Creative Blog.
Huddled Masses Website Development. How great people inspire great work.
Developing the Huddled Masses website was both fun and challenging. They had a few variations of older site desigs, and variety of brand segments that we needed to bring together into a modern and practical presentation that really represented their CEO Kristie and the team, as well as make it “fun” for their clients to engage as well. The “game pieces” theme fit into their basically helping their clients find and fit that “missing piece.”
Huddled Masses Website Development. How great people inspire great work.
Developing the Huddled Masses website was both fun and challenging. They had a few variations of older site desigs, and variety of brand segments that we needed to bring together into a modern and practical presentation that really represented their CEO Kristie and the team, as well as make it “fun” for their clients to engage as well. The “game pieces” theme fit into their basically helping their clients find and fit that “missing piece.”
Working with some of the best PR talents (Laura Goldberg @https://www.lbgpr.com, and Susanna Hinds) made the project high caliber, high energy, and top shelf professional.
The team at Huddled Masses are wonderful to work with, and as performance marketers, absolutely the terrific. Great people, that all inspire teamwork and great work.
Meet Huddled Masses
Performance marketing solutions that drive real ROI.
Digital advertising campaigns can sometimes feel precarious. One element or piece out of place and everything collapses.
Huddled Masses has a track record in helping clients find that critical piece of the digital advertising puzzle to pull it all together. Oftentimes it’s a piece that they didn’t even know was missing.
Kristie MacDonald, CEO—brings more than 15 years of entertainment marketing and research experience to her leadership role at Huddled Masses.
Direct Digital Holdings Branding and Website Development—The Value of a Great Team
Having any design project start off with a fun, exciting, and enjoyable kickoff call is always a great sign. Mark Walker their CEO, and their PR firm (Laura Goldberg @https://www.lbgpr.com) are incredible.
Direct Digital Holdings Branding and Website Development
Having any design project start off with a fun, exciting, and enjoyable kickoff call is always a great sign. Mark Walker their CEO, and their PR firm (Laura Goldberg @https://www.lbgpr.com) are incredible. An engaging and driven conversation led to what became a very cool project. They know what they like and want, yet allowed the creative process to unfold. Developing the site included branding. A logo and site that captured an energetic “forward moving, colorful, and exciting vibe that makes it engaging, interesting, and simple. Responsive mobility was a must here also.
Meet Direct Digital Holdings
Direct Digital Holdings brings state-of-the-art supply-side and demand-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company.
They deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers.
They give advertisers of all sizes unparalleled reach within general market and multicultural media properties.
CEO and founder, Mark Walker brings nearly 20 years of experience in private equity, building relationships, and revenue generating operations for Fortune 500 corporations as well as start-ups.
https://directdigitalholdings.com
Creative media: PDF? ePub? online or print? Which one is best?
So many choices, and they all have their place. Here are some tips.
There are so many choices when it comes to visual media. From the printed page to an on-screen digital media experience, if you want your content seen, used and shared—it makes a difference in not only how well you create the content, but which type of content you create.
So many choices, and they all have their place. Here are some tips.
There are so many choices when it comes to visual media. From the printed page to an on-screen digital media experience, if you want your content seen, used and shared—it makes a difference in not only how well you create the content, but which type of content you create.
One thing to keep in mind however, you can mix and match— and many “digital” assets sort of share the entire realm. What I mean is that you can for instance create the same interactive document on a PDF, ePub AND Website— while having a static printed version for events or meetings. Nonetheless, there are pluses and negatives of each type of media, and the strategy you use makes a difference.
Ultimately, the strategy you use to create and deploy your content and media needs to keep the audience (reader) in mind. If they don’t engage, then the effort is wasted. So your strategy often begins with what type of creative media you want to deploy on—PDF, ePub, online, or print. Let’s explore the pros and cons of each.
PDFs aren’t dead, in fact far from it. They continue to modernize, update, and develop more bells and whistles for one of the most popular and stable file types globally. The portable document format (PDF) has many more advantages than disadvantages. And in fact with the growing concern of security and intellectual property protection, it has a huge edge over anything online that grows more unstable every day.
What you can create with PDFs
Infographics
Ebooks
White papers
Documents
Interactive documents
Forms
eMagazines
Digital version of everything you print
Interactive documents
PDF advantages
Stable file format
Supported globally on all devices/machines
Simple
High security, hard to hack
Easy to protect content, lock and secure
Easy to edit, mark up, and correct
Easy to share by email, online, or texting
Easily add interactive forms
Easily add hyperlinks and basic interactivity
Can be very small in file size
Easy to edit and re-create
PDF disadvantages
Poor responsive nature on-screen
You need some know-how to use features
Advanced techniques (interactivity) require skill
ePub
Much like PDF’s ePubs are still a “thing.” Still being supported and developed along with improvements and tech that improve their file format. The electronic publication (ePub) allows another stable and popular format that actually add a bit more responsiveness and modern functionality that sort of add to what might lack on pdfs in-between what can be done electronically on a device or screen.
