Celebrating Q People!
Posted by: Jocelyn Edin
Q recently turned 30 years old. In honor of this momentous occasion, we’ve spent the last few months putting together a project and planning a party, both of which focused on the various people that have made Q the company that it is today.
2011 UM Alumni Show
Posted by: Christine Golus
Last Friday Alissa and I attended the University of Michigan 2011 Alumni Show.
Painting the Town
Posted by: Alissa Ampezzan
This weekend, a few of the Q crew let loose and Painted the Town at the Ann Arbor Art Center’s 29th annual Winefest. Q has a longstanding relationship with the Art Center and was proud to design the promotional materials for this year’s event. It was a lovely night of delicious food, interesting wines, and unexpected “happenings” to celebrate why art matters.
Field Trip! Jim Horton’s Letterpress Studio
Posted by: Christine Golus
This week a few of us had the opportunity to visit Jim Horton’s letterpress studio located just west of Ann Arbor on Waters Road.
Twitter Data Visualization at TedxUofM
Posted by: Christine Golus
Very inspiring day at TedExUofM on April 8, 2011. One of my highlights was MIT PhD student Jameson Toole’s work on data visualization and what we can learn from "big data".
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Learn more about Toole here and see more visualizations on this Flickr page.
Paint the Town
Posted by: Alissa Ampezzan
Nearly 8 years ago, Q designed a new identity for the Ann Arbor Art Center. Perhaps you've spotted the downtown bike racks inspired by the logo? This year, we are continuing our support of this Ann Arbor landmark by sponsoring their largest annual fundraiser—Winefest. Q designed all of the promotional materials for this year's theme: Paint the Town. The big event will be held at a chic—and unexpected—warehouse on the west side of town on Saturday, May 7, and includes a strolling supper, wine-tastings, live auctions, and "random acts of culture". Click here for event details and to purchase tickets.
Found My Folk
Posted by: Jocelyn Edin
Another fabulous Ann Arbor Folk Festival! Once again, Q developed the promotional materials, including the poster, t-shirt designs, advertising, and program book. This year, Q introduced the tagline, "Find your folk" which resonated strongly with our client, The Ark, and the event. ‘Folk’ encompasses such a vast array of artists, each time you attend the Festival (or an Ark show for that matter), you discover the type of folk music that you’re attracted to. And on the other side of the coin, you meet and greet so many wonderful, interesting people at the event.
Q Old World Meets New
Posted by: Alissa Ampezzan
If you called the Q office this week and talked to one of the crew, you may have heard a tired voice on the other end. Even more than normal. This is because we took our mantra "too much fun" to the extreme last week. We had our annual Q retreat, which is always a fun and exhausting day, but this year we were lucky enough to have our friends Thilo and Laurenz from Q in Wiesbaden, Germany join us. This marked the first time either of them has been to Ann Arbor and we did our best to show them many of our favorite places and things in just 4 days.
Stories and (lots) more photos after the jump.
Qmmuting from Detroit
Posted by: Doug Reith
My commute from Detroit will be quick ride on the Solar powered interstate high speed rail!
Thank Q!
Posted by: Jocelyn Edin
Last Tuesday, Q threw a cocktail party in honor of my 10 years with the company. It was also an opportunity to welcome Tom back into the States, and say Auf Wiedersehen to Alissa who is headed to Q Wiesbaden for the summer.
Storymakers Dinner for 826 Michigan
Posted by: Jocelyn Edin
Last Thursday night, I was fortunate enough to tag along to the Storymakers Dinner, a fundraising event for 826 Michigan, held at Zingerman’s Roadhouse here in Ann Arbor. Q has graciously donated design services to 826 for a few years now, and after hearing first-hand what an effect they have on so many lives, I am so thankful Q is a part of it! Kudos go to Rob Jurewicz, our freelance creative, who designed this year’s identity and print materials, above.
Pure Ann Arbor
Posted by: Alissa Ampezzan
We’ve all heard them by now, the infamous (and award-winning) Pure Michigan ads with that familiar local voice. Some think they’re a little too mushy, but, as they say, the proof’s in the puddin’ and Michigan.org is now the most popular state tourism site in America… and has been for 3 years in a row. My personal favorite is the Nicknames radio ad where "Treetown" and "A-squared" are mentioned, but now we have our very own ads celebrating Ann Arbor being original and full of flavor.
Recognized Locally
Posted by: Jocelyn Edin
Each winter Q participates in the local Ann Arbor Addy awards competition. This year we took home two Addy’s; a gold for the 2010 Ann Arbor Folk Festival poster (mentioned in a post below) and a silver for the 2010 SIGGRAPH Asia Conference poster. What’s notable about this recognition is that both projects are for long-standing Q clients; The Ark and ACM SIGGRAPH. Year after year, Q is able to deliver fresh, innovative, award-winning design for our clients. Go Q!
SEO Steers the Ship
Posted by: Jocelyn Edin
You absolutely cannot ignore search engine optimization (SEO) when developing your online presence. There is too much out there; people have too little time; and Google is the first place many of us go to find anything. My recent example is looking to purchase eyeglasses for my four-year-old daughter Gwen.
Music + Community
Posted by: Alissa Ampezzan
This past weekend many of us Qsters attended the 33rd annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival, a two-day collection of innovative local and national artists. The Ark celebrates its 45th year of music and community in 2010 and what better way to mark the milestone than by selling out two nights at Hill Auditorium. Headliners were Iron and Wine, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) & Jay Farrar (Sunvolt), Rosanne Cash, and Richie Havens. Stand-out performances came from Hoots & Hellmouth and local duo Nervous But Excited.
