THE CHARLES is a full service creative and digital agency with offices in New York & London. Our head-quarters are at the epicenter of culture and commerce â SoHo, NYC.
We're huge supporters of education and believe that knowledge is best when shared.
One teacher, Mr Poon, requested donations for new keyboards and desktop mice for his schoolâs computer lab as the lack of quality equipment was distracting and debilitating students during their classes. Despite this setback, Mr Poon's commitment to his students remained:
"I am always excited about polishing my rough stones into diamonds. For students in high school, it sometimes takes months to years," says Mr Poon. "I take it one day at a time to polish each stone and I hope to make a difference each year.â
Always looking to share our passion for technology and digital creativity, The Charles volunteered to fund the project so the students could give all their attention to Mr Poon's classes, and not the faulty equipment. Â
We believe technological literacy is a cornerstone for the success of todayâs students and thank DonorsChoose.org for giving us the opportunity to help a classroom in need.
About DonorsChoose.org
DonorsChoose.org is an online initiative that makes it easy to help classrooms in need. Through the platform, public school teachers can post classroom project requests and donators fund the projects until the goal amount is fulfilled.
Ad Ageâs âChasing Growth and 'Cool' at the New Bloomberg Mediaâ does well at summing up reports surrounding the media giant and the subsequent spotlight in recent months. With several high profile hires, launches and announcements following CEO Justin Smithâs â100 Day Strategyâ, Bloomberg Media finished strong in 2014 and is set to dominate 2015.
The definition of Media and exactly what Media companies do is rapidly evolving, and itâs hard to ignore the new class of leaders. With promoted focuses on âinnovationâ, âdisruptionâ and âdiverse platformsâ, theyâre a group well versed in industry buzzwords, but more importantly they are finally in the position to bring about definitive change. Their decisions are quick; their attention, vital.
As a result, their arrival has inspired a wave of renovations across the publishing realm, from entire web site re-designs, to restructures. Newsrooms have feasted on more than the usual dose of leadership changes this year, including those at Bloomberg Media, Vox Media, Time Inc, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The New York Times and most recently, Gawker Media.
Through the changing of the guard publishers are also now looking to bring their brand into the world of the much-hyped âdigital nativesâ. Recent redesigns like those for Bloomberg Politics, Quartz and Newsweek are energetic almost to a point of frenzy, or on the other side of the spectrum, minimally crisp. High quality visuals are taking center stage, with interactive technologies and seamless transitions pulling the strings.
Whilst new upstarts like Medium are vying to establish the credibility of their predecessors, traditional publishers are hunting for the elusive âcoolâ factor to help make an impact and attract the right kind of attention. For many revitalized faces of publishing itâs this same credibility that lies delicately in the balance: How do you reach the decision makers of tomorrow while honoring your brandâs legacy?
This year, The Charlesâ Development team grew not only in size, but in technical prowess. 2014 saw the Dev Team developing unique interactive features and utilizing technology in unexpected ways, while still finding time to whip up new solutions to old problems and launch initiatives to give back to the wider development community.
One example of this is WebGL, a JavaScript API for handling complex and interactive animation directly in the browser. While still in itâs infancy, WebGL is poised to fill the void left by Flash and Silverlight. The Charles, always looking for a new way to get away from the pack, incorporated this great technology on our home page header to create a beautiful and interactive welcome to our site.
9. MUSIC MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND
With music being a large part of the agencyâs culture, weâve had our fair share of debates on the relevance (or irrelevance) of Rita Ora, controversial Culture Jacker - Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swiftâs lack of New Yorkness, Jay & Beyâs elevator drama and whether #Blackmessiah is really worth all the hype.
From Eton Messy, Bondax, Full Crate x Mar, Dramâs âCha Chaâ and The Internetâs - Raleigh Ritchie âStronger Mixâ, Hereâs what got The Charles team jumping up and down this year, for better or worse.
STAND OUT TRACK: Raleigh Ritchie âStrongerâ
Birdwatch expanded from its original link sharing roots to a fully fledged workshop series. We gave Career Advice to a students of Syracuse University and held our First Dev Workshop: Beyond Wordpress.
