In the heat of the worst economic downturn in decades, we helped the Leasing Studio create their own bailout plan for perspective retailers at their Renton, WA development, The Landing. The bailout bucket featured an unusual suite of kitschy items to help retailers through tough times and remind them that there are still bright spots on the horizon. The bailout bucket was so well received that it has even been hailed by one Seattle Weekly writer as "The best goodie bag I've seen in forever".

The blood, sweat, tears and passion that goes into every project at Urban Influence received a bit of love from the 2009 Seattle Show judges this year. The Arctic Club Hotel branding project was given a Merit Award in the Integrated Media Identity Program. The Urban Influence 2008 Holiday Wine Self Promotion received a silver chubby.

The gorgeous new Old Police Headquarters website is now live. Explore rich attention to detail, thoughtful photo collage work and subtle interactive maps. I especially like the all background content and transitions in color from page to page. Everyone did such a nice job on this site. It’s surely one of our finest websites to date and a worthy extension of the brand.

This post isn’t about the history of Dan X. Solo. It is a personally indulgent post about being obsessed with the name Dan X. Solo.

Who says taking out the trash has to be ugly? Check out what Philly is doing with their garbage trucks.

Original Article and Photos

It’s here! The newest addition to the already outstanding typeface Neutraface is a wonderful serif extension of the popular font family. Christian Schwartz designed it, with the help of Kai Bernau and Susana Carvalho. Released through House Industries, it is currently my favorite typeface series. I love the result, and their careful and thoughtful serif additions are top-notch.

Unless you're in a tech oriented field or a figurehead of popular culture, it's often hard to find value in Twitter's limited functionality. This sentiment holds especially true as its use applies to businesses. Most people are quick to dismiss Twitter as a non-sensicle indulgence for social junkies to alert the world to what they had for breakfast, however it's all a matter of perspective.

A couple weekends ago I was fortunate to attend my favorite biyearly event, Specific location shall remain undisclosed due to personal unwillingness to blow up the spot! Lets just say it’s damn close to heaven on earth and every year I find all the junk I never dreamed I wanted.  Twenty dollars will buy hours of entertainment sifting through the detritus that pours out of the nooks and crannies of Washington State.

We do more than talk about brand INFLUENCE, we steward its cause. Get to know the Foundation for Brand Influence (FBI) and meet some of the founding members like Smooth Tony Marino, Derek Brewsky, and Bianca Clone, to name but a few.

Do you have what it takes to be a member? Find out more at buildinfluence.com, coming soon…

59 Limousine, Arctic Club Hotel and Urban Industries have all made it into the 5^th edition of LogoLounge. It’s set to hit stores early July and you find out more information here.

While digging through the archives, I stumbled across these snapshots of Urban Influence's first office from over 6 years ago. It was only two guys and a lot of hard work, but everything starts somewhere. We've grown up quite a bit since then, with the last photo acting as comparison of where we're at today.

The latest evolution of the Visible Technologies brand is starting to come into view. Above is the new Visible Technologies logo. The new logo takes the visual language of statistics and seamlessly integrates it into a clean, easy to read word mark. The bar graph into the V also gives the impression of movement, showing that Visible Technologies is on the move leading the new media revolution. The typography has been slimmed down to feel more free and nimble.

The Endurance brand went public today with the launch of their new website designed by Urban Influence. The new site is content rich and easy to navigate which should empower confidence in their customers to find the answers to all their extended warranty needs. The new site finally gives Endurance the look and feel of the quality extended warranty provider they really are. Get empowered for the road ahead by clicking here.

We are excited to announce the launch of the new Visible Technologies website designed by Urban Influence. The website showcases the new Visible Technologies look and feel while flexing interactive and conceptual muscle. The new website is content rich and easy to navigate incorporating flash, html, and dynamic content. The website employs many interactive headers that visually show how the Visible Technologies suite can help you use new media to manage your brand and take it to new levels.

I'm just going to take a minute or two to throw a couple of sticks into the talkbox / vocoder / autotune conflagration (ok so its not really a conflagration...I just like to be dramatic) that rages as of late.

It's hot, it's dry... And I love it. Ah, just thinking about Tucson brings back so many fond memories. It was the place I spent 30 years in, I had to love it. Which brings me to my next source of inspiration, the Sonoran Desert.

I'm sure you've heard a lot already regarding the re-issue of the complete Beatles collection, well here goes another one. I found this gem exclusively sold at Restoration Hardware for the now reduced price of $299. This is a wonderfully designed package and a little different than the ones sold elsewhere.

The beautifully designed Leica M9 is the world's first full-frame Leica digital rangefinder. It features an 18 megapixels and it's fully compatible with Leica's M lenses, ISO from 80 to 2500, a sturdy one-piece, full metal housing and a 2.5-inch monitor. The care and attention to detail that went into the design is simply breathtaking… I approve.

We've finalized the logo for Stats Sports Bar & Restaurant. Positioned as an establishment rich in Alabama heritage and dedicated to the game, Stats will offer much more than your standard sports bar. We've captured Stats' authentic nature and timeless quality in this mark. Paying tribute to the local enthusiasm and attention to detail of generations past, the Stats logo is chock full of grand individuality. Keep your eyes on the blog for more Stats developments!

It’s not always easy to tell people how cool your latest software project was. One of the biggest challenges of software development is making things that are in fact quite complicated seem easy. Sometimes looking back towards past solutions you once viewed as novel or unique, you think to yourself – “Of course, how else would I have done that?” Stepping through this doorway brings you a new appreciation for what you’ve learned through the successes and failures discovered along the way. This column is about those little solutions that are sometimes forgotten with time.