Let’s face it — 404 pages may not always be a top priority, but for creative agencies it’s important to embrace the opportunity an error page presents. Beyond the obvious utility these pages provide, 404 pages are a great chance to showcase your agency’s personality, creative chops, and attention to detail. Whether it’s treated as an extension of your brand, or a playful easter egg, these once dull error pages are now considered to be one of the most creative ways to exemplify the nature of your agency and the people that work in your organization. Here’s a round up of 404 pages from a handful of the agencies in our field:

Carrot Creative First thing’s first — let us present what we believe to be the best use of the 404 page scenario. Naturally, this is our own agency

Barbarian Group Barbarian Group cycles through 80 or so odd and amusing (seemingly custom) images, creating a unique experience each time.

Big Spaceship The randomized background is a particularly nice touch (especially the bikes!), but the failed google search attempt at the bottom of the page shows a bit of neglect.

Big Bad Collab Sporting a throwback space-themed design, Big Bad Collab’s 404 page is nice, but doesn’t show the “Space Ghost” we were expecting…

Big Fuel Moderately underwhelming. Womp womp.

Blue Fountain Media Pac Man! Novel idea, but this might be taking away valuable time spent learning about the agency.

Breakfast Simple, humorous, and to the point. However, clicking the FAIL blog image shouldn’t direct users away from the site. That defeats the purpose!

Buddy Media Sterile and utilitarian. Less is more, or something like that… right?

Bully This is the best of both worlds — a cheeky message combined with useful internal links.

Carsonified Well designed and helpful. We applaud you.

Centresource Another well done 404 page containing a nice mix of quirky narrative and useful links.

Cuban Council A vintage  (and humorous) art directed error page consistant with their overall site theme. Links back to the homepage.

Deep Focus “Just drop in the site map and call it a day.”  Meh.

Flightpath  Well designed and user friendly, this is an excellent example of a 404 page.

Free Association Nicely composed, but all of the useful links are well below the fold. And we all know how important the fold is.

Freshthrills  Nice wordplay and art direction here. We’re fans.

Huge Straightforward. Although, we expected something more from Huge.

Ignite Social Media Not the most stunning design, but it gets the job done.

Jumping Jackrabbit Beautifully illustrated page with a parallax effect. This page is a delight to stumble upon even though he is cooking carrots. EEK.

Odopod Snarky, but still quite useful.

Space150 With no additional links, this error page relies on the main navigation for users to regain their bearings.

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As a frequent rider of NYC’s mass transit, I believe it’s time we find a more effective approach to showing stops and providing alerts/vital updates. Also we need to stay updated on the latest technology—that means getting rid of the analog displays, which are imposing unnecessary limitations in the visual & information design. The displays need to be flexible enough to hold any type or amount of content.

Here’s my proposal:

• Use the interior space more effectively
• Promote interaction (ex: a dynamic map)
• Be especially mindful of those who are deaf or unable to hear due to loud passenger or poor train speakers

I’m using Jake Berman‘s “day” and “night” maps as a stepping stone because he has provided an excellent way to instantly show a change in subway route. I think this idea should be carried over to the overhead displays shown in the trains. For displays showing the full MTA subway map, let’s use it as an opportunity to show alerts for all stops. Also, if we can get underground WiFi, let’s sync the alerts with those shown on the MTA website. If MTA is worried about advertising space, we can use the top area of the map to dynamically load various ads.

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I’m Bridget Brennan, the newest member of the Carrot crew. I’m extremely excited to become a part of what I believe is a company that has it’s head and heart in the right place. It is exhilarating to work with people who are spearheading social media marketing and are also some the most passionate I have ever encountered. I mean, hello, you can draw on the walls and not feel strange quoting Arrested Development. Although, I still need to find out if they like Gogol Bordello or DeVotchKa.

I recently graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (I believe that makes me the fourth alum at Carrot now) with a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration. However, my true passion lies in designing for interactive and new media. Thus, I like to call myself a hybrid designer, working in both the traditional and digital design realms. It’s a great combination since working with interactive media requires traditional design skills, even though software cleverly disguises it. I am very excited to contribute to Carrot what I’ve learned with my past experience at school and other firms, and I know that there is a plenty that I will learn from Carrot.

Look me up in the Twitter-sphere: @thisismydesign
The story behind the username? Too many Bridget Brennan’s out there!

