Traction was proud to collaborate with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on their beautiful and functional new app. The app not only gets you a calendar of events, but also introduces you to the CSO’s musicians and conductors, suggests nearby places to eat, lets you buy tickets, and so much more. Best of all, the app is free, free, free. Special thanks to our friends at Blue Rock Interactive for backend development! Download the CSO’s app from the iTunes store today for an instant boost of classiness and culture.

Traction is thrilled to work with Swoop, a brand new app that embeds links in the text you read on your mobile device. When you click on the highlighted text, Swoop brings up any coupons or information linked with those items. Swoop asked Traction to lead brand development, including creative pathways, naming, logo and icon development, as well as its catchy tagline.

Wanna see it in action? Try searching “soup” on SparkRecipes. Click on a recipe like this one, look for the small orange Swoop logo among and after the ingredients, and click. Cool, right?

Candy Niemeyer designed three posters for Cincinnati’s May celebration of Bike Month, all of which were selected to hang on display in the downtown branch of Coffee Emporium! There’s quite a collection of posters from designers and artists alike, so be sure to stop by this month for a look while you grab a latte.

With an amazing turnout, delicious munchies, and a rockin’ party space, we’d say the party was a great success! A huge heartfelt thanks goes to everyone who was there in person and in spirit. We couldn’t have made it to five years without you!

See more photography from this spectacular event on Facebook (click the image to your right for a shortcut).

Traction is proud to announce Richard Groot as partner. Groot, a brand strategist and designer, brings over 25 years of experience to Traction, last year’s 2011 Small Business Excellence Awards winner for Emerging Business of the Year.

Even if you’ve never heard of Traction, you’ve seen their work. This small shop—now 11 employees strong—is responsible for the fun, fresh design behind Taste of Cincinnati, Zinzinnati USA’s Oktoberfest, Party in the Park, HYPE’s Bold Fusion, Enjoy the Arts, ArtsWave, and much more. Adding an experienced, industry-savvy partner like Groot is a huge step toward propelling their brand further into the spotlight.

“We’re all thrilled,” said Tony Neary, founder of Traction. “He’s a great guy with loads of integrity. His experience and branding knowledge—it’s bolstering an already-strong team and providing us with a great voice of wisdom.”

Groot’s experience combines both design and communications; he specializes in packaging design, corporate identity, and promotional and corporate communications. His clients include P&G, Kraft foods, the Kroger Company, the Cincinnati Art Museum, Armour Snacks, Wright Motorsports, and dozens more. He holds an MFA in graphic design from the University of Notre Dame and a BFA graphic design from Indiana University. For two years he taught graphic design at the University of Kentucky’s School of Fine Arts.

“Who starts a business in the worst economic environment since the great depression? Traction, that’s who,” said Groot. “The 2011 Emerging Business of the Year is a business that’s going places and learning as they go. They have a fire in their bellies. It drew me like a moth. I want to keep learning. And go where they’re going. That’s an exciting journey.”

Groot, a resident of Northern Kentucky, enjoys working within the unique culture of the Queen City. His client list includes the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Contemporary Arts Center, Georgia Pacific, IBM, SunnyD, Kroger, Procter and Gamble, and currently FOTOFOCUS, making Cincinnati both his passion and occupation. His wife Linda Schwartz is a Contemporary Art Consultant and the Curatorial and Admin Manager for FOTOFOCUS, a regional biennial photography celebration coming to Cincinnati in October 2012. He’s a Porsche racing and automobile enthusiast, a dedicated espresso drinker, prefers Paul Rand over Saul Bass and thinks Max Miedinger deserves his own monument.

As they welcome Groot, Traction is preparing to celebrate five thriving years in business. While their work extends even overseas, Traction is at heart a Cincinnati firm, with many of their biggest clients located within and working for the city of Cincinnati. This April, an open house for family, friends, and clients of Traction will celebrate the last five years with a tip of the hat to the future. The addition of an experienced hire like Groot will undoubtedly fill their next five years and beyond with ever-increasing growth and inspiration.