But when CannAmm came to DONOVAN in 2011, their brand did not reflect the true nature of their business. Its expertise. Its size. Or its heritage.

The DONOVAN team began its unique branding method with a complete analysis of CannAmm’s direct competition and determined the best strategy for positioning the business in the market. After extensive interviewing of management as well as round-table discussions with all the key players, the essence of the new brand began to take shape. Maintaining their leadership was the goal. Conveying their history and authority was key.

DONOVAN modernized and brought new life to a business that hadn’t changed their look in years.

It seemed that every company offering occupational testing services was calling itself the leader. “Canada’s national leader in occupational testing.” “Canada’s largest and most comprehensive drug and alcohol testing provider.” To a customer, size doesn’t mean very much.

“How does the size of your company benefit my business?”

“How does my business benefit from your services and expertise?”

These are the questions the DONOVAN team answered.

Armed with a brilliant new look, CannAmm also needed a new way of talking about itself and communicating to clients the importance of occupational testing − and how their business will benefit from a safer workplace. Simple, impactful messaging was crafted across all collateral pieces.

With this new set of tools, CannAmm is able to always put its best foot forward and easily move into new business markets. The team at DONOVAN is excited to see this stunning new brand out in the world, helping CannAmm connect with its audience and differentiate itself from the competition.

Both internal and external reception of the new brand has been overwhelmingly positive. With such exceptional success in the beginning, the DONOVAN team looks forward to a long-lasting relationship between the two businesses.

I once lived on butterscotch pudding for a week. It was my first week in my first apartment. That was over 10 years ago, and since then, and with two children, I have graduated from the “How to Write a Proper Grocery List” program. I have also become acutely aware of the value and necessity of a nutritionally complete grocery cart.

My oldest daughter was my first grocery cart companion. Her incentive for good behavior was to pet the big plastic dog that stood guard beside the food bank box. Both my children accompany me now and we feed that box the same snacks that they love. They both recognize the importance of the box that gets filled and emptied into one big cupboard. That is the general idea, I suppose – that giant cupboard feeding our city.

DONOVAN agrees that childhood creativity is fuelled by warm memories and full stomachs, of happily sharing lunch with your best friend, laughing. Filling the big box is this month’s group goal for giving back to our community.

DONOVAN encourages everyone to support their local food bank.

That led me to write this article. As Art Director at DONOVAN, I am often asked “how did you get that idea?” or “what is your creative process?”

Coming up with a definitive answer to that question is actually quite difficult. Frankly, inspiration for any creative execution can come from unlikely places. In this article, I will touch on the online resources that myself and many other creatives use as visual inspiration.

Every morning, I spend an hour satisfying my curiosity. This teaches me about what’s new in the online world of design, aids in the process of developing artwork for clients, and helps me to properly speculate on the cost for new jobs based on past examples/techniques.

Looking for new ways to get inspired? Read on.

Be Inspired.

Dribbble

Dribbble is an online design community based on a basketball theme. Shots are taken of works in progress, and users have the ability to rate, like, discuss or rebound with their own interpretation. Some of the perks dribbble has are the ability to filter the gallery based on colour, or follow specific designers to see what they have been up to. In order to fully interact with the site, you need to be drafted by a current member, but simply viewing shots is open to all visitors.

Pattern Tap

Want to know how other web designers handled a giant drop down menu, or a modal window? Pattern Tap is a user-submitted gallery of snippits from around the web. This is a great resource to have when you’re trying to visually explain a particular feature of a website for a prospective client.

Brand New

Want to stay on top of recent rebrands? Brand New is an excellent resource. It’s a simple idea: show old identity, compare to new identity, writers at Under Consideration give their opinion on the rebrand, users rate and discuss the rebrand. This is a great place to see what’s happening around the world in large rebranding projects. See the best and the worst.

Art of the Menu

Most print designers can relate to this, sit down for a nice dinner at the local watering hole, pick up the menu and begin critiquing it. Also from the team at UC, Art of the Menu is a specific gallery for restaurant menu design. Menu design really is an art form, and after browsing a few of the pages, you’ll see why.

Best Web Gallery

Web design galleries are a dime a dozen. But bestwebgallery.com has been my go-to gallery for years now. A good mix of style and industry. Also a great responsive design, making mobile browsing a joy.

Site Inspire

The sites featured are typically european in nature of design style. Looking for some inspiration on minimalist layouts? This is a good starting point.

Designspiration

Designspiration is exactly what the title says, design inspiration. The site is kept pretty open ended though. No specific medium, there is a mix of package, industrial, illustration, web, graphic, type design all in the same place. Looking for something in particular? Try the search. (ps. the size of the search input is awesome!)

Over the last three to four years, the documentation of process and galleries in the design workspace have exploded online. If you spend as much time as I do in front of a screen, inspiration often comes from online resources.

Check back later (or subscribe to the RSS feed/newsletter) when I touch on the forms of inspiration that many people never think of.

“Pecha Kucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February, 2003, as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.

It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat,” it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.”

