Who knows about High Def? We do...

This is our video showing off what we do... in High Definition. We are the HD experts after all.

Watch the full HD version on youTube.

Comments and critiques welcome.

Graphics Demo

This is our 2009 Graphics Demo. Watch this video and many others on youTube. Look us up, we are appliedartweb.


Comments please...

"Inspiration and genius–one and the same."

Hawkeye Volleyball

Check out the 2009 Volleyball spot for the Hawks.

Comments welcome!

Applied Art Creates Interactives for German American Heritage Center

In 1995, the German American Heritage Center Board of Directors purchased an old hotel in downtown Davenport and began remodeling the hotel. It was a small group of passionate volunteers united to preserve and celebrate German-American heritage.

In 2009, the entire third floor of the hotel has been remodeled into gallery space greatly expanding the number of exhibits the heritage center has to offer. On Friday, October 2, at 6:30 P.M. the center will have a grand opening to celebrate the new expansion.

Applied Art provided the German American Heritage Center with three electronic interactives, ambient audios for two rooms, and a theater.

The Telephone Party Line exhibit consists of three antique telephones displayed on pedestals. This interactive exhibit allows visitors to eavesdrop on three separate telephone “party line” conversations by picking up the handset and listening in. The conversations are between two people speaking with German accents and are designed to show the paranoia that existed during WWII when speaking German in Iowa was illegal.

The Immigrant Stories exhibit is in a section of the museum that is dedicated to telling the stories of immigrants from 1848 till 1925. The interactive exhibit allows visitors to browse though the stories of German immigrant background and experiences. Visitors will enjoy an engaging multimedia experience that delivers the German immigrant’s story through the use of graphics, audio, and photos. The stories are divided into four categories: German Culture and History, Experiences in a New Home, German Impact in Quad City Region and German Heritage. The interactive is displayed on a 40 inch monitor oriented in portrait mode. The visitor uses a track ball and push buttons to interact with the software.

The Step Into My Shoes exhibit invites visitors to step on one of three sets of footprints located on the floor in front of the exhibit. The three sets of footprints represent a man, a woman, and a youth. Stepping on one of the sets of footprints will start a video of a German immigrant telling their story of traveling to America or their experiences in America. The videos are displayed on a 52 inch monitor oriented in portrait mode.

~Rod

The Coalition to Support Iowa's Farmers Launches Green Farmstead Partner Website

The Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers, with the help of Trees Forever and the Iowa Nursery & Landscape Association, has launched the Green Farmstead Partner program to encourage the installation of vegetative environmental buffers (VEBs) around poultry and livestock farms.

The goal of the program is to create and promote a turn-key system for farmers to install VEBs on their farms in a timely and cost-effective way.

Applied Art provided the Coalition a custom web design with Flash animation.

Slipknot Comes Home to Create the 10 Year Anniversary Box Set

Roadrunner Records released the new Slipknot 10 Year Anniversary box set this week, complete with a new movie produced and edited at Applied Art and Technology.

Directed by Clown, the short film entitled "of the sic" delves into the first year of the knot on the road. The band was exploding out of Des Moines with a vengeance. We get a rare chance to see them play in small theaters and clubs, as well as newly released behind the scenes footage. They were young, raw, and hungry - and it shows.

Take a look at the national TV spot created by Neil Zaugg and Scott Kaven.

Applied Art Assists With 2009 Ambassadors Tour Event

Applied Art assisted The Meyocks Group and their client Firestone when Senator Charles Grassley’s 2009 Ambassadors Tour weeklong tour included a stop at the Firestone Global Distribution Center in Ankeny, IA.

Firestone brought in various pieces of agriculture equipment that showcased their tires. In addition a static display of the various tires they produce was set-up inside.

Applied Art provided both video and meeting support for the event. We created a Firestone Brand Video that was shown in HD as guests entered the facility as well as a theater-like setting for formal presentations given by Firestone executives.

~Mark

Mercy Medical Center - West Lakes Launches New Website

After years of planning and construction, Mercy Medical Center—West Lakes is scheduled to open Tuesday, September 8. As West Des Moines’ first full-service community hospital, Mercy West Lakes is truly a hospital unlike any before. It is part of the Mercy Medical Center—Des Moines family, and was built as a replacement hospital for Mercy Capitol in Des Moines.

Mercy approached Applied Art seeking a website design with the same feel and functionality of mercydesmoines.org while also providing a unique look for the new hospital.

Applied Art provided Mercy Medical Center—West Lakes with a custom web design with Flash animation, and teamed with programming house DWebware to integrate this site into Mercy's existing content management system which features the ability to create/delete pages, publish news/events to both home and interior pages, and re-order the navigation.

Camp Hertko Hollow Launches New Website

Camp Hertko Hollow is dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth who have diabetes. The goals at camp are: Recreation, Education, Regulation and Fun! Campers enjoy the traditional camp activities while learning about living with diabetes. Meeting other youth and counselors who have diabetes is also a great benefit from the experience.

