As you can see at the bottom of the navigation at right we now have the ability to add a poll to our sweet blog. This week’s poll touches on something that I think about quite a lot. At Orange Element, we’ve always had this dream of developing our own custom designed product line. But not just any custom designed product line - one in which we are able to sell the products for profit, a portion of which would then be given directly to a charity or group of charities in our community.

We’re still in the initial stages of brainstorming how we could make it work, but it’s a very exciting thought for us. The opportunity to both help humanity while creating a tangible product that represents us and allows people to interact with our brand in a whole new way is very appealing to us.

So please, weigh in on the poll. Let us know what you’d be interested in. If you have other ideas or thoughts about this potential venture, please shoot them to me via email at garret [at] orange-element [dot] com.

My vote? Oh, I’m glad you asked! I cannot wait until we can do a limited-edition run of Orange Element designed Moleskines. I’m still researching the actual process of customization of the graphics and production, but I can definitely see it being a great icebreaker for new business meetings! The best part, which is great for lefties like me is that it opens completely flat. Previously the only option I had for taking notes in meetings where those stuffy leather portfolios that you’d expect an accountant to be bringing to a meeting. And that’s definitely not me…

In the meantime, I just ordered this limited-edition Plaid Moleskine. One of only 50 ever made! I can’t wait for it to get here.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

I get a lot of people that ask me if many people actually read our blog. Thanks to advanced Web analytics that Wordpress has in place, I actually know the answer to that: Yes, I’m delighted quite a lot of people are actually checking us out here.

Even still, I was glad to see some hard statistics on Google Trends that point to the fact that Blogs are actually growing in popularity and are now even overtaking online newspapers and magazines in popularity on the search engine.

Check it out HERE.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Thanks to Beth Brady for designing the May version of the Orange Element Insights header. It looks amazing. I never thought I’d look so dashing as an astronaut petting my dog sporting “The Jessica.”

Good work as usual, Beth!

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Nearly a year ago, The US Department of Energy asked us to create a Myspace Page for their Solar Decathlon competition. In addition, we also volunteered at the event and further realized what an important cause we were working for. Shortly after the competition, we also created a Myspace Page for the Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Program and their H2IQ initiative. Have you seen them? Well, they will soon undergo some updates, so be on the lookout for some changes! Feel free to poke around on both pages, as there are a wealth of links, videos, photos, podcasts, PDFs, and much much more to educate you on renewable energy. Bookmark away–and pass the links along to your friends!

http://www.myspace.com/solardecathlon07

http://www.myspace.com/h2iq

Hi all,

Here at Orange Element, we work hard to make sure our clients’ brands are as strong as possible each and every day. But that job becomes even easier if the company’s business model is an amazing one. That’s why as marketing director, I strive each and every day to reach out to and do business with companies and organizations we admire, like our newest client that I cannot yet mention publicly (wait for it).

Last week on Twitter (are you following me yet?), I overheard a Twitter conversation in which Sarah Krueger, otherwise known as @HookEmSarah, remarked on a comment overheard in a JetBlue strategy meeting. I had to share it with you, because I think it is important to remember that brands can only be as good as the companies they represent.

The Twitter post read:

“@HookEmSarah Presenting a communication audit on @JetBlue. Strategy? Be awesome and they will come.”

Brilliant. The idea of pairing a great concept with a desirable visual brand is exactly what we’ve been focused on achieving. It reinforces my strategy of creating a “dream client” list within our firm and reaching out to these companies in hopes of doing their design + communications work. Doing this ensures that while we don’t necessarily win a new client every day, when we do it’s one that we can truly be proud of.

Happy Monday.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

Have you guys read BrandFlakesforBreakfast yet? If not, you should.

Thanks to them for passing the news along about this new, innovative Web site from the folks at Modernista. This Web site is actually not much of a site, as much as an online bookmark of sorts for all of their social media and Web 2.0 sites. When you visit the site, the first background image you’ll see is actually their Wikipedia page. NOTE: However, when you click on the link from our blog, our blog becomes the background. Amazing. Here’s what it looks like:

Their work is all shown on either YouTube for video or Flickr for print or other work. There’s a link to their Facebook. Click on the link to read news about Modernista, and it takes you to their Google news feed as the background. Really the only semblance of an normal Web site is the itty bitty navigation up in the upper left hand corner of the page.

www.modernista.com. I recommend checking it out. It’s a neat idea and I think we’re going to be seeing more of it as time goes on.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com