Factor1’s own Matt Adams was awarded the “Marketing Superhero of the Year” award from the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce at their Annual awards dinner, on January 14th.

This Award is to recognize all of Matt’s volunteer work and role on the Chamber’s marketing committee.

http://copanews.com/Article.aspx?ID=775

Sure many of you think Veterans day is a fluff holiday for banks and government. We take the day off here at Factor1. Want to know why?

1. We are thankful to the men and women who fight for our rights.
2. While no one on staff here at Factor1 has served directly, we all have friends and family that have.
3. Our great military doesn’t fight to keep America free so we can overwork ourselves.
4. We enjoy taking a few extra holidays here at factor1. Not because we dont have better things to do, but because we value family time, and feel that because we live in such a great free country, we should enjoy our freedoms, just at home. So we take more holidays than the normal company, and I think we are healthier because of it.

So go home, and celebrate Veterans day with your friends and family. Thank a vet, and enjoy your day!

So last month we launched the all new factor1 website. Over the last few weeks we have heard tons of praise, comments and questions about the site. I want to share some background to it. Not because I think we are cooler than sliced bread, but because I feel like we did things different, in a good way.

Some background.
There have been 5 or 6 (maybe more) versions of the factor 1 site. Each design was often born out of boredom, disgust, or some need that wasnt being met. And to be honest, most lacked in creativity.

In the past, our methodology was pretty simple. We wanted a clean corporate feeling site, that would appeal to a business owner, non-profit director, church pastor, my mother, your mother, and the dog. We would often use safe images, typical content, and basically end up with something predictably average. Which is terrible considering we expect more input from our clients on their projects.  What hypocrites we where right?

Onto the new site
So we threw it all out, and found some core things to stand by. here they are.

1. We are fun. I, Matt, am a goofball. We love having fun, laughing and enjoy each others company here at factor1. Our site needed to reflect that.
2. We are not corporate. Jeans, Flip flops, and helmet hair are the norm for me. I rarely wear slacks. I only wear ties to funerals. Not even weddings (ask Shannon, I didn’t wear one to her’s either, but I did have on a suit). So corporate gibberish text was not us.
3. We are simple. No, not simple in thinking, just simple in a less is more, be clear, say what you mean kind of way.  Again, our past sites had tons of content that said nothing but corporate speak.
4. We are easy. No not that way, get your mind out of the gutter. We are easy in the sense that we dont want to over complicate things. Sure some contracts and proposals get long. At the end of the day, we wanted our users to find our site easy to use, read, and find what they need.
5. We are passionate about what we do here. One of the big reasons factor1 exists, is because we deeply care and love what we do. So passion, excitement, and love needed to show on our site.
6. While we would love to appeal to everyone, its just not possible. And the truth is that if we have to stretch to appeal to someone, it may be a hard relationship to maintain. So we want to make sure our site attracts people who want to work with a firm like us. If they dont, they dont. Good luck to them.

So our site was born. We went from 30+ pages, to 12. clean, clear and easy to use. And best of all, its way fun. To be 100% honest, this is the first site of our own that I have truly loved. Sad that it took 7 revisions over many years, but i think it took that long to work through the junk.

How can this help you?

• Find who you really are. Sure goals and projecting who you want you customers to see is a valid point, but dont loose site of who you REALLY are.
• Break things down to small chunks. Simple goals and bite sized pieces
• Pick your priorities.
• Let things simmer. Sometimes good ideas need to cook longer before they are ready.
• Break the mold. Just because its the norm, doesnt mean its for you.

I’d love to continue this conversation. I think this is a growth and exploring yourself  kind of exercise, that needs to be revisited often.

Just like that new car you had your eye on, the 2010 models are in. We are really excited to launch our new site. Its cleaner, faster, easier to use and better than ever. Ohh and the blog has been updated too.

Some highlights (and geek talk)

• Super clean html & css files
• jquery portfolio system to preload all images, and navigate between items
• wufoo forms!
• an ie6 redirect to make ie6 users aware of the errors in their ways (factor1studios.com/ie6.php)
• mobile friendly (we are still fine tuning, but it works great overall)
• Funny content for all ages.

We hope you like it.

Share your feedback!

There are a lot of things going on around here, I thought maybe I would share. 

