Zenman Blog

Aura of the ZENMAN hat

2009-07-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Let me fill you in on a little known secret that is only shared between our great Zenman team and our utmost and faithful clients…..Yes, many might think we Zenman are crazy but here me out……..Have you ever purchased a ball cap that is so cool it instantly takes its rightful place atop of your melon? A hat that feels so right that you aren’t afraid to rock it every day of the week 24/7, 365 a year?

Now I am not saying that authentic sports ball caps aren’t worn with pride and some significance but you cant match the comfort level, sleekness and downright cool yet subtle design…….until you have the privilege of wearing one you will never experience the mystique that surrounds the Zenman hat, but if your interested drop us a note and maybe, just maybe you’ll get to try one on!!

A Zentern’s Experience

2009-06-02T12:21:00.001-07:00

Graduation is generally a time of excitement coupled with feelings of accomplishment. This joyous occasion has somewhat been hampered by the present state of the economy. Instead of picking a job based on personal wants and desires, it has turned to accepting jobs out of necessity. The job market has created a competitive environment, more so than years before, making certain skills vital in the search for a career. The following depicts the past few months, up to my current position, giving some insight into the world of a new graduate and intern.

Senior year is coming to an end with the “real world” fast approaching. At this point I am completing my internship required for graduation. This internship is cleared by the university, ensuring the student is attaining a certain level of knowledge and experience from the current site. I am enjoying my time with the company, but am fully aware of the fact that the business can not afford to hire me on at the end of my internship. Throughout this internship, my boss frequently reminded me that networking is a key to success. From the start of that internship, I was constantly attending networking functions, whether it be with my boss, or flying solo. I met numerous successful people, not only representing Denver, but representing the international realm as well. While it wasn’t always effortless or comfortable, it was valuable.

Through my contacts, I became aware of a position at a company called Zenman Productions. I immediately located the website and was extremely interested and impressed by the company. They had what seemed to be a solid client list, a solid foundation, and a creative atmosphere. After contacting the company, I was offered an interview, followed by an intern position. While internships generally don’t pay the bills, the experience and knowledge that comes with them carries dollar signs that aren’t instantaneously deposited into the bank account. I took the position with a smile on my face acknowledging it as a way for me to get my foot in the door. In a time when companies can’t afford to hire, or are skeptical of adding to staff, internships are a good way to exhibit capabilities and work ethic, among other things. In a perfect world, a full time position is the end result of the hard work put in. If this is not the case, the internship can’t be viewed as a waste. The knowledge acquired and skills attained are not only a bonus for the resume, but are also helpful in making yourself more marketable to future employers.

With a bit of time to reflect on my internship thus far, I have found it to be a positive experience. I have been included in many of the day to day operations where most interns would have been cast aside. The company does exhibit a solid foundation, creative environment, and a clientele list that continues to grow. With awards being won and recognition being paid, I am pleased that the employees have remained friendly and humble, which is a tip of the cap to the character of the company.

Thank you Zenman Productions for the knowledge, experience, and overall opportunity of interning for the company!

The Zenman Progression

2009-02-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

With every new year comes new opportunity to break the mold of who we are and who we want to become. Whether it be slimming down the waistline, challenging oneself to try new things at every opportunity or simply laying off the caffeine in the morning. I think we enjoy this opportunity because as humans we are never truly happy with whom we are. We are never simply content.

I think this is because within each one of us there is a constant yearning to be better. I think that without opportunity for improvement the human spirit becomes withered and hopeless. I think this is why the concept of solitary confinement is the most harshest of punishments in even our most intense maximum-security prisons. In such conditions we have nothing to define us. Being in an environment so full of void there is nothing to draw creativity from, nothing to compare and challenge us to improve ourselves.I can't imagine a world where humanity gives up progression because we are content with where we are now, today. It's because of human nature that we have set foot on the moon. It's because of this need within each one of us to continually push ourselves to be better that we've gone from riding horses to being able to fly half way across the world in mere hours in a period of time that is but a grain of sand in the deserts of time.

I know everyone at Zenman is stoked for this new year, I know I sure am. Already we're pushing ourselves to create things Zenman hasn't done before. We're pushing ourselves to get to the next level and excel to be the best in what we do because its what we love. I think especially working in the design and advertizing industry we at Zenman know better than anyone how fast the world is progressing. Practically on a daily basis there are new technologies to develop for, better methods of production and more compelling venues of application.