Camp Hertko Hollow approached Applied Art for a website redesign that would better communicate those camp goals - especially to younger, more inexperienced campers. With that in mind, Applied Art designed a fun and interactive Flash homepage for the camp youth and simple, easy to navigate informational pages for parents, staff, and volunteers.

Let your mouse roll over the illustration to watch wall climbing, water sliding, and more!


~Steph

The Danish Immigrant Museum Launches New Website

The Danish Immigrant Museum, located in Elk Horn, Iowa, shares the legacy and continuing influence of Danish culture as realized in the experiences and contributions of Danish immigrants, their descendents and Danes living in America.

The Danish Museum approached Applied Art for a website redesign that would better meet their branding and fundraising goals.

Using HD images from Discovery: A Story of Shared Heritage (a fundraising video previously produced by Applied Art), Applied Art provided the museum with a new site architecture and a custom web design with Flash animation and teamed with programming house DWebware to integrate additional strategies defined through goals and benchmarking meetings:

• Web-based admin access to text/image content
• Online membership join/renewal form
• eCommerce - Gift shop
• Online giving form

"The great thing about Applied Art is that they really listened to what we wanted in a new website and came up with a design that is exactly what we had in mind. They patiently guided us through all of the necessary steps to create the new site and make our vision a reality – one that we are all very proud of. We have worked with Applied Art on several other projects and all are top shelf, quality products." - Terri Johnson, Administrative Manager

~Steph

Applied Art Launches Interactive Media Website

Over the last decade, Applied Art interactive media has had the pleasure of working with exhibit designers, museum staff, and others to create interactives ranging from simple touchscreen players to immersive interactive experiences where imagination meets media.

Perinatal Center of Iowa Launches New Website

An affiliate of Mercy Medical Center, Perinatal Center of Iowa (PCI) is a leader in the obstetric community of central Iowa — providing personalized, compassionate care to women.

PCI and Mercy approached Applied Art seeking a redesign of their current website that would better appeal to and serve as a center of information for expectant mothers and referring doctors.

Applied Art provided PCI with a custom web design with Flash animation, and teamed with programming house DWebware to integrate this site into Mercy's content management system which features the ability to create/delete pages and re-order the navigation.

~Steph

Fareway Announces First Website

From their first store in Boone to 95 stores and growing today, Fareway Stores have provided a full service grocery shopping experience to their patrons since 1938. Along with celebrating their 70-year anniversay, they are also proud to announce their new web presence.

Applied Art, working with programming house DWebware, designed and developed a custom site to reflect Fareway's brand and provide customers with online access to:

• coupons
• individual store ads
• news
• store locator

iBelieve Night - Monday, May 4

iBelieve is a community campaign that aims to celebrate Greater Des Moines, its opportunities and the people whose conviction and spirit continually pushes this community toward greater success (even in tough times).

As one of the founding partners of the iBelieve campaign (along with the Greater Des Moines Partnership) we would like to encourage everyone to attend the campaign's kick-off rally next week. There will be a short program, drinks, live entertainment and the first 1,000 receive free tickets to the I-Cubs game.

Principal Park
Monday, May 4
4:30 - 6:30 pm

~Heather

New "Special Effects Demo Montage"

Many of us at Applied Art & Technology are engaged in creating a new demo DVD. Once finished, this DVD will include our best work from our production, post production, and graphics departments.

As a special treat to you blog subscribers, you get to see the “Special Effects Demo Montage” as a small sample of the great stuff that will be on our new Demo DVD.

I edited this two minute piece in our DS edit suite. Several of the projects featured in the montage are broken down to reveal the various layers we created to accomplish the effects. It was a time consuming labor of love to restore the projects and separate the layers in order to edit them into this piece, and everyone in post and graphics had a part in the process.

Here is your preview of our new “Special Effects Demo Montage”!



~Chris

Does Your Site Work?

All business owners should ask this question not just once, but often - Am I receiving the maximum return on my investment from my website?

It's an easy to question to ask, but a difficult one to measure. Therefore, we've put together a site that gets you thinking and testing with...

• a few general questions about your site (asking about goal conversion rates, usability and A/B testing, social media strategy, etc.)
• a presentation detailing easy free tips and useful information on how you can and why you should test your site - click [Free Stuff]
• the opportunity to receive a free site analysis

~Steph

LED Display Comparison

I just returned from another tradeshow in Las Vegas, Exhibitor2009, where we had an opportunity to partner with AV Dimensions to display our content on two LED displays side-by-side. We provided content to show in their exhibit on both a Barco 4mm Black LED display (NX-4) and the more common 8mm (ILite 8 MD) display. The LED displays are becoming more and more prevalent – at sporting events, corporate functions, concerts, and of course trade shows.

