Who said learning and fun can’t be one in the same? Certainly not the SmartFolks! The SmartFolks’ vision is to “create a smarter world” by providing their users with an array of enjoyable, yet challenging, web and mobile-based games. As big proponents of online gaming ourselves, we at Azul Arc were excited to help SmartFolks in their endeavor- beginning with the design and development of their corporate site.

Check it out at www.smartfolksonline.com

View Newsletter

As we at Azul Arc well know, WordPress has become more than just a blog and publishing application. With thousands of plugins, widgets and themes to choose from, WordPress has evolved into a full-blown open source Content Management System (CMS)– allowing users to create and customize almost any desired website. Luckily for us, this easy-to-use tool has become increasingly popular and has allowed us to put forth unique, attactive and maintainable websites for our clients.

View Newsletter

The main objective behind our vStudio platform is to present our clients with user friendly, highly functional tools designed to enhance the interactive customer experience. In this month’s newsletter we will feature one of our most recent applications created based on this platform, as well as information on a unique new tool we are working on. This Configurator tool will eventually become a permanent part of our vStudio platform as well. We are also excited to share with you our eCard platform, which we worked on with our creative partner Vision kWest.

View Newsletter

We collaborated with the creative firm Artagrafik to create a website and blog for their client, Beecher Carlson that was easy for them to update and maintain. As a successful insurance brokerage and risk management consulting firm, Beecher Carlson has a lotof people looking to them for answers and advice. The open source WordPress platform we used to build their site, allows Beecher Carlson to add and delete articles and information to their blog as often as they need to keep their website current.

View the website by visiting www.beechercarlson.com

View Newsletter

East Decatur Station has a more eclectic feeling than your average office complex; this gave us the opportunity to have some fun with their website. Through WordPress, we were able to convey the exciting, creative atmosphere that EDS is known for. Not only does WordPress allow design flexibility, but the open source CMS also gives EDS the ability to edit their blog without our help. Since the launch of their new site earlier this year, they have made regular content updates.

Visit their website at www.eastdecaturstation.com

View Newsletter

When Polymer Industries decided to participate on the international fair circuit they approached us to help them create an eye catching booth design. Having recently updated their website we were able to add valuable and effective insight.

Because we understand that an impressive show presence depends on tangible results, we placed innovation at the visitors fingertips – the spotlight shined on a modern looking iPad display which was a great success. Our team created a unique trade show display that effectively showcased their line of products while moving away from more traditional options. Users could scroll through installation images and view the Polymer range of products.

Do visit their website at www.polymerindustries.com

view newsletter

INTERSECT by Azul Arc is our platform of solutions developed specifically for SMBs (small to mid size businesses). We are passionate about helping transform small to medium sized businesses by offering big company capabilities within small company budgets.

This month, we have highlighted SMBs that have worked with us to build their web presence and engage with their customers. Our focus is on applying ideas at the intersection of creative design and technology to help them in differentiating themselves to gain a competitive advantage.

View Newsletter

We wish you a very Happy New Year and much success for 2011! We thought we’d start the year by sharing the great design work our creative and development teams have done in evolving our own brand and interactive presence. Our team is passionate about the design and unique technology solutions that we create and the results they deliver for our clients. We’ve applied some of what we’ve learnt to our brand and are excited to share the results with you. So indulge us a little as we focus this month on the comprehensive updates our team has worked on.

We have an updated logo which you see on the left and this newsletter has been redesigned as well. Below we feature our interactive, mobile and social media sites. We hope this gives you some ideas at the intersection of design and technology and as always, we welcome your feedback – please send your comments via email or post it to our Facebook page at click here…

View Newsletter

During the Holidays Season, Our thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made our success possible. It is in this spirit we say … Thank You and Best Wishes for the Holidays and a Happy New Year.

View Newsletter

As the holiday season begins we’d like to say Happy Thanksgiving and take this opportunity to thank all of our clients, friends and family. 2010 has been filled with many exciting and successful projects. If you are going to visit family and friends in other cities we wish you safe travels.

To kick off the holiday season in a celebratory mood, we’re happy to announce that the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) has won a 2010 Davey Award for their website that we designed and developed for them. Big congratulations from all of us to RFCI!

