fbpx

The Sign That Has No Name

Rangelands, New Mexico — a long and blank expanse. Then there’s a sign. But it’s presuming something: you know where you’re going. I was transversing high desert rangelands, crossing the state, in a journey to a Monastery out in the desert. On the way there, I saw a...

[The Art of Being Lost]

THE WAYFINDER’S ART. THE DESIGN OF SIGNS. Where to? The art of being lost and finding your way. I WAS LOST, NOW I AM FOUND. What of the emotionality of that experience — I’m lost? I’m found. I’m finding my way? To pleas of positioning and geographic self...

Home Plate

What is home? The Pathway To Where You Were and Where You Might Need To Be I was talking to some athletes — baseball players, about their concept of home. Home Runs, Home plate. What is that, getting home? The metaphor of home, home runs, getting home, hitting a homer...

The Branded Quest for You

The Individuation of You-ness, Brand Assets, Persona and Personality. When one contemplates the journey of a brand, a team and the enterprises of their making, a sense of the you emerges. Quest – that journey, is a question, that lays the foundation for...

IS IT BIG ENOUGH?

SIGNAGE, MESSAGING, SCALE AND BEAUTY. I’m not saying that we’ve not designed massive signage. We have, we’ve created signing that can be seen for miles. Yes, Vegas. And other places. But what I admire are more elegantly restrained solutions. What one might think are...

YOU ARE HERE

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,...

Omakase Branding

“This is what I expect to pay.” Earlier in my life, during my entry into the Japanese market, I studied Japanese with an assistant professor of Asian Linguistic Studies from the University of Washington. He would come down, twice a week, for 2 hour speaking and study...

THE SCENT OF PLACE: ISTANBUL

THE SMELL OF EXPERIENCE: THE HISTORY OF EMPIRE & THE DESIGN OF SENSATION I was talking to a friend and client about the notion of brand in sensationalism — the holism of experience strategy. That comes down to one point, a reflexive point — how big do you feel? We...

ATTENTIONALITY

HOW ATTENTIVE ARE YOU? As you think about design, and the creation of designed experiences, the point might go two ways: how attentive are you? and how attentively will your experiences be received? People come into a place in the construct of impressionistic...