Toolbox Studios Blog

Fiesta Party Pics

out with the old, in with the new...

Well, it's almost complete. The final phase of our 2007 rebrand was the physical space remodelling to our riverwalk studios, which we blogged about earlier. We remodeled the two corner offices along Soledad Street, deleting the alcoves, resulting in a straight, uninterrupted exterior wall; we installed new carpet throughout the first floor and in our downstairs conference room and podcasting suite. Shown above is the internally-lit logo sign in our renovated lobby. We repainted throughout, and installed new baseboards, door hardware, etc., giving our circa-1920s building new life. Look for a new projection system in the river-level conference room, new lighting in the lobby, and a custom production island to finish the upgrades during the summer.

2007 Fiesta River Parade Party

On Monday night, April 23, Toolbox Studios will be hosting our annual Fiesta River Parade Party from 6 to 10 PM. You and a guest are invited, and if you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to RSVP by emailing Stacy Thomas.

NOTE: This year the Texas Cavaliers River Parade is embarking on a new course which will float past our building much earlier than in past years! We’re actually near the start of the parade this year. Come early and stay for all the food, drinks and Fiesta frivolity.

Held over by popular demand: The Steven Gonzalez Internship

As a result of his hard work, energy and dedication to Toolbox, we are pleased to announce that Steven’s internship is being extended for another three months. “Let me start off by saying ‘thank you’ to Toolbox for giving me the chance to work next to such great people,” said Steven. “I am incredibly honored to be the first intern at Toolbox to be kept on board for a subsequent term and cannot wait to see my relationships with everyone, as well as my creativity, flourish to lead to a bigger and better Toolbox Studios.”

Steven will be working alongside our forthcoming 2007 Toolbox Summer Design Intern, who will be named later this month.

Words of praise from the San Antonio Museum of Art

Last week, SAMA Director Marion Oettinger, Jr. had this to say about working with Toolbox:

“As a non-profit arts institution, the San Antonio Museum of Art needs to maximize every marketing and communications opportunity. We know that a vibrant, always-evolving, easy to navigate Web site is the way to reach the largest audience possible with our message. After the success we experienced with Toolbox’s advertising campaign and Web site for our exhibition Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits, we knew they were the company we wanted to redesign our own site. Toolbox exhaustively researched our profession and helped us position the Museum in a more nationally competitive arena, elevating the SAMA brand. The administrative backend is so easy to update, multiple members of the SAMA staff are able to use the site as their primary form of communication, whether in image reproductions, public relations, educational outreach or retail. The web design team at Toolbox has helped us become more technologically forward-thinking as well – we anticipate growing the site even more with their creative support.”

Kudos from Paloma Blanca Mexican Cuisine

Restaurant owner Richard Peacock, Jr. had this to say about working with Toolbox to brand his popular restaurant:

“The team at Toolbox has helped re-image our restaurant in such a creative, fresh way—even our long time customers now think of us in terms that they never used to, which is no small feat. Further, Toolbox has brought a consistency to all of our advertising that was sorely lacking, whether it be it website, billboard, television or direct mail. I firmly believe that the quality our marketing materials has finally risen to equal the quality our product—our double-digit sales growth would appear to back this up.”

“The team at Toolbox has helped re-image our restaurant in such a creative, fresh way—even our long time customers now think of us in terms that they never used to, which is no small feat. Further, Toolbox has brought a consistency to all of our advertising that was sorely lacking, whether it be it website, billboard, television or direct mail. I firmly believe that the quality our marketing materials has finally risen to equal the quality our product—our double-digit sales growth would appear to back this up.”

Rob elected to more leadership roles in the community

Toolbox president and owner Rob SImons continues to effect positive change in the San Antonio community at large. Rob was elected to the board of directors for the Downtown Residents Association and has been elected to the Learning Chair for the San Antonio chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO). He also has been selected as the President Elect of the local EO chapter and will serve as President in 2008-2009.

Rob says, “I believe it’s important to show that Toolbox takes an active role in supporting the community. Part of our culture is to foster a company-wide commitment to excellence and service that extends beyond the walls of our offices.”

Toolbox president and owner Rob SImons continues to effect positive change in the San Antonio community at large. Rob was elected to the board of directors for the Downtown Residents Association and has been elected to the Learning Chair for the San Antonio chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO). He also has been selected as the President Elect of the local EO chapter and will serve as President in 2008-2009.

Rob says, “I believe it’s important to show that Toolbox takes an active role in supporting the community. Part of our culture is to foster a company-wide commitment to excellence and service that extends beyond the walls of our offices.”

Smith painting selected for European exhibition

One of Toolbox Interactive Creative Director Lewis Smith’s paintings, “Virgins of Medina”, has been selected for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Skopje, Macedonia. The title of the exhibition is “Cataclysm and Creativity: Art in the Age of Uncertainty”. This exhibition will include the work of young Macedonian and Texas artists that has been created from 2001-2006. The painting was selected from the collaborative work Lewis has been doing over the last year concerning our head-on collision with Islamic culture. Want to see it in person? The exhibition will hit the road and make its way through Texas sometime in 2008 when the it makes a stop at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi .

Our studios are under construction

Toolbox is embarking on the second of its three-phase physical space renovation.

PHASE TWO
To be completed by the Toolbox River Parade Party on April 23, 2007: Look for new signage and new wall and trim colors throughout the building (as well as new carpet on ground floor offices) to reflect our 2007 rebrand colors.

PHASE THREE?
Our architects are already hard at work researching long-term improvements, and we’ll keep you in the loop as determinations are made.

Random Toolboxer Fact #4:

The most appalling thing that Joanne has ever eaten is Vegemite while on vacation in Belize. From Wikipedia: "…Vegemite is the registered brand name for a dark brown, salty food paste made from yeast extract, mainly used as a spread on sandwiches and toast, though occasionally used in cooking. It is popular in Australia and New Zealand and is known as a national food in both…"