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When Clients Attack!

clients-1

You are floating in the still blue waters.  The sun is shining and everything is going smoothly.  The work has launched and everyone is happy.  Then, like a bad Jaws sequel, a rogue client comes out of nowhere, teeth gnashing, stirring up sand and scaring the fish away.  Relentless and unstoppable this type of client is a rare occurrence – which is why I compare it to a great white shark attack.  When they appear they can wipe out all the accomplishments you have made throughout a project, the final product you have delivered,  and the relationship you have nurtured over the course of months with someone else.  The client that was lurking in the…

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30 Pixel Perfect Websites – Awwwards

Awwwards

REBLOG: 30 Pixel perfect websites June 28 2011 by Awwwards Team Category: Webdesign We know how easy it is to buy a template change some colors, put an icon here and there, add a logo, some pictures and voilà, you’ve got yourself a website. But we also know good design takes time. Making a design that’s not only good but great can be a tedious work, but you can tell when something has been made for an specific purpose. That’s what happens when you strive for pixel perfection, it shows. Making a website that is perfect to a pixel level requires time and effort, but your work will surely look more professional and have a…

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Rogers iPad apps top the charts

Chatelaine featured in iTunes

We are really really excited to see how much support our apps are getting in iTunes! BBTF put 6 apps in Newsstand before the holidays and ALL SIX apps are in the TOP 20! #1 Chatelaine Magazine #3 Maclean’s Magazine #7 Canadian Business Magazine #10 MoneySense Magazine #11 Sportsnet Magazine #13 FLARE Magazine

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We Love You, But No

We Love You, but NO

Here we are, in a meeting with a client brainstorming the myriad possibilities for a campaign.  The excitement is in the air and everyone is offering tons of ideas – it’s collaboration central!  Then, it happens, the person signing the check says “I want it all! I want something outrageous! I want something cool!” This is the moment where we, as brand stewards, have to say “We love you, but no.”  This is not to say that our client doesn’t know what they’re talking about or understand relevancy.  However, it’s in the excitement and the media hype that sometimes we lose what makes sense.  It’s a hard thing to be brutally honest in the face…

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BBTF Launches Sportsnet Magazine on iPad

Sportsnet Magazine iPad App

Fueling the passion of Canadian sports fans, Sportsnet ushers in a new era on with a rich and multidimensional integrated brand offering across multiple platforms that engages sports fans from across Canada! We are thrilled to have our 3rd successful launch for Rogers Publishing highly anticipated NEW title Sportsnet Magazine. Earlier this year Rogers announced they would be launching a brand new sports magazine that merged TV, Radio, Print, Mobile and Digital with a fully integrated re-branding expansion to the Sportsnet brand. This launch is especially exciting for us at Built by the Factory because the iPad app launched in the same week the first Sportsnet Magazine print edition hit the newsstands. This is part…

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BBTF Launches Sportsnet Magazine on iPad

Sportsnet Magazine iPad App

Fueling the passion of Canadian sports fans, Sportsnet ushers in a new era on with a rich and multidimensional integrated brand offering across multiple platforms that engages sports fans from across Canada! We are thrilled to have our 3rd successful launch for Rogers Publishing highly anticipated NEW title Sportsnet Magazine. Earlier this year Rogers announced they would be launching a brand new sports magazine that merged TV, Radio, Print, Mobile and Digital with a fully integrated re-branding expansion to the Sportsnet brand. This launch is especially exciting for us at Built by the Factory because the iPad app launched in the same week the first Sportsnet Magazine print edition hit the newsstands. This is part…

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BBTF Launches countdown widget for Jay-Z & Kanye West “Watch the Throne” album release

Watch the Throne Promotion

BBTF works with S Carter Enterprises to help promote the pre-order on iTunes for Watch the Throne, a Jay-Z & Kayne West collaboration. This campaign promotion includes splash page on Life + Times, custom Facebook tab & an embeddable widget (seen below). Share the Watch the Throne countdown clock for your chance to win. Everyone who embeds the widget is automatically entered to win tickets to the WTT Tour date of your choice! See official rules for details.

