Web design vs. Print design. Huh?

Most of the graphic designers out there have a career path from print design to web design, which is comprehensible since chronologically, computers follow papers. 

Of course, the ones who were born in the digital era form the exceptions; without a clue what in the world a "0.25in bleed" means. Don’t get us wrong; there are numerous graphic designers out there who know their stuff when it comes to print, billboard design, layout and the Pantone Matching System. BUT, all graphic designers are not good web designers - le contraire est aussi vrai. Web design is such a different world where there is no paper size; there’s "screen resolution", and it changes for every viewer depending on their screen size, colors don't cost extra to print, you have to use fonts that are included in most font-books, etc...

Transiting from print to web is a difficult journey for the graphic designer; just like the change from mac to windows. Though they share a lot of similarities, mostly on a fundamental level, print and web are two different worlds. The former is static (once it's printed, it's printed) while the latter is dynamic and most importantly interactive. Oh, and in print design, the paper doesn't have to load, whereas in web-design you're only as good as your website is light.

What's more is that it has *kinda* been proven that print designers and web-designers think with different sides of their brains. Which do you think is more creative? Either way, designers in general are some of the most passionate, strong willed, dedicated of people. We're always impressed with good design!

Oh, btw, we're hiring graphic designers if you need a job! It's a down economy, move to Haiti. ;-)

PubliGestion's Logo and Mondrian

Designers are sometimes the unsung heroes who make the most meaningless things come true to life. They are those talented folks who help translate the visions of marketing and the objectives of the client. With their methods, laws and creative fervor, they create masterpieces with timeless value. We think our logo is a masterpiece. Frankly, because it is. No, we're not being cocky. Keep reading... :)

Have you ever noticed, for example that our logo is inspired by Piet Mondrian’s “Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow, 1930” painting? This is not by sheer coincidence.

 Piet Mondrian’s "Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow"

Our name “PubliGestion” when dissected, it goes like this:“Publi” the first half of our name simply means “many” or “multi”, but when you start analyzing it in its Latin roots, it means people, concerning people or belonging to the people. Now, “Gestion” is the French for “Management.” So, in short “PubliGestion” means combining efforts to manage, influence, inspire or produce.

PubliGestion's logo

Back to Mondrian: if you look for the meaning behind his paintings, the most common is that there is a balance between all elements within his geometric pieces thanks to his use of white space and his stroke techniques generating a greater sense of depth in the white forms. Most importantly, it’s Mondrian’s relentless pursuit of new dynamism within a set of shapes and structures that really inspired us.

Now, if you're wondering about why we chose blue and orange, well that's gonna have to wait for another blog entry when we talk about color therapy. ;)

The Tank

Designing is like life. No? You brainstorm, you plan then make things happen. Pretty much the same. But designing, like life, has its way of leaving you in a dike, bound with USB cables, gagged with JOs, your arse lit on fire and with deadlines circling overhead like crazy vultures.

Like other designers, I’ve had my fair share of ball-breaking situations, and it feels like your PC just gave you "the blue screen of death, dumping physical memory now... 10.. 9.. 8... 7..." Feels hopeless. But if you ever find yourself in this kind of situation, I discovered that the only way to get out of it is to become a tank. This applies to everything else in designing (and in life). So, here are 4 ways on how to become a tank:

1. Never surrender. Never give up! To some this is translated to: "so long as there is coffee, we can work!" If you’re alive and can still wield a mouse, all awesomeness is on your side. You’ll be able to pull through things, just breathe.

2. You have friends, co-workers and people around you that are willing to help. Never underestimate, or neglect people. Whenever you feel the urge of surrendering, ask for help to accomplish your task.

3. Keep in mind that even a damaged tank is still armored and fully loaded. Always, use your strengths to your advantage. It is easier to build on strengths than on weaknesses. Weak skills when worked on will just become, at its best, mediocre skills.* For things you can’t do refer to Item#2.

4. If really pushed to the limits and all system shuts down. The only choice is to retreat. Refuel, recharge and live to do it all over again tomorrow. Have a nice meal, get some sleep and you’ll find that tomorrow will be a better day.

So when you’re stuck, do these and you’ll find that there’s always some fight left in you! Otherwise get yourself a nice glass, remove the tank top, distill rain from Venus and quietly weep.

