looking for 2Advanced.com Prices?

[tpnovak]

Not all of the work that we perform these days are sites. We are asked to build Flash based Applications, Intranets, Extranets, Corporate Presentations, Multimedia CD-ROMs, Broadcast Flash, Custom Audio, Tradeshow Kiosks, Prototypes, Concepts, and much more.

In other cases, we are under non-disclosure agreement (NDA) not to list the work. So, in that context, listing them here would be a violation...

But, here's one for you. Hasn't been listed in the portfolio just yet, but I heard it was just launched on Friday. Not a particularly large project by any means, however it does fall under the title of "2A work for a Fortune 500 company".

http://www.fordvehicles.com/suvs/expedition03

Otherwise... We have a lot of cool stuff in process that I won't be able to disclose until it launches. For something else recent, check out the piece EJ just did for BD4D Los Angeles "25 Milligrams" (oh and thanks to Aversion for the earlier comments):

http://www.2advanced.com/25mg

[oakleyzrosae]

First off I am a bit confused, "Privacy agreements" does that mean that they cant say that they designed a particualr site? I dont understand....

Secondly, what ever happened to http://www.nightcityaquarium.com, i always wondered if that site ever went up?

I figured 2A made other sites that no one knew about cause man, I dont know how a company can survive only making 1 site like every 2 months, but I'm just basing that on what i see in the portfolio section...oh well

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by Grifter730

Originally posted by tpnovak
-Is it a Fixed bid job or Time and Materials?

What does this mean? [/B]

Fixed Bid Contracts are contracts that are performed based on a list of specific tasks for a single price. There's no break down of hourly rates, and the client knows exactly what it's going to cost. Downside for you is that if you estimate $1,500 for the job and it takes you 1000 hours to complete - that's your problem, not the clients. The trick is to get your Statement of Work (Scope) down pat - to the last detail. So that you don't end up "upside down".

T&M Contracts are hourly arrangements. Some clients may perfer this arrangement or it is more appropriate when you cannot determine a precise scope of work. Time refers to the hourly portion of your work, Materials refers to the additional costs which you may incur like Travel. (Under this arrangement it customary for a client to pay for your Travel expenses).

[oakleyzrosae]

Mr. Novak thanks for taking the time to answer som eof our questions....its always appreciated...kep up the goodwork

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by oakleyzrosae
First off I am a bit confused, "Privacy agreements" does that mean that they cant say that they designed a particualr site? I dont understand....

Yes. NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements) or Privacy Agreements are sometimes customary, depends on the client. But, they can stipulate no "bragging rights". In turn that creates opportunity loss for you. What if we did work for Toshiba (which we haven't, I'm just typing on a notebook) and let's say they wanted to take away bragging rights. Damn. What are your options? Walk away? or maybe negotiate an alternate price? Here's another possibility, What if Nike calls Redsky who in turn calls 2A (which they haven't) because they are booked or don't have all the specialists to meet the requirements... Again, Redsky may not want it getting back to Nike that 2A did some work for them.

Secondly, what ever happened to http://www.nightcityaquarium.com, i always wondered if that site ever went up?

Nope... Some ideas unfortunately die on the vine or get perpetually delayed... It's all about having enough time in the day.

I figured 2A made other sites that no one knew about cause man, I dont know how a company can survive only making 1 site like every 2 months, but I'm just basing that on what i see in the portfolio section...oh well

That all depends... How many people are in the company? what is that company's run rate? and what is their average price tag? But as I noted above we do a lot more these days than just website work.

[Grifter730]

How big is 2A? I mean like, how many people work there? Do you consider yourselves to be like Kioken in your views of the web?

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by Grifter730
How big is 2A? I mean like, how many people work there?

With two recent hires, we total 10 people now.

Do you consider yourselves to be like Kioken in your views of the web?

Not really. Only from the standpoint that we are in every way a Studio at heart and would rather stay small than become the next Razorfish. We all know how that story is bound to end. By the same token, we don't see ourselves dedicated to the "firing clients" mentality as Kioken had been quoted saying some time ago with respect to Sony.

Everyone at the studio is in this business because it's incredible. The opportunity to do what we love, all day long, and take home a paycheck. We work an obscene number of hours and everyone is always experimenting and learning... (what is a weekend?) But the real satisfaction comes when a client says "WOW!!!!".

[Grifter730]

Originally posted by tpnovak

Not really. Only from the standpoint that we are in every way a Studio at heart and would rather stay small than become the next Razorfish. We all know how that story is bound to end. By the same token, we don't see ourselves dedicated to the "firing clients" mentality as Kioken had been quoted saying some time ago with respect to Sony.

Sorry for being out of the loop, but what exactly is so bad about Razorfish? I mean, you don't have to tell me what you think personally, but rather, why does it seem that the general designers don't like them...?

Everyone at the studio is in this business because it's incredible. The opportunity to do what we love, all day long, and take home a paycheck. We work an obscene number of hours and everyone is always experimenting and learning... (what is a weekend?) But the real satisfaction comes when a client says "WOW!!!!".

