Our Product is Explanation
All posts for “ourwork”
Yesterday, we posted about a video by a company called rPath with the title "Cloud Computing in Plain English." Read about it here.
The blog post came as a result of our unsuccessful efforts over six months to illustrate to rPath that their video, because of the combination of the "in Plain English" title and use of paper-cut outs on a whiteboard, was a source of confusion for Common Craft customers. Because rPath insisted on using legal means to communicate their stance, we chose to take a... Continue Reading
Video: Twitter Search in Plain English
Posted by: leelefever on June 15, 2009- 5:00pm
Categories: Common Craft Video, Explanation, ourwork, plainenglish, twitter, video
Today we released a new video called "Twitter Search in Plain English"
The video uses an metaphor of the small town of "Twitterville." The town has an election and the people use Twitter to track real-time news, a hashtag to organize discussions and trends to find new information.
While it wasn't our intention, the video matches closely with the events currently taking place in Iran, where people are using Twitter to organize and share news about their disputed election.
If you know people who... Continue Reading
New Video: Preparing an Emergency Kit in Plain English
Posted by: leelefever on May 25, 2009- 5:00pm
Categories: Common Craft Video, Explanation, ourwork, paperworks, plainenglish, society
Today we published a new video called "Preparing an Emergency Kit in Plain English."
This video represents a new kind of relationship for Common Craft. A while back, we were contacted by Public Safety Canada (PSC) about this subject and we saw a couple of opportunities. First, we could work on a video that has the potential to have a positive impact. Second, we saw an opportunity for a win-win in terms of the video's ownership - something we call a hybrid relationship.
Emergency kits are a... Continue Reading
A few months ago, we spent an afternoon with Jamie Friddle, a writer for Seattle Magazine, who was putting together a story on Common Craft. We were so excited. A few weeks later a photographer came to take pictures.
As Sachi will tell you, the process added a layer of anxiety to her day over the next few months. What would the article say? What photos would they use? I'm happy to report that the anxiety was all for naught. The 4 page feature appears in the May 2009 issue of Seattle Magazine... Continue Reading
People often ask how our presentation quality videos are used in professional and educational settings. From talking to educators and influencers, we've learned that our videos are often used to introduce a subject - to get everyone on the same page at the beginning of a class, workshop, etc. Recently, as part of our planning for 2009, we came up with a model that helps tell this story. We call it the A-to-Z Scale.
The scale represents the path to learning a subject. On the left side are... Continue Reading
I'm a big believer that every business needs to understand exactly what business they are in - and for us, this has been a journey. I'm confident, through months of discussion and testing, that we've defined this direction for Common Craft. Here is what we learned:
I started Common Craft in 2003 to do consulting. It was just me and I provided consulting services. Once we started making videos, we were hired to make custom videos. Again, we were a services business. In the summer of 2007,... Continue Reading
It's time for our 2nd annual Year-End Lessons Learned post. 2008 was a great year for Common Craft. While we published a number of videos that we're very proud of, 2008 was all about building a foundation for the future of our business. Going into 2009, we're feeling confident that we have a solid foundation in place - and now is our time to put more videos into the world.
Here are a few things we learned:
Overall Business:
Build Foundations. Think hard about long term opportunities... Continue Reading
Being Lightweight: Planting the Right Plants
Posted by: leelefever on November 24, 2008- 4:00pm
Categories: beingsmall, business, lightweight, ourwork
If you don't like yardwork, you have a choice. You can hire gardeners or you can plant things that don't require much care.
This is my way of saying that we all have a choice in how we grow. Because we want Common Craft to stay small, we look at new opportunities in terms of yardwork and ask ourselves - is this going to require gardeners in the future? If so, then maybe we should look for opportunities that are more likely to take care of themselves and allow us to focus on what really... Continue Reading
The last few weeks have been both frustrating and enlightening here at Common Craft headquarters. We're in the middle of an ambitious production schedule that has us working on two new series of videos that will appear on the Common Craft Show and Store. There are a lot of balls in the air - multiple scripts, storyboards and productions. It's a lot to manage.
Of course, the bottom line for us is quality explanations. Recently we put many hours into producing 3 videos in a similar theme -... Continue Reading
Client Video: Windows Live.com
Posted by: leelefever on November 18, 2008- 4:00pm
Categories: client work, Explanation, microsoft, ourwork, paperworks, plainenglish
Common Craft was hired by Microsoft to help explain the new Windows Live.com. We were so excited to work with a local organization on a project that highlights a new direction for the company.
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