WO2001035305A1

WO2001035305A1 - Graphical promotional materials development system and process

Info

Publication number: WO2001035305A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/031007
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kenneth W. Welch, Jr.; Jeffrey T. Donchez; Christos Gaitanaris; Madea Jones-Ziama; Paskel S. Arnold, Iii
Original assignee: Intercontinental Travel Services, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-11-12
Filing date: 2000-11-09
Publication date: 2001-05-17
Also published as: AU1483701A

Abstract

Graphical promotional materials (220) can be easily prepared by coordinating the resources of a large number of graphic artists, and subsequently processing their prepared work to ensure it meets certain quality standards (230). A system which coordinates all of these tasks and provides a vendor with access to graphical resources can provide an invaluable tool to businesses in their sales and marketing efforts. Further, the system ensures that high quality graphical materials are prepared and that certain quality standards (230) are met. Ultimately, these graphical promotional materials (250) can then be displayed to potential customers in subsequent sales pursuits.

Description

SPECIFICATION

GRAPHICAL PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

SYSTEM AND PROCESS

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to application entitled "A System and Method For Publishing Promotional Information Including Multi-Media Presentations Over A Computer Network" SN 09/438,626, Filed on November 12, 1999; to application entitled "A System and Method For Publishing Graphical Promotional Information For A Collection Of Vendors From A Common Site", SN 09/439,146 Filed on November 12, 1999; to application entitled "System For Automated Multi-Media Presentation", SN 09/439,147 Filed on November 12, 1999; to application entitled "A Method and Apparatus For Searching A Database For Information Including Promotional Information", SN 09/438,889, Filed on November 12, 1999; and to application entitled "A System And Method For Automatically Presenting A Sequence Of Promotional Images With Interactive Features" SN 09/438,892 Filed on November 12, 1999.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a system for administering the development of promotional information for use in promoting the services or products of vendors and more particularly to a system for administering the development of promotional information including graphics and multi-media images to promote the products and services of a plurality of vendors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Many small businesses having a need to advertise face a difficult problem - that of preparing promotional materials which sometimes involves multi-media and finding a suitable outlet for displaying these promotional materials. In order to be particularly impressive in the advertising activities, the company may wish to have complete multimedia presentations which could be available for display or viewing by potential customers. Television offers an outlet for multi-media presentations and the print media provides a text and graphics medium for a promotional presentation. The World Wide Web offers an alternative that has the potential of combining the best that print media such as magazines has to offer with some of the benefits of television. However, a vendor must still collect together artwork such as text, graphics, logos, photographs, slide shows, and sound tracks to create a presentation that is effective at promoting the vendor's product or service. For a small business this can be a major distraction to running the business.

In many situations, businesses do not have graphic artists on staff who can easily prepare promotional materials. Furthermore, the collection and organization of these materials is not easily accomplished. A coordinated effort involving the preparation of these promotional materials in addition to their publication is also a very beneficial service for any business. As in all cases of workloads, etc., if these activities can be coordinated and managed by one single organization, without the need for heavy involvement by the business people, this is again very beneficial.

In addition to the task of actually preparing the materials, it is critical that certain levels of quality be achieved. Since these promotional materials are intended to promote the businesses products or service, it is critical for them to be as impressive as possible. It also goes without saying that any negative or distasteful advertising will detrimentally effect the business. For example, if promotional materials were to contain obscenity or profanity, this would create a very bad image for the business. Thus, when a business or vendor wishes to have promotional materials prepared, it would also be valuable to have a system which provides the vendor with quality assurance measures.

From the perspective of a company or organization which would provide a medium for preparing and distributing promotional materials, it is always important to get paid. Ideally, the provider would have provisions which provide for payment prior to rendering the services. In this situation, the services could be more easily provided at a reasonable rate as the issue of bad debt would not create additional costs.

Thus, there is a need for a system that helps a business to compile artwork into a high- quality promotional presentation. In the case of the Web, the promotional presentation can take the form of not only a graphical presentation but also a multi-media presentation. Therefore, a system is needed that would not only assist in the creation of the graphical presentation but a full multi-media presentation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to provide a meaningful resource to any business or other organizations desiring advertising, the present invention provides a coordinated system for the generating of advertising materials which can then be displayed and viewed via a computer system — possibly a computer system which is in >communication with the Internet. As previously mentioned, the Internet provides an invaluable resource to advertisers having various advantages over other advertising avenues. One type of advertising system includes the coordinated display of graphical promotional materials to any number of potential customers. However, as can be expected, development of these graphical promotional materials, or graphical advertising pieces, or billboards is not easily undertaken by a wide range of businesses. Consequently, the present system accommodates development of these billboards so that they are in an appropriate format for use in the billboard advertising system. A business, or vendor, could then make use of this type of advertising.