If you like these tips, please leave comment below.

*Timothy Ferris – The 4 Hour Work Week

LIVE! It's Monday Afternoon. Sharing in the NOW.

I was watching the BET awards yesterday, and it hit me…live TV is back, but thanks to one thing: social media.

I wasn’t planning on watching the show, but Twitter enticed me to do so. I logged on, and that's all everybody was talking about. Rare was the person tweeting about the weather. The BET Awards were it!

During the entire event, I was glued to the social network. I had a lot of fun commenting on and reading other people's comments on the main Twitter #BETawards hashtag. People were making me laugh with remarks on performances, award winners, celebrity outfits and, oh, the hair…! It was certainly a good example of that extra element which can be added to open up LIVE events. Live TV is here to stay. So sorry DVR, but with social media, you’re nothing but a cool VCR.

Social media is changing the landscape more than ever. TV is no longer a push medium, but a pull medium. Now, the question for us marketers is: how do we capture our audience’s attention during commercials? How do we get them to tweet and comment on Facebook about our ads during the break? We need to capitalize in real-time.

I’m predicting interactive TVs in the future with social networks plugged-in telling the audience to follow/like (or whatever the lingo will be) in order to receive “exclusive” coupons.

Only time will tell. Cheers, and a good week to all!

Clients. Clients. Clients... What I Love About Them!

My day-to-day job as an account executive at PubliGestion allows me to be in contact with some very special people, our reason to be: our customers….

I love my customers:

- I love the fact that they often don’t know what they want; it challenges our creativity!

- I love it when they have a very precise idea of what they want (even if it needs some refining); it teaches us to be gently persuasive.

- I love the fact that it takes them a long time to make a decision; it teaches us patience!

- I love the fact that they like to change their mind (and thus the whole concept the team has been working on for a week) at the last minute; it keeps us on our toes!

- I love the fact that it is always urgent when the project is in our hands, and becomes much less urgent when they have to review it; it helps us improve our speed and efficiency!

- I love it that they expect us to be available when they need us (Saturdays, sundays and after hours included); it teaches us the importance of service!

- I love the fact that they want to spend little and impress a lot; it teaches us to negotiate, cut costs and create a lot with very little means.

- I love it when our customers are happy with the work we have produced, and proud of it as if they had done the job themselves; It teaches us to share.

- I even love it when they dislike the job we have done; It teaches us humility.

I have to admit I also love the Christmas gift I receive when the client is a happy one… ;-). But mostly, I love the fact that when you work on a regular basis with a customer, you get to know and sometimes appreciate a new person, and that person gets to know and appreciate you, and hopefully sometimes, an old customer becomes a new friend…

And I love my friends!

To be or not to be

So, it’s Happy Monday again. We hope the weekend smiled back (as it did for us) and that you are all full of energy and passion in a clear mind.

Today’s post is a note a colleague of mine left on my desk this morning…I figured I’d share.

I know you are a busy bee, she writes, but please take a time to read this. It could make the difference between “good” and “fantastic” social media:

Be responsive: By responding quickly to feedback, you will create a strong presence. Always tell yourself, If not now, when? In communication and exchanges, immediacy is golden. Procrastination in responding will make conversations loose momentum and have fans loose interest.

Be authentic: (Taken directly from Apple’s OS dictionary) (Be) of undisputed origin; genuine and original • base (your entries) on facts; (be) accurate and reliable • (Everything you post) should relate to or denote an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life.

Be open-minded: Embrace cultural diversities…Social media is another way of saying “citizen of the world” media. Did you know that Pink in Japan had a masculine connotation?

Be transparent: Do not lie. I repeat, do not lie. Be honest with your audience. Never put yourself in a position where you have to lie. Remember it takes 1000 lies to cover up for the first one.

Be boldly original and confident: Think right brain. Plan and act with the left.

Be all of these BEs, and you shall prosper she signed.

Need we say more?

Have a wonderful week!

“One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain”

Is there any safer and more beautiful way to express yourself but to put down your thoughts on a piece of paper? How about singing your heart out to the world, knowing that you can share and give back something so pure to the universe? Giving something others can relate to; and be a reference to certain moments, times and places. Music is humanity.

