Fusionary Media News

Happy Birthday Fusionary!

2008-07-15T00:00:00Z

Today is the 13th anniversary of our incorporation! In celebration of this milestone we will be spending the day working really hard for the clients that made it all possible. Friday evening we’ll be gathering for drinks and food at Founders in Grand Rapids.

Fusionary Expands Customer Service Department

2008-03-17T00:00:00Z

Brad Sammut joins Fusionary in the newly created position, Customer Service Lead. Fusionary has always been committed to great customer service and is very excited to expand its ability to serve customers with ongoing maintenance needs. Brad comes with seven years experience in web development, project management, and digital video production.

Brad joins Jean Hanks in our Customer Service Dept. Jean and Brad work with Fusionary’s clients and vendors to manage design modifications and upgrades as well as to resolve technical issues and perform general website maintenance.

More New Work Keeps Fusionary Hoppin� into Spring

2008-03-14T00:00:00Z

Fusionary is pleased to announce two new clients: Grand Haven-based Shape Corporation and its affiliate, Pliant Plastics. Fusionary will assist Shape Corp.�s internal marketing team in its rebranding efforts with a website redesign and search engine optimization services. Pliant Plastics has hired Fusionary to design and develop their new site. Shape Corp. is a global leader in automotive and industrial component manufacturing. Pliant provides custom injection molding and in-house rapid prototyping to the automotive, office furniture and bio-medical industries.

Fusionary has also been chosen to develop a new website for Professional Educational Services Group. The new site is intended to support PESG’s sales and marketing efforts through the creation of a contemporary online presence and easy-to-use tools that will help them connect with their audience and lay the foundation for online growth. PESG specializes in pooling and managing substitute teachers and other school district staff.

New Site Launch: Repositioning Lynch Sales

2007-12-20T00:00:00Z

Fusionary unveils a new online look for the Lynch Sales Company. With technical enhancements and a renewed brand image, Lynch solidifies its position as a leading sales resource for furniture retailers within the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

Working with our client’s management team, we established a new creative direction which aligns the site with their new identity, elevates their corporate presence, and strengthens the bond with customers. The contemporary new design revitalizes the face of the company while preserving the heritage and legacy that lie at the heart of Lynch’s success.

Behind the scenes, Fusionary brought the site into compliancy with current web development standards, making it more accessible to search engines and improving its scalability over time. The implementation of a new content management system also allows Lynch staff to more easily and cost-effectively manage changes to the site’s content.

The new site is already garnering positive responses from both the client and their visitors. Take a closer look at www.lynchsales.com... and give us a call if we can be of any help to you!

Joining Us This Fall...

2007-10-08T00:00:00Z

We would like to welcome Jill Fehrenbach to Fusionary as Communications Project Manager. Jill’s advertising background encompasses strategic research, project coordination, and copyediting. Jill will be assisting with strategy and content, as well as public relations and new business development.

Project Launch: KDL.org - Go Ahead! Judge a Book by Its Cover

2007-10-08T00:00:00Z

Fusionary is very pleased to announce the launch of a newly redesigned site for our client, Kent District Library (KDL). The new design makes using the site a much better experience for visitors and staff alike.

Cool new features you won’t want to miss include interactive recommended reading lists for virtual browsing with book detail summaries and catalog and purchase links. The site also includes a new blog, RSS feeds and a powerful search engine for books and site content. A fresh look and purposeful site architecture means users can quickly find answers to their questions.

In addition, Fusionary helped KDL administrative staff gain greater control over their content and reduce maintenance costs through a customized content management system.

Bryan Lewis sums up the difference: “It comes down to good design, a clean interface and a strong build. KDL’s new site is ten times the experience for end users and only requires a fraction of the time to maintain.” You can’t beat that!

Fusionary Hires New Developer

2007-08-20T00:00:00Z

Lance Corporal Joshua Daniel Clayton joins Fusionary as Web Developer/Programmer. Josh comes to us with ten years experience in web development and five years professional experience in applications development.

Josh is well versed in Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, and other web development tools. Josh has also proudly served in the United States Marine Corps for five years. Welcome, Josh!

Project Launch: npgoodpracticeguide.org and grantmakingschool.org

2007-07-16T00:00:00Z

We’re very pleased to announce the launch of two new websites created for the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership at Grand Valley State University. Both sites were designed by Fusionary.

The first is the Nonprofit Good Practice Guide—an online encyclopedia offering extensive resources and information to people in nonprofit organizations.

The second site was done for The Grantmaking School—highlighting the education and training opportunities they provide to grantmakers throughout the country.

We worked on the sites concurrently, meeting with Grantmaking School and Guide staff to explore and define the overall objectives for each site, identifying the most effective way to meet the needs of their target audiences.

The Fusionary team led information, interaction and visual design for each of the sites, while the technical implementation was handled by GVSU and third-party resources working from our XHTML templates and stylesheets.

Launch the sites:

On this day in 1995, Fusionary Media was incorporated.

2007-07-15T00:00:00Z

Twelve years.

That’s how long it takes for a ray of light to reach the Earth from the star Vega.

That’s how long it takes for whiskey to mature.

