ignoring the rules
This is an enormous jar; when full, it will probably contain several thousand dollars. I like the design on the front. It made me want to throw in a few dollars, which I did – happily. This design breaks tons of rules, including: numerous technical errors no mention of the speaker, timeline, contact info, ...
the virtues of experimentation
Thinking about where I invest my time and energy, I look at other artists and see what I can learn from the decisions they’ve made. Without a doubt, the best creative people I know are people who have made a life choice of doggedly exploring new ways of working and thinking about their craft – whatever ...
positive reflections of an ugly subject
Developing an identity for the Bellingham/Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence raised some challenging questions about design and marketing that we hadn’t encountered before. The Commission works with a variety of community partners to detect, prevent, and help people recover from domestic violence issues. Their identity needed to reflect the organization’s role of understanding domestic ...
first steps: cloud computing
For the past year or so, our company has been gradually using more web-based applications as part of our daily work. So far, the process has been an unqualified success. Cloud computing not only allows us to work more efficiently but it has given us new resources that open the door to a whole new ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
no thank you
A recent survey by ExactTarget indicated that 70% of Facebook users don’t want marketing to be incorporated in social media applications – even when they opt to become fans of a particular business. Of course. Given the choice, few people would claim they want to be marketed to, ever – regardless of the medium. It’s ...
Google’s low tech video
I thought this little ad was brilliant in terms of ideas and execution – a nice combination of high and low tech. I especially liked the thoughtfulness of conveying technical, abstract ideas as metaphors with string, balloons, and dye.
anxious customers? keep it simple.
One way to think of the job a brand must perform is to address the risks involved with making a purchasing decision. Some people separate risks into different categories – physical, social, monetary, etc. – where others think in terms of high or low involvement. A low involvement choice is a product like detergent, gum, ...
Marketing OR creativity – is it one or the other?
In thinking about creative work, I’ve found it helpful to employ two different ways when approaching the work: self expression and problem solving. Self expression emerges from the individual point of view of the artist – unearthing a person’s interior thoughts and feelings and building connections with other people through the work. Problem solving is ...