Music is much more than a stress reliever, much more than therapy. It is a way of life. It isn’t necessarily a melody, or a chord; it’s more of a distinguished harmony. The sound of an engine, though not as delicate or soothing as that of the beach waves or the raindrops, is just as beautiful. They all serve a purpose.

I could go on and on about my passion for sounds but the most important aspect is the fact that, sound just like light, just like planet earth and things beyond our knowledge is energy. Did you know that every molecule has its own frequency, therefore its own sound? And every frequency corresponds to a particular color?

See, in the advertising world, we treat every color, text, every impression and diffusion, as they are frequency based… with care. They are after all, products of a team effort, of various energies put together. And because of that, like an engineer mixing a track and making sure each and every sound is balanced correctly to be in tune with, not only the ears but also the enjoyment of the audience they cater to, our job is to make sure that we present and represent each of our client’s products with the correct mix and balance in mind.

Brands are just like us; they grow up listening to Jazz, Compas, Rock, Hip Hop, Bossa Nova, Country, or all of the above. And so at times, we either kick it up a notch or lower down the tone. And what better language to express itself than the universal language of sounds: Music.

Oh, I'm sorry. Please let me introduce myself. At PubliGestion, I am the guy who creates and assures the quality of the jingles you hear on your way to work (if you live in Haiti), or at your desk while streaming Haitian radio here and abroad. I'm passionate about sound and currently evolving as a producer. With a blessed and talented team of copywriters and marketing professionals, everything that is created at PubliGestion comes out being as colorful as the media spectrum in which it is broadcasted. For your viewing and hearing pleasure.

- Fabrice Germain, Production at PG

J’aurais voulu être un artiste...

Sometimes in my dreams, I am a cabaret singer. I sing and dance (with little talent for the last one) to entertain my public. I love to sing. I sing in my shower and while I am cooking, and I think that I can carry a tune… Singing is a wonderful therapy.

Though, I am not an artist – per say, since in my day-to-day work as an account executive at PubliGestion, I juggle between QuickBooks, job orders and client emails. I am the link between my clients’ and PG’s happiness. You could say that I am the semi-salted butter between the Brie and the baguette.

Even if my job consists of the purely business side to an agency’s dynamics, I have a creative side. Remember how I said that I love to sing? Well, I also love it when, from time to time, our studio coordinator lets me work with the graphic artists, and encourages me to give my personal touch to artworks… It helps me get in touch with my inner Picasso – though; saying that there is a Picasso in me is… exaggerating my talents.

I like to pretend that I am an arstist, and most of all; I admire the talent and the work of real artists. My full-time at PubliGestion lets me do just that. And also, I am an activist in the cultural world that is Haiti.

Living here, I am faced every day with raw talent. Our young people can sing, dance, paint, and act - so naturally, but often, their talent remains raw; mainly because of the absence of arts’ value, and the scarcity of art and public performance schools in the country’s structure. The few art schools that exist are private and very highly priced. As a result, our young talented artists cannot learn the techniques, and their capacity to improve and become good performers is slim.

This is why when my friend Bertrand Labarre asked me to join him for the creation of Haiti en Scène, I immediately said yes. This nonprofit association has one main objective: to give the young dancers, singers and actors of Haiti the necessary training via the preparation of a show… usually a musical comedy. It has trained over 100 young artists, and these youngsters are giving back. To commemorate the January 12th you-know-what, they’ve animated theatrical activities with children in the camps (tent cities). Under supervision of our professional artists, shows were organized with the kids. Some of the productions from Haiti en Scene have proudly been presented to the public in Haiti, in Canada and in France.

As the song says: « J’aurais voulu être un artiste… pour pouvoir faire mon numéro…». But, I am not an artist, so to earn the right to be very close to such wonderful people, I do some public relation work, I help with communication and supervise the door and tickets sale on paid performance days, but mainly, I enjoy the show… And, because I know all the lyrics, I sing my heart out during the performance…And on days like these when I am sitting at my desk with a view of the west-side of Pétion-Ville, buttering up a storm, I'm grateful to have been surrounded by those we call "creatives" at work, and in my personal life.

- Jacquemine Léon, Account Executive at PG

D’où me vient l’inspiration ?

