Red Antler

Confidence, Conviction, Communication: 3 Ways Startups Can Step Up Their Game

Make sure to check out my most recent article for Fast Company about three ways startups can step up their game. “What are these lessons that are better off learned early? What can startups adopt from their larger, more established counterparts along their journey to (hopefully) one day becoming one?”

For answers, read the full article here, and remember to check back for next month’s article.

 

from Emily Heyward

The Hummus & Pita Co. Is Now Open!

We are excited to announce the grand opening of our savory client, The Hummus & Pita Co.  Beginning with the launch of their flagship location at 6th Avenue and 17th Street in Manhattan, The Hummus & Pita Co. serves authentic, fresh, fast-casual Mediterranean in an environment that captures the communal experience of the food.

Beginning with their mark, we extended The Hummus & Pita Co. identity to interior space design, decor, and brand applications, resulting in a restaurant that transports its guests not only through food, but also through design.

Our favorite is the Matbucha. Go and try it for yourself!

Read more about our work for The Hummus & Pita Co. here.

from the Antlerists NY

iTunes Store features Tasting Table’s Digital Books!

Tasting Table’s latest digital book, Chef’s Recipes 2012 Winter Edition, was highlighted on the iTunes Book Store! Make sure to download it (and Tasting Table’s 3 other amazing digital books for free!) for great insider recipes and tips from chefs!

from the Antlerists NY

It’s Not The End of The World

Within the last 2 months, our client Tasting Table launched 3 more digital books: “Sous Chef Series 2011 Collection,” ”Mark the Moment—Ten Forces of the Food World Recall the Moment They Made Good by Their Mentors,” and ”Chef’s Recipes’ 2012 Winter Collection.” After the first book released this past Fall, the process has gotten much smoother, and seeing the results has been a great experience.

I must admit that I started the project from an irrational standpoint. I‘m one of those people who gets super excited upon receiving a letter-pressed wedding invitation, and then spends a good ten minutes tracing my finger along the deep imprints on the card. I used to have nightmares about iPad’s evil laugh over a cowering printed book while ugly paragraphs with widows and rivers stood by watching. Not until recently have I realized that my anxiety and fear over the end of the printed world has been fading away over the course of making Tasting Table’s digital books. I learned that as we move forward, the demand for sharing information and knowledge increases, and getting assistance from technology is inevitable. However, it doesn’t mean that in order to move into the future, we have to eliminate the past. To me, they can both coexist and have their own permanent values. I can still employ my design skills and maintain my aesthetic as I do in all of my print projects. The type still needs to be legible and readable, the hierarchy must be clear, and the composition must engage viewers from cover to cover. Sometimes, I find it even more challenging than print because with all the fascinating things happening in the pixel world, it’s become even harder to get people’s attention and keep their interest at all times.

So, will we ever get to the point when we flip out and don’t know how to operate a conventional book because we’re so used to reading badly set type on screen? I don’t think so. A typographer once complained to me that he couldn’t smell the iPad, and I do agree with him. But as long as we do everything with the same integrity and standard, technology is a tool, not a threat.

 

from Tran Huynh

Bolt on Branding Served!

Our project for tennis client, Bolt, is featured on Branding Served. Bolt approached us to help them launch a new tennis brand. The challenge was to differentiate this technologically focused racquet and company from the many established players in an overcrowded industry.

We developed the mark, identity and applications to stand for innovation and advancement of gear and level of play.

Learn more about the project here!

 

from the Antlerists NY

Accommodating Everyone (or Not)

I recently sent an invitation to family and friends. It needed to be unexpected, personal and tell a story that a card couldn’t. So we created a video, made a website, and emailed the link. A fast and direct notification, utilizing web resources and a more advanced mode of communication. Until I was met with the response “So and so doesn’t have, or use the Internet.”

As with many projects, we were left asking ourselves how to best accommodate everyone, but maintain the integrity we were after. When creating solutions in projects, it’s a constant push and pull of what’s appropriate, what’s usable, but also what will make it stand out from the rest. Often the best solutions can be a little uncomfortable for some, or may cause confusion for a few. But in seeking potentially ground-breaking product or design, we sometimes have to overlook the few in anticipation that the best solution will resonate with many. We must create a learning curve for others to follow. Of course it would be nice to be accessible and easy for all people. But it’s not always possible, and aiming for universality can sometimes lead to a watering down of your original intention.

So when choosing your solution, I recommend being comfortable with something a little uncomfortable.

 

from Curtis Flanagan

How Any Company Can Think Like A Startup

My latest article for Fast Company reveals how any company can think like a startup.

“Is simply being small and new a recipe for creative thinking, and if so, what happens when a startup gets bigger, and older (presumably everyone’s goal)? How can we define what’s working so well at the startup level, in order to cement these principles as part of a company culture that can be maintained throughout growth?” Read the full article here.

And check back next month, when I’ll be sharing my thoughts on what startups can learn from large, established corporations.

from Emily Heyward

Letter from a French Man

Packing your stuff, saying au revoir to everyone, jumping on a plane and off you go.

Nine hours later you are alone in a hostile world where nobody understands your strong accent and you can’t understand their fast speech. At this point every conversation you have is composed of “what?” followed by “thanks!” but you have to get over it because tomorrow is your first day at Red Antler.

Since then, I’ve learned a lot of great things – such as how to draw a star, and that drinking a Bloody Mary on a Friday morning is absolutely normal. But there are two things that changed the way I see things ; first, I’ve learned that people here are makers. We, french people, are thinkers : we spend a significant amount of time thinking about a concept and eventually deliver an actual product, three years too late. At Red Antler things move fast. “Way too fast for me,” I first thought, but I eventually got used to it. This fast-paced rhythm allowed me to spend more time building “AMAZING” (say it loud!) products, instead of just thinking about them.

