Atomicdust

A New Face at Atomicdust

The Atomicdust family is welcoming its newest member- baby Miles!

Miles (and his full head of hair) joined the Spakowski clan on Monday, July 19th. Weighing in at 8 lbs. 7 oz., and stretching 21 inches, both baby and mommy are healthy and happy. Congratulations to Mike and Sarah (and big brother Ian)!

Atomicdust Celebrates 8 Years of Design

Ah, graphic design. This month, we celebrated our eighth year of business with our usual office party full of food, drinks and friends. Thanks to everyone who came by to help us celebrate, and thank you to everyone who’s supported us over the years. See you next year.

Atomicdust Social Media Pro Chosen for MTV TJ Contest

MTV has announced that Danielle Hohmeier, our resident social media pro, has been selected as one of the 20 finalists in MTV’s “Follow Me: The Search for the First MTV TJ.” The winner will be hired to become the new face and voice for MTV across social media platforms, including MTV.com, to expand the two-way dialogue between MTV and its global audience. Read more. 

We’re Ready for Our Close Up

Last week, our fearless leader (otherwise known as 'Creative Director'), Mike Spakowski, was interviewed by The St. Louis Egotist on how we got started, our project philosophy, and his advice for designers, writers, and developers. 

Here is what he had to say about what Atomicdust really is... Read more. 

It’s Official: Summer is Here

How do we know this? Because Memorial Day has come and gone? Because Saint Louis has already seen temperatures rise to above 90 degrees?

Atomicdust feautured in “The Best of Business Card Design 9”

We're excited to announce our work for Oculus Inc. was featured in "The Best of Business Card Design 9" by Rockport Publishers. The business cards, featuring a variety of different backs, were part of a larger identity and online rebranding project for the St. Louis based Architecture, Interior and Management firm. 

Matt Launches Part One of His LOST Video

At Atomicdust, we have a slight obsession with the television series Lost. The fact that we have more than one image of John Locke hanging around our office should be proof enough, but just in case you’re not sold…

Matt, our resident Lost expert, not only hosts finale parties at the end of each season, but he comes up with invitations, decorations, and videos to accompany them.

That’s right, we said videos.

This isn’t your typical fan video from YouTube. This is not images of Kate and Jack (or Kate and Sawyer, or Sawyer and Juliet or…) set to ‘Endless Love.’ This video has a plot, ‘acting’, and parts of it were even filmed on location in Costa Rica.

Just in time for the big premiere tonight, Matt has released Part One of the Season 6 Finale Video on his blog Matt’s Lost His Mind!

Check it out (and make sure to look for Atomicdust-ers Mike and Matt in starring roles!):
Part One of the Lost Season 6 Finale Video

Atomicdust Bowling Day…

Last Friday, we spent the first half of the day reflecting on the past year of our business, discussing ways to keep us going and growing. Then, after stopping for lunch at Houlihan’s, we took over lanes 29 and 30 of Tropicana Bowl in Brentwood. Enjoy some photos below of our day. Like usual, Billy, Katie and Michael outshone everyone else’s combined scores with their pro-like pin-smashing. And while his bowling may not be the best, Mike’s skills at the Claw Game are unmatched. He ended up taking home a record 8 stuffed animals that he grabbed over a 20-minute period.

Thank You To Stephen at Macsolv

Though most Mac users are problem solving vigilantes by nature, when it comes to server issues, donning the “Trouble-shooter” hat isn’t always the best idea. Yet, those of us who have built a Mac-based workflow have at times had to double as our own IT department. This is, in part, due to the absence of truly dedicated Mac specialists in the St. Louis area. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly those who can sell them, many of us who are quite proficient at using them and some who can tinker around enough to provide a quick fix on occasion. This lack of expertise has for some time led us (and likely many others) to get creative in ways other than those we pride ourselves on as a design agency. Recently we had encountered an issue with cirumstances larger than what we were prepared to handle ourselves. We needed an expert. Enter Stephen Alison. Stephen is new to St. Louis, but quite seasoned when it comes to Mac environments. He runs a small, specialized consultancy called Macsolv. Take note: This is no PC guy in disguise. This is a bona fide Mac guru with the chops to prove it. Stephen is a former Systems Engineer for Apple, Inc., having held the ACSA certification since its introduction in 2003. He has also achieved ACTC 10.5 Certification and is an Apple Certified Trainer.  He has helped us with our needs in a fraction of the time that it has taken anyone else (including ourselves). If your workflow depends on your Macs running as efficiently as they can, we highly recommend you contact Stephen at Macsolv.

Atomicdust Celebrates 7 Years of Design

In June we celebrated our studio’s 7th birthday with our annual office bash. It has taken a lot of support from a lot of people to reach seven, so we wanted to show them all our appreciation (Plus, it was a good excuse to give out more Atomicdust pint glasses).

To fill the place, we put together an interactive invitation that allowed people to customize their RSVP and set the tone for the evening. Recipients were directed to a website that encouraged them to complete the line “At the party we’ll ____ and ____.”  Responses were collected and flowed into an animation that ran on the site for all to see. Likewise, this year’s glass allowed guests to express themselves by filling in the blanks. Some ‘grazed’ and ‘giggled’ while others ‘wanged’ and ‘chunged’, but all had a good time. To bring it all together we brought in a photo booth that helped everyone capture the evening.

We’re proud of having seven years under our belt, and look forward to celebrating many more. Many thanks to the guys at PhotoboothStL, our friends at Portabella and to everyone who came out. We had a great time! Check out some photos of the event.