-Official Pecha Kucha Website

Edmonton’s Pecha Kucha night continues to gain momentum with each event, proven further by PKN 12 having already sold out by mid-January.

This week’s event has ten speakers, ranging from bakers to yogis, with an intermission halfway through the evening. If you were unable to get a ticket to the event, tune into the live video at http://www.livestream.com/edmontonjournal or, follow
the #PKN12 hashtag on Twitter.

Edmonton’s NextGen is a group of young, passionate, community-minded individuals who are taking the future into their own hands by creating a city that attracts and gives voice to the next generation of Edmontonians. For more information, visit Edmonton’s NextGen website at www.edmontonnextgen.ca.

DONOVAN  is proud to boast Krissy Schmidt’s dedication to Edmonton’s NextGen as a Working Group Committee Member.

Or is it?

Always striving to foster team creativity, DONOVAN encourages everyone under its roof to develop and share their creative pursuits.

Senior Strategist/Researcher Linda Affolder is trying her hand at viewing things through the lens of the camera.  In the coming months, she will provide glimpses inside the agency to capture and communicate some of the colour and different dimensions that make our agency what it is.

Stay tuned for exclusive sneak peeks inside the DONOVAN office.

It doesn’t take long for Jeff Rosenblum to grab your attention, and he certainly had the crowd at Thursday’s ACE presentation of ‘The Naked Brand – A Lunch with Jeff Rosenblum’ tuned into his message. Rosenblum, who is co-founder and co-president of Questus, an award-winning advertising agency based out of New York, gave a rousing talk about how advertising is not only due for a revolution, but needs one. Jeff spoke about his career, his experiences and also presented clips from his documentary, The Naked Brand.

The Naked Brand presents advertisers with a problem: Consumers are so bombarded with advertising that the traditional methods are no longer working. People don’t believe the lofty claims made by ads, and are also less trusting of corporations than ever before. In addition, consumers are so bombarded by advertising that an overwhelming majority of ads are completely ignored.

Rosenblum says that 85% of TV ads are completely ignored, and only 1 out of 1000 banner ads gets clicked.

Jeff’s answer? Transparency.

His argument is that brands need to spend less money pretending to be great, and more time actually being great. That means less spending on advertising, and more on customer service, R&D and their own internal culture. Advertising can then become less about telling stories about how great a brand is.  Jeff points to examples which include outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, who told Black Friday shoppers to “Not buy this jacket,” and shoe retailer Zappos, who promotes their customer service even more than their shoes. Both companies have seen an increase in revenue because of this focus on transparency.

The documentary The Naked Brand opens this spring, with 100% of profits going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Follow Jeff Rosenblum on Twitter @JRQuestus.

The night featured the talented minds of five creative directors from advertising agencies around Edmonton. They each provided their own unique insights into agency life and their personal processes for success and creative excellence.

The round of questioning was led by Joyce Byrne, Associate Publisher of Venture Publishing, and ranged from (paraphrased): ”How do you relinquish control and give your creative team freedom to create? How do you direct creative?” and “Tell me the first thing that pops into your mind when I say: Helvetica? Times New Roman? Fluid?”

(Photo credit to Sheena Moore, ACE Programming Co-Chair)

Read a few of the big takeaways from each of the speakers last night. The following quotes are paraphrased (my apologies for any inconsistencies):

• “Facebook is stupid.”
• “Good designers cause trouble.”
• “I’m a true believer of conversation not presentation…during presentations.”
• (On presenting creative) “I ask the client how it makes them feel, not what they think.”
• “We’re a long way from being right all the time.”
• “If you ask me to give you award-winning work, if that’s the biggest goal of the project, I’m going to be a pain in your ass because I’m going to make you push the client and make them uncomfortable. Work that wins awards makes people uncomfortable because it pushes boundaries and it’s always different, they’ve never seen it before.”
• (Advice for students) “Do as much freelance work as you can so you can really experience and understand the designer/client relationship.”
• (On how to get over a creative block) “Get as far away from [the work] as possible. Forget about it. Your brain will keep working on it…it’ll come.”
• (Reciting a classified ad published in the early 20th century seeking a crew for an Antarctic sea voyage) “Men Wanted: for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.” (Source)
• “Great advertising touches upon the truth.”

The event had a great turnout, and while there was a good amount of goofing around going on, the talk touched on a few timely and serious topics regarding the sometimes brutal nature of the ad biz. It was a rare treat to get five seasoned veterans into one room for a candid conversation.

When I decided to move into agency work, I began to realize that what I wanted to do was actually a crossover of multiple roles. As the saying goes “you can’t have it all.” I needed to make a decision.

Information that explains the various roles in an agency is hard to find, partially because each agency has its own unique model for how they work. Smaller grassroots agencies tend to have overlapping roles, while larger agencies tend to have very specific definitions for what a team member’s tasks are.

Below is a look at one common agency structure, along with brief outlines for the main roles and responsibilities to help you determine which role is right for you.

Overall Structure

At minimum, agencies are divided into two primary areas: Account Services and Creative. As agencies grow larger, you may also find Interactive, Research, Public Relations and Media departments.

