Lunch with Carter and Black
Posted by: Christine Golus
Last Thursday I was honored to accept a last minute invitation from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design to lunch with Matthew Carter and Roger Black (thank you Mary Alice Bankert!). Carter and Black were in town last week as part of the Penny W. Stamps Speaker Series – one of the best things the School has done for the Ann Arbor community.
Q Previews the North American International Auto Show
Posted by: Paul Koch
It was good to be back at the North American International Auto Show during industry preview days visiting our client, Clark Hill PLC. And it was encouraging to see that the reigning Detroit-based auto show was up to speed with more of the energy and excitement of new vehicles and new ideas that were missing a few years ago.
A graphic designer goes to the 2012 Detroit Auto Show
Posted by: Christine Golus
OK, I’ll admit it. I’m not a car gal even though I was born and bred in the Motor City.
Designing with Emotion
Posted by: Christine Golus
Just finished Aarron Walter’s Designing for Emotion this Thanksgiving weekend. What a treat! I was happy to see that Q implements a number of his suggestions in our web site design process: personas, mood boards, digging into the personality traits of the companies and organizations we work with, but what inspired me the most was the reminder to design for “delight” and don’t forget about the human connection.
GIF Animation :: Creativity with a Short Leash
Posted by: Andrew Hainen
I’m Andrew Hainen and I am currently a graphic design intern at Q. A project I worked on recently involved making a GIF animation for a holiday email.
2011 UM Alumni Show
Posted by: Christine Golus
Last Friday Alissa and I attended the University of Michigan 2011 Alumni Show.
How Green is Your Internet?
Posted by: Jocelyn Edin
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How Green Is Your Internet? from Patrick Clair on Vimeo.
Not something I think anyone thinks about very much, but we should.
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.
Q West Coast visits Pixar Studios
Posted by: Rie Yamaoka
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
Q West Coast had an educational and fun visit with SIGGRAPH friend Tony Apodaca at Pixar Studios, located in Emeryville, CA.
Now in his 25th year at Pixar (he started back when Pixar was a high-end computer hardware company), Tony told us how the studio was once a Dole factory that produced cans of fruit cocktail, and the building has exposed steel frames that were bolted, rather than welded, as an homage to the original, industrial architecture. Apparently none of the steel workers in the Bay Area knew how to do this, so they had retired workers from Pittsburgh come out to the West Coast to train the builders.
The main lobby is very open, complete with cafeteria and “breakfast room” with 25 different kinds of cereal, all free to employees. Bathrooms are centrally located ONLY in the main lobby area; an idea Pixar owner Steve Jobs had to encourage employee interaction. (Not sure if I would want to talk to everyone in the building that way!)
Social Qs
Posted by: Alissa Ampezzan
We’re a social bunch. You’ve heard about our legendary parties, epic volleyball games, and international adventures. But, we hadn’t fully ventured into the virtual social world until now.
Blue is the New Green: A Colorful Night at the Auto Show
Posted by: Alissa Ampezzan
Last Friday, I was invited to the Auto Show Charity Preview event. The city was, like the featured cars, electric.
Those of us in the marketing world are familiar with buzz words, those words that seem to find their 15 minutes of fame for whatever reason and infiltrate the media. With the state of the environment ever-present on our minds, the past few years have seen the “green” theme grow (pun intended) to fame. But, it was clear upon entering the awe-inspiring room at Cobo: Blue is the new term synonymous with environmentalism.
Web Fonts: A Whole New World
Posted by: Jocelyn Edin
In the last year (the last six months alone!), the world of web typography has evolved significantly. This is because most browsers are now supporting the direct delivery of fonts from a host computer via the latest version of Cascading Style Sheets, CSS3. Put simply, instead of choosing from the 10 default fonts used previously, there are now hundreds of choices and the list is expanding quickly! (image: @typekit)
Apple of My Eye
Posted by: Jeff Callender
The excitement began to build at the beginning of the year. Whetting my appetite was actor/writer Stephen Frye’s sneak-peek review I came upon in a doctor’s waiting room. Peter Morville was an early adapter, bringing his into the office upon it’s release in April. At that point, it became a simple matter of when.
More with Less
Posted by: Alissa Ampezzan
Last Friday, I was lucky enough to get into a sold-out talk by Steve Wozniak at Macomb Community College. Maybe you don’t know who Wozniak (or just “Woz”) is, but you certainly know his more famous counterpart: Steve Jobs. The two Steve’s co-founded Apple in the 1970s, starting the personal computer revolution. The reason you may not hear as much about the self-proclaimed “geek” is that he has chosen his quieter role; he is, after all, an engineer, not a businessman. The technology was his idea; the idea to sell it was Jobs’.
Brand New Conference
Posted by: Christine Golus
Attended the Brand New Conferenceon Friday, November 5, in NYC along with my colleagues Alissa, Thilo, and Laurenz. What a treat! 
