Rebirth of Simple #2

The second installment in this series of Simple. Not much else to say about it.


Business Card for Norburn Model Aircraft Supply from Jeff Harrison on Vimeo.

A revival of Simple and Slow

We are going through a revival of Simple and Slow. These concepts are appearing more on what we consume every day and I wonder, when will they make their presence felt in the design industry?

A while back I had an idea for a design studio. It would be called something like "Simple." I believe that simple solutions in this over saturated media environment can be more powerful. Simple ideas are easy to understand, thus require less time to process and a better value to our clients.

So lets keep it Simple my friends, and try to do it Slow.

http://www.diesel.com/be-stupid/

SadneXX

As a brand life coach and as a package designer, I am in constant pursuit to get big brands to get in touch with culture to demonstrate contemporary relevance and awareness. I was saddened when i saw this. Not by the fact that such a strong brand actually took action on this opportunity. I actually applaud them for doing this. I am saddened by the compete waisted opportunity to create something incredible.

Now, there are many things that signaled brand confusion in my head.

- As a brand expert I asked myself, what happened with the Most Interesting Man, how does Kaws relate to a so far very successful and engaging campaign? How does Dos Equis benefit from this brand rendezvous?

- As a packaging expert I asked myself. Is this really the best that could be done? leveraging not the power of Dos Equis, nor the impact and simplicity of the Kaws brand?

- As a consumer I asked myself. So what?

Or maybe i just don't get it, can someone help?

Grids

Feature: Tom Davie - Grid Posters

While at design school I found myself breaking rules, we all go through it I know. It was a time of exploration and revelry, but through the evolution of a career I became surrounded by responsibility and the fear of failure. However, I always found myself conquering this fear somehow. That somehow is best explained by the way I feel about grids, and it is beautifully illustrated by these series of posters by Tom Davie.

Grids are for me the equivalent of a brief in professional life, or the intricate crossing of ethics, common sense and law in personal life. They are there to guide you and focus energy and to provide order. Grids can be taken as they are and obeyed, or they can be challenged and used as springboards for creativity.

At the end we don't buy products, we buy our way into relationships.

Speaking to a colleague and a client of mine last week our conversation about branding turned into our views of what is the essence of this field. To me it has always been about developing a brand with a rich enough personality, which can be found relevant by the right people, and with whom these people look forward to develop a lasting relationship. Many times we, the consumers, become disillusioned by these relationships, but when we are rewarded back by these brands we quickly become loyal to them. That is our nature as human beings, and I believe that interacting with a brand should be no different from this. 5 years ago I remember inwardly advising Staples, the office supply chain, to replace all its rude clerks in their New York store with robots. Today I enjoy visiting their store and being greeted, helped and serviced with a genuine smile.

We all want the same in life: to be loved and to be happy. We don't buy products, we buy experiences and hope they will turn into enriching relationships.

In good timing my wife forwarded me this article from the New York Times that speaks about how in times of and post recession experiences become more valuable, and more meaningful. I cannot agree more.

The New York Times article can be found here

Sometimes covers surpass originals