Allow myself to introduce… myself

Posted on May 7, 2010 by Justin Clark

I usually look much more professional than this

Hi, I’m Justin! I’m the newest addition to the creative team here at Brand Iron. I started here right as we moved into our amazing new offices (perfect timing if you ask me).

I grew up in Oklahoma, you know, “where the wind comes sweeping down the plains”, making me a perfect fit here at the Brand Iron ranch. As a freelance graphic designer I had the opportunity to work from anywhere, so last summer I decided to saddle up and hit the ol’ dusty trail, which led me straight to Denver City.

One of the best things about being a freelancer (other than the fact I could just roll out of bed and be at “the office”) is the opportunity to be involved with a variety of design projects. That definitely hasn’t changed since starting here at Brand Iron, which is one of the reasons that my transition has been such a smooth one. On top of the variety of projects ranging from coding websites to designing bike jerseys, Brand Iron has the added bonus of working with highly motivated talent and an inspiring work environment. I’m very excited to be a part of the Brand Iron team and I look forward to cranking out some awesome designs for our clients!

A tad more about me…

When my mom would take me shopping as a kid I’d make my own toys from objects I found on the floor. I’ve known what I wanted to do since middle school and have been designing professionally since the 11th grade. Since then I’ve designed everything from edgy band merch for artists you’ve heard on the radio to corporate websites for brands you see in stores.

I have a balanced love of technology and nature. I love any sort of creative outlet, especially ones that require me to get my hands dirty. I love music, and chances are if you stop by I’ll be the one wearing gigantic headphones and maybe even dancing in my chair a little.

-Justin Clark, Design Bandit

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Brand Iron | Day 41

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Josh Barker

Hi

Hi

It’s been a few months since my first day here at Brand Iron, (41 days to be exact) so while a little delayed, this technically serves as my introduction post.

The professional-me snapshot:
My early agency existence sprouted primarily public relations and social media experience. With a few shifts on the marketing scale over the past several years, I had a good feeling from the get-go about the awesome opportunity Brand Iron offered to continue down this path. Joining the team as a Brand Wrangler, (in Google Translate terms, think – account manager) I right away took the reins of the race horse that was my client project list.
My days were busy at the onset but great nonetheless. In fact, I’d like to take this second to say how rad the team is here at ‘the ranch.’ It’s always a transition to start somewhere new – getting ingrained in the processes, adapting to the culture, absorbing the general agency practices – but starting with day one I was embraced by this group. A collective mix of talent and passion, I realized it almost instantly. Things are different here. Hard work doesn’t come easy but here, it’s done well because the people love what they do. In short, I thought (and shared with others), ‘this is awesome.’

And now a few other things:
As a Colorado-native and former-Denver dweller, I recently (re)relocated back to the Mile High city, after being in Boston for a bit. Living just up a square from Harvard and a stone’s throw from the Charles River, I worked with PR firm Porter Novelli while there. From traffic and digital mapping to B2B software to commercial printers, I supported a list of technology companies through PR and online marketing. After my return, I spent a few months with the Denver Film Society as a part of the media relations team to promote the 32nd Starz Denver Film Festival, before saddling up with Brand Iron. Among many things, a definite high point of 2009 was investing in some serious mat and mental time to become a certified yoga instructor. Whether in the studio or at the office, the practice keeps me grounded.
Now that the weather has turned, I’m stoked to be back near the Rockies. White water rafting, baseball games (let’s go Sox!), and hiking – have set a goal to conquer my first 14-er this year – will fill the summer’s when-not-at-Brand-Iron activities list.

And in the meantime, you’ll find me, along with the rest of the crew, doing what we do at our sweet new digs on 24th and Larimer. (More on that soon…)

-Abbey O’Neal, Brand Wrangler

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The Latest Addition to the Ranch

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Andrew Hoffman

Hi, my name is Chris.
I am the newest member of the Brand Iron team, joining the firm as Art Director earlier this year. I started my graphic art and web design career in 2004 in Southern California in the booming Action Sports industry. My first position was at Surf Ride Board Shops, a large retailer of surf boards and apparel. In 2007, I became the Senior Designer at Adio Footwear in San Diego. From 2006-2008 I also was a co-owner of Dagrander Studios, a marketing, advertising, branding and web development company.

In 2008 my wife Kelsay and I moved to Colorado in 2008 and accepted a Senior Designer position at Crocs Footwear. At Crocs, I was charged with advertising campaign development and implementation, unique product promotion, retail space marketing and product line development.

In my new position at Brand Iron, I will manage the company’s creative department with responsibility for the visual development of printed and web materials with emphasis on design implementation of branding strategy.

Away from the office I enjoy snowboarding, hiking, and pretty much anything to do with the mountains.

If you want to see a neglected website full of some old work of mine, check out http://www.paperastronaut.com.

-Chris Schindler, Design Bandit

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The Politics of Facebook at Work

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Andrew Hoffman

A controversy ignited when a Swiss woman was recently fired for logging into her Facebook from home after she told her work she was too sick to look at a computer. This has reiterated the transparency of Facebook and other social networking sites, and the ways they connect your private life with your professional life on a daily basis.

Applying for jobs out of college, people always warned me about the possibility of future employers scouring my Facebook page to learn more about me. I immediately changed all my profile settings so that only my closest friends and family could view my pictures, information, and wall posts and made sure to delete any pictures that I felt would not best represent my professionalism.

As I found myself jumping into the workforce I continued to Facebook as normal, but was quickly confronted with a new dilemma–the decision of whether or not to accept friendship requests from my new colleagues.

Should I friend them and let them into my private life to view all my pictures, friends, wall posts and status updates? Should I friend them but block them from viewing pictures or other specific information, which they would undoubtedly know I had blocked them from seeing? Or should I ignore the request and go on as usual keeping my Facebook strictly part of my home life? And if I accepted one did I have to accept them all?

It was time to evaluate what Facebook meant to me and how I wanted to use it. When I asked some of my friends what they had done to deal with this I got every answer imaginable.

One friend said “no way, personal is personal and should be separate from the professional”. She actually seemed appalled that colleagues have even attempted to friend me at all.

Another friend said she chooses to keep her page private and sends a respectful message to those colleagues who friend her letting them know that she would like to keep her page private to close family and friends and hopes they understand. Others said they were friends with tons of work people and that they had enjoyed the perks of making connections with partners and colleagues in their field.

And then there are those in the middle who choose to accept requests from some of their colleagues with whom they have formed friendships, but said that it had made them more aware of what they were posting on their page. Almost all of my friends said they would never friend their boss.

It seems there is no right or wrong answer at all. It depends on how you would like to use your page and how much information you like to divulge.

As for me, I have decided to use my page as a way to communicate with friends, family and coworkers. I’ve made it a conglomeration of things in a way. I don’t discuss work on my page and I don’t post anything too private. I have removed my political and religious information, just to be judicious.

Everyone draws their own lines. I’ve made my rule of thumb: don’t post anything I wouldn’t want my mom to see.

Overall, I find it enjoyable to get to know coworkers a little better, see what their hobbies and interests are and share my interests with them as well. I have kept in contact and made some great connections with past coworkers and I look forward to continuing to expand my Facebook network of friends.

-Kaitlyn Anderson

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