The International Davey Awards are sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts. To check out the award wining RFCI website, visit www.RFCI.com

View Newsletter

A good partnership is a valuable asset. At Azul Arc International we partner with creative firms and work closely with them as part of a team. By collaborating with our partners on several different client projects we have established trusted and long-lasting partnerships and are exposed to some great ideas and inspiration.

This month we feature work that we have done with some of our creative agency partners and hope they stimulate ideas for you as well. – Artagrafik, EOS and Porch Light Studios.

View Newsletter

Mobile media is rapidly growing and recent articles, studies and trends point to this being a very significant opportunity that is eclipsing the growth of traditional web access.

This month we feature new mobile sites we’ve developed and hope these give you ideas and inspirations for your firm’s mobile strategy. A great first step is to create a mobile version of your site designed specifically for a smart phone screen and user interface. More advanced applications include creating mobile apps that take advantage of smart phone features like the camera and location based elements. A great example of this is the Mannington Choices That Work Smart Phone application we developed for them that won the 2010 Best of NeoCon Technology Award.

View Newsletter

Solutions for SMBs (small to midsize businesses)

Intersect by Azul Arc is our platform of solutions developed specifically for SMBs (small to mid size businesses). We are passionate about helping transform small to medium sized businesses by offering big company capabilities within small company budgets.

Our focus is on applying ideas at the intersection of creative design and technology to help SMBs in differentiating themselves to gain a competitive advantage. Working closely with SMBs (and investing thousands of hours of design and development) has generated experience, expertise, ideas and insights for our platform for SMBs.This week we highlight a recent example of a comprehensive development effort for an SMB client.

View Newsletter

bMobile by Azul Arc is a mobile app platform that serves up your company information, applications and tools on the go. The bMobile platform allows your customers and your field sales team to access products, specifications and other relevant information on their mobile devices. It can be customized to your requirements and easily deployed over several mobile operating systems including the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry OS.

View Newsletter

NeoCon 2010 gave Mannington’s Choices That Work its top award for innovative technology. Created by Azul Arc International, it is the floor covering industry’s first Smart Phone application for designers that deftly displays coordinating choices for carpet and flooring, minimizing the time a designer must spend on research. Using a smart phone’s integrated camera and scanning technology, the app integrates with Mannington sample books to show coordinating collections and enable sample orders.

Click on the links below to read what the industry is saying about it.

http://dailyfix.interiordesign.net/products/flooring/358/manningtons-got-a-brand-new-app

http://www.starnetflooring.com/starnet-blog-news/mannington-introduces-mobile-app-designed-to-serve-the-design-process/

This month we are excited to share the first of a series of exciting platforms that we have developed. The vStudio application platform is a compelling set of proven interactive components to support your sales, marketing and customer communication. With the vStudio module, you transform your customer’s interactive experience with a set of user friendly and highly functional tools. This helps your clients in their selection and decision making process for your products and services.

These modules have been recognized by the market with awards and more importantly by endorsements from sales teams and users. They can be customized, integrated and enhanced to meet your specific needs. Below are initial examples of projects we have developed in this area.

View Newsletter

Mannington solidified its place as a leader in flooring design and innovation by almost sweeping Floor Covering Weekly’s Dealers’ Choice competition held during Surfaces 2010 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center from February 2-4.
Click here for more information.

This month, we have highlighted small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) that have worked with us to build their web presence and engage with their customers. We are proud of the positive feedback that we have received from them in achieving our goal of large company quality and professionalism at a small firm budget. Stay tuned for the new SMB platform solutions we will be launching shortly.

View Newsletter

Happy New Year and all the best in 2010 from Azul Arc! The new year promises to be an exciting year and we are looking forward to the challenges ahead. This month we feature some great web sites that utilize social media and open source tools.

Off to a great start, we are delighted to announce that we have been recognized for our efforts with a “Good Design Award” for 2009 in the Graphics, Identity and Packaging section for the Mannington Virtual Library. The Good Design Award is part of the 2009 International Awards presented by The Chicago Athenaeum, whose press release describes the award, “Good Design bestows international recognition upon the world’s most prominent designers and manufacturers for advancing new, visionary, and innovative product concepts, invention and originality, and for stretching the envelope beyond what is considered ordinary product and consumer design.”

View Newsletter