So we’ve already decided that our next field trip is going to be a bike ride up and down the Riverwalk. Because you see the Wheelhouse Bike Rental Shop is just down the street from us. They even give tours! So we are going to plan this out and spend a couple wheels pedaling around this city of ours as an RBD outing. Fun, right?

We’re going to try really hard to not miss Detroit River Days. Carnival rides, sand sculptures, fireworks, food!

So we are really going to make a much more concerted effort to walk down to the Riverfront, enjoy lunch at one of the tables there and do some cool stuff every now and then. Join us!

Today on April 1st we will begin our moving truck promenade down Jefferson Avenue, to Riopelle Street and then march on through William G. Milliken State Park till we reach our new pad in the Harbor: the completely restored and renovated former Bob-Lo boat, the S.S. Columbia! Back in its heyday, the S.S. Columbia shuttled thousands of Detroiters back and forth to the Bob-Lo Island Amusement Park, so what better space for a group of folks who love to have as much fun while they’re working? We can already guess what you might be thinking: “Wasn’t it just six months ago when RBD Creative announced a move to the Carriage House and all of its historic 2,400 square feet of splendor?” Yes, but we just couldn’t pass up this opportunity to offer our clients exclusive shore-to-shore service on every deck of such a lovely and inspiring vessel. Plus, now we’ll be able to go international and share our talents with our new Canadian friends across the way. Stay tuned for more details as we get settled.

We hope you’ll come aboard—we’ll be expecting you!

What did you think? Post your thoughts here!

Like any event that is much anticipated, when the time for it finally arrives you may find yourself reflecting on all the time that has passed and everything that has transpired leading up to that moment you’d been waiting for. Here’s a few we’ve noted from the past 17 months…

In the past 75 weeks:

Approximately 5,666,666 babies were born in the United States

Approximately 3,452,648 people died in the United States

Green Bay won the Super Bowl

New York Giants won the Super Bowl

Bromance, cougar, fist bump, helicopter parent and tweet were added as official words in the dictionary

Angry Birds was named the most popular app

75 billion Tweets sent

Approximately 195,976,000 people signed up on Facebook

The average American clocked in approximately 2,599 hours in front of their televisions

524 billion Google searches performed

What have you been doing for the past 17 months?

Aside from all of the juicy character drama, for those of us in who work in marketing and advertising, it’s part fascination with that era’s office life and part history lesson about how they did “it” back then. Of course we mean the creative process. While it was a very different (though not so distant) world in terms of workplace rules (like women were expected to quit once they became moms, after accepting a secondary role to male counterparts while they were working) and social standards (okay to nap, drink and smoke on the job), the creative process seems to have been pretty much the way we run things now. Copy was longer and illustrations (not photography or white space) ruled the page, but the backbone of what made an ad work or not holds true today, too. As Don once advised Peggy who was struggling with finding a voice for a particular campaign, “You, feeling something. That’s what sells.”

We’re completely fascinated with the ad campaign meetings, too. Like when Pampers wants to create an ad for its new line of disposable diapers. The folks at the agency cannot for the life of them understand why anyone would want a disposable diaper. And, that poignant scene when Don is pitching to Kodak about how to sell their new photo slide device: he clicks through stills from his own life, featuring the other side of himself as a dad with his kids as he’s talking before finally announcing “It’s not a wheel. It’s a Carousel.” Well, when he puts it like that, could it ever have been anything else?

That’s the feeling we strive for each and every one of our clients. It’s making that connection that keeps us in the game. Mad Men shows us that while times certainly may have changed, the essence of what gets to people has not. It’s why we keep coming back for more.

How about you?

iStock Photo
It’s a fantastic resource for photography and illustration and it’s also a great place to find inspiration. Sometimes I’ll do a search using a word like future or yellow and see what comes up. The different ways people express the same concept gets me thinking in new directions and, as a designer, all that visual stimulation starts my creative juices flowing. There’s also the Design Spotlight that features work using art from the site and the Steel Cage, where members pit their Photoshop skills against one another in five rounds of art and mayhem using (you guessed it) iStock images.

My Tea Kettle
It’s a sturdy old pot that has stood the test of time — over ten years on the stove. I know a microwave would do the trick, but there’s nothing quite like the boil and whistle of a kettle. You can hear the this one from down the street. Aside from the computer, I think I use it more than any other item in my house. I enjoy a good cup of tea, but most of the time just drink cups of hot water. It’s so nice to hold a warm mug in your hands on these chilly winter days.