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What can I say, I’m partial to Rochester Institute of Technology alumni.  Perhaps it was my time as a professor there, or maybe the tea-bar at Wegmans, or it could be the raw talent that comes out of the chilly northeast.  Whatever the case, when I met Bridget Brennan at RIT’s Career Fair and saw her flawless work, I knew she’d be the perfect fit as the new intern at Carrot Creative.

Bridget has that special quirk that Carrot looks for.  Her positive energy is contagious, making her a fun addition to any Twitter stream (you ARE following her on Twitter….right? @thisismydesign). When we asked her to a second interview, she brought along her sketchpad, with years and years worth of doodles, opening us up to the imaginative world of her design aesthetic.

In her words: “I believe there are no divisions in the creative world. If I can design a great identity, I can also develop a successful interface. The tools are different and always changing, but the principles stay the same.”

She is a graphic turned interactive designer, truly embodying the best of both worlds.  Welcome to the Carrot Crew Bridget!  We’re glad to have you on board.

This article is copyright © 2012 

Carrot Creative was tapped to create a website and visual campaign in response to the catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010 through Hope, Help & Relief Haiti.  Created by a conscious community of leaders in music, fashion, film, finance and art, Hope, Help & Relief Haiti was established to become an agent of change for the rebuild and renewal of the devastated nation.  Shaped from the collaborative efforts of Andre Harrell, Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Foundation, The Mary J Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN) and Andre Balazs, Hope, Help & Relief Haiti sets out to galvanize a community in response to Haiti’s immediate need to rebuild.  Through a new initiative aimed at bringing “Tents Now, Home Tomorrow” to the people of Haiti, a kickoff fundraiser was held at The Standard on Monday, February 8th to get the ball rolling on the new program.

Carrot understood that the website had to be engaging and informative enough that people wanted to both learn more about the evenings event, but create a space that could grow with the organization.  The site design had a simple but important goal: leverage the user’s interest in celebrity philanthropy (with stars such as Sean Combs, Jay Z, Ralph Lauren, Wycleff Jean, Anna Wintour, Whoopie Goldberg and many others), provide an efficient way to learn about the issues and inspire more people to take action.  We kept the design simplistic and striking, while leveraging the sharing capabilities of social networking platforms.

Working closely with Ian Schafer and his team at Deep Focus, the site was up and running in under a week turnaround time.  Built with the intention to expand outwardly and connect with the widest audience possible, the two companies worked to establish a Facebook FanPage, Twitter feed and website, getting Hope, Help & Relief Haiti immersed in the digital space.

“We were tremendously honored to help out with such an extraordinary organization,” says Robert Gaafar, Carrot CEO.  “Having the opportunity to create something that will help raise money for people in need was something our entire team agreed on.  We look forward to continuing the relationship and watching Hope, Help & Relief Haiti grow.”

This article is copyright © 2012 

After much anticipation, Carrot Creative has completed our first film site, and what better way to lose our film site virginity than with the cinematic adaptation of Tucker Max’s New York Times bestseller, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell?

It all started when Tucker’s right hand man, Ian Claudius, first read about Carrot in Smashing Magazine’s fantastic post, Looking Back On 2008 With Top Web Designers. A quick phone call, plane ride, and train ride later we found ourselves in the middle of Times Square at Magno Studios for a private screening of the film with Tucker Max himself. At Carrot Creative, we have an innovative 360 degree project immersion program that dictated our enjoyment of the film while kicking back with a cooler of frosty libations (errr… 40oz-ers). This helped us fully recreate the target market’s optimal viewing conditions.

As our fearless leader @mikegermano mentioned in an earlier post, “the great thing about working with a client like Tucker is that he is as open and excited about our ideas as we are and isn’t afraid to push the limits to what we can do. When you have that kind of trust from a client, it’s always refreshing and makes our entire team want to start immediately.”

So, we hit the ground running, tackling a project we’d otherwise dismiss. Tucker has always been very innovative with how he leveraged the social power of the Internet, successfully cultivating a rabid following before the words “Social” and “Media” were ever used together. We’ve always admired his tenacious business sense and respected his extraordinary use of the written word. What better way to launch a feature film then with an extremely targeted, engaged, and receptive audience?

After handful of late nights, and some seriously fun brainstorming sessions over delicious Grimaldi’s pizza, we pulled it off. So, without further adieu, our latest masterpiece.