Avant de répondre à cette question qui n’est simple qu’en apparence, je tiens à féliciter les initiateurs de ce blog (Ils se connaissent) pour ce créneau qu’ils nous offrent, nous permettant à tous de partager nos points de vue sur des sujets divers.

Aujourd’hui, il m’incombe donc de vous entretenir sur ma source d’inspiration : d’où me vient-elle en général ? Et comment éclairer une idée d’une vive lumière? Une question intime s’adressant à l’écrivain, au lecteur curieux et passionné de livres ainsi qu’au croyant que je suis…

Je répondrai d’abord que je suis un obsédé textuel qui se déplace souvent à la rencontre du pays en-dehors, de l’Haïti profonde. Et en tant que tel, je suis toujours en totale immersion dans l’imaginaire, les réalités, (quoiqu’en Haïti ces deux mondes me semblent si proches)…bref dans le vaste océan de la culture populaire et folklorique haïtienne.

Sans dogmes ni préconçu, je cherche le naturel, le vrai, et je cultive la beauté, jouant le rôle de dépositaire du patrimoine oral. Je m’inspire donc au contact de mes frères, les hommes et de la nature : les animaux, les mondes visibles et invisibles, les plantes, les pierres, etc. Les quatre éléments…recherchant toujours le cinquième. Un simple geste, une réflexion, une passante, une odeur, un heureux souvenir, les couleurs, bref, tout ce qui est vivant et vivace peut provoquer le déclic chez moi.

Le pays profond ainsi que les êtres simples qui le peuplent m’attirent autant qu’ils m’inspirent. D’où ma préférence et cette habileté de concevoir des messages publicitaires percutants en créole, avec une résonance qui touche tout le cœur et l’esprit.

Kanga, Concepteur-Rédacteur à PG

Entretien avec notre PDG

VC:

Elle est de ces femmes à l’énergie incroyable qui inspirent et …intriguent jusqu’au jour où on collabore avec elle. C’est ce que je fais depuis un an à l’agence qu’elle a créée en 1977.

Eliane Bayard, le chemin parcouru par Publigestion pour avoir réussi à se maintenir à la première place tout au cours de ses 35 années d’existence ?

ECB:

1975 : C’est ma rencontre avec la Publicité à travers une petite agence parisienne. Un coup de foudre professionnel pour une équipe qui a su m’inciter à en monter une pour me lancer à mon tour dans ce domaine, à mon retour en Haïti.

Ainsi est donc né Publigestion, première agence de communication à services complets du pays, qui venait mettre au service de la clientèle des prestations variées, adaptées spécifiquement à leurs besoins, de l’élaboration de stratégies de campagnes publicitaires à leur mise en oeuvre. Chaque client est différent, chaque réponse se doit donc d'être unique et innovante.

Mais permets que je n’aille pas plus loin…les éléments de ce qui constitue notre crédo sauront répondre mieux qu’aucun autre mot ne le ferait :

Nous croyons en une organisation stable,
composée de gens talentueux et audacieux
qui aspirent à se réaliser
aussi bien collectivement qu’individuellement.

Nous croyons en nos valeurs construites sur
la Créativité, l’exigence de Qualité et
le Respect du consommateur.

Nous croyons en un produit efficace,
innovateur et hautement professionnel,
répondant aux attentes de clients
dont la confiance nourrit notre motivation.

Cette vision ouverte sur l’avenir
constitue l’élément-clé du dynamisme
et de la fierté de notre agence.
Elle façonne la réalité de Publigestion
et représente la garantie de notre développement futur.

--

Eliane Célestin Bayard, Présidente

Love What You Do

Today is fly-me-to-the-moon day =) more commercially known as Valentine’s Day (Saint Valentine's day for you purists out there). The day when, worldwide, people express their love towards each other - and usually have to buy either chocolate, a card or a diamond in doing so. Some here at the agency feel it's more Single Awareness Day. But that’s another story.

On this February 14th, no chocolate or roses required (although welcomed)... Coupled-up or not, we are celebrating! Celebrating our LOVE for work. LOVE WHAT YOU DO, and everything else will fall into place. You see, if someone started working at 21 and retired at 65 (working a full-time schedule) that person would have worked close to 100,000 hours!