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The digital city – It’s #IWNY

IWNY

It’s that time of year again! Internet Week New York is in full effect for it’s 4th annual festival celebrating all things Internet. As event partners, we had the opportunity to get a first look at the walk down digital memory lane with the Digital Archaeology Exhibit. If you are a true geek, this exhibit is a must see. The exhibit presents 28 historic websites, including the oldest known copy of the first site – “The Project,” which in 1991 allowed users to share documents on their PCs via the Internet – and The Blue Dot, the first known animation to hit the Web. We are always looking for things to inspire us and I…

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BBTF launches website for the Blue Note Club Jazz Festival

Blue Note Jazz Festival

The Blue Note Jazz Club, a New York institution since its inception in 1981, announced on Tuesday its inaugural jazz festival, which will run throughout the month of June in honor of the club’s 30th birthday. To make room for dozens of acts and more than 80 shows in total, the club, in addition to organizing a special series in its own space, has also scheduled concerts at the Beacon Theatre, Town Hall, B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, the Highline Ballroom, Terminal 5, Joe’s Pub, Mercury Lounge, Rose Hall at Lincoln Center, (Le) Poisson Rouge, the Lehman Center for Performing Arts and the Katonah Museum of Art. Many of jazz’s brightest lights are expected,…

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Maclean’s Magazine Tops the Charts

iTunes Featured Apps

Built by the Factory’s partnership with Rogers Publishing results in chart topping app! Maclean’s Magazine ranks #3 in iTunes News apps, outranking CNN, The Daily, NY Times, BBC, Flipboard, The Economist & Zinio. “As soon as we got our hands on the iPad last spring, we knew we were looking at something important for the future of our magazine,” said Maclean’s Executive Editor Steve Maich. “Our close collaboration with Built by the Factory resulted in an app that is a beautiful rendering of the magazine and also takes full advantage of everything the iPad platform has to offer.” Read more in official Press Release The success of the Maclean’s Magazine app has Apple featuring the…

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Built by the Factory and Rogers Publishing Partner to Bring Maclean’s Into New Medium With iPad Application

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 21, 2011 Canada’s leading weekly print magazine debuts iPad edition designed by NY-based interactive agency Built by the Factory. Built by the Factory designs iPad application for Rogers Publishing Limited Interactive agency Built by the Factory and Rogers Publishing Limited, Canada’s largest publishing company with more than 70 print brands and 45 digital properties, have partnered to develop an iPad application for Maclean’s, bringing Canada’s national magazine to life in a new medium. Well-regarded innovators in digital design and production, with successful projects completed for Ben Stiller’s STILLERSTRONG.ORG, Los Angeles Times for Causecast and LeBron James with State Farm, Built by the Factory has worked closely with Maclean’s to develop…

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Creative Roundtable: A Jay-Z State of Mind

jay_homepage

It’s time to face the critics and find out whether they’re haters or fans of Jay-Z’s latest effort in online marketing. Read on as Jeremy Davis, partner/creative director at Built By The Factory; Razorfish executive creative director Frederic Bonn; and Rashaun Hall, a former journalist turned digital marketing strategist who now serves as senior manager of digital marketing at Music Choice, drop their thoughts.

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The good, the bad & the *$#%!

Frustrated Monkey

Our user experience team read, analyzed, reviewed and tested numerous iPad magazine apps on the market. The BBTF design team is currently working on reinterpreting a magazine experience for the tablet environment, and this audit was part of creating a guideline of “best practices” We analyzed both user interface design considerations and magazine page layout strategies. There were two key questions we asked while going through this audit: What enhanced the experience? What distracted us from it? There are many aspects of app design that can be covered on this topic. We are focusing specifically on magazine app user interface considerations for this post. “Once I figured it out…”  or “Once I figured out how…

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