THE STRATEGY OF ZEN, MARKINGS AND MEANING
SIMPLIFYING THE CONCATENATION OF BEING. Sometimes, simply being is—just by itself, complicated; it’s trying to be good to oneself, respectful of others, following a plan and a pathway, and doing good. Sometimes, it feels like it’s all a little bit much—then again, in...
THE QUEST FOR GRAPHICAL BEAUTY
Obviously, the question of beauty doesn’t propound solely a complicated design— instead, it could be profoundly simple—so delicately balanced and restrained that it catalyzes disciplined elegance. But when one calculates the etymology—in reverse—of beautiful graphics,...
THE X FILES: ALPHABETICAL SYMBOLISM AND THE CROSSROADS OF CONTENT
DESIGN STRATEGIES, DEEP BRANDING, METAPHORICAL NARRATIVES Of course, we have a different way of thinking about the alphabet—as designers, as brand fire starters, letter crafters and identity theorists. If you’re thinking about a letter—what’s your favorite? Me? X. As...
THINGS SHALL GET BETTER, THE UPLIFT OF OPTIMISM: YES TO IT!
BACK IN SPOKANE, I FOUND THIS PANEL THAT I DREW FOR MY PARENTS; STILL THERE, NEXT TO THE PIANO. THE MEDITATION ON THE ANSWER OF UPLIFT—YES! I went to Spokane to see my family—my Mother and Father, for a check in—both in their 90s, there has been a health-related...
BRAND COMPONENTRY | LINKING BRAND DESIGN VOCABULARIES, PATTERNING[S], PREMISES AND PRINCIPLES
Designing for perfume—the detailing of scent-related *experientiality: D I P T Y P Q U E. When I see things, invariably I smell them. When I touch things, I hear them. It’s a trait of curiosity—it’s one thing to see things, it’s another to touch them, still another to...
BESPOKE BRAND VISUALIZATIONS | THE TYPOLOGIES OF THE LETTERFORM
MEDITATIONS ON THE SHAPE OF CONTENT In the moment of inspiration, everyone “thinks” something and converts this to some framing of expression. Could be handwritten, a journal entry, a sketched missive, drawn on an iPad or typed out. It’s the shaping of content that...
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...