THE COEUR

Google has always been keen on speed. Their minimalist approach to the design their site has less to do with aesthetics and more to do squeezing out every little ounce of speed in getting you a search result. And now they are starting to hint at using speed to help rank your page.

According to WebProNews Google is looking at using page load time as a factor in their page ranking system.

What does this mean to the average site owner? Not too much today as they haven’t implemented this practice yet. But, it does mean site owners update their site, they should think about updating with an eye towards page load times. Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Instead of multiple CSS files, condense them into one list reducing the number of files that need to load prior to page presentation.
2. Clean up your CSS files. Many times CSS files get added to over time. For new page elements, we add new CSS code, but then forget to remove unused code. Take a look at your CSS file and remove any unused code.
3. Keep Javascript to a minimum. Javascript is great, it allows us to do some great things. But, just like CSS, keeping file calls to a minimum is important to speeding up your page load time, so combining javascript files whenever possible.
4. Compression. If your sever is capable, the use of gzip file compression will shrink the actual file size, making it faster to transfer.
5. Optimize our images. Use a good image optimization tool like Fireworks or Photoshop and choose the best file type (GIF, JPEG, PNG, etc.) for your images.

These are just a few tips. Google has some great resources on things to consider or contact us, we would be happy to work with to speed up your site.

Sadly, the answer is no.

But, thank God there are people like Rani and Trong Hong and their foundation, The Tronie Foundation.

The Tronie Foundation exists to provide worldwide restoration of victims of human trafficking and those vulnerable to exploitation. Restoration will be accomplished through education, community mobilization, policy reform, shelter, and services.

The Tronie Foundation has established Homes of Freedom to provide the Northwest’s first recovery shelter for modern day slaves. Board members share the goal of rebuilding survivors’ lives by offering them services such as a safe, long-term home, counseling, and job training. The ultimate goal is to survivors achieve independence.

The Tronie Foundation turned to Coeur Creative to develop their brand standards guide (PDF 1.9MB) and provided high level marketing and brand guidance.

We are excited to be a part of this mission and hope you all will learn more about the Hong’s story and get involved with their worthy foundation.

Byword (bi’ wûrd) n. Something noteworthy or worth hearing. It is a title that band members Elliot Stone, Brent Ragan, Tim LoPresto, and Neil Young wish to mark a transparency in their music, glorifying the source of their inspiration and hope: Jesus Christ. Raw and energetic, filled with melodic guitar riffs, victorious baritone vocals, and a sincere message, Byword is a rock group of passionate young Idahoans, seeking to lead the people of this generation into a fresh encounter with the Savior.
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It is the question at the heart of the documentary Flunked.

Narrated by Joe Mantegna, Flunked isn’t another hit piece on the American education system, instead it is an eyes-wide-open look at what is working! The statistics are clear, our education system isn’t doing great but that doesn’t mean there aren’t bright spots. Flunked highlights those in the system that are getting it right and making a difference.
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John Paget did, and caught it on film.

Award winning filmmaker John Paget chose to partner with Coeur Creative Group to develop the title art and DVD packaging for his latest documentary, Alcatraz Reunion.

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Looking for a romantic get-a-way? Just need to get out of town for a couple of days? Special Places of Washington is the website for you.

Working with Discover Books, Coeur Creative Group developed specialplaces.com to build a community of travelers and promote the online sale of their books Special Places of Washington for Romance, Adventure and Gourmet Cuisine and Great Wineries of Washington – Exclusive Vine to Wine Experiences.

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Global access, progressive technology, movement, energy and light – these are the concepts that inspired the newly redesigned look of Member Access Pacific, a nationally recognized leader and credit union resource for VISA Debit Processing Services (DPS) and related products. Member Access Pacific, now MAP, has replaced their familiar lighthouse logo with a modern, dynamic look and “swoosh” as part of a rebranding initiative coordinated by Washington design studio, Coeur Creative. The updated look and feel of the MAP brand reflects the company’s expanded presence and the global reach of affordably priced, cutting edge card processing solutions they offer to credit unions via VISA USA.

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The good news is we’ve been busy. Very busy.

We’ve been blessed with a continual flow of new clients and projects. But, that has meant that we haven’t had the time to “unpack” our site completely. Or post to our blog in a while…

All that is changing. We will be announcing some of our new clients, completed projects and rolling out a new website by the end of the month!

Stay tuned! Exciting things are on the way!

We are blessed to add UBuildIt to our growing list of clients.

UBuildIt is the nation’s largest network of Residential Construction Consultants. With over 119 offices in 33 states, UBuildIt’s Construction Consultants empower people to act as their own general contractor and build up to 25% more home for their money. With a proven system and up to 27 on-site consultations, UBuildIt is there every step of the way to make sure their clients can build with control and confidence.

Coeur Creative has been hired to develop UBuildIt’s 2007 advertising campaign and to help manage the development of a new infomercial and Web site.

We will post project updates as we complete them.

Chances are you want friends, you like the friends you have, and would love to make some more of them. And because you do, you’ve refined your personality over the years so that it attracts people rather than repeals them. You’ve self-diagnosed, so to speak. You’ve taken the hints from the people that love you, as well as those that don’t, and you’ve done some tweaking and refining. This tweaking and refining has made you who you are today. It is how people have come to know, like, and respect you.

I suppose you could make a case for those who don’t care what people think of them, and we all know these people. However, for the sake of argument, lets assume that we all would like a few more friends. Besides, we are using your persona as a metaphor for that of your business. So even if you don’t want loyal friends, chances are you do want loyal customers.

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