Blogs By Tim Girvin
H E L L O,
Brand storytelling: the energy of musicians and their music
L I S T E N T O T H E L I N K S I was talking to a client about music [brand experientiality]—the magnetic nature of the melodic narrative and, intimately, the human attribute of the swing of musical cadence, the ebullience of its expression in the context of human...
GIRVIN’s Tailored Typography | Movie Logos
How to illustrate a story with letterform design. My kickoff work on Francis Ford’s Coppola’s "Apocalypse Now,” began with a question: he said, ["can you send me some graffiti logos, I saw your work in U&lc.”] I had no idea what he was talking about, never had...
The Soul Summit of the Wave
Trends, Surfing Allegories, and the Soul of the Sea The storm-riven roil of the sea— which is stirring the waves of change—and riding the future. Where I surf the waves are irregular and wild—they gather steam from global swells and mix up in a frothy mix that is...
Brandwisdom in Bold Brushwork
The font work of the road, the remote walls, restroom stalls and using industrial brush tools. I was influenced by graffiti artists and hobo code markers. To know graffiti, practice the art. In the 70s, I started marking stalls in funky bathrooms in NYC, marking over...
The Quest for Wind Speed | Accelerated Branding
Used by permission. ©Daniel Forster [view more of Daniel’s photography] Skipper Dennis Conner and America’s Cup teammates with the GIRVIN logo for “Stars & Stripes,” at Fremantle, AU. In a half century of brand design development, in projects all over the world,...
Designing a sensate place | GIRVIN’s 14th Design Office
Since 1972, I’ve created a long string of design environments—from my on-campus college office in 1973, while at The Evergreen State College, as a student and associate professor—with my first business license—the cabin that I lived and worked in on Eld Inlet—named...
Brand Patterning and Unexpected Messaging
When you work in a place, perhaps there’s a way to offer an uplifting message? A place could be a statement of mission— “I’m here, this is a reminder of why. I’m here.” Having been in probably 100s of offices in my history as a designer, I’ve explored a variety of...
Brand Feel | Emotionalism in Branded Sensations
Feelingness in the realm of design thinking, sensation and brand. Speaking of the sensate place of feelingness, making some-thing—as above—I took some old Italian handmade paper, folded-it, tore it with a bone folder, punched a hole in the head of the strip, and...
Strategic Branding and the Game of Chess
Integrative moves on the brand board of enterprise. The logo above, for the US / China Chess Summit, is a global tournament that GIRVIN created for a group of chess aficionados that see chess as a investment forum for growing acute thinking—the agency to strategic...
A chat with Robert Evans | Schulberg Building | Paramount Studios
A walk-around hello, on the Lot, Summer, 2007 When I was working on the Paramount lot on Melrose—with the executive team in the theatrical advertising office—I frequently worked onsite in hand-drawing and tuning, improving logo art for various projects, including, for...