Within the billboard advertising system, these displays could include static graphic images, but could also include some visual animation. Consequently, a skilled graphic artist is desired to produce these graphic images. The system of the present invention gives businesses this resource, without extra hassle or effort on their part.

The present invention provides a receiving and processing system which will coordinate orders for the preparation and presentation of billboards. While the system is specifically directed towards billboard development, the same process and systems could be used for the development of any graphical advertising pieces. For example, fully animated multimedia presentations could be prepared utilizing the system of the present invention.

Through electronic connections over the Internet, hundreds, if not thousands of graphical artists are available to prepare appropriate images. The system of the present invention coordinates with these artists and with vendors so that the artists' services can be made available to virtually anyone. The system of the present invention receives and initially processes orders to determine the type of billboard a vendor desires and gives the vendor the opportunity to select an artist. Alternatively, the system of the present invention also provides a mechanism for receiving and processing previously prepared graphical advertising pieces. In this situation, the services of the graphic artist are not needed, however, some initial processing is necessary to ensure the billboard effectively and optimally works on the billboard system.

Once the initial order information is received and processed, the receiving system initially checks the financial resources or credit card of the vendor to ensure payment to the artist for their services. Next, the receiving system will assign the project to a graphical artist for preparation. This graphical artist may be individually selected by the vendor, or simply may be assigned by the receiving system. Once this artist selection is made, the billboard order is placed in a directory which is made available to a graphic artist. The graphic artist can then download any information included with the order and create a graphical advertising piece. Once this graphical advertising piece is prepared, it is then stored in a quality control database for future processing.

Following the posting to the quality control database, a quality control process is undergone. Through this quality control process, the advertising agency or web supporting agency can ensure that the prepared billboard meets certain criteria. One primary interest is the concern that obscenities and profanity not be included in the billboard. Further, the quality or nature of the artwork can be checked to ensure that the vendors' best interests are being protected.

The quality control process has the ability to either reject billboards that have been prepared, thus requiring further graphic artwork or re-submission of the order. Alternatively, if the billboard is approved, it is passed to a final billing step and ultimately posted to the billboard advertising system.

In the final billing process, the vendor's credit card is again checked for billing approval and then billed for the cost of posting to the billboard directory. Once all final billing approvals are completed, the billboard is sent to the billboard directory.

As can be seen from the above-described process, it is not necessary for the vendor to interface with the graphic artists at all. All of these logistics are handled by the receiving system, further, a quality control service is provided for both the vendor and the advertising provider. Thus the vendor can be reasonably assured that their advertising materials, or billboards, will be of high quality work and will meet certain standards. Further the provider of the advertising service cannot be accused of providing a questionable service to the vendors.

In addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, the receiving system also provides electronic mail messages to the vendors updating them about the status of their project. This provides for a very interactive relationship with the vendor, while still avoiding the logistical hassles in which the vendor does not wish to participate. Again, an advantage of the present invention is its ability to provide graphical development resources to vendors who might not have access to the appropriate individuals or organizations. These resources are made available in a very user friendly manner, to easily produce graphical advertising pieces. It is an object of the present invention to receive and process all orders for graphical advertising work.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A shows a typical system configuration in which the present invention operates.

FIG. IB shows a computer system representative of a server or client computer as shown in Fig. 1 A.

Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a system in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 4 shows a block diagram of the receiving system in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 5 shows a flow chart of the basic processes in the receiving system.

Figure 6 shows a representative billboard display document in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 7A-7E show a more detailed flow chart of the receiving process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A typical system configuration in which the present invention operates is shown in Figure 1A. The configuration in Figure 1A is a client-server configuration typically encountered when the Internet provides the communications link between the client and the server. In Figure 1A, client computer system 100 communicates over the Internet 102 with server 104. Server 104 may in turn be connected over a local area network LAN 106 to other servers (not shown). Each of the servers 104, connected to the LAN can be given different functions to carry out or all of the servers can share in carrying out all of the functions.