These 100,000 hours can either be pure punishment, or with a little bit of LOVE, they can be your time-to-shine, working your magic in this great field of infinite possibilities. Take a daily dose of LOVE WHAT YOU DO, and see how little miracles happen here and there; Try it…See how the whole world and events will seem to conjugate to get you closer to your dreams; Even unfortunate events will start to look like life lessons urging you to do more, better.

See, as advertisers, it's up to us to shape how people perceive brands, ideas, events...and ultimately we create the imagery of what an idyllic life is - or should be.

So to everyone out there, LOVE WHAT YOU DO. Only then will you be of value to society (you might even start loving Mondays).

Happy Valentine’s Day! We love you too.

BLISS

Did we ever tell you that our entire staff is creative? From the obviously creative Studio to the business-as-usual Purchasing department? Ha! Well, you’re in for a treat. One of our purchasing agents is also a disk jockey... spinning @ the most exclusive local spots. Bet you didn’t see that one coming ;) WORK HARD. PLAY HARDER.

This entry is dedicated to our conservative purchasing agent by day and bomb dot com DJ by night… Samar Handal. Starting tomorrow, every Tuesday at 5PM, Samar will be playing at Point Bar, Ibo Lele for a Blissful night of awesome music, good drinks and hot people. Does this sound like a plug? Oops.

Living Haiti

And BOOM! We’re back again! It’s like a movie with lots of political action, drama and killer cholera on the loose in a 7.o-you-know-what ravaged country. But, chill, there’s life in Haiti! By that we mean, hakuna matata marinating in love, life and peace.

It’s time we introduce you to Living Haiti—the scene that news cams never see. There’s life here! So let’s be done with the foreplay, we’re about to give you a taste of Haiti we all enjoy.

1. Restaurants are top of our list. Oriental, European, local, it’s here. Each dish is a celebration, a marriage of international recipes with locally grown organic ingredients tuned by a fine Caribbean palette.

There are a couple of places where you could go depending on your taste. Heck, we could even write an entire entry on local wining and dining and restaurants! Because when it comes to food nothing beats the flavours found here.



Emina's Garden.

2. Drinking. What’s the point of living when we can’t be “foolish” from time to time? And what better way to do it than with a drink or two among good friends? Haiti is home to two wonderful drinks: Prestige, a lager beer produced by Brana S.A. and Rhum Barbancourt, a rhum distilled from sugar canes. Both drinks are awarded for their wapah factor that leaves you wanting.

Let us initiate you. Barbancourt simply put is the rhum of all rhums—the choice of connoisseurs the world over. Prestige is a brown bottle lager with original flavours that makes a warm day in the tropics so nice! Try this, grab an ice cold 6-pack and head to the beach and tell us that’s not true.



Magdoos Café Resto.

3. Dancing. Okay. Now that we’re all foolish after, uh, a few, uh, drinks, we can all dance to the tune of kompa. Can’t dance? Drink some more. Trust us when we say what you’re drinking has a secret ingredient that can grow dancing bones or turn you into happy feet in two seconds!

Nightlife is alive and well especially in Pétion-Ville. One of our favourite is Press Café, an authentic Haitian bar that allows you to get close and personal to your, ahem, friend. How could anyone resist that cosy sensual atmosphere brought by real Haitian twoubadou?



Pétion-Ville at night

4. Relaxing after pulling off an all-night party is surprisingly easy. Let’s save the beach for later. There are pools open to public, like the ones at Hotel Karibe and Hotel Ibolele where you could spend the whole day under the sun without going too far. There is also Botanik Spa, where you could unwind and untie those knots on your shoulders. There is also cascade bleu up in the mountain. It’s cool, it’s fresh and you could be close to nature without going too far.



Zen in Haiti.

5. Beaches! Aha, the best part of living in Haiti is having access to fine tropical beaches where the sun is smiling. Top of mind is Île-à-Vache, a secluded little island in the southern part of the country. It boasts of beautiful shorelines, verdant hills and sumptuous meals fresh from the sea. Unfortunately, our words fail to capture what Île-à-Vache is all about. It’s something that you should see for yourself. Take pictures though, and share it with us! We’ll be happy to give you a spot.



Ile-à-Vache, Haiti.

