Letters from an Eagle Scout
Notes on scouting and the meaning of the Eagle Scout legacy. Sure, some of you are Eagle Scouts—you know the drill, the years of Scout journeying, 30-milers, 50-milers, growth in the transitioning from Tenderfoot beginnings, Second Class, First Class, the move to...
Designing for Clint Eastwood
It’s been an intriguing pleasure working at the behest of theatrical “stars.” Surely, thinking about it—acting, or directing, is a complex expectation— the hours are demanding, the scale of the commitment is enormous, the creative expansiveness is deep. During...
GIRVIN’s Snow White | A First Time Movie Poster for Disney
Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Fairest of Them All? Any study of this film’s current premise and promotion, the pitch and proposition— critical notes from the social community—might be up for a overload of remarkably acidic commentary. People, apparently, are...
Bespoke Books and Calligraphic Font Design
Above, speaking of scripts, a Girvin stylistic expression: a broadly splayed opening capital, a hairline accentuation, a strike stroke from the opening character in its initiation, a bounced baseline and jumped x-height, an unexpected ligature, widely varied pen...
Brand Design and the Game of Chess
The study of moves on the board. I was talking to a client about chess strategy, the moves, the personality of the players—the tactical delicacy of the moves. Are there archetypes in the game? Yes, player archetypes. First off, the legacy of the game is roughly 1400...
Drawing Love | Mapping Brands
Workshopping allegories and brand soul I was thinking about the question of inquiry and exploration, the search—reaching in(to people)—listening to them, learning from them, and gathering their impressions and ideas. Search for it, listen to them, what does that look...
Designing Limited Editions—Journeys, Shopfronts, Galleries
Portfolios, collectible design processions and creating metaphorical gallery experiences. It’s an interesting contemplation to think about brand work, design, and value. Surely there is a lot of conversation about design as a value-inducement to brand propositions....
Brand Jewelry | Designing Brands for Jewelry
Could a brand be so beautiful that it should be made into jewelry? “Sure,” says Susy Korb, an earlier Creative Director at Tiffany&Co., she asked, “Could we create a font that could be used in our print, as well as for actual fabrication into precious metals?" In...
Death Comes Home | Creativity, Motherhood and Lila Lee Shaw Girvin
Everyone has a powerful connection to their mothers. My mother, Lila Lee Shaw Girvin died this past week. And it called into contemplation all of the things that one thinks about in death—of anyone near. You’re thinking, "they were here, now they’re gone. Forever.”...
Brands that are beautiful
The Quest for the Most Beautiful | Brands, Enterprises, Narratives and the People That Make Them. In our life journey, the threading of our work, as creatives—people that create— we listen, absorb, gather, interpret and make meaning. We work to import and deliver...