Client computer system 100 typically has the function of providing an interface to the users of such a system configuration. One important interface function is that of providing a document viewing process 112 to the user. In the context of the Internet, the document viewing process is typically carried out by a browser program, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. The job of the browser on the client machine is to obtain and interpret documents, in particular HTML or similar documents, for the user. Server computer system 104 is shown in Figure 1A as having a receiving process 124.

This server system aids in the process of collecting and verifying data to be stored in databases 121. In particular, in a version of the present invention, the receiving system aids in receiving and verifying a vendor order form 126 which contains information about the vendor and the vendor's order to create a billboard, and billboard artwork 128 which contains information needed to create a billboard for promoting the vendor's products or services. As an alternative, the vendor can submit a completed billboard or multi-media presentation, in which case the receiving system only verifies the information against certain quality standards which are discussed below. In order to meet these quality standards, the receiving system in some cases aids in a compression 132 and enhancement process 134 which improves the quality of the billboard and the multi -media presentation.

Databases 121 can include many different directories and databases for use by order receiving system 124. These various directories and databases include an artist directory 135, a billing database 137, a quality control database 139, and a return directory 141. Each of these will be used during the receiving of orders processed. Ultimately, once received and approved, the artwork or billboard will ultimately be transferred to an active billboard database 146.

As stated above, the system configuration in FIG. 1A is a typical configuration in which the present invention operates. Many other configurations are possible including ones in which the server systems cooperate to carry out any of the processes which appear to be dedicated to a particular server. Furthermore, only a client-server relationship need exist between the client computer system 100 and the server 104. While communication between the client and the server is shown over the Internet 102, this is not a necessary requirement of the present invention. However, it is preferred in the present invention that client and server communicate over the Internet.

FIG. IB shows a block diagram of a computer system representative of a server or client computer as shown in FIG. 1A. Connected to local bus 156 are a processing unit 160, memory unit 162, monitor and keyboard unit 164, storage device interface unit for operating data storage device 158, and communications interface unit 168. Typically, memory unit 162 holds an operating system and applications programs for execution by the processing unit 160. In the course of processing, processing unit 160 makes accesses to the data storage device 158 and to the communications interface to send or receive data over a network to which the computer system is connected. Users interact with the system via monitor and keyboard interface 164.

Figure 2 shows a broad block diagram of a larger system within which the present invention operates. In Figure 2, the larger system shown includes a receiving system 170 which receives graphical promotional information 172, vendor information 174 and artist information 176. Receiving system 170 communicates with a database server system 178 to request storage of the promotional information in receiving database 180. When activated, promotional information is then transferred from receiving database 180 to database 182. When promotional information becomes old or is not in service, it is moved to the archive database 184. Reactivated information can be moved back from the archive database 184 to the database 182. Document publishing system 186 and multi-media publishing system 188 request information from the database server system 178 in order to carry out their respective publishing tasks in response to requests from the viewing system. In particular, document publishing system provides viewable documents 192 and multi-media documents 194 to the viewing system 190. A particular viewable document 192 is provided to the viewing system 190 upon receiving selection criteria 196 and a particular multi-media presentation is provided to the viewing system 190 upon receiving multi-media selection information 198. In one embodiment, viewable documents 192 include graphical advertising images or billboards, which can then be used in an Internet based promotional system. Viewing system 190 acts as a client in a client-server system where the document publishing system 186 and multi-media publishing system 188 are the servers.

Referring now to Figure 3A-3F, which shows a flow chart of a system level process in accordance with the present invention, the first step, step 220, is to receive graphical promotional information about the products or services offered by each vendor. In some embodiments, step 220 includes either receiving graphical promotional information directly from the vendor 222 or providing vendor artwork to an artist 224 who converts the vendor artwork into the graphical promotional information 226. The artist is chosen from a list of artists available to perform the conversion process. The next step 228 is to review the graphical promotional information to determine whether the information complies with predetermined quality control standards. These standards relate to the visual quality and computer file size of the information and are discussed in more detail below. After reviewing the graphical promotional information, steps are carried out to assure that the graphical promotional information meets the quality control standards if it is determined in step 232 that the information falls short of the standards. In some versions of the present invention, the graphical promotional information is modified to meet the standards 234. Modification, in some cases, includes enhancing the quality of the information 236 to meet the visual quality standards and compressing the information to meet certain pre-determined computer file size requirements 238. Next, in step 230, the graphical promotional information is entered into a database. Once the information is entered into the appropriate database, the overall system operates as an advertising vehicle. In step 242 a request is received to retrieve some promotional information from the database. The request contains certain selection criteria so the that the promotional information can be located in the database. In one embodiment, the step 242 includes receiving a billboard identifier in step 244 or receiving in step 246 a search category, a search region, and a two or more letter vendor code.

