The identity is incredibly fun, welcoming, and different. I love everything about it, from the wall decal illustrations to the menu design to the overall color palette. It feels like the new hip and trendy place to be in Atlanta (and the line out the door confirmed that). After the meal however, I heard several comments about the food as… “pretty good”. There were no real complaints but there were no real celebrations either. The funny thing is, even though my burger was hoe-hum, I will probably go back and I’m sure others will as well.

It made me think “How good is good enough”? Can you get away with a “good enough” product by having a strong brand identity?

A while back I blogged about how our team was reading Scott Belsky’s new book, Making Ideas Happen, and had begun adopting the Action Method.  Two months later, it continues to revolutionize my life.  If you are not very organized and see yourself more as an idea person, then I highly suggest that you first read the book and then quickly adopt the action method whether you use your own tools or theirs (I also highly suggest their tools).

Also, if you are near Atlanta, you’re in for a treat because Scott Belsky is going to be putting on a seminar Friday, August 6th in Atlanta at One Twelve Gallery put on by our friend Jeff Shinabarger and Plywood People.  Make sure you sign up! Hope to see you there.

If the World Cup was a hot dog, then the uniforms would be the relish. This year alone Adidas estimates to make $1.8 billion in sales from the World Cup, which makes one big hot dog and some very valuable real estate on the backs of each player. A friend of ours, Jared Taft, blogged yesterday about his favorites and was curious to see our thoughts, so here is my Top 10 list.

I judged each uniform on originality, simplicity, function, and flexibility (how well it did within the home/away system). What are you favorites?

10. Argentina

Like most of Argentina’s fans, I choose them solely on their use of light blue. Even back in my days of playing FIFA Soccer on Sega they were my go to because of that distinct color, and I really like the stripes.

9. Brazil

It’s hard to have any sort of World Cup Top 10 list with out mentioning Brazil. That and the echoing of the stars in their emblem help them take my #9 spot.

8. Cameroon

It’s hard for me not to like Lions, they are my favorite big cat. The simplicity of the lion face on the shoulder and the ever slight roaring lion on the opposing side is beautiful.

7. Italy

An all white simple jersey just does it for me. No fluff. Just classy. I love the hits of royal blue under each arm, sure to cover any excess perspiration.

6. USA

I couldn’t leave our guys out of it, but more so I really appreciate the boldness of the solid stripe. My only critic would be to lighten the blue a bit and add this guy.

5. Algeria

I do not know if I’ve ever seen a mint green used as the primary color for a jersey in the World Cup. It contrasted with the red makes a dynamic color scheme. I love the simple stripes and the white sleeve cuffs.

4. Serbia

The cross from the nation’s emblem is echoed beautifully across the entire jersey, and the reason for making my #4 spot. Nothing says Communism like all red, so I was glad to see some blue on the sleeves.

3. England

Ah the motherland. England’s away jersey made my #3 spot for their functional use of the sleeves. Some might see this as a negative given the summer heat in South Africa, but after 90 minutes of sun and slide tackles, a little coverage might be nice. My favorite detail of this jersey is the all blue emblem. It contrasts the solid red beautifully.

2. Switzerland

It’s hard to deny the simplicity of the tried and true Swiss cross. The line work on this jersey is beautiful and I enjoy the little character on the right chest, even though its a bit cheeky.

1. New Zealand

This is absolutely the best World Cup uniform I’ve ever seen. Having a single symbol, the leaf, is incredibly powerful. Combine that with the classic black and white color scheme and you’ve got yourself one amazing looking set. I don’t know how the Kiwi’s will do, but their uniform is the winner in my book.

And my least favorite? France due to the 1988 swooshing lines.

What are your favorites?

Brand Camp is a two-day intense branding workshop retreat that brings together like minded entrepreneurs to discover their company’s unique identity in the marketplace. Unlike most workshops, there is a very tangible take away, the brand brief.

