Recently we have been working on a website for a consumer product for a large client. Part of the website entailed the use of a web form to collect visitor information of which the client planned to utilize future marketing purposes. We were faced with the ever so common cross roads of many web companies.

Do we build it ourselves or utilize a third party application?

IT’S IN OUR BLOOD

As web designers and/or developers our first instinct is to take the path of building the form, notification, and reporting tools ourselves. It is this very instinct that leads us in the career path we choose. Many web designers and developers, like us, began their careers because they were inspired and intrigued by the challenge of building a better mouse trap…And then feeding the inner ego by proving that we can. We are all basically web grease monkeys with a core DIY mentality. But this tendency and frame of mind is not always what is best for our client’s interests.

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Yes, that’s right {e} house has a new home. We’re movers and shakers and we’re shakin’ on to our next destination at 602 Rutledge Avenue, Suite B. Here’s the story: Our beloved office was sold and bought by new owners, so we took the opportunity to expand to a larger and even better space to accommodate our growth. It’s actually the upstairs of the current home of the Hampton Green Law office. For those of you who don’t know the Greens, Dwayne and his wife Toya are both lawyers. Dwayne is currently running for South Carolina Senate and Toya is also a member of the Charleston County School Board. They rock! We moved in last week, and will be hard at work with light renovations (making it our own.) Check out some of the before pictures of our new digs and we will be posting afters once we get everything just right. And, be sure to stop by and check us out when you get a chance.

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After reading our first article, I am sure you asked yourself, as many other companies are, “Are my customers iPhone users?”. So we thought we would touch upon this question and how the news of the future of the iPhone, from Steve Jobs presentation last week which covers Apple’s plans for the iPhone 2.0, may also effect whether you will see iPhone (iPod Touch) website traffic.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

During Apple’s presentation last week Steve Jobs as well as Phil Schiller (Senior VP, Worldwide Product Marketing) and Scott Forstall (VP, iPhone) spelled out what Apple’s plans are for the iPhone. Some of the most notable topics of the presentation in regards to the question we are covering today is that Apple has quickly achieved 28% of the U.S. Smartphone Market share. Second only to longtime player RIM’s with their 41%. Equally surprising is Mobile Safari’s (the internet browser on the iPhone and iPod Touch) number one spot for U.S. Mobile Browser Usage, with a whopping 71%. Second place goes to Microsoft trailing far behind with 12%. Daniel Eran Dilger points out, these are impressive numbers when you consider that the iPhone has only been available since June, 2007, and that in the U.S. the iPhone is only available to AT&T customers.

SUITS CAN PLAY TOO

After covering where the iPhone has been in the consumer market, Phil Schiller (Senior VP, Worldwide Product Marketing) announced the iPhone Enterprise Beta Program. This program allows IT departments and large companies to test the iPhone’s new features, which will be released soon in version 2.0 in enterprise environments. This means iPhone fun for large companies. In regards to the question “Are my customers iPhones users?”, more iPhone users could be visiting your company website. The beta program has already been in place at companies such as Disney, Nike, Stanford University, and Genentech.

“Apple has really done their homework, addressing issues of security, manageability, and integration. We currently have hundreds of iPhone users and expect the demand to grow significantly with this release.” Senior VP of IT at Disney.

GAMES, ORGANIZERS, & HOROSCOPES

Most of the buzz leading up to the presentation was in regards to the release of the Software Developers Kit. This will allow third parties to build applications specifically for the iPhone (and iPod Touch). Companies have already been hinting at soon to be released third party applications. This could sweeten the pot for more growth for the iPhone.

STEVE SAYS NO TO FLASH

On Tuesday, days before the presentation Steve Jobs also set the story straight on the Flash Player rumors coming to the iPhone. Jobs stated that Adobe needed to make something better than the current Flash Player made for mobile phones, and the larger desktop Flash Player was to slow on the iPhone. (Article not available, see cache version here)

“There’s this missing product in the middle,” Jobs said.

This means that if you have flash on your current site your visitors will not be able to see those portions on the website.

