In today’s jobless recovery, applying for jobs and hiring employees is stressful. Job seekers send resumes out hoping their document will rise to the top of the pile, but not very confident it will. And employers prepare themselves to slog through applications hoping to find the right match.

In the midst of this tense environment, Monster.com, the premier global online employment site, asked us to create an interactive demo. The demo connects employers with quality job seekers at all levels and provides personalized career advice to consumers globally. Through its online media sites and services, Monster delivers qualified local candidates to business of all sizes.

The demo is designed to show the value of Monster’s hiring tools and how easy and effective they can be for companies of all sizes. The tone of the demo is fun and funky, but it also gives visitors the opportunity to halt the animation and to spend time exploring each of the tools. The demo concludes with a video of testimonials from enthusiastic customers.

Monster understands the true essence of its brand and we are proud to collaborate with them on projects that are core to their continued success. The demo is not just an employment tool. It is an extension of what sets Monster apart from other companies – a commitment to help both job seekers and employers get the advantage they need. And that, is thoughtful.

Everyone has the same feeling about going to the RMV-pure and unadulterated dread. This is one brand whose equity has always been immersed in all things bleak and negative.

Like a well informed citizen who can’t tolerate waiting in lines, I checked the RMV Web site (a noble attempt to elevate the RMV brand but who’s kidding whom?) to determine how long the wait would be. Just like the certainty of death and taxes, there’s always a wait at the RMV.  The Web site said 42 minutes. Not bad, I thought, I can handle this.

I arrive ten minutes later and my ticket tells me the wait is 57 minutes.  I take a deep breath and feel brave as my eye surveys the filled benches, lines leaking outside the entrance and walls wallpapered with people from all ages and stages of life. My number is 287 and they are at 208. By the time the electronic voice bellows my number, one hour and 55 minutes have passed. I shake my head as I remind myself that I never expected a good experience at the RMV anyway. The clock of my emotions has advanced toward frustration and anger. As I walk toward the counter, I see a teenage boy jumping for joy and waving his licsense in the air while his proud father beams behind him. Everybody’s heads turned, smiling as the boy left. Now, that is joy at the RMV.

Recently, I had the opportunity to help judge the 14th annual MITX Interactive Awards. You can see the list of finalists here. The winners will be announced November 17 at an awards ceremony at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. The MITX Interactive Awards honor the best interactive work from New England’s digital marketing & media community.

Judging the awards was a great experience. It gave me more insight into how non-designers look at work — and that was refreshing. My experience as a judge contrasted sharply from my experience in the workplace in some ways, and mirrored my workplace experience in other ways.

You see, at Corey we look at every branding and design project holistically. Our end goal is never to build the best looking site or the one with the most bells and whistles, utilizing all of the latest technologies. The design and the technology are secondary. First and foremost, our goal is to create a positive and beneficial user experience for the intended audience. Everything else stems from that experience.  If we create an experience that speaks to the target, then we’ve succeeded.

So it was interesting for me to see so many of the judges evaluating individual elements of the award entrees. Some were fixated on the demos, others the technology. Still others were focused on individual design elements. Utlimately, they evaluated the total project, and that’s what really matters. What was especially refreshing was that all of the judges factored in the ROI when evaluating the work. After all the best looking design and the coolest technology are meaningless unless they deliver the intended results.

Corey McPherson Nash embarks on the redesign of its own Web site. Follow along as we dig into the early stages of information architecture for the site.

Planning the new Corey McPherson Nash Web ste from Corey McPherson Nash on Vimeo.

Over one hundred clients, friends and staff, past and present, gathered in November at The Decordova Museum & Sculpture Park to help us celebrate twenty-five years as the branding studio of choice for a wide range of leading business, educational, and cultural institutions.

Part of the celebration was this wall-sized looping video highlighting dozens of client projects from across CMN’s history. Enjoy!