Working obscene hours is almost the same as working normal hours if you're paid hourly

[aversion]

Originally posted by Grifter730

Sorry for being out of the loop, but what exactly is so bad about Razorfish? I mean, you don't have to tell me what you think personally, but rather, why does it seem that the general designers don't like them...?

nothing, i don't think people have a particular dislike for them, they produce great stuff, i think the thing about them is, like kioken, they courted a lot of publicity in the early days and had a lot of big clients to show off.

they paid pretty heavily in the downturn, london seems to be full of ex-razorfish employees looking for work, but they're still active in the states and more power to them.

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by Grifter730
Sorry for being out of the loop, but what exactly is so bad about Razorfish? I mean, you don't have to tell me what you think personally, but rather, why does it seem that the general designers don't like them...?

The problem (in my opinion) stems from the vision of taking a design firm public... The corporate mission of building a sustaining design centric company with some 2000+ employees and unreal revenue is just ridiculous. Evidenced by the failures or eminent failures of nearly EVERY single one of them: March First, IXL, Organic, Agency.com, Tanning, Sapient, Proxicom, US Internetworking, Rare Medium, and Razorfish (just to name a few). Today, those that are still alive are trading below $2 per share, a significant disappointment for those who bought in around $75. And to my knowledge not a single one of them is currently profitable (and many never reached profitability before closing).

My point: The big public firm business plan just doesn't fly. Or at least it remains an unproven concept.

On the design side, while it was once true that the design was being defined by these companies. Economic realities, broken promises and mass downsizing have lead many of the really talented designers to search for a better life.

[antne]

does 2advanced still actively promote itself and advertise for new clients or do you now rely on your impressive portfolio and worldwide reputation to bring clients to you?

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by antne
does 2advanced still actively promote itself and advertise for new clients or do you now rely on your impressive portfolio and worldwide reputation to bring clients to you?

Good question. Our "traditional" advertising efforts have been next to nil for the past year - Instead of focusing on advertsing (promos, mailers, tele-sales, etc.) we try to generate a steady stream of experimental pieces (like perspectives and 25mg), attending events (like BD4D Los Angeles), writing books or chapters in books (recently Flash MX Magic), etc.

It's really the best of both worlds, in that the design team gets to experiment and play in between projects.

[antne]

ive been a huge fan of 2advanced work for a couple of years now,you said in an earlier post you have 10 people working at 2advanced.......do they all have their own areas of expertise in which they work or do you all work on the same project at the same time?

[oakleyzrosae]

I was wondering,
Why in the portfolio section have we never been able to view the "Mission Impossible" presentation Is it up at all on the web?

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by antne
ive been a huge fan of 2advanced work for a couple of years now,you said in an earlier post you have 10 people working at 2advanced.......do they all have their own areas of expertise in which they work or do you all work on the same project at the same time?

Another good question. One of the important characteristics of everyone who works for the company is that they are multi-talented. For example one of our Sr. Designers is equally skilled in Print, Web Design and Flash (and now learning 3D) ... Others have insane development experience, such as my wife who was formally a software engineer on the B2 Stealth Bomber some years back...Or our CTO who has just under 13 years development experience in nearly every Programming Language and SQL Database I can think of. (Ha... Now I'm starting to give away some of our ages).

We run anywhere from 3-4 projects simultaneously (sometimes more) depending upon complexity. Teams are typically made up of 2-4 people. Sometimes only a single person and sometimes, everyone. Again, it just all depends.

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by oakleyzrosae
I was wondering,
Why in the portfolio section have we never been able to view the "Mission Impossible" presentation Is it up at all on the web?

Sorry, but this piece was never really built for the web. It was originally for a Corporate Sales Meeting. We tried scaling it a couple times and the results were VERY scary.

[antne]

do you think 2advanced will ever expand into the television market,i mean like advertisements or something.with some of the stuff you do like your demo reel,and some of your intros..they could easily be adapted for 30 second television commercials..?is this a direction you may be heading in the future?(just a rumour i heard)

[nevil]

hmmmm, a spokesman for 2Advanced studios, interesting, so many previously asked/unanswered questions can now be shed light on, if tpnovak is willing to keep up with it, at the moment he is doing great.

cheers

Nevil
http://www.theory7.com

[aversion]

I'm very pleased to say that Tony Novak has consented to be interviewed for FlashKit

I think we would all like to see comments like these reach a wider audience.

if you have any questions you would like to submit feel free to email them to me (link below) and I'll see what I can do.

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by antne
do you think 2advanced will ever expand into the television market,i mean like advertisements or something.with some of the stuff you do like your demo reel,and some of your intros..they could easily be adapted for 30 second television commercials..?is this a direction you may be heading in the future?(just a rumour i heard)

Absolutely. Broadcast Quality Flash is not only completely feasible, but it's been proven by companies like Kerb. As far as post production solutions go, it's definitely a viable solution in my opinion - After all, at $100,000 a pop, not everyone can afford a complete Avid Video editing station.