I asked the attendees to send me some quotes about the experience and here are a few I received the day after we got back.

“Matchstic’s Brand Camp was amazing.  In 48 hours we were able to verbalize what our company is about and where we go from this point forward.  Being able to discuss it with Craig and Blake, and other businesses, to get their feedback and guidance was invaluable.”

“Going to Brand Camp, I was nervous that we really weren’t different and truly unique from other consulting companies.  But, Matchstic did an amazing job of pulling it out of us — helping us realize that we really are unique.  It wasn’t that they told us who we need to be, or that we just made up what we want to be — they helped us realize who we really were.”

We have a few spaces available for our June 2010 Brand Camp, email brandcamp@matchstic.com or call Craig at 404-446-1511 for more information. Space is limited to five companies per camp – so get on it!

Fellow Atlantan? Design student? Industry folk? Inquisitive patron? Current client? All invited! The only thing we ask? Please RSVP so we know how much food to prepare by emailing us at rsvp@matchstic.com with your name, company name and names of any guests you’d like to bring. One little perk… If you RSVP you will be entered into a drawing every hour to win one of our latest t-shirts. You must be present to win, so don’t skip out early. Only one entry per email address.

Come hungry!

For years the desire to give back lived in a reactionary mode responding to several heart-felt stories with several short-lived solutions, resulting in little significance for the organization. As a branding firm, we evangelize the power of focus, and decided it was time to practice what we preach. On The House is the strategy of saying several “no’s” in order to say one really big “yes” and radically transform one deserving organization per year.

Since starting the On The House program in 2008, we have transformed two organizations with a third on the way, resulting in over $250,000 in donated services. But most notably we have ignited an ever-growing flame of passion and impact on our city and on three incredible causes.

We can’t do it alone. On The House Partners.

Matchstic offers a full brand identity over-haul, including brand strategy and design implementation, but that only goes so far. We have assembled some of Atlanta’s leading experts, including public relations, photography, trademarking, writing, printing, web development, and motion design, to join the cause and make an even greater impact. Our current 2010 partners are:

Ries & Ries

SeeSparkGo

Standard Press

Battle Axe

Stephen Hunton Photography

Bottlecap

Green Tricycle Films

Branderfield

Zoink

Foltz Martin

2010 On The House Recipient- Atlanta Union Mission

The Mission serves as many as 1,070 men, women and children every day of the year with emergency shelter, residential recovery and transitional housing, as it is the city’s largest homeless initiative. With a new leadership team it is primed to have an even greater impact on this city with a brand over-haul. Homelessness is an overwhelming issue in the city of Atlanta that few dare to take on but the mission IS changing lives and ending homelessness.

We are currently under way in the branding process and will soon be announcing the brand new Atlanta Union Mission. In the mean time, watch this video on the Mission for more information:

2009 On The House Recipient- Swift School

Swift School works to prepare children with dyslexia and related language-based learning differences to be successful in life. Swift School is where success with dyslexia starts.

Matchstic positioned the SWIFT School brand around the term dyslexia. Dyslexia is an umbrella term referencing most language-based learning differences. It was also easier to remember and gave SWIFT some much-needed focus. Matchstic also removed the word “The” in the title from “The Swift School” to just “SWIFT School.” “The” was unnecessary and only weakened the more important words.

SWIFT School believes potential is more powerful than dyslexia. Matchstic chose to visually depict the hope that parents need. SWIFT School is synonymous with hope for kids with dyslexia and helps them to be successful in life. A star represents hope, belief, achievement and success. The color choice of blue is more appropriate than the original hunter green for aligning with hope. The star is unique to SWIFT and contains a hidden “S” inside of it communicating the idea of hidden potential.

SWIFT School’s rebrand has been featured in various local Atlanta outlets including the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Good Day Atlanta and Cox Curry & Associates Review. The new brand identity was officially launched at the International Dyslexia Association-Georgia’s “Dimensions of Dyslexia” conference on February 20, 2010.

