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Posted via web from Oz Alfert

Testing cross posts to DWG. Pardon the interruption. 

Posted via email from Oz Alfert

Am I a heretic? You be the judge.

http://powazek.com/posts/2090

Check it out. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/45155

If you want an iPhone app for your business/enterprise, let us know. It’s part of what we do.

My name is Oz Alfert, and I will be a guest blogger here on DesignWorks Group. I hope to keep readers and customers up to date on web and mobile applications, providing helpful information on personal and enterprise computing innovations. Follow my updates for inside knowledge on how to maximize your productivity and business presence with the latest in smartphone and online technologies.

To start off, make sure you’ve updated your iPhone to the latest software – iPhone OS 3.1 – released yesterday. Just connect your iPhone to your computer and let iTunes download and sync the newest updates for you.

Stay tuned for the latest information on all the mobile platforms. I look forward to keeping you up-to-date.

Tote bags work well as promotional items.  They are crafted from a variety of materials, including canvas, cotton, and polypropylene. Personalized tote bags are universal gifts and they are all potentially environmentally friendly and convenient. Canvas, cotton, and polypropylene tote bags are available in a wide selection of styles, colors, and designs to fit different occasions.
 
The biggest difference between these tote bags is probably the weight of the material, the durability of the bags itself, and the price.  Canvas is the heaviest material, followed by cotton, and the lightest is polypropylene.  If lightweight material is important for your promotions, then polypropylene tote bags are the preferred choice because they are durable and so easy to carry. If bag strength is what matters to you then canvas and cotton bags are probably the best option because they are a little heavier. 
 
Polypropylene tote bags are priced at about $1 per bag and cotton bags start at comparable prices.  Heavy cotton canvas bags start at about $3 per bag.  Canvas, cotton, and polypropylene tote bags come in so many attractive and convenient shapes and sizes the deciding on the right material may not be the only difficult choice.  They range from simple bags that open like a pocket with comfortable shoulder straps to upgraded bags that can button or zip closed.  They can be duffel bags, backpacks, beach bags, or grocery bags.
 
Let us help you pick out the perfect bag for your next promotion.

Recently, I received an email about a LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll. The poll showed the differences between what advertisers believe and what consumers believe. 

A couple of tidbits from the poll are:

• While over half of advertisers believe ads that make people stop and think (53%) and ads that give people new information (51%) are very effective, just three in ten consumers (30% and 29% respectively) feel the same.

• When it comes to ads that show before/after, 24% of advertisers say they are very effective while 13% of consumers say they are very effective.

•  One in five advertisers (21%) say ads that reinforce a message already known are very effective compared to 10% of consumers.

• When addressing the economic crisis, three in five advertisers (61%) say they are using a value proposition strategy, promoting sales, coupons and discounts and almost three in five consumers (57%) say that this strategy is working very well or well to help them sell their products or services.

• Only 18% of advertisers say they are using the ‘luxuries for less’ as a campaign, but 34% of consumers say these types of ads work very well or well in selling products and services.

Link to research - Advertisers and Audiences: How Their Views on Advertising Effectiveness Differ – July 21, 2009

Additionally, another poll talks about what type of ads are considered most helpful to various age groups. It has charts that show various mediums (TV, newspaper, etc) against how helpful the mediums ads are.

Link to research - Television Ads Considered Most Helpful to Americans – July 1, 2009

 So, what does this all mean? To me, the polls reinforce two things. First, know who you are targeting. Second, don’t think you can talk to everyone the same way. Sounds pretty rudimentary, huh?

However, you would be surprised how many people say “I want to reach people between the ages of 18-64.” While your widget/service may be appropriate for that large of a demographic, you can’t expect a 20 something to react the same way and empty nester would. If you look at the second poll listed above, each age group looks at media differently.  Not surprisingly, 31% of people 55+ find newspaper ads helpful vs. 6% of 18-34 year olds.

Again, this seems like pretty basic information. But when you layer budget constraints, time lines and the pressure to generate sales, this concept tends to be forgotten. So, make sure you narrow down your demographic and stick with it!

You’ve decided to order t-shirts either for a promotion or your staff. The decisions you make can really impact your budget. In this segment, we’ll give you some pointers on how to get the best deal AND the best shirt for your needs.

 
 
1. Quantity
Not surprisingly, your per shirt cost goes down when you order larger quantities of shirts. The driving factor of the cost is the screens the printer has to burn to print your shirt. Essentially, screens are the template the printer uses to get the artwork onto the shirt. A screen has to be burned for each color and each imprint area on the t-shirt.
 
For example, for a 1 location imprint, 4 color design, you will pay around $50 just for the screens. So, for 12 shirts, you are paying over $4.00 per shirt for the screens only. But if you order 500 shirts, you are paying only .10 cents per shirt for the screens.
 
2. Artwork and Imprint Location
Because of the cost of the screens, you want to carefully consider how to design your artwork and where it will go on your shirt. If you are ordering a small quantity of shirts and have a tight budget, you may want to consider using 1 or 2 colors for the design. You’d be surprised what a good graphic artist can do with a design using just two colors.
 
Plus, you want to consider how many places on the shirt you want the design. Do you want something just on the front left side or the entire back? Many people prefer to have the design on the back rather than the front of the shirt. The cost goes up the more locations you chose to imprint.
 