WHERE DO WE GO

So by now as many other companies are (Land Rover) you could be saying “We need to accommodate these new iPhone visitors”, what now? A great place to start would be to read our first post “How Your Website Will Look on the iPhone and iPod Touch”. Still have more questions? Well, post a comment, send an email, or call. We don’t bite.

Whether you’re walking the busy streets of downtown Charleston or just out for a ride, I’m sure you’ve noticed the growth of new businesses both small and large opening their doors. Having been part of this new business growth in 2006, we always have our eyes out for other new finds. We were lucky to move across the street from a new treat, Sugar Bakeshop, located on Cannon Street downtown just off the beaten path. If you haven’t discovered this new sweet spot, it’s time to check them out! The brains and creativity behind the new creation are Bill Bowick and David Bouffard who have successfully transplanted themselves to Charleston from New York City. And better yet, they came bearing treats to share for all. As a fellow transplant and small business owner, I was intrigued to learn more about these two and the transformation from their life as successful architects in New York City to the slower pace of life in Charleston running the town’s “Best New Bakery” (as voted by the Charleston City Paper.) I hope you find the interview with Bill as interesting as I did.

Q: Where are you from originally?

A: I grew up mostly in Chattanooga, TN. I eventually attended the University of Tennesee where I studied architecture. David grew up in Vermont and Washington.

Q: What brought both of you to New York?

A: Everything New York has to offer, especially the architecture of course.

Q: What type of architecture did you work on while in New York?

A: I worked mostly on high end residential which can be seen at TsAO & McKOWN, but would also design anything from furniture to flat ware. David worked for the company, HOK doing hospital design.

Q: What brought you guys to Charleston?

A: New York is great, but there is so much to offer. Charleston is a smaller city where we thought we could have more of an impact. Not to mention the housing is slightly more affordable than New York City!

Q: What made you want to open a small business in Charleston?

A: I have always loved baking and wasn’t able to find a place to get fresh homemade treats, so I thought I would create that place for myself and others. David has also had the opportunity to work with a local architecture firm liollio continuing with his talents in hospital design.

Q: How did you get into baking?

A: I loved the creative side of architecture and I feel like baking offers a different way of expressing a creative outlet. It also reminds me of days as a child sitting in the kitchen in Tenesee listening to my mother and grandmother talk as they baked.

Q: Where do you get your recipes?

A: My mother and grandmother of course! Being modernist, we also try to stick to the simpler side of baking by using simple, old fashioned recipes like the 1,2,3,4 cake recipe.

Q: What has been your best seller so far?

A: The chocolate chip cookie has to be number one, but the oatmeal raisin and ginger cookies come in as a close second. The Lady Baltimore is our Thursday special which seems to be quite popular as well.

Q: What was the inspiration for the bakery as a whole?

A: As a child, I remember shopping with my mother and my grandmother in small southern boutiques. They had something that just enveloped you. I took that feeling and combined it with David and my admiration for simplicity. Our shop pays homage to the days of old while creating a modern and inviting space at the same time. With the use of white, blues, and greens as the main colors, it allowed us to use the baked goods as our main source of decoration.

Q: What has been the best thing about opening a business in Charleston?

A: The social aspect! Coming from New York, you think you’ve seen it all, but Charleston has so many creative and interesting people. We have really enjoyed everyone we have met so far.

Q: Anything else you want to share?

A: Yea, when do I get to interview you? ( I guess that is the social aspect he was just talking about.)

While doing this interview, I not only had the pleasure of learning more about Bill and David and their wonderful bakeshop, but put in a special order for chocolate cupcakes for my son’s play date later this week. I’m sure I will have to taste test one before giving them to children, right? For a menu of treats, please be sure to stop by www.sugarbake.com. If you want to see more photos of the shop you can see them here.

A special thanks to Bill and David

We have tried to keep the {e} Chalkboard Blog a place where we can share some of the things we love, learn, know, do, and enjoy. We had a great time learning about our neighbors at Sugar Bakeshop and if you have enjoyed reading this post let us know. If you have a business or know of one you think would be a great fit for the {e} Chalkboard Blog let us know either by commenting below or emailing us.

