February 17, 2010 • 8:20 pm • POSTED BY stephen penning
Make something memorable. Turn the category on its head. Be better than you were yesterday. Fail. Try Again. Collaborate. Brush up on your German. Take it on the road. Fight for the idea. Make up words. Go to the conference, then speak at it. Coax it out. Document it. Get on the birthday list. Push it. Cheer the Phils. Question presidents. Change minds. Make espresso. Learn the process. Dump beer on your boss. Start it up. Check out Billy Penn. Create brands. See all twelve toes. Put it on the crit wall. Find out why. Present it yourself. Ask for help. Assert your opinion. Share inspiration. Celebrate small victories. Do shots to big ones. Tell a story. Invent characters. Color outside the lines. Blog. Earn a nickname. Create a haiku. Debate. Turn your work space into a lodge. Get on the dance floor. Apply.
Something you may or may not know about us is that we have carved out a bit of a niche in University marketing. Essentially, we believe that if more universities took cues from how consumer brands market themselves (since in many ways they are), as opposed to thinking of themselves as strictly academic institutions (which they also are), they will be more successful. For us, higher education branding offers a myriad of challenges, considering the number of audiences a college or university must engage, the multitude of communications channels the brand can effect, and the unprecedented competition in the marketplace.
After all, if we are talking about recruiting potential undergraduate students who are 17 year-old seniors in high school—they are constantly bombarded with marketing messages and vehicles that are awesome, innovative, unheard of, crazy, and interactive strategies from all different types of companies and industries, many with monster budgets. Most universities are also situated within 50 miles of at least ten colleges, and are competing with hundreds of other universities on everything from academics to financial aid packages. How can a university position itself in this type of cultural landscape in a meaningful way? Something tells me sending a brochure with headlines such as “Our Campus-Your New Home” is not exactly going to send the kids a-running. These kids are committing at least four years of their lives, and student loan payments for significantly longer, to their college choice.
So, similar to consumer brands, one way a university can break through is by looking at its brand as a University-wide asset and ensuring its messaging and tone appeal to all of its key audiences (e.g. prospective undergraduate and graduate students, parents, guidance counselors, alumni, donors, etc.) and engage them with relevant and compelling content and imagery. This helps ensure they don’t let themselves off the hook with the same old “three in a tree” (infamous shot of three students on campus, with three distinctly different ethnicities), status quo.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, the most respected news publication in higher education, recently sat down with one of our favorite university presidents for a podcast. Dr. Daniel Curran, President of the University of Dayton, is a strong proponent of branding and shares a similar vision of branding universities as we do. To this end, Dr. Curran and the University have recognized the necessity of strong branding and marketing in the Strategic Plan, which sets forth a vision for the University.
“5.1: COMMUNICATE AND MARKET MORE EFFECTIVELY THE QUALITY OF THE UNIVERSITY’S DEGREE PROGRAMS, ITS RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP, ITS RESIDENTIAL LIFE, ITS DISTINCTIVE COMMITMENT TO INTEGRATING LEARNING AND LIVING AND LIVING IN COMMUNITY, THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MARIANIST EDUCATION, ITS ENGAGEMENT WITH THE REGION, THE NATION AND THE WORLD AND ITS FOCUS ON THE FUTURE.” (Strategic Plan: Five Common Goals)
When Trump trots out a CEO of some has-been company like Sears on Celebrity Apprentice, we don’t bat an eye as the suit launches into some canned speech about how Craftsman has always stood for quality and value and blah-blah-blah while Larry Wilcox and Dr. Ruth run off to write a commercial about crescent wrenches. I guess we just expect this sort of 80s gilt gaudiness from Trump. I mean, it’s his brand, and he’s totally being, as we say, on brand.
But when the Travel Channel’s Anthony Bourdain does the same thing for a credit card, oh man is it awkward—as witnessed here on the recent Istanbul episode (the clip in question comes at around the 3:15 mark):
For anyone who watches Bourdain’s show regularly, it just seems like something the guy would never sign off on—unless it’s an inside joke to his viewers, sort of a knowing wink of “you wouldn’t believe these guys dropped a six-figure check in my lap.”
FPO is a site devoted to showcasing new and innovative works in print – from books and annual reports to posters and business cards. We are thrilled to have our Loyola University School of Education Viewbook featured on FPO today – many thanks to Bryony for including our work!
February 5, 2010 • 2:08 pm • POSTED BY Dan Shepelavy
Check out that toaster! These are prime example of the work of a fab outfit called Plan Toys. Based in Thailand, they are the worlds largest manufacturer of recycled toys. Totally green, committed to sustainable wages, the outfit is a model of vision, conscience and aesthetics. Everything they make is made from rubber-wood trees to old to produce latex. The textured flat pop colors? – water based stains. And the stuff is built – practically carpentered, like in the olden days. But it’s more that quality materials, progressive ideals, and great design. We are talking a totally inspired aesthetic that borders on art. The world of Plan Toys is like magic dimension where everything is designed by Eero Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, Walter Gropius and overseen by the watchful eye of Chris Ware. Seriously – again – check out that toaster. (via shepelavy.com)
Bauhaus craft book,Aero Saarinen: TWA Terminal, Alvar Aalto:Paimio Chair, Chris Ware: excerpt
February 3, 2010 • 12:11 pm • POSTED BY brendan quinn
I love Philadelphia.
There are no “yeah, buts” after that sentence. There is no irony attached to it. This fantastic, strange, beautiful, gritty, honest, intriguing, historical, quirky, wonderful place is my home and I’m proud to say that.
So I was stoked when the city’s official history museum, then called the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia, became a client. However, I had never heard of the museum, even though I had spent roughly 70% of my life living within 20 miles of it. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, either. Lack of awareness was the museum’s biggest problem and one we tackled right away by renaming it the Philadelphia History Museum and creating an entirely new identity, beginning with a logo.
Turns out, creating a logo that represents a city with nearly 350 years of history is difficult. There are cliches to avoid (I’m looking at you, cheesesteaks, Rocky, and Liberty Bell), and just as many fascinating stories that are just too obscure to a general audience. So we looked at the history, the people, and this place for inspiration. Digging through the museum’s artifacts, we found this map of William Penn’s original plan for the city. It was a tight, orderly grid with interspersed parks–Penn’s vision was for a “Greene Country Towne.” That street plan still exists in what is now called Center City between Vine and South Streets.
We then thought about what cities are and how they affect the lives of those living within them. By their very nature, cities are confining– particularly one like Philadelphia, which is bounded by rivers on both sides. But those confined conditions are one of the things that makes Philadelphia a cultural hub. People from all walks of life live, work, and play within several square miles, making the best of the conditions that we have.
So the project’s designer, Adam Garcia, began sketching versions of Philadelphia’s grid.
We all liked this hand drawn version, as it echoed Penn’s original map while also containing the slight imperfections that make Philadelphia so unique and interesting. The final piece was adding type. And just like Philadelphia itself, that confining grid ended up giving the logo its distinctive character. Here’s the final product:
The odd word breaks convey Philly’s inherent quirkiness, and the custom typeface pays homage to the city’s rich printing and typographic history (for instance, the nation’s first type foundry may have begun in Philadelphia). It all combines to make a logo that we’re quite proud of. We’ve done plenty more work for the museum, including building a story-based brand that begins a conversation and entertainingly educates consumers before they ever set foot in the museum. For instance, did you know that our patron saint, William Penn, was the godfather of the city’s microbrew movement?
