Recently, our client Little Dixie Construction converted an empty factory into a state-of-the-art green building for IBM’s Delivery Center in Columbia, Mo. VANGEL was proud to create educational signage throughout the building to highlight its green design, construction and silver LEED certification.

Here’s what the site looked like before.

And here is the building after Little Dixie worked their magic.

Little Dixie and IBM tapped VANGEL to develop informational graphics to educate employees and visitors about the building’s green features.

Our first step? Dumpster diving.

In the spirit of reduce/reuse/recycle, we visited the IBM job site to scout for construction debris.

Lucky for us, our Italian intern Carlo had come along. He volunteered to scale a construction dumpster and haul out a primer-gray, 8-foot electrical door panel. His fine Italian sweater may not have survived, but he can proudly say he got his hands dirty on the job in America. (Ti ricordi, Carlo?)

Here is the metal panel.

With the basis of a cool sign in hand, we enlisted the crew at SignsNow, for a plexiglass panel we would use to tell the building’s green story. The two pieces were then joined and mounted on the wall at IBM.

Next, we needed a way to maintain awareness throughout the massive building. The solution was a series of 12” x 12” plexiglass pieces that feature 3-dimensional items illustrating the building’s green features.

Simple and intriguing, the pieces also serve as “objets d’art” at IBM. There’s nothing like a chunk of concrete, an elephant, or a beer bottle sliced in half (thank you Village Glassworks) to get people talking.

VANGEL is proud to have been a part of this innovative LEED project. Ever wondered what creative, compelling ideas could do for your office space? Try dumpster diving.

Or give VANGEL a call.

The world around us changes fast. It always has. But today, smart phone technology is fueling the pace of change to an unprecedented degree. We’re on the verge of not just being connected, but hyper-connected.  Connected in a way that demands our attention, like a kid demands candy if his mother turns down the wrong isle at the grocery store.

To clear my mind and gain a little perspective, I visited the ruins of ancient Rome. Surely, this place would reflect a simpler way of life.

And you know what? It was all going pretty much the way I expected: the magnificent ruins, the beautiful fountains, spectacular architecture. Then, on Capitoline Hill, the center of ancient Roman government, I came upon a statue of a Roman god that shocked me.

Here’s the river god Hermus, apparently checking out a text message from Zeus, Apollo or maybe the god of digital devices himself, Steve Jobs.

It was like an epiphany. I snapped this photo with my smart phone and immediately sent it to all my friends back home.  Pretty amazing technology.

What were we talking about?

In the e-world of today, it’s easy to forget the importance of the letter in business communication, even as recently as 1990. The platform for these messages was the letterhead, named for the heading imprinted at the top of a sheet of stationery. The heading usually consists of a logo, name and address.

At his blog, Letterheady, Shaun Usher has amassed an impressive online collection of historical letterheads used by companies and important individuals. For some letterheads on the site, it’s obvious that a great deal of creative thought was put into the design to reflect the character of the person or company, while in other cases…not so much. Sometimes, the sheer notoriety of the individual whose name is at the top of the page is all that matters.

Ever wonder what stationery for Babe Ruth, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Cash, or Adolph Hitler would look like? Now you can see the genuine artifact. Two of my favorites are a 1930s letterhead for Robot Salesmen Ltd. of Liverpool, and Gene Autry—The Singing Cowboy’s 1949 stationery.

Equally interesting is Usher’s other site, Letters of Note, a collection of unique and interesting letters, memos, and telegrams. Some are handwritten, some are typed, and some have been dictated, but all are interesting. Here is a small sample:

• Mark Twain eloquently insulting a patent medicine salesman in 1905.
• Steve Martin’s less-than-personal response to a fan in the early 1980s.
• From 1956, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s successful prediction of the use of orbiting satellites for GPS location.
• Conan O’Brien politely declining an invitation to the prom from a young fan.
• A Campell’s Soup executive notifying Andy Warhol that he’s sending over a “couple of cases” of tomato soup.

In reading these letters, containing thoughts and words from the great minds of the last century, I wonder if we’ve sacrificed the brilliance and intentionality of these missives for the expediency of electronic communications. What do you think? Hmm…you could write a letter and tell me.

By: Mike Vangel and Brooke Omar

But even though the industry’s fundamental purpose is to convince shoppers to buy a product they may not actually need, such persuasion can be done in an “ethical and tasteful” way.

Wow. This from someone at our very own University of Missouri—on the need to launch an “Institute for Advertising Ethics.” (Read the whole article here.)

Really?

Have they been watching too much Mad Men?

You kind of expect the denizens of academia to turn over rocks looking for signs of rot in business and society, but this really does look like someone trying to “Super-Size” a non-issue. Quick–someone grab the ShamWOW! and clean up this mess before it gets all over the carpet. Not that anyone really needs carpet. Let’s just talk-up the benefits of dirt floors and we can eliminate the need for the Electrolux and the Scrubbing Bubbles, too.

Are Americans really a band of zombies hypnotized by clever copywriting and subliminal messages? (Are you thirsty?) Are consumers today—armed with instant access to consumer-generated product information and social media tools—really victims of the advertising industry?

Really?

Here at VANGEL we eliminate the guilt and angst associated with such a tawdry industry, by choosing our clients carefully. We ask: Who are they? What industry do they represent? Do they have a solid reputation for product and service excellence? Will we be proud to represent them?  If the answers to any of those questions leave us in doubt, we walk away.