6. Fitness ranks high in our priority. Being in shape let’s you enjoy the things we’ve mentioned. There are couple of things you could do. There is the great outdoors for your mountain bike. There are also gyms, like Ultimate Fitness where you could burn calories, pump your muscles and keep your body active.



It's a stock image, but it's close to the real thing.

7. Work. Like anywhere else in the world, everyone has to work. The country is challenging and where there are challenges, there are success stories. No matter how little or how unsung they are. The country also provides a virgin environment for business to thrive... given the proper motivation and management skills. Recently, due to Haiti’s, uhh, unique situation, it has also provided jobs for the international community by allowing NGO careers to thrive.



We got lazy, another stock image. ;-)

We live in one of those very few places on earth where complexity and simplicity could exist in the same space. You might argue that what we’re talking about could be found anywhere else in the world! That's true. It is possible to live “normally” here but Haiti possesses something else—a magic that can’t be extracted or quantified. The Magic that makes time move on its own schedule, that makes life in Haiti special.

Quotes from the Team

The one year anniversary of the 7.0-you-know-what is only two days away. Rather than having an entry on that painful event, Bloggers' Block sent a memo out to the entire agency asking our team to send in a short quote or a thought of what they want for the new year.

And so, below are a few inspiring quotes from some of PG’s team members... Our thoughts and desires...

Nathalie, Financial Controller: “May everyone find the perfect diet for their soul. May each day in 2011 be filled with Light, Love, Laughter, Kindness and Wisdom for those will certainly lead to Happiness, and Peace. Merry 2011!”

Annie, Account Executive: “Que la nouvelle année déborde de bonheur et de prospérité et que tous les voeux formulés deviennent réalité!”

Jacquemine, Account Manager: “ ‘There are no problems, only solutions.’ I try everyday to go by that quote, in a country where we so often have to find solutions, it has helped me go ahead and stay positive. May you all keep it in mind for the challenging year of 2011.”

Monique, Traffic Manager: “Quand l’humain aura compris et admis avec Victor Hugo que ‘Tous les hommes sont l’Homme” l’humanité entière vivra d’Amour de Paix et de Solidarité.”

Pong, Head Graphic Designer: "When opportunity strikes, strike back harder!"

Kanga, Copywriter: "Ce sont mes amis qui m'ont fait aimer la vie. Ils me rendent meilleur à mesure que je les trouve meilleurs eux-mêmes. (Jacques Chardonne)"

Veronique, Social Media Strategist: “In the words of Emerson, ‘Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.’ Let’s go forth at full speed ahead with a smile on our faces, and let’s be ready to attack every single obstacle head first because in the words of Churchill, ‘We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls.’”

Fabrice, Graphic Designer: "N'attends pas que les événements arrivent comme tu le souhaites. Décide de vouloir ce qui arrive... et tu seras heureux. Jah bless !!!"

Samar, Purchasing Agent: “If u want the rainbow, u gotta put up with the rain.”

Eliane, CEO: “Mes voeux pour 2011 s’inspirent du proverbe chinois selon lequel ‘s'il n'y avait pas de montagnes, les plaines n'apparaîtraient pas’ et à cet autre proverbe, chinois également, qui affirme que ‘si le meilleur moment pour planter un arbre était il y a 20 ans…le prochain meilleur moment est maintenant’ Ne nous faisons pas d’illusions : Il est évident que nombreux seront les défis que nous devrons relever au cours de cette nouvelle année. Décidons donc de nous y attaquer maintenant ... et soyons determinés à faire preuve à la fois d'audace et de ténacité. Serrons-nous les coudes pour rester toujours à la hauteur des exigences de nos clients… et aller avec eux à la rencontre du succès !”

Olivier, Marketing Director: "Yon jou, Ayiti gen pou dòmi pòv epi li leve rich. Men elas ! Avan sa fèt, se pou chak grenn Ayisyen konprann ke jan ou ranje kabann ou, se konsa ou dòmi."

Marjorie, Media Planner: "Le 12 Janvier 2011, 1 an après cette catastrophe nous pensons tous à nos tendres et chers disparus, oui, mais en tout premier lieu il faut aussi penser à remercier Dieu pour nous qui sommes vivants par sa Grâce et avoir la Foi et l’Esperance pour s’entraider mutuellement..."

We remember... 1/12/2010