News | 2009

Larsen Minneapolis is pleased to promote Reid Durbin to Director of Interactive Development and hire Nick Brue as Interactive Design Intern. Larsen Menlo Park is pleased to promote Deny Khoung to Senior Designer and hire Tawnee Chan as Design Intern.

Larsen is on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We’d love to have you join us.

Larsen proudly announces this year’s Larsen Design Scholars: Wanchawee Bunnag, Graphic Design and Visual Communications, Minneapolis Community and Technical College; Alex Ehlen, Art & Design, Minnesota State University Moorhead; Tou Lee, Multimedia Design, University of Wisconsin-Stout; and Natalie Olbrantz, Graphic Design, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Chosen for her experience as a thought leader in the design industry, Larsen Vice President Jo Davison will join a panel of agency peers at the October 16 AdFed breakfast to discuss “Deconstructing The Creative Process. How Do You Get The Cool Ideas?” Jo will share her expertise and case studies during the 8-9:30 a.m. event at the Aloft Minneapolis Hotel.

Tim Larsen is featured in Gene Rebeck’s current BTW blog post for Twin Cities Business Magazine. Gene declares Tim “co-dean” of the Twin Cities design community, and remarks on the beauty of Larsen’s portfolio.

Larsen received American Graphic Design Awards for the Albertsson Hansen Architecture website, the Wausau Paper website, and the Larsen website, as well as the Applied Materials corporate image brochure, the Old Republic Title 2008 annual report, the Wausau Paper Inspired Color brochure, and the Larsen identity and letterhead.

Best Buy Community Relations Manager Timothy Showalter-Loch and Larsen Vice President Paul Wharton will present “Best Buy’s @15 Portal: A Case Study in Building an Online Community” at the October 11-13 IABC Pacific Plains Regional Exchange Conference in Minneapolis. Featured will be at15.com, Best Buy’s site empowering teens to create social change, featuring Taylor Swift, Fall Out Boy, Three Doors Down, Common, and hundreds of teen members.

Larsen is proud to sponsor the 2009 CVA Leaders of Design Series, this year featuring Patrick Coyne, editor and designer of Communication Arts Magazine. Events include a September 22 lecture and welcome party, and a September 23 opening reception of the Communication Arts 50th Anniversary Exhibition

September 22
7:00 p.m. Lecture at the Minnesota History Center
8:30 p.m. Welcome Party at The University Club of Saint Paul
Register

September 23
6-8 p.m. Opening reception of Communication Arts 50th Anniversary Exhibition, CVA Gallery

Larsen Vice President David Shultz was a panelist at the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) Teleconference Course — Branded Environments: From Local to Global — in July 2009. Shultz shared Larsen case studies on Exhibition and Experience Design for clients including Applied Materials, SEMI, and Charles Schwab & Company.

Think they’re actors? Not a chance. Watch the true stories of real Best Buy employees on BestBuyTrueStories.com, a video-rich site created by Larsen in partnership with Best Buy.

“One of the first redesign suggestions Larsen made was to highlight photos of real Best Buy employees, not models, in a series of light-hearted poses on the site. The change involved some risk because of natural turnover in those positions, a fact that didn’t dissuade Best Buy.

“Management fully committed to using employees because the Blue Shirts are so important to the culture. And they just decided to refresh photos if people do in fact leave the company,” says Jennifer Parks, a senior producer at Larsen. “The company feels the photos really reinforce and reflect its brand and its values.”
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In partnership with The Saint John’s Bible team, Larsen createdwww.saintjohnsbible.org, a site to commemorate this monumental artistic endeavor: a handwritten, hand-illuminated Bible.

How do you make websites approachable, beautiful, and hard-working? Read Jo Davison’s Design Management Review article, “The New Design Imperative: To Satisfy and Delight.”

Larsen is a Silver Level sponsor of the IABC Pacific Plains Regional Exchange Conference, October 11-13 in Minneapolis. Pacific Plains embraces 21 chapters of the International Association of Business Communicators, from Chicago to Hawaii and Arizona to Seattle. Conference topics will include social media, employee communications, measurement/ROI in communications, strategic planning, brand management, and communications about the economy and environment.

Larsen has been asked to host the DMI 2009 Seminar on Creating Meaningful Brand Experiences and Producing Customer Happiness on June 11-12 in Minneapolis. We will also welcome the AIGA Minnesota Emerging Designers to our patio on the evening of June 11 for a panel discussion on design career alternatives.

Larsen was interviewed for a recent issue of Twin Cities Business Magazine in a Telecommunications article titled “Email Secrets Exposed.“

Larsen announces three 2009-10 design scholars selected by their respective schools—Alex Ehlen, Minnesota State University-Moorhead; Tou Lee, University of Wisconsin-Stout; Natalie Olbrantz, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities—and one chosen during AIGA Minnesota’s Portfolio 1 on 1 Event in April—Wanchawee Bunnag, Minneapolis Community and Technical College.

Larsen is pleased to announce new work from clients including Applied Materials; Best Buy; Capstone Publishers; Core-Mark; Deluxe; Hammel, Green and Abrahamson; MVNA; Shelter Corporation; and Tonka Bay Equity Partners.

Applied Materials — Larsen is designing and developing a solar microsite as well as silicon ads for this semiconductor equipment manufacturer.

Best Buy — Larsen has created a True Stories microsite featuring employees who describe how they helped customers solve problems.

Capstone Publishers — Larsen is designing a new corporate identity for this educational publisher, as well as a corporate website.

Core-Mark — This distribution company that also provides broadline supply solutions recently enlisted Larsen for a rebranding via a new identity, website, and truck design.

Deluxe — Larsen will write, design, and produce the Deluxe Knowledge Quarterly™ publication.

Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA) — Larsen is creating a new website for this leading architecture firm.

Minnesota Visiting Nurses Association (MVNA) — Larsen will name this health organization’s teen pregnancy program and design its identity.

Shelter Corporation — For this company that finances, develops, owns, and manages multi-family and senior rental communities, Larsen has been chosen to conduct brand research and create marketing materials.

Tonka Bay Equity Partners — An identity refinement and website redesign are in the works by Larsen.

Mike Haug, design director at Larsen, will address a session of the April 16 University and College Designers Association (UCDA) wayfinding strategies workshop on the topic of “Strategies for Large Public Spaces: Guthrie Theater and Minneapolis Public Library.”

Paul Wharton, Larsen vice president of creative, is presenting with Jeff Fox, Wausau Paper director of marketing, at the April 20 Midwest Direct Marketing Association’s(MDMA) annual conference in a breakout session titled “How to Mix a Full Color Palette and Get Green.”

Jennifer Parks, senior producer for Larsen, will participate in a lunchtime panel discussion at the May 5 IABC Minnesota Communication Conference: Social Media.

Design Director Mike Haug will speak at the SEGD (Society for Environmental Graphic Design) workshop on Identity, Brand, and Experience Design in Chicago, February 27, 2009. Director of Writing Services Gwyneth Dwyer recently published the article “Four Reasons Why Your Brand Needs a Visual System” on MarketingProfs.com.

Larsen is pleased to announce new work from clients including 3M, Applied Materials, Banner Engineering, Comtrol, Cuningham Group Architecture, Media Loft, Norwest Mezzanine Partners, Prime Therapeutics, The Saint John’s Bible, The Timberland Company, and Walser Automotive.

Welcome 2009! Larsen is delighted to celebrate a brand new year.
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Business managers, scientists, engineers, and representatives of medical device, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and health care delivery organizations will want to attend this LifeScience Alley networking event on January 22 at AGA Medical Corporation in Plymouth, MN. Register.