Recently, the very talented and very related-to-me Bryan Johnson came by and took some photos of our team and house.  We got them back yesterday and were blown away.  Here is a quick sampling.

Some brands just aren’t exciting. Seems like a pretty simple and accurate statement, but why is this so? At first glance it does seem like that’s just how things are, everything in the world can’t be exciting or innovative. There is the argument that everything has been done before and that everything now is just a recycled idea of something else. Today I ran across a prime example of how anything, no matter how many times it’s been done or how old it is can be exciting. A quick search on Amazon revealed 134,803 Results for Alphabet books, but ABC3D really grabbed my attention. Check it out below:

ABC3D is a perfect example of how even the most common thing can be exciting and innovative, and that is what made it standout from all the other alphabet books I looked at. So the question remains if something as common as an alphabet book and something as old as the alphabet can still be exciting and innovative, is there any reason your brand can’t be?

Our best ideas typically aren’t our first ideas. Just as the best fruit typically isnt at the bottom of the tree. Great ideas require a little more time, thought and investment. They dont always happen from 8-5 either. Investigation and research provide a pallet of colors to work from. After we have internalized the problem and understood what needs to be said the best idea appears. Usually when we’re not even looking. Don’t settle for low hanging fruit.

Today will launch our fourth annual pumpkin carving contest, Carv-O-Rama, and we wanted to give our blog readers the first sneak peak of this year’s tough competition. We decided to pull in the reigns a bit this year and challenge each master carver to ideate within the constraints of a space theme, hence the name “Intergalactic Carv-O-Rama 4,000″. Click the link below and navigate through all our space creations, and then vote for your favorite, but be sure to only vote once- no cheating allowed!

Behold the Intergalactic Carv-O-Rama 4,000

I also realize I could insert a shameless plug here to recruit more votes for my entry, but that would just be selfish.

May the force be with you,

Darth Vader.

When purchasing things for your business to operate, you can see buying essential items as an investment, or an expense. We recently needed a coffee pot, and so I went to the closest retailer that would have said item. I found a 12 cup coffee maker for $17. (this was an expense)

It turns out that a $17 dollar coffee pot is not going to last very long, and it will also cause me to purchase another coffee pot in the near future, but it will also cause many problems with spilling, and splattering that cause you to spend more time worrying about the coffee situation, and keep you from focusing on your job.

Even with things like office supplies, you can see paper clips as an expense, or you can spend just a little more and get some fancy clips that when a client recieves them make them feel like you put thought and effort into the document.

Seeing a coffee pot as an investment gets you to buy a different coffee pot. One that not only works well for your employees, but also for clients when they come by. Simple things can make a big difference.

BTW, if you would like to give me any pity for being publicly chastised 24/7 for the 3 weeks for my original putchase decision, then you can vote for my pumpkin carving, a carving of the coffee pot, at the Matchstic Intergalactic Carvorama 4000. (coming soon!)

I am not a salesman. I can’t tell you its the solution it if I don’t believe it myself.

The only way to get the answer is to first ask the question.

The question is who are you, what do you stand for and why are you different. These answers lay a foundation. This foundation allows us to start strong and clear. The brand then becomes self-aware and can say what it means.

A smart brand is an authentic brand. An authentic brand knows itself.

A while ago I stumbled across shirt.woot.com it is a sister site to woot.com and it has become a new obsession of mine. The concept is simple shirt.woot.com offers a new shirt everyday for $10. By making the shirt available for only one day it puts a sense of urgency in the mind of the consumer to make the purchase. In short it gives you a reason to buy. Along with giving the consumer a reason to buy the shirt it also creates a reason to revisit the site everyday.

Hi, my name’s Evan. I like to think and write and design and play music. I’m new to Matchstic in practice, but in theory I’ve been with them for quite some time. In the metaphysical sense. As in, spirit; i.e. not physically there, but still following what they’ve been up to. In short, I’ve been stalking them not unlike a neighborhood fat kid who hears the sweet chimes of the ice cream truck rolling out of the clouds down the streets of gold and into your heart.

The truth is, they’re good, real good. Not fake good. I’ve seen fake good at other companies who have this reputation of being great which is flimsily based on the fact that they employ far too many people and have somehow sold their terrible ideas to other large companies solely based on the similarity of size or seeming importance on the global market. What clients really need is a great idea and an execution that is equally unique pushing them past the drab norm of middle-market branding and marketing.

Just realize that you have an amazing opportunity to utilize the expertise of, in my humble yet always accurate opinion, the best branding house in the country. I’d pay them to do my music branding in the future (in all honesty) and would encourage anyone to do the same. I say that as a fan.

Evan McHugh
www.evanmchugh.com

As I look back at the last few years at Matchstic, one of the things that stands out to me is how our process has improved. As it stands today, our approach to developing a solid Brand Identity is different from a lot of what I see in our industry.

I’ve tried to think about how to explain the uniqueness of our process, and the following analogy hit me recently:




SHOTGUN

• Is shot quickly without a whole lot of thinking.

• Shoots a wide spread of pellets at a target, hoping one of them will work.

• Not real hard to learn.

• Many people can use one with some success.

SNIPER

• Most of the time is spent checking all of the surrounding elements and setting up the shot.

• Takes one shot, but nails the bulls-eye

• Requires years of training and practice

• Few become snipers.

The Matchstic approach to developing a Brand Identity is that of a sniper, not a shotgun.

• You won’t see a ton of “comps”.

• You’ll have to wait a while before seeing any visuals.

• It’s taken us years to develop the skills and process.

If you’re looking for a shotgun approach, Matchstic is not the right fit for you.

With winter approaching and our addiction to texting, twittering, or yammering from our iPhones, wouldn’t it be nice if you could stay connected without taking off your gloves?

Josh Rubin realized last winter that the only way to answer his iPhone while outside in the cold was to use his nose. What a great idea it would be if only there were gloves that gave you access to your index finger and thumb for complete control of the iPhone.

Freehands does just that and it got me thinking of what a tribe was.(Granted I haven’t read Seth Godin’s new book yet, so this is my idea, pre-reading.) Out of the 305 million plus Americans, roughly 4 million have iPhones. And as dedicated as most Mac users are, wouldn’t it make sense to create a product that caters directly to them?

Cheers Freehands, I commend you on finding the perfect tribe of consumers and making a viable product.