Tony C.

Resident Animator/Graphic Designer Extraordinaire

Besides the Bosses, he’s been here the longest – since ’07!

Guilty pleasure: Cartoons! Ren & Stimpy in particular.

Favorite hot spot: The Ottobar in Baltimore.

Where he’ll be in 5 years: Living in LA with his comedy troupe Tomorrow’s Nobody and friend Sublime rocker, Rome, (yes THE Sublime) on his way to fame and fortune. Don’t worry animating will always be a part of his life.

Favorite thing about MOS: No one is a jerk. Plain and simple.

Personal style in 3 words: Fun, punk rock, and Tony (yeah, there’s just no other way to describe it. See: banana T Shirt at left)

How he got where he is today: Partying. Seriously, after seeing a buddy’s impressive design work at a house party, Tony had to see the office. The rest is job heaven history.

Motto: “F*** the BS, I’m gonna be awesome.” In layman’s terms, you have to ignore all the negative stuff that can drag you down and just be HAPPY.

In case you haven’t heard, we MOVED – consider this your official change of address post card.

While we are still getting things settled over here, the move was pretty painless, now we have time to site back and focus on the fun stuff , like what to include in our new wall mural, or maybe just squeeze in some QT time with our favorite clients.

With September just around the corner, moving season is in full swing. Over the years, our office has jumped shipped more  than once, so consider us the experts on feng shui fundamentals. When it comes to turning a new space into a happy place – there’s just 5 things you’ve got to remember.

1. Keep it organized.

Do yourself a favor and pack smart, then UNPACK smarter! Organize everything into separate boxes by room and specific supply.

For example, the coffee maker and coffee filters can go in one box labeled: “Kitchen – drinks”. Include boxes of tea, containers of sugar, anything that you would need to fix your AM cup of choice.

Now when you get to your new place, you can drop off boxes in their designated area and unpack them one room at a time. Continue reading →

Every creative genius knows that a boost of  brilliance can come at any time. It could be the wee hours of the night or at the early glimpses of sunrise. But let’s be real – the rest of the world just doesn’t seem to get it.

So what’s a hot shot, slim bot like yourself supposed to do when you feel yourself turn into the grim reaper around the office water cooler at 2 p.m.? Pick your poison – sugar or caffeine. Let’s run the stats on your energy boost options…

The Energy Drink:

These high-sugar, acid filled, cans of sugar are your worst option for an afternoon pick me up. Brands like Red Bull and Monster will hype you up with the excess caffeine for a few hours, but you’ll pay the price with a killer crash. Unless your looking to take a snooze on the copy machine – skip it! Continue reading →

“The difference between the forgettable and the enduring is artistry.” The infamous words of Bill Bernbach, Advertising pioneer who made a name for himself in the late depression era in New York City. Above is Bernbach’s most famous ad for Volkswagen.

Almost thirty years after his passing (He would have celebrated his 100th birthday this month), Bernbach’s innovative advertising techniques are still used today. An out-of-the-box way of thinking and an extreme devotion to creativity are what garnered respect from the industries top ad executives of his time.  Bernbach’s most notable contribution to the industry was combining copy writers and art directors into one cohesive team of equals- a system that remains a part of today’s ever expanding ad market.

“Advertising is not a science, it is persuasion, and persuasion is an art, it is intuition that leads to discovery, to inspiration, it is the artist who is capable of making the consumer feel desire.”

Bernbach was ahead of his times back in the 1960′s and probably never even foresaw how true his theory would prove to be.  In a world of lightening fast digital media, Bernbach’s  notion to create beautiful, artistic ads to lure the customer in is the only way any company has a chance these days.

Check out this video short of Bernbach as he explains his thinking behind some of his best ads. Grab your ipad, you might learn a thing or two!

With the onset of mobile technology, social media marketing, and all things app related, now is the time to do a little revamping to your web persona and assure your place in fan base all-stardom. Use our checklist to make sure you’ve got the power, the staying power that is.

1. Mobilize

With the creation of the ipad, the nook, and all those other smart devices making our book bags a little lighter, surfing the web on anything else is like voluntarily putting yourself  back in the Zach Attack Era of technology. Mobile sites give us all exactly what we’re looking for within a fraction of the time it takes on those older sites, ones crafted way back in 2009.  If you are one of those Saved By the Bell supporters who hasn’t bothered to update your old interface to a simplified cell compatible version, you need to get a grip! Times are a changin’, and fast. If you want to continue to satisfy your online users you need to build a mobile site plain and simple.

2. Liquify Your Assets

Once you make the change to a mobile site, you have got to make that solid piece of web a little more liquid. Standard websites utilize so many nuances that involve mouse hovering, drop down menus, keyboard short cuts, etc. – all of which cannot be accessed through touchscreen technology. If you want anyone to stay on your website for longer than six seconds, you have to make it easy enough for a four year old to use. Liquid layers takes all of that into consideration by cutting out any type of menu or navigation system that requires more than a pointer finger.

3. Social Media Manifesto

You may think this seems a little too obvious, but it’s not – we promise. We all know how important it is to incorporate social media into your business plan and make it a daily part of your marketing efforts, but beyond that you need to see how all of your efforts are paying off. You wouldn’t go to the gym and run around for an hour without tracking how far you went, would you? If you would, then you must not care about your body at all – same goes for measuring social media marketing impact. Companies are rolling out new programs dedicated to measuring your impact through every single character in your 140 word long whipper snapper. Hootsuite, Spredfast and Google Analytics, are some of our favorites.

4. Local Yocals

Maybe you’re a national company and you think your little town of  Nonexistent, Pennsylvania has no interest in what you’re selling – ya wrong! They do, they really do! Localizing your brand, no matter where you are, ultimately aids with brand recognition and your level of comfort with all of your users/customers. You’ll pop-up more frequently on Google Maps, search engines, and every kind of app that your business might be included in. Watch as your fan base starts to revel Gaga’s loyal little monsters.

5. Live it Live!

With constant feed updates from Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, everyone wants their news and they want it now! We’ll all seen the live Twitter feeds that make their way onto blog pages, but if you want to stay on top of your game, you’ll need to incorporate all of your news into some sweet sidebar action. Video blogging? Filming your own TV show? Blast it live! The more tidbits you give your followers, the more likely they are to come back on a frequent basis.

Now stop reading this blog and go fix your own!