Fresh Ground Moxie

Pre-game, party and then... Afterparty

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:15:55 -0400

Moxie has a reputation for being alcoholics*.

Moxie created the SkinnyGirl brand, the popular margarita mix that has now expanded to include sangria, white cranberry cosmo, wine, and vodka.

Recently, we’ve also designed Long Island Spirit’s LIV Vodka packaging, Long Island’s original vodka made from potatoes.

And then there’s REMIX Cocktails, the first ready-to-drink, pre-game cocktail that comes in 4 fun flavors: Yeah Yumberry, Oye Mojito, Strawberry Holla-peño, and Starfruit. We created its logo and packaging, with more projects in the pipeline.

So there you have it. Moxie has chugged its fair share of liquors and beer. What’s next for us?

The Afterparty.

Afterparty, a delicious beverage that will help you with your active lifestyle. Had one (or two, or three) too many shots? Celebrating a friend’s bachelorette party? Just got out of prison and itching to pound as many beers as possible?

Don’t forget about the Afterparty. Moxie designed AfterParty’s site

Not just a hangover drink, the Afterparty also helps you rehydrate and power through your most intense workouts. Or perhaps you just need a little pick-me-up to get you through the day. Welcome to the Afterparty.

SQUARE gets a RED DOT

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:16:43 -0400

Our client and good friend Clean Bottle and David Mayer won the prestigious 2013 Red Dot Award for Product Design for their Square bottle!

Clean Bottle’s latest invention, the Square, is an innovative water bottle that unscrews from both ends for easy cleaning. It won’t roll away if dropped and comes with a wide, ergonomic handle for easy carrying. We use it and love it. GET YOUR OWN SQUARE BOTTLE!

We developed the identity and on bottle stickers and icons a while back:

Congrats to Clean Bottle! :)

We Love Grok and Roll

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:11:00 -0400

Grok /gräk/

(1) to understand thoroughly and intuitively (2) a cloud-based service that finds complex patterns in data streams and generates actionable predictions in real time (3) Moxie client (Numenta)

Inspired by data and intelligent machine thinking, we designed the Grok identity with fluidity in mind:

We also designed the Grok website and its graphics:

We also developed and produced the Grok video:

Grok’s co-founder Jeff Hawkins, author of On Intelligence and founder of Palm Computing and Handspring, was recently interviewed by Bloomberg. In that interview, both the Grok logo and demo snippets can be seen. Watch the Bloomberg video interview here.

Congratulation to the Grok team!

Well Looker Here

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:31:59 -0500

Looker, a business intelligence startup that uses business data to help make better decisions, has a new website up! Moxie designed the logo:

We worked on understanding the space, audited it creatively, and then created the identity and look/feel for the brand.

Looker also recently received $2M in funding to develop a “sequel to SQL”. Congrats to Looker and my (Omer) friend Marc Randolph!

The Table Goop Mystery

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:14:05 -0500

Alien taught us to fear mysterious goop.

So when we found similar-looking goop under our Moxie desk, we feared the worst: Aliens have hatched in our office. And Sigourney Weaver isn’t here with a flamethrower.

We called a dendrologist, forensics expert, and exorcist. The goop remained a mystery. Finally, our astute handyman deduced that the goop was terrestrial, not extraterrestrial, in nature. The goop was sap that was oozing through the wood of our desk.

The culprit? The portable heater under our desk that keeps our feet warm. The heat was moving the wood molecules, thereby allowing sap to ooze through.

So we moved the heater away from the desk and the goop has stabilized.

We’re safe for now.

Sequoia Capital's Startups > *

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:07:00 -0500

Ah, the startup life. Fun, fresh, and innovation at your finger tips. As a company smack dab in the middle of Silicon Valley, Moxie knows just how fun and rewarding working at a startup can be.

And to some, it remains a mystery. Until now. Sequoia Capital is embarking on a journey to persuade Ivy Leagues to embrace startups.

Sequoia needed a name, identity, and a landing page for their new initiative and upcoming recruiting event. This event, for about 100 students mostly from top ivy league schools, aims to recruit some of the country’s best to begin their career at a startup versus going the more traditional route of Fortune 50 companies or Wall Street (bor-ing!).

Together, Moxie and Sequoia Capital strategized and developed the program’s identity.

start @ a startup name, logo and event page

Moxie developed the entire identity: the name (start @ a startup), the logo, and the event landing page. The idea was to show how fun it can be to start @ a start up and the quirkiness of a startup. We designed the logo using the iconic “start” button, as well as the ampersat symbol. We wanted this logo to appeal to the more techy ivy league crowd but still remain true to startup culture: gratifying, exciting, and innovative.

Now, Moxie is working with Sequoia Capital for all their future recruiting events, including their newsletter, banners, table cloths, and more.

As the entrepreneurs behind the entrepreneurs, Sequoia is the VC firm that has funded many enormously successful companies - Google, Dropbox, Apple, Evernote, Square, YouTube - to name a few. No one can be a better ambassador to why starting @ a startup is a great move.

ArghhhHhHhHhhhHhhh! Avast! Join a startup today, if ye dare!

xoom

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:11:00 -0500

Congrats to our client Xoom - for a successful IPO. Feels nice to be a (tiny) part of it.

Photo

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:35:00 -0500

I Like My Salad with Ranch and My Wireframes with BALSAMIQ

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:33:00 -0500

Do you Balsamiq?

