Sep
2

The Streets Ran Red in Reno

You say Tomato, we say Tomatina.

Posted in Reno-Tahoe

Aug
28

Friday Fun: Reno 911

In our travels and conversations with friends, colleagues, and clients there is from time to time a good natured ribbing regarding our choice to be headquartered here in Reno, Nevada. If you haven’t spent any time enjoying the climactic, cultural, entertainment, or recreational opportunities that abound here in the Biggest Little City then much of what you associate with the area may very well have been derived from Reno 911. That, or some of the more scandalous associations Nevada has picked up since the 1800s.

Despite all that, we love it here! And while most of us thought Reno 911 was/is hilarious, it was hard not to feel the show gave Reno an unfair representation, especially with most of it being filmed in Los Angeles. Well, so what, right? Is there a marketing point to be made here?

When Thomas Lennon announced via Twitter that the show was going away our client, the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority (RSCVA) came up with a smashingly good idea to create a website based on Saving Reno 911. There was no time to do much custom work or anything like that, but we banged it out in good measure and immediately people began letting their intentions be known – bring back the show!

This sort of grassroots, social media endeavor changed the conversation from “Oh no, don’t say that about our town.” – to – “Bring it on!”  and it landed the whole effort in an article in USA Today titled, “‘Reno 911!’: The city it mocks tries to save it.”

Maybe Reno 911 will actually film a show IN Reno after all?

Posted in Reno-Tahoe

Aug
12

Best Web Designs from the Travel Industry

Twelve Horses’ client, Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau receives more industry recognition for their website design.

37 of the Best Web Designs from the Travel Industry
Published August 10th, 2009 in Galleries

“Travel websites often feature large, attractive photos because of their emphasis on visual appeal. In this post we’ll look at 37 well-designed sites from the travel industry for your own design inspiration. Some are state or government tourism websites, and others are for hotels or business involved in the travel industry.”

Source: vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/travel

Posted in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Travel & Tourism, Web & SEO

Jul
20

Twelve Horses Designs New Library Website

Before	After

When it comes to an online presence, libraries across the nation are notoriously out-of-date and lack a certain modernity needed to get people excited about reading and research. With Washoe County Library we took a new approach to the website design and functionality. What you will find with this site launch are a few different personalities – within one primary website – geared towards the varying demographics that make up any library system.

The Good – The Bad  – The Needed

To start, we sent the client a questionnaire, or survey if you will, to get them thinking about where they wanted the website to go. They came back to us with keywords and messaging they associated with the site, as well as other websites they liked and specifics about them. After establishing the client’s expectations we moved to the design phase.

Design & Website Functionality

To lay the foundation for each site we first constructed the individual logos, and then it was on to the manufacturing of the website designs.

The homepage is based primary off of the serif fonts from old literary books. As lead designer Christine Harcinske explains,

“I wanted to capture that classic literary look.”

We think she nailed it along with the other demographic portals. The Kids Zone went for more of the picture book effect. Christine drew the majority of it in Photoshop and Illustrator.

The Teens Site is a reflection of what is going on graphically at present in various media outlets and retail locations for this demographic. It is also supported with social media interaction such as Flickr, Facebook, and MySpace.

The Senior Central is tailored to their preferences with applicable graphics and content.

Each site required the functionality needed to display the age specific, demographic content with the homepage acting as an aggregate for all. Nothing a little XML parsing and displaying can’t handle!

We hope you enjoy the feel and functionality of the new Washoe County Library website. It was a fun project made even better by the fact that, despite being web creatures, we love books and even better, free WiFi!

Posted in Reno-Tahoe, Service Industry, Web & SEO