That’s how we maintain the “ethical and tasteful” standards we want the industry to reflect.

In the past year, we’ve been proud to help House of Brokers strengthen their brand in the local marketplace. We’ve created a public service campaign for First Chance for Children about the importance of reading and talking to babies. And we’ve made it easier for the underinsured in our community to find a medical home with our work for Family Health Center.

But come on. Do you really need a house to live in? Do you really need to read with your baby? Do you really need quality medical care?

Please, people from the Institute of Advertising Ethics: don’t assume you know what we need. Unless you’re selling us ShamWOWs. Everyone needs one of those.

In the age of e-mail, text messaging, Twitter, Facebook and blogs, it seems many of us have forgotten some basic rules of the written word. Yes, it’s fine to use slang or leave off capital letters in casual communication with friends and family. But when you’re representing your company with clients, customers, vendors or others in a professional context, it’s important to write well—even in a tweet. Here are some tips to help shape up your digital communication skills.

5. When including a link, make sure it’s clickable.
Need to e-mail someone a link? Don’t make your recipient do all of the work. Simply by copying the URL from the address bar and pasting it directly into your message, most e-mail programs will make the link clickable automatically. A live link allows your recipient to open the correct web page with one click.

If you’re mentioning a link that you know off the top of your head, include “http://” before it out of courtesy. This will make just about anything clickable, whereas just using “.com” or “www” with a URL won’t always do the trick. For example:

NO: “Take a look at apple.com to learn about the iPad.”
YES: “Take a look at http://apple.com to learn about the iPad.”

4. OMG, pls don’t abbreviate words like a 6th grader, k thx.
I hope this is a no-brainer, but I fear it is not. Whether through Twitter, Facebook, text messages or e-mail, there are very few words that can be abbreviated safely. The short list might include OK, info, nite, thru, ASAP and industry terms that are well known (e.g. specs for the graphics and printing industry). Shortening just about anything else doesn’t make you sound cool or hip or young, it just looks goofy. Spelling out the full words is not only more professional, but easier for the reader to absorb. Many people may have no idea what popular abbreviations mean, so not using them means your recipient will get the right message.

NO: “Thx 4 the msg. R u gonna be there 2nite? lmk. C u l8r”
YES: “Thanks for the message. Will you be at the event tonight? Let me know. See you later.”

NO: “Pls call me cuz imo the conf wasnt 2 gr8. ttyl”
YES: “Please call me. In my opinion, the conference wasn’t very good. Talk to you later.”

(Click here to decipher more silly abbreviations.)

Exceptions: Some abbreviations are OK when texting or tweeting, but only if you must use them to stay below the 140-character limit. Still, avoid ones like “gr8″ that sound juvenile.

3. The rules exist on Twitter and Facebook too.
It’s tempting to ditch any and all style rules when using a social media site, but refrain! When tweeting or making Facebook updates, follow this style guide from Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips to Better Writing:

• Don’t start posts with “I am.” You’re answering the question, “What are you doing?” It’s OK to answer with fragments.
• Use proper capitalization. Typing in lowercase doesn’t save characters; it’s just lazy.
• Use proper, basic punctuation. It helps people understand what you mean.
• Again, don’t use abbreviations such as 4U and L8. Shortened word forms such as nite and thru are allowed, but not much else.
• Use contractions whenever possible.
• Shorthand symbols such as >,  =, &, and @ are allowed.
• Use numerals, not words, for all numbers.
• Provide links and context whenever possible. Remember that many of your followers can’t see what you are responding to.
• Use bit.ly, tinyurl or is.gd to shorten links.
• If you can’t say it in 140 characters, re-evaluate whether you should be posting it on Twitter.

2. Write in English. Like, actual English that people can understand.
I’m baffled by this phenomenon: You’re absolutely certain the person who e-mailed you has graduated high school, but they can’t seem to bridge the pen-to-paper and fingers-to-keyboard gap. All language capabilities are thrown out the window—like sentence structure, correct punctuation (or any punctuation at all!), capitalization, or any semblance of a complete thought. Oh, and their caps lock key must be stuck.

Composing an e-mail is not much different than writing a term paper. Use capital letters to start sentences, punctuation to end them, and apostrophes in words like “I’m” and “won’t.” Use subjects and verbs, topic sentences and supporting explanation, too. It’s just like normal English! I know, what an amazing concept.

On the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got people who are so used to speaking in complex industry terminology that you’re left wondering if they e-mailed you on accident. Shake it off, folks! Think about your audience. Go for clarity, not pretentiousness. Avoid jargon, and don’t be afraid to explain terms that others may not understand—they’ll see you as being helpful, not patronizing.

1. Use spell check and PROOFREAD AT LEAST ONE TIME BEFORE YOU CLICK SEND!
I know you’re busy, but so is your recipient. Save yourself and your contacts time by making sure your message says what it needs to. If your e-mail client doesn’t automatically underline incorrect words in red as you type, it should have a spell check feature elsewhere. Use it even for short messages.

Proofread everything that leaves your desk to make sure it is clear, concise and to the point. Your e-mails should include all essential information or attachments, and answer all questions that were asked of you. Know that your e-mails can be forwarded, printed, and read by people other than your intended recipient, and are legally binding in some cases, so stick to the matter at hand and always use a professional, courteous tone. If you’re having trouble finding the right words to get your point across, let your recipient know you’ll be following up with a phone call to clear up any confusion.

Now go forth and use your super-fast electronic communication capabilities with style!