Projects Archives

HalogenTV

December 20, 2010 by Kevin D. Hendricks

In late 2010 Monkey Outta Nowhere began blogging for the cable network HalogenTV. The network's motto is "be the change". They covers stories that matter, including causes, world-changers, green innovations, art, technology and more.

Our own Kevin D. Hendricks has written over 30 blog posts since October, covering everything from Haiti to street art to a solar-powered cinema.

Here's a sampling of some of the posts he's written:

• The Adventure Project Redefines 'Coal for Christmas'
• 6 Ways Social Media is Helping the Homeless
• To Write Love On Her Arms Day Photo Gallery
• Songs for a Cause: Top 10 Music for Charity for 2010
• 1% for Humanity: Business Giving Back
• 5 Ways to Green Your Thanksgiving
• The Memory Project: Q&A with Ben Schumaker
• Modern Day Slaves: Nicole

Open Our Eyes

November 2, 2010 by Kevin D. Hendricks

Open Our Eyes: Seeing the Invisible People of Homelessness is a manual to motivate action. The book features the real stories of homeless people and gives insight into what it's really like to be homeless:

• "I had it all and ended up on the streets." -Elvin
• "I put a smile on my face for my kids' sake." -Cecilia
• "I'm hoping I can survive another day." -Eddie

Inspired by homeless advocate Mark Horvath and his work with the nonprofit InvisiblePeople.tv, the book also features reflections from more than 20 social media experts, nonprofit heroes and technology executives, including Trust Agent author Chris Brogan, Ford's social media guru Scott Monty and renowned mom blogger Jessica Gottlieb. Each contributor shares their own perspective on homelessness and how Horvath's inspiring example has impacted them. The book also includes common misconceptions about homelessness and suggestions for how to get involved and make a difference.

All proceeds from the book support the work of InvisiblePeople.tv.

Monkey Outta Nowhere published the book, recruiting Brian White of TriLion Studios for the cover design, Ronald Cox for the interior design, Bradley Watson for writing, and Josh Cody and Michael Buckingham for ideas and support. The book is truly a collaborative feat and an effort to give back to InvisiblePeople.tv.

Addition by Adoption

September 30, 2010 by Kevin D. Hendricks

Addition by Adoption: Kids, Causes & 140 Characters is the first work of non-fiction from our own head monkey, Kevin D. Hendricks:

A work-at-home dad turns to Twitter to share updates about kids, causes and life. It’s a curated selection of bizarre quotes, funny stories and temper tantrums. Woven between potty-training woes and breakfast time songs is a family growing through adoption and learning how to change the world, one status update at a time.

Released in May 2010, the book is available from Amazon.com and other retailers and is also raising money for clean water through charity: water. So far the book has raised enough to build a well in Ethiopia.

The book has received dozens of positive reviews and Kevin has been interviewed a number of times, including a Father's Day feature in the Pioneer Press.

Monkey Outta Nowhere published the book, recruiting Brian White of TriLion Studios for the cover design and Ronald Cox for the interior design.

Emergent Productions

May 28, 2010 by Kevin D. Hendricks

Emergent Productions founder Brian Glassford approached us to help with copy for his new website in 2010. We worked closely with Brian to hone in on the concept for what the copy should say about Emergent Productions and their varied work in marketing, digital media and production. In the end we focused heavily on story and Emergent's role as a storyteller.

TriLion Studios

May 28, 2010 by Kevin D. Hendricks

In 2009 we wrote the copy for the TriLion Studios website. After nearly a decade in the industry the company was rebranding from an individual design studio named Solo Multimedia to a team of creatives. We took the TriLion name and came up with a tagline--A creative pack that has your back--and copy that tapped into the lion imagery.

We helped founder Brian White talk through some of the branding issues and land on a way of talking about his newly named company that worked.

WebDesign.com

October 24, 2009 by Kevin D. Hendricks

In 2009 Monkey Outta Nowhere began creating content for WebDesign.com, a web services company that helps small businesses and organizations maximize their potential on the web. We helped write a foundational white paper and contributed to WebDesign.com's blog.

Some of our blog entries include:

• A series on utilizing Facebook, including an especially helpful piece on how to make the most of Facebook fan pages.
• Another series on how businesses and organizations can make the most of Twitter.
• Content is King - A reflection on the importance of content.
• Your Mother's Marketing Rules - Arguing for honesty in marketing.
• Your Own Platform to Counter Complaints - Urging organizations to get into the online conversation.
• The Web Has Your Marketing's Back - Having a web site can boost your other marketing efforts.
• Why Wouldn't You Want a Website? - Tackling misperceptions about websites.
• Lame Website or No Website? - Pushing for even a weak website as better than no online presence.

