by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts, Cool People, Storytelling | Jan 24, 2017
ROSHI HARADA SHODO THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF STORYTELLING IS LISTENING. Sometime back, I drove up to Mukilteo, took the ferry across to Whidbey Island, and at 3.00pm had tea with the Zen Master, Sōgenji Abbot, Roshi Harada Shodo. I had been introduced to him at a...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Storytelling | Dec 15, 2016
The Alphabet and Evocation; drawing the letter; voicing the calling. Like anyone, I look for inspiration where I can get it. Even a letter. I got a note from some friends at the Oxford English Dictionary. It was about this word: “abracadabra” — and perhaps you’ve got...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Storytelling | Dec 1, 2016
THE MYSTICISM OF CALLIGRAPHY — DESIGNING TALISMANIC ALPHABETS In the journey of the work, there comes a point where you might be pondering, “is there more to that which I make, what I’m doing, this thing that I spend all this time with?” Is is just work? Or is there...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts, Storytelling, Trends | Nov 29, 2016
The Question of Belief lies in its etymology, for to believe is to “be love.” Brands and love, in a foundational strategy, suggest and intertwinement of passion, enchantment and embracement. There is love and passion in the making and the makers of brands — and so...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Storytelling | Nov 24, 2016
A MEDITATION OF THANKFULNESS: PASSAGES AND CHAOS: 2016 | KEEP DEATH BEFORE YOU Why skulls, someone asked? Take a minute. Thursday, 11.24.2016. 2016 has been, and is, a very difficult year. Not done yet. No, there’s no economic [re] or collapse, but there’s been a...
by Tim Girvin | Artists, Concepts, Cool People, Motion Pictures, Storytelling | Nov 22, 2016
There is a legend, and there was once a mere story, about the Old American West — one that has transfixed the world. Who’s not compelled to admire some part of that storytelling? Or know some rawhide narrative, that has been shared — campfire round, out on the Range,...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Designers, Marketing 2.0, Motion Pictures, Storytelling | Nov 17, 2016
Identity, Story & Experience Design What is the game but a microcosm of life’s journey — and play but a perspective of living life in the fullness of a self-made, self-perceived adventure into the realm of the fantastical, the mystical and the magical? Live large,...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts, Storytelling | Nov 15, 2016
The Deepest Cut: The Brand Allegory of the Cutting Edge In the journey of brand strategy, storytelling and design, a number of allegories constantly emerge. There is the journey, the road less traveled and the search for the pathway there are brand symbols of shining...
by Tim Girvin | Concepts, Cool People, Motion Pictures, Storytelling | Oct 25, 2016
MARVEL STUDIOS Magical design, mystical gestures, emblems and logos for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange While I’d referenced my earlier history with a blog on DocSavage, there was a mirroring in another of my youthful vigil for the mystically adventuresome [and...
by Tim Girvin | Brands, Concepts, Storytelling | Oct 11, 2016
Brand core: what lies within? The idea of finding the soul of the brand is something that many might immediately chafe against, or laugh out loud — the sheer presumption: brand = soul. But I’m finding that this is increasingly the place in which Girvin works, as well...