Block Club Creative was recently approached by Trattoria Aroma to design their summer ad campaign with farm fresh food as the focus. We couldn’t have been more pleased to be asked to work on this project!

Block Club’s mission to work with local and regional businesses fits hand-in-hand with Trattoria Aroma’s approach of using local and sustainable ingredients whenever possible. We both believe that utilizing our many local resources enhances the overall quality of a finished product, whether it’s a delicious plate of Blossom Hill Farm Pork Chop Salerno or a beautiful Web site for a Buffalo-based business.

This summer, Trattoria Aroma will be hosting farm dinners at Oles Farm in Alden, NY. Farm owner Dan Oles is a favorite among Buffalo foodies for the love and care he puts into everything he grows.  At the dinner, you’ll meet Dan, pick some [...]

Google’s design is pretty basic and it hasn’t changed much since it was founded more than a decade ago.  The search giant’s doodles however change on a more regular basis.

Who hasn’t stopped for a moment to appreciate Google’s sense of humor on Pi Day? And I know more than a few of you remembered to vote on election day because of a little sketch at the top of your search page.  Most recently, Google changed their name to “Topeka” on April Fools Day because Topeka changed their name to “Google” for a day in an effort to win the bid for Google’s new high speed internet service.

New York Times Magazine recently ran a great story about Google’s Doodles and how they’ve helped solidify Google’s identity over the years.  I’ve posted the story below.  If you don’t have time [...]

Glory, glory, glory! The iPad has finally arrived.

Do you want to know how your Web site will look on the iPad? Our friends at Spoiled Milk shared this site with us via Facebook this morning.

iPadpeek lets users get an idea of what their site will look like on what has to be the best tablet since the Ten Commandments or Rosetta Stone.  Check it out!

I’ve been devouring the new issue of Inc. Magazine. The current issue talks about secrets of the “highly productive.”  There are a lot of interviews with all the CEO’s you’re always reading about but there are also a few really cool innovators sprinkled throughout the issue.

There’s a two-page spread about Caterina Fake (founder of Hunch, a NYC based Web company that takes user input to make recommendations on thousands of subjects).  Caterina also co-founded Flickr.  She’s a smart cookie.  She talks about how she isn’t that organized but measures productivity by the end product or idea and not the amount of time put into it.

That’s all good and true, but right before her spread, there’s a column about Charles Best.  He’s the co-founder and CEO of DonorsChoose, a NYC nonprofit that allows people to contribute to public school projects.

Charles is [...]

According to All Things Digital, change is coming to Facebook. Oh, stop! Don’t get your panties in a bunch just yet.  This change is small and will most likely go unnoticed by most users outside of the advertising and marketing community.

From All Things Digital:

Goodbye “fan.” Hello “like.”

That’s the message Facebook is passing along to its advertisers today. In a move that’s both minor and telling, the social network is replacing its “fan” buttons with “like” buttons on ads that direct users to big brands’ “fan pages.”

“Fan pages” are an increasingly big part of Facebook’s business. They’re in many ways a throwback to the branded sites AOL set up in its heyday, giving the brands a chance to stake out real estate in the heavily trafficked social network. Brands can set them up for [...]

Issue No. 18 of Block Club Magazine is our 3rd Annual House & Home Issue (March/April 2010), and we couldn’t have had a better time designing it. Our editorial direction took a turn backward to the historical significance of our region’s older homes. The movement to restore and rehab homes older than 50 years––which has been gaining momentum in the last five or six years––is a fascinating one. We could approach the topic by way of focusing on structures and architecture, or we could have decided to discuss how residents make older houses into newer homes. Both angles offered intriguing design possibilities. We decided to have both conversations, combining the physical and the emotional. This presented a wonderful challenge to us as designers.

We kept the look of this issue very simple, instead devoting our [...]

Shango, a popular restaurant in Buffalo’s University Heights neighborhood, recently approached Block Club to design a series of print ads for 2010. Dining at the restaurant is a treat and we were excited to accept the challenge.

For those of you who haven’t been to Shango, here’s a quick overview pulled from their Web site: Inspired by the soulful cuisine of New Orleans, Shango Bistro and Wine Bar strives to awaken the senses through Chef Jim Guarino’s culinary creations, a Wine Spectator-awarded wine list 170 bottles strong, and our eclectic, carefully hand-selected beer menu. Shango embodies the spirit of a true neighborhood bistro — offering a light, fun atmosphere paired with serious food and drink.

So how do we pair serious food and drink with a light fun atmosphere? By playing with our food, of course! In the final campaign, four [...]

When Upper Allegheny Health System hired Block Club Creative to design a Web site for their physician recruitment program, they were looking for something straightforward, eye-catching and informational. With the launch of their two new sites for Olean General Hospital and Bradford Regional Medical center, the executive staff, marketing staff and director of physician recruitment are positioned to use these sites as valuable tools to attract some of the nation’s best doctors to the system’s two rural hospitals.



The two sites, while similar in layout, feature information tailored to Olean General Hospital and Bradford Regional Medical Center and their surrounding communities. Content includes a letter from the CEO, current job opportunities, available local housing, regional attractions and more.


Even if you’re not a physician looking for a new job opportunity, take a minute to visit oghphysicians.com and bradfordphysicians.com to explore the [...]

The Internet is a monstrously large space. Well, it isn’t even a place, but an endless bulletin board of images, videos, text and media. Google can help narrow down the landscape, but so can other indexing sites.

If you’re creative––or if you’re looking for creative inspiration for your business or project––consider using an image bookmarking site to help organize your finds. There are many great Web sites that can make finding inspiration a much more manageable experience.

Ffffound.com is one of the best image sites out there. It is simple and clean in its operation, but it offers a very selective library of photographs, illustrations and editorial designs. The best way to use Ffffound is to simply start paging through the site. If you find an image you like, you can click on it to see [...]

The creative services side of Block Club, Inc. is happy to announce that our new site, www.BlockClubCreative.com is now live! Features include an expanded portfolio, product and service descriptions, testimonials from happy customers, and information about the Block Club Creative team.

To kick off the launch of our new site, we’re offering a promotion for three days only! Any business, person or organization can purchase a three-page Web site in the next three days for only $933! That’s a very big savings from our normal price.

For more information, check out the bottom of this email or click here. Remember to check out our new site and act fast to take advantage of this special. The offer expires at 5p.m., this Friday, March 19, 2010. Thank you for all of your support!