Not just ones to keep our tech knowhow to ourselves, we also shared widely in the development community. An internal presentation created by Front End Dev â Chad Humphrey, ended up getting 22,000 views between September and November. The presentation, titled âLearning Gulp: Getting Started With The Front End Factoryâ was first presented to the team in late June and covered an intro to Gulp.js, a front end build system. It was soon picked up by several publications including Smashing Mag, JSWeekly, and SitePoint and has become a much praised guide in the dev circles.
This year we also launched DevRadio, a specialized podcast for developers with Chad and our Senior Developer, Robbie Edwards as hosts.
DEV RADIO PODCAST: Episode 1
6. THE ARTIFACTS
As an agency itâs important for everyone to express their creativity. During our Q1 Agency Review, we spoke about innovation and side projects that inspire the team. Designer, Shao Yen Chiang expressed a desire to create an icon set, and collectively the team brainstormed on definitive aspects of the agency that make us what we are - hence The Artifacts were created.
MOST DOWNLOADED ICONS: Blue Print Cleanse and âYeezus"
5. OFFICE SPACE
In 2014, The Charles HQ finally came together. In keeping with our brand aesthetic - we took a simple monochromatic effect with splashes of color. Self appointed Director of Plants - Sam Wilkesâ ode to our abundance of plants is truly awesome.
4. AWARDS AND FEATURES
Misha Nonoo: Best Websites: Awwwards | Site Du Jour: French Design Index | Site of the Day: Type Wolf | Showcase Site: Siteinspire | Fashionista | Fashion Week Daily | Refinery29
Tory Van Thompson: Showcase Site: Siteinspire
Indego: Website of the Day: CSS Design Awards | Featured Site: Worthy of Note | Featured Website: The Best Designs | Daily Inspiration: Abduzeedo
Winston: French Mention: French Design Index | Featured Site: Worthy of Note | Featured Site: CSS Light
The Artifacts: Featured: One Page Love
3. ONE FINE DAY
Team creativity is at the forefront of everything we do at The Charles, with the belief that a strong internal culture and experiences beyond the office walls inspire our best work.
We've had minigolf extravaganzas, Korean BBQ happy hours, and Halloween feasts complete with a screening of Hocus Pocus; we've stuffed our face with pizza instead of turkey, and we've eaten all the snacks. All the snacks.
We even hosted a family show & tell day coordinated across three time zones - to be expected, given the incredible diversity within The Charles' camp!
This Summer saw our inaugural One Fine Day take off - a getaway from our desks and emails, punctuated with activities to exercise our creativity as a team outside of the office. Of course, a little healthy competition and a gleaming Golden Unicorn trophy never hurt. Who will emerge victorious in next year's battle of wits and spaghetti tower building? Time will tell!
2. THE MICROSPLASH MOVEMENT
2014 saw the invention of the Micro-Splash, a title we created for a temporary site. Call it a hybrid between a Microsite and a Splash page - the Micro-Splash enables the client to display pertinent information yet still provide an engaging experience.
Misha Nonoo | Ellen Tracy | Wittnauer | Tory Van Thompson
1. NEW TEAM MEMBERS
Introducing our newest team members
Don:
The Charles in a word: Untamed
What do you do with your days: Aspire
Obsessed with: The unknown
Terrible at: Tying my shoes
Kim:
The Charles in a word: Disneyland
What do you do with your days: dig through the internet, juggle, swap hats and time warp.
Obsessed with: the opinions of pretentious publications, condiments, and the German national football team.
Terrible at: using sharp tools; questionnaires.
Hannah:
The Charles in a word: extraordinary
What do you do with your days: 1. eat (a lot) 2. learn any and all things in pop culture 3. go to comedy shows, concerts, and Broadway shows (not in that order). At The Charles, I code, eat, play with Stella, repeat.
Obsessed with: Jimmy Fallon
Terrible at: avoiding shoe shopping
We always knew we were going to work together. A five year age difference meant that we fought like cats and dogs throughout childhood much to our parents horror. Natural sibling behavior I guess... although it never stopped us from being friends.
