Research & News
How Long Until I Can See My Website?
- Web
Congratulations on working with us to launch your website! This is a big moment for you, we know that. We’ve launched hundreds of websites, and here’s a few things you need to know. Propagation The web is a complex connection of various mini-webs. When we hit ‘publish’ it’s not an immediate thing, it can take… Read more »
Your Website’s Not Broke, But It May Still Need Fixing
- Web
You’ve had a dependable company website for years. That may be the problem. Websites can seem like a one-and-done investment, but to use a site effectively you’ll need to update it regularly. Let us break it down for you. 1. BRAND APPEAL any advertiser will tell you that every color, shape and sentence on your… Read more »
3 Tips to get the word out about your new business
- Branding
Deciding to run your own business is a big step on its own. Now, how do you get people to start buying your product? 1. Give free samples If you’re in a market where giving out tiny portions of your product is feasible, it’s something to consider. Free samples provide a tangible “hook” wherein potential… Read more »
Brand: What Is It, and Why Does It Matter?
- Branding
It’s all advertisers talk about: “Build your brand.” But what is a brand, and why is it so important? What do you think of when you hear the word “brand”? Coca-Cola. Apple. Those internet celebrities that toss the word out like candy. That’s all well and good, but none of these associations helps anyone to… Read more »
3 Things We’re Tired of Seeing In Your Alaskan Business’s Logo
- Branding
- Design
You’re a small-business owner in Alaska in need of a logo. Maybe you’ve been at this for years, and have recently decided your logo needs a redesign. Maybe you haven’t started your business yet. There’s no one-size-fits-all rule for logos, but we’ve seen enough to be able to tell you what not to include. 3.… Read more »
3 Questions to Ask a New Web Contractor
- Web
One of the major challenges for marketing departments and business owners when having a website designed and coded is understanding exactly what they’re getting. Our industry is notorious for a myriad of shady business practices—from holding websites hostage, to outsourcing work, to simply lying about their physical location. About half of our workload at Alopex Interaction… Read more »
How to Embed Animated .GIFs on Your Facebook Timeline
- Social Media
- Web
UPDATED May 4, 2018 Ah, Facebook. The source of so much of our joy, and an unending amount of frustration when things don’t work the way we expect them. If you’ve been trying to figure out how to embed animated .GIFs on your Facebook business timeline, well you’re in luck. Facebook recently changed something regarding business… Read more »
SEO at a Glance
- Web
What’s SEO? SEO is shorthand for “Search Engine Optimization”, or managing how high your webpage ranks in search engine results. If you want your page to be found on the internet, you need SEO. There’s a little variance between search engine algorithms and what they look for in a page, but the core principles are… Read more »
What Logo File Types Do I Need
- Branding
- Design
One of the most expensive mistakes that our clients make is not having a good file structure for their assets and not knowing what kinds of files to use, when. There are a few standard logo file types that you will always need for your business, and sending the right one, the first time, means… Read more »
Which Social Media Service Is Right For Your Business?
- Social Media
You can’t talk about digital marketing without social media. After deciding to take your business online, you’re going to need a communication platform. Each social media service has things it does well, and other features that limit its effective use. Social media services also cater to different demographics. So which service should your business use? 1. Facebook… Read more »
Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat – Feature
- Design
- Web
One of our recent websites, Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, was created for Thrive Creative and Communications. The organization is all about clarity of message, and our site communicates that. We prioritized simplicity in our design. The site is clean and uncluttered, saying everything it needs to and nothing it doesn’t. The homepage prominently displays the organization’s mission… Read more »
Widows & Orphans: What They Are and How to Fix Them
- Design
Before you call the police or child protective services, let’s clear up what we’re talking about; in typography, widows and orphans refer to lines at the beginning or end of a paragraph that are separated from the body of the paragraph. As defined by The Chicago Manual of Style, widows are those pesky lines at… Read more »
Midnight Sun Oncology – Feature
- Design
- Web
One of our recent projects was a website for Midnight Sun Oncology. Our client wanted something simple yet effective, that would soothe potential customers. The final product is clean, calming, and looks great on both desktop and mobile devices. We wanted the site to be as approachable as possible. It’s easy to off-put consumers with… Read more »
Make a Simple WordPress Blog Post
- Web
Introduction It is apparent that WordPress is a great CMS platform to build a low maintenance, low cost, professional website, simply by the sheer number of WordPress websites that exist today. WordPress 4.1 has been downloaded 12.6 million times and counting since December 18th, 2014 (ref.https://wordpress.org/download/counter/). Needless to say, WordPress is killing it. Many businesses… Read more »
3 Reasons Stock Photos Suck
- Web
View image | gettyimages.com Having designed marketing pieces for corporate clients for several years now, I’ve developed a serious, burning hatred for bad stock photography. I’m going to tell you why I hate them, and you should too. 1. Stock Blindness canada goose Bad stock photos suck because people don’t even see them. Stock… Read more »
Hashturbation: Let’s Talk About #Hashtags
- Branding
- Social Media
Working in marketing and design, we follow a number of advertising agencies on social media, particularly in Alaska, where we’re based. Recently there’s been an unsettling trend of businesses using hashtags completely inappropriately, and I’m here to draw a line in the sand. If you are an advertising agency using hashtags on social media, you are… Read more »