This pub will be an authentic Irish pub, with many aspects of the interior and exterior being completed by Irish artists. The overall interior design of the property is being completed by The Irish Pub Company, known around the world for designing some of the best Irish pubs.

Brian Joseph Studios has been hired to develop the online presence for Ballyorney, including the web design & development, and various social media profiles.

We’re excited to work with Ballyorney and their team, and look forward to a few pints with them on opening day!Recent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

Brian will be giving direct tips on the best tools and methods to incorporate into your social media strategy for small to medium businesses in plain English, and without the nonsense that comes from many so-called “Social Media Experts”.

The goal of Brian’s talk will be to  simplify social media for small – medium businesses, removing the jargon and helping local business people in Southwest Florida to feel inspired to not only begin using social media, but to understand its potential and to start developing their own social media strategies.Recent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

Thumbtack seems like a good service and we are currently testing it and checking out the features.

Check our creative design firm listing on ThumbtackRecent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

At Brian Joseph Studios we work with several non-profit organizations throughout Lee and Collier County. As our entire staff consists of animal lovers and owners, one organization we enjoy dedicating our time to is the Lee County Domestic Animal Service.

This organization is a government run, domestic stray animal control agency, which is tax-funded. They provide aid to our entire community by:

• Adoption of unwanted, neglected, and abused animals into loving, permanent homes.
• Reuniting lost and missing pets with their rightful owners.
• Ensuring public health and safety.
• Providing the community with education on responsible pet ownerships and compliance of local ordinances and State Statutes relating to animals.
• Reducing of pet overpopulation through non-lethal humane methods.
• Strengthening the human-animal bond to help reduce the amount of animals surrendered to overcrowded shelters.

Jennifer helping to unload the donations

Currently the Lee County Domestic Animal Service has donation bins at Publix locations around Lee County. They are collecting dog food, dog treats, dog toys, cat food, cat litter, and cat toys. They accept all donations, and any little bit helps to support the cause.

Below is a list of Publix locations participating with a donation center. You will find a blue bin at these locations in Southwest Florida, where you are able to drop off your donation.

• Colonial Crossing
• Del Tura Plaza
• Homestead Shopping Plaza
• Midpoint Center
• The Center of Bonita Springs
• The Shoppes of Fiddlesticks
• Del Prado & Kismet
• Bonita Grande Crossing
• Fort Myers Beach
• Summerlin Crossings
• Cross Roads Shopping Center

If you have any questions regarding the Lee County Domestic Animal Services, please contact them at: 239-LEE-PETS. You can also visit their website at http://www.leelostpets.com. They are located at 5600 Banner Dr., Fort Myers, FL 33912

Hours of Operation
Monday through Saturday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm***
***Kennels are open from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm for viewing pets for adoption or for claiming lost petsRecent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

And….yet again, the online community is slightly baffled. An empty horizontal bracket is supposed to represent the idea that Myspace is a place where people can do anything, with the “space” in the logo representing the users’ space to create whatever they want.

Apparently you can now do anything with identities also, and you don’t even need to finish typing the name of the business. With this new Myspace logo, score one for the ultimate in minimalistic identity design. We’re not sure anyone else gets a point in this case.Recent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

The details of what the winner receives are unclear in the inquiry, with the only promise made being that the designer will receive compensation if they are chosen.  This brings us to the major problem with this process:

This company will only compensate the winning firm for their work, time and effort. All other designers that enter a bid receive nothing.

A competition like this is called “Speculative Work” and is disrespectful to both the design industry and the designers involved.

The approach they are pursuing is one that compromises quality of work  and also violates a tacit, long-standing ethical standard in the communication design profession worldwide.

If this was spec work, one of these dogs would be fed at the end of the race!

AIGA, the nation’s largest and oldest professional association for design, strongly discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted on a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a project.

There are two main reasons for this position:

1. To assure the client receives the most appropriate and responsive work. Successful design work results from a collaborative process between a client and the designer with the intention of developing a clear sense of the client’s objectives, competitive situation and needs. Speculative design competitions or processes result in a superficial assessment of the project at hand that is not grounded in a client’s business dynamics. Design creates value for clients as a result of the strategic approach designers take in addressing the problems or needs of the client and only at the end of that process is a “design” created. Speculative or open competitions for work based on a perfunctory problem statement will not result in the best design solution for the client.
2. Requesting work for free demonstrates a lack of respect for the designer and the design process. Requesting work for free reflects a lack of understanding and respect for the value of effective design as well as the time of the professionals who are asked to provide it. This approach, therefore, reflects on the client’s practices and standards and may be harmful to the professional reputation of both the client and their  business.There are few professions where all possible candidates are asked to do the work first, allowing the buyer to choose which one to compensate for their efforts.
   

   Just consider the response if you were to ask a dozen lawyers to write a brief for you, from which you would then choose which one to pay!

   We realize that there are some creative professions with a different set of standards, such as advertising and architecture, for which billings are substantial and continuous after you select a firm of record. In those cases, you are not receiving the final outcome (the advertising campaign or the building) for free up front as you would be in receiving a communication design solution.

There are designers and design firms that will agree to “work on spec”. They will most likely be less professional and less experienced  than a firm that disagrees with speculative work.