In our youth, we looked into opening a bar in our hometown of Manchester, England.
Looking back, the brokers that showed us properties must have thought it was a hoax, two young, black, siblings asking about price per sq. ft and lunchtime foot traffic - but we were deadly serious. At 16 years old, he did the business plan while I did the marketing strategy.
Our dreams of opening a bar together never materialized but we always knew we were going to go into business together. Whilst I became consumed with agency life in the Big Apple, he had gotten into the risky world of derivatives.
It was whilst at Barclays Capital that his passion for corporate finance began to fade, after numerous phone calls and emails we decided it was now or neverâŠwe were going to build an agency in NYC. A few cat and dog fights later we decided upon our name - The Charles. In honor of our great grandfather Charles Sealay
As soon as he arrived, we set up an office in my apt, in Tribeca - Aaron got to working on the business plan, fundraising and company incorporation. Not long after we made our first official hire - Daniel Beaton (who created the infamous NFL Scoreboard graphic) You can learn more about the agency in our riveting 2013 Annual Report.
Making the move from Finance to Creative is never an easy one - but within 2 short years as CEO, Â Aaron has grasped the nuances of how creatives work, how to manage client egos, how to successfully build out and manage a wickedly talented mad scientist crew of developers and most importantly how to scale a business.
His meticulous attention to our business strategy, operational assets, books and budgets might drive me nuts but it's helped us grow from 3 to 10, from an office with no windows in Chinatown, to a building with a doorman in Tribeca.
Our client list now includes names such as  Bloomberg Media, Bulova, Ellen Tracy and A&E Networks.
We represent diversity like no other...Young, Black, British, living/working and owning a creative agency in New York with a team that includes bonafide Americans, Australians, Taiwanese, Straight, Gay, wise and wonderous.
With 2015 now at our doorstep we can't wait to share with you our next recap for the year so far, and to see where the adventure takes us. Sign up to our newsletter here to be the first in the know.
The Charles CEO Aaron Edwards nominated for Forbes' 30 Under 30
The Charles' CEO and co-founder Aaron Edwards has been nominated for Forbes' annual "30 Under 30" roundup!
Dedicated to finding "the media industry's brightest young leaders," the magazine's yearly feature is renowned for sniffing out talented entrepreneurs and change agents.
As CEO of The Charles, Aaron Edwards represents the growing presence of international talent and transatlantic entrepreneurship that's been increasingly shaping New York's creative landscape.
Friends of The Charles can support his nomination by tweeting to @jeffbercovici or emailing [email protected].
September 18th 2014 marked The Charles' inaugural One Fine Day!
A day solely dedicated to the hardworking team, One Fine Day was our escape from the city (effectively going from one island to another) for a weekday getaway.
Developing a positive culture in creative agencies has been a hot topic of discussion lately. Digiday recently attributed industry disgruntlement partially to the lack of internal focus on cultural happiness and mental health and AgencyPost emphasized the importance of blowing off steam.
Team creativity is at the forefront of everything we do at The Charles, with the belief that a strong internal culture and life beyond office walls are what inspire our best work.
We kicked off the dayâs activities with The Charlesâ very own bike gang taking a roll around the nearly deserted island. Biking was briefly interrupted by a tour of an abandoned and elegantly decaying heritage house (read pretty scary even during the day).
The afternoon itinerary for the day involved an exercise in the importance of play for problem-solving, creativity and interpersonal relationships. A mixed bag of low-key relaxation and high-octane team competitions, we were challenged to put our strategic and creative skills to the test while getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Within each team activity lay an objective. With marshmallows and spaghetti construction came observations about planning and functional creativity. Blindfolded celebrity hunting required a lot of trust, focus, and was easier said than done.
Communication was the key to success in all of the day's games and One Fine Day was a brilliant reminder to keep our soft skills sharp.
