The BrandQuest® That is a Journey
When You Get Out There. For the Curious, More Can Be Found. Doors opened, entries walked, the pilgrimage taken. When you get out there, closer to the heart of the story, the feeling of it: the place, the brand, the people, the story, can be found. For nearly 20 years,...
WHAT ABOUT STEVE JOBS, NOW GONE, AND APPLE?
PRODUCT DESIGN, CAPTIVATION AND THE APPLE SIGNATURE I was talking to a young engineer about the principled ideation of Apple industrial design; that certain details are not only innovative not only in terms of product design creation -- they didn't exist before; or...
NORDSTROM + GIRVIN | A HISTORY OF 35 YEARS
THE HAND CRAFT OF RETAIL DESIGN IN THE BEGINNING, RETAIL DESIGN GOES BACK TO ONE SIMPLE PROPOSITION. "WHY SHOULD I BUY FROM YOU?" The implications of retail speaks to retelling -- that is, there is a story, and another story, in a story -- and you either buy it, or...
Posting posters
Billboarding, postering the story in the story in the story. [Imagery from PSFK] We've designed dozens of posters, an earlier legacy of work. But we love this Black Sabbath promotion, pointed out by Daniela Walker and "DaBitch." As Daniela notes, "the advertisement,...
Are you a Lone Ranger?
In the Journey, who is your companion? Who is your guardian, your guide, your icon, your shepherding guide? Me? Raven and crow, telling. We've noted in an earlier blog study, that we've been involved in the Lone Ranger, as designers, in the past -- the current,...
Archetypal Symbology and The Design of Place
Design thinking deep metaphors When I was working as a brand / design strategist at Procter & Gamble, on brand innovation, I'd partnered with a closely-aligned colleague there, Iain Douglas. We talked about, and worked on, the layering of ideas -- of stories, of...
The Signature of a Man
Designing the Hand-made Letter Craft of a Human Brand What the person is, show shall his signature tell his story. The signature is a graphical amalgam of emotion, traits and experiences that craft the character of the hand, the gesticulation of time, the musculature...
The Fragrance Design of Man’s World
The Scent of Maleness -- the Fragrance Design of Man's World The ArcherMen Lexicon of Fragrance. Spray it on. The New Meaning of "Air Superiority." There is something to the world of fragrance design that presumes subtlety, delicacy, restraint in the alchemy of...
When I touch you, will you hold me?
Conceptualizing holding, in the context of relationship, experience and brand. I was working as a charrette leader on brand for a beauty and wellness start-up. We talked about -- "why, who, where, what?" The big questions. And we talked about the telling of tales, the...
The Layering of Personality
Writing out the Telling of Brand Character When you meet someone -- impressions emerge, tellings happen, characterizations frame themselves. I've always believed in the idea of listening, and writing it out. When I ask a question I'm looking for an answer, but I'm...