media butterfly herself. She maintains a variety of blogs on a variety of topics. Each one born from a curiosity as to how she could make something work and customize it to fit her design idea.

• Land of Sparkelot
• Hello
• ValiGirls
• Flickr

Each of her blogs have helped connect her to interesting people all around the world and given her a much needed creative outlet as needed.

Alison is a big fan of "leave behinds" and designers who create something unique and memorable to leave with her. Whether it's stickers, fancy business cards or something unique - to her they are valuable and memorable.

In the end - It's just Advertising. We don't save lives. Have fun and make cool shit.

Proudly Sapient!

Friday we welcomed a team of enthusiastic and passionate women from the Sapient Nitro Toronto team. Sonia, Gail, Kim and Nora each shared their roles, experience, expectations and words of wisdom for new grads. Their enthusiasm and love for their work and where they work was inspiring. I can only hope that no matter where people work that they can be as satisfied as these women were.

Sonia Welch, Recruiter
In her former life, Sonia was a Print Designer. Her appreciation for design and understanding of people, along with her friendly energetic approach clearly help in her success with Sapient. Her role has her working with hiring managers and other key team members in finding the right people for the right jobs. She manages the interview processes and makes the companies first impression on potential candidates. Her role is not just about sifting through resumes, but with maintaining and building a relationship with the right candidates, even if it lasts three years (her longest pre-hire relationship).

Kim Welch, Studio Manager
Kims focus is capacity planning and staffing for projects for 160 people across Chicago, Toronto and Minnianapolis. She is responsible for building the right teams for specific projects, a finely tuned skill. I appreciated that she respects people's time and the needs to balance life. Very involved in the hiring process, Kim really looks for how well people work in teams and how well they will fit into the Sapient Nitro Culture. She is a vehicle for helping develop careers.


Gail Leija, Manager Marketing Strategy & Analysis: User Experience Research
Gail's focus is the users experience. Her passion for research and her self proclaimed "nosiness" has led her to strategy and analysis for international brands. Her job is about getting to know the user/audience, better then they know themselves. She brings together perspective and her unique experience to each project.

Norma Penner, Senior Art Director
This bubbly, enthusiastic and passionate designer is highly sought after by her peers. "Everyone wants Nora" is a regular challenge her Studio Manager faces. This Sheridan Grad has taken her fine arts background an adapted to the online world.

Sapient Nitro Creative Team Structure & Hierarchy

• One, Creative Director
• 5 Assistant Creative Directors
• 7 Senior Art Directors
• 7 Art Directors
• 5 Designers

Sapient is an internationally established company and brand that deals with equally as established brands of the world. Some of Sapient Nitro's clients include:

• Abercrombie and Finch
• Vail
• Chrysler
• Dodge
• Jeep
• RBC
• Scotia Bank
• Harley Davidson
• Sport Chek

"The Definition of great is entirely defined by the clients you're working for and the problem." It's about getting to know your client and their values, not about putting your values on them and turning them into you. Their work is about substance.


Some of the specs that are the most common in the work that Sapient does includes:

• Design for browsers and mobile devices compatability
• Understanding international languages and cultures, as many campaigns are international and each market segment varies even though their all buying the same product/service.
• Trying to convey the same message through imagery or text for the international markets
• Often they have to leverage an existing TV spot, but do create stand alone elements too.

PARALAXING

This was a new "design" term that we were introduced to. Basically, it's about creating depth within images online by creating layers that move separately from each other. It creates a very unique effect and feel and brings images to life. It's like a little movie special effect feel for regular web use. It's so subtle, yet so effective. A good sample of paralaxing was used on the Jeep Wrangler site by Nora.

Next, Nora shared her experience working with Abercrombie & Finch, and her 3 month relocation to Ohio, where she worked directly with their in-house designers. By creating and fostering this relationship Sapient was able to gain credibility, but also true insight into a well respected brand. Nora was able to build personal relationships with the in-house team, so when future projects were created she knew the strengths and limitations of the in-house team and the feasibility of success. This relationship was about respecting the client, getting them involved and helping them evolve.

"Sometimes Good Design is Not Enough"

For Abercrombie & Finch, good design was enough to grow their business and maintain their brand. Sapeint was able to come in, learn their brand, be sensitive to what has been established and help the client take it to the next level. 

One of the key processes key to Sapients success is their focus on the user and getting to know the target market. It's about primary and secondary research and validating not only their assumptions, but the brands assumptions. As outsiders they bring a new perspective. The challenge comes in helping the brand see the new perspective and it's value. The depth of the profiling and research is dependant on the size of the project and the project objectives.

Every Sapient Employee attends a "Sapient Start" week long orientation. Due to the sheer vast size of a company that employs 10,000 people; it's extremely important that all employees speak the same language. Sapient people "just know"; which is something that comes from having the right support system, communication and training in place.

The Sapient culture is about discussing, questioning, challenging and collaboration to come up with the best solution. Things they look for in their new hires beyond skill include:

• Ability to work in a team
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Commitment to on-going learning
• Initiative
• An ability to switch gears quickly

What to Expect:

• It's an environment for learning
• They have big name clients
• Variation
• Opportunity for growth and advancement - they are a self serve organization
• Mentorship
• An amazing culture

But also, their expectations of their Designer Hires:

• Forward thinking design
• Fluency in digital channels
• Typography
• Presentation skills
• Eagerness
• Compassion and drive

Prove you can operate at a certain level, by working above your level and you will be rewarded. They often hire below a position to allow staff to grow organically. They're objective is to set you up for success.