News
May 7, 2010 - May LiveWorkPortland.org focuses on Portland Maine's burgeoning creative economy serving as a resource for creative entrepreneurs considering relocating to here.
The site also provides a social networking space for the city's creative community, the centerpiece of a broad economic development campaign to promote Portland as a creative epicenter.
LiveWorkPortland is a collaborative project led by Andrew Graham, co-founder of Image Works with Dana Hutchins (in 1977!), now owner of Portland Color — portlandcolor.com. Image Works provided information architecture and strategic consulting for the project. Graphic design by Lucian Burg of LuDesign and Leslie Evans of LEDA — ledadesign.com. The site was built by Gordon Holman of Slickfish Studios — slickfishstudios.com — and Jim Craddock of Yellahoose — yellahoose.com.
At the heart of the website are multimedia interviews with nationally recognized creatives who have chosen Portland as home and workspace. Created by Willa Kammerer — twigsandstring.blogspot.com — and Tonee Harbert —toneeharbertphoto.com, six of these mini-slide movies debuted at the Live/Work Portland launch event on May 6 at the Portland Museum of Art. These personal stories capture the creativity and innovation that has exploded here in the past ten years. We want to show innovative artists, designers and entrepreneurs from "away" that it is possible to be creative, be successful, and be happy here in Portland Maine.
April 21, 2010 - More than 3000 web developers made this year's DrupalCon annual conference one of the fastest-growing web technology conferences in the world. More than double last year's attendance.
Image Works Senior Software Engineer and Lead Drupal Developer, Shawn Smiley, was there to share in as much of it as tired feet, fingers and voice could handle. Here's just a sampling of what Shawn has brought back to Image Works from the conference.
This year the Drupal CMS has reached a critical mass of adoption by web developers and by a huge community of contributing, expert open-source technology developers that is unlikely to be met or exceeded in the next ten years by any proprietary platform. This critical mass helps us create and deliver value directly to our client.
Contact us now and we'll show you how to make the Web work better for you.
December 3, 2009 - Over the past 18 months, Image Works has been developing an innovative citizen science project; a suite of web-based, data-driven software applications for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute as the core of their Vital Signs (VS) program.
Composed of custom applications, dozens of Drupal 6 modules, Google Maps and other web services, the VS project provides students, teachers, scientists, DEP personnel and volunteers with the tools to monitor environmental conditions throughout Maine. The project includes a structured central data repository, digital tools and protocols for identifying, mapping, tracking and analyzing the occurrence and spread of invasive species into and around the state. These resources and supporting programs are being installed onto the Maine student laptops for fall 2009 and will be made available to all interested parties during the next year.
September 27, 2009 - Just how vital is Maine's information technology future? Image Works President, Dana Hutchins, joined a panel of other IT professionals on the Mainebiz Sunday program on WCSH 6 TV in Portland and WLBZ 2 in Bangor.
The panel discussed needs for funding, education, and infrastructure to help Maine's IT industry be more competitive. Also appearing on the program were Cynthia Smith of Angel Networks Security in Orono, Tony Paine, VP and Chief Technology Officer of Kepware Technologies in Portland and David Stone, CEO of CashStar, a fast-moving Maine startup.
View the show, as well as the web-only After Thoughts segment.
September, 2009 - Image Works recently collaborated with the Maine International Trade Center (MITC) on a pro bono project to create a high impact video presenting the latest renewable energy developments in the State of Maine.
The video is being shown at the Governor's Renewable Energy Mission to Europe, September 19-26 in Madrid, Spain and Bremen, Germany. The MITC-organized trade mission will provide participants with unique networking opportunities and one-on-one meetings with potential foreign trade partners. According to MITC, Spain and Germany are considered European leaders in both on- and offshore wind projects. They rank first and third worldwide in installed wind power, and these markets provide excellent opportunities for Maine's renewable energy sector.
September 1, 2009 - At the May 1, 2009 meeting of the Environmental and Energy Technology Council of Maine (E2Tech), former Governor Angus King spoke about Maine's dangerous dependence on fossil fuels and the urgency of a national energy policy that includes the development of offshore wind. The talk was held at the Maine Audubon Society Education Center in Falmouth, ME. Image Works' President Dana Hutchins was on hand to capture the Governor's talk on Maine's energy policy.
September, 2009 - The Ocean Energy Institute (OEI), founded by Matt Simmons of Simmons & Company International, is a think-tank and venture capital fund addressing the challenges of the U.S. and global energy future. OEI is currently focused on leveraging Maine's offshore wind energy resource.
OEI supports the collaborative efforts of researchers, project developers, and policymakers to address global energy needs by taking a systems approach to the promising solution of renewable ocean energy.
Image Works launched the Ocean Energy Institute website to coincide with OEI's attendance at the European Offshore Wind 2009 Conference in Stockholm from September 14-16. The new site features an interactive timeline of 'future energy scenarios' conveying the urgency of finding solutions to our growing energy needs and the problem of peak oil. Up-to-date news and current content about the renewable energy industry is dynamically displayed from credible sources on the internet. Successive additions to the site will include additional content about deep water wind, how wind turbines work, Gulf of Maine wind data, and collaborative tools for connecting people who are working on ocean energy solutions.
August 1, 2009 - An innovative new product idea will soon come to market. It'll allow students and educational counselors to find the academic programs they're looking for anywhere in the country.
This idea will be dramatically enhanced when Image Works designs the new web site, creating a clean and confidence-building look/feel. But first we'll turn ideas about the site's layout and organization into full-fledged wireframes. These are design blueprints used by our graphic designers and our software developers. A focus on the search and search results section—the core of the product—will guarantee the product's success.
April, 2009 - The Council for Disability Awareness (CDA) is a non-profit group formed in 2005 to help the American workforce become aware of the growing instances of disability and its financial consequences. The CDA's primary communications vehicle is their resource-rich web site.
In April, Image Works unveiled the second generation web site for the CDA. The site features interactive Flash pieces where visitors can estimate their probability of becoming disabled during their working lifetime and provides tools to plan for the financial impact of a disabling event.
March, 2009 - The Maine International Trade Center has contacted Image Works to guide them through the process of redesigning their web site. It is more than seven years old and does not adequately reflect the trade organization's long term goals nor its commitment to serving members.
Image Works will conduct a content audit and assist MITC in evaluating and reducing its content so that the site's content focuses on essentials and quality information only. Then we will rethink the site's information architecture and task our graphic designers with updating the site's look/feel. Our developers will program online registration and payments for MITC's active educational programs, build a custom content management system for portions of the site, and then we will build the site by migrating content into the new templates. The result will position MITC for its role in promoting Maine's economy through increased international trade.