We’d like to welcome Jessica McCall, our new marketing assistant, to the {e} house team.

As a relative new comer to {e} house studio, Jessica brings a combination of creativity and resourcefulness. She’s an avid subscriber of design blogs and artistic magazines, enabling her to explore a broad scope of the latest style developments and trends. Her well-rounded perspectives were honed in various cultures and environments, from Manhattan to Seoul. Although she has a background in the fine arts, Jessica is currently on the Dean’s List at the College of Charleston majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. Her insatiable urge to learn and design has lead her straight to {e}.

Our site has been featured in the June 2008 issue of “Web Designing”, a monthly publication in Japan. The four page spread article is a CSS Analysis titled “Keep it simple”.

We would love to know what it says, if anyone has any recommendations for a Japanese to English translation service.

After a little over a month of having to explain which door to use to find the new office at 602 Rutledge Ave. Suite B, we finally have our new signs up. Much thanks to Shane and the crew over at Brooks Signs for their super work. Check out these photos of the signs marking our new spot.

View of our new sign
Read the rest of this entry »

You may not even know how to hold a golf club, but chances are that you’ve heard of the Masters. And, chances are that you immediately see green when the Masters comes to mind. The beautiful foliage framing Augusta National, the perfectly manicured golf greens, the sought after green jackets, and all of the green money brought in year after successful year. (Aaron and Rick were fortunate enough to witness it first-hand this year.) Yes, the Masters is one of the most exclusive brands in the world (according to the 2006 Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey of Sporting Events, conducted by the New York City-based Luxury Institute and every detail is considered to ensure it stays that way.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Although the Charleston winter is mild (or virtually nonexistent as I, a northern transplant, see it), the first signs of spring are always a breath of fresh air. The marsh grass is greener, the days are longer, and those pesky noseeums (aka southern gnats) have arrived. Yes, spring has sprung here in Charleston. And, it’s beautiful! So straight from the {e} house crew, here are a few reasons to leave those “to do” lists behind and get out and enjoy the new season.

AARON’S TAKE:

Spring means saying, “so long” to my wetsuit as the water temperature is rising! Even better, the surf is better at the Washout! It’s obvious that for me Folly Beach is my spot when spring arrives… weekends relaxing on the beach with Owen and Chris, eating at Taco Boy, and surfing (Did I mention that before?!).

BOB’S TAKE:

The spring is a great time and the perfect temperature for a camping trip. There are several different trips I like to take.

It is always fun to Kayak out to Capers Island and camp out on the beach. It is a perfect spot to have a fire and sleep under the stars.

Another great trip is to Brevard County in North Carolina. The mountains are gorgeous and there are some really amazing hiking trails with beautiful waterfalls. It is great to go with the family (dogs included) or rough it and make it a mountain bike trip.

Aside from camping, it’s cool to experience downtown Charleston. With downtown’s intoxicating energy, you don’t have to travel far to catch spring fever. The College of Charleston students excitedly fill the streets as they finish up the semester, everything is green and blooming, the air is warm and the sun is shining. Ahh… nothing like a Saturday morning trip to Kudu coffee garden with Kris, Neve, Tug, Piper and Wally. Then walking down King to the Battery. But don’t forget to take the side streets to enjoy the cobblestone alleys and South of Broad gardens.

CHRIS’S TAKE:

I have to agree with Bob and downtown Charleston, although I like evening walks (since it is light out later). There is such a romantic feeling on the streets south of Broad. In the evening, sometimes you can even get a glimpse into the fascinating interiors of the historic homes (Yes I guess this borders on snooping, but it’s fun!).

I also love that as the weather warms up, weekends are spent at the beach instead of doing the never ending “to-do” list of house repairs that the winter seems to support. Although, that also means bathing suit season is right around the corner. I’m off to the treadmill….

MEDEA’S TAKE:

Charleston rocks in the spring. I love all of it: surfing (or at least watching my husband surf), hanging on Folly, exploring downtown, and evening strolls. So overnight camping isn’t really my thing, but one of the best places to camp out for a few hours before sunset is the tip of Morris Island (close to the lighthouse). As you’ve probably gathered, we’re all big fans of dogs and kids here at {e} house. Ella and Joule in tow, we pack up some snacks, beverages, and a blanket and beach our boat on the island for the sunset show. Morris Island is usually pretty vacant at this time of night, so it’s all ours. If you haven’t done so, try it out sometime…Just not on the night that we’re there….

How ever you decide to spend your spring, we hope you enjoy it. Happy Spring!

-The {e} house crew

If you haven’t noticed already, our site has a new look and some fun, noteworthy, new content. We’re excited about the changes and we hope you are too. So, check it out. And if you get a chance, let us know what you think.

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.

We finally cleared the desks and took some photos of our new office at 62 Cannon Street. We are really happy with the way it turned out. The office is just as we like our designs, a little of the old mixed in with the new.

Our favorite items have to be the Dime Store sign and front office chairs. Aaron and I found the sign in a small antique shop in MI. It happened to be the original sign above the Three Oaks, MI Dime Store that Aaron’s grandfather owned back in the 1940’s. The front office chairs are also from the 1950’s and were in my grandfather’s clothing store (Starrs Clothing & Shoes) in Boulder, CO. The original upholstery on the chairs was a terrible old green vinyl. We welcome Y’all to stop by and say hello. For more photos go to our flickr page.

Front chairs

Chris, Bob, and Medéa’s desks

Aaron’s desk and conference table

Original Dime Store (it almost spells E STORE)

Conference room fireplace

Back office and kitchen

We’d like to welcome Bob Galmarini, our new Sr. Designer, to the {e} house team.

After gaining much design experience in San Diego and Los Angeles, Bob has served for the past 3 years as Art Director of a web development company located here in Charleston. Bob is ready and eager to join the {e} house team. His creative approach and progressive design ability will be a perfect fit for us here at {e}. You can visit Bob’s personal site at www.bobgalmarini.com.

Medéa Duffy also joined the {e} team back in August as our new Account Manager. Medéa’s expertise lies in real estate advertising and marketing.