andicanhelp – Andicanhelp Online

December 27, 2024December 27, 2024

Skins Etc Business Card Holder

A couple weekends ago, one of my first business card display prints was damaged by a customer going to grab a card. It happens – as it was one of my first prints overall it was not perfect by any means.

This time around, I wanted to make something a little more special than just your conventional business card holder. I was able to find a scale model jeep file and modified it to where the business cards would sit in the driver’s seat. Perfect for the business who sells Jeep branded apparel.

I also added their business name onto the hood of the model so it’s uniquely theirs, and naturally got carried away trying to add some small accessories like a jerry can and a shovel to the model. I ended up needing to go back to the basics of the model in order for the file to export and print properly.

This thing is also HUGE for my build plate, so I’m having to print it with the headlights pointing upward like we’re launching to space. It’s total print time is about 2 and a half days from start to finish. It’s easily the single largest piece I’ve printed in one go using almost 500 grams of filament. I’m streaming the print from start to finish on Twitch so we can keep an eye on it if I need to leave. It’s also super relaxing to listen to.

Having the blacklights on in the enclosure really helped for making sure the first critical lines went down well. Between tightening my nozzle at temperature and adjusting the z-offset, I was able to get a clean consistent first layer which built up nicely.

Here we are a few hours later. You can see that the lines are adhering well, not having much errant filament strings.

Coming along nicely! Expecting to see this come off the build plate late Friday night, early Saturday morning.

December 24, 2024December 27, 2024

Mandy Miles Studios – Forming Hands Business Card Holder

After much adieu and modifications to the 3D printer, we decided to revisit a previous print that I had made for the studio a while back. We had printed a pair of hands on a platform to hold Mandy’s business cards in her shop. They’re fun, eye-catching, and have started great conversations leading to classes and much more.

That being said, it was printed when I was just beginning to learn how to print. The print was made with PETG and used a light infill, which made it not as sturdy as later prints. I printed at a lower temperature than what I needed which led to stringing and overall not a great product.

This time around, I’ve made adjustments to my temperature and settings to where we’ll have a sturdier end result in a very pretty purple color that matches her walls in the shop.

December 14, 2024December 19, 2024

Minutes To A New Midnight: Our Accelerating Race with Quantum Computing and AI

We hear it all the time – “rapidly-changing environment”. It tends to blur into the background of our language in the office and in technology as a looming force ever arriving at the horizon of how we interact and transact. This is only a half-truth, as the rapidly-changing environment is also accelerating at which it is changing.

It was announced recently that the newest generation of Quantum Supercomputers can process and calculate a problem with the size and complexity that would take its predecessor septillions of years to complete, in minutes. For those wondering, a septillion has twenty-four zeros. This amount of time, complexity and magnitude of processing power this represents is barely comprehendible, and represents a huge step in how we navigate our world with technology.

close up photo of mining rig — Photo by panumas nikhomkhai on Pexels.com

This also represents a development into a sort of “weapons grade” technology and computation power, harkening back to the “doomsday clock” visual during the cold war. Each minute closer to midnight represents our closeness to the end, and while this was traditionally applied to means of war like nuclear weapons, these new leaps in computational technology carry that torch into our new digital age.

A significant part of modern warfare is fought through infrastructure, logistics and and ever increasing reliance on the digital systems that coordinate them. Since its birth and inception the internet has served as an information distribution equalizer, allowing seemingly small players to hold outsized leverage to larger forces in the space. A single computer worm or virus has historically caused incalculable damage to how our society works, and this nimbleness to powerful computers only amplifies this danger.

Our current model of cybersecurity is based on system complexity, completeness of coverage on potential vulnerabilities, and the people that participate in that security system. In an environment where passwords of virtually any complexity and length can be cracked in moments, we will need to rethink our approach to security of our existing and upcoming technology.

Our more complex processing tasks take an often unseen amount of power and resources. Every time that we search on Google, processing power is used to bring us the results that we want returned. This takes the shape of electricity used, bandwidth on existing infrastructure capacity. The development of generative AI has accelerated this resource use as well; with some Large Language Models (LLMs) queries using the same energy as dozens of normal web searches. As we move to a model of interacting online that involves more AI, machine learning and resource intensive systems, this will only increase our demand for energy to run these systems. We experienced this and continue to see it in the mining and management of cryptocurrency and NFTs and is a point to be considered as we continue into this new age of technological acceleration.

white windmill — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Security and sustainability of our computation resources will be critical in how the next years and generations of technology unfold. Responsible use of computational power and AI usage must come from a reductive mindset to its use to where only the absolutely necessary components of these systems are supported by these cutting edge technologies.

– Andi

December 13, 2024December 15, 2024

More Than Looks: How To Make Your Website Perform

If you’re looking to launch your business online, there’s no shortage of options for you to make that a reality. Every other ad brags about launching your own website in an afternoon. Great! You sit down, you grab your credit card and begin claiming your domain. Website in an afternoon. Easy, right?

There’s much more to building your site than just claiming your domain and uploading some photos. With the right key words, structure and content your site can draw and convert the customers you’re looking for! Conversely, do it wrong and you could be missing out on finding (or worse, frustrating) valuable customers.

