The Environmental Defense Fund is a US-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit environmental advocacy group. As their name suggests, the EDF is dedicated to Earth-friendly issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, human health, polar bears, and small children.

I'm not usually a big fan of mixed-case logotype, but the EDF's old logo was executed surprisingly well, and felt considered rather than arbitrary. A single lowercase "e" — clean, simple, without excess. The round letterform may have alluded to our little blue planet, and the overall minimalism is a strong token of restraint.

Well, all that has been washed away by the rising tide of bad design clichés. Not enough emotional connection, you say? We shall give it dynamic swooshes (they can represent land and sea!). Too cold? Our blue Earth has been blanketed in a warm gradient glow. But isn't going "green" dangerously elitist? Have no fear, we have inserted bad typography to appeal to the common man. But what's an environmental logo if it didn't represent moderation in some form? Easy, we just take away proper leading — what better way to signify saving?

It seems we treat design in much the same way as we deal with the environment — creating problems for ourselves and then trying to fix these by throwing more resources at it instead of leaving well enough alone.

via Brand New.

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Network Solutions, a long-time player (and a solid one at that) in the website hosting business, was recently rebranded.

Although I'd love to comment on some of my thoughts/confusion on their new logo, let's keep away from the subjective and look solely at the objective strategy & positioning of their recent rebrand.

For starters, I can say one positive is their overall look and feel. While being a bit on the generic web 2.0 side, it does add a more sophisticated look to a web hosting company – something that stands out relative to their competitors.

Their redesigned site is also easier to navigate – another positive move.

But the biggest strategic shift may be the way they have both bundled and named their services. They've moved away from terms like "Domain Name", "Ecommerce", and even "Email" – and instead created a branding platform that adds their "ns" in front of each and every one of their service offerings.

• Rather than using an industry term like, "Domain", they've opted for "nsWebAddress™".
• Instead of "Email", they're calling it "nsMail™" (and if you want to upgrade to business class, its "nsMail™ Pro").
• Instead of "Ecommerce", its now "nsCommerceSpace™".

Their formula: take an existing term that's been used for years, modify it slightly, add an "ns" in front…and presto – you've got yourself a uniquely branded service!

Well, not really.

I'm not sure these names do anything at all, other than confuse and create more terminology to an already over-saturated web vernacular.

So let's hear it…hit me back with your thoughts on their approach…

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Seriously, I'm not.

The truth is, most creatives (worth their salt) have way more bad ideas than good ones. This past New Years Eve, I helped a friend think through a countdown video for a huge party. I had this "brilliant" idea to fake a black out right at the two second mark in the countdown, where the music and lights would go completely dark, causing a meltdown of attendees. Filled with concern & empathy (for the video people) the party goers would surely sit in silence and bewilderment of the botched countdown. Just at the right moment, the music would then kick back in causing rejoicing screams to fall from the masses and the abundant celebration to return, with myself and the video people as heroes. However, that was not the case (actually far from it). The "faked" black out was so Y2K and simply was glossed over by everyone in the room and the celebration went on without the blink of an eye or a grain of awkward hesitation.

This is just one example of hundreds, and I'm proud of that. The day I stop having bad ideas is the day the that one gem doesn't get discovered, it's the day I don't find the gold, and it's the day I start to play it safe. In order to have great ideas you have to be willing to take risks and bomb a few.

What was the last idea you had that bombed?

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Blake blogged the other day about the honor of Matchstic being featured in Alina Wheeler's third edition of Designing Brand Identity.  If you haven't picked up your copy yet, do it now.  You won't regret it.

I asked Alina if she wouldn't mind doing an interview with us to give us a little more background on her and her history with developing Brand Identities.  So, without further ado, here's Alina…

CRAIG: How did you get into the business of branding?

ALINA: Every since I was a young child, I have been fascinated by issues of identity and identification. I did not speak English until I was 6. Being bilingual as a child made me sensitive to the nuances of meaning and culture. In the second grade at the Sacred Heart of Jesus school, we color-coded line drawings of our souls according to the amount and type of our sinning (imagine!). I am convinced that at that moment my fascination with brand architecture began. In addition, being the daughter of a sea captain, I developed a love of lore and storytelling.

During the 70s and 80s, I was the managing partner of a large strategic design consultancy named Katz Wheeler. We always worked closely with the CEO and senior management team to create identity systems that were aligned with business strategy and expressed a competitive advantage. We worked for a diverse range of clients in the private and public sector.

CRAIG: Why did you originally write "Designing Brand Identity"?

ALINA: I wanted to reinvent the marketing textbook, demystify branding, demonstrate the relationship between strategy and design, and illuminate best practices and tools. While there are a lot of brilliant books on brand strategy and inspiring books on the best trademark design, there were no books about process and the fundamentals. I believe that adhering to the process insures remarkable results. I also wanted an easy to use reference guide–that is why each subject is covered on a single spread.

CRAIG: When was the 1st edition published?

ALINA: The first edition was published in 2003.

CRAIG: Who was the book written for?