3. Color of the Shirt
White shirts are the most cost efficient option. However, you can order t-shirts in just about any color in the rainbow. Dark shirts (i.e. black) requires the printer to use a white ink base to ensure that the ink color is not affected by the dark color of the shirt. If you do not use a white base, the bright orange in your design may look more like burnt orange. And yes, the white base will count as 1 color in your design. So even if your design uses orange and red, you will have to pay for a 3 color imprint.
 
4. Material – 50/50 vs. Cotton

The most common options for t-shirts are 50/50 polyester/cotton blend or 100% cotton. The benefit of 100% cotton is it has a heavier feel. Some people worry that it will shrink. But most 100% cotton shirts are pre-shrunk and have very little shrinkage. For screen printing, you’ll get the best results with non-ring spun cotton. Make sure you choose non-ring spun cotton because an imprint on ring spun cotton can look washed out.
 
The 50/50 blend shirts are a bit more durable and will withstand frequent wearing and washing. Plus, 50/50 blend shirts have a lighter feel that some people prefer. 
 
Summary:

1.  It’s cheaper in the long run to order a few extra shirts on your initial order rather than re-ordering a few shirts here and there.

2. If you have to order a small quantity of shirts, consider limiting the design to 1 or 2 ink colors.

3. White is the most cost effective shirt to use.

4. The choice between 100% Cotton and 50/50 is a personal preference.

This is a step-by-step guide for creating a sophisticated image slider using AS3. The alternative option would be to manually create tweens and loop them, but taking advantage of generating random numbers within a scope that works with your image is the “right” way to go about doing it.

Image imported to stage on Layer 1

Change your Document Properties

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// AS3 Easing Image Slider
// Timothy Stepp - DesignWorks Group
 
import fl.transitions.*;
import fl.transitions.easing.*;
 
// Tweensy is required for this all to work. Link is on the blog page.
import com.flashdynamix.motion.Tweensy;
 
 
stop();
 
 
/*
Create min and max values for the x-position of the image.
 
Minimum value (image moves left):
The minimum x-position is determined by subtracting the stage width from the image width.
This value is then multiplied by -1 since the left movement is a negative x-direction.
If you are trying to avoid having the image shift too far to the left, you cannot have the image
position itself at an x-value that exposes the canvas behind your image. 
 
Maximum value (image moves right):
The maximum x-value is zero because if the image moves any further right, the canvas behind 
the image, on the left side will be exposed.
 
*/
var minX:Number = ( - ( pan.width - stage.stageWidth ) );
var maxX:Number = 0;
 
 
/*
Create minimum and maximum values for time length of each tween.
*/
var minTime:Number = 20;
var maxTime:Number = 23;
 
/*
Create minSlide variable
 
The minSlide variable defines the minimum change of each sliding occurance. This is necessary 
to maintain a smooth presentation. If a random number is generated and happens to be five pixels
away from the current X position, think about how unfitting a ten second tween would look - the
image would move only a centimeter in ten seconds.
*/
var minSlide:Number = 200;
 
// Run first tween.
createTween( );
 
 
function createTween():void{
	Tweensy.to( pan, { x:randomX( ) }, randomNumber( minTime, maxTime ), Strong.easeOut, 0, null, newTween );
}
 
function newTween( ):void {
	createTween( );
}
 
 
/*
Generate the function that produces a random number within your scope and that respects the
minSlide variable
*/
 
function randomX( ):Number{
	// Check if current x is too far right
	if( currentX( ) > maxX ){
		trace( "X-position exceeded maximum bound" );
	}
 
	// Check if current x is too far left
	else if ( currentX( ) < minX ){
		trace( "X-position exceeded minimum bound" );
	}
 
	/*
	In order to respect the minSlide variable, create two statements that
	guide the pan element accordingly if the current x-position is too close to the left or right.
	*/
	else if( ( currentX( ) - minX ) < minSlide ){
		return randomNumber( ( currentX( ) + minSlide ), maxX );
	}
 
	else if( ( maxX - currentX( ) ) < minSlide ){
		return randomNumber( minX, ( currentX( ) - minSlide ) );
	}
 
	/*
	If the x-position is not within +/- minSlide away from minX and maxX, it is in the middle area.
	A switch randomly chooses to pitch the pan left or right.
	*/
	else if ( currentX( ) >= ( minX + minSlide ) && currentX( ) <= ( maxX - minSlide ) ){
		switch( Math.round( Math.random( ) ) ){
			case 0: return randomNumber( minX, ( currentX( ) - minSlide ) );
			case 1: return randomNumber( ( currentX( ) + minSlide ), maxX  );
		}
	}
 
	else {
		trace( "There was an unexplained error" );
	}
 
	trace( "Error: returning zero" );
	return 0;
}
 
function currentX( ):Number {
	return this.pan.x;
}
 
/*
Function for generating a random number
*/  
function randomNumber( low:Number = NaN, high:Number = NaN ):Number{
	var low:Number = low;
  	var high:Number = high;
 
  	if( isNaN( low ) ){
    	throw new Error( "low must be defined" );
  	}
 
  	if( isNaN( high ) ){
		throw new Error( "high must be defined" );
  	}
 
  	return Math.round( Math.random( ) * ( high - low ) ) + low;
}