That’s how long it takes for a pearl to form.

Twelve years.

Happy anniversary and many thanks to all of our clients and colleagues.

New Project, New Client: Belding Area Schools

2007-07-03T00:00:00Z

Belding Area Schools has asked Fusionary to lead the redesign of the
BAS website, promoting their schools and services online. In addition
to a new layout and design for the site, the new site will also
feature the Fusionary Content Management System to make it easy and
cost-effective for the BAS team to keep their site up to date.

New Project, New Client: Hastings City Bank

2007-06-28T00:00:00Z

Fusionary is proud to have been selected to lead the redesign of the
Hastings City Bank website, working with them to elevate their brand
and corporate presence online with a new architecture and design
supported by the Fusionary Content Management System.

New Total Plastics Website Launches

2007-06-11T00:00:00Z

Fusionary is pleased to announce the launch of a newly-designed website for our client Total Plastics Inc. In addition to a completely revamped site architecture and design, the Total Plastics team has full access to the content of their site via the Fusionary Content Management System.

View the site.

New Projects, New Clients: Kalsec, Comstock Park Rotary Club, West Michigan Cardiothoracic Surgeons, and Total Plastics Inc.

2007-05-25T00:00:00Z

Whew. It’s been a busy couple of months for us here at Fusionary.
We’ve been working through a number of long-term projects, as well as a number of smaller projects including:

Two new sites and an interactive presentation for Kalsec.
A site promoting the Comstock Park Rotary Club’s campaign to
renovate the Grotto Park at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.
The first web presence for the West Michigan Cardiothoracic
Surgeons, promoting their practice and experience serving the West Michigan community.
An interim website for Total Plastics to hold them over while we work through their larger site redesign project expected to launch later this year.

And that’s not all. We’ve just posted four new projects in the Our
Work section of our site. Now you can learn more about our work with Steelcase, The Van Andel Institute, GMB Architects, Trademarx Online, and Joe Cartoon.

Spring Staff Round-Up

2007-04-24T00:00:00Z

Fusionary is happy to welcome Jason Stewart and Tim Kelty to its ranks.

Jason Stewart is a developer and systems administrator with eight years professional experience. He brings with him an extensive knowledge of database systems and various computer languages. We like that.

Hired in as an interactive designer, Tim’s education in graphic design and background in front-end web development should serve him well as our resident XHTML/CSS specialist. Much of Tim’s time will be dedicated to building websites using the latest web standards. Welcome guys!

New Project/Client: Kent District Library Website Redesign

2007-04-23T00:00:00Z

We’re very pleased to announce that Fusionary as been selected by Kent District Library to lead a redesign of their website.

We will work with KDL to improve the overall design of the site as well as develop a number of custom content and site management tools.

Their new site will launch in early September, so watch this space for updates.

New Joe Cartoon Site Launches!

2007-04-20T00:00:00Z

We’re proud to announce the launch of a completely new site for the viral web phenomenon and potty-mouth paradise JoeCartoon.com!

Over the past several months, we’ve worked at a breakneck pace to get a new, supercharged JoeCartoon.com up and running with:

A completely new site architecture and design.
An expanded offering of animations, videos, and games to keep the
loyal Joe Heads happy.
A full-featured custom Content/Media Management System developed in Ruby on Rails.
A robust and scalable environment to handle the huge traffic
load that hits the site every day.

To find out more about everything Fusionary did to help the Joe
Cartoon team get their new site up and running, take a look at our
online portfolio.

New Project/Client: HomeStars Corporate Identity and Site Redesign

2007-04-13T00:00:00Z

Fusionary has been selected to redesign HomeStars.com (formerly HomeStars.ca) — a consumer review site dedicated to connecting homeowners with qualified service companies.

Our work will include an overhaul of the HomeStars logo, information architecture and design, and visual design. As always our focus will be on improving the overall user experience and usability of the site.

Once our design is completed, we will build templates from our designs that will be delivered to HomeStars IT staff for implementation.

It's April Already?

2007-04-11T00:00:00Z

We’ve just come off a whirlwind first quarter, putting out work for a lot of different clients, new and old. It runs the gamut —from projects focused on architecture/design/build to intensive programming and development efforts as well. Good stuff all around.

In addition, the team is gearing up for a number of new projects—which should keep things hopping around here all through the Spring and Summer (maybe even into the Fall).

We’re not too busy for you, though. Give us a shout and set up a time to stop by and talk about what you need . . . and, if you think of it, bring along some raw meat to toss to everyone chained to their desks. They’re starting to look hungry.

Site Launch: The Center for Molecular Medicine

2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

We recently launched a site for a new partnership between The Van
Andel Institute and Spectrum Health, The Center for Molecular
Medicine. With just a week and a half before their official grand
opening, we designed and built their new site in time for their press conference and announcement. In addition, the new site was built on top of our content management system, making it easy for the CMM staff to promote new services as they’re added throughout the coming year.

Visit the CMM site.

Fusionary Receives 4 ADDY Awards from West Michigan Ad Club

2007-02-23T00:00:00Z

Last night Fusionary braved the obligatory networking gauntlet to scarf some gourmet appetizers as well as a number of awards at the annual West Michigan Ad Club ADDY Awards.

