Starbuck’s New Truth, Told on the Outside of a Burlap Bag
It's not coffee alone, it's the Starbuck's experience. There's a new campaign, popping on Sunday and here's the sneak peek, referencing Howard Schultz's intonations -- along with some other Starbuckian baristas, offering their opening insights and meditations on the...
Twitterstorm | flogging commentary in twittertime
Sure, I care what you have to say. I've been thinking about storms. Mostly because I thrive on storms. When a storm comes, I savor it. I relish the word, the nature of it - the overwhelming presence of the concept of the storm -- and, of course, the scent of it. Like...
Brandspirit: The Ancient Concept of Ch’i in the Design of Identity
The study of the Sixth Century Legacy of Hsieh Ho "Energy is eternal delight". William Blake Earlier in my career, decades back, I was exposed to the study of classical Chinese art theory and its applications to art, architecture and spiritual principles. This was...
The Soloist | What music means to you?
Studying the music, the mind, the meaning -- cinematic brand strategy and design. The mind of the soloist, the split mind in the brilliance of the schizophrenic -- how is the passion of melody, of harmony, newly sensed and seen? Last night, I was talking with Gerard...
J.J. Abrams | the Mystery Box and Wired Magazine
The Letter, the Script, the Legacy: a Cool type & the Human Brand Some months back, working in various parts of the planet, I partnered with Margaret Swart, Scott Dadich, and the team at Wired to create typographic design solutions for the May issue. Or "ish", I...
Buyological | Martin Lindstrom
Probing the hidden hints of mind, in brand, in experience. Martin Lindstrom is perhaps the most "branded" persona in branding. He's young, unabashedly on a flame accelerant when it comes to fueling his ideas, research, and global traveling insights in exploring the...
The Smoke: The Brands That Will Die.
Twelve brands that will die: the beauty in transmigration, dissolution and carnage. There's a metaphor that where there is smoke, there will be fire -- and finally, in the fire, the smoke clears, and who will be there; what will be left? Fire is a kind of...
Brand Culture | The spirituality of TATA
The concept of cult, culture and brand | spirit integrated. "I have a dream to devote major portions of my busy life to poor community." Ratan Tata I've spoken about the concept of the cult of the brand, and the tribes that follow it. And others have followed it, too,...
Branding Buildings | Building Brands > The Context of Identity in Making Place
Imagining a new identity for an building icon. The World Trade Center There are layers in play in the experience of the procession of how people connect with buildings. Buildings do, for the most part, one thing. They hold people. Interestingly enough, it's not (that)...
Cool mapping: the geography of hip
The idea of place, community and the acculturation of coolness. What about that, the idea of opening with a chart that's about the crashing of the tech stocks? Well, in a way, that's a two fold gesture, one's here, to our friends at Tableau and their new tools for the...