September 2008
1 post
Buzz
Is it wrong to like a sports franchise based on their visual identity? Most die hard sports fans would probably say yes. But I think a team’s brand identity is often indicative of a much larger clubhouse philosophy and can reveal a lot about the mindset of the front office.
Take the New Orleans Hornets (look here and read here). This is a team that always manages, through attention to...
Get Chumby
This product isn’t for everyone. It doesn’t seem to have any major advantage over the 8,000 or so other tiny Internet gadgets on the market. But I do think it is an interesting and refreshing step away from the stark white utilitarian approach of the iPod and others. Here’s why: the modernist movement has a tendancy to isolate emotion from the concept of functionality. As if naked usability...
August 2008
2 posts
Natural Resources
I am often blown away by the amount of inspiration to be found out there. What is especially surprising is the frequent obscurity of the source. If you’re paying attention, digging deep and constantly thinking, you realize that everything is a potential resource for knowledge and inspiration. The store clerk. That scrap of paper. Shark Week. Tapping into obscure and everyday resources can...
July 2008
6 posts
Discounted Expectations
The recent online leak of Walmart’s new logo was followed by a collective eye roll from self-respecting designers nationwide. The idea alone of Walmart (tightened from Wal-Mart), an immobile giant rooted, much like the Republican Party, in the indefinite concept of value, updating its logo seemed wrong. Forced, almost. And the new logo itself did little to curb the scorn. Having been compared to...
Debbie Millman | Marty Neumeier : Part Four
Debbie Millman | Marty Neumeier : Part...
Debbie Millman | Marty Neumeier : Part Two
Debbie Millman | Marty Neumeier : Part...
Raising A Good Brand
A brand’s growth is an unpredictable, abstract and even mysterious process. Much like parents have specific ideas to which they steer their child’s maturation, so do a brand’s parents strive for what they think is best, in terms of sale goals and market position. In utero, the stage is set. Instead of investing in cribs, wallpaper and toys, the parents set up demographics,...
June 2008
1 post
May 2008
1 post
Race To The Bottom
AIN’T AIN’T A WORD Old people complain. That whole back in my day thing. Back in my day kids didn’t talk like that. Back in my day kids didn’t dress like that. Back in my day kids didn’t package an unskilled, chaotic, primitive series of noises and try to call it music. We had class. Their point is taken. As the melting pot idea of America continues to define itself, you could...
April 2008
1 post
Just Say No
There is no statement as definitive and resounding as no. And no simple word is as difficult to express. Let’s be honest, it’s easy to agree. Trusting others, doing what is expected, ensures we don’t have to take responsibility for our decisions. If something goes wrong, we’re innocent. I heard it from him. She did it first. We are not usually the autonomous creatures we think we are. Especially...
March 2008
1 post
What I Learned In College
I’m starting this blog just days before finishing my undergraduate studies at a Minneapolis design school. Four years of late nights spent staring at a computer screen contemplating the nuances of Helvetica, four years spent avoiding overpriced textbooks while tracking down out-of-print Paul Rand books, four years where I spent nearly as much money at Starbucks as I did on tuition, are over....