Emboldened by our ~~watered-down~~ drinks from the cash bar, we had a delightful evening and were very pleased to receive Silver Addys for:

Congratulations to our clients and the entire Fusionary team.

The West Michigan Ad Club is the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation. Each year they award work done by local agencies with Silver and Gold ADDYs. Submissions can also receive recognition as Judge’s Choice and Best of Show. Winners at the local event go on to compete at the regional level before, hoping against hope, they receive a much coveted nomination in the national awards.

Fusionary has been honored at the local and regional level a number of times over the years. For all you completists out there, here’s a quick recap of all of our awards over the years…

2006

Winteractive Coaster (Swoop to Nuts) [Silver, Local]
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park [Silver, Local]
Maple Island Log Homes [Gold and Best of Show, Local]

2005

Arcadia Bluffs [Silver, Local]
Winteractive Coaster (New Year’s Eve Party) [Gold and Judge’s Choice, Local]

2004

Proknowledge [Best of Show, Local; Gold, Regional]
Fusionary.com [Silver, Local]
Winteractive Coaster (80’s Style Games) [Gold, Local]

2003

Winteractive Coaster (Feed Fullmo) [Silver, Local; Gold, Regional]

2002

Winteractive Coaster (Moon Dump) [Silver, Local; Silver, Regional]

1999

Winteractive Coaster (Snowball Fight) [Silver, Local]
The Box (SixSides.com) [Silver, Local]

(And no, we have no idea what the heck happened in 2001 and 2000.)

JoeCartoon.com Redesign

2007-01-26T00:00:00Z

Fusionary has been asked to lead the redesign effort for the Joe Cartoon website, establishing a new technical and creative foundation for the incredibly popular, unapologetically in-your-face, viral web cartoons that spring from the twisted mind of Joe.

Joe Cartoon is one of the leading animation sites on the web, receiving millions of visitors every month. And, of course, Fusionary is an old hand at creating quirky, viral interactive novelties (our Swoop to Nuts game has over two and a half million players, and counting).

The new site launches April Fool’s Day, 2007 — which means we better stop writing this announcement and get to work.

2006 ADDY Nominations

2007-01-25T00:00:00Z

We’ve just been informed that Fusionary will be receiving a number of ADDYs from the West Michigan Ad Club—specifically for our work on Macatawa Bank, The Van Andel Institute, and Fuller’s North Branch Outing Club. In addition, our own website is also on the list to receive an award.

In recent years, Fusionary has been a Gold and Silver ADDY winner at both the local and regional levels, as well as receiving Judge’s Choice and Best of Show awards for our work. This year’s local awards are on February 22… we’ll keep you posted on how we do.

Steelcase Online Store is Open For Business

2007-01-04T00:00:00Z

Earlier this year, Steelcase hired Fusionary to lead the design of their new online store, marking the West Michigan office furnitire manufacturer’s first true e-commerce effort targeted towards the general public.

Working with the Steelcase team, we developed a creative direction, layout, and interface elements for the new store — as well as mockups of the shipping package that they used in their presentations to executive management.

Since the initial launch in October of 2006, the site has seen consistent growth in traffic and sales, due in no small part to Fusionary’s role in leading the Search Engine Optimization & Marketing efforts on an ongoing basis.

You can visit the new online store (and buy a chair) at http://store.steelcase.com.

Trademarx 2.0 Launches!

2007-01-02T00:00:00Z

We are thrilled to announce the launch of Trademarx Online 2.0, the culmination of nearly a year of planning, design, and development work with our longtime client Licensing Resource Group.

Over the past five plus years, we’ve helped LRG lead the collegiate licensing industry by designing and developing a suite of web-based software tools that streamline the licensing process. These tools, known as Trademarx Online, include a distribution system for high quality collegiate artwork and an approval system that allows licensed manufacturers to submit their designs via the web.

The latest version of Trademarx Online marks a significant upgrade including a completely redesigned user interface, expanded administrative functionality, and migration to the open source platform Ruby on Rails.

With over two hundred and fifty thousand submissions in the system, the changeover was a monumental task… but it came off with nary a hitch. The new system is up and running, the user response has been very positive, and LRG is ready to start off 2007 with a bang.

New Site Launches: December 2006

2006-12-08T00:00:00Z

December marked the launch of a number of sites for new Fusionary clients, including…

...a new online presence for Diplomat Pharmacy.

...the first site for a long-standing fixture in the West Michigan development community, Exxel Engineering.

...a new corporate site for Grand Northern Products.

All of these sites were built on top of the Fusionary Content Management System — a versatile tool that puts the control of the site into the hands of our client, allowing them to more easily and cost-effectively manage and maintain their content.

A New Face in a New Department

2006-11-27T00:00:00Z

Jean Hanks has joined our newly created Customer Service Department as Fusionary�s first full-time web producer. Jean is knowledgeable in HTML, CSS, PHP, and graphic design for the web, and will be assisting Fusionary�s growing client list with ongoing maintenance needs. Welcome to Fusionary, Jean!

