Recent Happenings

Events and Speaking Engagements

Boston Women's Network presentation: How Design Can Make Or Break Your Brand

You know that a solid brand is the key to success, but how do you find the right visuals to represent your brand? Whether you're a service provider, a retailer, or just sharing your personal passions on a blog, the right design can enhance customer expectations and build trust in your brand; the wrong design can send the wrong message to your clients, and even make you look unprofessional. In this session, communication strategist and designer Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen will teach you how to:

  • Determine your business's unique audience and marketing message
  • Figure out what you need in a logo, print materials or website
  • Tell the difference between print designers, web designers and web developers and choose who to work with based on your business's unique needs
  • Recognize what makes a good logo
  • Find the right design team for your project

Slides from the presentation are available below, courtesy of Slideshare.

HOW Creative Freelancer Conference Webinar

Join Marketing Mentor Ilise Benun for this exploration of what’s successful and what’s not in the world of freelance. She—along with creative independents Patrice Robertie, Amy Weiher and Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen—will offer proven strategies for moving your freelance business forward.

You’ll learn:

  • The attitudes and techniques required to get work right now
  • The most viable industries and market sectors that are growing right now where you can find new clients
  • The strongest and most effective marketing tools, including how to get work through Twitter

Together the panelists cover a range of specialties and experiences—from writing to design to strategy—so no matter what type of freelancer you are, you’re sure to get practical, real-world information you can use to build your own successful freelance career.

Dani speaking on Sustainable Design at NE School of Art and Design

On January 22, 2009, Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen spoke about Sustainable Design to a class of design students at New England School of Art and Design in Suffolk University in Boston. Topics included balancing sustainability with the needs and goals of your projects, getting client buy-in on sustainable design, and moving beyond recycled paper and soy inks to rethink the design process with an eye towards minimizing waste. Later in the spring she'll be on the judging panel for the Masters students' thesis projects.

Downtown Women's Club tweetup

What it is: an informal meetup of the Downtown Women's Club for conversation and cocktails.

Who should be there: Professional women of all stripes, from 9-to-5ers to independent professionals and entrepreneurs.

How to register: Go to downtownwomensclub.com to register for this event.

See you there!

Dani speaking on Social Media for Boston Women's Network

On November 4, 2009, tzk founder Dani Nordin spoke to the Boston Women's Network on social media, balancing personal vs. professional in your web presence, and why it's okay to "waste time online." Slides from the presentation are below, courtesy of Slideshare.

Events and Speaking Engagements

03/27/2009
Boston Women's Network presentation: How Design Can Make Or Break Your Brand

You know that a solid brand is the key to success, but how do you find the right visuals to represent your brand? Whether you're a service provider, a retailer, or just sharing your personal passions on a blog, the right design can enhance customer expectations and build trust in your brand; the wrong design can send the wrong message to your clients, and even make you look unprofessional. In this session, communication strategist and designer Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen will teach you how to:

  • Determine your business's unique audience and marketing message
  • Figure out what you need in a logo, print materials or website
  • Tell the difference between print designers, web designers and web developers and choose who to work with based on your business's unique needs
  • Recognize what makes a good logo
  • Find the right design team for your project

Slides from the presentation are available below, courtesy of Slideshare.

04/20/2009
HOW Creative Freelancer Conference Webinar

Join Marketing Mentor Ilise Benun for this exploration of what’s successful and what’s not in the world of freelance. She—along with creative independents Patrice Robertie, Amy Weiher and Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen—will offer proven strategies for moving your freelance business forward.

You’ll learn:

  • The attitudes and techniques required to get work right now
  • The most viable industries and market sectors that are growing right now where you can find new clients
  • The strongest and most effective marketing tools, including how to get work through Twitter

Together the panelists cover a range of specialties and experiences—from writing to design to strategy—so no matter what type of freelancer you are, you’re sure to get practical, real-world information you can use to build your own successful freelance career.

11/20/2009
Dani speaking on Sustainable Design at NE School of Art and Design

On January 22, 2009, Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen spoke about Sustainable Design to a class of design students at New England School of Art and Design in Suffolk University in Boston. Topics included balancing sustainability with the needs and goals of your projects, getting client buy-in on sustainable design, and moving beyond recycled paper and soy inks to rethink the design process with an eye towards minimizing waste. Later in the spring she'll be on the judging panel for the Masters students' thesis projects.

04/14/2009
Downtown Women's Club tweetup

What it is: an informal meetup of the Downtown Women's Club for conversation and cocktails.

Who should be there: Professional women of all stripes, from 9-to-5ers to independent professionals and entrepreneurs.

How to register: Go to downtownwomensclub.com to register for this event.

See you there!

11/20/2009
Dani speaking on Social Media for Boston Women's Network

On November 4, 2009, tzk founder Dani Nordin spoke to the Boston Women's Network on social media, balancing personal vs. professional in your web presence, and why it's okay to "waste time online." Slides from the presentation are below, courtesy of Slideshare.

11/20/2009
Dani speaking on Sustainable Design at Stonehill College

On October 21st, Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen spoke to a group of design and communications students at Stonehill College in Easton MA on sustainable design, integrated marketing, and how to work your personal values into your business plan. Slides from the presentation are below, courtesy of Slideshare.

11/20/2009
Designing a Workflow that Works: session for Drupal DesignCamp Boston

On June 13th, Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen presented Creating a workflow that works: lessons learned from stumbling through a first Drupal site, which covered the differences between working in straight XHTML/CSS and working in Drupal, and looked at taking a content architecture-centered approach to a site from a designers' perspective. The checklist mentioned in the session, which covered standard modules, users and content types as well as site-specific information, is available for download through the link below. The site's slides are available for download on the D4D Boston site.

06/03/2010
Design4Drupal Boston Session: Using User Experience to Guide Workflow

TZK Founder Dani Nordin will be presenting a session at June's Design for Drupal Camp at the MIT Stata Center in Cambridge. The session, called Letting User Experience Guide Workflow, outlines an approach to Drupal development that starts with the site's intended users, identifies specific touchpoints within the site, and uses these touchpoints to identify the most appropriate production workflow. Slides from the presentation are below, courtesy of Slideshare.

News

04/20/2009
the zen kitchen's work in the Big Book of Green Design

Three of the zen kitchen's projects will soon be featured in The Big Book of Green Design, due out from Crescent Hill Books in October of 2009. The projects featured include: the identity and website for Olive and Bean Boutique, as well as the web brochure for Botsford EcoTech Partners.

01/05/2009
the zen kitchen in the Boston Business Journal

Dani Nordin of the zen kitchen was featured in an article on solopreneurs in the Boston Business Journal.

Dani Nordin decided to launch her Watertown-based strategic communications business the zen kitchen, after Staples Inc. terminated the contract she was doing with the Framingham-based company right before the holidays in 2005. For Nordin, a fighting spirit might be her biggest asset in dealing with the recession. “I’m refusing to believe that the economy is going to kill my business,” Nordin said.

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