If a designer agrees to work on spec during the bid process in the hopes of being chosen as the winner, it displays a level of desperation which is a common characteristic of an unsuccessful business. If you as a client choose to work with a designer that agrees to spec work, you should not be surprised when you don’t receive the level of service or quality that you are hoping for.

There is an appropriate way to explore the work of various designers. A more effective and ethical approach to requesting speculative work is to ask designers to submit examples of their work from previous assignments as well as a statement of how they would approach your project. It is also wise to judge a design firm’s merit by reviewing their client list. You can then judge the quality of the designer’s previous work and easily determine the level of skill and experience the designer or firm possesses.

More useful information on spec work can be read here

Update – Sunday, August 1st 2010

We responded to the inquiry notifying the client that we would not be entering into their bid process and we included much of the above information in our email to them. It appears that a few hours after our response, the company has now modified the document (hosted on their servers) that contains the details of the bid process that they are sending to designers.

They are no longer requiring two homepage designs to enter with the bid, but have added the alternative option to meet with them and “schedule a time to show us why….you are different from the rest.”.

This still isn’t ideal , as they are still asking for bidders to present design work for free (unless chosen as the winner) as the first option, but at least we helped to educate them and encouraged them to re-think their process. Recent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

You will now see something like “John Smith likes Brian Joseph Studios” show up in your friends’ updates when they like something. It seems that the main reason that Facebook changed this function from “become a fan” to “like”, is down to the flexibility of this sharing model.

With the “like” function now in place, Facebook users can not only “like” a company, artists or brands, but they can also “like” specific articles and pages on other sites around the internet, and share them via their Facebook wall.

Screenshot - Brian Joseph Studios Facebook Page

As always here at Brian Joseph Studios, we are ahead of the curve and have already added the ability for our visitors to “like” our blog posts! At the beginning of each article in our blog, you will see the “Like” button along with the names of your friends that “Like” this post also (along with other’s dependent on their Facebook privacy settings) .

So, go ahead and try it out! “Like” this article by clicking the button at the beginning of this article and then visit your Facebook profile page to see your wall updated! (If you are reading this via an RSS reader, you will need to click here to visit this article on site, and to see the “Like” button.)

Thanks for sharing our news with your friends! If you have anything you’d like to share, let us know on Twitter or on our Facebook page. Recent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

Earlier this week, Rasmussen College, founded in 1900 with campuses in Minnesota, Illinois, Florida, Wisconsin, North Dakota and over 12,000 students, contacted Brian to ask if he would be interested in becoming a member of the advisory board for their School of Technology and Design. Brian was chosen as a result of his experience, knowledge and skill displayed in the design and development industry, and he is honored to participate on the advisory board at Rasmussen College.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to really get a closer look at what exactly design and tech students are learning today, and the processes that are involved in their curriculum. I’m looking forward to bringing my experience to the table and hopefully in the long run we can help the students to be even more marketable once they finish their education and go out into the field.” said Yerkes. Recent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

Saint Patrick’s Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig) is a yearly holiday celebrated on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (circa AD 387–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland. It began as a purely Catholic holiday and became an official feast day in the early 1600s. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Ireland’s culture.

It is a public holiday on the island of Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) and widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora in places such as Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and Montserrat.

History of St. Patrick’s Day in America:

Irish Society of Boston organized what was not only the first Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the colonies but the first recorded Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the world on 18 March 1737. The first parade in Ireland was not until the 1931 parade in Dublin. This parade in Boston involved Irish immigrant workers marching to make a political statement about how they were not happy with their low social status and their inability to obtain jobs in America. New York’s first Saint Patrick’s Day Parade was held on 17 March 1762 by Irish soldiers in the British Army.The first celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1766, the parades were held as political and social statements because the Irish immigrants were being treated unfairly. In 1780, General George Washington, who commanded soldiers of Irish descent in the Continental Army, allowed his troops a holiday on 17 March “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence.” This event became known as The St. Patrick’s Day Encampment of 1780.

Irish patriotism in New York City continued to soar and the parade in New York City continued to grow. Irish aid societies were created like Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Hibernian Society and they marched in the parades too. Finally when many of these aid societies joined forces in 1848 the parade became not only the largest parade in the United States but one of the largest in the world.

source

Here at Brian Joseph Studios, we hope that you enjoy your St. Paddy’s Day celebrations today! You might find a few of us at Johnny Molloy’s Sports Pub in Estero, Florida, or even possibly at Fifth Avenue in Naples, Florida Recent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]

Our client was in need of a new website as soon as possible, and so we developed a single page design to get them started immediately. We are currently in the process of developing a full website featuring a blog platform, photo galleries, weekly tour updates and much more.

Together with some search engine marketing, we are currently developing a marketing strategy which includes brochure design and placement and PR with hotels and various other businesses in Dublin City. We are excited to help this new business take off!

Some of the one-page website features include:

• Custom web design
• Jquery coding – glide/slide and fade functions
• CMS system
• Online booking form with email notifications

Check back here soon to see read about the full website when we complete it. Recent Posts:

• New Website Launched – O’Brien Helicopters[ October 19, 2011 ]
• Halloween Fort Myers and Naples 2011[ October 19, 2011 ]
• “Website Awesomesauce” – formula by Brian Joseph Studios[ August 29, 2011 ]
• New Website Launch – KC Wilson Construction, Naples Florida[ August 9, 2011 ]