ElfYourself by OfficeMax and JibJab, was all the craze last year.  Everyone was elfing themselves and their family members to celebrate the season. Plus, it is just darn funny!

This year, these guys have gone above and beyond to make the elfing experience even more customizable.  You can now upload up to 5 different photographs, choose from several different dances, including the Charleston, a hoe down experience, and disco.  For you guys out there that just loved the regular old elfyourself dance, that one is available as well.

Not only have these guys pumped up the customizable choices, they are also keeping current in the social media trends.  After your dance has been created, you can also post the dance to a variety of different social media outlets, including Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle, and many many more!

As if just having ElfYourself overtake computers everywhere wasn’t enough of an advertising wonder for OfficeMax, this year they may stand to actually make a profit off of the program.  For a mere $4.99, you can download your dance to keep for posterity.  Who knows - these early ElfYourself videos could be worth some money one day.  Even if not on the collectors market, your friends and co-workers may stand to gain an edge over you when using your video to blackmail you in a few years.

This year you can also buy products with your elf face all over them!

So, give it a try this year - it is even more fun that last year!~

Plus, this year, you have the capabilities of downloading a copy of your dance for $4.99.

How exciting for me to find myself on the HOW website!!  The question was simple - what do you want for Christmas?  Check it out here.

A Card or Computer Wall Paper

Get the newest piece of Artwork in the version of a card or as wallpaper for your computer!

Remember, we also take requests for custom artwork and products!

Now, Sari now works with The Crosbie using her skills to help grow another up and coming store that custom makes their products, taking us back to the days when people actually cared about the products they bought and considered the implications of those decisions.  You won’t find any Chinese sweat shop created products here, folks!  These products are made by true American Artisans!  Oh, and Sari!

Check out some of these awesome products and give their site a look.  Right now, their site isn’t quite complete so be sure to also visit their Etsy Shop or their blog.  Happy Shopping!

Every year the President and First Lady send out a Christmas card to loads of very important people, friends and family.  I am certain that being chosen as the artist for these cards must be a highlight in an artist’s career.

Season’s Greetings from the White House is an article from the white house which depicts 14 different cards sent from the White House over the past century.  It is a very telling thing indeed to see the choices of the presidents.  These small decisions portray a great deal about the leaders backgrounds and standing.

Ken Hudson has written a book entitled The Idea Accelerator.  Here Thinkinghow.com has reviewed the book and offers a quick video from YouTube that reviews what Speed Thinking is and what it can do for you. Fast Idea Generation - Great Results | thinkinghow.com.

For more videos on how-to use some speedthinking skills including speed brainstorming, see Ken’s website and the 2-minute coach.  If you like what you see, you can take difference courses to help you with your speed thinking skills.

A New Look for NIFDI

The National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI) based in Eugene, Oregon is a non-profit organization devoted to “providing school districts with a solid training program in Direct Instruction methodology” as well as the technical support to ease a school system’s transition into this type of instruction.  NIFDI is a blessing to our schools in these times of educational crisis.

As a non-profit organization, NIFDI is only able to survive through the dedication of its employees and school systems and the effectiveness of its products and services.  Dedication seems to be the number one means of motivation at NIFDI, and there is no doubt that the products are services are raising the bar in the field of education.  After many years perfecting the methodology, NIFDI is now ready to revamp their marketing materials, and Cotton Studios is pleased to help such a worthy cause.

We will regularly post some of the new materials and resources as we work with NIFDI to create some top-notch print materials.  We will also work to keep Cotton Studio fans in tune with the new NIFDI website as we work with Jason Zollinger to implement a fabulous new look with tons of features to aid in efficiency and ease of use for the educators and NIFDI employees.

Although currently in a testing phase, last week we went live with the new and improved website for Cotton & Co. Real Estate Inspection Services based in Houston, Texas.  You will note the similarity of the name to our name at Cotton Studios.  That is because Galen Cotton, the founder and partner of this excellent company is indeed my father.

Don’t let the familial ties fool you though.  This site was created using the same creative process as any other project.

The Research Phase

This first phase is one of the most important when creating new design work for any application.  You have to know your target market, the competition, related professional organizations, and the desires of the client.  Doing this project, I discovered many interesting things.  For example, I discovered that nearly 80% of the basic decisions involving purchasing a home are made by women.  This bit of information helped me to create a color scheme pleasing to both female and male genders within the age range of 25-70.  I also discovered that very few Real Estate Inspectors make thorough use of the web as a networking and efficiency source.  To encourage full networking capabilities, the news articles are equiped with a toolbar that allows readers to share these articles on various networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Google Reader.  These are just some of the ways we used the research to help expand the needs of our clients and hopefully our client base.

Organization of Information

Content strongly suggests the form a website should take, so information collection and organization is a crucial first step.  I took the information that appearred on Cotton & Co.’s previous site and added to it.  Within the research phase, I found that many professional organizations offer sample questions to ask Real Estate Inspectors before hiring one.  I simply interviewed Cotton & Co. to fill in the necessary blanks, and began to write the copy and develop the organizational plan for the site.

Of course, the original organizational chart was revised as we continued, but starting out with a plan is necessary for creating a well-organized site.

The Design Phase

I always start the design phase by choosing my color palette.  It may change in the course of a project, but I like to begin with a set palette which is pleasing to the client and theoretically the target audience.  I then base my layout on the organization of content.

The client’s concern on this particular project was the need to display buttons that would serve as direct pathways to the contact forms on the site.  We did this by creating a left-hand column that reoccurs on each page and present links to the form pages in a way that wasn’t boring.  I first developed the homepage, and after approval, we moved into creating the templates for the site’s interior pages.

Finishing up the Site

After all of the color choices have been made, the content has been organized, and thus the design has been complete, I then move into coding the site.  I first code the site in html using css, and I then break that down into php templates.  This site runs on the Wordpress publishing platform, which enables my clients to sign-in to the backend of the site to easily add posts, pages, and make revisions.

After the basics, I have also created several forms within the site that are emailed from the site’s database directly to Cotton & Company. These forms act as contact forms that contain the information necessary for Cotton & Company to either contact someone or to set up an inspection.  We are currently also adding the ability for payments to be made on the site through PayPal.com.  These forms will help Cotton & Company to more efficiently run their business, to help add a new set of clients, and to save money by being able to update their own website.

Check out Cotton & Company’s new site.  I would love any feedback you have to offer!

The Granfalloons Recieve the Honors

If you haven’t heard of The Granfalloons, then this is your lucky day!  These guys are awesome.  Voted by Dunlop as Band of the Week the week of 11/03, you just gotta hear them.

Dunlop says:

The Granfalloons are a welcomed return to classic rock n roll. Great 70s guitar textures with modern vocal sensibilities. Pedal steel work is great with just enough space between the notes to make them powerful. Strong song writing.

Plus on Guitar/Vocals is one of my best friends from back in the day.  Wooo Hoo, Matteo!

Give ‘em a listen and let me know what you think!

At this moment there are two different pieces of artwork from which to choose.  I will be adding more holiday artwork as this month progresses, so make certain to check in periodically.

Tower of Gifts Greeting Card

Snowman Holiday Greeting Card

Snowman Postage