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Our team, in various states of disrepair.

This is a team effort. So say hello to the team.

This blog, and all of the projects contained within, is part of a Mess initiative supported by Microsoft. The opinions presented belong to their authors and not Mess or Microsoft.

Our objective is to share our experience integrating these tools into our workflow. Hopefully our trials and tribulations can prove useful to other folks in similar environments, and maybe even be kind of amusing to read.

Mess is a digital lifestyle agency in Chicago.

In theory, we‘re a digital design, development and strategy agency; in practice, it’s a little more complicated than that. Partially due to the backgrounds and interests of our team, but also because the advertising/marketing/digital spaces are in a pretty complicated state right now.

Our website says “Through storytelling and technology, we helps brands engage the connected culture”. Usually, we throw a lot more at the problem than that– in the past year we’ve screenprinted, developed networked apps for handhelds, built stuff (actual stuff, with wood and drills), booked concerts, curated art shows, forced account people to roll up hundreds of posters for said art shows, and countless other bits and pieces to help create memorable (and twitterable) interactions.

We know we’re a little weird, but we’re ok with that. Talking to some of the biggest brands in the world about putting resources behind making real connections with single individuals is a pretty weird endeavor from the get-go, so we roll with it. We’re Mess, and this is what we do.

Realize your creative vision with Microsoft Expression Studio

Microsoft Expression Studio opens up a new world of creative possibility. Its professional design tools give you the freedom to make your vision real—whether you’re designing for standards-based Web sites, rich desktop experiences, or Silverlight. Includes Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Design and Expression Encoder.

Design Tools for Silverlight & .NET

Design compelling user interfaces for the Web and desktop using Microsoft Expression, tools purpose built to compliment the industry leading development tool Visual Studio.

From Concept to Completion

Prototype your ideas rapidly, engage and interact with your customers and get your projects off to a flying start, then immediately bring your prototypes to life without throwing anything away.

Microsoft Silverlight — Light up the web

Silverlight helps you create rich web applications that run on Mac OS, Windows, and Linux. Welcome to a new level of engaging, rich, safe, secure, and scalable cross-platform experiences.

Rich Internet Applications

Enables rapid creation of sophisticated Rich Applications for any platform.

Media

Delivers the highest performance, true HD video experiences on the web.