Blogs By Tim Girvin
H E L L O,
In the Realm of the Senses and the Empire of the Hand
And gratitude in being. I was talking to a theatrical advertising designer at Paramount Studios about making. And, as creatives, “how do we make?” Imagination, mind, fist, fingers, lips—mouth and tongue, eyes and ears. What we absorb, as humans, and what we express is...
Blandism and the Detailing of Typographic Design Linguistics
What sways to blandishment? A lot of discussions around last week’s blog— and the notion of brand blandism, and some asked, “wait, so you’re saying that san serif is too bland, too plain, not… ‘exciting’ enough?” No, that’s not the point. As I’d mentioned before, in a...
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...
Celebrity Brand Development | Legendary Stories about GIRVIN Logo Work
Everyone has stories about logo projects. What’s yours? Speaking of recognizable brand relationships, working with Doug Osborn, an Oregon photographer and designer, and Cameron Healy—the founder of Kettle Brands. And there’s a story about a logo for new type of potato...
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...