Hidden messages, conveyed through optical illusions, puns, subliminal messages, riddles, and in jokes, have always played a unique role in visual communications. They raise questions that are fun to ask, but often impossible to answer. More than anything, they appeal to a childlike delight we all share in finding things ‘hidden in plain sight.’ I’ve read that Amazon …
speak friend and enter A fundamental principle about marketing communication relates to making it easy for the audience to understand what you’re trying to say. A message that requires serious thought is almost certainly going to be upstaged by less demanding messages. Yet, as I see marketing as the strategic breaking of rules, I can …
“I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time.” — Mark Twain The process of developing meaningful content for websites is sometimes a bigger challenge than the technical construction of the website itself. One reason for this is that there is essentially no limit to need. The freeform nature …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. Not having type management strategies in …
Imagine picking up an object and suddenly experiencing a flood of voices filling your mind, not from a physical location near you but from anyone, anywhere– perhaps even from people who lived hundreds or thousands of years before you were born. Now imagine that the object you’ve picked up is a book. The ability to …
Who doesn’t like penguins? I’ve always loved them, but I hadn’t learned until very recently about how they’re camouflaged. When swimming, their predominantly white bellies help them blend in with a reflective water surface when seen from below by predators such as orca whales or leopard seals. When seen from above, their dark backs naturally blend with …
