Project management for creative teams

Creative studios can be very stressful because there are a multitude of projects involved each with its own specifications deadlines and with the dedicated team to work on it.

When chaos reaches its peak a good project management software can sort things out.

As creatives consider each project unique, project management softwares should address unique issues and they should offer customized solutions. You won't use a construction project management software to manage a creative studio just as you won't use construction tools to work on an advertising campaign for a big customer.

A project management software for creatives has all the features to help the creative studio progress: timesheets, billing, time and customer tracking, job costing and Gantt charts specific to the industry. A management software will allow you to track a specific job and see the team who worked on it, the estimate and the actual time and also the deadline.

As soon as everything is in control, the creative minds can concentrate on developing amazing projects. Everybody knows their head is full of bright ideas and they cannot be required to focus on deadlines and other creativity killers so the project management will do all this work for them.

HTC Hero launched in London

HTC launched this week the ultimate Google Android device - the HTC Hero with a new user interface called HTC Sense. From July the HTC will be available in Europe and later this summer the Asian fans will be able to buy it.

HTC Hero is 4.4 inches tall, 2.2 inches wide and its screen is 3.2 inch HVGA touch with a useful antifingerprint screen coating. The phone is light and small in size but it will help its user reach and communicate via multiple media.

The device is completely customizable to everyone's needs: email, multimedia messages, Facebook and Twitter status updates. It also includes GPS, a digital compass, a camera, 3.5 mm headphone jack and a search button which allows searching the contact list or Twitter updates.

The new phone can be added the Microsoft Exchange support to the handset which is good news for corporate customers.

Designing office banners

A regular office may gain the attention of potential customers through expensive advertisements such as radio, TV and even online ads, but traditional banners ensure that the business is constantly marketed to consumers. Generally, they are very easy to be designed as it doesn’t require much experience to create one but a careful thought has to be made when creating an office banner. After all, the image of the company largely rests on how the banner is created.

When creating an office banner, here are two words you should not forget: simple and bold. By being simple, you avoid the troubles of creating too complicated banner that could confuse the customers instead of informing them who you are. Being bold simply means, your text could be read without any trouble. Use highly noticeable colours so that people can read your banner even in just one glance.

The size of the office banner is also important. This factor is actually often missed by some office professionals since they are accustomed of getting the banner close to them. Instead of ordering a banner that may not be read because of its size, ask for two or three samples in different sizes and try to see them from a customer’s perspective.

After you have created a good banner, consider how should display them. Sometimes, simply placing them on the wall will not do. Consider using alternative display styles such as using poles and placing them in your front office. Banner design companies often have a variety of display options so be sure to exhaust the possibilities.

Office security and its challenges

What should be done in the case of an internal fraud or theft set up by an employee? How should the bank employees or the staff of a money exchange office react when facing an unexpected and unfortunate event like an armed robbery? Who will react when pressing the red button to raise the alarm?

The answers to all these questions are given by the company which will offer top expertise and support for security issues. Because security means more than just an alarm system or an inventory for the company assets, any office and individual should be prepared to manage the crisis in the event of an unexpected incident.

For example to avoid the internal theft, fraud or corruption, offices can reap the immense benefits of having the staff screened and properly trained on how to avoid or identify these issues. Expert staff screening provided by specialised companies can increase the security and stability of your business. Courses like: kidnap mitigation and hostage survival, security awareness or natural disaster survival can minimise the risks and the loses during unexpected incidents, in or outside your office.

Continuous ink in printers

Ink is a very important component for a printer which is why businesses will not think twice of purchasing replacement inks when they ran out. Inks are not affordable as they come in replacement cartridges specifically designed to fit on the printer design. This trend will continue and will require vast amounts of resources if the office is aggressive in using the printer.


But there is a solution in the form of continuous ink system. As the name suggests, this form of ink cartridge will help businesses save on ink. Instead of small cartridges replaced in the printer, the printer will be connected to a continuous ink system which contains large volumes of ink. Without using any cartridges, the business will not have to purchase replacement cartridges but will only have to pay for the ink. Since they will purchase in volume, the price of ink would be a lot more affordable. The price per page will be a lot lower in this system.


For the printer to become receptive to this system, the printer has to be converted first. This is only a few adjustments within the cartridge area so that the ink will flow from the system instead of the cartridge. At first glance, this looks very simple but it can destroy your printer permanently. For that reason, it is very important to bring the printer to the seller of the system. This may require additional fee for installation but a small fee for proper installation of the system is worth it to prevent destruction of the printer.