Archive for the ‘Office Happenings’ Category

Is your image interview ready?  The Columbia Chamber of Commerce Small Business Committee asked me to give a talk on how to assess a businesses marketing look.  They asked:

• Is it time to check your image?
• How does the public see your company?
• Is your marketing look really you?

To answer to those lovely questions I tried to think of a clever way to approach such a vague topic.  It’s all about opinion right?  Seems everyone knows what’s appropriate to wear to an interview for a job in their industry so why can’t they tell what’s appropriate for their business to wear to a job interview?  Here’s my breakdown on the topic.  Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently a client came to us with the request to duplicate their site, but in Spanish.  With the help of a wonderful translator the client employed to help with the job we did it    Durapipe now has a Spanish version of their website to use.  Check it out!

A big, warm, sincere thank you goes out to everyone who attended Tech Summer Camp 2010, especially those who were able to make it to multiple sessions! Read the rest of this entry »

MayeCreate Design crowned top three websites voted most popular of 26 sites July 22 at Room 38. Rost, Inc. claimed third place with their recent site redesign while Four Seasons Pet Sitters received second. The newly launched Inside Columbia Magazine website, designed by MayeCreate and programmed by Delta Systems Group, was crowned the winner.

Read the rest of this entry »

And the winners are…

1st Place:  Inside Columbia, built in partnership with Delta Systems

2nd Place:  Four Seasons Pet Services

3rd Place:  Rost Landscaping

We would like to thank everyone who attended our Website Showcase event last night.  Thank you to Room-38 for allowing us to hold the event at their location and for the great food.  It was delicious.  Check back soon for pictures

Cast your vote!

Help Crown the Winner

Our annual website showcase event is scheduled for  Thursday, July 22^nd from 5-7pm at Room 38.  Come out to support some of your colleagues and network with new and existing business owners in the area.  Be sure to check your e-mail to see who this year’s participants are and to vote for your favorite new website, designed by yours truly, Mayecreate.  We look forward to seeing you there, it’s going to be a great time.  Be sure to look out for ballots to vote for your favorite this year in your e-mail next week!

Vox Magazine recently featured Mayecreate Design in it’s weekly magazine the 2nd week of June.  Check it out!

MayeCreate Design helps CoMo businesses make lasting impressions online

Young, local design company creates websites for other local businesses.

By MALLORY GNAEGY

June 10, 2010 | 12:00 a.m. CST

Laughter echoes in the polka-dotted Rogers Street loft where the four-person staff of MayeCreate Design takes a midday break from designing client websites and printed material. Shortly after, the team puts music on, and the young designers are back to work.

“We’re laid-back, but we’re responsible,” says Monica Maye Pitts, the owner of MayeCreate and a Columbia native, about the atmosphere and philosophy of her business. “We’re not stuffy, we’re not flashy, but we’re honest and down-to-earth.”

Pitts graduated from Rock Bridge High School in 1998 and from MU in 2003 with a degree in agriculture. In high school her mom forced her to take a Web design class, and she found her niche. Pitts took two more design classes in college and used her skills on any projects she could. An interest in graphic design and encouragement from her entrepreneurial family led her to start MayeCreate.

The company’s staff collaborates to design websites, business cards, logos and other print material. To start the three-month process of designing a client’s website, Pitts and Senior Project Manager Danielle Abt have a consultation to determine their client’s needs and how MayeCreate can help him or her. Then the staff decides on an initial design concept. From there, designer Nick Lower, senior designer Lindsay Spillars and Pitts take turns in the design process.

“It keeps a good balance, so everyone has a little bit of input, and it uses all of our creativity together,” Lower says.

If a client already has a logo and color scheme, MayeCreate focuses the design around those. “Sometimes we go take pictures of an office,” Pitts says. “We pull pictures from the décor of the office and use it in their designs.”

She describes one client, Pilates for Every Body, with a Zen waiting area with bright colors and an energetic feeling. MayeCreate employees took those elements to create the company’s website and brochure. When the business moved to a new location, its owner based the interior design on MayeCreate’s brochure. But to Pitts, it’s not just how the page looks. “A good website is a marriage between art and function,” Pitts says.

MayeCreate began designing on retainer for First Tier Realtors. First Tier franchised into White Group Realtors in 2007 and no longer needed the work that Pitts and her team were doing. MayeCreate then became independent by expanding its clientele and moving into Pitts’ home. Growing success allowed Pitts to hire Abt, and in 2008, the staff moved into its own office.

“I went from managing seven or eight projects at a time to managing about 50 right now,” Abt says.
Although Pitts tries to attend at least one networking event a week, a lot of her clientele comes by word of mouth. MayeCreate has designed websites for Hemingway’s, Salon Nefisa, Tropical Liqueurs and Room 38.
“I wasn’t overly excited about (the first proof),” says Billy Giordano, owner of Room 38. “I gave them some examples and more direction, and then they nailed it.”

MayeCreate attempts to bring clients exactly what they want, and the group’s familiarity with mid-Missouri gives it more of an advantage over out-of-town design firms. Room 38’s website was originally created by a friend from New York, says Giordano. “But that person wasn’t readily available to update and maintain the site, so I wanted to find someone local that I trusted.”

The article is also posted on the Vox Magazine website at:  http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2010/06/10/mayecreate-design-helps-como-businesses-make-lasti/

Thanks again for giving us the opportunity to be part of your magazine!  Also, be sure to check out the photos from the photo shoot done by Katie Wood for the article.

Here are some of the pictures from the photo shoot done by Katie Wood to use in the article Vox Magazine ran about Mayecreate!

We’ve just created a new ad to place in Inside Columbia’s CEO magazine.  Here’s a sneak peak, but be sure to pick up your copy when it comes out!

Tell us what you think!

Marie Newell became a part of the Mayecreate design team earlier this month.  Fresh out of college Marie brings her design talents and eagerness to learn to Mayecreate.    She graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, in graphic design.  Her ambition and approach to tackling new projects is just what we need as we continue to grow.  Some of you may have had the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone already, for those of you who haven’t I’m sure you will meet her very soon during tech summer camp or at our annual Website Showcase event which will be held July, 22^nd from 5-7 at Room 38.