I think this is why we love our industry so much. Our passion for design, development and the art of communication is fueled by this constant change in industry and as a result we are not bound by the chains of monotony.

Keep your eyes and ears open. 2009 is going to be a big year for Zenman.

Thinking About Your Future Website for 2009?

2009-02-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

The New Year is here and by now, pretty much every major brand has found their way online in one way or another. However, if you’re like many business owners or marketing managers, you’ve probably read some articles about how digital media is the future of advertising or that print media is going to become obsolete. And yet, at the same time, you haven’t seen a notable boost from your new online website. You might even be wondering if digital media just isn’t the right way to advertise your product/company.

This is not true. Given the right approach, there is no reason why your brand/company can’t thrive online!

The usual excuses are now gone. No matter who your target audience is they are more then likely now online. The PEW Internet & American Life Project reports that 74% of adults ages 50 – 64 are online. Of course they are using the internet different than teenagers, but those are standard challenges for creative media planning.

For now over a decade, online has been talked about as the “new media” in contrast to the traditional “print” media. And yet, internet usage is outpacing TV viewing – too many business owners/marketing managers have refused to retool their budgets in the face of this extremely fast change. Over the course of this year I will be posting many different approaches to marketing in the digital world, whether it be website, social or mobile. It’s very different from print media, but as I write these post think about the brand of your company and what digital media could do for it!

The best sushi in Denver…is in the suburbs

2008-12-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I stopped to visit a teppan and sushi restaurant in Lone Tree called ‘Miyama of Colorado’. I know what you’re thinking, that is in the middle of the burbs. I know what you mean, I live downtown and my comfort zone is from Zenman (32nd & Blake) to the highlands to Luca D’ Italia. I live in a five mile triangle and until a month ago, there was no reason to leave.

We decided to have sushi and the staff pointed out some special items on the menu like imported Japanese Kobe Beef and a selection of fish that is unparalleled in Denver. I am a bit of a food lover and decided to put Miyama to the test. We invited our long time friend and client Chef Frank Bonanno his wife Jacqueline and their Director of Operations to sushi. To be completely honest, I had never invited Frank to a meal before and I was pretty terrified I wouldn’t impress him. Not only did I have to drive him to the suburbs (far outside Frank’s comfort zone), this was the owner of the best restaurants in the state (Luca, Mizuna, Osteria Marco and soon to be Bones) how was I going to impress him with food.

When we arrived Seishi greeted us warmly and from there the food took over. We enjoyed everything from the Kobe Beef, Tempura, Brain Damage Roll, Amazing Nigiri, Blue Crab with Caviar, Fresh Atlantic Sea Trout and more. From the first plates presented to us my guests were very pleased and I am confident that I brought some of the toughest people to impress in the state. To hear Frank and Chris talking about the subtle ingredients that worked perfectly to the exquisitely cut sushi was very cool.

Since then I have brought clients to Miyama for lunch and the sushi and service are just as good in the afternoon as the evening. Even if you are a downtown person it is worth the drive to Lonetree to visit Seishi and Kevin for the best sushi in Colorado. If you have a large party try the teppanyaki grill and make sure you said Keith from Zenman sent you!

New York with Bob & Linda

2008-07-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

For the Fourth of July this year I (Keith) went to visit our good friend and an amazing photographer Bob Carey at his Studio in Brooklyn, NY. It was great to see Bob & Linda, check out their studio and see all of Bob’s new work on his Ballerina series. For those of you not familiar with Bob Carey’s work you must check it out at www.bobcarey.com.

From his commercial work to the unique juxtaposition of his Ballerina, Viking and Girl Scout series Bob’s passion for photography is obvious. Right out of college I worked for Bob as his first assistant in Phoenix, AZ and just being around him again makes me want to dust off the old film cameras and take a road trip on route 66. There are few people in this world who inspire you to create art, Bob and his amazing wife Linda are two of those rare people.

From the rooftop of their studio in Brooklyn we watched the fireworks on the East River (see some of these images) where you could see the barges on the water. The next day I assisted Bob on a small commercial shoot and just setting up C-Stands and hot lights was enough to make me dust off my Hasselblad, actually purchase film and plan a trip on Route 66 for the beginning of August.

