Happy St. Patrick's Day
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Yes we can

"So you want us to draw a T-Rex?...But made out of metal?"
Sometimes our clients know exactly what they want...and hey, we're cool with that. When it's something fun to work on, even better...Like this logo and illustration for CarWrex.

Hey, i'm not saying your job isn't fun...but we get to paid to draw metal dinosaurs!
CarWrex Logo Rex CarWrex Logo

POTATO CHIPS

Hot Fries? Cool Air? Crashing Babies!? Yes, that just a small sample of what we've been up to this first quarter of '10.

We recently worked with our friends at Lance to turn up the heat on this new Hot Fries packaging. Tom's is moving away from subdued, earthy colors that they had previously identified as appropriate for the brand, and putting more emphasis on standing out on the store shelf.
Bigger Crunch, Bolder Flavor Muy Caliente

We've also completed our education in the world of HVAC as we put the finishing touches on two websites for our friends at Allied Air Enterprises. We not only created all the design and animation for these sites, we also produced most of the written content. We have worked extensively with Allied Air to change the way that they communicate with their customers and talk about their products.
Bigger Crunch, Bolder Flavor AirEase Detail Armstrong Air website

visit the site

visit the site

visit the site



Now to explain those crashing babies...We've been busy working with our friends at Britax to produce no less than three videos this quarter highlighting the various safety features of their market dominating car seats and booster seats. Our strength in animation is the perfect solution for difficult to demonstrate concepts, like superior crash test performance and slow motion reenactments of what happens during a real crash event. It's fascinating stuff...and if your child rides in a car seat, it's something you need to see!
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Click on any of these images to play video


Block and Tackle

When you can take a complex business situation and explain it well with a relatively simple sports analogy, you've got buzzword gold. Like "block & tackle".

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. Crunch.  Don't bring that weak $hit round here. Hey, maybe this is what they meant?

Train the Trainers

You can paddle a Class V river...but can you teach a class of 5 how to paddle?

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.
The Outdoor Foundation Mentor Training Site The Outdoor Foundation Mentor Training Site The Outdoor Foundation Mentor Training Site

visit the site



Another Addy

Hey, since we are talking about kids and the great outdoors...This would be a good time to show you the (ADDY award winning) logo that we developed for North Carolina Children And Nature Coalition (NCCAN!). Learn more about this terrific cause at ncchildrenandnature.org.
NCCAN logo

say anything

Don't worry. I don't want to talk about cheesy John Cusack movies here. I just thought I needed to say something...anything...after not updating this site for so long. To anyone who has tried to check up on Artizen via this website for the last, say, 8-9 months, I apologize for the lack of new information.

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.

talent transcends

I keep telling my team at Artizen that our greatest strength is our fundamental talent...our talent as artists and creative thinkers. We cannot be defined by or limited to any ONE media platform (print, web, video, etc.). We are forever learning new techniques and technologies and expanding the universe to which we can apply our talent. Case in point, we just produced this very cool commercial for AirEase (completely in-house, with some great sound and voice work from Groundcrew Studios).
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!
image Rubbermaid Lock-Its Packaging

Click to play commercial


fresh and refresh

There is no question that this economic downturn is real, and almost no-one has escaped it unaffected. One trend we are seeing is the "refresh"...as in: instead of doing a new one, let's just refresh last year's:________(catalog, website, etc.). Dispite all kinds of cost saving measures, companies are still marketing and advertising. And we are fierce in our resolve to give them the most bang for their buck. See our examples of some completely fresh thinking and some beautiful refreshes below.
Armstrong Air Print and POP Campaign Hendrick Motorsports 25h Anniversary Brochure Updated US National Whitewater Brochures

addys

Everyone at Artizen has been very busy lately. Actually...We've been busy as long as we can remember. In this economy, that's nothing to complain about. I'll admit, our own website has been neglected for too long, and the BIG announcement of our new name: Artizen (formerly Digital Edge Design) never really happened...we just kinda eased into it. So, hey...If you haven't heard, we changed our name to Artizen.

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.
Davidson Day Website Mountain Khakis Catalog Artizen Crew at the Addys

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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!