Casual Gaming Community Goes Nutty for Swoop

2006-11-13T00:00:00Z

Last year’s Winteractive Coaster Swoop to Nuts has been selected as a featured game on the casual gaming site Kongregate. It also received honorable mention in the weekly contest at Kongregate. Not to mention high ratings and very favorable comments from the Kongregate community.

Since it first launched in December 2005, Swoop to Nuts has been played over 2.5 million times and is still entertaining upwards of 2,000 players a day. That’s a lot of nuts collected over the past year.

The Johnson Center at GVSU Selects Fusionary to Lead Strategic Web Design/Development Effort

2006-09-29T00:00:00Z

Fusionary is proud to have been selected by Grand Valley State University to lead the strategic design and development of online resources for the Johnson Center. Our work will include the design and development of a new site showcasing the educational role of the Center in the nonprofit community, as well as an online reference library and knowledge base for foundations and nonprofit professionals.

Fusionary Designs New Interface for Yes.com

2006-09-21T00:00:00Z

Fusionary has been engaged to provide creative direction and design for the online radio tracking system and listener chat area at Yes.com. Our work on the project included defining a new look and feel for the interface to showcase new features and functionality launching this month.

You can see the new design in action online at http://www.yes.com.

New Van Andel Institute Website Launches

2006-09-15T00:00:00Z

The new Fusionary-designed Van Andel Institute website has launched, bringing a revitalized new face to the organization and the work they do in the research/scientific community.

Our work on the project included facilitating the process to define the overall strategic direction of the site, as well as interviewing key executive management, research, and administrative personnel throughout the organization. Fusionary provided strategic direction, site architecture and wireframes, creative direction, graphic and interface design, and page templates — all of which were implemented by the internal IT staff in the development of the site.

Fusionary Chosen to Design and Develop Fundraising Presentation for Grand Rapids Veterans' Home

2006-08-31T00:00:00Z

Fusionary has been chosen by the Comstock Park Rotary Club to design and develop an interactive presentation to support their fundraising efforts for restoring the historic Lower Bowl area of the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

Known throughout the world for their charitable community projects, the Rotarians are leading an effort to gather funding, materials, and services from local donors, suppliers, and developers. The presentation Fusionary is designing will include video, photography, and voiceover—all to put a personal face on the needs of the Veterans’ Home and highlighting the meaningful role that donors can play in the project.

Fusionary Selected to Provide Interface and Interaction Design for Online Software Applications

2006-08-01T00:00:00Z

ALTERthought has selected Fusionary to provide interface and interaction design direction for a new web-based project: a planning/estimating application. Our work on the project will include creative direction, interface design, interaction design, and building XHTML page templates and CSS stylesheets for implementation by the ALTERthought development team.

We're 11 today!

2006-07-15T00:00:00Z

Eleven years ago today Fusionary Media was incorporated.

Rails Day Recap

2006-07-06T00:00:00Z

The dust is still settling, but the Fusionary-sponsored Rail’s Day 2006 is shaping up to be a huge success. Over 180 teams and nearly 300 people from countries all over the world participated in the Open Source Smackdown.

Entries ranged far and wide, from the practical (database query tool) to the downright quirky (a coffee tasting social network). The team of judges are reviewing the entries, and prizes and bragging rights should be handed down in the next couple of weeks.

If you want to see Team Fusionary in action, you can watch a time-lapse movie of all 24 hours here.

Mooolah.com Featured on CSSelite

2006-07-05T00:00:00Z

With our work showing up in places like CSS Remix, we are delighted to see that the Fusionary designed/built Mooolah Kids Club site is currently featured on CSSelite — another site devoted to showcasing the best of standards-based web design being done today.

If you’d like to know more about standards-based design and how Fusionary can put it to work for you and your company, drop us a line.

Fusionary Sponsors Rails Day 2006

2006-06-14T00:00:00Z

On June 17th, developers from all over the world will compete head-to-head in a technological smackdown known as Rails Day. On that day, teams of one to three people will have 24 hours to develop a web application from the ground up using the open source platform Ruby on Rails. The entries will be judged by the industry’s best talent looking to hand out prizes and bragging rights to those who rise to the top.

Fusionary Media is proud to sponsor this year’s event. In addition to organizing the event, we designed, built, and maintain the Rails Day 2006 site—oh, and we’ll have a team in the running as well.

(For the uninitiated: Ruby on Rails is an open source development framework that provides developers with a simple, streamlined platform for building web sites and applications. Over the past year, Ruby on Rails has been adopted as one of the leading-edge development platforms by programmers all over the world. It’s our preferred development environment and we’ve brought a number of successful sites and applications to life with Ruby on Rails.)

For more information on the competition, check out the Rails Day 2006 site.

NKOTB

2006-05-19T00:00:00Z

There are some new faces at Fusionary. A few of ‘em have been around for a while, so it’s high time to say “Yay!” for our new creative staff: Rex “Rascal” Rainey and Dan “Towering” Tobolic.

In addition, Bryan “I’m Younger and Smarter than You” Helmkamp rounds out our development efforts with his extensive experience and expertise.

Finally, Emily “No Nickname Yet” Lautenbach brings her considerable marketing and research experience to help support our project management and new business development efforts.

