Launch Announcement: Age Performance Website

We are pleased to have finished up and launched the new Age Performance website. Age Performance has recently changed their name from the AgeWell Center and with the new name came a new logo, new website and other new materials. We had a great time getting to know the owner and his team—Amber and Amanda even got to do a training session to better understand the philosophy of Age Performance.

The first thing you notice when you walk into Age Performance is that it’s not a normal “gym”. There are no mirrors, no loud music, no TVs—instead there are orchids, lovely interior design and an overall sense of peace — until the trainers get a hold of you and beat you into the ground (kidding, mostly). Age Performance’s philosophy centers around fast twitch muscle response and joint health to keep people quick and fit.

You can learn more on our Age Performance portfolio page ›

Check out the new site ›

Like Age Performance on Facebook ›

Thanks Age Performance and thanks Paul for choosing us as your web firm. Also, big shout out to our favorite photographer, Amanda Nelson!

27 Things You Should Know About The 2011 TAX LAWS

This little gem hit our inbox the other day and we asked Laura Warnock Carrera if we could share it—if you run a business or pay taxes (insert joke death here) you need to check this out. She’s put together a nice roundup about things you should know.

27 Things You Should Know About The 2011 TAX LAWS
Provided by Carrera & Company

2011 is here and there is much to report. Congress has restored the estate tax, cut the payroll tax and retained and/or restored a variety of tax breaks.

Here’s a look at some recent developments in federal tax law – not just the changes for 2011-2012, but also the decisions (some quite recent) that may impact your 2010 return. This is by no means a tax planning guide, just an update on what has changed and what hasn’t.

Before we get started, some news about filing your 2010 federal return:

Due to a lag in IRS processing systems, you will need to wait until at least mid-February to file your return if you are going to claim ..

itemized deductions on Schedule A the Higher Education Tuition & Fees deduction the Educator Expense deduction

This year, the federal income tax deadline is April 18. That’s because April 15 is a holiday in the District of Columbia (Emancipation Day). Correspondingly, all taxpayers who file for an extension this year will have until October 17 to file their 2010 returns.1

Here’s a look at the numerous revisions, alterations and restorations to federal tax law affecting tax years 2010, 2011 and 2012.

1 The federal income tax brackets remain at 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35% for 2011-2012.

The ordinary taxable income brackets for TY 2011 are set as follows, reflecting minor COLAs:

2 The payroll tax paid by employees and the self-employed has been reduced by 2.0% in 2011.

This means many Americans will effectively get a 2% raise this year. The reduced withholding could mean as much as $2,136 in savings, as earnings up

to $106,800 are subject to payroll tax. No phase-outs apply, and if taxpayers are married, both spouses can get the individual deduction.3,4

Two related notes:

The partial credit for payroll taxes paid by employers is gone this year.5 As a result of this payroll tax holiday, the Making Work Pay credit is gone for 2011. However, many taxpayers can still claim the Making Work Pay credit for 2010 ($400 for individual taxpayers, up to $800 for taxpayers married filing jointly, income phase-outs applicable).6

3 The estate tax is back for 2011- 2012.

For this year and next, the federal estate tax is set at 35% with a $5 million individual exemption.4 Please note that:

The $5 million individual exemption is portable. This means that an executor may elect to transfer an unused $5 million individual estate tax exemption (upon the death of one spouse) to the surviving spouse. So with this new portability, a married couple could potentially transfer up to $10 million of assets without incurring federal estate tax.7 In 2011, an executor of an estate for a dependent who died in 2010 may choose between two options in administering said estate. That executor can elect to

o Subject the estate to the 2011 federal rules (35% estate tax, $5 million estate exemption, stepped-up basis for appreciated assets per IRC rule 1014).

o Subject the estate to the 2010 federal rules (0% estate tax and the $1.3 million modified carryover basis for appreciated assets in the estate, which becomes $3 million for assets passing to a surviving spouse).8

4 The estate tax, the gift tax and the generation-skipping tax (GST) have all been reunified for 2011-2012.

They all have top rates of 35% with $5 million individual exemptions. The individual estate and gift tax exemptions are portable between married couples; the GST exemption is not. The GST has been restored for 2011; it was 0% in 2010.4,8

The annual gift tax exclusion remains at $13,000 per donor in 2011. A single taxpayer may gift up to $13,000 to an unlimited number of individuals. The lifetime exclusion (see above) is $5 million.4

In addition to the annual exclusion, an unlimited gift tax exclusion is allowed for amounts paid on behalf of a donee directly to an educational organization for tuition. Likewise, amounts paid directly to health care providers also qualify for the unlimited gift tax exclusion.9

5 Tax rates on capital gains and dividends haven’t been hiked.

In 2011 and 2012, the long-term capital gains rate is

0% for taxpayers in the 10% and 15% brackets. 15% for everyone else.4

To read the entire article download it from her Newsletter Archive page.

