Tag Archives: Design

Monday Meet And Greet: Lawrence C

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Every Monday we’d like you to meet someone new around here at JustBats.com. Get to know us a little better! Meet Lawrence! Lawrence designs a lot of the content you see on JustBats.com! Here is what makes Lawrence tick.

1. How long have you worked here at JustBats.com?
Two years this coming October.

2. What are some of your responsibilities as a Web Developer at JustBats.com? Develop user-friendly and user-first experience to all of our sites while empathizing with the user. Develop pixel-perfect, yet flexible designs, maintain and update all UI of all our sites, develop all user-experience interaction on all sites from desktop all the way down to mobile and in-house systems, and be a css ninja.

3.What are your favorite aspects of working with the Web Development team?
Very fun environment, it’s a very rich learning environment which makes developing and honing your skills that much easier, and there is never a dull moment.

4.Where do you look for inspiration?
From all aspects of life, architecture, nature, other sites, brainstorming with my co-workers, and the shower (ideas always come to me there, not sure why).

5.What would you say to someone coming into your line of work?
Never rest on what you know now, you should always try to grow as a designer. Seek out more knowledge, the more you know about the up-coming technologies, strategies, etc., the better you will be and the easier your projects will be developed, never stop learning, try to always empathize with your end user, always try to add a little fun to all of your design, and always try to learn something new every day and always take something away from each project that you can carry on to other developments/projects.

6.Whats your favorite memory so far from JustBats.com?
Probably the first couple months I started here. Mainly when we just started developing the new JustBallGloves.com site, and really was some of the best learning experiences I had. It really showed me and helped me develop the skill of learning how to learn. I was a very amateur UX designer and it helped me build some of the core skills that I still use now and will always use. I owe a lot to those experiences, if I didn’t have those type of learning experiences early on in my career here, I would not be the UX designer I am now.

7.What are some challenges you face being a Web Developer
Developing web apps that can reach all browsers in a consistent look and feel across all of them, keeping up with all web standards, new techniques and technologies. It’s constantly evolving and thats what keeps me up at night learning and coding in my free time. My wife doesn’t appreciate it though since most nights I will fall asleep in bed with either a tech book or a design blog on my laptop, finding the best way way to relate to the user and deliver the correct message to them, recharging the creative batteries.

8.Tell us what you enjoy doing outside of working at JustBats.com.
Working on freelance projects, learning more about design, experimenting with coding techniques, spending time with the wife, going out to eat and find new and interesting places to go with my wife such as new restaurants, new shops, parks, etc.

9. What gets you laughing the most?
Everyday I get a good laugh at work, from the people I work with, there isn’t just one particular time.

Monday Meet And Greet: Zach H

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Every Monday we’d like you to meet someone new around here at JustBats.com. Get to know us a little better! Meet Zach! Zach is the manager of the Creative Department here at JustBats.com and he makes sure everything we do looks awesome! Here is what makes Zach tick.

1. How long have you worked here at JustBats.com? 
It will be 4 years this September!
2. What are some of your responsibilities as manager of the Creative Department here at JustBats.com?
I get to manage an awesome team of designers and media staff! I manage all the employees as well as all our processes and systems. Currently the Creative Department does all of the video, graphic design, photography and putting together the email marketing materials.
3. What do you enjoy most about the Creative Team at JustBats.com?
Getting to work with an amazing staff is the highlight of my day. They are so talented and surprise me everyday with just how good they are. We also have a lot of fun together which is great.
4. It is easy sometimes to hit creative blocks, what keeps you motivated and inspired to keep designing?
Since I don’t currently do a lot of the designing anymore, I try finding other outlets for being creative. I get really motivated when I get to work with my hands. I do a lot of creative projects around the house for me and my wife. I enjoy doing random carpentry jobs, like building frames and tables. My wife finds lots of projects on the internet for me to put together. That’s where most of my creativity goes these days.
5. What’s one of your favorite projects the creative department has pushed out?
I can’t say I have a favorite. I enjoy looking back each year and seeing the work we use to be doing and how far we’ve come. Our Creative Staff gets so much better at their trait over time and it’s amazing to look back and see how much they learn.
6. What are some challenges you face being manager of the Creative Department?
Sometimes making quick decisions is a challenge, but also enjoy the busy times and there is always good people to bounce ideas off of.
7. What’s your favorite memory since working at JustBats.com?
Wow, way to many to choose from, I’ve enjoyed so much being a part of this company. Here’s a few.
Getting to play Wiffle Ball at the Little K at Kauffman Stadium
Each year picking out toys for Toys for Tots
Each year getting to do Kansas City Corporate Challenge events
8. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Hanging out with my wife, Spending time working on my house, Playing with my dogs Georgia and Sundance, Going to Sporting KC games, Spending time with friends and family and Disc Golf!
9. Any advice for people coming in to your line of work?
Be flexible, pay attention to the smallest of details, work hard
10. What gets you laughing the hardest?
Drummer at the Wrong Gig (YouTube it)
11. What’s your favorite sport and team?
Can’t say I have a favorite sport. But definitely spend most of time either at Sporting KC, Royals or Chiefs games. All of which I will love until the day I die.

