If you haven't seen or haven't heard of Red you should. It's a brilliant play by John Logan moving around theaters and currently showing in Atlanta at the Theatrical Outfit. Red is an insightful play about the agony and ecstasy of an artist and his work. It's told through the eyes of artist Mark Rothko who's at the peak of his career working on paintings for an upscale restaurant in downtown New York. He and his assistant dialog about the tension between art and commerce, philosophy, psychology, religion, significance and legacy.

Here's a short excerpt that I loved. It's Rothko speaking to his assistant after asking him whether he liked his painting or not.

ROTHKO: But do you like it?

KEN: Mmm.

ROTHKO: Speak up.

KEN: Yes.

ROTHKO: Of course you like it – how can you not like it?! Everyone likes everything nowadays. They like the television and the phonograph and the soda pop and the shampoo and the Cracker Jack. Everything becomes everything else and it's all nice and pretty and likable. Everything is fun in the sun! Where's the discernment? Where's the arbitration that separates what I like from what I respect, what I deem worthy, what has… listen to me now… significance.

I found this so refreshing. I think this kind of perspective and dialog is vital to anything you want to make better. Whether you are painting, writing, cooking, managing, strategizing or designing. Nothing get's any better if everybody "likes it". Do you respect it? Is it significant? These are the real questions. Agreed? Go see Red. I really hope you don't like it.

Image from @cubagallery

I have little patience for self-interested art trying to find its way into the branding conversation. Branding is selfless, in that it is interested first in what is authentic, second in how to represent that authenticity on behalf of an organization, and third (last) on how one's own talents can be used to accomplish this goal.

I love art, and have a deep appreciation for it. I consider the artists I work with to be immeasurably talented. But what makes them exceptionally unique is their ability to listen, understand, and represent – with clarity and distinction – the personality of an organization that exists outside themselves. This requires an ability to set aside one's own personal agenda for a better portfolio, and instead, focus on making that organization better.

I like this about branding. Finding beauty in the most unexpected of places – business.

Seems pretty simple but I've found that when designing, zooming in and zooming out are crucial. I have to see the design through a microscope and a telescope as it were. From one angle I can see the small details and ensure that they're perfect. From the other, I can see whether the perfect details are coming together as one.

The other day I was working on a brand mark that was shaping up to be my favorite choice for the client. Having "zoomed in" for quite a while and figuring it was gold, I tabled it to work on the others. Later, I "zoomed out" and met with the rest of the team to discuss. They're honesty and sensibility helped me see that what I thought was perfect still needed work. I was blind too see what they saw so easily. I was too zoomed in, too attached.

I've found that perfect pieces don't always make a perfect whole. Nor does a perfect whole assume perfect pieces. The goal for me is a right relationship or balance. If I only design zoomed in the result will most likely be detailed but lack overall form. If I only design zoomed out the result will be nicely composed but shallow.

Whaam! by Roy Lichtenstein

Dear USPS,

I saw your new commercial, and I think it is dumb. I appreciate your sentiments around face-to-face delivery and applaud the effort to reposition yourself in the first place. But, come on. Is this the stance you are taking? To paraphrase: That email is too unreliable, and printed documents provide more security. That businesses run on the postal service. My grandparents may agree with this thinking, but they are wrong. And so are you. Why are you trying to market to them anyway?

On behalf of my wife and my friend Philip – two of your biggest fans – I am going to shoot you straight. I like the idea of our relationship, but it has lost its magic. Every time I come over, you end up making me feel like an idiot. I leave swearing, and swearing I will never come back. But you are you, and I want so badly for this to work.

May I suggest a few things before you end up out of a job and homeless? For starters, look up the term "customer experience." Hire some folks that will understand my expectations when I come in the door. Give them a rally cry to motivate their workflow. Just because you're one of the only government agencies that is explicitly authorized in the constitution doesn't mean I cannot take my dealings elsewhere, thank goodness. (Kind of the big issue here).

Which brings me to my last two pieces of advice. FedEx and UPS are not going away. You have to find a means to differentiate from them. I think you have a good start with the mail carriers and their zeal. All that "neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" stuff really gets me excited. I know my mailman's name. He is at my house at the same time everyday. That's more than I can say for the other companies.

And lastly, but all encompassing, consider design as the way to reinvigorate your brand. This includes the suggestions listed above as well as solving logistics problems, identifying outlying opportunities, and executing a visual identity. I have seen not 1, not 2, but 3 theoretical rebrands aimed at you over the past three years, and I haven't even been looking. You need to organize all your offerings and communicate them to me in a way that makes sense. While you're at it, you could redo your signage program. I promise the investment you make in designing yourself will return more than you can imagine.

all the best in the future,

jason.

I suppose you might think so if you've never seen it in person. But for those who have, you know there's just something transcendent about it. Staring at the ceiling, imagining Michelangelo himself painting it. The mastery, detail and dedication it took to do. The story each panel tells makes the experience even better. Then there's the chapel itself, so rich in history. All together, the history, context and purpose make it so much more than a painting. Yeah, you can see it in a picture. But you really haven't seen it until you've walked beneath it. You can't understand it's purpose outside of it's painter. You can't grasp it's significance until you know it's story. It's the relationship of them all together that make it The Sistine Chapel.

Street fashion photographer, Bill Cunningham has been capturing New York's "runways" for nearly 50 years. He has a column in the New York Times called On the Street with Bill Cunningham. I highly recommend watching this recent documentary about his life. I was moved at how his love for fashion seems to have enabled him to look beyond social status and cachet. Whether on the cheap streets or at extravagant New York dinner parties, he's not interested in acclaim. With integrity, humility and humor he captures and elevates anyone with a sense of style. He's a true curator of beauty.

