Wired

ZURB Wired Updates

Keep up with the ZURB Team as they pull off a marketing miracle in 24 hours!

Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 3 minute read

ZURB Wired 2014 Wrap-up

The whole team committed to — and accomplished — a staggering amount of work in a single sleepless day. Now it’s time to stretch, contemplate breakfast, and look back at what we created. ### Printed Collateral  The print team hustled to beat their ultra-tight deadline. In spite of technical and design challenges, they produced an entire campaign that included: - Brand new branding and illustrations to match - A 8.5 X 11 poster - A 12 X 18 poster - A trifold brochure - A greeting/thank you card - Postcards The print team also produced materials to be delivered as digital files to SHCS and printed as necessary later. - A poster for their donation barrels - A drive kit - A promotional building banner - A sponsorship brochure ### A Website Redesign and Implementation  Drawing visual inspiration from the print team, the website went from zero to launch in less than one day thanks to the tireless efforts of our web team. At least, they kept each other psyched throughout the day … and night … and next morning. Their work included: - A comprehensive content overhaul - A new custom WordPress theme - Custom fields for page headings specific to their design - A calendar/events manager ### A New Promotional Video We used existing footage and captured new shots for a public service announcement. This two-minute video promotes the upcoming holiday donation drive, calling on people to donate food or volunteer their time. It also tells the story of Erica, a current Sacred Heart Community Service employee who began her relationship with SHCS when she needed them most. ### Thanks to our supporters  More than 30 people spent the day here at ZURB World Headquarters — but we weren’t alone. We’d like to thank everyone who supported us and stopped by to cheer us on since 8AM yesterday. - **Starbucks in downtown Campbell** provided our evening coffee. - **Frost Cupcakes in Campbell** kept our sugar levels high with free confections. - **Spread Sandwiches and Armadillo Willy’s** for not only getting our orders right, but delivering on time. - **Zazzle and PrintHQ** for their expedient print services. - **Our families, friends, and especially our volunteers** who donated their time, talent, patience and — in one case — cookies. Finally, we’d like to thank the good people at Sacred Heart Community Services for making the seventh annual ZURB Wired a rousing success.

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 42 second read

Website

If this year’s theme was one of unity, no other project fit better than the new website. Designing, building and implementing the site took the combined forces of engineering, content and design — all of whom worked right from the start down to the wire to get things done. 

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 30 second read

New Promotional Video for Sacred Heart!!!

Yes, we did it! Together with the SHCS team we created a new promotional video to energize the community and tell their powerful story. This involved some outdoor shooting, inclusion of SHSC photos, interviews with SHCS team members then music and video editing. It's a lot of work but the results are super...a must see video here!!!

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 34 second read

Catching up with the Teams!

We just had a whirlwind of a ride going through this year's ZURB Wired, but we're not done just yet! Sacred Heart Community Service has been really great and we all are really enjoying each other's company. Overall we're wrapping it up in the QA phase. Meanwhile some of the teams that hadn't been heard got some love. Here are their stories!

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 31 second read

Run to the Printers!

It was time to drive to the printers and collect the first batch of print materials. We returned with a batch of trifold brochures plus greeting cards. The ZURB team of Alina, ibie, Jessica, Jennifer and Alex put a lot of design hours into this effort, and we all gathered around to see the result. Check out the video to see everyone’s reactions.

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 40 second read

With a Lean, Solid Team You Can Accomplish Anything

We're not just talking about our ZURB Wired team in general, but each individual group. We're all tackling a pretty monumental task! This brings us to our video content team! They've been hard at work all day putting together a video message in line with Sacred Heart Community Service’s mission: to feed thousands of families and give thousands of kids a present to look forward to during the holidays. Here are some impressions from the team as they were making the video!

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 2 minute read

The Web and Engineering Teams Show Stylish Progress

The hour was late but excitement was high as we gathered ’round a wall-mounted screen to see another round of work. It wasn’t just any show; the web and engineering teams gave us a double feature. We saw scaffolding and visuals — the web pages’ structures and moods, respectively — already fit into [a WordPress theme](https://jointswp.com/ "A Blank Foundation 5 WordPress Theme by @jeremyenglert") tailor made for the content team’s needs. Using select design elements from the print team’s work, the visuals definitely fit the larger campaign. Warm colors, hand-drawn line art, the same type families and a timeline (familiar to all who saw the printed pieces) earned nods of approval from the audience. The web team played a ragged-edged heart motif against crisp, spacious, regions with a thin, geometric typeface for a surprisingly balanced composition. In short, it looked great. The scaffolding allowed for flexible headings beyond what WordPress supplied. Our engineers worked hard to make the changes required while keeping the pages easy for Sacred Heart Community Service to edit. Even with eyes slightly glazed, the assembled group offered [some sharp feedback](https://zurb.com/university/design-feedback "Master Design Feedback | online class information at ZURB University"). From this we learned: - The unorthodox handwriting font that looked great on posters didn’t work so well as website subheaders. But on main headers, it looked fine. - The calls to action were a little *too* [harmonious with the rest of the page](https://zurb.com/university/lessons/7 "How to Improve Design by Coordinating Colors | how-to lesson at ZURB University"). They needed to stand out. - The team had many suggestions to solve certain CSS challenges with overlapping images. In all, things are looking on-track for a successful website launch shortly after dawn.

