What Does it Take To Be a Rockstar?

//1 Comment

Skills of the Rockstar Planner is a series of short videos presented by PSFK exploring the world of exceptional Account Planners, or who we in the design industry call Brand Strategists. But whether you're a strategist, designer, account manager or any of the other key roles serving clients in the creative industry, I think these skills can apply to us all. These short, 5-7 minute videos are full of valuable insight shared through a series of interviews with top planners/strategists.

Read Full Post...

author// Audrey Na on Jun 30, 2010

categories// , , ,

Seattle Fashion Week 2010

//4 Comments

A few of us decided to trade in our x-acto knives and creative briefs for an evening to show some love for our local, independent designers during Seattle Fashion Week 2010. We definitely had a good time enjoying the show, and as the photos show, enjoying a little bit of ourselves.

Read Full Post...

author// Audrey Na on Jun 29, 2010

categories// ,

Microsoft's School of the Future First Graduating Class

//7 Comments

"I never knew my full potential until I got here."
Mahcaiyah Wearing-Gooden, School of the Future Graduate, Class of 2010

After opening its doors for the first time in 2006, School of the Future (SOF) graduated its first senior class last week on June 15, 2010. This 750-student high school, a collaboration between the School District of Philadelphia and Microsoft, was built with a vision to challenge the education status quo. The school partnered with Microsoft to plan, build and support a new model for 21st-century learning communities, applying new approaches in curriculum, teaching methods and staffing. All 118 students, who are called "learners" at SOF, have earned acceptance to at least one postsecondary institution–a commitment they made to each other as ninth graders.

Our own Devin Liddell, Director of Brand Strategy, had the opportunity to fly out to Philadelphia to interview several of the first graduating students profiled for the Graduates piece and press materials PBDH designed for the SOF graduation...

Read Full Post...

author// Audrey Na on Jun 25, 2010

categories// , , , ,

PBDH Mural Begins: Submit Your Ideas

//3 Comments

I'm officially kicking off the ideation lab mural project. We'll look at sketches and mockups before any paint hits the wall. But between now and then we need some ideas for content...

Read Full Post...

author// Dave Cole on Jun 24, 2010

Team AIGA: Helvetica's Angels

//4 Comments

Let the herding of the cats begin!

As a trustee on the board of the National MS Society Greater Northwest Chapter I have been enlisted to help promote the Bike MS fundraiser ride in September. I could do like I did last year and recruit staff, family and friends to ride on Team PBDH. But how can I make a bigger contribution to this annual effort? Maybe form some bigger team that could make a difference to the MS community as well as the riders who participate. Thus was born Team AIGA: Helvetica's Angels.

Read Full Post...

author// Karl Bischoff on Jun 21, 2010

categories// , ,

The Donut Runner

//5 Comments

I'd like to introduce the Donut Runner - an old Huffy bicycle that I purchased at the Capitol Hill Value Village last week for $20. Best $20 I ever spent...

Read Full Post...

author// Dave Cole on Jun 21, 2010

categories// , ,

Poor Man's nth-of-type

//0 Comments

Today I'm going to focus on the nth-of-type selector. This selector is similar to nth-child except it allows us to restrict our selector to a specific element type, which is often more useful than applying the style to every element regardless of type. Internet Explorer doesn't support this selector, but with a little trickery we can fool it into doing what we want.

Read Full Post...

author// Darren Kovalchik on Jun 11, 2010

categories//

Google's Background Images are a Logical Step

//14 Comments

Google's recent experiment of pushing aside its classic, simplistic white look for all users might have appeared to be a nod to Bing. In fact, it's the next step in an evolution that has been a long time coming and is a core component of Google's future.

Read Full Post...

author// Ed Ouellette on Jun 11, 2010

categories// ,

Training in Seattle

//0 Comments

This has been a tough year to train for the upcoming cycle events for Team PBDH (The Orange Train). The rain just keeps on and on, and each year I get a little more wussey about doing training rides in the wetness. Part of it is having to use my rain bike, which is much slower than the Wilier Triestina Izourd.

Read Full Post...

author// Karl Bischoff on Jun 05, 2010

categories// , ,

When your client jumps for joy....you know you've done a good job!

//0 Comments

Inspiration comes from many places and it's very meaningful when it comes from a great client. Peter Saladino, President of Charter Co., is an amazing and inspiring individual. I don't think we've ever had a client literally jump for joy about our work--- but it was a pretty nice feeling. Peter took one of the positioning concepts we recently presented and immediately "owned" the idea. It helped everyone on his attending 14 person leadership team to see it's potential. Peter eloquently articulated how the concept could come to life both internally and externally. His enthusiasm was nicely contagious. Pretty cool.

I love being around passionate people who love what they do.

Thank you PBDH team. You inspire me every single day.

Read Full Post...

author// Leslie Phinney on Jun 04, 2010

categories//

PBDH bound for MoMA

//1 Comment

At first glance, a uniform collection of circular art panels on the wall. But in fact, 21 individual concepts and artists.

Humble beginnings:

The project was initiated as a fun team building exercise here at PBDH. 21 circular discs would be created and showcased on the stairway wall — with the thought that this would be better than looking at a blank white wall everyday. Each person on the team (with varied degrees of artistic talent and comfort with an X-acto knife) would create one piece of art from their blank canvas disc, to later be hung as part of a grouping. The disc canvases were made from old 45 singles that might have otherwise been sent to the local dump or sat for an eternity in a dusty box in someone’s basement.

Bringing words to life:

Each member of the PBDH team chose from a pool of pre-determined words — imagination, grandparents, rhythm, and futuristic, to name a few. Those words would be the concept for their disc, and from which they would create an art piece using the materials of their choosing — paint, collage, wood, metal, etc., whatever they needed to illustrate their word.

Running with scissors:

An afternoon was set aside for everyone to come together as a group and create their masterpiece (with the help of alcohol and snacks of course). The team was cutting out tiny letters and images from scrap materials, wielding heat guns, applying gold leaf, stars and feathers to their creations.

The end result:

Because each piece was made from the same mould, the effect on the wall is a dramatic grouping of individual inspiration and imagination — with a unified look and presentation. Some might ask — is it great art or simply a good time? And the answer would be an astounding yes to both!

author// Dean Hart on Jun 04, 2010

The Story of Us

//1 Comment


I've always been way too left-wing to be much of a flag-waving patriot. Not that Democrats don't love America, but - if I had to over simplify - there is just more of a culture of humility than pride on the left side. I always thought "Thankful to be an American" made a more sensible slogan than "Proud to be an American" - and I still think there is some merit to that. But this Memorial Day weekend I received an infusion of good old fashioned, star-spangled pride when, up late nights in a hotel, I watched the History Channel's new mini series "America, The Story of Us."

Read Full Post...

author// Dave Cole on Jun 01, 2010

categories// ,

Search Archives

Browse by Category

More News

Recent Tweets

Follow PBDH on Twitter

Stay Connected