Vitamin C — Boost your brand

Genco + Jon Cebecioglu Studio Vitamin C

Website: http://www.studiovitaminc.com

Email: genco@studiovitaminc.com  jon@studiovitaminc.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/genco-cebecioglu/12/b42/8a2

Twitter: @StudioVitaminC

Last day of school before the holidays and everyone frantically still working on end of semester projects (including myself)


Our two guest lecturers walked in sipping on their starbucks – thought I could really use one of those right now!  The two speakers are brothers and designing runs in the family - as both their father and mother are designers as well! 


Genco reinforced concentrate on year end and keep on track with timelines as the next semester will be work intensive and gearing up for grad show. Genco stated this is the only program that has such a show at the end of year, so to use the opportunity to promote yourself

• Genco contract work for Traffic
• Started his own business Vitamin C and partnered up with his brother
• they do a lot of outsourcing - freelancing

Vitamin C specializes in digital devices, websites and branding

Some examples of their work:

Networking is the key - 85-90% of clients are WOM or industry contacts — people referring us to new clients. They have not done any marketing for their business but always busy.


Some tips on career from Vtiamin C:

• Small studios are great for experience and receive credit for work
• however smaller clients, less pay, less opportunity to move up

• Big agencies, large brands, depending on where you work - terrible hours, opportunity to move up the design ladder

• Freelance - control your own time -  but  you have no time - no securities as in benefits or job security

• Start up - if you have that really great idea - requires a lot of passion, need to be open to criticism, and determination, requires funding - investors invest in you - and if they feel you are competent they will often invest as venture capitalists

• Network , start showing your face, lecture startups, they meet potential clients who require brand identity and websites —try to get to know people in the industry and find the people and groups relevant to your work, expand your social group

• Working for someone else before you work for yourself so you can learn and grow. It will help you and your business in the long run.

• Be 100% committed.

Another interesting fact is that the two brothers were born in Turkey. Genco and Jon joked they fight all the time and often in Turkish...


This is a country I l travelled for a month in. While editing this piece looking at a doll that sits on the ledge of my office window that I bought from a little old lady in Cappadocia.... memories!

Meg Kerr

Social Media Integration Manager

Mosaic Experiential Marketing

www.linkedin.com/in/megkerr

“Social Media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. No one knows how. When finally done, there is surprise it’s not better”

- Avinash Kaushik (Analytics evangelist at Google).

An attention-grabbing quote started our morning career lecture by Megg Kerr.

Almost all of us are on facebook, twitter and using social media in our lives on a daily basis for personal, work and as a source for information. 


Facebook has changed the world. I also love this video she shared with us – The Social Media Revolution.

 I was very much looking forward to Meg's presentation this morning and hearing her perspective and about her social media career.


Meg originally studied Broadcast Journalism from Fanshaw. She also studied media and technoculture at Western.  However, she  could see a change in media... the success of being the first one to capture a  breaking news story was becoming a thing of the past with the presence of online media. She embraced social media and now currently works in Mosaic’s  Experiential Marketing. Meg has worked at Mosaic since 2006, working in social media strategy, community management, analytics and blog outreach.



Forms of social media are:

• Micro-blogs (like Twitter)
• Social networking sites (Facebook)
• Geotagging (Foursquare)
• Blogs (Blogger, Wordpress)
• Video (YouTube)

Meg discussed the new trends and happenings in Social Media...



4 Trends Affecting Social Media

• Real Time and Mobile Devices - accessing information anytime and anywhere
• Location Based, Services and Geotagging - GPS enabled smartphones, your phone can identify where you are and update your location for you. This trend can allow incentives for these people who are location tagging. I used this on facebook when I went to my favourite pub for a drink and ended up having a couple of friends find me there due to me posting and the pub gave me a free drink for posting. rather cool....
• Privacy - people are becoming more awareto what information they share. Higher privacy settings make users more secure, but the downside it limits valuable information for marketers
• Social Media is becoming less social - 1st and 2nd generation users were like little kids eating candy - ready to overdose. I think as society we are have had too much facebook and shared too much.. we are now as as a society reeling our information inwards and be more protective of what we share and who we share it with. Secure social media groups are being formed - more niche and selected participants
• www.bluechipexpert.com
• www.doostang.com
• www.songfriends.com

Social Media users are even "detoxing" from mobile and social media by removing it from their life... rather like drug users -- I found this rather curious that people have allowed social media to permeate their lives so heavily. Some even commit suicide online to remove their profiles Web 2.0 Suicide Machine.  This site erases your digital life...


Another tip is not to post what you ate for breakfast or insignifcant thoughts. In particular as a business only post relevant and not too often. From first hand experience, I grow tired of a constant stream of posts and then end up resenting the brand and I delete them to avoid receiving notifications.


“Unless you’ve got something to say, don’t say anything, unless it's interesting”

Of course the above statement is entirely subjective, however the public is more sophisticated and educated than ever with the constant source of information they consume. Consumers are becoming more digital savy all the time, so the social media landscape is constantly changing. Businesses are using many of these trends to promote their business, however they also must manage social media and PR crisis.

• People trust peer to peer more than advertising which has a huge impact on sales (I researched this for marketing - a growing trend called "Friendmoration"
• Comparison shopping poses questions for retailers
• Technology is now changing how we as consumers can access information using QR codes in supermarkets, billboards, posters.

I enjoyed Meg’s discussion very much, she had much to share with us....  and she is a very fast speaker! I think a conversational trend in general of online and digital users as we digest and transfer so much information quickly... And I LOVED her fashion sense - right on trend in her chiffon loose tunic dress, long feather necklace and chunky high shoes! Inspired me to go shopping online......

Brampton AthleticTherapy Visit

Renew, Restore and Rehabilitate


Friday we got to sleep in a bit, which is part of restoring... especially for myself — I think I am beginning to transform into a vampire... but they do sleep during the day... I just do not sleep.


Going to school full-time, working full time and a full time single mom definitely has been affecting my rest. Not sure how to these things all full-time — so sleep is often compromised. Also, unlimited hours in front of the computer and diving slowly into the laptop is bad for my back and neck. (I correct myself after typing this!)


Slouching and bad posture from lack of activity is a threat to anyone who works in front of a computer.  As designers with crazy deadlines, we often skip the necessities such as breaks, lunches and even bathroom breaks — "just to do one more thing"


So the trip to the Brampton Sheridan Campus where the Athletic Therapy department was a welcomed, much needed trip and reminder to take care of our bodies.


I personally have degenerative discs in lower back and no curve in my neck — both issues cause daily discomfort which you learn to live with, however I have noticed this semester these health problems compounding due to lack of stretching and balancing work and physical exercise. 


When we arrived as a class to the Athletic Gym, Amanda warmly welcomed  us. I was lucky to be on of the first on the treatment table....

Being stretched out — felt amazing!I need a rack at home to open up my vertebrae.... felt great! and the talented therapist hit some pressure points... 


Then to top it off a hot compress around my neck — sigh — I could have definitely had a nap...


We then moved to the gym and we proceed to learn some stretches for neck, back shoulders and proper posture at our computers.


Keep moving your body, keep in shape, remember to eat (and not just doritos...) healthy, vitamin-enriched, anti-oxidant foods to fight against colds.. My favourite and easy one is berries; blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries — wash and eat!


The key is to remember to do these stretches.... I stand now and stretch!


Thank you to Derek the Designer for documenting our day and the amazing photos