Their advantages are that they are extremely bright and can be viewed in direct sunlight, are very thin, and can be configured in nearly any size. This was my first opportunity to work with the NX-4 and my impression was “WOW – That looks stunning.” The contrast was much greater, the black levels were incredible, the brightness was higher, not to mention the much higher resolution. Both displays drew a lot of attention, but the NX-4 was the overwhelming favorite. We provided a custom edited video for both displays to show off the advantages of each system. For the ILite 8 we customized an animation loop and for the NX-4 we edited both live action and animation in HD.

If you have questions about LED displays, other display technologies or how to grab the audiences' attention at your next tradeshow or event contact me at info@appliedart.com.

Geek Speak: The 4mm or 8mm designation of LED displays refers to the “pixel pitch” or physical distance between the LEDs. The smaller the number the better. Pixel pitch affects viewability when viewing the displays up close because the eye does not blend the pixels together and spaces between them can be discerned.

Booth
8mm LED4mm LED

~Mark

My Top 5 Web Writing Tips

Throughout the years, I've worked with many colleagues, clients, and friends who are required to write content for the web. For most of them this process is confusing, complex, and sometimes politically charged:

• How do I know what will help my search engine rankings?
• What copy will help sell my product?
• How do I tell my team member our entire company booklet does not belong on our About Us page?

Therefore, I thought I'd compose my top five web writing tips along with some very helpful resources and references.

So the next time a blank web page is staring at you or your boss insists that you squeeze that 3-page single-spaced document into one page on your site - you'll have a little something on your side.

Tip 1 - Before you begin, find out what's in

One of the main factors in helping your site reach the top of search engine rankings is the use of keywords in your site. Before you begin writing - check to make sure your keywords are the most popular.

Resources
Google External Keyword Tool
Keyword Suggestion Tool by Wordtracker
Reference
SEOmoz Search Engine Ranking Factors

Tip 2 - Don't blow your top

Very often overlooked, but ultra important, is your browser title. Your browser title consists of the words you see at the very top left corner of your browser. If you navigate to appliedart.com, you can see ours consists of our name, location, and various keywords where we want to appear prominently in search results.

Resource
Thrivepoint: How to Write a Web Page Title
Reference
Market Opinions!: The Importance of Having Descriptive, Engaging Titles

Tip 3 - Be brief

When writing for print, we're confined to specific dimensions. When writing for video, there's usually a time limit. But when it comes to writing for the web, it's sometimes all too easy to keep adding to that never-ending page. Web users do not read - they scan. Because of this - lists and headings are your best friend when writing for the web.

Resource
Elance
Reference
ReadWriteWeb: The stats are in, you're just skimming this article.

Tip 4 - Ready, set, action!

Because you already know web users scan your pages - keeping your content in the active voice is always best:

• shortens content
• allows for faster comprehension
• tells the user it's something they can do

Resource
Answerbag: How to avoid passive voice
Reference
Articlesbase: The Active Voice Drives Sales

Tip 5 - Think before you link

In the infancy of the world wide web when link conventions were not standard nor understood, it was important to be perfectly clear where a user needed to click by linking content with phrases such as "click here" and "read more". This is no longer needed and can actually be detrimental to your search engine ranking and users with disabilities. You should always use descriptive (preferably keywords) to link.

Resource
Think Vitamin: Don't be the Weakest Hyperlink Text
Reference
Website Station: Descriptive Link Text


~Steph

New Iowa Lottery Ad Features Iowa Veterans

Applied Art provided the video editing, treatment, and graphics for the newest Iowa Lottery spot using Adobe® Photoshop and After Effects software.

The TV ad features images of veterans who have received assistance through the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund and agreed to be part of the campaign to help spread the word about the help that's available. You’ll see veterans from across the state and from several different eras in the ad -- maybe even someone you know! Click here for a sneak peek!

To date, the Iowa Lottery has raised more than $1.4 million for the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund and are well on their way to meeting their $2-3 million goal for 2009.

Iowa Center for Translational and Clinical Research Launches New Website

The Iowa Center for Translational and Clinical Research (ICTCR) was founded as a collaboration between Mercy Medical Center and Des Moines University (DMU) in an effort to promote clinical and biomedical research that will benefit health care recipients.

Mercy and DMU approached Applied Art seeking a website that would serve as a hub for patients, research collaborators, sponsors, and partners of the center. They also required an administration system that would allow contributors to upload content updates from various locations around the state.

Applied Art provided Mercy and DMU with a custom design and a web-based content management system featuring the ability to create/delete pages and re-order the navigation.

