Stanard Design Partners was featured on the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer's business section, profiling our design agency and the site that we recently launched, Space513.com.
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From Cincinnati Enquirer 8-9-06
A Cincinnati Twist
A young couple created Space513.com, a site that gives an overview of the city in a quirky cartoon-like imagery
BY VAL PREVISH | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR
Frustrated by what they saw as Cincinnati's wrongful image as an old-fashioned and out-of-touch Midwestern city, a yound couple from Mount Lookout decided to update the city's look, at least on the Internet.
Davis and Cindy Stanard, married five years and also partners in their own design business based in Mount Washington called Stanard Design, said the Cincinnati they knew was unique, fun and diversified.
But that's not the image they felt was being projected to the rest of the world.
In the meantime, city and business leaders have been talking about how to attract young professionals – whose disposable income, enjoyment of urban life and work skills create economic vibrancy in a region.
So the Stanards created and launched Space513.com, a Web site that gives an overview of the city in quirky cartoon-like imagery called Flash.
As users browse around the virtual city with a mouse, details about the city's landmarks and entertainment venues pop p, giving the user useful information about the many of Cincinnati's attractions.
The site takes its name from the Cincinnati area code, says Stanard, because "there's sort of an urban association with using area codes to connect with a location, so it's an appeal to a younger audience."
Highlighting 12 neighborhoods in the city limits, plus Covington and Newport in Kentucky, and roughly 115 attractions, the web site is mostly a guide to the city itself and not the entire metro area, with the exception of Jungle Jim's food market. But plans are underway to expand the site to include more of the surrounding communities.
All the featured landmarks and businesses were picked by the Stanards and include such large and well-known entities as the Bengals and Cincinnati Museum Center as well as smaller establishments such as Earth Toys store in Pleasant Ridge.
The imager of the site allows the Stanards to have fun with the content, such as placing a riverboat on the Ohio River that slowly makes its way upstream as the user browses through the virtual city. A cicada perched on a hillside produces a swarm of cicadas that slowly fill the screen if you click on it.
"What I think is distinctive is that the sites represents the next generation of Web site design," said Davis Stanard. "It's a database with dynamic graphics and an entertaining look."
Launched by no coincidence on May 13, or 5/13, the Web site is aimed at young professionals like themselves who are looking for unique things in Cincinnati, and also to outsides in hopes that they may be attracted to the city if considering a move, the Stanards said.
"We hope that this will target newcomers or people who are thinking about returning to the city after living elsewhere," said Davis.
Cindy Stanard, 31, said both she and her husband, also 31, moved here from other locations to attend school at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, but then left after graduation in 1998 to pursue careers in larger metro areas. They have been back now for almost five years and said they are happy with their lifestyles.
"What we found living in those other places, was that Cincinnati really did have a lot to offer," she said.
AN ATTRACTING TOOL
Among the things the Stanards find particularly appealing about Cincinnati are its unique neighborhoods, its relatively low cost of living and its easily accessible attractions that make visiting downtown pleasurable rather than a headache.
"We are hearing all the time that people are leaving the city, and we don't understand why," said Davis. Cindy added, " We hope the Web site helps to stem that tide."
Raymond Buse III, public relations director for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, said the Web site is the kind of tool the city needs to attract newcomers and tourists.
"This has a lot of grassroots support in the community," said Buse. "this kind of marketing is critical to attracting young professionals who get their information primarily from the Internet."
The chamber also has a Web site about the city, but the look is more traditional than that of Space513.com. Buse said the city could benefit from the added visibility of the Stanard's Web site.
"The more the merrier," he said.
NEW-LOOK WEB
Pete Blackshaw, cheif marketing officer for Nielsen BuzzMetrics in Over-the-Rhine, which monitors consumers' on-line conversations and feedback for numerous companies, said he felt the new Web site was a bold move in the direction that all Web sites should be taking – to a more interactive and entertaining look and feel.
"We're in a new renaissance of Web site design," said Blackshaw. "Things have been changing in the last six months. From a design perspective, their Web site is very unique. Kudos to these two for getting things started here in Cincinnati."
Blackshaw said that the site has a lot to offer but needs to link with other major sites that are more heavily used.
The Stanards said they are looking into linking with other, more well-known Web sites around the city, such as the Chamber's site, www.gccc.com, or possibly even with businesses' sites.
They said they are being careful, however, to avoid a situation where the site becomes bogged down with pop-up advertising or the content becomes revenue-driven.
"We're hesitant to get into a situation where presence on the site would be ad-generated," said Davis. "Our motivation wasn't revenue. We just wanted to promote the city and our design skills."
CALLING ATTENTION
Although the Stanards invested about $5,000 and three years work into the site, they are not planning for it to generate revenue immediately. Rather than finding advertisers, they are looking for several organizations to partner with – virtual-tour sites they can cross promote.
In the meantime, the site is giving a boost to their graphic design business.
"The feedback has been very positive," said Davis. "It's given us a chance to talk with people who we might not have talked to otherwise."
The Stanards said the site would be successful if it helped generate a little business for themselves and a little positive notice for Cincinnati in general.
"We'd like it if people bragged about the city the way we do," he said.
