Today marks my last day working at Jigsaw. I am packing up my life (years of accumulation + a case of Spotted Cow) into my little Toyota Corolla, and in 3 days I’ll be embarking on a permanent road trip to Colorado.

I am excited, sad, nervous, stressed, and everything in-between. Before I leave the great state of Wisconsin, I’d like to reminisce about my time at Jigsaw and how much I am going to miss working here.

Here are some of the things I will miss about Jigsaw (in no specific order):

1. Our Adworkers bowling team, comprised of the best AND worst female bowler…what are the chances??
2. Beki’s infinite gum supply
3. The Stevens
4. Friday mornings (it would be hard to top our hilariously entertaining weekly client meetings)
5. Wold power walking back and forth past my desk, frequently with a bag of pretzels in hand
6. Hearing Dione singing and echoing down the hall
7. Running through the streets of Indy covered in mud, wearing a pink tutu – Go Dirty Girl!
8. Sharing brownies and cookies with my fellow foodie, Erin
9. Our new neighbors, Flipeleven
10. Working with a dedicated, extremely talented, and fun group of people

THANK YOU to everyone at Jigsaw for being great friends and colleagues. I’ve learned a lot from everyone and you will be missed!

We here at Jigsaw are extremely excited to announce our newest client relationship, with Dirty Girl Mud Run.

The Dirty Girl Mud Run series debuted in 2011 to a sold-out field of over 6,000 women in Wisconsin. The inaugural year also featured overwhelmingly successful events in Colorado and New York. In 2012, Dirty Girl is expanding to 12 cities. Dirty Girl differs from others in the increasingly-crowded field of mud run competitors in that it is specifically designed to be fun and accessible for women of all ages and athletic abilities.

In addition, Dirty Girl is very socially conscious. A portion of all proceeds from Dirty Girl registration fees is donated to National Breast Cancer Foundation. In 2011, Dirty Girls helped donate over $50,000 to help win the race against breast cancer. In each city of the 2012 tour, 250 cancer survivors will receive complimentary registration and special recognition.

In the two short weeks since our partnership with Dirty Girl began, we’ve completed several projects, including a home page redesign and creation of materials for promotion visits to Dirty Girl race markets, such as postcards, posters and vehicle signage. We’ve also begun collaborating on social media and blogger outreach, while planning additional ways to build registration, particularly in new markets for the race.

Jimmy Gohsman, Dirty Girl Race Director, says:

“From the first time we met with the Jigsaw team about possibly doing business with them up until now, our expectations have been exceeded time and again. They took the time beforehand to learn about our business, what we are trying to accomplish, how we are trying to accomplish it, and understood it right off the bat. Their passion shines through in their speedy and remarkably high-quality work, and it’s been fun working with them. It’s very obvious that their goal is to help us succeed by working collaboratively with us, which is very important to us. We are looking forward to a long term relationship with Jigsaw both personally and professionally.”

I, personally, cannot wait to do the Dirty Girl Mud Run here in Milwaukee (Hartland, actually) on August 18th. I haven’t run since my son was born over six years ago (gulp) so it’s going to be an interesting, challenging Spring and Summer.

Check out the Dirty Girl race locations and schedule and Go Dirty Girl!!!

Have you heard about Zywave? We think you should. Zywave is a rapidly-growing, industry-leading company on the Milwaukee software scene. (Yes, there is a Milwaukee software scene.) A software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider in the insurance and financial sectors, Zywave employs approximately 400 people. They are headquartered on Research Drive, in the Innovation Center, which is very apropos.

The Jigsaw team is partnering with Zywave on development of an updated brand identity to better reflect their innovation and growth, with their recent acquisition of a Canadian firm called EISI. Zywave’s new logo and “Zycon” symbol, created by Jigsaw designer Danielle Fritz, are a reflection of its forward-thinking focus and emphasis on driving business growth for its customers.

Here’s a peek at the logo design process.

Exploring different approaches to the “forward arrow” in early rounds

First computer-generated concepts presented to the client

Color exploration with a range of options from expected to unexpected

Type exploration to make the logo more sophisticated

The final Zycon and logo

Updated business cards and letterhead are going to press soon, to be followed by a whole suite of new product logos and new sales collateral.

Jenn Haack, manager of Zywave’s Creative Services department, says:

“We felt it was the ideal time in Zywave’s history to get an outside point of view, having created the majority of our marketing and branding in house for the last 17 years. Jigsaw is a perfect fit because their approach is pragmatic and intelligent. Our fact-finding sessions have been valuable in helping us find the right approach for our materials. I can’t wait to see the end result!”

And neither can we. We’re grateful for the partnership with such a dynamic company.

The newest installation of Photo Showdown is here! This week’s theme is work. Please share with the world (or at the very least your Facebook friends and Twitter followers).

A. Atlanta Airport

B. Fenway Security

C. Saxman

D. Work