Some Fruitful Changes...

Yesterday, February 3rd 2012, Abe and I were pleased to announce a newly designed Fruitful-Design.com! The site was a delight to work on- and we're really happy with the result (although we will continue to tweak it for the next few weeks). Along with the re-design of the site, Fruitful also took some time to refine it's own image a little bit. We hope you like some of the changes:

New Logo

For some time, I had been wanting to make the Fruitful logo a little more illustrative and "scripty". So when I saw the lower case "f's" in Georgia's bold/italic typeface, I knew I had found a winner! In addition to it's "scripty" feel, Georgia is also recognized as one of the original "web-safe" fonts. Now that Fruitful is offering both illustration and web-design- we felt like this mark was a natural representation of our growth. 

Pantone Colors

Our original company branding was based on an orange and green found in the basic CMYK palette. And, on closer reflection, they were actually quite dull. Along with our web design, we have switched every orange to Pantone 130 and every green to Pantone 376. These brighter colors really help to convey the vibrance of our work a little better.

Design?

You may notice that we now refer to ourselves as simply Fruitful, and not always Fruitful Design. This is just an additional attempt at simplicity- and an attempt to keep up the tradition of cool, ambiguity that some of Omaha's finest firms have established: Eleven19, Secret Penguin, Grain & Mortar, What Cheer etc.

Gill Sans

We're proud to announce that we have subscribed to fonts.com's web font service- and now feature our company font, Gill Sans on our website!

Wordpress

Please don't laugh, but... we've finally taken the plunge and joined the rest of the design world in using the Wordpress Content Management system. Previously we have created static sites, Joomla based sites and have even used CMS made simple. Fruitful-design.com is our first Wordpress based site- but we have been pleased with the experience thus far! We're excited to start offering this service to our clients.

Simplified

Because I did not start out as a web designer- our previous site was based on a purchased template from ThemeForest.net and hooked up to the web by the amazing ClinchMountain.net. That site served me well for the last two years- but as we moved more into interactive and web services, it became clear that we needed a simpler, more custom site. The new Fruitful site is very clean and straight-forward- just like us! There are almost no frills- we hope our work can speak for itself.

Wait- no blog?

Actually- you're on the blog now! This blogspot blog is a collection of my 5 blogs that have floating around in cyberspace ( Xanga, Blogger, BenLueders.com, Fruitful-Design.com, God Made This Thing). I found that the more blogs I had- the more unlikely I was to ever update them. I also discovered that blogger has an all-new, customizable interface that I really enjoy! Thus- I decided to combine all of my blogs, and then organize them by the tags you see on the left. 

Abe Lueders

We simply would not be announcing a new website if my brother Abe hadn't decided to join the Fruitful team. Check out his cute, little bio here.

Putting On The Wizard Hat

(This article was taken from 36Point.com. Follow my San Fran adventures there!)

Well- it was bound to happen.

When I first started working for self-proclaimed "media mogul" Donovan Beery- I can't say it never entered my mind. I mean- Donovan was so busy flying all over the country to interview graphic design's brightest stars- that he would have to cave in at some time:
He'd have to ask me to go in his place.
So, just as the faithful servant in The Sorcerer's Apprentice (yes, the Mickey Mouse version- nobody saw that new one), I slaved away completing my daily design tasks at Eleven19- just waiting for that old, mysterious wizard (Donovan) to leave his magical wizard hat to me.
And then it happened.

Donovan realized that the all-new HOW Interactive Design Conference in downtown San Francisco would be taking place shortly after his return from the AIGA Pivot Conference in Phoenix. He had already traveled quite a bit that year (surely spreading his media mogulish power everywhere he went) and so he turned to me, with that old, mysterious, wizardly gaze and said:

"Ben, you're going to San Francisco"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Yes, I'm excited. Yes, I'm nervous. And no… I've never done a podcast before. But then again- this aint no "Design Matters", right? I mean- The Reflex Blue Show is kind of known for it's wild, last-minute, nitty-gritty, unedited realism, right? Well- I'm kinda counting on that anyway…
Tomorrow morning I have my debut podcast session with Donovan and Nate. This could be terrible… or this could be beautiful. Either way- won't you join me on this fantastic journey?
-Ben LuedersAssistant Designer
Eleven19 Communications

Being Fruitful

On August 31st 2011, at 8:49pm our first son came into the oxygen breathing part of human civilization. Jonah Benjamin Lueders weighed 8lbs 11oz, was 22 inches long and was very alert and peaceful. Mother and baby (and daddy, thanks for asking) are all doing very well.