Starting with the structure, your customer should ideally be within 1-3 clicks away from being able to buy from any page. Keeping your website simple but descriptive can help concentrate traffic to where you want it to go. Your top and bottom navigation menus should also reflect this easily understood structure.

Your content should reflect and answer what your customers are searching for in Google and other search engines. Ensure that you’re using proper key wording to capture these searches on google and driving relevant traffic. Enriching content with links, embedded images and widgets with metadata will help ensure Google assesses your site positively. These best practices will help grow your audience and continue that growth as policies and technologies evolve online.

In addition to design aesthetics and your choice of photos to upload to your site, there is a depth of metadata that helps identify your site with search engines and drive relevant traffic to you. Understanding how to configure and update this metadata can make or break a site’s presence on Google (search engines don’t have eyes, yet). Your website should follow ADA Accessibility standards and regulations including color contrast degrees, image to text data and other features required for your site. Check to ensure that you have an active SSL certificate installed on your site and that it is working properly. Websites without SSL certificates are often blocked and/or dropped in search favorability.

Keep in mind the amount of data that your website uses every time a page is loaded. If your pages take longer to load, you may need to reduce your image sizes or site complexity. This can be done through compression, choosing a lower image resolution or consolidating pages.

Want help? We can help from full-service to consultation and planning for your next website project. Let’s connect.

-Andi

March 29, 2023April 26, 2023

What is a Brand?

by Andi Miles

Investopedia defines a brand as “a name, symbol, or other market that businesses use to distinguish their products from competitors’ and foster a public identity.” A brand is a crucial part of any business. It’s what sets your product or service apart from the competition and helps customers remember who you are. At its core, a brand is a name, symbol, or other market that businesses use to distinguish their products from competitors and foster a public identity.

However, a brand is more than just a name or logo. It’s the intangible process that connects the product with the consumer. While there may be documents and artifacts to define a brand and how it is displayed to a customer, ultimately, the brand’s final shape is created in the consumer’s mind.

The complexity of a brand increases with the variety of products and customers it serves. As you try to cater to more markets, your brand and its marketing strategy will become more complicated. Adding a new consumer product line to a business-geared brand, for example, may require a totally new direction with different marketing creative and distribution strategies to get the best results.

A good brand should be both distinguishing and identifying for the product(s), but also reminiscent of familiar brands, concepts, etc. It should be recognizable and memorable to the consumer, both at the time of purchase and when they need to re-purchase. This is critical to continued loyalty and success.

Branding is not just limited to the packaging of a product. It can include the tone of materials distributed, both customer and consumer-facing, and can possibly include guiding internal communications and emails. Branding can also be a position or approach to an issue encountered in the world and how the products or company behind the brand navigate the issue.

When defining your brand, a great place to start is to visualize your product on a shelf from the consumer’s point of view. Can you imagine what the logo on the packaging looks like? What emotions or thoughts do you experience towards the product? What colors do you associate with the packaging? A logo is the visual representation of a brand, and it should reflect the tone and personality of the product or business it represents.

All of these elements can be defined in a document called a Style Guide. A Style Guide can be used as a standardization for marketing, PR, photography and videography, graphics work, and more, to maintain a consistent public vision across teams or iterations of projects/initiatives.

Defining and maintaining a document such as a Style Guide will lead to years of adjustment/improvement on your initial brand as it grows, and a turnkey start to any marketing campaign, regardless of agency, in-house, or other production. Example of a style guide for a multinational streaming service.

Ready to define your brand? Andi can help. Reach out today.

March 9, 2023April 26, 2023

Productivity in Your Daily Routine

by Andi Miles

Are you feeling overwhelmed with your workload and unsure of how to make the most of your time at work? You’re not alone! Planning, prioritizing, and allowing for flexibility are key to ensuring a productive workday.

To start, take 10-30 minutes to plan out your day. Identify what absolutely needs to be completed today, what would be nice to complete, what needs to be done this week, and what can be done to set up for next week. Clearly define the end result for each task so you know when it’s complete.

Be realistic with your time budget. Trying to cram 10 hours of work into 8 will lead to mistakes and wasted time fixing them. If you need to be reactionary, factor that time into your day and structure your schedule accordingly.

Prioritizing tasks is crucial. Start with critical tasks that ensure the core functions of your job are met. Then, look for ways to simplify your work now and in the future, followed by executables for the week. Delegate tasks that can be done better by someone else or that free you up to tackle more valuable tasks.

Finally, identify tasks that can be ignored if they are solved by your work on higher priority items. Work through your list from highest to lowest priority and when you’re done, you’re done for the day! By following these simple planning and prioritization steps, you can not only be efficient, but also proactively solve problems with your time and maximize your productivity at work.

March 7, 2023December 15, 2024

Let’s connect. Andi can help.

Introducing Andicanhelp. Its mission is to connect the talented people that fuel online creativity and commerce with the world’s next top brands.

Designed to deliver quality ecommerce and marketing solutions at pricing that emerging brands can afford, andicanhelp is always looking to the bleeding edge of eCommerce, SEO, advertising and online trends shaping how we shop.

Looking for inspiration to take online shopping on for yourself? We can help too! Look to our resource center for helpful tips around eCommerce, productivity and more!

Thanks so much! Looking forward to the next opportunity.

-andicanhelp