ALINA: The book was written for the whole branding team: from the CEO to anyone who has the responsibility to build the brand and express the brand in order to attract new customers, increase customer loyalty and build brand equity.

CRAIG: One thing I love about this book is that it's an amazing collaboration of insight and work from leaders all around our industry.  What type of challenges come with such a collaborative effort?

ALINA: We all benefit from sharing best practices and upholding the highest standards in our industry. I am fortunate that so many smart people, companies and firms want to be in this book.

CRAIG: What is the most undervalued part of the brand building process?

ALINA: The process itself. Very few people understand that the process is the same regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur like Jeff Bezos starting Amazon in his garage or a global corporation with 100,000 employees. Also, I am consistently amazed that more people don't use a brand brief as a tool to achieve agreement about what the brand stands for.

CRAIG: Some swear by recent trends, some stay true to timeless philosophies.  What is your take on the relationship between those two?

ALINA: Regardless of whether you are branding in Shanghai or on Facebook, the fundamentals remain the same. ..Who are you?, who needs to know?, how will they find out? and why should they care? Thus said, I am intrigued by the yin yang diagram that Jim Collins uses—his premise is not choosing one over the other–rather it's both and they are inseparable.

CRAIG: What are the most important characteristics of a great branding firm?

ALINA: First and foremost, strategic imagination, which is the ability to align business acumen with creative strategy and expression. Design excellence which is the ability to reduce a complex, meaningful idea to its visual essence, whether the endpoint is a symbol, a new brand architecture, a look and feel, or an integrated brand identity system. Empathy and insight: an ability to be collaborative and understand the perspectives of all stakeholders, suspend judgment and transcend politics.

We're privileged to have Alina join us again on our bi-annual retreat in a few weeks. If any of you have any specific questions for Alina, leave a comment here or email me (craig@matchstic.com) and I'll try and get the answer for you in a few weeks.

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The other night I was getting myself a Blizzard and staring at the DQ logo. I realized just how great it was. Its been the same thing for decades. Recently they've added some swooshes I think but those red lips are still the main and most memorable part. Its their golden arches or yellow waffle house squares. Its strange but some how they even make me hungry for a Blizzard. Those red lips are connected to my sweet tooth! Thats above and beyond the call of duty for a logo and something only achieved by commitment. Commitment to a great product, Blizzard, and a simple red shape to remind you of it.

They're not even proportional lips but who cares… you're getting a Blizzard!

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That's a terrible title to a blog. Anyways, back to Niche…

We all know the value of having a niche. Well, we at least know we're supposed to have one…right?

More often than not it seems to end up being a $1 business term that gets thrown around the board room. Words like integrity, value-add, credible, best, excellence, etc.

And then there are those businesses and individuals that actually demonstrate having a niche more than they declare it.

One of my more recent & favorite illustrations of a truly niche-focused business came to me this week via a new friend and client – Ross Gott. Ross shared a story about a wealth manager in Seattle trying to focus on what are know as HNWIs (High Net Worth Individuals). The twist, this guy focused exclusively on the fellow tenants of the high-rise his office was located within. Genius. For years he's been catering his services to a group of HNWIs – all located within ONE large office building.

So what do you think? Too narrow, or an amazing focus? You already know my opinion…

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Perhaps its the state of our economy, or people are just looking for something new, but there seems to be a growing interest in food trucks lately. Once almost exclusively run by immigrants in New York City, the meals-on-wheels format has taken off in other cities (crossing my fingers for a good one to pop up in Atlanta), serving as an invitation for anyone wanting to start a restaurant on a lower budget. New York Magazine even published a guide recently on how to start your own.

Another huge tool that has no doubt helped purveyors' marketing efforts is Twitter (check out Street Sweets'). It serves as an easy, spontaneous way to get out information about changing menu items, locations, or even collecting feedback from customers.

Food trucks have also gotten increasingly more creative in both food served (everything from baked goods to Korean BBQ tacos to quirky takes on the ice cream truck) and exterior design, the latter totally making sense as the truck works nicely as a blank canvas. Some of the more interesting ones include Skillet's appropriation of the Airstream and the funky typography covering almost every inch of Street Sweets.

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I'm often asked about how we handle talking to the "target demographic".  This is a great question and brings up an interesting point about an organization's identity.  The answer is easier to understand by looking at how one defines their personal identity.

Your identity is derived first and foremost by who you are inside.  Though you are shaped by those you surround yourself with, it's who you are on the inside that matters most.  If you spend your life trying to be who you think others want you to be, you're gonna wear yourself out quickly and ultimately not stand for anything.  That's one reason that mergers and acquisitions so often kill a company's culture.  The deal might look right on paper, but the organization loses its identity.  And people need an identity.  Customers want to believe in something.  And that something has to be authentic at the core.  This isn't image management.

So when it comes to the target demographic, we do want to spend time understanding who they are and what makes them tick because part of your identity is a result of the people you surround yourself with.  But if you want to stand for something and lead something big, you have to have a strong identity.  And that identity starts on the inside, not the outside.

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A friendly reminder from author Marty Neumeier in his book, Zag. Strategy without implementation is dead.

How are you implementing your strategy?

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