Next, in step 248, the database is searched and graphical promotional information is retrieved which matches the selection criteria. In step 250, a viewable document is provided to the potential customer. Typically, this involves steps of generating the document containing the requested billboard in 252 and transmitting the document to the potential customer's computer in step 254. This viewable document includes a billboard containing the graphical promotional information that matches the selection criteria.

At this point the user of the system, a potential customer, can select the billboard in step 256, in which case, in step 258 information about the vendor promoted on the billboard is provided to the potential customer. Alternatively, selecting the billboard causes a document such as a vendor's Web page to be retrieved. After the billboard is selected and the information provided, the user can continue to view the billboard document as shown by arc 260. Alternatively, following arc 262, the potential customer can input new selection criteria and cause another search to be performed. As another alternative, if there is a multi-media selection input available on the billboard as determined in step 264 and if the user invokes the multi-media selection input in step 266, then a multi-media presentation is provided to the user in step 268 after which the user returns to the current billboard document in step 270. The multi-media presentation is an audio-visual presentation that promotes the products or services of the vendor from whose billboard the multi-media presentation was selected. Receiving system 170 in Figure 2 is shown in more detail in the block diagram of

Figure 4. In particular, receiving system includes order processing system 310, order assignment system 312, billing system 314, quality check system 316 and artist login system 338.

The order processing system 310 is responsible for receiving and processing a billboard order form 318 or an artwork order form 320 from vendor 322. Form 318 contains information the system needs to receive and process a vendor provided billboard 324 which is to be stored n the database 327 by server system 328 at the request of the order processing system 310. Form 320 contains information the system needs to receive and process an artist provided billboard. In the latter case the vendor supplies vendor artwork 326 to the server system 328 which the artist will convert into a graphical billboard. The order processing system 310 provides confirmation of a submitted order by sending emails to the vendor as shown in arc 330.

Order assignment system 312 receives communications indicating that the vendor has decided to have an artist to convert the vendor artwork into a graphical billboard. The order assignment system 312 is responsible for creating a display of billboards 332 previously created by artists to the vendor 322 so that the vendor can select an artist based on the quality of the artist's previous work. The order assignment system 312 can send an email confirmation as shown in arc 334 to the artist 336 to inform the artist of the vendor's selection.

Artist login system 338 allows the artist 336 to gain access to the database server system 328 which stores the vendor's artwork so that the artist can convert the artwork into a graphical billboard 340.

Billing system 314 processes charges made against the vendor for services provided by the system including the conversion of the vendor artwork by the chosen artist. Billing system 314 sends confirmation emails to the vendor 322 and the artist 336 as needed.

Quality check system 316 operates to review the vendor supplied billboard 324 or the artist supplied billboard 340 for visual quality and computer file size. Quality check system 316 communicates to the vendor 322 and artist 336 regarding the results of the quality check. If the submitted billboard fails to meet the quality requirement, the quality check system can notify the vendor or artist. The quality check system also transfers a billboard that passes the quality check system to the billboard directory database 342.

Figure 5 shows a flow chart of the basic processes in the receiving system. A more detailed flow chart of this process is presented in Figure 7A-7E. In step 362 of Figure 5, an order form is completed by a vendor. Either the order form is billboard order form or an artwork order form. If the order form is a billboard order as shown by arc 364, then in step 366 the vendor provided billboard is posted to the unapproved billboard directory. If the order form is an artwork order form, then in step 368, vendor artwork is posted in step 370 on the database 327 shown in Figure 4. Next in step 372 the vendor chooses an artist or the system selects an artist automatically. The selected artist in step 374 then prepares the billboard from the vendor artwork and posts it, in step 376, to the quality control database of database 327 shown in Figure 4. Next, the posted billboards are reviewed based on the quality control standards in step 378 and if approved as determined in step 380 are moved in step 382 to the billboard directory database 342 as shown in Figure 4. If the billboard is not approved then a message to t at effect is send either to t e ven or as shown by arc 384 or artist as shown in arc 386.