Welcome to you all.

Now get to work.

CSS Remix says Fusionary is One of the Best

2006-05-15T00:00:00Z

We were pleasantly surprised to see that our site (no link, you’re looking at it) was featured on CSS Remix as one of their featured sites.

Here’s what CSS Remix is all about…

CSS Remix celebrates the dynamic innovation and creativity of designers who are on the forefront of css-based design. We honor those designers who aren�t afraid to think outside the box and who are reinventing our ideas of what great web design can be… Our site showcase is comprised of only the best sites from all over the globe, and in our designer spotlight we dissect certain sites and pick the brains of their designers to answer such questions as �How�d they do that?�

As a company committed to helping our clients make the most of new technologies, it’s great to get recognition for designing and building well crafted, standards compliant sites.

New Site Launches: White Pine, Muskoka Woods, and R.T. London

2006-05-12T00:00:00Z

It’s been a busy couple of months and we figured it was time to take a breath and brag for a second about a number of new sites for our clients.

We designed and developed White Pine Montessori’s first website, giving them a presence online so they can promote their school with prospective and existing parents. The site gives them simple-to-use online tools for posting news and announcements, making easy updates to content throughout, and even linking to Flickr so they can share daily photos from the life of the school.

We also designed and built a new site for Muskoka Woods. In addition to the stylish design that supports their online “Win an iPod” promotional campaign, we also created a new, reskinned version of our popular Piplet game.

We also worked very closely with our new client R.T. London and their marketing agency to expand their redesign/reorganization of the R.T. London website. This included an extensive back-end with a product/brand management system as well as simple content management tools for maintaining the site.

Like we said, it’s been busy—and there’s even more set to launch in the next couple of week. We’d say more about what’s coming next, but we have to get back to work.

Podcasts and Weblog: Welcome to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

2006-04-03T00:00:00Z

We recently developed a series of podcasts for our longtime client Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park (download them here).

The podcasts are available in standard and enhanced formats, providing visitors with a step-by-step tour of the different areas of the facility narrated by staff and horticulturalists. The enhanced podcasts offer visitors more images and information in addition to the narration, providing an extra dimension to these new walking tours. Future podcasts will include interviews with guest artists and experts, expanded enhancements, and much more.

In addition, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park has also added a regular weblog to their site (read it online here), highlighting interesting facts and tidbits about the latest happenings and installations. With its engaging style and regular updates, the weblog is rapidly becoming one of the more popular features on the website.

As longtime fans of weblogs and podcasts, it’s exciting to all of us at Fusionary to have the opportunity to help one of our clients explore ways to deliver new and engaging content online. We see these versatile technologies as offering virtually any company (in any industry) a way to attract and connect with audiences online, and we have no doubt that we’ll see more companies following this path in the future.

New Site Launches: Atlas Coast, Moosetracks, Kent ISD, and more...

2006-03-22T00:00:00Z

We’ve had a number of sites launch over the past few weeks for new clients and old…

The Fusionary-designed and developed Moosetracks.com launched for Denali Flavors last week, complete with a full flavor database, online store, content management system, and lots of other yummy features.

We also designed and developed a new site for Atlas Coast, launching a new online presence for the company in order to better promote the IT staffing services they have to offer.

In addition, our strategic and creative work on the the new Kent Intermediate School District website came to life, with the Kent ISD team building out the site and populating it with content using the layouts, designs, and page templates created by Fusionary.

We also launched a new, revamped version of the The Hub for our longtime clients at Interior Concepts, with a new creative direction and graphic design as well as numerous new features and increased functionality. (We’d show you more, but it’s a password protected extranet for their salespeople.)

Whew. Believe or not, we’ve got another three or four more sites coming out in the next couple of weeks. Watch this space for details.

Fusionary wins GLIMA ICE Awards for Innovative, Best Interactive, and User-Friendly Sites

2006-03-03T00:00:00Z

Fusionary has received three awards from the Great Lakes Interactive Media Association (GLIMA) for excellence in web design and development.

Our work on the Maple Island Log Homes site received an ICE Award for Best User-Friendly Website. In addition, the wildly popular Swoop-to-Nuts game/site received two ICE Awards for Best Interactive Website and Most Innovative Website.

In last year’s competition, Fusionary’s work was recognized with a number of ICE Awards as well.

Fusionary Wins Gold, Silver, and Best in Show at District ADDYs

2006-02-24T00:00:00Z

At last night’s district Ad Club event, Fusionary was extremely pleased to take home a number of awards for recent work.

We received a Silver ADDY in the “Self-Promotion, Cards” category for our Swoop to Nuts build your own squirrel mailer.

We also won a Silver ADDY for our work on the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park website.

And last but not least, the Maple Island Log Homes website walked off with a Gold ADDY, as well as Best of Show Interactive. (There’s a squirrel/log joke in there somewhere, if you’re looking for it.) Here’s what the judges had to say…

”Attention to detail and effort to provide the best quality log homes are what makes Maple Island Log Homes rise above their competition. When it came to developing the company’s website, the designers flawlessly maintained their brand integrity and sense of style.