Here's a video that chronicles the excited friends and family that rejoiced over his birth the first few days.

The music is "How Long Will It Be" by my fantastically musical friend Zach Short. Check out his stuff here.

Father's Day Gift 2011

I drew this picture for my father in law, Curt Knight, for Father's day. I actually started a similar picture over 2 years ago, but I never got around to finishing it. As this Father's day approached, Megan began pressuring me to finish the old drawing. Unfortunately I couldn't find it anywhere! So I started from scratch...

I based it off this photo of Megan and her dad at his 40th birthday party (Megan was 16 in this picture). For some reason I really like this photo.

After sketching for a little while with pencil- here's what I got:

Then I scanned it in and began coloring in photoshop. Here's Curt up close:

Here's Megan:

Tada!

Then I framed it and gave it to Curt!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY CURT!!! Thanks for letting me marry your daughter- and not killing me when you probably should have (a couple times).

Big Omaha 2011 Awards

Well, Big Omaha is here! The "nation's most ambitious conference on innovation and entrepreneurship", has truly been *the place to be in the midwest these last couple days. For me, someone who won a free ticket last minute in a fairy-taleish kind of way, it has been unbelievably exciting. Top notch speakers, indispensable networking... world changing conversations and ideas. It's all so BIG. For Omaha, anyway...

Now, as the last day of activity is about to commence, I thought it would be fun to highlight some of the people and ideas that have stood out to me, thus far...

FUNNIEST/SEEMINGLY POINTLESS award goes (of course) to Ben Huh owner of the "Cheezburger Network". Yes- he's the lolcats guy. Probably the most educational nugget I acquired from his talk was this enlightening picture from 1905. It is the first recorded lolcat:

Of course he had other provocative things to say, like:

"Crap is now gold."

COOLEST GOVERNMENT GUY award goes to Aneesh Chopra, America's new Chief Technology Officer.

He had lots of cool interesting things to say about technology...government...and stuff. But unfortunately I was too busy creating this image in "PicSay" and tweeting it via my Droid. Yes that's my brother:

MOST TOUCHING MOMENT award goes to entrepreneurial expert Shervin Pishevar and Silicon Prairie News (SPN) founder Jeff Slobotski when, in the middle of Shervin's presentation he called on the audience to give Jeff a standing ovation.

He exclaimed that he didn't "know anyone that's doing what Jeff's doing". I think there might have been a tear in Jeff's eye. (He may deny that...)

COLDEST PERSON award goes to Princess Lasertron founder Megan Hunt.

So glad I wasn't wearing that outfit yesterday... especially during the first half of the talks.

CUTEST COUPLE award goes to Daniel Muller and Lauren Christie.

Ok- Dusty and Marlina Davidson were pretty cute too. They're a close second...

BEST HAIR award goes to John Henry Muller. 'Nuff said.

MOST ELEGANT/GENEROUS PREGNANT SPEAKER award goes undoubtedly to Sarah Lacy.

Not only was she 24 weeks pregnant (just like MY wife!)- but she also gave *everyone at Big Omaha a copy of her new book! For free! (Actually- I think she made Jeff buy them for everyone.)

BIGGEST CAMERA HAM award goes, hands-down, to Kaitlyn Fillipini.

I just call them as I see them...

GREATEST FAIL award goes to poor Alex P. Gates of WHAT CHEER for only seeing the Star Wars films for the first time very recently. So sad. Can you really call his childhood a childhood? No you cannot.

GREATEST WIN award goes to Marc Ecko for naming Star Wars as the most inspirational startup. (Take that Alex P. Gates!) May the Force be with you, Marc.

GREATEST HIGH FIVE goes to both myself and SPN intern Brittany Mascio.

You only get half of it in this photo... but it was pretty darn epic.

GREATEST HUGZ and GREATEST FASHIONZ awards both go to Steve Gordon of RDQLUS fame.

We had a great little talk after yesterdays sessions, and he gave me an awesome bro hug. It was so manly. Plus, there's something about hugging a man with RDQLUS gear on. It's a very affirming thing. So beautiful.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Alright- Dusty and Jeff just came on stage... the last day begins! It's time to get going...

