Awhile back, Oxide was tasked with designing a invitation to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding of Brooke and Eric, hosted by Eric’s father (the president of Kiewit Corporation, Bruce Grewcock) and his wife Deb. The dinner was held at Kiewit Plaza and – tying into the work Kiewit does – had the theme “Building Our Future.”
7 Nov 2013
Nathan Kirkman
True story. Since I started at Oxide last June, I have filled 14 official Oxide sketchbooks (and I’m well on the way to finishing the three I have on my desk right now), a large 200-page sketchbook, a small hand-bound sketchpad, three Field Notes memo books, and countless index cards. In addition, I have a three-inch stack of computer printouts, hand-rendered sketches, and other miscellaneous design ephemera. (And those are just the notebooks I used at work”¦ I also have…
10 Oct 2013
Nathan Kirkman
At Oxide, we design and develop a lot of websites. And we know that the process of building a website can be a little daunting. Where do you start? What things need to be considered? A few weeks ago Oxide was asked to present at Omaha Advertising X! on just that topic. So to help demystify the process for everyone, I thought I would share my presentation with you. In an ideal world, these are the steps you would follow…
19 Aug 2013
Nathan Kirkman
Since 2008, Contemporary Analysis has been using data science to help companies succeed. They take the data that a company has accumulated and then – using dark magic that is incomprehensible to the majority of the population – provide their clients with highly accurate predictions as to what is likely to happen next. Because of the level of understanding we developed in their business while designing their client portal, it made sense when they asked us to help better explain…
24 Jul 2013
Nathan Kirkman
You may have seen our Hey students! post about letting go of leave-behinds. But”¦ as a counterpoint, I feel that I should share the leave-behind I used while trying to secure a job after graduation. As we discussed in our previous post, a leave-behind is typically a design school project that is made to give to someone after your interview. It is usually meant to highlight your design work – and hopefully – stick around to serve as a reminder…
20 Jun 2013
Nathan Kirkman
If you’ve ever set foot into the Oxide Office, chances are high that you’ve been greeted at the door by one (or more!) of our revolving pack of office dogs. All of us over here take turns bringing our dog into work each day (except Rainbow”¦ who doesn’t have a dog). We even have an additional Google Calendar set up to let us know whose lucky day it is. Because our pups play such a big part of our day…
24 May 2013
Nathan Kirkman
After months of work designing all the pieces for Big Omaha, it was great to take a couple of days to enjoy everything that the conference has to offer. From great speakers like Cindy Gallup and Mailbox app creator Gentry Underwood, to the wonderful event space at Kaneko, and not to mention all of the insightful attendees, the Oxide team learned a lot, met a bunch of great people, and in general had a great time helping to celebrate the…
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…
28 Mar 2013
Nathan Kirkman
I recently had a discussion with one of my professors from Iowa State University. She was asking what skills I felt ISU needed to better teach to prepare students for the real world. Which got me to thinking about the things that I have needed to learn in the past ten months at Oxide. I spent most of my four years learning about typography, proportions, and print design. And while I still utilize those skills, I’ve had to learn how…
5 Mar 2013
Nathan Kirkman
A couple of weeks ago, I participated in Meet the Pros (read Drew Gourley’s account of it here), and it got me thinking about my own time in school and my own path towards becoming a designer. After spending almost ten months out of school, 2013 is the first full year that I haven’t been attending an educational institution since 1992. That being said, it took me a little longer to get through college then most. Right after high school…