Account Services

Account Services is the liaison between the Client and the Agency. This department’s job is to understand and/or translate the client’s requests and ensure the client’s expectations are aligned with the Creative Department’s execution.

The Account Services role is both as a project manager and a consultant to the client. As The Institute of Communications and Advertising explains:

The job of the account service person is to understand totally his or her client’s business in order to:

• Advise the client on a variety of marketing/strategic/financial issues
• Identify and motivate the correct agency resources to build the client’s business
• Co-ordinate overall agency involvement and projects between client and agency

Creative Services

Creative is responsible for ideas from concept to completion. Lead by the Creative Director, the team is a combination of roles including Art Directors, Graphic Designers, Copywriters, Producers and Traffic Managers.

Print, radio, television and interactive design are all provided by the Creative Department.

Interactive Services

The Interactive Department is responsible for web development, software development and social media. To be more specific, the Interactive Department programs and builds websites, mobile apps and other any other type of digital executions. They provide SEO, SEM and their respective analytics, and also manage social sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

It’s important to note that Interactive is sometimes considered part of the Creative team because the two work closely together.

Research

The Research Department provides analytics and data for client projects. They are responsible for organizing and evaluating surveys, focus groups and other forms of data collection. From this data, the Research Department creates a strategy that is used as the basis for each campaign.

Public Relations

Public service announcements, press releases, and press meetings are the responsibility of Public Relations. It is Public Relations’ job to manage the flow of information and, ultimately, brand perception.

Media Services

Media Services takes care of all the media buying, coordination and analytics for print, radio, television and online. This involves an immense amount of time negotiating with media outlets and also determining the best placement to effectively reach target markets.

While all the roles in an agency offer exciting opportunities with unique challenges, it’s important to remember you can only pick one. A career in advertising begins with determining which role you’d like to pursue and understanding the responsibilities it entails. Once you’ve figured that out, you’re on the right track to a successful interview. It’s all about what you can give to the agency, and how you fit into their business.

Read more about agency life:

So… You Want to be in an Advertising Agency? 1995. Institute of Communication Agencies: http://icacanada.ca

First launched in 2009, this year is the 4^thannual Ad Week with major events in Toronto and smaller events in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

Follow The Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA) Official Advertising Week Canada Twitter account @adweekcdn as a source of news for ICA & Ad Week Canada initiatives, and #adweekCA to tune into Ad Week discussions.

So what is Ad Week all about?

It’s all about recognition. Profiling the accomplishments of the Canadian communications industry.  Appreciating thought leadership. Celebrating our success and inspiring future success.

(www.advertisingweek.ca)

The Advertising Club of Edmonton (ACE) has taken the initiative to organize a number of interesting events throughout the week, including agency tours for students, all the way to a Creative Director Roundtable.

I admit, I’m tempted to pose as a student so I can attend the tours. Experiencing the dynamics of each agency and having the opportunity to tour the offices is an unbelievable privilege I would highly recommend to the budding advertising student or industry hopeful.

Thursday, Jeff Rosenblum will be presenting on “The Naked Brand” at an ACE luncheon in the beautiful Art Gallery of Alberta. Jeff is the Co-Founder of Questus and highly regarded as one of the leading innovators in the field of digital marketing.

To date, it doesn’t appear Edmonton’s post-secondary institutes have any Ad Week programming of their own, but I’m optimistic about 2013 as DONOVAN has already reached out and offered our time to bring Ad Week on campus.

This week is a great opportunity for anyone in the advertising, creative, and/or communications industry to get out and make connections, gain new insights, and invest in Edmonton’s ad community.

A huge shout-out to ACE who has taken the initiative to bring Ad Week to Edmonton. Visit their website at www.adclubedm.com for full details or follow them on Twitter at @AdClubEdm.

Hope to see you all there!

Note: As one would expect, there is an American Ad Week held the first week of October in New York. You can visit the website at www.advertisingweek.com or on Twitter at @advertisingweek – a good follow year-round.

New faces. New challenges. New goals.

I decided to move into agency work. The decision was slightly ironic.

When I began my Commerce degree a number of years ago, I was determined to graduate and conquer the advertising world, but throughout my time at school, my marketing professors constantly reiterated that advertising was a poor choice. “The glitz, glamour and parties are all a façade! And, worse than that, the hours are long and the pay is low!”

Yet, after four years in marketing there I was, still drawn to the world of advertising.

So I made the leap.

My professors had some things right:

• Advertising is hard work
• It can demand long hours
• It may not be the pay you expected
• You’re not partying every day of the week and if you are at a party, you likely worked 60+ hours per week to make that party happen

While my professors tried to create realistic expectations for their students, they missed one key piece of information:

Advertising is exhilarating.

Achieving that “ah-ha!” moment, watching the smile spread across your client’s face, it’s like watching Pleasantville fill with color. The work is always hard, but worth it in ways that are hard to describe.

If your passion is advertising, this industry is waiting for you. Don’t let anyone convince you differently. And, as a side note, come out to Ad Week!

Advertising Week 2012 runs January 23-27. Follow our blog for daily Ad Week posts.