Questions are an inescapable part of our existence – particularly so if you’re a student or faculty member at Golden Gate University. These people spend hours picking apart the heated questions and issues currently affecting our lives. So when GGU asked for a website overhaul, it seemed only natural for their online presence to mirror that ethos.

Landing on the idea, “The biggest questions need answers,” we turned GGU’s website into a digital classroom of sorts. It puts current affairs front and center – the healthcare debate, high-tech patent wars, and white collar crime – and reveals what GGU faculty and students are saying about them. The site also uses Twitter hashtags to create related “conversation channels,” allowing anyone – from GGU’s professors, students, and 68,000+ alumni, to people on the street – to speak up, chime in, or start conversations of their own.

In addition to brains, the site has dashing good looks to match. As Mortar PR Account Executive Daniel Ray opines, “Those perfectly symmetrical lines and warm, earthy tones…it’s like Ryan Gosling died and came back to Earth in the form of a website.”

As the now-extinct Juicy Campus taught us, letting college students run wild in the online social-sphere can be a highly risky affair. But GGU’s students are smarter than that. The majority of them already leaders in the working world, these people are serious about succeeding. They’d rather debate how to stimulate green jobs than rip on Trisha’s new perm any day (although just for the record, that was totally the world’s worst perm ev-errr.)

GGU’s new site has already snagged the attention of the Campus Technology and SF Egotist. Get in on the conversation – if you’re not already preoccupied with harassing Sweden on Twitter.

Too often, genius goes unnoticed. Like, for instance, this tastefully patriotic glove + koozie. Or bagel dogs (why have we not discussed these oeuvres de genius, people? they’re gigantic pigs-in-gigantic-blankets!)

Or, say, the simple-yet-brilliant idea of storing nuclear waste inside glass – because glass’ half-life is longer, and it keeps radiation safely contained. Or using nanotechnology to design stain-resistant couches – a hyperactive juice lover’s dream come true.

These are just some of the convention-shattering ideas that Palo Alto venture capitalistas (and Mortar client) Firelake has helped bring to market. (Not the bagel dogs – we wish.) Firelake prides themselves on being able to spot genius where others can’t. That’s how they turn backyard projects into breakthrough companies.

Firelake isn’t like other VCs. They’re small. They co-invest with large firms, staying nimble while gaining access to a greater pool of resources. But above all, they favor outrageous ideas. The weirder it sounds, the more they like it.

So we knew we had to give them a website that wasn’t like the others. We latched on to the insight that genius is everywhere, but Firelake’s mission is to recognize it and cultivate it. Eschewing a traditional format, we grouped images and words patchwork-style to create a rich and interactive grid. The content in each box is swapped in and out as new clients and new stories arrive.

The site has a strongly tactile feel, and works particularly well on the iPad. In a world where most VC sites look like this and this, Firelake’s sticks out in the best of ways. We dare you to find another homepage with a raw piece of salmon on it (and no, sites like this one don’t count).

We’re not surprised if you’ve heard of Marketo. They were named the fastest-growing private company in Silicon Valley last year, after all. We’ve also blogged about them several times, and we know you’d rather not eat for a week than miss an entry on Ye Olde Mortarblog.

Riding the wave of success that just seems to keep on building, Marketo hosted its User Summit this week in San Francisco, closing with a celebratory gala on Treasure Island. 1,400 people attended, a 300% increase over their last conference. We’re no mathematicians, but that sounds purdy impressive, no?

Local history nerds will know that Treasure Island was the site of the 1939 World’s Fair. That inspired us to build a conference theme around the idea of an innovation expo, with a look and feel that harks back to 1930s art deco. The idea fit just right, since Marketo is transforming the way companies do business, in response to today’s changing customer. These guys are fo’ real innovators, much like the genius who thought up peanut butter by the slice.

Landing on the theme “Marketing & Sales for a Brave New World,” we concocted a series of striking posters, a landing page, and a swing-driven opening video in which we unironically “jazz things up.” See the work after the jump.

Congratulations to our purple-powered pals on a whoppingly successful event. And thanks for giving us a chance to do some real art for a change.

Look ma, I drawed it!

Those Egyptians did an okay job, but THIS is what we call a pyramid.

This bridge was made for the fridge.

Oh this is an island we’ll treasure, alright.

Look ma, it’s a TV commercial! Except, you know, minus the TV part.

We love a good surprise. Especially ones that puts us in the same hemisphere as hobbits. Check what happens when you ask for walking directions from “The Shire” to “Mordor” in Google Maps:

Lord of the Rings fans will share in our gigglish glee. We admit, those Googlers can get preet-ty clever. But sometimes, the joke’s on them. Someone with far too much time on his hands found a way to turn Google Translate into a beatbox machine. Perfect way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Remember: One does not simply walk into Mortar.