Sugar Bakeshop
59 1/2 Cannon Street
Charleston, SC 29403
p. 843.579.2891

Over the last few months we have been doing a lot of planning here at {e}. We have been talking about projects, ideas, business, marketing, and everything a company should be discussing when looking into the future. While doing all of this planning, I realized that it’s hard to think about where you are going without thinking about where you have been. So, let me share a little of the story behind how {e} house studio came to be.

IT’S ALL IN THE “e”

I can’t tell you how many times we have been asked what the “e” stands for in our name. Many people assume that the “e” refers to “electronic”, as in “e-mail” or “e-commerce”. Although these are some of the marketing and design services we provide our clients. The truth of it is that we scavenged the “e” from an old sign left for junk on the streets of Mexico City. I am sure at this point you are thinking, “Mexico City? Junk? What are you trying to say about your company?” Well keep reading, the story gets better and cleaner sounding. I promise.

This crazy ride that we call {e} house studio all started back in Mexico City when one of the original founders (We’ll refer to him as “Memo”), a talented designer that had worked with some of the top flash creators and developers at the time, found this large metal “e” and formed an attachment to it (Don’t ask us why).

As luck would have it, the company Memo was working for came to an close at the very tail end of the first Internet boom (web 1.0). Then one day as he joblessly (Yes, I did just make up that word) looked up at the metal “e” hanging on the wall in his house, a light bulb went off in his head that sparked his interest to start his own design firm. After finding a talented brain of a developer to join Memo, the two partners reached out to an old school friend who resided in the States.

Enter me, Aaron: I was living in Boulder, Colorado after graduating from the University of Colorado where I had studied art and business with a focus on entrepreneurship. I was also in a jobless state since I decided to make a career change right before 9/11. So the call from Mexico City with the idea of setting up a design firm here in the US sounded pretty good.

A LITTLE OFFICE ON PEARL STREET

Now that we had three partners and a name for our little venture, {e} house studio (based on Memo’s idea to start a design firm while dreamily starring at the “e” hanging in his house), the first step was to setup shop in a little office on the well known Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado. The next step was to develop a website.

As is the case with many startup companies, our office left a lot to be desired. But it functioned for our purposes which was mainly putting our noses to the grindstone and producing good work.

As time went on, some of the original partners left to pursue other interests. Memo had grown to miss his home town and decided to return to Mexico city, where he tried a new venture, producing theater shows. New partners joined to build the team (Enter: Chris, my now wife and {e} business partner). Through our hard work and commitment to our clients, we made a name for ourselves locally in Boulder. After working primarily as a design firm for many years, we seemed to be growing and maturing as a company. We started taking on more and more aspects of our clients’ projects including design, marketing, branding, and a bit of advertising.

HEY Y’ALL

Cut to a few years later (and plenty of mistakes and success made), when we were offered the opportunity to partner with a company in South Carolina called The Quinn Consulting Group. This coalition would allow us to combine our creative skills as a design and marketing firm with The Quinn Consulting Group’s experience in helping companies transform themselves to reach new levels of growth. They do this though strategic marketing, branding, and sales management and the integration and constancy of how they all work together. We thought it would be a great fit, so off to Charleston we went. In 2006 we packed the office up headed south. And, in Charleston is where you’ll find us now. We’ve added some great new talent to the team, as well as some fabulous new clients, and we’re happy as clams in our super cool office space on Cannon Street in downtown Charleston.

So, that’s our story. It ain’t too pretty, but it’s our own. Here’s what we learned from our experience:

Sometimes you find yourself eternally sitting around a table with paper, pens, whiteboards, a thesaurus, a dictionary, research, diagrams, and as much creative brain power you can muster…all with the goal of developing a name, product, or business idea. Or sometimes the idea simply finds you. Both roads are similar in that you have to have the creativity and openness to see that one item worth keeping in the midst of all the junk.