"Rather than attempting tasks that are out of my realm of specialty, I was reminded to take a deep breath and trust in my team members." - Samuel Wilkes, Designer
"It is the eye of the thinker that strays from what is right in front of them" - Don Lee, Developer
"The more zen you are about being stung by a bee - the more likely you are to get stung." - Ashley Ruen, Designer
We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with A&E Networks. We will be bringing them an entirely reimagined Ad Sales Platform - giving a traditionally B2B process a B2C Feel. More to come shortly.
Over the past two years one-page HTML Annual Reports have become more and more ubiquitous. These interactive reports give an insight into the success and happenings of an organization from the previous year. The annual report, which used to be contained to printed material, and then later shifted to PDF documents, has now made the logical step up to become interactive.
Itâs not just the format of these reports that has changed, though. Gone is the heavy corporate feel, replaced by web design trends that are changing the way we see and interact with one-page HTML documents.
We have compiled a list of annual reports that showcase these qualities and that hint at whatâs to come in the field of web design. These annual reports were chosen for their ability to stylishly present content, statistics and imagery in a one-page environment with a progressive user journey from start to finish.Â
Without further adoâŠ
1. Ustream
Website: http://www.ustream.tv/2013Â
Ustreamâs annual report for 2013 is nothing short of a digital masterpiece. Strong use of color, type, decorative elements and perfectly executed animations provide a feast for the eyes. Pair that with an informal and friendly tone of voice and youâre onto a winner. The user journey is intuitive and simple: just scroll from start to finish. All of the information and statistics are beautifully presented using a mixture of typography and diagrams. Unlike so many other annual reports, Ustream manage to avoid using heavy paragraphs of body copy that could make reading the report strenuous. The âBreathtaking moments of 2013â is a nice touch, with statistics that are emphatic of some of the biggest moments of the year.
2. MailChimp
Website: http://mailchimp.com/2013/
We have to give credit to MailChimp. MailChimp is commonly credited with being the first to create a fully interactive one-page online annual report back in 2012. Theyâve continued this trend into 2013. MailChimpâs report reflects their whole ethos. The report presents its achievements and news in punchy segments using super clean typography, rather than boring the reader with an overload of corporate jargon and information. The report features full page background images with different colored overlays, injecting a personable tone and making for a report that is a joy to scroll through.
3. Vimeo
Website: http://vimeo.com/timeline/2013/
Vimeoâs 2013 annual report is perhaps the most ambitious interactive report weâve seen. Landing on the page you are greeted with a colorful ensemble of tiled hexagons that each contain an achievement or piece of information. At first the site can be a little confusing but once you start clicking into the hexagons or use the side nav the report is fun to interact with. The site uses an array of custom illustrations and animations to present information. Another nice feature is that once one of the hexagons has been viewed, it turns gold and a tick appears showing you which youâve already read. This annual report sums up Vimeo perfectly, showing creativity and an inclination to produce original content.
Perhaps the best way to look at Fordâs latest annual report is to compare it to their 2012 report. 2012 had a very dry approach to the annual report, broken down by many pages and with multiple, confusing navigation points, using what can be best described as a style from 2005. Onward to 2013, Ford has caught up, producing a one-page annual report that allows you to very easily digest the same information. A persistent top navigation bar provides ease of use for the reader while typography, photography, iconography and diagrams create a fluid and informative user experience.
5. Livestrong
Website: http://ar2012.livestrong.org/
Okay, we know this report is actually from 2012, but we chose to include it as it looks just as fresh to this day. The assembly of this page features a very intuitive navigation bar that has an indication of which page section you're currently reading. The site uses strong imagery and typography that reflect the powerful subject of cancer and, of course, is dominated by Livestrongâs brand color: yellow. We are left lingering with one question: where is the 2013 annual report?
6. Airbnb
Website: https://www.airbnb.com/annual/
Airbnb allows you to find unique accommodation for your travels. As you scroll through their annual report you are met with an animated world map detailing and showing their growth in the last three years. The story is told concisely and without technobabble, complete with positive user examples and selling points for the service. The main statements are presented as large titles, with a clear hierarchy of information.