Sit back, crack open a beer, and enjoy the social capabilities of the site. Be sure to check out the flick in theatres September 25th.

This article is copyright © 2012 

Jacob Cass will be joining Carrot Creative in the beginning of 2010.

As he describes on his website, he’s a self-employed graphic designer, specializing in the fields of corporate identity (logo) design, web design, print design and branding with the majority of his time spent designing and implementing marketing promotions for small businesses such as logos, websites, brochures, letterhead, business cards and more.

But really, who IS Jacob and why did we hire him? (via Twitter to boot!—check out how we lured him in on his own blog post announcing the news!)

We appreciate creativity and an innovative process can give to the Internet. From being fans of Jacob’s blog it was evident to all of us how well he understands the role social media and the impact on design and the future of communications. The Internet has never had geographic boundaries and neither have we with our hiring practice. We moved our office to NY because we loved the culture and the atmosphere and knew that DUMBO was the place to grow the business. We wanted to create the most diverse company working with a variety of clients and work with people who get community. When we came across Jacob, his huge community and following for his award winning design work, his quick understanding of the business and eagerness to work in a cool environment—it seemed like a no brainer. He said yes and now we eagerly wait for his arrival in the beginning of the new year.

In preparation, we’ll be watching this video on repeat until he arrives. Follow Jacob on Twitter and give him a welcome to the Carrot family!

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So, will bringing on designers really matter, or does having your product or service “work” outweigh how it looks? Here are some insights from the discussion.

• Startup entrepreneurs seem to have 101 concerns before they start carving out their budget for color schemes and visual hierarchy. But how much emphasis should be placed on design? Kevin Kearney says that it all depends on how your team defines the importance of it. Good designers are not brought along just to make things pretty – they are an integral part of a successful, problem – solving team. They are concerned about the overall business strategy and make aesthetic decisions based on the improvement of the company. Designers should be there for you, offering suggestions and fighting for your ideas. Consider hiring a designer as hiring your own personal George Foreman of Photoshop. Your Rocky Marciano of Mockups. Your Mike Tyson of Face Tattoos…er, never mind.

• The topic of the Common Misconceptions of Designers brought along a warm, fuzziness inside because I could relate to everything that was mentioned. Stefan Lawrence brought up a common fallacy that all designers can get anything and everything done in less than 24 hours. Thankfully, he begs to differ. While it is our job to come up with design solutions, it doesn’t just come to us in an instant. Like any other line of work, time must be reserved for research, contextual insights, and necessary planning. Hasty designs with hurried planning often turn out to be nightmares. Startups allowing designers to contribute early on in the game can minimize the damaging effects of a rushed, impersonal project.

• Nicole Tecco Reece also tackled the misconception that all designers fear limitations and work best with 100% creative freedom. While we do love freedom to make our own aesthetic decisions, constraints and requirements are what drive us to be successful. It’s these limitations that help wrangle wayward creativity and help us zero in on what is best for the client, what is best for the target audience, and (perhaps most important of all) what is realistic.

IMHO, I feel that design is just as important as any other aspect of starting a new business. Allocating a reasonable amount of your budget toward a stellar designer/design team is an investment that can help will breathe life into your idea. Design is much more than a cute logo or strategic button placement – it is the ongoing communication of your brand and your target audience on a personal level. Stand out from your competition by making that experience memorable, carefully crafted by a quality design team from the start.

A huge thank you to Crystal for organizing this event, and to everyone who lead the conversation and offered their input. Look for me and more members of the Carrot Crew at future design meet ups all around NYC. We’ll also be planning an event ourselves so stay tuned for more information on that.

This article is copyright © 2012 

This article is copyright © 2012 

While this is ridiculously scary, our team here saw the great opportunity in this to use comedy and social media to showcase the current situation and reach out to consumers on a less formal basis. Check out the website where you can learn why YOU owe the government an additional $184,000 on top of your 2008 taxes at owenandpayne.com and on Twitter at @OwenandPayne.

Interested in learning even more about this? The Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s mission is to increase public awareness of the nature and urgency of key economic challenges threatening America’s future and accelerate action on them. To meet these challenges successfully, they are working to bring Americans together to find sensible, sustainable solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results. More information about them can be found here.

This article is copyright © 2012