So excited that my first annual report of the season is at the printer. I am really proud of the report we created with Bridgepoint Education. It is their first book since going IPO and hopefully they will look back on this report with fondness.

Mentus client, Bridgepoint Education, posted Q4 earnings that more than tripled on a near doubling of revenue and a jump in margins.

In addition, the company’s outlook for the year encouraged investors that the market for online education has yet to reach its apex. Bridgepoint expects 2010 earnings between $1.86 and $1.88 a share on revenue of $688.2 million to $691.2 million, compared with analysts’ average forecasts of $1.62 and $629 million, respectively, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares in Bridgepoint, which went public in April, closed Monday at $17.99 — its IPO price was $10.50.

For more information about Bridgepoint: http://ir.bridgepointeducation.com/index.cfm

How do you keep up with your kids in the face of changing technologies? Excellent question. It’s something that I ask myself constantly. Just the other day, I went to watch a program taped the previous week and realized that it had mysteriously disappeared off our DVR list. After looking at the list of recorded programs, I quickly realized that my Ken Burns documentary had been bumped by “must see” episodes of iCarly and The Wizards of Waverly Place. My 11-year-old daughter succinctly revealed how ignorant I was, when she told me, “Dad, you need to set your recorded program default to Save Until Manually Delete, otherwise the newest recorded programs can accidentally record over the older ones . . . sorry!”

On the other hand, some things remain constant, no matter where new technologies take us. For example, with the gradual shift of more and more content to the Web, cell phones, and to iPad-type readers, good design still quickly shows itself, and bad design jumps off the screen. When I see overcrowded home pages, hard-to-find navigation, absurdly huge type, or blurry images shot from a cell phone because someone wanted to save money by “doing it themselves,” it’s tragic.

At Mentus, we have a team with talents that run from cutting-edge web design and knowledge of the latest social media best practices to people with years of experience in design, editing, quality control and just plain good taste. We proof copy as part of our process before anything goes anywhere . . . spell checks and grammar checks still don’t catch everything. We maintain a balance of the best of what’s new to complement our years of experience in quality design. And we always have an eye out for the latest trends and where technology is taking us to communicate a message effectively, but in the most beautiful way.

While my daughter teaches me things all the time and opens my eyes by looking at things from new perspectives, I’m still there to teach her that some things are already beautiful the way they are. Should the grace of an eagle in flight, the colors of a Pacific sunset after a storm, or the emotion of Casablanca be replaced or redone? I don’t think so. Then again, you have to admit they do look pretty good in HD . . .