Steve James

Partner at Stream Creative.
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Recent Posts

10 Marketing Resources for 2010 Trends and Predictions

Here are some great articles to read about what 2010 might bring in terms of marketing and social media. Enjoy! If you have any other links to great articles please add to the comments below.

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Author: Steve James

HOW TO: Set Up Google Alerts

If you aren’t using Google Alerts yet to listen to what’s being said about your company or industry then you should start today. Here’s a quick overview of how to get it set up.

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Author: Steve James

Digital Design and Converting Advertising Messages using an Exhibio System

A few months ago a client asked us to work with them on developing custom design templates for digital signage in their office lobby. The system they are using is Exhibio which is a system that lets companies build digital billboards for in their office, hotel, restaurant, etc. After installing the Exhibio hardware/software and connecting it to your tv of choice you are able to use a web accessible content management system to design/manage what you want to appear on your tv as digital signage.

Exhibio Web Site Digital Signage
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Author: Steve James

WTF – WhatTheFont.com is a Font Matching Web Service and a Huge Time-Saver

Recently we had a new client ask us to design some holiday packaging and also update a point of purchase display box. The printer passed along the old files from the POP display but the fonts were created as outline in Illustrator. Knowing the situation with the previous design firm and our new client, I wasn’t going to get the files that had the original working fonts. My first reaction was to start browsing through Suitcase (font organizer) and just hope to find a match. This process would have wasted at least 20 – 30 minutes so instead I asked someone in our office and was directed to WhattheFont.com to see if I could find the match.

Word "Simply" uploaded to Whatthefont.com
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Author: Steve James

The value of understanding your customers

Last night my wife, our 3 kids and I had a big night out at the grocery store -  more specifically, Festival Foods. We often shop at Festival Foods for a number of reasons (not the least being their sweet liquor department). They’re certainly not the cheapest store in town, but they understand our needs as parents with small children, and make it convenient for us to purchase their “goods and services.”

Parking Sign
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Author: Steve James

Is this the year business Holiday eCards become the Norm?

It’s that time of the year when we start to get phone calls from clients looking to create a unique Holiday card to send out in December. In years past clients have always wanted to do the traditional printed greeting card/envelope and send out via bulk mail. But this year, the first thing clients have brought up is that they want to do something digital. With the business world so connected online and with the huge spike in social media involvement over the past couple years I think online Holiday greetings are going to become the norm sooner rather than later. I could be wrong, but I think this year we are going to see more digital cards from your average B to B company and not just from the Ad Agencies like years past. With printing and postage costs always increasing it makes a lot of sense for businesses to make this change to save money, which is bad news for printers and the postal service.

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Author: Steve James

Open office environment breathes creativity, growth and better graphic design.

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Author: Steve James

The power of professional photography for your design project

We recently started a campaign project with a local school to promote their annual benefit gala. As we brainstormed ideas with their marketing committee months ago the team came up with some great concepts that wrapped around the students of the school and the idea that donors and volunteers involved with the gala (coming up this November) will have a crucial role in helping students “build their futures”.

stmarcus-pics
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Author: Steve James

Office Field Trip – The Harley-Davidson Museum

We recently took off a few hours to check out the new Harley-Davidson Museum in downtown (Milwaukee). This was our June office “field trip” that we were pretty excited to see. Having heard from a few people that it was worth the trip, our expectations for the new museum were pretty high.

Stream Creative field trip to Harley Museum
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Author: Steve James

Message “delivered” with Facebook

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Author: Steve James