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 2 minute read

Fun, Unicorns and Massages!

If it weren't for some fun, ZURB Wired wouldn't be possible. Levity is a necessity and luckily, ZURB is well supplied with nerf guns, 122 cupcakes (thanks to Frost Cupcakery's donation!), red bull, hotdog costumes, unicorn masks and of course Shelby!

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 26 second read

Zany Photo Booth Action

Every year after midnight we let off a little steam with a crazy photo booth shoot. It’s a long-standing tradition of doing absolutely anything you want — as long as it’s random. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/zurbinc/sets/72157647749641552/ "ZURB Wired 2014 | photos at Flickr") [Catch all the action in our Flickr stream!](https://www.flickr.com/photos/zurbinc/sets/72157647749641552/ "ZURB Wired 2014 | photos at Flickr")

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 2 minute read

Finalized Web Visuals! The Build is Underway!

Here are the finalists!

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 2 minute read

Taking Care of the Team

Not long ago, we noticed our office manager/office Mom Shawna carrying little colored bags around the office. She stopped at various desks, eventually reaching everyone in the building. We looked inside the bags to find Altoids, bottles of mouthwash, toothbrushes, toothpaste and even deodorant. Maybe it was common courtesy. Maybe it was her way of telling us that some us might need help with — shall we say — our *aromatic* qualities after 16+ hours on the job. Little thoughts like this are important when 30 people work for 24 hours on three media for one campaign.

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 1 minute read

Print Team Squeezes Past a Tight Deadline

The design team had their work cut out — or should we say cropped? — with print production. The 6PM deadline kept their workflow extra tight. From [their explorations earlier in the day](https://zurb.com/wired/885/sketches-sketches-and-more-sketches "Sketches, Sketches and More Sketches | article by ZURB"), they developed final InDesign comps. Iteration upon rapid iteration resulted in: - A 12×18 poster - A trifold brochure - A greeting/thank you card - Postcards [](https://new.influenceapp.com/projects/172-zurbwired/pages/f452b041a89a73f2ef4c "Print material reference | Influence") Then their deadline slipped a little. Undaunted, they saw the work through, and had all collateral done by 7PM. That pushed dinner back a little, but a spot of hunger was quickly assuaged with a steady stream of snacks and coffee. With the bulk of their work done, the print team turned to web support, turning out scaffolding in a quick sprint to give the website a boost. It’s all online: [You can peek at the print materials on Influence](https://new.influenceapp.com/projects/172-zurbwired/pages/f452b041a89a73f2ef4c "Print material reference | Influence").

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 40 second read

Halfway Check-in

We’ve passed the halfway mark! Everything is moving in the right direction. Time to recharge the batteries for the nightshift. We’ve made a few key deadlines, especially in getting the brochure, poster and card templates out to our partners for printing overnight. Thanks to [Zazzle](https://www.zazzle.com/ "Zazzle | Custom T-Shirts, Personalized Gifts, Posters, Art, and more") and [PrintHQ](https://www.printhq.com/ "The online home of Progressive Solutions")! Let’s check in with Alina, Bryan and Jay for more details.

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 2 minute read

What is a prototype, anyway?

So, we brainstorm a product, iterate through ideas, build lo-fi wireframes, then hi-fis, a prototype or two, and then launch it. Seeing the process through is rewarding, exciting — and we admit, sometimes a relief. We love seeing people use our products. But before we reach that point, we have to test. We want to find the bugs. The gaps in user interaction flow. One missing </div> can make a world of difference. That’s why we always [test, test and test again](https://zurb.com/university/lessons/50 "ZURB U | Save Your Product From Launch Failures | how-to lesson at ZURB University") to make sure everything works before launch. And while we always test with real devices, testing workflow begins long before we touch code. ### Testing With Clickable Paper Mockups We import our scanned sketches into [Solidify, our prototyping app](https://solidifyapp.com/ "Solidify | Quick way to build prototypes for user testing"), to create a series of graphics with *hotspots* — areas of an image we can tap or click to visit other sketches. This simple technique helps us work out workflow hiccups long before they reveal themselves in code, when they’re more costly to fix. Sure enough, our web team discovered a few areas that needed work in the new SHCS website. They iterated several times until the prototype hit [the right mood](https://zurb.com/wired/884/creative-direction-uncovers-a-visual-stor "Creative Direction Uncovers a Visual Story | article by ZURB") from our earlier opportunity and ideation sketches. Taking time to scan a stack of paper, sift through images and link up hotspots may seem like a waste of time — especially since we’re on a 24-hour deadline. But we’ve found that sketched prototypes *save* time in the long run… even when “long run” means early the next morning. [Stroll through the wireframe yourself.](https://new.influenceapp.com/projects/172-zurbwired/pages/e2e14135b7299a8b6fa2 "Sacred Heart CS mockup | prototype by ZURB")

