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Defining our industry's methodologies, standards, and culture have long been a part of Happy Cog's values.

We started Cognition as a product to offer advice, create a dialogue, and serve our industry and clients to help them with their goals and aspirations.

Learn more about Happy Cog at happycog.com.

  1. Hc blog Main Article Illustration v144 JR

    Celebrate The Process

    Headshot of Dave DeRuchie

    6/21/15

    by Dave DeRuchie

    Client service is hard, frustrating, emotional, rewarding (sometimes), and challenging. When agency folk get together client stories are shared like a cathartic verbal exchange meant to keep us from attending the next client services anonymous meeting. I’m not condemning the practice, venting is good and there are some absurd stories worth sharing. But venting is a slippery slope. If the only thing coming out of your mouth is negative it may be time to consider an attitude adjustment – don’t condemn the process, celebrate it!

  2. Cognition illustration DP v143

    Keep The Web Healthy

    Headshot of Stephen Caver

    6/11/15

    by Stephen Caver

    I truly believe in the power of this simple idea: a decentralized network can exist free from the power of governments and corporations to corrupt. The web is that network and its health is immensely important to me not only as a professional but as a member of society. It is an innovation that has spurred on communication, economic and creative revolutions. Most of our modern HTTP-driven world would not exist had Tim Berners-Lee not issued his proposal for linking documents to one another within a network. That small step has evolved into a cultural powerhouse. It has torn down and rebuilt entire industries and given many of us something to do to make ends meet. It’s in our collective interest that this continue.

  3. Dana artilce 6 4

    Writing Inkcouragement

    Headshot of Dana Pavlichko

    6/4/15

    by Dana Pavlichko

    Until recently, I haven’t had much experience writing. In my distant past there were English classes and essays to keep me in practice, but professionally I knew something was lacking. I was supposed to write more often. I was told it would help me establish perspective as a designer, and help organize my thoughts (which to me sounded like a chicken-or-egg situation). I was reluctant because the idea of publishing a full-length piece in my own words seemed impossible. Determined, I approached writing the same way I approach my graphic design, and slowly it has come more naturally. As I began writing more frequently in blogs, emails, and even annotations, I’ve discovered a few tips that have helped me write better.

  4. Hc blog mainarticleillustration

    Connecting TEDxPhiladelphia through content and code

    Headshot of Abby Fretz

    5/29/15

    by Abby Fretz

    Happy Cog is a content company. It’s the thread through all of our projects, regardless of industry, and always has been. We connect people and ideas. It’s in our DNA. When TEDxPhiladelphia reached out to us, we knew this was an opportunity we wanted to explore.

  5. Hc blog Main Article Illustration v141 JR

    Working with Pattern Lab

    Headshot of Allison Wagner

    5/26/15

    by Allison Wagner

    Pattern Lab as a tool is super flexible, it can be used as a simple styleguide framework or scale all the way up to a full-blown CMS, driven by dynamic content. We’re halfway through our first Pattern Lab project in which we are extending it to the latter, if you’re interested, check out Mark’s article on integrating Craft with Pattern Lab for more info on that.

  6. Hc blog Main Article Illustration v140 AS

    Playing Your Best

    Headshot of Courtney Sabo

    5/14/15

    by Courtney Sabo

    I ’ve done it hundreds of times – I opened the glass door and shut it behind me. Just me and my opponent, enclosed by the familiar four walls of a squash court. Despite squash being a series of quick movements, each game manages to be 10% physical and 90% mental—a test of knowing what shots to hit and when to hit them.

  7. Cognition illo cs

    Craft + Patternlab = Buzzwords!

    Headshot of Mark Huot

    5/7/15

    by Mark Huot

    Craft is a flexible and powerful content management system (CMS) with a responsive interface content authors want to use. It uses the Twig template system to power its HTML front-end. Twig comes out of the Symfony project and provides a fast, secure, and flexible system. Twig code is inherently portable and is not tied to Craft, or even PHP, with recent ports showing up in Node. Craft is great for back-end developers.

  8. Cs article cognition illo jr

    Put a Pseudo-Class On It

    Headshot of Stephen Caver

    4/30/15

    by Stephen Caver

    Some days, writing plain ole everyday CSS can get a little monotonous. It’s all margins, font-families, positions and displays day-in and day-out.

  9. Cognition Illustration CS

    Sharpen Your #2 Pencil. It’s RFP time.

    Headshot of Katie High

    4/23/15

    by Katie High

    Around here, it’s PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) season. I hear lots of stories from friends and family about the extremes of testing. Most recently, my brother-in-law demonstrated for us how he is required to respond to student questions during the test. Monotone. Neutral. Dispassionate. Not an easy task for a music teacher.

  10. The Belly Rules the Mind

    Headshot of Aura Seltzer

    4/16/15

    by Aura Seltzer

    In early 2014, I resolved to cook more frequently and expand my skills. Putting my years of Food Network and Top Chef knowledge to use, I challenged myself to create dishes outside my sautéed chicken and roasted vegetables repertoire. My mission relied heavily on recipes collected from personal blogs, publications, cooking websites, and cookbooks.