2008 On The House Recipient- City Church

City Church was birthed out of a desire to build a strong, service-oriented church in eastside city neighborhoods in Atlanta, just down the street from the Matchstic house. Twenty years ago when it seemed everyone left the inner-city, several churches that served the city went away also. In 2006, the city of Atlanta grew for the first time during that long period and the need for churches that serve the community became apparent. After sifting through many applications and interviewing three candidates, Matchstic voted and chose City Church Eastside as the first ever On The House pro bono client for 2008.

The vision of City Church-Eastside is not to be a big church, but to be a local serving church that grows and multiplies as neighborhoods grow and multiply. Matchstic consulted on the church’s name, created a brand identity and helped formulate the brand strategy that would tie the church to its community.

Matchstic’s goal was to develop a brand identity that fit the vision of the City Church brand and create a name that is scalable to multiple locations.

The strategy was to chose a logo that represented a neighborhood. The cross is actually a small picture of two cross streets with houses at each end.

Since then City Church has been dedicated to serving the neighborhoods in East Atlanta. Just an example of their commitment, they held a neighborhood garage sale bringing in $3,000 during one Saturday alone to benefit a local fire station that was suffering economically.

If you are interested in being a partner, getting more involved, or learning more about On The House email us at here. Here’s to transforming the city on brand at a time!

I see niche focus as the single most important variable when it comes to what makes or a breaks an independent shop these days. Where it’s impossible to compete in terms of sheer volume, selection, or pricing, smaller businesses instead have to offer less but better.

Videodrome doesn’t have every movie. But they have a simple selection of what’s worth watching. There’s a great foreign selection (more Hong Kong and Chinese movies I’ve seen in a video store) categorized by country. There’s a new releases wall. A staff favorite section that’s sorted by director. Even with the immediate gratification of Netflix streaming, sometimes it’s just nice to walk around and browse the shelves.

What I like most about the store is their extensive collection of Criterion Collection titles. You’ve seen them — the boxes that stand out on the shelves simply because of the beautifully designed covers. While we’re on the topic of focus, Criterion has it too.

Their mission: “Since 1984, the Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, has been dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements.”

A limited selection, thoughtful design, and dedication to quality. With this film publisher and the little video store on Highland, these things come together to make for an uncommon experience in our days of “instant.”

We helped them develop their theme and campaign for the 2009-2010 learning year: BACK IN BLACK. 2009 did a number on all of us and so the theme was for everyone to get back in black.  They also talk about how “Back in Black is an attitude.”  It takes a determined entrepreneur to get a company out of what 2009 brought us and back in growth mode.  There are several events each month and we did a series of posters for the different events.  It was a lot of fun as they were an interesting mix of Rock n’ Roll and business strategy.

Below is a grouping of the different posters our team developed. I’m pretty darn proud of them all.

And if you’re interested in being a part of the Atlanta Chapter, you can find out more here.

Stephen- Ha. Things are good. Actually, that’s a shot for Home Depot in an ‘08 olympics TV campaign.

Blake- Oh, right- I was confused, sorry about that. Lets get started. Why don’t you share a bit with how you got started in photography?

Stephen- I first got into photography back in High School.  It was awesome because we got to work in a darkroom, which I thought was super cool.  I loved trying different things with the chemicals which today would look a lot like post-processing digitally.  But, my camera broke in college and I was too lazy to save up the money to fix it, so I literally just fell away from photography all together.  Then, 3 or 4 years later, in October of 2006 we found out we were having our first baby and I knew the point-and-shoot cameras wouldn’t do the trick.  Thankfully, my parents bought me my first Digital SLR camera a month before he was born and I got sucked in.  I was terrible though.  It was like I’d forgotten everything, but I was so hungry to get better that I just kept snapping away, trying new things and learning how to make an image. That’s the best thing about digital photography… you can mess up over and over and over, for FREE!