We do and we love it. A rapid wireframing tool, Balsamiq’s great drag-and-drop interface makes creating wireframes and mockups a breeze.

Balsamiq feels like drawing. With hundreds of ready-to-use icons, Balsamiq lets you add what you need to your canvas and customize the shape and text of things.

It’s better than Powerpoint (at least in most cases) because you’re not limited to the size of a Powerpoint slide and you don’t have to create from scratch! Just pick from Balsamiq’s awesome icon gallery:

When done, simply save as an image or PDF. Best of all, team members can collaborate directly on Balsamiq.

Balsamiq saves time and makes wireframes look amazing. Compare this same wireframe made 2 different ways:

NON-BALSAMIQ WIREFRAME:

BALSAMIQ WIREFRAME:

Trust us on this, we only recommend stuff if it’s really good. So go forth and Balsamiq.

Trade Shows 101: Timing

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:52:18 -0500

When it comes to trade shows, your best friend, and your worst enemy, is time.

One thing we’ve learned here at Moxie is that you can never start too early. The earlier you start, the more time you and your creative team/agency have to spend brainstorming, strategizing and researching ideas.

How much time you’ll need depends on how big your sponsorship is at your intended show and whether you plan on using a booth template or completely customizing it.

For example, if you plan to rent a 10x10 booth space and all you need is creative, allow yourself at least 2 months in advance to start.

Anything your agency can do, Moxie can do faster (#truth).

Cheers to Flavored Vodka

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:10:15 -0500

Fancy a vodka? Make it a Long Island flavored vodka.

We recently did packaging for 2 new flavors of Long Island Vodka (LIV): Hot Roasted Pepper and Ristretto Espresso. Our inspiration for the label designs came from drinking a lot of vodka. For color, we used vibrant red and deep brown to match the flavors. We also did custom illustrations:

If you’re wondering, these 2 new flavors are from the same house as the Original Long Island Vodka, whose label was also the work of yours truly:

Legolas, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:58:05 -0500

Thou art more lovely and far more temperate than any LOTR character. Knowest thou art much missed in The Hobbit.

But that’s not the Legolas we’re talking about today. We recently worked with Legolas Media, an innovator that provides an intelligent media-buying platform.

We worked on the content, designed graphics, and skinned and coded the website. The website is built on Wordpress, one of several CMS systems we’re working with (it all depends on the client’s needs).

The site has lots of dynamic elements: carousel, news and image feeds, logo tickers, portfolio widget, and more. Check it out:

Photo

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:24:48 -0500

2013 - The Year of the Trade Show

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:34:00 -0500

The year 2012 was the Year of the PowerPoint.

Welcome to 2013 - the Year of the Trade Show!

Oh my gosh is right (per viideo above).

With the success of Dreamforce, we started to ramp up and prepare for TOA’s 2013 event schedule.

Also in the pipline are StackMob at AppsWorld and PrivateCore at RSA Conference, both of which Moxie is creating and designing the booth space. Plus - working on trade show material for LaBelle Day Spa.

Come and check back for the design reveals!

Moxie is like this dog

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:10:29 -0500

Moxie is like this dog dressed as 2 dogs holding a box.

We’re creative multitaskers who exude grace under pressure.

Picture source: http://boingboing.net/2012/12/02/dog-dressed-as-two-dogs-holdin.html

We're Nuts for Oren's

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 18:12:17 -0500

Remember a while back when we posted that we were going to do packaging for Oren’s Kitchen? And you waited and waited and checked back every day to see if we were done yet? Well, the wait is finally over, we’re done! Check out the final result:

First, we renamed “Oren’s Kitchen” to “Oren’s” and designed a brand new logo. The logo colors change to correspond to different product packaging colors:

We designed labels for a total of 4 products: 2 nut blends, 1 rub, and 1 soup mix. All products are gluten free and use wholesome and mostly organic and locally sourced ingredients! The 2 savory nut blends follow this recipe: nuts + legumes + fruit.

We named the soup Lentil the End of Time (get it?) and created custom illustrations to match. We also named Amazon Rub, inspired by ingredients originating from the Amazon basin.

Vogue. Strike a pose.

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:57:00 -0500

It’s not easy being a model. Just ask the TOA buses.

A few months ago, they both made their debut appearance at Dreamforce 2012. Immediately after, they were sent to the mechanic for a quick touch-up.

Just last week, they were back in front of the camera.

Fresh off a tune-up, the TOA buses were chauffeured into the spacious studio.

The area was cleared and cleaned. The lights were set up. It was their time to shine. And shine they did.

Both TOA buses strutted their stuff at all angles.

The lounge bus included a complex lighting system, which was turned on and shot as well. Shag carpeting, velvet seats, swivel surfboard tables, and of course, groovy hanging beads… just a few custom decor pieces that we brainstormed.

Currently, the shots are being retouched for various uses like advertising, collateral, online and anything else we can think of.

What’s next on their agenda? A trip to Vegas. See you there!

Soccer, Palo Alto style

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:10:00 -0500

We’re Palo Altans who like soccer. We also have kids in the league. So when the Palo Alto Soccer Club asked us to give their website a makeover, we knew it was meant to be, and happy to help.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Nuts break

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:24:30 -0500

Brian testing the nuts that’ll go to a new package design for an artisan nuts line we just completed working on.

Was your site traffic also religion-skewed during Hanukkah?

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:33:46 -0500