Google has recently made a choice to redesign Gmail. They have considered the form (typography, color, layout, icons, grid, white space) as well as the function (dropdown menus, search tools, task management). As a brand, I believe this is on point with their mission "to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful."

I have signed into my Gmail a dozen times in the past two weeks just to eye the "new look." It is quite beautiful compared to its predecessor (shown above). The colors are appealing. The icons are gorgeous. Most of all, there is room to breathe.

I just watched a conference talk given by Frank Chimero. In an obvious overstatement (profound nonetheless) he said "design is for people." If that is true, then redesign has to be for people too. I tip my hat to Google for doing such a great job with the Gmail update. The "cleaner, more modern" style is enough to make me want to use the program.

However, design is not simply making something look pretty. It has much to do with functionality – how will the user interact with what you are creating. I conceptualize my email differently from the way Gmail is set up. The new design does not change the way it handles organizing the bits of communication, and so I am not going to change my email behavior. Even still, I am sure plenty of users are excited about the changes they have made.

If you don't know what any of this is about click this button on the bottom of your mailbox…

As the internet evolves, a funny thing is happening. In some ways, it seems to be going in reverse. During the early part of the 2000s, the online world had a huge growth spurt. Bored with the limited nature of HTML, developers sought new ways to push the boundaries of the web. Sites got more cumbersome as interactive features and special effects piled on (often via Flash).

Then, the weight of the internet got tiring. Huge Flash websites were bulky and tough to update. People started using mobile devices more and more. Social media took over. All of a sudden, instead of using the World Wide Web for entertainment, we started to use it for information aggregating and social networking. People just wanted content.

And so the internet that has emerged seems to be one that is clean cut and light weight. There have been many developments, but one that I find interesting is the embrace for nostalgia. The animated GIF has proliferated as a trendy "new-old" way to add visual interest to websites and emails. This heritage file format finds new life in many places, from low-brow memes to high-brow fashion email blasts to cinemagraphs to stereoscopic animations.

This phenomenon also seems to be coinciding with similar return-to-form movements offline, such as our current obsessions with analog mediums, artisan methods, and pre-industrial production.

Image Credits: Jack Spade, J. Crew, Field Study, Need Supply, Flipboard, Battle Axe, Twin Sister

We all had about three weeks to ideate, plan, and build our very own handmade creation. The literal instructions communicated from Alana via email were:

===

listen up.

i have decided to make a contest in preparation for christmas.

each person has to make ONE christmas ornament related in any way to design / matchstic / team members by December 19th (monday 8am meeting).
we will put these up on our christmas tree.
winner gets an artisanal, hand-made "Christmas Champion 2011″ award and bragging rights!

this is serious. i will remind you guys each week.

===

The final entries were judged by our neighbors Octane and based on three categories:

1. Craftsmanship
(was the ornament created with craft in mind, are die-lines, fingerprints, and/or glue visible)

2. Creativity
(is the subject matter cleverly represented, is the ornament unique from its counterparts)

3. Experience / interactivity
(does it have special effects, does the matchstic team understand what the ornament conveys, is it humorous to all)

Below are all of our entries. Tell us your favorite!

"The Fire Ball" by Me – 250+ All-Purpose weather proof wooden matches (later ignited, as seen below, for dramatic presentation).

"Sneaky Creek" by Alana Dy – A replica of a miss-kerned cabin sign at our previous retreat. See the original sign here.

"Flame Soap" by Becky O'Mara – Inspired by Becky's home-made soap (featured on etsy) and held close by in case someone needs a good ole' fashioned mouth cleansing

"Da Bomb" by Jason Orme – Octane & Matchstic are an explosive combination… quite literally.

"S.S. Alina" by Staci Janik – A handmade creation dedicated to our advisory board member & team mentor Alina Wheeler, who's father was a polish sea captain. Complete with quote from our last session with Alina.

"Flaming Pile of Coffee" by Alvin Diec – A handmade paper cup, octane cut paper logo, and floating matchstic flame.

"God Jul" (pronounced "goo yule" which means "Merry Christmas" in Norwegian) by Craig Johnson – A common Norwegian ornament made in honor of Craig's wife & kids.

"Arctic R2D2″ by John Bowles – What do you do with all those recalled white Coke cans? Make an amazing star wars action figure, of course.

Dustin Britt was awarded the "Hat of Shame" for not entering.

And the judging:

The judges scorecard…

And the winner of the 2011 Matchstic Christmas Grand Champion (Adult division) is… (drum roll)…

Staci Janik with her "S.S. Alina" creation. The judges were quoted as saying "The craft & detail was simply hard to beat. It's a tiny boat with tiny sails for goodness sake." The other competitors were quoted as saying "This contest was over before it started. I knew Staci was entering it."

Kudos Staci. You are the official champ.

But you can still place your vote for the People's Champ below!

We've been working on a project that's allowed us to do some research into animation and storytelling. Watching movies…tough work. We've been looking closely at Pixar Studios as they seem to knock it out of the park every time. Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, UP, etc. Brilliant story lines, characters, and animation. What's been fun to discover though is the little design nuances in the movies, the things in the background. Fictious book covers, billboards, advertisements and brands. They create brands like a cub scout organization complete with brochure and badges. Or an airline brand complete with tickets and travel posters.

Pixar often sources great modern design from the 40′s, 50′s and 60′s for inspiration. An idealist time in design history and design philosophy. Often characterized by halftones and illustrations with hand-drawn type done by artists instead of applications. It's design before computers, Kinkos and comic sans. Beautiful, singular compositions with little to no fine print. Iconic soda pop labels, gas stations and travel posters. Generally speaking, the "look" most associated with the American dream. Here's a few examples.

Source: Paul Conrad, Eric Tan