Blogs By Tim Girvin
H E L L O,
Classical Modernism. What’s old, and what’s new?
Modern Clinicality, Emotional Heritage and Blandism In my history as a designer, lettering artist and calligrapher, I’ve spent decades studying the history of the alphabet, from pre-Christian Greek letterform development, cut in stone and inscribed in pottery, to...
Ever get a KPI in units sold?
As a Brand Expert, ever Get a KPI in units sold, or tonnage? What if you had a project that had a number of units for sale as a core goal—your KPI deliverable? I’m wondering, have you ever been in a situation where the expectation is in millions of units sold, or some...
Humanized Technology with GIRVIN’s Soul Branding
The GIRVIN | Strategic Branding & Design team have a long history in creating pathways to humanize the strategic impressions— and tactical outcomes, in technology brand experience—for enterprise employees, community relationships and customers. In a legacy of...
Brand Jewelry | Designing Brands for Jewelry
Could a brand be so beautiful that it should be made into jewelry? “Sure,” says Susy Korb, an earlier Creative Director at Tiffany&Co., she asked, “Could we create a font that could be used in our print, as well as for actual fabrication into precious metals?" In...
Writing Creative Brief Strategy for Brands
How Bright the Future? Could a Creative Brief be…Brief? Not really. Brevity isn’t the point, it’s the concision of the document. This is a talk that I was asked to offer at P&G, then later again at Mark Anthony Brands—the beverage group in Vancouver, BC., then...
Keep Your Brand on a Swivel and Watch Your Six
The Nine Gates of Brand Intelligence In the long watch of the brand shepherd, steward and sentinel— it’s important to consider a 360º surveillance of territories. In a kind of mirrored language, it shall be called outlook and look out. If you visualize your brand as a...
The Art of the Nomen | Brand Strategy, Naming and Innovation
Your name is your apex point of recognition—it’s the first thing that your audience sees and hears—it’s the hello: “my name is, here’s what I do. And here’s what I can do for you.” We know naming. GIRVIN has a quarter century of active naming experience, with a...
From The Grounds Up | GIRVIN’s Coffee Brands | Caffeinated Brand Storytelling
We're rolling into 50+ years of continuous involvement in brand strategy and integrated design— and as coffee connoisseurs—we’ve savored this brewed beverage all over the world, from Seattle to NYC—Maui too, LA to Vancouver,southwards to Costa Rica, east to Paris,...
The Touch of Patterning | Sensate Brandspace, Building Brands, Branding Built Places
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, A KEY POINT OF RESONANCE IN BRAND EXPERIENTIALITY* COMES DOWN TO THE HOLISM OF SENSATION. How does it feel? How unforgettable is the holism of your feelings— or your guests feelings—about it? For many of us, that would be what we see—but...
The Designer’s Grimoire | The Symbolism of Marks
GIRVIN’s Symbolic Patterns for Interiors and Meaningful Graphics in Placemaking Any designer knows that a simple plane, an empty piece of paper, a coverless book, an empty package or the “undefined” skin of a shopfront is a presence without place—there’s no story,...