The site’s attention to detail—in both design and production—and depth of relevant content are remarkable—especially for a construction site. Eloquent design elements and textures, an earthtone color palette, and absolutely beautiful photography all create a level of sophistication and wonderful sense of texture as the user navigates through the site.

Maple Island Log Homes states that they are “one of the best handcrafted log building companies in North America.” They have made a seemingly effortless translation to the online community. These guys took log homes—and the potential to be really hokey—and instead made something really elegant and brilliantly unexpected.”

As cool as it was to get all of that, we’re also thrilled that the newest addition to the Fusionary team, Dan Tobolic, won Best of Show in the Student Category.

Nice job, Dan. Now get back to work.

Swoop to Nuts: Over One Million Games Played

2006-02-09T00:00:00Z

Since we launched the Swoop to Nuts website in mid-December, over one million people have played the game online. That’s right, one million… which pretty much qualifies it as a phenomenal success (and not just in our book, either). We’re all out of clever nut and squirrel jokes; this is just plain cool.

Here’s to the next million. You can do your part by playing online at www.swoop-to-nuts.com — we’d ask you to tell your friends but, chances are, they probably already know about it.

New Site Launches: MarketLab and Lumichron

2006-01-06T00:00:00Z

We’re pleased to announce the launch of two new, redesigned sites for our longtime clients MarketLab and Lumichron. Both of the sites feature updated designs, as well as expanded features and functionality.

In addition to a more sophisticated layout and design, the new MarketLab site relies on a complete renovation to the technical foundation of this highly-successful e-commerce site, making it more adaptable to the future growth of the company and their business.

Lumichron’s new site puts a stylish, new face on their hand-crafted neon clocks, establishing a more distinctive presence to help them overcome the increase in global competitors.

New Client: Van Andel Institute

2006-01-03T00:00:00Z

We are very pleased to announce that Fusionary has been selected to lead the redesign of the Van Andel Institute website. Our team will guide internal stakeholders through a facilitated process to help them design and develop a site that will showcase their innovative approach to life sciences research and education to the rest of the world.

Winteractive Coaster 2005

2005-12-20T00:00:00Z

On Monday we launched our annual Winteractive Coaster. After last year’s massive adventure game we decided to focus a bit. So we created a casual game along the lines of one of our earlier favorites Feed Fullmo.

This year we went with a flying squirrel instead of an ice fishing Yeti. Makes sense.

The game is pretty simple. Keep the squirrel off the ground and energized with acorns while racking up as many points as you can. Oh, and have fun.

Happy Holidays from Fusionary Media.

Play Winteractive Coaster 2005.

Site Launch: Macatawa Bank

2005-11-04T00:00:00Z

We’re pleased to announce that our redesign of the Macatawa Bank website has been moved live. In addition to giving our client a new, more professional presence, we also gave them the ability to make updates to key content using our Content Management System.

New Clients, New Projects

2005-09-29T00:00:00Z

We’ve been hard at work over the past few weeks for our new clients at Alticor, culminating this week with their Global Growth Conference where over 300 executives and managers from around the world were in the audience for presentations designed by Fusionary.

In addition, Denali Flavors has selected Fusionary to handle the redesign and development of a website to promote their company and products, including their flagship brand Moosetracks ice cream. Heartwell Mortgage and KBH Homes have also asked us to lead the redesign effort for their corporate websites.

New Projects: Alticor, Redstone Group, Intelligent Lighting

2005-08-05T00:00:00Z

We’re currently working on a number of new projects for existing Fusionary clients as well as a few new ones. Over the next few months we’ll be designing a series of motion graphics elements for Alticor to use in their international product marketing efforts, as well as redesigning a website for our new client, Intelligent Lighting.

Also, Redstone Group has asked us to refresh and expand their existing site to include a broad range of new content, features, and functionality to better support their ongoing growth and expansion into the development of Single Family Homes.

Two New Sites Launched for Fusionary Clients

2005-08-02T00:00:00Z

Two new sites launched this week for our clients Maple Island Log Homes and The Richmond Agency.

Maple Island Log Homes’ website, with a brand new layout and design reflecting the style and craftsmanship of their work. Along with the expanded content and interactive slideshows and galleries, Maple Island plans to use this site as a key tool in their sales and marketing efforts.

The Richmond Agency corporate website serves as an online brochure, giving prospective clients an overview of what Richmond has to offer and putting a personal face on the staff and services at the full-service insurance firm.

We are 10 today!

2005-07-15T00:00:00Z

Today Fusionary Media celebrates the tenth anniversary of our incorporation.

We’d like to thank all of our clients and colleagues, past and present, for being a part of the past ten years and helping us make Fusionary what it is today. We could not have done it without any of you.

Here’s to another ten years (and more…)

New Site Launch: Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park

2005-06-21T00:00:00Z

We’re very pleased to announce the launch of a newly redesigned site for our client, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. The new site offers visitors an elegant view of the Gardens and Sculpture park with a host of information and features, including interactive photo galleries, a full calendar of events and classes, and detailed information about every aspect of the popular attraction, facilities, and organization.

In addition, Meijer personnel have administrative control over virtually all of the content on their site through a simple content management system designed and developed by Fusionary to put the control into their hands and reduce the costs of ongoing maintenance.