Boxbot Design

September 23, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

In the summer of 2008 we helped Boxbot--and their fun robot mascot Clutch--tell their story. Boxbot specializes in packaging design for children's products, hence the tagline we wrote: "Boxbot designs stuff kids like." We also organized and wrote content for their web site, focusing on showing who they are and emphasizing their expertise.

Remember, it's OK to play with dolls.

KTIS: Web Site

September 9, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

Twin Cities radio station 98.5 FM KTIS needed to redesign their web site to bring focus and consistency. Taylor Design Works headed up the project and we focused specifically on the homepage, working together to determine the best way to highlight multiple types of content and create a sense of hierarchy.

In addition to giving KTIS a clean look and a streamlined homepage, we advised them on site navigation and interior content, making suggestions for how to improve writing, boost online readability and avoid confusion.

National Park Service

September 8, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

In 2000 as an intern and again in 2005 as a freelancer, Monkey Outta Nowhere worked with the National Park Service to create a trail guide for the Twin Cities metro area. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a unit of the National Park Service that focuses on 72 miles of the Mississippi River as it winds through the Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding area. The trail guide included historical sidebars and specific directions for navigating difficult spots along the trail.

The 2000 version of the trail guide covered Minneapolis to South St. Paul while the 2005 version expanded north to Anoka, skipped south to Hastings and included updated information about new trails in between. Both guides offered an overview of the region as well as each specific trail segment. Each segment included a sidebar covering historic, natural or otherwise interesting features of that segment. In both cases we worked closely with designers to decide how to break up the region into segments and structure the entire guide.

iThemes

September 8, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

In the summer of 2008 Monkey Outta Nowhere started writing content for iThemes, a creator of WordPress themes. WordPress is an open source blog software that makes it very easy to manage a web site and control the design through customizable themes. We wrote blog entries about how to use WordPress, prepared PDF tutorials and pulled together content for a new web site.

Don't Waste Your Life

April 17, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

The book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper has turned into a movement and rallying cry of sorts. We worked with two designers to put together ideas and concepts for how the Don't Waste Your Life message could be communicated in multiple mediums (web sites, videos, ads, posters, book covers, etc.). Monkey Outta Nowhere offered copy and ideas to cement the visual concepts, as well as a much needed outside perspective.

Since our work was primarily in the concept stage, the results have not been fully integrated into the Don't Waste Your Life marketing plan. But they were well received and are beginning to show up in Don't Waste Your Life materials.

Start Seeing Art

April 11, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

In late 2007 Monkey Outta Nowhere launched Start Seeing Art, a local site that maps and identifies public art in the Twin Cities. The project utilizes Google maps and Flickr images, providing descriptions, pictures and detailed locations of public art installations. While still in its infancy (especially design-wise), the site has already been highlighted on the local blog MNSpeak and has mapped over 100 pieces of public art.

The site continues to grow, thanks to a community that shares photos and information.

Church Marketing Sucks

April 6, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

Churches have a communications problem. They claim to have the greatest story ever told, but they don't know how to tell it. Enter Church Marketing Sucks. The blog began in 2004, challenging churches to communicate their message effectively.

Our own Kevin D. Hendricks has written more than 700 blog entries for the site and serving as the site's managing editor. The site averages 40,000 unique visits per month and has been mentioned in The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, HOW magazine, The Detroit Free Press, Red Herring and more.

Trout Lake Camps: Project 365

April 6, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

Minnesota's Trout Lake Camps celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007 in grand style and used the opportunity to secure funding into the future. They came up with a fund-raising plan called Project 365, an effort to find 365 people willing to donate $1 a day. Taylor Design Works helmed the project and together we created a 32-page booklet that explained the camp's history, legacy and needs going into the future, and then challenged people to join Project 365.

The project involved working out a structure for the booklet with Taylor Design Works, researching Trout Lake history, telling individual stories and putting together factoids about the camp. The final product has been called one of the best communication pieces in Trout Lake's history.

Foursquare NextGen Summit '07

April 6, 2008 by Kevin D. Hendricks

At the end of 2007 the Foursquare Church, a charismatic Christian denomination, held its first youth event in more than 10 years. Thousands of young people came from across the country to ring in 2008 at the Foursquare NextGen Summit '07. The event focused on three causes: embracing orphans, stopping human trafficking and fighting poverty.

Monkey Outta Nowhere came on board a year before the event to put their vision into words and their marketing plan into action. We wrote copy for the web sites, e-mail newsletters, promotional materials and more. We helped plan and execute two different designs of a Wordpress-based blog and explored online promotion on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. We even went well outside our area of expertise and created two low budget promo videos.

Our own Kevin D. Hendricks also attended the event and wrote a wrap-up article for Foursquare's Advance magazine.