Talking about you—Personal Journeys, Discovery, Creativity and Making
It’s about the work—the work that you’re doing, and what you’re thinking about the work that you’re doing.
As a practitioner of brand thinking, strategy and design since 1973, I’ve been thinking about the meaning of the work for a long time. Teaching at the Evergreen State College, I taught drawing—which, to my work with the students was about “what you’re drawing-out of the object that you’re attempting to portray. And of course, that’s really—for you, the draughtsperson, what you’re drawing into yourself.
Referencing the urge—it’s worth looking into what that could mean for you, in the practice of your work.
It’s what you’re bound to—as in the most ancient linguistic origin.
That exploration to the history of the word comes out here.
Everyone knows that I tend to look into the history of words as an insight into their legacy of meaning. Where they were, the seed as to the original idea, the original voice—what did it mean then,
say 7500 years ago, then what does it mean now?
Their threads are compelling.
The urge would be—what is that which you are bound to?
For me, decades in, would be curiosity—the tactics of continual learning.
Here’s a new brand, a new team, a new set of challenges—a renewed exploration, another journey—the joinery of the next construction.
And what to do?
Think on the design of the sign—there’s a meaning, it’s nearly magical—the transformational journey of the blank page, the empty wall, the untouched shopfront, which now would be filled with
newly made marks of meaning.
And in the work—the engagement around brands—your brand that you are building—it’s all about the passion, the commitment, focus and attention.
And brands are, in themselves, a form of containment—they are a vessel of people, their makers, the experiencers, and storytelling, the work of their continuing transitioning, pivoting to new markets and audiences.
Brands that are rich and robust forms of content, they become a continent, a world of living contentment.
Being true, showing truly to your world, there’s the story on the surface—what’s easily seen, and then there’s what lies beneath, the insider story—that which is within. This is the threading of storytelling and the narrative of authentic meaning and context. This is a “red thread,” the personality of the patterning of the makers and experiencers—and how people discover the meaning.
This comes down to “what do you mean?”
You could ask that of your brand, your work—and yourself—in the patterning of the work that you’re engaged in: “what do you mean—in:
what you’re doing,
what you’re offering,
the character of how you’re making and working,
the narrative of your
explorations and
development.”
Could be a weaving of themes?
That could be how you think about the arc of your story, the brand story could have a opening inspiration, a sustainable strategy—green responsiveness, naturality, beauty making, self impressions and improvement, principles and ethos, community relationships and contributions.
Intention drives movement forward, from ignition to brand concretion.
You get somewhere. From what, to where, to there.
Stance—that’s another strategy of premise, that would be the pillars of positioning—“making this, I stand for…” Stance, of course, is interrelated to stand, and with that, “understanding.”
Another ancient word structure points this towards “inner-standing,” as in—“to know, you need to be in, as in between, close in, standing in.”
You’re close in—you’re standing in the middle, listening, caring, working—hand’s on, mind-in.
And building out the robust character of your brand would start with the soul of the proposition—the deeper psychic state of the reasoning “why.”
And that comes down to you and your team—why are they following you?
And why are you working it?
I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t asking the same question.
For me—it’s brand-aid,
creating a transformative movement,
transitioning from one place to another,
pushing further,
farther out.
Better.
Empowered.
Uplifting.
That movement forward will be—as I’d noted:
empowerment,
integratively expressed
and engaged as
a hybrid expression.
Brandstory speaks to the reasoning for
making,
creating,
expressing,
and creation.
How it works, of course, is how your story becomes your community’s story—which is then, history, which is now—story;
“what’s your story,
who’s telling it,
who’s listening—
and most crucially—
who cares?”
Again, in thinking about your brand,
of course, it’s what’s on the surface,
and two, what lies beneath—the outer story
and the inner story.
It’s what drives the creation of the brand, your brand—and your leadership in purporting that visioning, the drive to the new,
the next, the craft of the future.
Talk to me if you have a thought, contrary point of view, your own personal reflection on the above.
For that, onwards—for the win.
FTW.
Happy to chat, meet-up live, call, Zoom/Google Meet;
anything that’s most comfortable to your needs, timing and expectations.
Projects in strategy | story | naming | messaging | print |
identity | built environments | packaging |
social media | websites | interactive
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Tim GIRVIN | Strategic Brands
digital | built environments by Osean | theatrical branding
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