7. CUPS (Calgary Urban Project Society)
Website: http://www.cupsannual.ca
CUPS has gone above and beyond in their interactive annual report. Featuring an inviting color palette, adorable illustrations and well-timed animations, this one pager leads you through a fun and positive animated story for 2013.
8. British Heart Foundation
Website: http://team.bhf.org.uk
The British Heart Foundation published their 2013 Annual Review as an interactive overview for the team members and expenditures for the year. The design is very much content-led and has a personal feel with the huge images of people and equally large quotes. Unfortunately, the site must be navigated using the arrow buttons which feels unnatural to those of us so used to scrolling. The design is unique, refined and serves its purpose effectively.
9. City of London (Canada)
Website: http://communityreport.ca
This annual report is a report to the community of London. The layout is simple, echoing Microsoftâs Metro design style and carrying over the printed annual report style to itâs own one-pager. The navigation is very clear, breaking each section of the report into clear and concise categories.Â
This annual report from BT succinctly presents 2013âs achievements and news. The site is a one-pager, with an optional nav bar along the top. The section of the page you are currently reading is highlighted by the navigation, which helps you keep note of where you are. There are some nice animations used in this report, especially the header image that follows your mouse cursor. All of the information is well presented, although the site is a bit simple and not as interactive as some of the others.
New York City is truly an international hub of design and style. With so many digital design and creative agencies concentrated in NYC it can seem a daunting task whittling down your list to land with an agency you feel comfortable trusting your business with.
Here at The Charles NYC we understand the position you find yourself in so weâve compiled a list of some of the most important things to consider when deciding on a creative agency.
1. Is the agencyâs own site up to standard?Â
Whilst on the hunt for the perfect agency to commission, itâs almost certain that you will visit their site. Their website should be a testament to their skills and capabilities as this is usually the first impression youâll receive of the agency. If their website is unattractive, a nightmare to navigate or contains careless mistakes then perhaps you should think twice about trusting them with your project.Â
2. Do they understand your business objectives?
The agency you choose should express a genuine interest in your company and should look to fulfil long-term business objectives. Each company is distinct, with different brand values. Your company should be treated as so by an agency, with a strategy carefully planned and then executed. When you start talking to an agency you can ask them for a rough schedule of what content and creative will be delivered and when - Â in order to see how this translates to your business objectives.
3. Are you looking for a range of services or a one-off project?Â
The type of agency you need will vary dependent on the nature and scale of your creative requirements. For example: an integrated, full-service agency might be the better choice for a long-term campaign utilizing more than one creative field whereas a one-off project might call for an agency specializing in illustration or web design.
4. Do they have a comprehensive portfolio?
If the NYC creative agency doesn't have a portfolio or case studies on their site it's a good idea to ask for their most recent or ongoing work in order to ensure that their portfolio is up to date and a true reflection of their capabilities. Seeing ongoing work can also help to gain an insight into the production process of a company.
5. Is the work that they produce fresh?
Beware of agencies producing cookie-cutter template based designs. Even if the work looks good on the surface, generic design will be less relevant to your brand. Design that hasnât been thought out will never yield the same benefits as a multi-faceted strategy that has been tailored to fit your company.
6. Are they easy to get hold of?Â
No matter what industry you work in, someone who doesnât answer the phone or respond quickly to emails can be unremittingly frustrating to work with. If the agency youâre considering working with are unresponsive in the preliminary stages of talks just imagine what that could be like further down the line when there are time constraints and a build up of pressure.
7. What kind of track record does the agency have?
You should ask the agency about their track record and experience. Great design is just half of the story. The more experience an agency has in your industry, and the more they understand your business model, the better prepared they will be to create a unique and focused offering that will connect you with your target audience. You should ask the agency about their track record and to demonstrate past successes in your industry sector.
8. Have they received any awards or recognition?
While, admittedly, awards and press arenât everything, knowing that an agency has them is always a clear indication of professionalism and accomplishments. Awards and press recognition show that a company is innovative and understands their clientele.