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Cary Murphy

Owner & Creative Director

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about

I started Digital Edge (now Artizen, in case you skipped the intro) about 13 years ago, while I was still working for John Deere. Around 2001, I decided to really grow the business and started adding other talented designers. We now have one of the best and most versatile design teams around, and we have expertise across a broad range of media--print, web and video.

I honestly think my design team is the best around, but I have no doubts that our commitment to a high level of service is what really sets us apart. We are known for our fast turn-around, being ultra-reliable, and keeping our billing fair and transparent. In other words, we have figured out what our customers really want from a design partner.

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"Cary has incredible insight into the strategic business initiatives necessary to make a product and service successful. His command of the strategy development through to execution are invaluable to any company."


Lance Kinerk
VP Sales and Marketing
US National Whitewater Center





"Cary brings ideas to life. He and his creative team understand your business, your vision and translate that into beautiful and high impact creative pieces that get results. He has helped build our brand from the ground up."


Mac Lackey
Founding Partner
Mountain Khakis





"Cary's agency has managed a lot of quick-turnaround projects for us. He and his design team deliver on-strategy creative solutions and are very easy to work with."


Cheryl Mehrmann
Senior Comm. Manager
IRWIN Industrial Tools





"Digital Edge (Artizen) has been a long-term partner to us at GE, and is a key resource in all of our line review preparation. They deliver exceptional service again and again, even under the most outrageous deadlines. They are certainly a factor in driving the growth of our business."


Stephen Peace
Communications Manager
General Electric, Sealants & Adhesives





"Cary has been instrumental to the success of multiple product pitches and product launches in the 5 years I have worked with him. Whether you need him for last minute preparations for meetings or long term creative projects, Cary has the industry knowledge, vision, and resources to make it happen."


Rebekah Lindsay
National Account Manager - Lowes
RSI Home Products





"Aritzen has been an instrumental partner with Cooper Lighting when it comes to innovation in packaging and interactive training tools. They are among the few vendors who go above and beyond to exceed our expectations."


Jodi Alston
Marketing Manager
Cooper Lighting





"Artizen's marketing and merchandising experience allows them to deliver outstanding, out of the box merchandising concepts that can be executed in store, within Hanna guidelines. They always deliver for us, no matter how tight the deadline"


John E. Rarick
General Manager, Channel Marketing - Lowe's
Armstrong World Industries



portfolio

This is just a cross-section of (mostly) recent Artizen work I've selected to show off our incredible range, the diversity of our clients, and our consistent level of high quality design.

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US National Whitewater Brochures Topics Education Identity Package Chicago Pneumatic Literature and Packaging Foundations Club Branding and Literature Mountain Sprouts Branding and Literature Thompson Traders Branding and Literature Simplicity Branding and Literature Davidson Day Capital Campaign Brochure Hendrick Motorsports Sponsorship Brochure
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Mountain Sprouts Website NouvEON Website US National Whitewater Center Website

visit the site

visit the site

visit the site


Union Corrugating Website Pro Travel Gear website Anthony Foxx for Mayor Website

visit the site

visit the site

visit the site

Bigger Crunch, Bolder Flavor Armstrong Air website The Outdoor Foundation Mentor Training Site

visit the site

visit the site

visit the site

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Allied Air Print Advertising Lance Sunday Newspaper Inserts Davidson Day School Print Advertising Chicago Pneumatic Print Advertising Mountain Khakis Print Advertising GE Silicones Print Advertising
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Muy Caliente Rubbermaid "Color Therapy" Packaging GE Silicones and Adhesives Packaging Bellatini Dirty Martini Mix Packaging Bambuco Columbian Coffee Packaging Poetica Candle Packaging
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Click on any of these images to play demo

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Meeko The Monkey's A to Z Animal Band--Our first children's book Captain Black, A Pirate's Tale Taste of Durham Festival posters The Dilworth Map Project

Links to other artizen side projects:


Lucky Dog Publishing

The Dilworth Map


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809 West Hill Street
Suite E
Charlotte NC 28208
704-371-7222