Stay tuned for pictures from that trip and thank you Bob & Linda!

Celebrating 10 Years!

2008-04-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

Blow out your candles and make a wish – Congratulations Zenman.

On April 10, 2008 Zenman showcased their new brand identity and website on a big screen TV in celebration of the 10 year anniversary. The party room at Osteria Marco was full of clientele, family, and friends. The atmosphere was full of laughs and chats as all got the chance to sample the variety of fine Italian foods offered at the restaurant, Osteria Marco – client and great friend of Zenman. Let’s all join in a toast to say congrats!!!

Zenman creates website for Town Studios

2008-03-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

Zenman has created a new website for Town Studios. The website was created using flash, showcasing images of the showroom located in Denver, Colorado at the Denver Design Center. The challenge was to create a site in which features each collection of furniture from within the 3 separate showrooms, including photography from on-site. In addition to the web site, Zenman created the logo and branding identity.

View the website here :: www.townstudio.com

Zenman and the Art of Web Site Design

2008-02-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

Featured in the Downtown Denver News January 10thby J. Patrick O’Leary

When you want to enter the wide world of the World Wide Web, who do you call? The guys with the pretty brochure? The high-school hacker next door? Lowest bidder? Highest Rates? None of the above guarantees a great (or lousy) result.

Soft-spoken Keith Roberts, Chef Creative Officer of Zenman, would have you look at his firms work, and then he would learn about you and your business.

“We want to build relationship,” he says. “We measure our success by the success of our clients.” Today, Zenman maintains a working relationships with a diverse clientele: restaurants, including several of Colorado’s Top 10; high-tech entities, like Level 3 and Halliburton; and unique, boutique concerns like hair salons and the Denver Design Center.

Keith, a Buddhist, points out the “Zen” in Zenman reflects his commitment to applying the same ethics and karma to business relationships.”

“We don’t up sell to something our clients don’t need.” And they stick to the budget.
World-of-mouth marketing brought Zenman to success in design, particularly Web work. But art lead him to develop a blend of talent and technical, practical skills necessary to get there.
Keith’s passion is photography. He studied at Brooks Institute, graduating with a major in Industrial Scientific Photography with a minor in Undersea Photography. When he entered the work-world, however, the growth of stock photography was beginning to limit the market for custom work, and he went into Web work – just at the end of the dot-com bubble. Building attractive, intuitive and user-friendly Web sites turned out to be a solid background for starting his own business by 30.
Zenman’s offices can be found in one of the storefront suites of the Fire Clay Lofts, a site it used to share with the owner’s photographic gallery. In fact, framed work lines the walls, and the clean, uncluttered layout of the ground level office has an artsy gallery feel. Yet it reveals nothing about the firm’s work, which is best seen on the firm’s web site, http://www.zenmanproductions.com/ as well as their clients’.

The great thing about the Web, says Keith, is that that you can be a mom and pop business working out of a garage, but look like a fortune 500 companies thanks to a great Web site. The flip side, he cautions, is that a great company with a poor Web site can give the appearance it is working out of a basement.

Zenman itself is a good example of positive Web image masking Spartan workspace, particularly when Keith started the company at 28 when he left Equifax. He worked “virtually” our of home and coffee shops at first.

“I drank a lot of coffee at Ink,” he recalls. Going to a physical, brick-and-mortar office was necessary to build business. Today, nearly four years later after moving into Fire Clay Lofts, Zenman boasts a staff of 12 – “A unique blend of geeks and artists,” he quips. “ We really have a ‘best in class’ staff.”
From the beginning, the push and pull between aesthetics and practicality helped create great design: “We would push each other, asking, ‘OK, how are we going to build this?’ and later, ‘Great, now make it look good.’ And a lot of time was spent making it idiot proof.”

Although Web work is the firm’s forte, Zenman is a full service design firm, offering marketing, strategy, brand development, custom application development, illustration and – yes – photography.

“I started the business to hire myself to do photography,” Keith says with a smile. All kidding aside, there is a demand for custom photography among developers, restaurants and other ventures offering a unique product. But photography if only part of the product for most clients.
Zenman’s four-tier design process is Discovery, Design, Develop and Deploy. “We can’t design until we know you, your competition, your objectives and goals,” says Keith of the discovery process, learning about the client. Then, Zenman designs three to five custom solutions for the client’s consideration. “The hard part is choosing one.” Development beginnings only after the client is certain of what he or she wants. This includes the actual building of the site, with multiple rounds of testing, all posted to a secure site where the client can see the progress. “Because a lot of people don’t understand what it takes to do it well, we take’em along and make it fun,” says Keith. Deployment – getting the site up and running – doesn’t necessarily end the relationship: helping the client track results and grow is a continuing challenge.

