three rooms
As with any transition, our company’s recent move has created opportunities to rethink how we do our business. After several months of planning and moving, I’m glad the transition process is nearly over and am delighted with our new space. Having a suite of three rooms, our first thought of the office was rooted in the ...
building credibility
Thinking about structure in your marketing materials is about how you decide to use visual relationships to reinforce your message. It means thinking beyond what is being said, and exploring the how. As always, the process begins with focusing on your message, ideally your one message. Deciding on a core message is often the biggest ...
creating cohesion
A holiday card commissioned by the Port of Bellingham became a little object lesson in design. The assignment was simple enough: use a series of historical photos to convey a message of holiday wishes without using symbolism related to any one religious tradition. The tricky thing about the project was that there was no clear relationship between ...
being invisible
A recent project we recently completed for our longtime friend and collaborator Christina Wright became a little object lesson in the art of being invisible. The project was a monograph of the paintings of Ann B Kobdish (Christina’s late mother). The quality of Ann’s work is impressive, and we immediately understood that we would be ...
when you look into the abyss…
I’ve noticed how problem solvers often become strangely “infected” with and by the problems they are attempting to solve. In communications projects, this translates into a tendency to unconsciously fixate on the problem and be seduced into talking about its causes, outcomes and complexities at the expense of talking about the solution. Marketing is usually ...
type management strategies
Type is present in essentially all marketing communications. Other than color, perhaps no other visual element plays a more crucial role in building a consistent presence across multiple forms of media. Yet, type is something few businesses use effectively, with even large established companies continuously making arbitrary choices with type. Those choices undermine their long term ...
the blank page
Having just completed the installation of the new version of Office, I was struck by the new default appearance of good old Microsoft Word. Documents now appear with a very minimal, non-graphical interface at the top of the screen, and a nondescript blank page below. The message of this design choice is clear: the application ...
your best friends
Your best friends Where many think that creativity and criticism are opposites of one another, I’ve long believed that honest criticism is an inherently creative act. Certainly, the best critics love what they criticize, and the act of engaging in honest criticism is, at heart, a striving to make things better. The best creative people often ...
The Treachery of Images
I had coffee with a friend this week who asked me for my thoughts on a brochure draft. The purpose of the brochure was to encourage people to donate to an organization that protects communities from a mechanical failure that can result in enormous harm and loss of life. The writing was straightforward enough, but ...
what on earth are people looking for?
For the past few months, I’ve been exploring a powerful tool that has exerted a subtle but profound influence on my professional life. Google Insights has become a backdrop for our strategic work, and truth be told, a bit of a fascinating toy as well. On a technical level, Insights is a free search engine ...
three great learning tools – free!
Doing research is a huge part of my professional life, and for the most part I love doing it – thanks in no small part to the amazing tools available today. Below are some of my favorites, all of which are free. Google Reader This application lets you efficiently monitor any number of blogs, which ...
does it swim in the water or live on the land? A simple way to think about type.
I think no other aspect of a designer’s work is more telling than their use of type. It shows their understanding of culture, the subject matter, and the audience in very subtle but important ways. For the rest of us, type doesn’t have to be complicated. A few simple “common sense” rules can help you ...
