Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:57:58 +0000

Asides

• Many of the terms defined in this dictionary address, directly or indirectly, the concept of value. Indeed design can be understood as being a value-adding and value-negotiating process. Value is a very basic and broad concept. It relates to the worth that we humans ascribe to anything and for almost any reason.

  If you were to think of any reason that some thing, someone, some feeling, some experience might be of some worth, importance, or significance then you have placed a value on it. Value is most commonly understood to represent the amount of money (or other “in-kind” currency) that it takes to complete an exchange to buy, to rent, to employ, and so on.

  
  The relative amount that one must exchange is the value of the thing exchanged. The precedence usually given to quantitative valuation has led to attempts to quantify the less tangible qualitative aspects related to design.

  Design credits objects with value and the success or failure of a design can be understood in large part by how much additional value design imparts to the designed artifact. Predictably, the process for determining the success or failure of a design in terms of adding value to the “base” is through evaluation. (The difference between evaluation and testing is the key to understanding the idea of value in relation to design.)

  The relative value of the things in our life is derived from a combination of how they make us feel (non-substantive assessments) and how well the artifact works in relation to the design criteria (substantive assessments). There is a greater demand on designers to be able to articulate the substantive value of design to clients and, at the same time, a growing appreciation in business circles that innovation will rarely result from strictly quantitative and efficiency-based processes.

  Consequently there is a growing awareness of other value systems for all those involved in the commissioning, manufacture, and distribution of designed objects and systems. The combination of a heavy reliance on metrics-based accounting and the increased appreciation of the importance of qualitative values for business has resulted in what is known as “triple-bottom line accounting.”

  This is an attempt to quantify on the balance sheet the social and environmental impact of a business operation and this in turn influences design decisions (see entry on Sustainability for a critique of this approach). Qualitative values are critical to design: a newly designed object that reduces waste will encourage a buyer who is concerned about the environment to assign civic value to it; if it embodies a technical innovation, the financial backer gains status value; and, if it is bought as a gift implicit with emotional understanding and intimacy, then the recipient attributes an emotional value to it.

  The designer or design team make choices at every point in the design process and most of these are value laden. Every decision at each “choice point” will give priority to certain values over others.

AmericanEagle.com Announces Expansion in North Carolina; Opens New Regional Office in Raleigh

AmericanEagle.com, an industry leader in Web site design, development, hosting, and marketing, is expanding its national footprint with today's announcement that Raleigh will host a new North Carolina regional office located at 6070 Six Forks Road, Suite-E.

[ClickPress, Tue Jan 12 2010] AmericanEagle.com, an industry leader in Web site design, development, hosting, and marketing, is expanding its national footprint with today's announcement that Raleigh will host a new North Carolina regional office located at 6070 Six Forks Road, Suite-E. The new office will bring onboard the innovative Media and Web Marketing team from RTP Designs.

In order to share information about the new regional office, AmericanEagle.com is hosting an online introduction seminar the last week of January, 2010. Included in the discussion will be web design, hosting, and marketing services. To register for the event and learn more, please contact Jason Jasura at 919.341.0152 or ncinfo@americaneagle.com.

AmericanEagle.com serves customers nationwide through 6 corporate offices. Since 1995, AmericanEagle has designed and developed more than 3,000+ Web sites, Intranets, and online applications for virtually all types of businesses, including small and medium-sized, Fortune 500, government organizations, and associations. The goal: to provide their clients with unrivaled website strategy, designs, development, and maintenance through their internet development solutions, services, and technology. Their services focus on providing businesses with expert marketing, consulting, and development of compelling promotional campaigns. These services insure the success of an on-line web presence.

"We are excited to welcome the North Carolina office to the AmericanEagle.com family. The office is an ideal location to service customers and we are confident that the new office will be a successful addition to the local community." said Tony Svanascinni, CEO of AmericanEagle.com. "With the combined expertise and skills of AmericanEagle.com and the RTP Designs Team we will continue to expand and satisfy a growing demand in and around North Carolina for high-quality Web design, development, hosting, and marketing."
"With a history of innovative product introductions and a commitment to service, AmericanEagle.com delivers long-term value to its customers" said Paul Gothier of the North Carolina regional office. "Through our new regional office, we are proud that we can work with clients to build compelling, value-based web presence and content management systems that will aid business's marketing/branding, business management, and success in today's economy."

About AmericanEagle.com
Americaneagle.com, Inc., founded in 1978, is based in Park Ridge, Illinois, and employs state-of-the-art web-based technologies to help businesses improve quality, efficiency, and operate more cost effectively. Currently, Americaneagle.com employs approximately 160 professionals including broad support teams geared to simplify web operations, design and development experts, operational support professionals, and training managers. These high quality web-based services are provided to small and large businesses, startups, Fortune 500 companies, professional sports teams, other business niches. It has offices throughout the country including Chicago, Cleveland, Washington D.C., New York, and Los Angeles. Some of their 3,000+ clients include Body Central, Fannie May Candies, New York Giants, Donald J Pliner Shoes, NASCAR, Chicago Bears, and the U.S. Army. For additional information about Americaneagle.com please visit www.americaneagle.com.