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Duluth Pack | True Brands: Beautiful Authenticity | Truth in the telling series
Brand storytelling that goes back 130 years, and pitched as a marketing strategy for merchandising sales at Barney's. Notes on selling old brands as something newly hip. Buy, here: I’m looking for True Brands. What I seek is: A story. A person. An offering. Integrity...
LOGO DESIGNERS OUT OF BUSINESS?
LOGO DESIGNERS OUT OF BUSINESS? EXPLORING THE NEW TREND, LOGO-LESS MERCHANDISE? DOES THAT MEAN BRANDERS ARE OUT OF BUSINESS? HARDLY SO, UNLESS THE PREMISE OF BRANDING IS DESIGNING LOGOS. But there's more. Off and on, over the years, the idea of logo on, logo off, has...
PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENDA: DRIVE-BY SHOOTING
DRIVING, AND SHOOTING, IN A JOURNEY OF 4 HOURS. SPONTANEITY AND IMAGERY. I SPEND A LOT OF TIME LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHY -- AND I WRITE ABOUT IT, DESIGN AROUND IT, SHOOT IT. AND I PACKAGE AND DESIGN OTHER PHOTOGRAPHER'S WORK. DOING THAT, GIVES ONE A RESPECT FOR THE REAL...
Wi-Fi ubiquity: Starbucks + new digital content
Wi-Fi ubiquity: Starbucks + new digital content. What if Starbucks created its own content for Wi-Fi users? Who cares? Concepts of wi-fi contrary concepts in New Dehli, India (Photo by Girvin, story) I say: no thanks. For years (going back a decade) the Cingular,...
Steve Jobs | Steve Ballmer: Devices to be Proud: presentation and leadership
Brand, story, positioning and strategy, what's working here? I was struck by Steve Ballmer's presentation of the Slate technology at the Microsoft WWDC and the profound difference in positioning that the two brands represent -- and by two, you know which two I mean....
ALPHABETICA | THE STROKES OF THE ALPHABET
ALPHABETICA | THE STROKES OF THE ALPHABET STROKES, FINISHES, GESTURES, DETAILS -- ON THE SERIES OF THE RIGHTFUL MOVES. Teaching calligraphy: the craft of the letter at Girvin. A broadside from 1975, still used in the calligraphy classes at Girvin There's a classical...
Brand Ambassadorship | The Haul Vloggers
The concept of the haul -- get out there, shop, and video the story about what you've bought. If I was doing a haul video, it would have to be in a bookstore. I was thinking about how this might apply to me, what would I do - if I was doing a haul video. "So, I was in...
ACE HOTEL | NYC
ACE HOTEL | NYC: MARTIAL DESIGN BRAND STRATEGIES - Story, visuals, environmental graphics, tactical executions. Military graphic for a hotel (just blocks from GIRVIN | NYC.) And coincidentally, ACE began in Seattle (just blocks away from GIRVIN | Seattle.) Good...
The Heart of the Human Brand: Design, Imagination and Beauty.
The Heart of the Human Brand: Design, Imagination and Beauty. Notes on the point of the work: urge, passion, craft, the hand-made brand -- a conference presentation in Portland. THE NEW WORLD OF DESIGN: what is the nature of personal reflection in branding? If there's...
Rodarte | Intentionality and attentionality in the strategy of the Mulleavy sisters
What happened with Michelle Obama, the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards and MAC Cosmetics? Sometime back, I'd sent a note to Kate + Laura, each with a painting on bark gathered from the high hills of Kaua'i, and a story to tell -- that was to each of...