Organized by the Omaha Community Foundation, Omaha Gives! is a 24-hour event, designed to raise as much money as possible for local nonprofits. The model is simple and has been very successful in cities across the nation like Austin, Pittsburgh and even Lincoln, Nebraska. With a minimum donation of $10, anyone in the community can support their their favorite participating nonprofits by donating. It’s the perfect day to give since the charities that get the most support will win matching money and prizes. …
7 May 2013
Drew Davies
Almost five years ago, I was having a beer at Crescent Moon with a man I’d never met before. His name was Jeff Slobotski.
He was pitching me his concept for Big Omaha. He had recently partnered with Dusty Davidson (who I knew from his web development shop Brightmix) to launch Silicon Prairie News, a media site centered around celebrating entrepreneurial efforts in the Midwest. Big Omaha was to be the in-person manifestation of their ideas — an event highlighting regional innovation and entrepreneurship. …
25 Apr 2013
Nathan Kirkman
Oxide is honored to have had the opportunity to work with the fine people over at Silicon Prairie News for all five years of Big Omaha. During this time, the Giant Cow has taken on a variety of forms. From the literal Giant Cow illustrations of year one and two, to the completely conceptual letters to the Cow of year four. For this year, we wanted to capture the feeling of being the next big thing. Of being glamorous and — dare we say — fabulous. …
26 Mar 2013
Drew Gourley
Last week, we announced the launch of the new Johnson Deconstruction website. The site uses a lot of really cool features that make it really responsive. Check it out on all of your devices, mobile to desktop!
Lately, I’ve been brushing up on the practical use of inline SVG (scalable vector graphics) on the web, since every current version of every modern web browser now supports the use of them. With some safety-net fallback images for older browsers (mostly IE), a website can achieve total resolution independence — meaning nothing will degrade visually based on your level of zoom or the pixel density of your screen. …
14 Feb 2013
Adam Torpin
Oxide recently designed a brand new corporate identity for cosentry, one of the nation’s leading data centers. Primarily serving large and mid-sized enterprises, cosentry provides compliance ready solutions as well as cloud computing and professional technical services. …
14 Jan 2013
Adam Torpin
After a local public meeting in August 2012, a small group of business owners, property owners, and residents began gathering weekly to discuss the process of developing a Business Improvement District for the area of 36th to 42nd along Farnam Street. Group member Brad Iwen (of Iwen Exposures) approached Oxide to create an identity for the district.
Mission: Our goal is to re-create and nurture a district that is lively, pedestrian-friendly, and provides a unique cultural experience for businesses, residents, and all members of the community. …
4 Dec 2012
Nathan Kirkman
The problem with Voter ID laws are that they seem completely logical when you’re first presented with the concept. It goes something like this: “I have to show a photo ID to vote? Well, that makes sense…”
But it’s not until you actually look at the issue that it becomes apparent that it doesn’t make sense, and that Voter ID laws disenfranchise a sizable portion of the population. In Nebraska alone, up to 130,000 individuals do not have a valid photo ID. And Voter ID laws only protect against voter impersonation. Of which there have only been 10 documented cases since 2000. …
27 Nov 2012
Drew Gourley
Early last week, we launched a new website for Dundee Gallery. Owner Jean Imray came to Oxide looking for a website to which she could easily add and categorize pieces of art by the artists who created them. …
11 Oct 2012
Nathan Kirkman
Hastings College recently came to Oxide and asked us to redesign their prospective student materials. Hastings is a private, four-year liberal arts institution that is dedicated to helping its students find and pursue their passion, whatever that happens to be. We were tasked with creating a campaign with a fresh perspective while utilizing Hastings’ existing identity and content, including existing photos, copy, and visual elements. The challenge was to determine how to reconfigure those existing elements to emphasize what Hastings has to offer. …
21 Sep 2012
Adam Torpin
Oxide recently had the honor of developing a visual identity for country singer/songwriter duo Belles and Whistles. Jaymie Jones (of Mulberry Lane fame) and her daughter Kelli officially formed the group in September of 2011. In the following months, they recorded and released a three-song EP, produced by Grammy winning Don Gehman, who has worked with artists John Mellencamp, Hootie & the Blowfish, Tracy Chapman, and Pat Green.
Belles and Whistles is currently in the studio with Don, writing and recording their second EP. They spent the summer of 2012 playing Midwest state and county fairs and festivals in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nevada, and Tennessee, with regional country radio airplay.