We had a Brandwich meeting today.
Brandwich is when we all get together over lunch and discuss one topic related to design and/or branding. Today we discussed, Why Graphic Design? We took two avenues, today I'll show you the first.

Can you place a quantitative value on graphic design for business?
We discussed how graphic design adds value to products and services.  Here are some thoughts and ideas that were thrown around:

• There are so many websites out there that offer "widgets" at various prices. However the lowest price doesn't always get our business because often their website looks like a scam. It very well may not be but good design lends credibility especially in a faceless marketplace like the web.

• Unique design can also differentiate businesses from each other. It can speak the heart of a company in a way that is remembered.

• Good design is a good idea visualized.

• In the end, the creation and result of good design is admittedly difficult to predict or measure. But when sales and market share go up coincidently after a new package design is implemented its hard to dismiss.

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Reebok and Kool-Aid are in the midst of a serious cross-branding promotion. Now you can have your own pair of Kool-Aid scented Reeboks. At first glance I thought this was one of the worst ideas I had ever heard of, I know after one week mine would smell like grape flavored funk. But on second glance I'm not so sure if this is a horrible idea. There is a huge market and community for sneakers now, with some serious collectors. Why not add another crazy shoe into the marketplace for these sneakerheads to buy up and add to their collection? So even though I'm not the target market for these shoes, I think they will be a huge success in some communities. If you can't live without a pair for yourself you can enter to win a pair here.

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Check out some of our work in Logo Lounge 4. It is one of my favorite design books and features some of the best identities nationwide. We had FOUR identities selected for this edition; Center City Alive After Five, Hawk Bros. Coffee, On The Streets, and Bottlecap Programming. Check out some photos:  

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I heard recently that one of my favorite fast-food places, Chick-fil-a, is launching a strong initiative to pay off all of its debt as soon as possible. The only place that it has debt is in the real estate it owns that each store sits on.

One of the things they are doing to accomplish that is to increase the number of years between store renovations. So each store will look a little bit worse by the time they start fixing it up again. They have clearly decided to take investment dollars away from me as a customer (and let's not forget that customers are what keep us all going) and invest in themselves.

I mean, I get wanting to be debt-free. But at the cost of your customer's experience? Sounds like bad profits to me.

For more on good profits and bad profits, read the book, The Ultimate Question.

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On to the next chapter of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding.

This chapter was short and very much additional information to the last, The Law of Publicity.

As stated in my last post, publicity is where you build your brand, but at some point your brand outlives its publicity potential. At that time, advertising is brought in, not to grow the brand or even as an investment to earn more capitol, but as insurance against losing footing at the top of the category.

Take for instance Xerox. When the brand launched its first photocopier in 1959, there was no shortage of magazine and newspaper articles as well as tv appearances supporting the new technology. As time wore on, it became ingrained that Xerox was/is the global leader of copiers. It was at that time that advertising began, not to continue growth, but to keep from slipping.

Advertising can also serve as a way to keep smaller competitors smaller.

What I learned:

Advertising is not actually a money making investment, instead it is insurance to maintain the leadership that was once obtained.

_gern

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We have begun the process of designing a new website for ourselves. At first it was hard to gain momentum on it until we decided to treat ourselves like a client and go through the normal process that we take our clients through.

We have learned so much about what the process is like from a client's perspective and have begun to think about things a little bit differently. Some things have been great and some things need more tweaking to make them better.

I know all business models are different, but if you haven't yet, you need to figure out how to treat yourself as a client. The feedback you can give yourself is great!

If you are reading this and are a current or past client of ours and have good ways in which we can improve the process, please post here or contact me directly.

Email: craig@matchstic.com

Personal Cell: 678-471-5181

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I am going to start featuring different Standout Brands on this blog. Today is the first.

This Valentines Day, White Castle came up with an idea that is definitely sure to Standout.

Click here to check it out.

I gotta credit Andy Sernovitz for turning me onto this.

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The Writer's Guild of America ended their 3 month strike and started back to work today. Which is unfortunate for Turner Classic Movies, because they have been running this ad….

I think this is one of the most brilliant ads I have ever seen. TCM looked at what was happening in the world around them, assessed it, and then played it to their strengths. Well done.

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Found another quote from Paul Rand:
"I think permanence is something you find out, It isn't something you design for. You design for durability, for function, for usefulness, for rightness, for beauty. But permanence is up to God and time."
This puts it in perspective for me. Sometimes it feels like Im trying to create the Bible when designing an identity. But an identity can never tell the whole story. It just needs to communicate the heart. And more often than not, it wont last forever because hearts sometimes change.

Its simply a problem to be solved.

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Today, I got another email from my mom with cute little cuddly animals and funny captions under them. I usually just delete those types of emails, but as I was scrolling through each mildly hilarious (but very cliché) photo I wondered if Matchstic was becoming like those cozy little felines. Are we getting too comfortable?

Mario Andretti once said "If you're in control, then you aren't going fast enough".

It's a nice little paradox. When you're out of control all you want to do is get in control, but soon as you get in control all you want to do is get out of control again. Crazy. Its hard to keep your focus, and constantly push yourself out of control. It's not natural. We are always suppose to be in control, going the speed limit, taking our time, slowing down "to stop and smell the roses".

Well, I don't buy it. I'm ready to get back in the fast lane- to challenge things, to grow, to get better. Next time I see a funny little furry friend photo that says "Do Not Distrub! I'm Sleeping", I hope I get inspired to go a little faster.

And If all else fails you can just go to this site and get a good laugh.

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