Monday Meet And Greet: Adam B

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Every Monday we’d like you to meet someone new around here at JustBats.com. Get to know us a little better! Meet Adam! Adam is our graphic designer and insists on making sure you have pretty things to look at when you open your emails from us and go to our websites! Here is what makes Adam tick.

1. How long have you worked here at JustBats.com?
I have been working at JustBats.com for a little over a year now.
2. Who are you listening to right now?
Some of the bands I have been listening to a lot lately are: We Were Promised Jetpacks, This Will Destroy You, Banner Pilot and Cold Cave.
3. What keeps you inspired to keep making and designing great work?
I do a lot of research to understand what trends are popular with a lot of our clients. Without understanding the trends going on in the advertising/design world, I would be a huge step behind. I also have a great team that helps critique my work on a weekly basis.
4. So rumor has it you like horror movies, can you give us your top 3 favorite horror films?
Where are you hearing these rumors hmm?
In no particular order, I would have to say 1. The Shining (Kubrick is a genius) 2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original obviously) and 3. The Evil Dead
5. Give us a couple of your favorite designers?
Two designers that I love are David Carson and Art Chantry. Whenever I feel I have a “designers block”, I go back and look at their works to find inspiration.
7. You have seen a lot of bands play, are there any concerts that stand out from the rest?
Once I drove three hours to go see Andrew W.K. When I arrived at the venue, I saw two great big words that almost brought me to a tear: SOLD OUT. After much waiting and talking to the bassist from his band, I was let in on Andrew W.K.’s guest list. I sweated, I sang, and I lost a contact. Best night ever.
8. What do you like most about working at JustBats.com?
I love everyone that I work with. I am so blessed to be working at a company that cares about their employees and goes out of their way to make sure everyone has the best experience when walking into the building.
9. Have you been in any bands?
I used to be a vocalist in a punk band 5 years ago, called Crooks. We were a band for about a year, recorded about 5 songs, and played around 15 shows.
10. What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?
I like to paint, collect vinyl, and venture to new food/beer places around the metro area.
11. What is your favorite sport and team?
My favorite teams are Sporting Kansas City, KC Royals, KC Chiefs and Liverpool F.C. I would say that soccer is my favorite sport, however there is nothing like going out on a summer evening to see the Royals play at Kauffman.

A Look Into The RunDown

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Hey everyone! To start off, I would like to introduce myself real quick. My name is Joey and I am a Graphic Designer here at JustBats.com. I am from Overland Park, KS and I love design. I am sure you have seen all the great photography, videos, and design work we do and even though I would like to take all the credit, it is all done by the awesome and talented creative team we have here.

As a part of the great culture at JustBats.com, we collectively write, design and print an in-house monthly newsletter that we like to call the RunDown. It includes articles about the workings of each department, games, interviews, pictures, fun facts and so much more. The RunDown has been a great tool used to communicate what is going on within the company since November 2008. Since each month has a different look or theme, it is fun to look back at old RunDowns and see all the great times we have had, what has changed, and how much the company has grown. Hopefully, one day we will have the RunDown ready and available for our customers to check out and enjoy it as much as we do!