“It’s much more important for me to do a small project and watch it grow for 20 years then to a do a big one and leave,” says Keith.

Great work speaks for itself, so for a sample of Zenman’s work, check out Osteria Marco at http://www.osteriamarco.com/, a new restaurant on Larimer Square, any one of the Urban Ventures’ five Web sites, the latest being Highland Bridge Lofts http://www.highlandbridgelofts.com/ and photography sites like Bob Carey http://www.bobcarey.com/ and S:B Representation http://www.sbrepresentation.com/.

We have a new client – Scientific & Cultural Facilities District, Tier III

2008-01-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

We are proud to announce Tier III as one of our clients! Brought to us by Cristin Bennett, executive director, through work with the James Taylor Dance Company and Medusa, Tier III was hired to construct a new website and branding logo for the non-profit organization compiled of 120+ organizations in the Denver Metro area.

The SCFD organizations are unique to Denver – the only city to pay tax money to local art, culture, and science, giving the community a wide array of local events at their fingertips. The Tier III organizations such as the Bug Performance Theater and Colorado Choir provide social outlets and inimitable blend of cultural arts.

Zenman has worked with several non-profits before, and recognizes their importance to the public. While working with SCFD Tier III, Zenman wishes to create an award wining website for this distinctive organization in addition to creating public awareness of SCFD Tier III organizations.

Creating your 2008 Marketing Calendar

2008-01-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Building your brand is more like an investment then an expense. Awareness for a company or product has to build up over years where it grows incrementally. Now more then ever in the increasing crowded marketplace you need to differentiate yourself from the competition. Informing the customer about how you are and what you do is the first step in the sales process. Great marketing and advertising gets your foot in the door, helps build customer relationships and ultimately makes it easier to close a deal. A marketing calendar assists you in introducing your marketing vehicles in a way that can drive you to your goal in a structured and thought-out manner.

Marketing is complicated. To make effective use of its many strategies and components, you have to first plan them out, and then stay organized and consistent in implementing your plan. A marketing calendar is the best way to organize your marketing activity; the calendar also serves as a working document you can revise and update throughout the plan year.

Most marketing calendars break down the weeks of a year and address the marketing objectives that will take occur in each week. A calendar will be best used if it is specific, illustrating individual promotions or events. By including the cost for each element it is easy to see at a glance which events and strategies were productive and on target. This aids you in planning your marketing in the future and refining any efforts that fell short of your expectations.
A marketing calendar also helps center your focus and allows you to see the investment and value in your marketing program. By doing this you are able to build a consistency in your planning. This again will aid you in preventing marketing lapses that cause the "feast and famine" effect that many businesses experience.

Creating and Use a Marketing Calendar?
How do you know which activities to include in your calendar? Brainstorm all the marketing ideas that make sense for your plan year but keep in mind that you can't do everything. Balance your marketing workload with the other things you need to do for your business. Plan for what you can do completely, not halfway. Also plan what you feel comfortable with, emotionally and financially. Prioritize accordingly, then place your ideas in your matrix.
Using a marketing calendar allows you to do three things with your marketing:
1. It organizes, categorizes and prioritizes your marketing initiatives and activities.

2. It offers a way for you to spot holes in your marketing activity. Too much time in between the X's in your activities leaves customers and prospects untouched. Consistency is key here, as is repetition. Don’t have gaps in your marketing.

3. It allows you to more easily evaluate your marketing efforts. Now here's the real value of this activity: When you plan the next period’s marketing, repeat what worked or what you graded highly. Fix, modify or tweak the marketing that kind of worked or that was graded at a midlevel, and eliminate the marketing that didn’t work at all.

That’s all there really is to planning your marketing with a marketing calendar. Do what works for your business. Plan it quarterly if that's easier for you than doing it monthly. Once you establish your marketing plan, keep it up on a regular basis, just like paying your bills. Consistent marketing will generate the results and sales that will help your business continue to grow.