ARCHETYPES
ARCHETYPAL SYMBOLOGY AND THE DESIGN OF PLACE Design thinking and the exploration of deep metaphors When I was working as a brand / design strategist on Procter & Gamble, on brand innovation, I’d partnered with a closely-aligned and roving colleague there, Iain...
Data
HOW DO YOU SEE INFORMATION AS A STORY? Visualizing and organizing the perception of information Cinematic interface design as a reference to example Image above: © Cruise/Wagner + Amblin Entertainment It might be said that the rise of infographics — visualizing,...
Centering and the Circle of Experientiality*: The Ring of Being and Designing Sensation
The Context of Holistic Branding, Experience Design and the Person In NYC, I was talking to an Aikido master about sensation — and the sphere of awareness. It might be suggested that Aikido — a “way of ki,” is more about finding the divinity of an opponent, and...
In Search of the Skull
IN SEARCH OF THE SKULL: THE FLAME, THE ROD | DON ED HARDY AND VON DUTCH Brand explorations of choppers, hot rods, tattoos, pin striping and the art of kustom kulture: Don Ed Hardy and Von Dutch. How might that alignment be imagined — a link between the above? I’ve...
BRAND DEVELOPMENT: SYMBOLIC DESIGN
Strategies of brand patterning, collaborative design and Girvin evolutions Design is about the embrace of change. And any brand, over time, has to freshly attach to the conception of transition in continuously and resiliently responding to shifts in the market. The...
BRANDSPIRIT
The study of the Fifth Century Legacy of Chinese Painting Scholar, Practitioner and Theorist: Hsieh Ho “Energy is eternal delight”. William Blake Earlier in my career, decades back, I was exposed to the study of classical Chinese art theory and its applications to...
The Center of the World
ARCHITECTURAL SYMBOLISM, METAPHOR AND CENTERING Walking a old, forested Buddhist compound outside of Tokyo, I was told that the temple site was a specially sacred site — and one that was anciently “magical.” The idea of spirit spaces, places that have special power,...
Brand Magnetism
What do you know? The mystery of mind, message and meaning. I was thinking about that question — someone asked me: “well, what’cha know?” And I contemplated the depth of the question. It’s just as powerful as “what’s your story?” I thought about it: “really, what do I...
HumanBrand
THE STRATEGY OF THE HUMAN BRAND | PEOPLE, PASSION AND THEIR BUSINESSES? EXPLORING THE ALIGNMENTS BETWEEN PERSONAL BRANDING AND ENTERPRISE: WHAT LIES BENEATH? Photo by Dawn Clark, AIA LEED AP Every brand is made by and for humans. Every human could be a brand. What’s...
Start-up Wisdom
Start-up Brand Lessons from Steve Jobs, the Wachowski Brothers and Stan Lee. By Tim Girvin — with Social Media commentaries and recommendations by Fletcher Helle When there is a lesson to be learned, listening makes for the best course of cumulative action. Learn and...