theGood » theGOOD Now

How Are We Different?

ChrisTeso — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:51:26 +0000

Asking a company how they are different is akin to asking a ninja which shade of black they prefer.

In other words, theGOOD is different in the same way that all companies differ from each other. Each one brings its own set of expertise, talent, solutions, and even mistakes, to a given problem.

Each project is a problem with various solutions. We attack problems from a confident honest place. Confident with ourselves and honest with our clients.

How does this matter in the context of interactive? We don’t come from a place where we’re learning to design for interactive, or a place where we’re trying to make the difficult transition from traditional media. We come from a place of extreme confidence in our interactive abilities. Confident we can build anything we concept, or concept what needs to be built.

We’ve lived interactive since its internet inception. When you’ve lived there that long the solutions become beautiful, profitable and effective. They become utterly apparent, and you execute them with all the ease of instinct.

theGOOD Team

ChrisTeso — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:44:38 +0000

theGOOD is founded by former agency Interactive Directors who knew there was a better way.

Chris Teso

Konichiwa, I’m Chris, Creative Director and co-founder of theGOOD.

I subscribe to the belief that nanotechnology, coupled with Moore’s law and genetic engineering, will enable earthlings to attain immortality within 30 years. Unfortunately for me, I live life like this is fact.

Not your traditional Creative Director, I don’t just have good ideas, I like to get my hands dirty. Educated in design, an autodidactic programmer, and 14 years of experience in the interactive space, I pride myself on being able to fully concept, design and develop projects from start to completion. It is this combination of skills in each stage of the project cycle that have earned me mentions in Communication Arts, an Emmy, Clio, Mobius, and Webby Awards, and an Andy Award for work on brands such as Truth, Progressive Insurance, ESPN, and Activision.

Wait… did I just brag about awards? I dislike awards. Companies that pay money to enter an award contest then Facebook everyone to vote for them should just save time and money and buy themselves a shiny award. Moving on…

Aside from being a skilled Designer and Developer, I’m also a Getty Photographer, with work published in several magazines.

My day to day duties at theGOOD range from designing websites, concepting installations and coding AIR applications to managing photo-shoots, overseeing brand guidelines, and maintaining our 110 gallon reef aquarium.

My name is Chris Teso and I want us to succeed. And so we shall.

Follow me on Twitter, Flickr, and LinkedIn.

Jon MacDonald

Hey there. I’m Jon, President and co-founder of theGOOD.

My career started as the sole web designer/developer for a start-up agency during the dot-com boom where I supported clients such as Nationwide Insurance and GE. After relocating to Portland, Oregon, I worked with two well-known agencies who specialize in e-learning and infographics where I played leadership roles in interactive projects for blue-chip clients including Comcast, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Nike and UPS.

Since co-founding theGOOD, I can usually be found writing statements of work, managing project schedules, handling the day-to-day business operations, and occasionally contributing to the development of our client and internal projects.

I contributed a chapter to “The Essential Guide to Open Source Flash Development”, published by Friends of Ed, am involved with several open source projects, and have graced the stage and numerous events including , the global web conference. I am also a regular contributor to Flash & Flex Developer’s Magazine.

I have a passion for usability and user interfaces, and the marriage of design and development has always piqued my interest. While most of my time these days is not spent designing, but rather programming and managing clients, I still hold a strong appreciation for the need for good design be it interactive, the lamp on my desk, or modern architecture.

Find me on Twitter or LinkedIn, and let’s have a conversation.

Shaun Tinney

Hola, I’m Shaun, CTO and Partner at theGOOD.

Besides a semi-pro mohawk, I also have extensive expertise in the experimental interactive realm, and joined theGOOD as a partner to help solidify our core development abilities. I bring with me a serious stack of notecards, a sketchbook, and plenty of experience developing radical interactive projects for clients like Nike, Intel, Microsoft, and the Portland Trailblazers.

A typical day for me might include planning, concept, or design work, and very likely development of the former three. I am always on the lookout for an interesting photo to take, music to play, or a sketch to ink out.

You can find me on Twitter, Flickr, and LinkedIn.

Kris Wallsmith

O Hai, I’m Kris, not to be confused with Chris. I’m theGOOD’s Senior Developer.

I’m a native Portlander, and have been coding on the web for the past ten years, after getting my start marking up eBay listings. Ironically, I spend time at theGOOD developing Sell Simply, an Ebay competitor.

Over the years I have developed an international reputation as an advocate of simple solutions to complex problems. I moonlight as Release Manager for the open source Symfony web framework and have spoken internationally at several open source conferences.

My day at theGOOD is all about the back end. I build all the systems that power other systems that power our clients systems.

The weekends? You can find me on the pitch or exploring the Pacific Northwest with my wife and two children.

Follow me on Twitter.

Press/Props

ChrisTeso — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:21:50 +0000

Our good name has been bandied about from the Blogosphere to the Twitterverse. Here are a few of said mentions.

An interview with Webs Media Magazine
Commarts Web Pick of the day
.net Magazine Hottest New Websites
W3 Award for our work on twiningsusa.com

For our product Sell Simply:
A New Way To Do Online Transactions
Five Best Places To Set Up Shop Online

We are theGOOD

ChrisTeso — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:42:48 +0000

Think Tank

theGOOD makes socially engaging creations that live both in and outside of your web browser.

These creations swell our brains until we design and develop them.

We also create our own interactive products, releasing them into the interactive ecosystem for you to use.

We use the term ‘interactive think tank’ as a response to an industry awakening. We’re not just a development shop, or just a creative agency. The industry has finally grown up and people should take notice. People are taking notice.

Interactive requires more than production. It requires strategy, brand insight, technology chops blended with creative thinking. We’re not digitally integrated, we came up digital.

We’re a company immersed in the industry. One that can actually build what they concept and concept what they build.

We live this stuff.

Skills

ChrisTeso — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:52:43 +0000

theGOOD has extensive experience working with top-tier clients to express and extend their brands using the following interactive arsenal.

Interactive Strategy
Interactive Design
Interactive Development
Interactive Installations
Augmented Reality / Motion Detection and Experimental Development
iPhone / Mobile Development
Data Visualization Application and Website Development
Content Management Systems
Facebook Apps – Social Media Strategy and Development
Desktop / AIR Application Development
User Experience Design, Strategy and Consultation
Photography – Studio + Location

Our Customers

ChrisTeso — Fri, 08 May 2009 05:54:43 +0000

We’ve had the opportunity to create some great work for exceptional people. Here are just a few…

Nike
Verizon Wireless
Nike SPARQ
Adobe
Intel
University of Oregon
Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield
Provenance Hotels
Tillamook