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MYSTICAL MONOGRAMS | ALPHABETICAL MAGIC
THE SIGILLIC SOLUTION In the journey of brand design and identity, there is the high road, the first summit, the easier vista—the outreach of an accessible view and foundational story: “it’s beautiful, so this must be a beautiful brand.” And then there are the deeper...
SEEING DEEP | THE QUEST FOR INSIGHTS
IN EVERY ENCOUNTER THERE IS THE LOOK—THE APPEARANCE— OF WHAT’S ON THE SURFACE. AND THEN THERE’S: WHAT’S UNDERNEATH, THE BEHIND, THE SHADOW—THE DEEPER GLANCE. S O M E T H I N G M O R E Even in the digital space, there’s a story above, there’s a story below, there is a...
You’re not here, where are you?
MEDITATIONS ON REMOTE WORK. THE SEARCH FOR MEANINGFUL BEAUTY, THE QUEST FOR ACTIVE FOCUS IN ATTENTION AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE STRATEGY OF WORKING IN REMOTE LOCATIONS—SO-CALLED: WORKING SOMEPLACE YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE. An old scrap of handmade paper, hanging in a...
THE QUEST FOR MEMORABLE IDENTITY | LEGACY BRAND DEVELOPMENT
HERITAGE BRAND DESIGN AND SYSTEMIC PATTERNING More than four and a half decades ago, 1976, I pitched the idea of integrative branding to the Creative Director at Nordstrom, Dan Holland, and I presented again—this same thematic strategy, later to Claudia Milne, then...
DESIGNING DISNEYLAND | BRAND PLACEMAKING AND INNOVATION
WORKING IMAGINATION | THE IMAGINEERS AT DISNEYLAND In my history as a design leader, we worked around various propositions of entertainment at Disney—not only working on films, but Disneyland itself, in a string of calls from the Imagineering teams at Disney,...
BRAND PATHWAYS | EVERYPLACE YOU GO, YOU’RE GOING SOMEWHERE
In our experience, brands are—and should be—on a perpetual move, never quiet, always exploring, evolving, tuning and turning to new relationships and communities. And most brands do—with forward thinking leadership, they’re thinking—“we’re missing something here, we...
THE LEGACY OF THE TOMB RAIDER | ILLICIT ANTIQUITIES, ADVENTURE, AND BRAND STORYTELLING
We worked on both Angelina Jolie properties, under Simon West’s direction…
IDEATION AND NOMENCLATURE | WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT’S YOUR NAME?
GIRVIN IDEATOR® NEW BRAND DEVELOPMENT, INNOVATION AND NAMING. There are two sides to the issue of a name—one is “hey you, what’s your name?” Or, “my name is…” The other is, “I call your name…And I know your truth, you are mine.” One might say that the ancient strategy...
TO A BRAND, WHAT’S RELEVANT? TO A CONSUMER, WHICH CALL IS THE MOST RESOUNDING–AND FINALLY, WHICH BRAND DOES A CONSUMER RELATE TO?
MARKETING SPEAKS TO BRAND STORYTELLING, BUT THEREIN LIES THE SINGULAR FOCUS, THE REALM OF ATTENTION—AND FURTHER, THE INTENTION OF THE REACH. That comes down to the specificity of relevance and utility, the sound of the brand and its resonance to consumers, and...
THE CULT OF THE MOTHER | BOLD CREATIVITY, FEMININE LEADERSHIP AND BRANDFIRE
BRANDS LED BY WOMEN The power of the feminine principal When I was in college, I studied the archetype of the Great Mother who—and which— might be defined as less of an archetype in the common parlance of today’s voice, and more of a deep, collective unconscious...