As a small brand design agency with a multi-talented staff, we’re big fans of self-educating. Whether that means mastering a new digital advertising tool, embracing a new approach to creative thinking, or gaining a greater understanding of the world in which our work exists, we love when we find what we need in a book. Here are a few of the books we’ve each been meaning to read for a little while – perhaps you can add them to your reading list and learn alongside us.
Preparation Leads to Great Design: Annual Report Tips for Success
Annual report design does not need to be an afterthought. Lift up the visibility of your organization’s story with a thoughtful design that makes an impact. Make the most of your annual or impact report with these preparation tips.
How much impact can one straw have? The Straw Forward Project
How do you persuade people to rethink something that is deeply embedded in their lives — so embedded that daily life would be radically different without it? With the Straw Forward project, we encouraged conversation about a nuanced issue.
Marketing Shifted. Now what…
Due to the emergence of digital media (i.e. social media, blogging, video, online reviews, etc) marketing is shifting almost daily. Traditional marketing channels have gone digital. Buying has gone social. Experiences with new and current customers are happening online first before the real-world. As a business, organization or professional it’s important to take a thoughtful look at the best way … Read More
Thanks and Joy
As we approach the holiday season, the Shift team is taking a little time to share what brings us joy and makes us feel thankful — so many things, big and small. Sara Coffey I am thankful for my community in Pittsburgh, and the way they inspire and support me. Specifically the women around me who are constant source of inspiration. … Read More
The Dialect of Design
When you travel, you realize a lot of things about the way you communicate. During a recent trip, I began to think about the fact that graphic design has its own “regional accent,” not unlike spoken communication.
Natural Product Expo: Product Reviews
The amount of free samples and giveaways from the Natural Product Expo loaded us with lots of strange and wonderful treats. As an opportunity to challenge our Writing Team, we all took a product and found creative ways to write a product review. Have fun reading some of the interesting ways we decided to review some peculiar products. BRAD’s Veggie … Read More
An Expo of Natural Products Shows What’s Right and Wrong with How We Consume
Baltimore is known for all things crab legs, soft shell, soup, cakes and steamed. But for three days in September the “Charm City” played host to more than 1,500 other food options when the Natural Products Expo East set up shop in the city’s convention center a few hundred yards from Inner Harbor. The broad definition of the term “natural” … Read More
PUMP Brand Refresh: Elevating a Storied Brand
At Shift Collaborative, we love creating brand identities because it’s a chance for our whole team to get together and contribute to something meaningful that will be visible in our community. We were especially eager to work on a new brand identity for the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, or PUMP as it is known to most in the Pittsburgh community. … Read More
Do Good
Most large corporations have a Community Relations or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department, which focuses on giving back to the communities where they do business, where their employees live and where their customers are. According to a Time Magazine article, in 2002 only about a dozen Fortune 500 companies issued a CSR or sustainability report. Now the majority does. Some companies … Read More
A Culture of Workplace Giving
Shift Collaborative has been in business for almost four years, and I believe that we are only at the beginning of defining our company’s culture. This process of defining is likely [we hope] to be an ongoing and evolving process as we grow, expand, and adapt in the creative industry space. One of many things that our small group sees eye to eye on, is making an impact beyond … Read More
Be Creative Every Day: Tips From the Non-Creative
Creative: Having the quality or power of creating. Resulting from originality of thought, expression. (Dictionary.com) As you can imagine, a creative agency like Shift Collaborative is full of creative professionals. I am not one of them. Not in the traditional sense. I can’t draw a stick figure. I don’t sketch or doodle during conference calls. I make lists. I’m a … Read More