The document publishing system 186 in Figure 2 creates and delivers at the request of the viewing system a document. One document that is delivered to the viewing system is a document that displays a set of vendor billboards. This document is a composite document including a number of discrete parts. Figure 6 shows a representative billboard display document in accordance with the present invention. The billboard display document includes selection area 420, a set 422 of billboard display areas, splash screen area 424, background image 426, document navigation buttons 428 and 430, scroll bar 432, alternate entry field 434 and search button 435.

The set of billboard display areas 422 includes one or more billboard display areas. Each billboard display area can contain either one full-sized billboard 450 or two half-sized billboard 452. In one embodiment of the present invention, there are 10 billboard display areas on a billboard display document. In other embodiments, the number can be greater or less than 10 billboard display areas. Any billboard has the option of having multi-media selection buttons 454 on the billboard. Any number of multi-media selection buttons 454 is permitted on a billboard. In one embodiment of the invention, a full-sized billboard has 8 multi-media selection buttons and a half-sized billboard has 4 buttons. Selecting a multimedia selection button causes a multi-media presentation to be presented to the user. This presentation promotes the products or services of the vendor on whose billboard the button was selected. Multi-media presentations selected by these buttons are discussed in more detail below.

Referring to Figure 7, there is shown a more detailed flow chart outlining the process for receiving and filling orders for the preparation and posting of billboards. As previously mentioned, receiving system 170 provides for the receipt of orders for billboards and the appropriate processing of these orders to produce a finalized billboard for the vendor.

The first portion of the order receiving process is initial order processing 900. The process of developing a billboard begins by the vendor completing an order form as shown in step 902. This completed order form will provide the system with an appropriate amount of vendor information to proceed. This information will typically include vendor name, address and contact information, electronic mail address, credit card information, and order information. Next, in step 902 receiving system 170 determines whether the order is for the placement of an existing billboard or the preparation of a new, nonexistent billboard. If the billboard already exists, there is no need to prepare additional artwork or graphics for this billboard and the system simply processes the order t rough its other major steps including billing and quality control.

If it is determined that a billboard does exist, in step 904 the existing billboard is retrieved and posted to the quality contrql directory in step 906. The quality control database is a holding location that receiving system 170 utilizes in processing the order. In order to provide meaningful information to the vendor, step 908 sends an electronic mail message back to the vendor indicating that his billboard order has been received and is being processed. Additionally, in step 910 an e-mail is sent to the quality control department indicating that a new billboard has been stored in the quality control database and that quality review is required. At that point, the process is required to go on to its quality control process, which will be further described below.

If step 904 determines that a billboard does not exist and the vendor is requesting the development of a new billboard, the process moves to step 912 where the vendor is allowed to upload up to ten different artwork files. These uploaded artwork files may include company logos or advertising material which is consistent with other marketing efforts the vendor is pursuing. As could be easily appreciated, it is very common for vendors to desire that these artwork files be incorporated into any advertising piece that is being prepared. Further, the vendor is requested to provide descriptions of each of these files in order to provide an ultimate artist with some insight into the vendor's desires. At the same time, step 914 stores vendor information in an order database. This allows the system to record and maintain details about the order and the vendor.

In the initial order form, the vendor is asked whether they would like to select an artist themselves or have an artist assigned to them. This decision is processed in step 916 to appropriately direct the receiving system 170. If the vendor wishes to select the artist, the system moves to step 918 wherein the vendor is asked to browse numerous exemplary pieces of artwork and provide an indication as to which artist they would like to prepare their billboard. Alternatively, if the vendor wishes an artist assigned by the receiving system 170, the process moves to step 920 where the artist with the smallest workload is identified. The intent of the receiving system is to assign the current billboard project to this identified artist. In this circumstance, workload is simply defined as the number of outstanding billboard projects the particular artist has. Consequently, the artist with the fewest number of billboard projects outstanding, will be identified as the artist with the smallest workload. One advantage of the receiving system 170 of the present invention is the unlimited number of artistic resources it can manage. Via electronic mail connections over the Internet, the rece v ng system can ave access to an un m te num er o grap c art sts w o are capa e of preparing high quality graphic artwork pieces. As all information can be transmitted electronically to these artists, the receiving system 170 provides the vendor with artistic resources that they might not otherwise have available to them. This is specifically advantageous to smaller companies who may not have relationships with high quality graphic artists. Further, these companies may not have convenient mechanisms to work with these people. As outlined herein, the automated nature of this process provided by receiving system 170 is particularly well suited to this situation.