As you are preparing your taxes, think about ways to be proactive in 2011 to reduce your tax bill.  Please call or email Laura to discuss ideas to take to your CPA or to implement ideas given by your CPA.  She’d love to help.

Laura Warnock Carrera
Carrera & Company
(801) 598-0988 direct
Email Laura ›

Where We Do What We Do

Our friend runs a website called Where We Do What We Do—it’s super awesome, check it out.

Our office was nice and clean the other day so we took some picts and put them up on the site:

And here are some bonus images that aren’t on the site:

Martha Stewart is the Reason I’m Excited to Design & Develop for the iPad

This is what the world has been waiting for. No, not just OMG! PEONIES AND CAKES! But this is what the mobile app development world has been waiting for.

The proper use of new media by people who know what they are doing.

See, there are a lot of mobile apps out there (300,000 for iPhone¹ and 51,000+ for iPad²). And most of them are terrible. Honestly terrible. And this hurts adoption — if you’ve spent a few bucks on several apps that fail to deliver, have poor user interfaces or crash — well you’ve just spent a hundred bucks or so to be frustrated. This is because there are way too many people out there that say “I’m going to get in on this app gold rush—I’m going to make an app!” where the end-goal isn’t to create a certain thing it’s to work in a certain media. For example—what if you want to make a DVD? Who cares? Can you act? Do you have something people want to see?

But what if you are a film company? Well, a DVD is a good medium to distribute what you have to people cheaply and effectively. Well, until we all give up our hard media and cobble together Hulu, YouTube, Netflix Instant and Apple TV to meet our demands—but that’s another story.

The point being: People should be doing what they are good at and then using new media to deliver it.

And Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has NAILED IT. I purchased the two apps they have out now and if you are a designer or developer you need to get them, even if you have never cared about making a craft or cooking.

Martha Stewart Living for iPad

First up is the first digital edition of Living. You buy this in the app store for $3.99 — it looks like you will buy each edition as it’s own app going forward (although I’m sure that subscriptions in the app store will be coming soon).

These are the things that I love about this app:

Letter from Martha — not only is this a traditional “letter from” it also includes her latest tweet in real time. ZING!!!
Interactive Capability — you can vote for the style you prefer and see real time results from other readers.
Dual Layout — they basically designed two magazines—one that fits portrait and one for landscape and every single page looks great either direction.
Embedded Video — you can watch a video right in the middle of an article, since MSLO already has images, stories and video it’s a perfect way to marry the three.
Panoramic View — you can scroll through this picture for a panoramic view, it’s such a great way to better immerse yourself in a story.
Thumbnail Options — you can see different flowers while staying on the same page.
Advertiser Interactivity — not only can advertisers put together better ads (video, multiple images, etc) they can also link to their website directly from an ad. Can you imaging how rich the data is coming back to these companies? The mind boggles.
Toggle View — you can see how dessert should look as presented and once it’s cracked into.
Scroll View — this is the one that really excites me as a designer. How often have I been given a HUGE picture to fit in a SMALL screen? Too many times to count. Finally an elegant way to have everything.
Particular bits of genius for using the app —
Cover Video — turn the iPad one way and see a traditional magazine cover, turn it the other way and see the flower open. This was a great way to kick off the edition—everyone sees this and says WOW!
How To Guide — it’s a new medium and using it is still a little confusing, but the how to guide at the beginning of the app helps figure it all out.
Teal Markers — throughout the app you see these little teal buttons that tell you there is a feature to interact with, toggle, scroll, video, vote — they tie together many functions with one visual device (which lowers learning time and increases usability and adoption)
Story Navigation — an awesome way to see the magazine layout and scroll through. This remembers your place on each page, so if you read partials and pass it to someone else it gets a little confusing for them.

Get Martha Stewart Living for iPad App ›

Martha Stewart Makes Cookies

This is another great app—like a mini cookbook with some brilliance. There are my favorite parts:

Shopping List — add the cookies you want to make and it aggregates the information into a shopping list you can email to yourself.
Cookie Runway — this owes mostly to the great photography that MSLO does, this is a great and innovative way to view a table of contents
Cookie Wheel — in the mood for chocolate? Spin the wheel and see your options.
Built in Timers — if the recipe tells you to do something for a set duration it also has a built in timer. This is a life saver if you are me and don’t cook.
Dual Layout — again, a great job with the dual layout for horizontal or vertical presentation.

This app is $4.99 and you can get it from iTunes ›

¹ Over 300,000 Ways to Make iPhone Even Better

² I used this method on 12/17/10 to pull the number.

From Embroidered to Rubberized Logo – Thomas EMS

We worked with Thomas EMS to update their logo (why was the ‘O’ like that? why did it read Transport Packs Thomas?) and change materials.

It’s pretty cool to not only work on a logo redesign but think about a logo that will be produced in the real world and have dimension and depth. Big shout out to Kira for her work on this.

The old logo was an embroidered patch, the new one is rubber. Thanks for letting us work with you again guys!