Projects and Clients

2005-06-17T00:00:00Z

The team at Fusionary has been selected to lead a number of website design and development projects for new clients, including Kent Intermediate School District, School Zone Publishing Company, and Heath Outdoor Products.

We’re very pleased to have been selected and we’re looking forward to collaborating with all of these new clients.

New Site Launch: Details NeoCon Website

2005-06-03T00:00:00Z

We’re proud to announce the launch of a new site for Details. The redesigned site represents a fresh new look for the company and their innovative workplace products, with special content and animation designed to showcase and promote their presence at NeoCon 2005.

Following NeoCon, the site redesign will expand further with additional content, features, and functionality tailored to fit the needs of all of Details customers.

Vera Bradley Designs Licenses the Issue Management System

2005-05-27T00:00:00Z

For most of our clients, the Issue Management System is a familiar part of working with Fusionary. The IMS is an easy-to-use web-based tool we designed and developed to:

Streamline communication with our clients and provide them with a way to monitor and participate in our process.
Foster collaboration between internal and external team members.

We are very proud to announce that the e-commerce department of Vera Bradley Designs — wildly popular manufacturer of stylish quilted cotton luggage, handbags and accessories — have contracted with Fusionary Media to license and use the IMS internally to manage their projects and client/vendor collaborations.

Fullmo Keeps Feeding

2005-05-27T00:00:00Z

After two years, our award-winning online game Feed Fullmo continues to show strong popularity with online viewers. This past week, we passed the 200,000 mark for total number of scores submitted.

The Feed Fullmo game was originally created as our 2003 Winteractive Coaster – an interactive holiday greeting we create for clients, colleagues, and friends each year. As with other games we’ve developed over the years the Fullmo game (featuring a claymation ice-fishing yeti) has enjoyed a strong following long after the holidays are over.

2004 Winteractive Coaster Wins Gold ADDY and Judge's Choice Award in District Competition

2005-03-04T00:00:00Z

The 2004 Winteractive Coaster won a Gold ADDY and the Judge’s Choice Award at the district Ad Club competition.

And now . . . we make party!

Arcadia Bluffs Wins Silver ADDY in District Competition

2005-03-04T00:00:00Z

Our work on Arcadia Bluffs was awarded a Silver ADDY at the district Ad Club competition.

Proknowledge.org Earns a National WebAward

2004-10-10T00:00:00Z

We are pleased to announce that the Proknowledge.org work done for Life Ed was awarded an Outstanding Website commendation in the nonprofit category at the 8th annual WebAward Competition. The web design and development contest, organized by the Web Marketing Association, grants three types of awards within numerous categories: Best of Industry, Outstanding Website, and Standard of Excellence. For more information, visit www.webaward.org.

The Web Marketing Association is made up of professionals who share an interest for improving the quality of Internet advertising, marketing and promotion used to attract visitors to corporate and non-profit websites.

Fusionary Sweeps GLIMA/ICE Awards

2004-08-19T00:00:00Z

Fusionary projects won three (out of five) of the ICE Awards sponsored by the Great Lakes Interactive Media Association. Awards included:

Best User-Friendly Website (Arcadia Bluffs)
Most Innovative Website (Arcadia Bluffs)
Best Commerce Website (SimpleDine)

Lordy, lordy — Jack turns 40

2004-07-26T00:00:00Z

Jack Baty turns 40 today.

Loving mockery rules the day.

Proknowledge Wins Gold ADDY at Regional Ad Club Competition

2004-04-15T00:00:00Z

Our client Proknowledge was awarded a Gold ADDY at the regional Ad Club competition for their website.

Proknowledge Wins Best in Show at District Ad Club Competition

2004-03-25T00:00:00Z

Our client Proknowledge was awarded the coveted Best in Show award at the district Ad Club competition for their website.

Fusionary 3.0 Wins Gold ADDY at District Ad Club Competition

2004-03-25T00:00:00Z

The third version of our website was awarded a Silver ADDY at the district Ad Club competition.

Gummy bears for everyone!

2003 Winteractive Coaster Wins Gold ADDY in District Competition

2004-03-25T00:00:00Z

The 2003 Winteractive Coaster was awarded a Gold ADDY at the district Ad Club competition.

Fusionary Discovers Bridge Street Pizza

2004-02-14T00:00:00Z

Fusionary discovers Bridge Street Pizza. Hoagies become Friday lunch standards.

Mmmmmm, hoagies…

Feed Fullmo Wins Gold ADDY at Regional Competition

2003-04-16T00:00:00Z

The 2002 Winteractive Coaster (the online game Feed Fullmo was awarded a Gold ADDY at the Regional Ad Club competition.

2002 Winteractive Coaster Wins Silver ADDY in District Competition

2003-03-20T00:00:00Z

The 2002 Winteractive Coaster (the online game Feed Fullmo wins a Silver ADDY in district Ad Club competition.

Yay for Fullmo.

2001 Winteractive Coaster Wins Two Silver ADDYs in District Competition

2002-03-20T00:00:00Z

Our 2001 Winteractive Coaster (the online game Moon Dump was awarded two Silver ADDYs in the district Ad Club competition.

