We hear this one a lot, typically in reference to the everyday, down and dirty, manual labor–type of work that is involved in moving a business forward (or, uh, toward the goal?). It's a good analogy. Any real football fan appreciates the importance of great blocking and tackling. Just as any serious business leader understands the importance of great execution of strategy.
I usually hear the expression used in contrast to the big strategic vision. Sometimes dismissively … As in, "Here's the brilliant big-picture, the rest is just block & tackle".
The main reason I mention it here is to point out that, unlike many other firms in our category, Artizen is proud to be a block & tackle company. Our role is to help companies execute their marketing strategies in the best possible way. We're not out to compete for our client's job as starting quarterback.
We block. We tackle. We execute on your vision and get things done. And we do it with shocking efficiency and consistency. We are built for speed and thrive in the trenches. We are proud of our role. It is important and we are among the very best at it.
So we've got a good handle on block & tackle, right? Well consider this. As any Longshoreman could tell you: A block & tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift or pull heavy loads.
Helping to lift or pull heavy loads? Yep, Artizen is definitely a Block & Tackle company.
That was the question posed to the volunteer mentors of the Outdoor Foundation – A group that possessed strong technical expertise in a range of outdoor activities, but were admittedly less comfortable with leading and managing groups of youths and teenagers.
The O.F. contracted our friends at Topics Education to create an engaging, online curriculum that would help aspiring mentors gain confidence and hone their abilities for working with groups of kids. The curriculum uses video, audio, and interactive lessons to share stories and advice from professional outdoor leaders around the country.
Topics Education called on the team at Artizen to turn the curriculum into an interactive, web-based experience and to design some visuals as compelling as the content. The final product resides on the Outdoor Foundation website, and was also used by Backpacker Magazine in their series, How To Raise An Outdoor Kid.
It's not like there has been nothing new to share. Quite the opposite. We have been fantastically busy here and have put together some extremely impressive, "portfolio worthy" projects recently. We snagged another ADDY this year, too. I promise that I will put some new stuff up here very soon.
Also, we just received production samples of some great looking Rubbermaid packaging. We helped them design inserts for a whole family of locking-lid containers several months back...I had almost forgotten how cool they looked!
Click to play commercial
Oh well. I really can't be upset about a few missed self-promotional opportunities, because there are so many good things happening with Artizen. For example, we decided to enter a few items in the Addy Award's this year (our first time), and we came away with two winners! The winning entries are shown below.
We created a slew of great work last year...we really should have entered more stuff. Since we fly under the radar most of the time, I want to share some of the really excellent advertising, animation, web, packaging, collateral and identity work we've been doing. I've selected some projects, new and old, to showcase here. Hope you enjoy!
Cary Murphy
Owner & Creative Director