1. Shannon (our rockstar resident web designer) is getting married tomorrow.
Congratulations Shannon & Spencer!

2. Ryan (business development partner & marketing guru) and his family will be moving to Seattle at the end of May to pursue starting a church. Ryan will still remain a partner here at factor 1, and be working with internal and client projects the same as he does now. But now we can say we have offices in Phoenix & Seattle. Should be a very cool experience for all of us.

3. I (matt, creative director, IT guy, janitor, & former head designer) and my wife Stephanie (factor 1 accounting gal) are adopting twin baby boys from Ethiopia. We should be home with 6 month old Noah & Ezra in early June. 

Thats the big news around here. What’s new with you guys, our faithful readers?

Just a quick post to get the word out. We are hiring for a part time web designer / intern. So GO!, tell your friends, family, pet rock, people you don’t even know.   

http://www.factor1studios.com/work-here

We are super excited to announce our new site is finally done. 

Shannon, Ryan and I have been working on it a lot. It has been a great process, to re-think the typical design firm site. We found a lot of our clients didnt like sites that were all about the company, and less about the clients or products. 

So in an effort to better reach the people we deeply care about, we had to start over. 

Go check it out. We think it’s pretty special. Feel free to let us know any comments or questions you have. I am more than open to hearing them. 

And now my wife can stop harrasing me about the coming soon banner I put up too long ago. (backstory, I normally make fun of companies who put coming soon banners up, then take two years. So I placed the coming soon banner up as a reminder to myself that if the site didn’t go live quick, I would be a hypocrite. I guess 5 months = hypocrite)

Hello! I’m Shannon, a web designer with Factor 1. I started here in March of this year and I can’t believe it’s already been 8, going on 9 months! Some of you may already know me from creative calls, emails and a few mentions here on the blog. I do a lot of the creative stuff, brainstorming for new projects, designing websites, coding websites, creating logos etc. Here’s a list of some random facts about me: 

• I’m 24 and will be 25 in a few months.

• I was raised in North Phoenix and although the winters here are pretty nice (no getting snowed in here!) I could definitely do without our 110 degree days in the summer.

• I’m engaged and am getting married to a wonderful guy named Spencer in April!

• I graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff in 2006 with a BS in Visual Communication.

• I love to cook (and eat!) and am constantly finding new recipes to try.

• I have a 10 month old monster puppy named Mika, a red heeler that has fully discovered the “chewing phase” we only hope it passes soon..

• I enjoy most anything outdoors, camping, hiking, rock climbing, biking.

• I spent a few summers in college teaching kids how to rock climb at an affluent summer camp in upstate New York. 

• I love to travel and spent 3 months studying abroad in Italy during college.

That’s it for now, look for more creative and design-related posts soon!

Lately some of you may have noticed a few articles on the blog that “didn’t seem like Matt”. Well, that’s cause they weren’t from Matt. To protect Matt’s reputation from being altered (he is such a great guy) I thought I would take just one post to introduce myself.

Factor 1 Context: Matt & I have been friends for a few years now. We started collaborating on creative projects together while he was still at his first place of employment and while I was a pastor in a local church. Those early years helped us refine some of the products we deliver today. Matt, as many of you know, is a pretty uber creative dude. Together we decided last year to officially join forces as “Partners”; we’re pretty pumped about what the future holds for Factor1.

Personal Vital Data: Married w/ 3 awesome boys (www.Russell5.com) – I am older than Matt by almost a decade; I am younger inside than I look on the outside – passionate about Mtn. Biking – excited to get up each morning and make a difference with my life – need to begin each day with a Starbucks coffee fix (Venti Pike’s w/ room for 1/2 & 1/2 + 3 raw sugars just in case any of you should need to order if for me)

Professional Skills: – VARIED – for Factor1 I bring business & creative development skills to the table. Most of my practical skills as they relate to our clients are in Marketing; helping you reach your audience & customer w/ a high degree of impact.

I hope this helps you get a flavor of the ‘other guy’ at Factor 1. While there are times when Matt & I vary in our styles & approaches to challenges put in front of us you can know 2 things for sure:

1. our partnership is rock solid w/ the unified goals

2. we aim to deliver creative, original, excellent & high impact products for every one of our clients