~Stephanie

How to Shoot Better Blog Video

Here are three quick tips for shooting better blog video:

First and most important - get yourself a good microphone. The number one issue that kills video blogging is the inability to hear what people are saying. This is a blog - most of the video will involve talking. The video can be dark and grainy - but if the audio quality is good - then you're good. The built-in mic on the camera works only in the best conditions. Look for a more directional "shotgun" mic or better yet get some clip-on lav mics. Of course you'll need a camera that has an external mic input but it's worth it.

Next, avoid high contrast situations. The background should not be significantly lighter or darker than your subject. We've all seen the shots of people against a window where they are totally dark and you can't see their face. This is because the exposure circuitry in your camera averages the scene and attempts to find the best exposure overall. If the the window is the dominant element, the camera will try and expose for that. The same thing happens with a person against a very dark background. The camera will often overexpose their faces . This is usually less of a problem than very bright backgrounds.

Finally invest in a little camera light. This may turn some people off thinking that their footage will look like the stereotypical TV news shot where a bright light is glaring in peoples faces. The whole trick to using one of these lights is to adjust it so it just fills in the shadows on peoples faces. Easiest are the lights that have a brightness adjustment. You turn the brightness up until the shadows fill in some and the face looks pleasing. Done correctly people will be unaware that you used a camera light. You can also use little pieces of light diffusing materials to adjust the levels (just watch out for any heat/melting). Rosco makes a whole line of heat resistant materials that can be found locally.

Now go start shooting better looking and (most importantly) better sounding video!

~George

Hiring an Account Executive

This position is responsible for new business development for Applied Art and Technology. This includes acquisition of new clients and maintenance of existing client relationships.

Check out our site for more details.

Experiments Video

Every few weeks we will post a new thing of craziness.

Anyone at AAT can work on a video that gets passed around. A collaborative piece of visual art. We will use it to try new techniques or just have a chance to destroy our coworkers edits. It's fun and impromptu.

The first of these videos has been through the hands of 4 of our artists and editors. It's a hodge-podge of custom art, public domain clips, visual effects, and a custom music score.

Enjoy!

~Scott

Vein Center at Iowa Heart Ad To Premier During Super Bowl...in HD

The Vein Center at Iowa Heart will be one of a few local companies who will be running HD commercials during this year's Super Bowl.

The ad, which features a couple doing the tango, was shot at The Temple For Performing Arts and produced in association with Trilix Marketing Group. The campaign also includes a pair of tennis-themed spots which will begin running in the spring.

View the ad

Learn more about the Vein Center at Iowa Heart at http://www.healthylegsmatter.com/.

Applied Art & Technology Brews BEER

Its a Beer.

On the night of January 22 AAT beer was born. It was a freezing cold day, so a few of us got together and brewed up 5 gallons of alcoholic goodness. Some came to teach, others to learn, and of course drink some brew.

The vote was taken and scientifcally broken down to determine our winner; Banana Cream Stout. Yes, banana beer. The champion by popular demand, beating out such other as; Oatmeal stout, Railsplitter Red, Decade Doppelbock, and Apple Crisp Beer.

Cooked to perfection and then cooled in a beautiful snowpile. Give it a few weeks and we will be enjoying this experimental brew.

Here is the recipe we used:

Banana Cream Imperial Stout

Ingredients:

1) 10.6 lb liquid malt extract
2) 1 lb lactose
3) 7 oz munich
4) 4 0z 60L
5) 4 oz chocolate malt
6) 8 oz Oats
7) 2 large bananas
8) irish moss
9) muntons all purpose yeast

Hops:
1) 1/2 oz. nugget hops(steep 45 min)
2) 1/2 oz. tettnang hops (last 5 minutes)

NOTES:
Lactose last 15 minutes
2 bananas last 10 min
Moss at 5 min

And here are a few photos of the process, the snowpile, and our inhouse brew master.

~Scott

Shive-Hattery Group Launches Site Locator

Shive-Hattery Group, Inc., has recently launched their new Site Locator, a searchable map of their over 4,000 project site locations.

Working with Presentations, Inc., Applied Art provided design, functionality (using a Google Maps base), and a custom programmed web-based administration system for the map. This administration system allows Shive-Hattery Group employees to easily update the map's information.

Headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Shive-Hattery Group is a full-service employee-owned professional design firm that provides complete in-house architectural and engineering consulting services for governmental, industrial, private sector and institutional clientele.

~Chad

Presentations Launches New Website

Applied Art recently collaborated on a new website for Presentations, Inc., located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Using designs provided by Presentations, we added Flash animation, custom programming and a content management system allowing the client to easily update their content and photos as needed.

Presentations is a boutique style environmental graphic design/build firm that is dedicated to extending their clients corporate branding beyond conventional means. They create visual projects for a broad client base ranging from corporations to colleges. Presentations works in a variety of medias from fabric to metal creating functional artwork.

~Grant

Follow us on Twitter!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter to receive interesting tweets about HD video, web design and development, graphics and animation, museum/traveling displays and much more!

Our handle is @appliedart.