Rizen Creative Ideas, advertising & design for underdog brands

Once a month we devote a long lunch to gather for a company program called “Lunch, Lounge and Learn”. Each month we either bring in a guest speaker(s), learn from one another, or in this months case, took a field trip to a place for inspiration and exposure. The intent is to step outside of [...]

Taking a moment to reflect on an amazing 2010. It was filled with busy schedules, amazing work, great people and a lot of fun along the way. We wanted to a take a moment to post a note of appreciation for the people that allow us to do what we do.
Thank you to our families. [...]

As we’ve discussed previously, every year we have kids from a local area school “design” our Christmas cards. It’s one way we can promote art in education, support our local kids and get some really cool art.
This year the kids at Giraffe Laugh Early Learning Centers did a great job depicting their favorite winter activity. [...]

Wow. We are overwhelmed and humbled by the generosity of our extended family. They really stepped up by joining us in helping fulfill two needy families’ Christmas wish lists.
We know none of the Rizen Family Christmas contributors joined the effort to get recognition. But we wanted to give it to them anyway. A sincere thanks [...]

Here is a list of requirements to be on the top of design world that ADC young gun award winner Gavin Potenza posted on his blog. Thought is was both interesting and funny! Can’t agree all of them, but somehow it illustrates some perspectives of our world.
An exaggerated list of requirements to be elite in [...]

The thing that makes Ignite Boise so unique is the collection of funny, smart, energized people who both speak and attend. This talke from IB5 is a great example of this. It’s Dave Yasuda, a Boise-based marketer and all-around good guy talking about his experience as an independent filmaker.

Somewhere along the way agency Christmas cards became a showpiece — a place to show off your creative chops. The result has been a sort of arms race where firms like ours try to out do each other with fancy Flash or die-cuts or gold leafing.
Well, a few years ago, Rizen opted out of all [...]

It sounds trite, but that doesn’t make it any less true: child abuse is horrible. Unfortunately, too few of us understand just how large of an issue this horrible crime is. One Boise man, Matt Pipikin, aims to change that. He’s the found of Commit 65, a non-profit organization looking to raise awareness of the [...]

Here’s an event you may find interesting: Capital City Communicators is hosting a panel titled “Is your future freelancing?”
It’s a lunchtime deal at Beside Bardenay in Boise. $18 for members/$23 for non-members. The panel includes two successful freelancers, plus a consultant who work with many freelancers on business management. Rizen’s Jeff Reynolds is moderating (so [...]

In case you haven’t heard, Ignite Boise 5 was a tremendous success. One of the highlights was 11-year-old Mia Mclenna’s talk on what her claymation monsters do while she’s at school. Nice work Mia!