The Rainbow Garden of Herbs
A LEGACY AND LETTERFORM LANDMARK FOR RAINBOW MAGAZINE CALLIGRAPHY AS MAGIC When it comes up to it, the making of marks is an inherently magical proposition; that is: magic is definable as a insight and plane changer. It transforms perception and meaning in the...
GETTING OUT THERE
IF YOU’RE GOING TO KNOW. THEN GO. TO GET TO THE HEART OF IT, GET OUT TO IT. At the edge of the whorled. There are those that comment on the state of the this, and the that. It’s the whirl, the spin, the turn and the twist — but does the whorl of a theory...
MYSTICAL BRANDING
THE JOURNEY TO THE HIDDEN CENTER OF THINGNESS [the it]: THE HEART, THE MEANING, THE MEMORY AND THE MOMENT IN THE MOMENTUM IN BRAND MYSTERY. What is the being of a brand? It’s a story. It’s a person. It’s a dream — it’s a visioning to another tier of neo-rightness and...
BRAND DESIGN AND WORLD CREATION
THE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT BETWEEN PRODUCTION DESIGN, STORYTELLING, PLACE-MAKING AND IDENTITY. STRATEGY? SYNCHRONY. I was reminded about brand alignments and world design in a recent posit at FastCompany, on Skyrim. I’ve actually been talking about this a lot in other...
The Study of Signs: Marks Made Large
Signs are symbols of storytelling, of legend and legacy, of badges that reach out as cards of narrative fortune. There are clues in the cultural rendition of the larger messages of enterprise in the form of signs — and as placards, they offer a...
NATIONAL TREASURES | THE PASSAGE OF HAROLD BALAZS
OUR NATIONAL ART TREASURES | LAMENTING THE PASSAGE OF HAROLD BALAZS. ISN’T IT SO THAT EACH OF US HAS A PERSONAL FLOWERING THAT COULD HAVE SPROUTED FROM A SINGLE LUMINOUS POINT OF INSPIRATION? JUST THINK OF IT: YOUR LIFE CHANGES, MOMENTS OF IGNITION, ILLUMINATIVE...
COWBOY UP | BRAND STRATEGY AND DESIGN FOR COWBOYS
WRANGLER®, BADLANDERS AND COWBOY SPIRIT. DESIGNING BRANDS AROUND AMERICAN COWBOY ETHOS. I noted the Wrangler event in Vegas [now running] and it reminded me of my journeys into farm-work, bull riders and cowboy culture — here and abroad. We have deep history in the...
BRAND CENTERING | THE NEXUS OF CREATIVITY: WANDERING, GATHERING & RECOLLECTION
AS A DESIGNER, A BRAND PERSON — A CREATIVE, A STRATEGIST, A MARKETER — YOU WORK IN THREADING ALIGNMENTS OF CREATIVITY. THAT COMES TO THIS PARALLELISM: THE SYNCHRONY OF HOW YOU THINK, WHAT YOU’VE WORKED ON AND WITH, AS WELL AS WHERE YOU’VE BEEN. IT COMES DOWN TO: WHAT...
ZEN BRANDS | THE CALLIGRAPHY OF NOTHINGNESS: THE MU KOAN.
DRAFTING ABSTRACTION — THE MYSTERY OF PRESENTING NOTHING AND ABSENCE OF PRESENCE. In our brand work, we’re always looking at how to “be there,” how to “present,” how to offer solutions that are about context, place-making, certainty of premise, a real promise and...
THE CODE OF THE MESSAGE | THE DESIGN OF THE ALPHABET
THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE MIND: FROM THOUGHT TO WORD IN DESIGNED LETTERFORM LINGUISTICS | ALPHABETS AS BRAND VOCABULARIES. Working on hundreds of logos and corporate identity packages, in decades of design and brand development for clients around the world, over time...