Web Industry Leaders Happy Cog and Airbag Industries Merge

[news 28]

Web Industry Leaders Happy Cog and Airbag Industries Merge - Published on 08/03/09

 

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Leading and influential web design firms, Happy Cog and Airbag Industries today announced a merger, combining forces to create a super-agency of web design and development industry leaders. Known as Happy Cog, the newly merged agency secures a position as leader of industry best practices with influential connections to industry-leading technology and the brightest minds in web design and development.

 

New York, New York - Happy Cog announced the merger of Happy Cog and Airbag Industries. Effective today, the two leading and influential web design firms have formed a super-agency of web design and development industry leaders. The newly merged agency, known as Happy Cog, is made up of three dynamic teams who have traditionally worked in small boutique firms while setting the standards, tone, and pace of web design and development since 1995.

 

Key leadership from the three firms - Jeffrey Zeldman, Greg Hoy, and Greg Storey - will remain in place and continue to lead both the firm and the industry. The merged firms will practice web design and development under the name Happy Cog represented by Happy Cog East, in Philadelphia; Happy Cog West, in San Francisco; and Happy Cog Studios, the original, in New York City.

 

While sharing resources, the three studio locations will function with a high degree of autonomy. Greg Hoy, President of Happy Cog East, will continue to direct creative services and business development for the Philadelphia branch. Greg Storey, President and Creative Director of Happy Cog West, will do the same for San Francisco. Jeffrey Zeldman, Agency Founder and Executive Creative Director, will supervise Happy Cog's strategic, consulting, and publishing businesses as well as select design projects.

 

Dubbed "King of Web Standards" by BusinessWeek, founder Jeffrey Zeldman was one of the first designers, bloggers, and independent publishers on the web. In 1998, he co-founded and designed - and from 1999 to 2002 he directed - The Web Standards Project, a coalition that helped bring standards to our browsers. His Designing With Web Standards (whose third edition comes out this year) changed the way websites are designed.

 

The newly merged Happy Cog team will offer clients the benefits of a large firm - a wide range of skills, experience and industry leadership in web standards, information architecture, marketing, content strategy, and implementation of best practices, while at the same time bringing to the table the creativity, responsiveness, and out-of-the box thinking of a boutique firm. All three studio locations can share design, development, user experience, and content strategy resources and personnel.

 

Happy Cog East and Happy Cog West will specialize in client services, web design, and development. Happy Cog Studios in New York, while also designing select websites, will chiefly focus on business strategy and content publishing via Happy Cog's industry-leading A List Apart Magazine, An Event Apart web design conference, and other ventures.

 

"Projects which were outside the scope of each individual firm are now manageable with the larger staff and deeper expertise of the combined in-house Happy Cog team," says Greg Hoy, President of Happy Cog East. "The merger of these two super-boutiques increases our size and capabilities without adding overhead, a win for us and our clients."

 

Adds creative superstar, and Happy Cog West President, Greg Storey: "If given the chance to choose who I wanted on my dream web team, it was always the Airbag Industries team and Jeffrey Zeldman, Greg Hoy, and the folks at Happy Cog. In one move, we've assembled an amazing staff of experts and leaders in every area of web design and development."

 

Happy Cog Studios Agency Founder and Executive Creative Director Jeffrey Zeldman concurs: "Clients seeking extraordinary, strategic, standards-based web design used to tear their hair out choosing between Airbag Industries and Happy Cog. With the merger of our agencies, clients can write once and be confident of getting an appropriate and aesthetically pleasing site that achieves their goals and meets their customers' needs."

 

The Happy Cog and Airbag Industries websites have transitioned to one Happy Cog site. All inquiries will be handled via Happy Cog. For more information, visit the merged agency's portfolio and publications section, read its web design magazine, and explore its web design conference site.

 

Happy Cog Design: http://www.happycog.com/news/2009/08/merger/

An Event Apart: http://www.aneventapart.com

A List Apart: http://www.alistapart.com

 

 

Founded by visionary Jeffrey Zeldman and staffed by creative superstars, Happy Cog delivers beautiful websites that never lose site of the human being using them. From site structure to interface design through branding and content development, Happy Cog's people are the authorities. With offices in New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, Happy Cog has deep capabilities, smart and talented people, and creates user-friendly, award-winning projects. To learn more about capabilities, locations, or people and to see our work visit Happy Cog.

 

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Laura Des Enfants

Marketing/PR

917-991-1807

 

laura ( -at -) desenfantsaldrich.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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