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 54 second read

Prototyping Check-in

The web team’s morning sketches came together into [high-fidelity wireframes](https://zurb.com/word/wireframing "Wireframing | article at ZURB") this afternoon — that is, a walkthrough of their website without code. Yes, they tested the website with hand-drawn sketches. Wireframes let the team find the most efficient ways to help the public donate or volunteer, and other people find the services they need. Once they nailed it, they built a prototype before starting to hammer out code, confident that they were on the right track. What’s a prototype? That’s coming soon. [See their hi-fi work for yourself on Influence](https://new.influenceapp.com/projects/172-zurbwired/pages/4ea73156d9a875e4628c "website wireframes | resources at Influence"). 

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 1 minute read

Sacred Heart Check-in

Working through ideation and content production parts of the design process, we paused to ask our friends from Sacred Heart Community Services what they thought about the work so far. They said they’re excited to see how the design process creates products that tell people what SHCS is all about. And the deadline pressure makes people produce immense amounts of quality work. That comes, in part, from our philosophy of opportunity and ideation sketching — tons of Sharpie sketches and Post-it notes to make sure we’re on the right track before starting to implement.

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 1 minute read

Lunch & Flickr

Feels like the morning flew by. With so many teams iterating through so many tasks on such a tight deadline, getting bogged in details is easy. Sometimes we like to step back and look at the bigger picture: where we are and who’s doing what. [Our design process](https://zurb.com/word/design-thinking "Design Thinking | article at ZURB") is collaborative, and we find that keeping up with each other’s work is both inspiring — and practical. Engineers need to plan for visuals. Visual designers rely on content. Content creators work within engineering limits. So we all work together. And yet, we also work apart. After our [initial brainstorms this morning](https://zurb.com/wired/882/cranking-through-ideas-discovering-with-t "Cranking Through Ideas, Discovering With Teams | article by ZURB"), each discipline found their own work areas to concentrate on what they did best. That’s why [we stopped for a comprehensive review](https://zurb.com/wired/886/work-session-review-shows-great-progress "Work Session Review Shows Great Progress by ZURB | article at ZURB") just before lunch. But enough of the high-level stuff. [Here’s an inside look](https://www.flickr.com/photos/zurbinc "ZURB Wired stream | photos at Flickr") at what’s happened so far at ZURB Wired.

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 19, 2014 · 1 minute read

Creative Direction Uncovers a Visual Story

It’s more than a look. There’s more than picking your favorite colors. Creative Direction is the process of discovering your project’s story. In this project phase we explore what-ifs in a visual way. To understand that, we need to pick the term apart:

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 18, 2014 · 2 minute read

Work Session Review Shows Great Progress

We interviewed the team leaders to see their progress so far. Good news: Every team has kept its schedule so far. At noon the teams reconvened to show their morning work to the team. We all met around one of the office’s wall-mounted screens — and liked what we saw. ### Engineering Preps for WordPress The developers had done more than hash out the best way to build out their work — they’d set up their local Macs as Apache servers. They also prepped the old website for its impending DNS change to make a seamless transition to the new site at 8AM PST tomorrow. It may be 20+ hours away, but we when we say “go live!” we mean “now!” ### “What Do We Need to Communicate?” The question facing the content team was simple to ask, challenging to answer. The team explored many ideas, settling on a storytelling approach. Who SHCS helps, how they do it, and how the community gets involved was one such story. They have to move fast because the print team’s deadline looms. ### The Print Team Comes Together The designers in print showed us their concepts — “look at the ideas, not the details” — in typography, warm colors and people-centric photos. Ignoring the technique, we saw the message: Many elements coming together to a single purpose. ### Web Design Jams Through Ideas The web team challenged themselves to work fast. Each member created 10 concepts in 10 minutes, and spent as long reviewing each other’s work. After an hour they’d developed three style tiles, or the general look & feel of how the site should *feel.* To see more, have a look at the Opportunities in Influence

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Arthur de la Rocha on Sep 18, 2014 · 2 minute read

Sketches, Sketches and More Sketches!

The dream team combo of ZURB + Sacred Heart CS is pluggin’ along and gettin’ things done at ZURB Wired!

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