I'm a guy who appreciates good organizational skills and enjoys a good system to keep things tidy.

The other day I walked back to what we affectionately call the "Crows Nest" and took a look-see at Alvin & Justin (AKA "Gern")'s desktops. On both of their dual monitor desktops they had designed out wallpaper graphics to help them organize their desktop folders, files, apps, etc. Its better seen that explained (see to the left)…

Its a normal issue with a pretty awesome solution.

Nod to Veer and Gern for his unique take on the version he designed for his computer.

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*Click image to zoom

Something that's becoming increasingly disconcerting to me is when a major corporation decides they need a "rebrand". More often than not, a classic, beautifully designed mark meets its demise (changing the wonderful, simple Ducati logo especially saddens me).

There's nothing wrong with a little bit of nip/tuck to update a logo that's outdated (Econo Lodge) or to fix an already ugly one (the new Barclaycard may be a rip-off, but that old one is just plain bad). The problem here is that many of these expensive redesigns just follow the same trendy, design-by-committee formula: "Lowercase is friendlier! make it shiny! make it spin! it's gotta move!"

The make-over usually results in some sort of bubbly, lozenge-looking thing that doesn't even add value to the brand. In fact, I'd argue it's doing more harm than good, either by neutering a brilliant design (Paul Rand's UPS), diluting interesting type (CNET), looking like a copy-cat (Barclaycard), speaking to the wrong audience (c'mon, Adobe, we're designers) or causing confusion (does Xerox make Xboxes now?). With all the shiny marbles out there, one would think the new "it" market are five-year-olds. Maybe it's just me, but I don't choose my phone provider based on how totally 3-D their logo is.

I think that old saying about not fixing unbroke things applies here.

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On January 1st MLB Network launched on most cable and satellite providers. This was a dream come true for me. For years there has been the NFL network, the Golf Channel, and the NHL Network but no such luck for baseball fans. Now my love for baseball can be fulfilled year round 24 hours a day. Today I went home and ate lunch and watched a couple of innings of Game 2 of the ALCS from 1989 between the Oakland A's and Toronto Blue Jays. I didn't even know I wanted to watch a game that happened 20 years ago, but given the opportunity I did and thoroughly enjoyed it. The point being once you have a devoted "fanbase" the more extra "goodies" you can offer them the more devoted they will become. Never underestimate the value of always having the attention of a captive audience. I'm sure tonight I'll be watching World Series Highlights from the 1946 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.

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Businesses are not defined through the peaks of seasons, rather it's the valley's that tell their fate.

I've been challenged with that statement and how we will react in this defining "season" of our economy. Well, I've read and researched what others say to combat a recession, and have heard lots of opposing opinions on what to do and what not to do. I decided to compile some of my favorites into a list (since I love those) along with some of my own.

Nine Ways to Flourish in a Recession:

1. Build your business NOW! Leverage extra time, lower rates, and financial opportunities to invest in yourself. IBM's biggest building years were during those of the great depression!

2. Use extra time to do NEW promotions. Look at this season as an opportunity to invest in your brand equity and awareness.

3. Don't cut back. That's the natural response, kind of like driving in snow when you sliding out of control- don't do your natural reaction to correct the spin, do the opposite and turn into the spin

4. Attitude is everything. Don't buy into the negative vibes; don't get sucked into the ground swell.

5. Stay on your customers minds. Only in subtle ways, not in a "Hey, i need work" desperate kind of way.

6. Dance with the one who brung ya. Rely on built relationships with a deep foundation to with stand the storm. Those will be the biggest difference maker!

7. Make marketing part of your DNA. Marketing isn't something you do or don't do when the economy is bad, it's something you just DO all the time. Make it an ingrained machine.

8. Refine and define who you are. Marketing is like exercise, we never find time to do it, we know we should do it but we don't, we feel guilty for not doing it, and we only do it when something goes wrong (get fat or get dumped)

9. Be Proactive. The ones who haven't been doing anything with marketing, and just sitting on their hills, those are the ones effected in this

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Notice how many iPhone copycats are out there right now? They may all have their unique features, but they are all reactions to the iPhone phenomenon. The Blackberry Storm, Samsung's Instinct, LG has a look-alike, and now Palm has come out with one.

The problem with all of these is that they are merely a response to an original thought, but not truly original in their own right. Where Apple saw a product they thought they could revolutionize, and then did so, their competitors have seen a threat, and reacted.

