Thinking metaphorically, there are plenty of symbolic allegories between the notion of brand building, design strategies, messaging and storytelling.
You—brand designer, brand thinker, theorist, strategist—when you think of brand, the notion of a constructed and managed enterprise, integratively disposed—what comes to mind for symbolic alignments, brand + X?
I think of cairns.
In traveling the world, intriguingly, I’ve found stacked stones everywhere. And they have a symbolic value—they are a place of remembrance of those before—as in the Ovoo of Mongolia; they are path markers in the Himalaya—as in a way to go, find the right path; and they are, too markings of the mani—stones scribed with sacred phrasings—and in Japan, stacking stones as a expression of devotion, prayer, a soulful arrangement.
It’s an artful balance—one stone by one person, another on top by another—each finding their own equilibrium. Trail-hikers add to cairns as a statement of path recognition as in: here’s the way.
Towards a branding ethos, one might think—a brand is all about balance, the stacking of ideas in a contributory thread of gravity reaching into the center of the marketplace, or more so—the genetic lineage of the brand that stretches into the power of its opening and ongoings imaginings.
In our work, there is the foundational idea of the brand, the thesis of its origination—and its offering to community. That’s the foundation stone, then the tiering of that patterning of stones, planks, pillars and ideals that extends to others, more balanced on top—all strung in the stability of balanced propositions—it’s setting a mark and a way.
And any brand needs to define its pathway. It needs to “make its way.”
OB VIAM
Cairn setting on Mt. Si, the Cascades, in the mist.
There’s a word and meaning that has relevance here.
Obviate derives from Latin obviare, “to meet or encounter,” from ob viam, “placed or coming in the way” (ob,“in front of”; via, “way”).
And, in this instance, the symbolism of the cairn is in the way.
My path is about finding things in the way. In the Japanese tradition—dō is way, path, learning journey. Just like you, I find things, they are in my way. And what means is that they are my way.
I believe that we all do this — things are discovered, located, revealed in our way of being. That this sensing has to do with how we frame things in our experience. We find things in our world. And what we discover is about this revelation. Finding things in just our way, none other. But of course, the challenge is, how do you change that, deepen that, find more? How do you get into another frame work of seeing, uncovering, sensing—finding, in this allegory, the straight line of gravity and the balanced reckoning—finding our true line to the center, to the tracery of time?
Perhaps it is:
• Listening to your dreams
• Writing what you listen to (it will be held)
• Dreaming in your day (let your self wander)
• Let your mind tool (thinking of tooling as scanning over things)
• Being open to others showing (you, their way)
• Quieting your self (and sense what is found)
• Being distracted (and see what refraction of focus finds)
• Resting (less)
• X-ploring (and look to all paths at the crossroad [X])
• Being prepared for beauty (it’s not all ways expected
• Doodling
• Considering the lightning strike (surprise!)
• Savoring the revelation (revel!)
• Getting out (of your town)
• Stacking some stones and leaving it in a place that—in a moment—would delight and surprise another on their journey.
“Hey, wait, what’s that?”
And some notes on stacking stones?
—Almost any stone can be stacked on another, rinsing the stones with water can help with the slightest adhesion.
—Think about the line of gravity as a string that goes into the center of the earth—and, with your two hands balancing the stone with that string running through it.
—Chose your stones thoughtfully, a story in scale, and narrative in weight and texture—contact points of balance.
—Touch and heft the stone, with that,
you’ll know the balance. And where it goes.
Think of the stones as a story—one stone might be the “elder,” another might be the intermediary “warrior,” while another is the “supporter,” another an “outlier,” there is a “renegade,” a “keystone,” a “lockstone.”
One might think of the brand and its strategic foundations—the way of a base framework–foundational balance, the stacking of other components, attributes, supporting characteristics, and—as an allegory—how high, and how many stones to comprise its stance, visual character and scale. It would be a stack of two rounded stones.
It would be one stone.
It could be a stack of 15 stones and more.
Perhaps, in the unique arrangement of your cairn, there will be an unforgettable story—a rock narrative that, in its disposition displays a certain grandeur, a wonder, a surprising perspective, that will alert others to a new way of seeing.
And being.
That works for branding as well you might know.
Epiphany at shelf, the shock of the new, a character of uniquely resonant storytelling that is embraceable and relevant.
Stack them up.
Tim | GIRVIN | Strategic Brands | Seattle Waterfront
Digital | Built environments by Osean | Theatrical Branding
Waves | Technology Branding | Destination Brands
Projects in strategy | story | naming | messaging | print
identity | built environments | packaging
social media | websites | interactive
