Ottawa & Calgary Web Design + WordPress + Drupal + Social Media + iPhone Apps | Armadillo Studios Inc.

As previously mentioned SXSW is long over and the overviews are starting to roll in. As usual, I’m a little late with my final blog posts. So instead of waxing poetically about the conference, here is a run down of some of the links that you should have a gander at. They cover the entire spectrum of the conference, from influential thinkers to upcoming design techniques to new tools for business:

Social Media Thinkers & Shakers

• Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, the two brains behind the exceptional book Trust Agents. If you are involved with building an online brand or personal brand, invest in this book.
• Washington DC Visual Information collective JESS3.
• Uber-entrepreneur Gary Vanyerchuk, who is an amazing inspiration for people looking to build a Company brand.

Web Typography

• Samantha Warren a fantastic designer who is pushing the World of Web Typography, with some great poster based design.
• Jason Cranford Teague wrote a book called Fluid Web Typography, which is a fantastic and straight forward break down of the up coming shift towards Web Typography.

Interesting Takes On SXSW and Design Culture

• A Graphical representation of the SXSW Conference thorough a series of Moleskin notebook sketches
• Unhappy Hipsters, a collection of Wallpaper magazine photos with unhappy hipster commentary

New Tools For Everyone:

• Wufoo.com a simple web site that allows anyone to develop simple and stylish web forms.
• Mapscripting.com, which is a pushing the boundaries of what Google Maps and Yahoo Maps can do for small businesses.
• Grasshopper.com is an inexpensive Toll Free phone office service for small businesses. (There is also a Canadian Equivalent called RingCentral which Canadian businesses should check-out)
• Launch’s take on Leave Your Job Start An Agency, the feedback to our talk from SXSW
• From our good friend Andy at NonImage, is the amazing Invoicing app called FreeAgent, which will revolutionalize how freelancers control their own books.
• OneForty.com the ultimate resource for Twitter apps to leverage for your business.
• A great presentation on the power and beauty of Co-Working and how it will change our own way of working. If you are interested in coworking in Calgary check out Coworkyyc.com.