What you can create with ePubs
Interactive ebooks and publications
Interactive documents
ePub advantages
More interactive than pdfs
More responsive in nature
Great for ePub readers
Works on all MODERN devices
ePub disadvantages
Won’t work on all devices (older ones)
Difficult to create
Difficult to edit and work with
Difficult to re-create simply
A little unstable on certain devices
Not a widely or commonly understood format
Online (on-screen digital experience)
All websites and digital media are viewed on devices. Phones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and then of course desktop computers. Viewing websites—watching Netflix, YouTube, or anything on a screen needs to be responsive, and thought of as an “on screen” experience. It’s vital. No longer is it “just a website.” Or “just digital content.” You need to think of the experience AS an on-screen digital media experience to ensure an engaging on-screen experience for your audience.
Everything between planning and the actual user experience. I’d categorize this also as “online” because the content you create (website, video, movie, etc…) will no doubt be hosted, delivered, downloaded, or uploaded somewhere “online.” Here’s the reality: EVERYONE is online. And everyone watches something. Be it news, movies, websites, video, podcasts, TV shows, animation, etc… People want to be either entertained or educated. That’s the key.
What you can create with on-screen electronic media
Websites
Infographics
Video
Animation
Podcast
Vlogs
Games
Shows
Movies
Documentaries
News formats
Blogs
Interactive experiences
Interactive material
Forms
Online advantages
Modern and widely accepted and in-demand
(Everyone wants it online)
Everyone is online—always, on many devices
Highly responsive
Incorporates analytics and data
Online disadvantages
Can be very complex to create
Can be time consuming and expensive
Often requires hosting, domain, and other technology
More time consuming to edit and revise
Requires certain skillset, not a “common” format
Takes a lot of expertise, planning, and work to do well
Continuous security threat
Easy to steal content
SEO can be very complex to do correctly
HUGE amounts of traffic and competition
Website Examples
https://www.directdigitalholdings.com
https://www.angellicbeauty.com
Online Newsletter Examples
https://www.skincarephysiciansnewsletter.net
Online Responsive Infographics
http://www.weblivenow.com/samples/infographics/online-basic
http://www.weblivenow.com/idc/infographics/responsive/DisasterRecoverySolution
http://www.weblivenow.com/samples/animation/data-dilemma-html/index.html
http://www.weblivenow.com/samples/minigraphics/2/index.html
http://www.weblivenow.com/samples/minigraphics/3/index.html
Animation Samples
Print—although on hiatus in a pandemic year with people afraid to touch things with germs, print has finally met a threshold where it meets technology and simply has changed a little, that’s about it. As long as humans with fingers and senses are here on earth, they’ll always appreciate a tactile experience. So while print days of old have met their end (print, print, and print some more), print is still an excellent choice for very precise and strategic reasons though. And definitely secondary to anything digital. Everything from slick printed flyers and folders to business cards and books, they have their place.
What you can create with print
Magazines
Books
Flyers
Media kits
Bookmarks
Booklets
Mailers
Postcards
Business cards
Sell sheets
Event material
Print advantages
Tactile, hold in hand
Stands out now as “different” against online
Easy to see— in your face
Secure, no online threat
Timeless if saved
Easy to grab and view
Can be excellent version along with digital media
Print disadvantages
Opposite of online
Seems “old-school” to some
Can be pricey
Can be tricky to create good quality items (requires skill)
Once printed, cannot be fixed
Useless on devices— unless digital version created
The Bottom Line
PDF, ePub, online and print all have their place. Simply start with (1) what you want, (2) what your clients will respond to, (3) what you can afford (time and money), and what will align with your campaign or project goals. PDF’s a safe bet, ePubs can do neat stuff (but so can pdfs)— and digital media is modern, hip, cool and sort of the “norm.” And print— well, it ain’t dead! So use them all wisely and often interplay with one another, and you’re sure to do well with the variety—otherwise, PLEASE do consult a creative professional. They (like myself) love providing help, solutions, samples and ideas!
Get Creative—Faster, better, cheaper. Don’t get lost in the realm of media. I provide free coaching, consulting, and guidance—always. And then, I can also provide all the creative services you need to get your media in hand and working for you—quickly and affordably.
So please contact me any time to discuss your media needs. todd@mitchellcreativegroup.com, https://www.mitchellcreativegroup.com, (508) 494-8182.