Once the artist is identified, either by vendor selection or system assignment, receiving system 170 moves on to step 922 where a work order is created describing the project and identifying the artist to be used. This description includes information that the vendor has provided along with any desires they have for their billboard. Following the creation of this work order in step 922, all artwork is stored in the artist directory in step 924 while an electronic mail message is sent to the vendor confirming the details of their order in step 926. At this point, the initial order processing 900 is completed and the system can move on to the next appropriate steps.

Where the vendor has requested the preparation of a billboard, receiving system 170 must then move on to the initial credit approval process 926. This process starts by simply seeking approval of the vendor's credit card. This approval process can be done through any credit organization which is well known to all users of major credit cards. In step 928, the process determines if the credit card has been approved or not. If the credit card has not been approved, the process moves on to step 930 where an electronic mail message is sent to the vendor indicating that their credit card has been denied and requesting that they resubmit their order with a new credit card. Next, in step 932 any stored information related to the order is deleted from the system as this order must now be resubmitted.

If the credit card is approved in step 926, the process moves on to step 934 where appropriate charges are made to the credit card for preparation of the billboard. At this point, the system moves to step 936 where an electronic mail message is now sent to the vendor indicating their credit card has been approved and charged for the preparation of a billboard. This message also confirms that the order will be further processed and a billboard will be prepared.

Next, in step 938 an electronic mail message is prepared and sent to the assigned artist indicating there is a project waiting for them in the artist directory. This message will include the exact location of the project, and all information needed by the artist to prepare a billboard. Additionally, the process now increases that particular artist's workload count by one in order to track the number of projects being worked. At this point, the initial credit approval process 926 is completed and receiving system 170 can now move on to its next processing steps. Again, where the vendor desires a billboard to be prepared, and the vendor has passed through the initial credit approval process 926, it is now necessary for the artist to prepare the actual artwork. This artwork preparation process 940 is obviously a necessary step in the preparation of the billboard, however is not directly carried out by order receiving system 170. As previously mentioned, the order has been stored by receiving system 170 and appropriate information has been sent to the artist. The order retrieving system now simply waits for the artist to do their work and return the finished product to retrieval system.

Artwork preparation process 940 is shown in more detail in Figure 7C. This process begins by the artist first logging on to the system in step 942. Each artist working on these billboard projects will be provided with appropriate access instructions and information (e.g. passwords) so that they may access the appropriate directories within the system. Following log on, the artist downloads the vendor posted artwork and all information related to this artwork in step 944. In step 946 the artist prepares the actual billboard artwork using whatever methods the artist has at their resources. This could include any number of graphics development programs or processes. This graphics development (step 946) is left entirely to the discretion of the artist, leaving them with creative freedom to produce a pleasing and innovative product.

Once completed, the artist uploads the completed billboard to the quality control database in step 948. The quality control database acts as a holding area for incoming projects for the quality control department. Lastly, in step 950 an electronic mail message is sent to the quality control department indicating that a recently prepared billboard has been stored in the quality control database and that this billboard now requires quality review. At this point, preparation process 940 has been completed and receiving system 170 can proceed in processing the order.

Referring now to Figure 7D, quality control process 352 is further outlined. Beginning at step 954 the electronic mail message sent in either step 910 or step 950 is received by the quality control department indicating that new billboards have been posted in their database and these billboards now require review. In step 956, the billboard is downloaded by the quality control department for conducting its review. Using any number of standards, the quality control department can then review the billboard to determine if it meets the standards of the quality control department. The standards used by the quality control department can vary widely depending on their goals. For example, the quality control department could simply review billboards to ensure obscenities or profanity is not included therein. Alternatively, the quality control department could review the billboard to be sure it includes only high quality graphic art pieces. Other quality control measures may be incorporated depending on the desired goals of the quality control department.

