Designing in an authentic world
There is a mythic dimension in the character of storytelling; it's an ancient tradition -- it reaches to deep archetypes and cyclical patterns that show themselves repeating ways in which messages can be understood and shared -- and how they can be embraced. But it's...
The long tail, the tailor and conceptions of retail design
I've been working on this cover design for Wired. And it will be the kind of cover design that, in some manner of streetside merchandising, will literally leap to the street. Bold. Simple. When I first got the call to do this, it was from a friend, Margaret Swart,...
Pursuing Truth | Presentation for the Luxury Marketing Council
I spoke to the Luxury Marketing Council about the concept of truth -- authenticity -- in the context of branding. It was more than that. It was also about the nature of the story, as part of the character of brand expression. It's never just the story -- alone. It's...
Luxury, Value & Money: The Emerging Challenges in the State of Luxury Products
What is holding? What is held? What is memory? What is valued? I gave a talk this past week to the Luxury Marketing Council in NYC, and this overview, in recollection, was about truth. Actually, it was about the weaving of truth in product portrayal. And it reaches...
The Human Brand
While it might seem profoundly obvious, the brand is inherently human -- it's about people, connecting to other people. People create brands -- the notion of a brand DNA is nothing but an explication of the concept of the precisely personal character of the human...
Enthrallment
I was thinking about the concept of enthrallment. It was something that was mentioned to me during an encounter with Diane Ackerman, the author and poet, who described herself, her life, in that manner. Life's spinning, a series of enthrallments. And I like that idea....
The 15 Questions: The Natural History of Tim Girvin
1. How did you get your start? My start? Raw curiosity for one. That's where it all started, that drove, and drives everything that I am made of. I am one that is easily enchanted by content. I can be ignited in a moment, if the right spark is there. A love of the...
Apple As Luxury Brand
Susan DeChillo | The New York Times I first met Steve Jobs in the 80s. Actually, it was at Stanford. He was there, speaking. And I was there, listening. Afterwards, I went up to introduce myself. And we went from there. I worked on the Macintosh launch and technology...
The most beautiful in the world
Design, in beauty -- is where the application is all the more wondrous. Happiest, holidays -- to you: tsg | nyc+seattle - Times Square, New York Before the ball drops in Times Square, the Big Apple turns on its holiday charm with the Christmas tree in Rockefeller...
what way, found, what path, known?
I've been drawing -- painting -- things like this for some time. And, well, they're flat. There are two dimensions. The black, the white. And the space, between. And then, too, there are translations of the energetic content of the brushstroke and the drawing, that...