A Pencil and Paper
Whether at the start of a project, when I hit a sticking point along the way or on those wonderful occasions when the ideas are coming faster than they can be completed, I find myself going to the old drawing board. For me  that means grabbing a handful of paper from the recycling bin and scribbling concepts on the backs of old printouts until something takes shape. I always have a stack of dog-eared leafs tucked under the keyboard in front of me. It might look like a pile of random doodles and notes, but really it’s a journal of all the thoughts, fonts, colors and images that went into a design, as well as a few tea cup rings.

It’s Feburary, the month of hearts, and thinking about hearts also makes me think about health. Health = exercise and eating well, right? Here are two healthy things that I love to do.

I spend most of my time mothering two small children or working on my laptop, so it seems like I’m always hunching over someone … or something. That’s why I absolutely love Nia, a wellness practice that leads to better health and fitness through movement.

When I come out of a Nia class I feel recharged and uplifted, and my body feels like I’ve had a massage! During my Nia class I am reminded to breathe deeply and stretch, which really helps relieve tension and loosen up my constantly hunched shoulders. And  because the Nia program incorporates martial arts movements, I also get to take out aggressions through punches, kicks and even yells (if I feel like it).

I own some home workout videos, and I feel good about doing them, but with Nia, it is more than exercise. Nia helps me clear out of the static in my brain, connecting my spirit to music and giving way to movement – like becoming a part of an urban tribal dance. Check it out, you won’t be sorry!

As for the eating part of staying healthy, I turn to my other favorite health tool: a top-of-the-line blender called Vitamix. I feel very privileged to own a machine like the Vitamix because I can make my own salad dressings, smoothies, ice creams, soups, hummus, almond milk, applesauce … there’s nothing this baby can’t pulverize.

My favorite things to make are green smoothies, pesto and salad dressing. If you’ve never had a green smoothie before, I highly recommend them. We all know how good dark green leafy vegetables are for us, but what if you could eat them and have them taste like fruit? With a 40% greens, 60% fruit blend, a green smoothie is super delicious. My favorite green smoothie ingredients are fresh spinach and/or kale, mango, pineapple, a banana, a carrot and even a touch of fresh ginger or freshly picked mint from my garden. I’ve even made green smoothie popsicles! Eating healthy and using fresh ingredients to make drinks and food makes me feel incredibly good, especially when most purchased foods are overprocessed, full of additives and made of artificial ingredients I can’t even pronounce. The best part is that my kids love green smoothies too. What  could be better?

Salad dressing recipe:

1/2 red pepper

2 tomatoes (vine ripe)

2 T olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

3 dates, soaked in water for 20 min.

Dried basil, to taste

SiriusXM

On my daily commute to and from the RBD office, nothing keeps me more informed or entertained than listening to my favorite satellite radio stations. Whether it’s hearing a great celebrity interview on Channel 100, previewing new music on Channel 10, or catching breaking news on Channel 115, time flies when I’m on the road to the D!

While I do have my favorite channels, the great thing about SiriusXM  is having the choice to listen to whatever I want, whenever I want, all while staying up-to-date on the latest music, celebrity gossip and traffic and weather to boot!

Twitter

I can’t help it; I’m totally into Twitter. It’s one of the first things I log on to each day and check throughout the day, even just for a few minutes. With Twitter, I find that in just a few clicks I can scroll through my Twitter feed to find out what topics are trending for the day, what major news is happening, or even to catch sports scores. Then, if I see something of interest, I click through to read more, or do a search for more details. And, every now and then, I post my own Tweets supporting my favorite basketball team (Go Eagles!), mentioning my favorite places, or giving a shout out to my favorite followers.

For me, Twitter definitely helps keep my finger on the pulse of what is happening locally or virtually at that very moment. Follow me at @lmondro  to see what I find worth Tweeting!

Basecamp

Keeping my fingers on the pulse of events and news doesn’t stop when I get out of my car or after I’ve browsed online. I need to make sure I am in the know on the truly important things – RBD and our clients’ projects! I can do this with the help of our project management software called Basecamp.

Basecamp has been a very easy-to-use and easy to implement tool that allows us to keep everything associated with project in one place. I can create to-do lists for different projects assigned to different team members, track events or milestones to hit certain deadlines, and keep project-related files, notes and discussions centralized for the entire RBD team. And, since Basecamp is an online tool, I can do this anywhere – whether it’s in the RBD Office, on my iPad2 while at Panera, or while I’m sitting on my couch!