Lumichron Clock Builder: Macromedia Site of the Day TWICE!

2001-10-30T00:00:00Z

Once again, the Lumichron Clock Builder is Macromedia’s Site of the Day today.

SuperCHEXX!

1999-11-20T00:00:00Z

SuperCHEXX Hockey purchased for the office today.

Team productivity immediately reduced by 73%.

Lumichron Clock Builder: Macromedia Site of the Day

1999-07-17T00:00:00Z

The Lumichron Clock Builder is Macromedia’s Site of the Day today.

The Box wins Silver ADDY in District Competition

1999-03-20T00:00:00Z

The Box was awarded a Silver ADDY at the district Ad Club competition.

Winteractive Coaster 1998 Wins Silver ADDY

1999-03-20T00:00:00Z

The 1998 Winteractive Coaster was awarded a Silver ADDY at the district Ad Club competition.

The Box featured in Web Design Guru's Book

1999-02-01T00:00:00Z

The Box is prominently featured in the third edition of Lynda Weinman’s Designing Web Graphics (see page 169).

The Box: Site of the Day on USA Today

1998-04-01T00:00:00Z

The Box was awarded Site of the Day by USA Today today. Traffic spikes into the tens of thousands and people around the world start buying cardboard boxes from us (with a free gift inside).

The Box wins IPPA Design Excellence Award

1998-03-16T00:00:00Z

www.sixsides.com was awarded the Design Excellence award from the Internet Professional Publishers Association. Fusionary officially rocks.

www.fusionary.com Version 2.0 Launched

1998-02-23T00:00:00Z

On this day, we launched the second version of our website. The office webcam and talking server remain visitor favorites.

Fusionary Launches first E-Commerce Site for Audio Advisor

1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

On this date, we launched our first e-commerce site for Audio Advisor. Soon thereafter, they reported record annual earnings due to this new revenue source.

Fusionary Launches www.sixsides.com

1998-01-15T00:00:00Z

On this date, Fusionary Media launched www.sixsides.com (aka “The Box”) as a creative design audition for a prospective client.

Fusionary Moves into Downtown Offices

1997-08-01T00:00:00Z

On this date, Fusionary moved offices to a seemingly-derelict warehouse in downtown Grand Rapids. We buy some orange paint and begin knocking down literal and metaphorical walls.

Fusionary Meets T.M. Camp

1997-02-20T00:00:00Z

On this day, Steve Lewis met with some lunatic named T.M. Camp. They spend ten months working for mutual client Steelcase to design and build an interactive CD-ROM to promote a new product called Pathways.

Fusionary Launches Amway Global Village Sites

1997-02-01T00:00:00Z

Fusionary designs and builds Global Village mini-sites for international Amway affiliates including Italy, Taiwan, Argentina, France, Thailand, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Central America, Chile, Korea, Columbia, Indonesia, Spain, Austria, United Kingdom, South Africa, Mexico, and many more.

Fusionary Hires First Intern

1996-09-02T00:00:00Z

An extra pair of hands is always a good thing.

Fusionary Unveils Steelcase Interactive Kiosk for Neocon

1996-06-15T00:00:00Z

On this date, we released the Fusionary-designed and built interactive kiosk presentation for Steelcase Wood Neocon showroom.

First Database-Driven Website Launches for Petroleum Technologies

1996-03-15T00:00:00Z

On this date, we launched a new site for Petroleum Technologies integrating with their backend data servers to deliver dynamic content online in �real-time.�

Fusionary Launches Amway International Affiliate Sites

1996-02-02T00:00:00Z

Multilingual web sites for France, Taiwan, Austria, Korea, for international Amway affiliates launch, all designed and built by Fusionary Media.

Fusionary Launches First Client Website for Pulp and Paper Net

1996-01-02T00:00:00Z

Post summary

www.fusionary.com Version 1.0 Launched

1995-12-07T00:00:00Z

Our first corporate website launches with a talking server and office camera.

Coaster 1.0 is Released

1995-10-31T00:00:00Z

We launch our first Coaster with Halloween-themed interactive novelties including a �Dress the Lewis Brothers Game.�

If you want, you can download it here [NEED LINK]

Fusionary Hires First Employee

1995-10-22T00:00:00Z

Meet Stephanie Socie, hired to keep the blame in the right places.

First T1 line and Webserver Installed

1995-10-15T00:00:00Z

Post summary

Introducing... Jack Baty!

1995-10-01T00:00:00Z

Jack Baty joins Fusionary as our third partner. More blame to share.

First Client: Amway

1995-08-15T00:00:00Z

Our first client, Amway, hires us to build a web page promoting their core product SA8. Yay.

First Rent Payment

1995-08-01T00:00:00Z

First rent payment made on Fusionary’s new offices. Ouch.

Fusionary Media, Inc. Opens their Doors

1995-07-15T00:00:00Z

On this day, Fusionary Media was founded by Steve and Bryan Lewis. Now you know who to blame.

Fusionary Media Moves to 1324 Lake Drive

1995-07-15T00:00:00Z

Our very first office.