Blake- That’s cool, Sounds like you’ve worked hard to get better (and it worked, cause you’re pretty freaking talented), Why did you decide to partner with OTH and give away your “hard-earned” craft?

Stephen- I love that Matchstic puts an emphasis on pro-bono work.  I just believe that we all have talents and time to give to the needy, whether it’s a physical person or an organization.  Last year, when I started this journey as a “professional” I got hooked up with Atlanta Union Mission and made them my ‘pro-bono’ Client in Atlanta.  I just felt that I could give back through this craft of mine to help an awesome organization build their brand.  It was amazing, and extremely eye-opening to walk around the AUM facilities and meet people who had found hope and were overcoming huge obstacles in their lives. So, when you shot me an email to see if I’d be interesting in partnering with them through OTH, it was a honor and quick “yes” because I’m excited to see how working with Matchstic can take Atlanta Union Mission in a whole new direction creatively and strategically.

Blake- Yeah, It was a natural fit since you already have a heart for the mission and have done so much for them. Last question, What role do you think photography plays in building a charismatic brand? More specifically how will if effect the new AUM Brand?

Stephen- I think photography can play a huge role in building a brand.  It has the power to tell stories without words and create emotions within viewers that speak exactly in the voice you’re trying to give a brand.  More specifically, with Atlanta Union Mission, photography has the ability to portray the hope that AUM can provide to the homeless in Atlanta.  Homelessness, is such a serious issue here, and a lot of times we see images of people laying in the street or standing under a bridge holding a sign asking for money.  They get objectified too easily and people forget that a homeless person is, before anything else, a person.  Photography can put a more “human face” on the homeless in Atlanta, and hopefully make the issue more relatable to a city full of busy people who don’t always have the opportunity to see it as a serious issue.

Blake- That is so true, great point. Well, on behalf of everyone at Matchstic, thank you for partnering with us on this endeavor, and we can’t wait to get started.

Stephen- Absolutely. Thanks again for considering me for this.  It’s going to be alot of fun.

For more on Stephen Hunton photography click here

My car is twenty-years old and has over 200,000 miles. But it seems to be in better shape and shows less wear than a previous Volkswagen I had built in the 00s. I’ve had three TVs break since replacing my first one — a 13-inch Magnavox that followed me around the country from 1990 – 2007.

Those were the days. Now, the things we buy can do so much more but seem to have a lifespan drops off at about the same time a new model arrives. It comes as no surprise — we have been constantly increasing our consumption, and with the primary goal of pretty much any company being growth, the only way to sustain this is to consume more. If Philips sells you a TV that lasts twenty years, they may have lost you as a customer for a long, long time.

To most people, being Green just means buying more stuff. But non-toxic recycled stuff! Sustainability has become quite the new marketing tool that is completely counterproductive to actually sustaining anything.

I recently came upon a blog post by Open, a little bicycle shop near Boston, MA. I had been in there once sometime last year, before they even had an official sign on the door. They talk about the idea of repairing vs. recycling (or trashing) — a dilemma they face often with all the broken bikes and parts coming into the shop.

As with most other consumer goods nowadays, it’s more often than not easier and cheaper to toss an old part and sell the customer a new one. The problem is that there’s no longer an incentive to design and build things that last. As a trade off we have poorly-designed products manufactured by wage-slaves that we can buy by the boatload because they’re so cheap.

The solution, of course, is to design higher quality goods that can be repaired. There are lots of benefits — personal satisfaction of a challenge, learning more about the product, and reducing consumption. (Check out this “Repair Manifesto” by Platform21).

The author also gets into what no business owner wants to talk about: whether it is counter-productive for a company to discourage consumption. In the end, he reaches a conclusion that it’s quite the opposite.

“I personally enjoy the meta-material relationship of a repairer to ‘repairee’ more than the reductive relationship of the seller to consumer, and as people (re)learn to appreciate and support the craft and art of expert repair, I think that my business will flourish.”