The other thing was that here, they make things bigger. That’s why I often hear the sentence, “Could you print it larger?” I eventually figured out that this is not only about the size, it’s also all about the details. When we see things on a bigger scale, we focus more on the little details that are so crucial when designing a website or really, anything. Because of this experience, I understand that many things either succeed or fail because of the details we couldn’t see otherwise.

In the end, I’ll summarize these lessons in on simple sentence : “Make it. But make it BIG!”

from Rahman

StyleSeat Featured on Mashable!

It is no surprise that our awesome client, StyleSeat, was just featured on Mashable Business’ Spark of Genius Series.

StyleSeat, which launched in May of 2011 as the brainchild of co-founders Melody McCloskey and Dan Levine, is a new online platform for the beauty and wellness industry. Since launch, they’ve expanded to a network of 20,000 professionals in 4,300 cities nationwide. Their success comes as the result of filling a major, unbridged gap – connecting customers to professionals and professionals to new clients, with the ability to book appointments online.

StyleSeat’s focus on the ease of discovering, sharing, and booking appointments is reinforced through its sleek, chic and dynamic identity and web design.

Click here to learn more about our work for StyleSeat.

 

from the Antlerists NY

NYC Media Lab launches!

We’re excited to announce the launch of NYC Media Lab. With the goal of generating research, knowledge transfer and new business models, NYC Media Lab tackles the big questions facing the media industry today. And they go one step further – they match the industry with the academics undertaking relevant research in order to drive collaborative innovation.

For the last few months, we have helped NYC Media Lab put a face to the name. We wanted to create a brand that was big and provocative. Loud enough to wake the giant that is New York City. We created a series of intriguing questions to be the center of the brand. The bold language driven approach led us to the mark; the threshold- the blinker- the cursor. A device that is always on the edge, bordering on the unknown. The NYC Media Lab website tells their story and features a semantic search powered by Luminoso that connects relevant academics to tech industry topics. Check out NYC Media Lab here.

 

from Kristin Agnarsdottir

Red Antler Holiday Playlist

We have a lot to be thankful for over the last year. We’ve worked with some incredible people, the team has grown, and we’re settling into a new, larger habitat in DUMBO. To get in the spirit we’ve been rocking out to our fair share of holiday music (despite Simon’s grinching). We thought we’d send a bit of seasonal cheer your way with our own holiday playlist!

Hope you have a great New Year and stay tuned for our office warming party in early 2012!

Happy Holidays!

- JB Osborne, Emily Heyward, Simon Endres, McKenna Kemp, Yuchen Zhang, Rachel Higgins, Kristin Agnarsdottir, Curtis Flanagan, Tran Huynh, Lizzie Bildner, Rahman Kalfane, Ed Puydak

 

from admin

3 Ways to Put Your Customer First

My new article for my monthly Fast Company series is up. Just in time for the holidays, it talks about growing your business by practicing generosity and putting your customers first. “The brand that puts its users first, whose sole purpose is to serve them, will surely win. But it’s one thing to know this, another to put it in action.” Read the full article here, and check back here for future articles!

 

from Emily Heyward

Set a World Record with Us!

Thanks to our awesome client RecordSetter, we’ve had a lot of exposure to unusual records – from feats of strength such as Furthest Distance for a 4-Year-Old to Pull a Car Using Their Hair to the more slapstick Most Pizza Slaps to the Face in 15 Seconds. Needless to say we’ve had lots of fun working with them this year.

After much egging-on, we decided it was time to set a record ourselves, and we wanted to get our home base of DUMBO involved. With the help of the Dumbo Improvement District, we’re hosting a new RecordSetter event: Most People Singing “Under the Bridge” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Under a Bridge.

Meet us at 6:00 PM, Thursday December 1 (tomorrow night!) under the Manhattan Bridge archway. Lyrics will be provided, in case you forgot the 1990s for some reason.

The headcount will begin at 6, and the record will start promptly at 6:30 PM. For more information or to RSVP please visit our FaceBook page!

The video screening of the record will be at powerHouse Books release party for “The RecordSetter Book of World Records.”

Hope to see you there!

 

from McKenna Kemp

New DUMBO Digs

Since starting Red Antler in 2007, we’ve been through many workspaces. From Emily’s couch in the early days, to sitting on a futon in Behance’s first office, to renting desks from The Happycorp Global and The Hyperfactory in Soho…and then came DUMBO in April 2010 when Simon Endres joined as a partner and the team began to grow.

Since moving to DUMBO, our team has doubled in size, we’ve added another dog, and things have gotten a bit snug. We love the neighborhood and are staying local with a move to a larger space in 20 Jay Street this December, which will feature a reception area, conference and meeting rooms, and sweet views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. We’ll also be neighbors with some great companies like Space 150, Loosecubes, DUMBO Business Improvement District, and Ito En (delicious).

The floor we’re moving to was previously a printer and has been going through some serious construction to make way for new offices. Here are some shots of the work in progress.

Stay tuned for an office warming party in early 2012 – once it’s nice and set up we’ll need your help breaking it in!

 

from JB Osborne

Brand Early, Not Often

Fast Company has invited me to write a monthly series of articles as part of their expert blogging community. I’m so excited to contribute to one of my favorite publications, and look forward to sharing my thoughts each month.

My first article, “Brand Early, Not Often,” makes a case for the importance of branding and design in the early phases of a business. “In most scenarios, while a business may not need strong branding to get off the ground, its chances of becoming a smash hit are greatly magnified by investing in their brand–in the form of sharp creative strategy and great design–from the beginning.” Read the full article here.

And please check back for future posts!

 

from Emily Heyward

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