I was reminded today of something Jack Welch did while at GE, as quoted in Zag:

"Jack Welch clearly understood the power of market leadership in 1981 when he told his business heads to ‘fix, sell, or close' any GE division that wasn't either one or two in its category."

He wasn't worried about "keeping up", he was after something else – something more.

With all the cut-backs, business failures, and economic challenges, its time for us to all get back to a little old fashion American ingenuity. Let's not just figure out to get back where we were, let's accept that what's gone is gone and let's go somewhere different, somewhere new.

And on a side-note, cell phone companies: please stop copying the iPhone and make something better – something new we've never heard of and never seen.

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Being from California, I fly to Los Angeles every year for the holidays. And each time I look forward to having a delicious In-N-Out burger. In fact, it's become somewhat of a family tradition that all the "kids" (I have eleven cousins) go for an after-Christmas In-N-Out run the day after.

In-N-Out is a California-based fast food chain that started out in the Fifties. They pride themselves on being privately owned (no franchises) and serving quality food the old-fashioned way. They own and operate their own patty making facility, get fresh produce from local farms, and even cut the potatoes in store moments before they hit the fryer.

The menu is limited: hamburger, cheeseburger, double, fries, shakes & sodas. Over time, legions of devoted fans (believe me, they're devoted — I've never seen a drive-through less than twenty cars deep) have even created a "secret" menu not found on the regular board (Animal Fries, Lemon-Ups, Grilled Cheese, etc.)

In-N-Out's popularity is astounding. They do little marketing and advertising. It's grown strictly through keeping true to their philosophy, and by doing so, generating happy, loyal customers that spread the word for them. In addition, they are air-tight in their quality control – fresh ingredients, a limited no-nonsense menu, well paid and trained employees.

This recipe for success seems so simple, yet has oddly escaped immitation from the larger, declining burger chains. Instead of pouring resources into creations nobody wants to eat (McRib) or items that don't fit within the brand (remember Wendy's "paninis"?) why not just go back to basics? Low prices, friendly staff and quality food.

There's a common saying: "Good, Fast, Cheap — pick two." In-N-Out is one of the few companies that provide all of the above.

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Last night I watched "Wanted" starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. I was pleasantly surprised when it was over. I remembered first seeing previews for it last spring and passed it off as another stupid action movie exactly like all the others I had seen. While it did have ridiculous action sequences and numerous scenes that physics would laugh at as impossible, there was something more to the movie. It was done so well that it didn't matter how ridiculous the scenese were. My point being that if the movie had of been positioned correctly last spring I would have spent my $10 to go see it in the theater. Now people have more choices for everything, so it is so important to position yourself correctly and clearly so the consumer knows who you are and what you are. Other wise you could end up being thought of as just another Steven Seagal action movie.

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We always love to be more than just a firm that helps in the beginning, and then just pushes the bird out of the nest and hopes that they can fly. Tomorrow Craig and I get to make sure that our little birdie "Simple Man 09″ can spread its wings and fly!

I am really excited, mainly because this is the first cruise that I have ever been on. I am grateful to Sixthman, and can't wait to see how I can better help them accomplish their goals, now that I can have a first hand experience of what they do so well.

Thanks Sixthman!

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Happy Second Blog of 2009!

I wanted to share a sneak peak of something big we've been working
on. A few months ago, we were challenged to develop a scalable brand
for the children's ministry of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC for
our friends at East Gate. This was way more than just a logo project
(which it did include), but it also included the environment design
of 20,000+ square feet of environment space for over 10 sub-brands
for the ministry. We were challenged to think about form & function,
and make each environment grossly engaging for kids of all ages. It's
been a cool process to extend a visual identity over to tactile touch-
points that require attention grabbing results. I can't reveal too
much, but below is a few snap shots from one of the ten brand
environments we designed.

The project is now in the implementation stage and we'll post more
once it is completed.

Happy New Year!

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I just finished reading Tribes for the second time, and this time the biggest thing that I took away was to not fall in love with your internal systems or status quos. The minute that you do, you loose the ability to grow, change, or react. It is easy to do…  You spend all day everyday working within them. Finding a better way to make them work all the time.

At Matchstic, we are proud of our systems. We put them in place so that we can better, and more consistantly serve our clients. That said, nothing is sacred. It can't be.

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