I read this article in PRINT Magazine today that pointed out the "Animal" design trends through out the years. It mentions everything from the Gigapet phenomenon of '97 to the Giant Squid trend of 2006 (which I admittedly feel into) all the way to the increasingly popular Deer Antlers of 2003 (again, been there). I thought it was incredibly insightful, funny, and most of all true!

It was also kind of disturbing. Is that all designers do? Follow trends and make stuff look good? It quickly affirmed my belief that design doesn't exist to just be cool (take that stereotypical black rimmed designers). So much of our industry bases its reactions on how "cool" something is. Is that the ultimate goal of design? To make something look "cool", I sure hope not. I'd like to think our profession is more intelligent than that. I'll be the first to admit when I browse design magazine's I usually stop and look at the pretty things, so I'm not saying visuals are all bad. It's just so much more than that. Its kind of like telling an automobile engineer you think his new innovative vehicle, that runs on pickles and squirts out ice cream for exhaust, is great because "its a candy apple red"! The visuals are the icing on the cake, not the goal.

The goal of design is simple; to communicate a certain message to a certain audience in a certain way.

Just a thought.

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I thought this was interesting. I found these images of Apple laptops being engraved with unique designs on the case. They're definitely cool and essentially the same thing as getting a tattoo for your computer! What I found interesting was the desire for further differentiation. Apple is naturally a differentiating product, if you own one you stand out from the majority of laptop owners. But even when your in the minority there is the need to standout more. These days, the brands we buy say something about ourselves. Expression and individualism are what we want. We even brand our brands to make them more like ourselves!


 

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IKEA is opening a new retail store in Port Island, Japan. The new store opening isn't that big of news, but how they are "advertising" and building excitement for the new store is. Instead of relying solely on the traditional TV ads, billboards, etc.. IKEA has converted the Kobe Portliner Monorail into a moving showroom. They redecorated the train with IKEA furniture, curtains, etc… This is a brilliant idea instead of IKEA hoping someone sees their ad for the new store opening they made it impossible not to know about it. By becoming a part of the customers everday routine on the train IKEA has guaranteed awareness for their new store and also has given the customer an experience with them before they even step into the store. Well done. More pictures of the train below…

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Chapter 9 of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

In the long run, a brand is nothing more than a name. This idea relates to what makes a brand successful in the long term, not the short term. In the short term your brand needs to be unique, the first in the category and it needs to own a word in the mind. In the long term, the uniqueness will fade, but you're still gonna be stuck with the name you chose, good or bad.

Xerox for example was the first plain paper copier. Nowadays, every copier is a plain paper copier so the difference between brands isn't so much the products, but the names. Xerox is still the biggest name in the copier market, not only for quality, but the one of a kind name that calls to mind technology.

Another fault brands commonly follow is the brand extension, thereby weakening the strength of the brand itself. Take Mitsubishi for instance, they have 16 extensions ranging from Mitsubishi Estate to Mitsubishi Gas Chemical to Mitsubishi Motors. There is unique for a consumer's mind to latch onto and have a lasting impact.

What I learned: When all is said and done, your name becomes the major touch point for customers and embodies everything your brand is, good or bad.

_gern

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I love this. Speedo spent some 3 years developing a new swimsuit and spent some millions in the process. They even brought NASA in to help them in the design process. The goal – create a swimsuit that would shave seconds off competitive swimmers' times.

They did it.

Since it was launched in March this year, 21 world records have been broken by swimmers wearing the suit. Unreal.

I was listening to the story on NPR today. They mentioned the fact that the suits will soon be going retail at a price tag of $550 ea. Speedo realizes that few will buy a suit like this for a price like that – few have need of it. But their goal wasn't to sell tons of these suits. It was to be the best in the world at what they do – developing swimwear.

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Came across this fine bottled water company. Evidently there is a market out there for FINE bottled water. When I say fine, I don't mean Aquafina but more like water that should be on a wine list. Just as wine compliments food and connoisseurs will attest, water can do the same. Its all about their origin is this case. Whether its from an untapped spring or simply unpolluted rainfall, people pay top dollar (like $3-8) for fancy fancy water. Antipodes is one of theses bottlers out of New Zealand. Their bottle/package design is what intrigued me. So simple and "dull". Nobody would see this on a shelf next to other bottle waters. Its virtually non existent. Thats how they want it. The only place you would likely see this water is on the table at your fine restaurant. Makes sense. Its transparent simplicity speaks to honesty, health and purity. The philosophy & design and name all work together. I have yet to taste this water but am intrigued.

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The New York Times published an article on January 20th that stated that 7% of the worlds goods are fake. If you have a product that is capable of being faked, you would love to have this 7% go away. People are profiting from your hard work.

Yet being the capitalist, strong-brand minded person that I am, I think that this is a good thing. If someone can easily make a fake, you have built a weak brand. Your brand must be so much more than a logo mark that goes on a product that is easily reproduced by someone else.

Robert Passikoff says in Marketing Daily, "Many brands are now just placeholders. … People know the brand names, but they don't know what the brands stand for."

Is your brand a placeholder or does it stand for something?

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One of my favorite projects lately has been the Bite Back Campaign for Compassion International to help fight Malaria. I felt personally connected to it for several reasons.

First, it's a simple campaign. Every year hundreds of thousands of people in Africa die from Malaria. You are 90% less likely to get Malaria if you sleep under a mosquito net. Mosquitoes nets are cheap, they are effective, and they are simple; Simple problem, simple solution.

Second, it's a movement. Our friends at Compassion International wanted the Generation We'ers to be empowered to do something tangible. Kids want to stop talking about issues and do something, they want to be empowered to cause change. Partnered with Youth Solutions, The Bite Back Campaign will travel the country and let High school kids purchase a $10 net on the spot. Each of those nets will go directly to someone in Africa, and in a sense save their life. That's tangible.

Third, I got the privilege to work on the Identity. Here's some of our thinking:

The Identity

All great movements have a symbol or an icon (Woodstock & the peace symbol, Superman & the S, McDonald's & the Golden Arches, Television and NBC Peacock, Napster and the little headphones guy, etc.), and that's what we were intentional about creating. This movement needed to be powerful and clever. So, those were our goals; powerful, iconic, and bold, yet fresh and clever all at the same time.

We decided to combine to the quintessential icon for "power" and "movement", the fist, and the negative space of the hand to form a dead mosquito. One icon that communicates two things. We wanted powerful, energetic, and serious colors, but also contrasted this powerful & serious side with the hand drawn/ cut-out typography to keep it fresh and young. Our audience is high school students, but not Hitler's third richt, so we tried to keep it fun.

Once we finalized the brand identity we got to explore additional touch points based off the same concepts laid out above.

Banners, Stickers, and Apparel

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