Our thoughts on all things brand related.
Responsive web design–providing a true customer experience
By Larry Roth
Are you struggling with the myriad of browsers and devices that your customers are using? With new smartphones out almost every day, It’s no secret that mobile browsing is on the rise. This has lead to many companies rushing to explore a range of solutions to make their website work across these devices. This has lead to many companies rushing to explore a range of solutions to make their website work across these devices.
MTV: an identity ahead of its time
By Paula Snyder
MTV launched itself on August 1, 1981 and yesterday celebrated its 30th birthday. In honor of their 30th I’d like to remark on the uniqueness of their 30-year brand. MTV’s logo has always been a block “M” with “TV” graffitied in the corner. Pretty simple, no? What I find interesting is that from a branding perspective they were really ahead of their time.
Simple for you, befuddling for me: confessions of a former simpoholic
By Denis Riney
“Make it as simple as Google.”
One of my former clients started off our meeting with this declarative request as we were getting ready to take him through a “simplification exercise” to fix his very convoluted database.
Clearly, this gentleman had in his own mind an internal benchmark of what simple meant to him. Our team, on the other hand, wasn’t able to articulate in such clear language what the output of our work would actually be. It occurred to me that as a purveyor of simplified communications, I wasn’t making it totally clear what simplicity really meant.
Brand decaf?
By Dan Dyksen
Barely awake, with my hot Venti in hand, I noticed that something was missing from my Starbucks cup. Like Nike, AT&T and Target (just to name a few), Starbucks has gone “nameless.”
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Merging the worlds of design and travel
Pantone, Inc. is best known as the source of industry-standard references for color. The brand primarily targets design professionals. It is fair to say that Pantone revolutionized the graphic arts industry by allowing designers and printers to categorize and replicate color, accurately, anywhere in the world, by referring to uniform color palettes.
Recently, though, Pantone has begun to branch out, addressing a new audience: consumers. Pantone Universe is a new, multifaceted sub-brand that makes Pantone color the centerpiece of everything it does, from the Pantone Universe magazine to a line of themed products ranging from eyewear and jewelry to kitchen gadgets and more. Continue reading
When a shape is just a shape
By Paula Snyder
Garnering attention in the media recently is the logo created for the Nuclear Security Summit, hosted by President Obama in Washington, DC last week. A theory popularized by a FOX News segment, but also running rampant across various newspapers and blogs, claims that the logo echoes the Islamic crescent moon and star symbol.
Must we give up good typography in the name of convenience?
As a design professional, the recent flap over IKEA’s decision to change its typeface from Futura to Verdana really struck close to home for me.
IKEA has long been held up as a prime example of good design that reflects and contributes to the brand. Futura is a very clean, contemporary typeface that dovetails perfectly with IKEA’s Swedish heritage and streamlined, efficient product line. Continue reading
Top 10 PANTONE® Colors for Spring 2010 – Subtle colors reflect the mood of the country and point to a hopeful future
The Pantone Color Institute has released the top 10 colors chosen by New York fashion designers for their Spring 2010 Ready to Wear collections. Being a graphic designer, I was intrigued by the neutrality of the colors, even in the five “brights.” Why, for such a cheerful season of renewal, are consumers being given such neutral options, seeing that last spring brought vibrant pops of color?
(Top row, left to right: Pink Champagne, Tuscany, Fusion Coral, Turquoise, Violet;
Bottom row, left to right: Aurora. Eucalyptus, Dried Herb, Amparo Blue, Tomato Puree) Continue reading
From dipthongs to tittles—everything you wanted to know about type but were afraid to ask.
My lifelong relationship with type began on my 7th birthday with the gift of a tiny hand cranked printing press. It used adhesive backed rubber type stuck to a revolving drum and inked by hand with a roller, known in the trade as a “brayer.”
Fast forward 10 years to my high-school Graphic Arts class where I learned the mysteries of lead type. Hand kerning headlines, “locking up” a job with “furniture” and “quoins” and my immense pride at being able to correctly identify the contents of each compartment in a California job case¹ – those wonderful wooden drawers with a separate compartment for each and every character and punctuation mark in a font – blindfolded.
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