Of course, it is true that quality content is of supreme importance, and has arguably been undervalued in recent years in favor of empty hype. But as was true in the case of the Florida election ballot, it is design which is the de facto representative of content on behalf of its author. Success can only be fully realized when there is resonance between a great idea or solution (content) and the conveyance of that solution as perceived by the intended audience. In fact, a lack of resonance, synergy, or proper communication of any kind often spells failure, in spite of well intentioned content. Just ask Ms. LePore.

Creative design, and its role in the New Economy, has now reached a turning point. As an industry, decisions must be made to no longer use design as an agent of empty hype. Some companies have realized all along the power of creative design, and misused it, leading many pundits to observe that the focus among dot-coms was wrongly placed on "Looking like a million bucks" rather than actually being worth such a figure. In the end, the result of such carelessness is often a diluted message, and an audience jaded to new ideas, however groundbreaking.

In addition, much of the vertical thinking of current design paradigms must be abandoned. While the big names of creative marketing have indeed been the home of visual innovation in the past, today many of them are turning out derivative, complacent visuals- conveying the sense that the entire industry is both derivative and complacent as well.

At DeVine, we've been keeping close track of all these issues relating to design. Having a collective experience dating well before the dawn of the Internet Age, we nevertheless have not taken trends in design for granted, but have instead sought to continually reevaluate our approach based on the current climate.

A key element to our creative success has been the synergy between our technology expertise and that of our design team. Having started as a technology consulting firm, we understand the mantra "content, content, content," and view our creative endeavors as simply the logical extensions of our technology efforts.

Furthermore, we consider proper communication to be synonymous with successful design. Without fail, this involves thoughtful research into how various messages will be understood by the target audience. Using our methodology, one arrow would never indicate the possibility of two presidential candidates in the minds of senior voters. Likewise, we do our homework to ensure that the intended message is clearly communicated.

We believe our role in the New Economy will relate in no small part to providing groundbreaking and superior creative design, and engendering continued awareness of the importance of design in shaping the course of this community. At our core, we currently focus not only on the areas of branding and marketing, but also interface design, both on the Web and in traditional applications.

Creative design is still relevant, but this fact can often go unnoticed until after the point-of-no-return, as Theresa LePore can attest. In the case of the confused over-voters, there was nothing that would ultimately change the outcome for Al Gore once the ballots were (mis)cast. Looking back, it seems possible that if DeVine had been responsible for the Florida ballot, we might have a different man in the White House. But just as the phrase, "What if?" has not so far successfully aided today's political minority inside the Beltway, the same is also true in Silicon Valley.

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