In step 958, the system determines if the billboard is approved. This may be accomplished in many different ways including through manual input of quality approval, or through electronic analysis of the artwork. If the billboard is approved, the process moves on to step 960 where the billboard is transferred to the billing database. Once transferred to the billing database, the receiving system 170 determines whether the billboard was created by the vendor or by an artist in step 962. This information was provided during the initial order processing steps 900. If the billboard was created by an artist, the system reduces the artist's workload count in step 964. The order is then forwarded to accounting for billing purposes in step 966. Similarly, if the order was created by the vendor, the process simply moves directly to step 966 where the order is forwarded to accounting for billing purposes. At this point, the order is ready for a final billing process which is further outlined below.

If the billboard is not approved by quality control in step 958, the system then moves to step 968 where it is again determined if the billboard was created by an artist or the vendor. This is an identical inquiry to that of step 962. If the billboard was created by a vendor, the process then moves to step 970 where an electronic mail message is prepared and sent to the vendor indicating that their billboard did not meet quality standards and that the order must be placed again. Subsequently, in step 972, any information relating to the order is completely deleted from the system as it is now necessary for the order to be resubmitted. Back in step 968, if it is determined that the billboard was created by an artist, step

974 now prepares an electronic mail message and sends it to the artist indicating that their newly prepared billboard has not met quality standards. Step 974 further indicates that changes to the newly prepared billboard are necessary. Next, the system moves on to step 976 where the unapproved billboard is uploaded to the artist directory once again. Now it is necessary for the artist to do revision work, and then once again upload the billboard to the quality control database (similar to the process outlined in the billboard preparation process 940).

In final billing step 978, the vendor is billed for the posting of their billboard on the billboard directory. This final billing process 978 is further outlined in Figure 7E and begins with step 980 where credit card approval is sought. Again, this inquiry is identical to the previous credit card approval steps. If the credit card is approved, the system moves on to step 982 where the credit card is actually charged for the initial costs of posting the billboard. Next, in step 984 vendor information and billboard information are transferred to the appropriate vendor and billboard tables. Further, in step 986 the billboard is posted to the billboard directory. Lastly, in step 988 a confirming electronic mail message is sent to the vendor indicating his billboard has been placed in the billboard directory and corresponding charges have been made to their credit card.

Alternatively, should the credit card not be approved in step 980, the system goes on to step 990 to again determine if the billboard was created by the vendor or by an artist. If the billboard was created an artist, the billboard is then moved to a return directory in step 992. By storing this billboard in this location, it can later be retrieved. The vendor has already been billed for billboard preparation thus it is unreasonable to simply delete the billboard. Should the credit card or financing problems be worked out, this billboard can then be easily retrieved from the return directory and further processed. Alternatively, the billboard could be retrieved and then resubmitted in a new order. In step 994, an electronic mail message is prepared and sent to the vendor indicating their credit card has been rejected and indicating where in the return directory the billboard can be found. This electronic mail message also provides instructions to the vendor to resubmit their order, this time indicating a prepared billboard already exists. Next, in step 996 all information relating to the order, except for the above-referenced storage in the return directory, is deleted from the system. Consequently, a new order must be submitted to further process this billboard.

If the system determines that the billboard was created by a vendor in step 990, step 998 prepares and sends an electronic mail message to the vendor. This message would be similar to other messages previously discussed wherein the vendor is advised that his credit card has been denied and that the order must be resubmitted. Next, the process moves to step 996 where the information relating to this order is now removed from the system.

In summary, the process described in Figures 7A through 7E provides an automated system for vendors to access graphic artists who are familiar with the preparation of appropriate billboards. This also provides the mechanisms to allow vendors to have billboards prepared for posting on a billboard directory.

Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central attributes thereof. In that the foregoing description of the present invention discloses only exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that other variations are contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited in the particular embodiments which have been described in detail therein. Rather, reference should be made to the appended claims as indicative of the scope and content of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A system for administering the development of graphical promotional information for use in a system which promotes the services or products of vendors by making them available for display to potential customers on a customer computer, the system comprising: an order receiving system for receiving order requests for the preparation of graphical promotional material and for processing the order to produce prepared graphical promotional information, the order receiving system for further analyzing the prepared graphical promotional information against a predetermined order standard and for identifying the graphical promotional information as approved graphical promotional information if the predetermined order standard is met while identifying the graphical promotional information as unapproved graphical promotional information if the predetermined order standard is not met; and a graphical storage database in communication with the order receiving system for receiving the approved graphical promotional information and storing it in a predetermined manner for possible display on a customer computer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the predetermined order standard includes a predetermined quality control standard and a predetermined financial standard.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing of the order to produce prepared graphical promotional information further comprises appropriately assigning a graphical promotional information development project in response to the order request.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the order request identifies a selected artist or requests that an artist be assigned by the order receiving system, if the artist is to be assigned the system will identify the select artist from a plurality of artists on a predetermined selection basis and communicate the assignment to the selected artist.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the predetermined selection basis is based upon an artist workload.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the communication is achieved via electronic mail.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical promotional material may include text, graphics, or video.

