This year has been very interesting. Some great wins, a few disappointments and the support of more people than you can imagine!

We were all taught that advertising was one of the few professions immune to a recession. This time that rule was broken. I have so many friends and colleagues that went down with the ship. We are so thankful for our clients and friends who allowed us to thrive during this rough patch and we see that 2010 will be unbelievable! Many new and exciting projects are being started!

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a fruitful New Year!

FRED.

We love Atlanta and we are very excited to be entering this market. We have done work in Atlanta for years, most notably real estate. Element Atlanta, ATL Lofts and Paces 325 to name a few. We look forward to injecting Atlanta with our unique style and thinking.
Our number in ATL is 404-720-0995, our FTL number is 954-607-6276.

This is a list by Master Designer Ken Musgrave that I had to share. When designers are preparing their portfolios they should keep this list in mind and they should have no problem landing the job. I hope this helps and thanks Ken.

FRED.

Here are my top ten “strengths” that graduating designers–or any designers, for that matter–should bulk up on:

1. Passionate Curiosity: Continually explore and understand. More often this is a key differentiator between those who will make an impact and all the others.

2. Imagination: Bring ideas and opportunities together in ways that were not initially obvious. It can be a powerful and defining capability for a designer.

3. Objectivity & Self Awareness: Assess yourself and your work, and view yourself through the eyes of others with a realistic understanding of your capabilities.

4. Crisp Communication: Build credibility. Often the language of design is very different from the language of business. The ability to effectively communicate across the disciplines is critical for a designer to influence an organization.

5. Effective Storytelling: Fold and translate your ideas into the priorities of your client or organization.

6. Flawless Execution: Get things done. Long gone are the days in which a designer handed work off to a project team to figure out. (It was never a good modus operandi, anyway.) Today, a designer has to work with cross-functional teams to advance designs and shepherd them through to production–every step of the way.

7. Business Acumen: Create value in your markets. Effective designers need to understand how their businesses (or their clients) what role design can play to bring an advantage to their customers.

8. Global Awareness: There are really two aspects of to global awareness: understanding how changes around the world are affecting the customers and markets; and understanding that the talent pool for designers today is global.

9. Context: Bring ideas and designs to the table that are relevant by considering current economic, social and business trends.

10. Talent: Talent is intentionally last on this list. Having a real talent for design is as critical as it has ever been. However, talented designers are far more common than those designers who have real talent complimented with the attributes that are outlined above.

We are excited to work with ProPilates and take their brand to the next level. We will be creating a campaign including rebranding, interactive, interior design and media strategies.

We are addicted to technology. You forget your iPhone at home (unthinkable) and panic sets in. We must be connected at all times.

We are a captive audience of hundreds of millions. Web apps and sites, viral sites, social sites, iPhone apps, online ads, eblasts, blogs, SMS and MMS. We are being reached in massive numbers.

So with all of this technology at our finger tips, why is there a sea of horrible, template based, forgettable interactive out there? Because great interactive that delivers results starts with a creative strategy. What are your goals and how can we acheive them in the most creative and unique way.

This is why FRED. continues to be at the forefront of interactive trends and technology, yet still delivers powerful creative interactive solutions. We know our business and we show the world you know yours.

What a year! The economy is sagging, everyone is downsizing and budgets shrunk. I was never one to just go with the flow and I’m not about to start. We have won 2 new accounts, will be adding team members and the fun is just beginning. One account I can’t elaborate on yet, but when I’m able to make an announcement it will be big. I get to do what I do best, change the perception of an entire industry! I can’t wait! The other account we won is RCTV a telenovela company. They produce the worlds top rated telenovelas and distribute them worldwide. We just recently completed a brochure, DVD cover, posters and banners for a new telenovela and are getting ready to start on their corporate brochure. Fun stuff! Stay tuned, I will keep you posted…

Take a sneek peek at FRED.’s work. While we finish the site you can see some of the award-winning work to come from our agency. Fill out the registration form on the site to be notified when there’s more to see.
www.fredagency.com

Thousands of logos were submitted, very few made the Logo Lounge 4 book.

3 of ours were selected!

From one came two. The recent split of multiple-Addy-winning ad shop Soffer Adkins has created a pair of agencies claiming to be nothing like their former selves – or any other agency in town.

Fred Adkins, formerly owner and executive creative director with the Fort Lauderdale-based agency, has created Fred. The brand strategy, design and interactive agency has landed such new clients as TheRockefeller Group and Madrid’s Grupo Mall.

Adkins likens his new agency to other brands and firms that have gone with catchy, one-word names: English ad shop Mother or United Airlines sister carrier Ted.

“I wanted to be a little bit different,” said Adkins, whose agency is based in the Exchange Lofts in Fort Lauderdale. “Our agency personifies the person. Everyone here is ‘Fred.’”

For the past seven years, Soffer Adkins made its name in the hospitality and real estate industry, but its wins in the Advertising Federation of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s most recent Addy Awards reflected far more diversity. The agency won gold awards for retailer Havana Nines, Heineken, the ProPilates studio in Fort Lauderdale, Store Fine Storage in Palm Beach Gardens, The Exchange Lofts and a promotional piece for Soffer Adkins. The agency also won silver awards for Floresta development in Dania Beach; interior design shop SW3 Design in Fort Lauderdale; and the Gary Hall Jr. Foundation, named for the Olympic swimmer.

Adkins still serves retail and development. Rockefeller is a private real estate firm based in New York City. Started by John D. Rockefeller with Rockefeller Center as its marquee property, today it includes some $2 billion in development projects, Adkins said. Grupo Mall is a resort and development company with offices throughout Europe, Latin America and the U.S. Other clients include Marriott International, Finotex textiles and Cantor Partners real estate development in St. Petersburg.