So, there you have it…the tools that are right at my fingertips and keep me humming along – SiriusXM, Twitter, and Basecamp – are what keep my fingers on the pulse of all that is happening around me!

All Creative World and Designer’s Toolbox 


The blank page. It’s terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. Sometimes you just need to see what else is out there, to feed your head a little and get inspired. All Creative World is a network of creative sites that show off new work, styles and news from the worlds of fashion, design, photography, illustration, architecture and more. Browse till your heart’s content and your brain is raring to go.

Sometimes for me, the thing is to think about what format might serve a design best. Designer’s Toolbox contains all kinds of pertinent information to help you get your designs started. Want the die cut line for your own 11.5 x 9 tabbed folder? What size enclosure best fits a number 6 Baronial envelope? Looking for iPhone GUI elements? Want some standard web banner sizes? You can find them all here, with specific sizes, conversion charts and clean downloads that keep your productivity humming along.



Coca Cola

Okay, I admit it: I have a Coke habit. While I love the smell of coffee, nothing gets my morning going like a glass of Dr. Pemberton’s brown bubbly. And it just goes well with certain foods, so maybe it’s a glass or two throughout the day. And maybe another one as I relax in the evening. That crisp sound as you crack open a bottle. That little bite that hits you when you take the first sip. What can I say — it does something for me. And sure, the caffeine doesn’t hurt (much).

But the other thing I love about Coke is the longevity and adaptability of its brand. For more than 125 years, that signature swoop and iconic red and white have called upon drinkers to enjoy a moment of refreshment. From bathing beauties to Santa Claus to teaching the world to sing to polar bears, Coca Cola has become an American institution … providing you can overlook that whole “New Coke” thing.



Laughter

And while I’m admitting things, I’m also a big laugher. It fuels me. Humorous stories, life stories, jokes and even the occasional bad pun get keep my juices going. It makes you think about things differently, it can diffuse a tense situation, and in the right circumstances it’s the best sound in the world. I mean, there are times to be serious, but other times, let’s not take ourselves too seriously.

But there are many other great benefits to laughter. It releases endorphins into your system, similar to the rush runners feel when jogging. It can even help your immune system do its job by lowering levels of cortisol. Studies have shown that fifteen seconds of laughter can add two days to your life span, and fifteen minutes of laughter equals the benefits of two hours of sleep. And a good belly laugh can burn 3.5 calories. So laugh hardy! I’m trying to belly laugh as often as possible.



Laughter is also a powerful tool in creating memorable messages. From the original “Where’s the Beef” commercials to Quicken Loans dining at Detroit’s Coach Insignia to Harvey Nichols to the recent Audi Game Day ad  (those pesky vampires are everywhere!), humor puts your audience at ease and helps them retain your message.

Go out there. Feed your head, take a sip and let out a good laugh!

Dorothy says…

Tools for REACHING OUT

I find it hard to get through the day without being connected to business associates, clients, vendors, friends and family.  Tools like Facebook and LinkedIn help me to quickly communicate with hundreds of people. I’m still a big fan of the USPS. You read that right. I believe there is a place for good ol’ fashioned snail mail. But ask us how we do it. It’s not what you are probably thinking. And yes, it WORKS.

Tools for BEING PRODUCTIVE

I have my head in the Cloud over Dropbox because we can all work from anywhere and allow our clients access to individual folders. And nothing keeps me humming through the workday like great tunes on Pandora Radio. I’d be lost without these two tools.

Resources that keep me GROUNDED

There are favorites that simply help me maintain what I need to each day and escape a little when the going gets particularly rough. I’m really thankful to work with clients and staff that are dear friends. Our RBD team keeps me level and everyone knows how much I love that Christmas morning feeling when I get to see the first internal proofs of a project. I am brought back to reality by the amazing Mini Twinneys, Marc and Bryan, who actually aren’t so mini anymore. They make me laugh, they make me think hard and every now and then, they simply say, What the heck were you thinking Mom? A great resource and a great shot of reality, really. Friends and family are so important.

I’m kept well nourished by a couple of my favorite restaurants when cooking a meal is the last thing on my mind, Nico & Vali, No.VI Chophouse and Fiamma Grille are just a few. And if it weren’t for Pandora the Wrangler, I most definitely would not get where I need to go.

I guess I have a lot of favorite things! It’s a combination of all these things that keeps me humming and makes my heart go pitty-pat.