Squarespace vs Wordpress / our build-a-bookshelf comparison.

To understand the difference between Wordpress and Squarespace for building your next website, imagine that you want a new bookshelf for your office.

With Wordpress, the process is like hiring a skilled, finish-carpenter or cabinet maker (your Wordpress programmer) to design and build the shelving. You have unlimited options for materials (open source programming code) and the design can be completely customized.

With Squarespace, the scenario is more like choosing a contemporary, modular, shelving system from a high-end design and installation company. After reviewing a range of designs, colors, layout options and more, your shelving is specified and installed by a certified team.

To make repairs or additions at a later date, (perhaps you want to add doors or panel to cover certain parts of the shelving), with Wordpress you will again, most likely need to engage the services of a finish-carpenter or cabinet maker (your programmer). With Squarespace, the process will be similar to having a catalog of options in-hand, and you then hire the same company to install the new shelving additions, or with Squarespace’s plug-and-play functionality, you could do it yourself.

For developing and maintaining complex, multiple-language, and mission-critical web initiatives that serve as a gateway to secure applications Wordpress is our recommended platform. For companies that need a state-of-the-art website with SEO, digital and social media marketing integration, responsive display across desktop, tablet, and mobile, and some customized coding and technology, we recommend using Squarespace. Like having a customized mahogany shelving created for your office, Wordpress costs more. But if cost is a consideration and you can customize Squarespace's modular, plug-and-play components to your liking, then Squarespace is the way to go. And with less website development time, you can then get on developing an organized small business digital marketing program to build traffic to your website.

A Digital TV advertising campaign - coming soon.

Digital TV advertising, Connected TV, streaming video advertising, it all offers a new opportunity for marketing. As  Forbes put it in a recent article on Connected tv advertising... " Thanks to everything from smart TVs to mobile to connected devices (Roku, Amazon Fire TV et al), it’s a lot more digital than people realize. And therein lies the opportunity: take advantage of all that digitally viewed television..." At Shark, we're sidestepping the cost of broadcast TV for clients in metro markets with a new geotargeted digital TV media buy. Here's a redacted (six of 18 frames) look at a new 30 second spot in design and production. 

A shopping bag, brand strategy.

Just a quick glimpse of a name change, repositioning and rebranding for Maple Tree Place. What a great test - if it fits onto a shopping bag's design and communicates value ...it works.

From the archives: An original UVM poster.

We found the reality of student summer living in Burlington, Vermont and then used it to entice more students to hang around and enroll in the summer. The poster, however, kept getting pulled off Univerity walls to be rehung in dorm rooms.

Not easy, but some fun with Mortgage marketing.

Just found this early bank branch marketing poster created by Shark. Turns out, that it was  requested by a multiple of the Boston bank's customers who wanted it as an art poster to be hung on the walls of their Back Bay condos. 

Car Dealer Advertising - from back in the day at Shark.

In advance of some initial marketing discussions with an unnamed Canadian auto financing startup, and serial entrepreneurial friend, I was spurred on to dig out into some of Shark's past auto dealer ads. Probably belongs in "Stuff we like."

Nifty Twitter-feed Web Design.

In lieu of slide shows, background video, and other marketing agency, self-promo and popping graphic tactics, we've string together an easy and economical way to auto-post new content. The blog connects via auto-post software, syndication occurs across multiple digital channels, and then a twitter feed integrated into our homepage creates an easily managed digital marketing ecosystem. A great strategy for small business and companies who want to run with less drain on resources. Just saying. 

Alison Models the other side.

... of the T, that is. Someone asked, so I found it.  From the original, Saint Augustine shoot.

Mobile App design, branding and development.

Here's a first look at the initial name and logo created by Shark for an exploratory, west-coast based start-up. No names - will be named and at the moment it's in "proof-of-concept"and that's all we can show or say!

A creative agency t-shirt.

From the beaches of St. Augustine, FL last year some time, our "If your ads aren't becoming to you, then you should be coming to us, vintage Shark T;shirt."

Killer Brew: Shark beer design from the early 2000's.

Just found some classic Ida Cheinman beer package design for Shark on the agency's shelf. It's either late 90's or sometime in the 2000's..

Cute little digital display ad in the works for Shark.

This would be a Pete, Christian and Thomas project resurrecting a concept that's been floating around the agency for a while.

Beautiful new branding for a classic and renowned company.

Founded by Charles Shackleton and Miranda Thomas, ShackletonThomas furniture, pottery, and home décor can be found in the homes of Hollywood luminaries, international dignitaries, and in fine homes nationwide. As we begin to organize strategies, and a new digital marketing program, below, one can see the company' current logo and color palette, followed by a new typographic logo and icon ( props to Christian ... graphiste extraordinaire).

Tracking Irma - Little Stella and big Robert prepare for landfall in Fort Lauderdale.

Shark Account Manager, Evy Jacobs is riding out Irma with her dog Stella in Fort Lauderdale, FL. A quick pic from Saturday before the storm - probably after uncle Robert finished "battening down the hatches," but just before his evening cocktail.

Beautiful Billboard design and branding for BankRI.

We spend a lot of time in our cars. Commuting to work, dropping off the kids at school, running errands, weekend getaways. When you view the world through a glass windshield, it's easy to notice the things that stand out, and what better way to separate from the rest of the pack than with a beautiful outdoor advertising campaign.

That's exactly what we did for BankRI – Shark created a billboard design to not only convey a message but also draw attention with its sound visuals for an outdoor environment. A sleek, powerful look for a strong, dependable bank. 

Beautiful outdoor ad concept and billboard design for our client, Bank Rhode Island.

New branding and graphics for an undisclosed national client.

Although we can't name names, we can show a sneak peak at how the central idea of a logo can remain as a central idea with its graphic form evolving.  Yes, it's a Maple leaf, that was originally a whole tree. (See below)

Branding a Vermont restaurant and bar.

Just a quick glimpse at some recent design explorations for the Three Penny logo. It's an inherited, client-crafted logo that Shark's design team has reviewed and begun to explore. First thing, cleaner hops, second thing, a more contemporary aesthetic that works beautifully for T-shirts and swag.

Original client-designed logo

Shark's refreshed T-shirt graphic

A Jeff Bezos quote for the header of a new strategic planning document.

Just a great little quote from Amazon's Jeff Bezo that we've turned into a fun header for new strategic planning documents heading to a Boston-based client.

The Dogs of Shark // Coming soon: Shark's New Dog Page