9. Does the price seem too good to be true?
Cost can be a huge make or break when considering a creative agency, though you should be wary of pricing that seems to good to be true. Sometimes you have to invest more to reap the benefits.
âIf you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.â
Thatâs not saying that you should pay over the odds but you should definitely weigh up the value of what youâll actually receive against the cost.
We hope that this guide has helped you make some sense of the laborious task that is finding a NYC digital or creative agency that can give you the whole enchilada. If you want to chat with us you can always get in touch at www.thecharlesnyc.com/contact .
Kate Moss and Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace â modern day cultural icons, united by their rags to riches stories, tales of success, excess and subsequent downfalls. It's this that serves as the inspiration behind "The Kate Commandments" the latest release from The Charles.
With great power comes great responsibility - and these cultural icons made it their responsibility to push boundaries and enforce eccentric new cultural trends. Though they exist in completely different worlds, the more we researched the defining moments of their career the more inspired we became by their similarities: united by controversy, perpetually misunderstood, and worshipped by their followers. To communicate these points of intersection we created a line of clothing that fused prolific quotes from B.I.G.'s "TEN CRACK COMMANDMENTS" with the infamous imagery of Kate Moss.Â
The Charles' 10Kate campaign is not about the micro differences; it's about modern culture at large, a culture that wields the power to take talent and turn it into something much larger: an icon. This campaign is about exploring the purest and most pervasive cultural messages and figures and their capacity to supersede preconceived notions of relevancy.Â
Head over to the shop to check out the designs and start sporting one yourself.
In Kanye West's now infamous interview with Zane Lowe, he hit out at a growing trend in which celebrities are 'hired' as creative directors of large brands or corporations;
"Like I went, I remember when I was, dropping William Morris, right, and then Sarah Newkirk at that time said âBefore you drop them, go meet with Ari Emanuelâ and I sat with him and I said, âAri, Iâm an inventorâ and he goes on to tell me about the way it works and what he said is âYou are a celebrity. So basically whatâs going to happen is, thereâs product here, and this is where you end up, right here. If you can communicate this product, you can make money off the product, because look at Gaga. Sheâs the Creative Director of Polaroid.â I like some of the Gaga songs. What the fuck does she know about cameras?"
Rant or not - Kanye's got a point - what did Gaga know about cameras - apart from being in front of them? It's no coincidence that many of the brands/corporations who take the "Celebrity Creative Director" route can often need a boost in the popularity stakes. In the case of Polaroid - it's no secret that when they hired Lady Gaga back in 2010 - they'd not long just got over a Chapter 11 filing and as for their eventual 'collab'? Well you can read more about that here.Â
Alicia Keys at Blackberry (iPhone gaff a few weeks later), Justin Timberlake for Bud Light Premium (coinciding with the Legends of The Summer Tour announcement), Marc Jacobs for Diet Coke (only they know what they were really pushing).
Do any of these new appointees take their roles seriously? Will they and can they get to work on the creative operations of the company who hired them? Will Alicia Keys instigate a much-needed market synergy deal with the hundreds of third-party app developers that the flagging Blackberry sorely needs? Is Justin coming up with concepts and directing the team for the next ad campaign?
In purely non-commercial terms, choosing a famous musician to take an operational role appears to be a poor recruitment decision. Most celebrities have their own team of strategists to guide their development. They've arrived at their success by following an established path laid out for them by managers, agents, PR officers, and stylists. It's doubtful that they've developed the strengths and experience needed to take an active role in the upper tier of a large company. Perhaps we're to assume then that they're little more than promotion deals under another name, or as they've come to be known CDINO (Creative Director In Name Only)?
However, shrinking revenues from music sales are forcing artists to engage with their fans on a more meaningful level, and to take greater control of potential subsidiary revenues. Accepting a senior role at a well-established, consumer-focused brand ticks both these boxes.
We can't blame companies for striving towards marketing innovation, which is seen by many as the key driver of growth for the digital age. A deeper brand integration with the very people leading the trends that these companies are trying to be part of, seems to make good business sense. Whether it works out in terms of real world revenue remains to be seen.
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