Why be a Jack of All Trades?

A “Jack of All Trades, A Master Of None”. The saying means a lot. To often as businesses we loose our way. We try to be all things to all people. And in doing so we develop a sort of ambiguity. We start to dissolve into the crowd. We try so hard to make more money as our overhead increases that our desperation out weighs our logic. Miner Thought is no different.

6 months ago we hit the breaks and closed our doors to recharge and focus on other things. In that time many conversations took place with people about what is missing.

Too often have we take on a client and spend a month of wasted time trying to find their latest logo. Too often have we looked at their marketing messages outside on that billboard and their mission statement on the wall in their office and scratched our head – “How the hell did they get there from that?”. Like fashion victims brands suffer equally with their wardrobe. Give a brand a decade to tinker with their identity and farm it out to everyone on the block and you’ll end up with the same result – a disjointed mess.

Here is where we see ourselves narrowing our vision. Miner Thought will make your logo and we’ll make it damn hot looking. But we will NOT only make your logo. If you are looking to get a little design done we suggest you go else where. It’s not you – it’s us…it’s just not working out. We can still be friends though! Promise you’ll write.

Miner Thought wants to get in on the ground level. We want to make sure when we work with a company that all the assets from internal process driven elements to marketing campaigns work as a united force. For that reason we look to help companies forge a clear understanding of who they really are. The fact is you won’t likely see a logo from us for the first few meetings. We’ll instead be busy talking to you and your staff – trying to get a clear understanding of what you represent. Once we know that and who you are up against we’ll develop a library of tools to help you say what you need to say across any channel and still be consistent.

We don’t even look to be greedy with your business – if you decide to move on, that’s fine (*sniff sniff) we want to make sure you have something you can hand to any other third party that may touch your brand. Something to use and have zero questions about what you represent. A bible to hold back and say “is this right?”.

We look to consult as a business partner with you. An equal who cares about how you look and what you say. If we do our job right, we expect you’ll be calling us even if you do leave to make sure we approve of what you’re doing with the brand we helped you raise. (We’re proud to say it’s happened before)

So, ready to see what we do? MT is now once again accepting new clients – but ONLY if you want to be reborn into something magnificent.

MT goes on Hiatus…

Miner Thought was started out of a need. A need to help people. A need to be in control. A need to develop a unique voice. In reality I didn’t think it would catch on. Yet a few good projects and we got too busy for our own good. So busy that there were times when life was halted and business got in the way.

Now after a few good years it is time to let life get in the way for a change.

As of May 1st, 2011, Miner Thought will be going on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. Maybe a few months, maybe longer. The end is – like all things in life – unknown. However this time it is not for the reason many may think. We are busier than ever. In fact I have started saying no to new clients and projects lately. And the only current thing finishing up is a new product line for Quantum Gelato – coming very soon.

The reason is much more personal and wonderful. At the not so tender age of *cough* 30-something *cough*, I am starting a new chapter in life. This spring I will become a father.

And as anyone in advertising or the visual arts will tell you – our work has a tendency to get in the way. So I have decided to take the proactive and noble approach of family over money for a while and put Miner Thought on hold. Through this experiment of a company that has given me some great clientele face-time experience in branding and design – which is where I always felt Miner Thought fit in nicely – I have really had a lot of help from friends and service providers. Not the least of which came from friend Brent Wees who has manged all of Miner Thoughts not-for-profit work to perfection. So to all the friends and clientele – thank you.

Chow for now.
- Todd.

Our roots are in helping animals…

In the spring of 2010 we were approached by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to help them brand their Fall campus campaign where they planned to travel Canada talking to students and educating them on the importance of choosing cage-free eggs. A decision that effects the humane and ethical treatment of the chickens in a drastic and important way.

As we are a team of animal lovers and have strong roots in animal rights and yes even some vegetarianism, Miner Thought jumped at the chance to do what we love to do – help. MT helped WSPA Canada find their voice visually as it were. We designed the campaign logo, a sticker and their website www.choosecagefree.ca.

Full case study in the project section to come soon – but we were so proud of the work we wanted to share the news as the campaign has now launched!

A SUCCESSFUL MINI EXPERIMENT IN FUND-RAISING THROUGH MEASURABLE INTERACTIONS

It started with a simple idea. We wanted to donate money the global Haiti relief efforts. There wasn’t much – but enough to make a difference in some of the lives of a few Haitian families. Usually that would be enough to pick up a phone and donate. However we wanted to try to do more and push each dollar as far as we could to not only donate but raise awareness. So we did what we do best – got creative and decided “Hey, let’s wrap a campaign around this pledge drive and see how it works out”. A good way to test out social media’s current state on Facebook and Twitter and have a little fun.

The ask was simple: Ask other creative people (artists, photographers, designers) to donate some of their time to create a single unique piece of artwork with a heart theme – we called them “Heart-Art”.

The mechanism was as easy as 1-2-3: We uploaded the work to a single photo album on our Facebook fan page and invited people to become a fan, pick a piece of “Heart-Art” they loved and photo tag their friends name on the picture. For every tag made Miner Thought pledged to donate a $1 to the Haiti Relief fund. In essence we asked Facebook users to share their heart.
On the social experiment side the campaign was pushed via twitter feeds, shared album and photos within Facebook and from users seeing that they had been tagged in the work – naturally making them click through and learn about the project. Upon learning the concept many who were originally tagged quickly became involved and tagged more. Like a wild fire it spread through Facebook organically and quickly the message and work reached other users.

In just over 72 hours since launching on Saturday Morning on January 30th Tag A Heart for Haiti was a success, breaking all our expectations. The fan page went from 2 to 124 fans and the initial donated artwork doubled for a total of 26 original “Heart-Art” pieces. Our target goal of $500 for 500 tags was reached by the mid afternoon that Tuesday in less than 4 days – seeing over 500 photo tags. Many of the artworks reached their 50 tag per image Facebook implemented limit in the first 24 hours.

Finally to add to the success of the project our friends at Dashboard Communications doubled the donation which in turn was doubled by the government. What does that mean? It means measurable interactions = relief in a grass roots campaign put together with a few creative people from across North America and raised $2000 which was donated to World Vision Canada. Not bad for a weekend.

We’d like to thank ALL the people involved in Tag A Heart for Haiti. From the tweeters to the Facebook users to the contributors. YOU made this happen. And we are humbled by your generous donation of time to make this work so well.

Thank you.