And a whole host of other improvements. Some of the slick new features include a bunch more work, a factory tour (complete with their "Turd Polish" sign), and a brand new blog. They also plan to have merch on the site soon so you can masquerade as a foreman. We're hoping for Foreman Carl masks!

Co-owner Gina Adam filled us in on how the whole thing came together:

"It was a long time coming (2 years, really) but well worth the work. Blue Compass Interactive helped us with the programming and functionality. They were great partners because we told them what we wanted to do and they made it work fabulously."

Go check it out and let us know what you think. We love the "place an order" tab.

We can't be the only ones who have noticed that there's a lot of crappy design work around the city. Poorly done typography, layouts, and design in general. It's pervasive, and a problem if we want to actually be taken seriously as a creative community.

What set us off this time is this poorly done logo (if you can even call it that) for the Fight For Air Climb. The copy is also uninspired but great design can make up for mediocre copy. Not that that's what we want. There's so much opportunity to make something great when you're working with a charity. Why throw that away?

If you're in need of new business and see awful design, pick up the phone. It's that simple. There are a myriad of companies here who are simply too ignorant that their design is bad.

If it's an agency problem then our message is this: step your game up. If you call yourself a designer you must have some idea of what good design is. If it's just a job then kindly close up shop and let talented people get the work.

Des Moines own Brand Chef, Andrew Clark, asked us to let you know about a cool event coming up very soon. Above the Line America's 2012 is happening on January 31st. They're trying to get as many great Des Moines business owners/business-types to think about growth in a new way.

There's a host of great speakers lined up including Dwolla's Jordan Lampe and Silicon Prarie News' Geoff Wood (the guy behind Bar Camp DSM). Their speeches are sure to delight your minds and get you thinking. There's also a social media panel for those of you still trying to figure out those muddy waters.

Right now they're giving egotist readers an excellent deal: 50% off. Use the coupon code DMEGO to get in on that action. Go now. Book it. Grow some biz.

The Short:
How: Register at Above The Line America's Website
Where: FFA Enrichment Center / 1055 SW Prairie Trail Parkway / Ankeny IA
When: January 31st, 8:30-5:00
Why: Because it's a cool local conference. And you want new business.
Discount Code: DMEGO
Questions: @TheBrandChef

Chuck Grassley has twitter woes. It seems that his account was hacked earlier today by someone with a bone to pick. The messages weren't all that offensive but they did take him to task for his past stands on PIPA/SOPA. This tweet from Macy Koch accurately sums up how we all should have known it wasn't Chuck tweeting.

Ha! I love that the first sign that @ChuckGrassley's account was hacked was that he used full sentences: blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/…— Macy Koch (@macykoch) January 23, 2012

Is this the last we'll hear of something like this happening? Probably not. Grassley has since regained access to his account and is tweeting again—broken english and all. We're certain this made for an eventful day

Pretty much why we keep this up.

Fans of Craftly will remember that they relaunched in December as Goodsmiths. It's a great site to find cool handmade goods OR sell handmade goods. Each individual store is customizable so the vendor decides how they want to sell their goods. Best part? There's no up-front cost or listing fees. Just a 2% transaction fee (marked down from 5%) for all of 2012.

Buyers can also connect Goodsmiths to their social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest) along with having a Goodsmiths feed of their own. This lets everyone else know about what goods your looking at. Not to mention the extent of your consumerism. There are also certain deals that can only be bought by a group.

Goodsmiths currently has over 300 vendors and well over 1000 customers ready to go once the site launches for good. We'd love to see huge support from everyone involved in the Des Moines creative community. Check it out and sign up.

Good luck, Goodsmiths.

People who took part in the launch: Iowa native-turned Minnesotan Josh Becker created the video. Haley Carper did the illustrations in said video. Saturday MFG designed the logo. And the site was developed by in Urbandale. Nice to see a bunch of local people and shops working together.