All images were taken by Malone & Company and can be found on the Silicon Prairie News Flickr.

How I Won A Contest

For the last few years the good folks at Silicon Prairie News have helped to organize an innovative conference for designers, techies and entrepenuers in the heart of Omaha. They call it "BIG OMAHA". Last year was the first time that I really became interested in being a part of this unique, annual experience. Unfortunately, it was scheduled during the week of my wedding! So this year, I was really looking forward to going...

But when the 2011 Big Omaha details were announced, I realized that I might have a hard time convincing my wife, Megan, that it would be worth the cost. We had recently switched to a cash budget system and had been trying really hard to be good stewards with our money. (Especially since we are expecting our first child in August, and Megan won't be working for long) But by the time I had figured out a way to pay for my Big Omaha ticket, I discovered that the event had been sold out! Obviously I was forlorn.

Then suddenly- just a couple weeks before the event itself, a very creative local web design company known as "What Cheer" announced a contest. Whoever could color their cow the best, would win a free ticket to Big Omaha. I was ecstatic! This was the chance I needed! But what should I do?

When I first printed the pdf, it accidentally printed vertically... like this:

I liked it! The added space above and below the cow, filled me with creativity. Already I started imagining little caricatures of Omaha's tech culture surrounding the little cow. SPN's prairie dog... the Secret Penguin... perhaps Princess Lasertron and her baby in some sort of spacecraft. Perfect! I just knew this personal touch could set me apart. But what about the cow herself?

Then I had it-

Inside the What Cheer headquarters there is an entire wall covered in a very iconic black and white floral design wallpaper. I thought it would be cool to meticulously re-create this pattern on my cow. So I first looked it up...

Woah! The pattern was a lot more intricate than I had remembered. But nevertheless I began to try and dissect it in photoshop...

But as I began to lightly sketch the basic pattern into my cow- I accidentally dropped some food on it. The paper was ruined! I went upstairs to my wife to tell her I was giving up. Who was I fooling? I couldn't win! There's probably hundreds of awesome artists submitting drawings. But to my surprise, Megan encouraged me to keep going at it! She thought I had a solid concept!

AMAZING WIFE

INSPIRATION

And so, with newfound inspiration I printed out another copy of the cow... and set to work. But before sketching, I did some super-sleuthing for images on the web to base my artwork off of:

Then I began sketching...

Then I began inking in with Sukura Micron pens...

All done inking!

Steve Gordon of RDQLUS Creative with OXIDE Design's beagle "Rosie".

John Henry Muller of WHAT CHEER fame with the Twitter bird.

Princess Lasertron's Megan Hunt, and her adorable baby sidekick Alice.

Silicon Prairie News' Prairie Dog and the Secret Penguin mascot.

Typography

Then I colored it all in with colored pencils! Like a child would!

In the end, I decided against the intricate What Cheer pattern on the cow, and simply turned her spots into the words "BIG OMAHA". I still think the floral design was a great concept, but it just would have been too difficult to execute effectively on such a small cow. (Printing vertically severely shrunk my bovine.)

I finished the drawing at 2am this Tuesday morning- the day it had to be postmarked by! After only 3 hours of sleep, I took Megan to her job at Starbucks and then waited around in the cafe until the downtown Post Office opened at 7:30. Did I have a chance?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This afternoon I was pulling out of a Target parking lot with my wife and brother... when I heard a Twitter notification on my phone. I stopped the car.

"It's What Cheer- I just know it!" I exclaimed out loud. "I won that contest!"

As I pulled out my phone, I squinted through the sun's glare on my screen. I could barely believe my eyes:

I was right. I suddenly felt like Charlie Bucket winning that Golden ticket. All my dreams were about to come true!

By the time I got home, my design was all over Twitter and Facebook. I felt like an instant celebrity. I could hardly believe I was going to Big Omaha!

Special thanks to @JohnHenryMuller and @WhatCheer for coming up with this awesome contest! It was tons of fun to be a part of. Also, thanks to @Slobotski and @SiliconPrairie for creating the amazing experience that is @BigOmaha- I can hardly wait!

Also, just want to shout out to all my new and old Twitter friends that were so encouraging to me today: @LaurenChristie, @JordanJohnson23, @DannyAway, @GreatDecay, @RamHatter, @Image_Made, @JeffSpiehs, @AGOutLoud, and @DanHolke