, 5 8. The system of claim 2, wherein the order receiving system marks the approved material and stores it in a first location while it also marks the unapproved material and stores it in a second location.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the order receiving system implements the

10 predetermined financial standard by automatically making a credit inquiry and charging the vendors when completed graphical promotional information has been stored in the graphical storage database, wherein the completed graphical promotional material is marked as unapproved if the credit inquiry reveals negative information.

15 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the order request includes vendor submitted graphics for incorporation into the graphical promotional material, and wherein the order processing system comprises a graphics generation system for receiving the vendor submitted graphics and generating the generated graphical promotional material.

0 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the graphics generation system coordinates the efforts of a virtual army of artists by transferring the order request to a predetermined member of a virtual army of artists for the generation of the graphical promotional material based upon the order request.

5 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the order receiving system and the database operate on a distributed network.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a server system for coordinating all communication. 0

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the server system and the customer computer are both in communication with the Internet.

15. A system for the generation of graphical promotional materials for vendors which coordinates and utilizes the resources of a virtual army of artists to provide creative input, the system comprising: an artist database having a roster for the virtual army of artists; and an order receiving system for receiving an order for the preparation of graphical promotional material and identifying a selected artist from the artist database using a predetermined selection process, the order receiving system for further preparing communication for transmission to the selected artist indicating that they have been awarded the project of preparing graphical promotional material in response to the order.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the predetermined selection process includes an analysis of the artist database to determine which artist has the lightest workload and identifying that artist as the selected artist.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the order includes an indication that the vendor wishes to select their own artist and the predetermined selection process includes a vendor artist selection process.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the vendor artist selection process include the retrieval of artist information for viewing by the vendor, and the subsequent receipt of artist designation from the vendor.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the artist database and the order receiving system both reside on a computer system.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein computer system is a distributed system.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the distributed system is in communication with the Internet.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the order receiving system further receives communication from the selected artist indicating that a completed graphical promotional information can be retrieved from and identified location.

2 . e system o c a m , w ere n t e or er rece v ng system urt er ana yzes t e completed graphical promotional information against a predetermined order standard and for identifying the completed graphical promotional information as approved graphical promotional information if the predetermined order standard is met while identifying the completed graphical promotional information as unapproved graphical promotional information if the predetermined order standard is not met.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the predetermined order standard includes a predetermined quality control standard and a predetermined financial standard.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein the graphical promotional materials may include text, graphics, or video.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the order receiving system implements the predetermined financial standard by automatically making a credit inquiry and charging the vendors when completed graphical promotional information has been stored in the graphical storage database, wherein the completed graphical promotional material is marked as unapproved if the credit inquiry reveals negative information.

27. A order system for receiving vendor orders for the preparation of graphical promotional materials and processing the orders to create finalized graphical promotional materials, the order system comprising: a graphical development system for receiving the initial vendor order and processing the order to produce the graphical promotional materials, including the selection of an artist and coordination with the selected artist to prepare an unapproved graphical promotional material; a quality control system for reviewing the unapproved graphical promotional materials against a predetermined quality standard, the quality control system identifying the graphical promotional materials as approved graphical promotional materials if the predetermined quality standards are met; and a financial coordination system for insuring that financial criteria are met, if the financial criteria are met, the graphical promotional materials are saved as finalized graphical promotional materials.

28. A system for the development of graphical promotional materials which utilizes the talents of a plurality of graphical artist, the system comprising an order processing system resident upon a server for receiving an order via a communication with a client computer for the production of graphical promotional material, the order including at least one deposit of vendor graphical material for use in developing the graphical promotional materials, the order processing system for coordinating the selection and assignment of orders to a selected artist, the order processing system for further receiving and storing completed graphical promotional materials from the selected artist.