by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Human brands, Storytelling | Mar 10, 2015
Contexts of Nomenclature and Meaning. According to the Greeks, “the etymon is the name of the true thing.” Etymos=true. What that means is that a name is a deep name, and that the truth would be told. Etymon — comes from the Greek for “truth” — and powerful names for...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts | Mar 5, 2015
WHAT IS: “A NICE DAY?” Nice is one of those tough words, that’s so vague and so commonly used enough that it made me ponder — “what’s that mean?” In my own journey, I live in a place of perpetual curiosity about words and meaning. I listen to what people...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Designers, Scent | Mar 3, 2015
The Legacy of Fragrance Design and Perfume, Taste Innovation and Spice Strategy In a workshop in Oregon, we studied the layering of taste and scent in new product development innovation summits. What came clear in the study group was a kind of synaesthesia of...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts | Feb 26, 2015
The Quest for Heart and Soul in Branding While it’s been suggested by some that “brands can’t have a soul,” it might be proffered that the inherent intimacy of branding to humanity imparts that they have a character that is imbued with a soul-like intentionality —...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts, Storytelling | Feb 24, 2015
The Deep Quest to Know a Brand Earlier in my life I was an inveterate spelunker, a cave explorer. In a manner, exploring caves is a richly metaphoric enterprise. You go deep into the heart of the earth, in winding, supremely dark and likely unknowable and risky...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts, Places | Feb 19, 2015
BRAND PRESENCE, PARTICIPATION AND SENSUAL DESIGN You’re here, right? That is: right now, you’re presenting, you’re present: you’re here? When you’re walking a space, trying to create a place — something unforgettable — you need to be in here. Present and focused,...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Cool People, Human brands, Storytelling | Feb 17, 2015
Brands, Dreams, Visions and Imagining It takes a special kind of person to run a brand. There will be fire found. In the near four decades of working experience, one comes to know what will work, and what will not, in the management of brand. One can have all the...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Human brands, Places, Storytelling | Feb 12, 2015
The Deep Sprint: If you’re going someplace, how are you paying attention? Brand journeys and explorations. I can remember a time — especially when my children were younger — that traveling was a cumbersome burden. Now, my children are onto their own lives, and...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Cool People, Designers, Storytelling | Feb 10, 2015
Can you do that style? Earlier in my career [1976,] as a advertising studio illustrator, comp[rehensive] packaging artist, headline drafter [for rough ad layouts] and an occasional calligrapher, I got that line, as a request. “Can you do that style?” “Sure I can.” It...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts | Feb 5, 2015
I LIKE TO BE TOUCHED. And I like to touch. Just one way to sense is to touch. In having a conversation with one, I find that a touch is a way to link to someone in a different way — it’s a bond that will take the track of a discussion from one tack to another. Touch —...
