June 11, 2008 • 8:53 pm • POSTED BY stephen penning
Over the course of the last several months much has been made of the effectiveness of the Obama brand. Michael Bierut stated in a Newsweek Post that, “He’s the first candidate who’s had a coherent, top-to-bottom, 360-degree system at work.” Sam Berlow and Cyrus Highsmith from The Font Bureau spoke in The Boston Globe to the strength of his type choices in communicating a fresh, polished look that has broken from the standards of the past. And Jonathan Hoefler has praised the campaign for being “visually on message at every turn.”
When brands and messaging are widely embraced the masses often respond with their own take. Think of all the ‘Got Milk’ spin-offs you’ve seen. Or the countless iterations of Mastercard’s ‘priceless’. The irony here is great when you consider that the effect of being cohesive can actually spur people to manipulate [the brand's] standards in an effort to make it their own. Maybe this a sign of a truly great brand?
This post, and the ones that will follow over the ensuing months will highlight Obama work that has been created outside of brand constraints. This first example was seen in Philadelphia on South Street between Broad and 13th.
June 11, 2008 • 9:36 am • POSTED BY Adam Flanagan
Last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine was the Architecture Issue and it featured some great stories on some really progressive architecture firms. Places like, LOT-EK, who designed those wonderful shipping container mobile stores for Uniqlo that we’re all so fond of. As well as, the firm, Front Inc., who are responsible for some of the most amazing facades and surfaces adorning contemporary architecture. They did the facade for Herzog & de Meuron’s expansion to the Walker Art Center, which us Minneapolis people love so much.
What article really intrigued me though was one of their weekly pieces, Questions For…, where they interviewed the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, Enrique Peñalosa. Some of you may have seen him on the daily show before (sorry couldn’t find a YouTube video). It really shows the importance of a mayor in shaping our planet’s major metropolises. Having worked with Thomas M. Menino of Boston, we’ve realized how a visionary Mayor can really influence the architecture and urban planning of a city. Just look at the achievements of other mayors as well. Like Mayor Daley of Chicago and Chicago’s Millennium Park. Mayor Bloomberg and his PLANYC, a goal for a greener New York.
While attending the AIGA Next Design Conference in Denver, I was lucky enough to hear Mayor Hickenlooper speak about his urban planning ambitions for Denver, which includes two amazing new art museums, one for the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art designed by David Adjaye, who also designed the Idea Stores in London. As well as the Denver Art Museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind.
I think one of the most progressive urban planning achievements a Mayor has achieved lately has to go to Mayor Gilberto Kassab for banning all public advertising from São Paulo. Something like that could obviously never happen in the United States, and probably not in most European cities either.
Just think the next time your walking around your favorite metropolis and the role that a mayor and the people in his office played in shaping the urban environment around you.
June 6, 2008 • 10:17 pm • POSTED BY Jim Walls
Gotta hand it to the agency around the corner from us, Gyro, for pulling off this totally fake campaign for a totally fake airline—and to the Philly papers for having the brass ones to greenlight it. Nice identity for the plane too, with a nod to Nelly. If only this was for real. The 10 minutes a week I spend on my Wii Fit would virtually pay for itself.
June 5, 2008 • 2:31 pm • POSTED BY David Burden
While quoting Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” in business is so 80’s (which means like neon and Ray Ban Wayfarers it might also be so 08′ish), I recently finished reading a series of books on Cold-War era military history and middle eastern foreign policy that actually have fairly practical application to our business and agency life.
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June 5, 2008 • 2:10 pm • POSTED BY lauren sanders
My mom sent me an email that reads:
“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” Mark Twain
I love my mom.
June 4, 2008 • 2:36 pm • POSTED BY spenning
It is that time of year again. Hopeful design school graduates have finished their portfolios and are entering the job market ready to change the world one pixel at a time. Now it is time to get that coveted first job and starting paying all those student loans.
Here is a list of 10 interviewing tips (in no particular order). Some may seem glaringly obvious but as an interviewer I run into the same issues time and time again.
1. Remove anything incriminating from social networking sites. Employers are checking them. Reading about your latest bender may be seen as a negative.
2. Be on time for your interview. Duh.
3. Research the company. Not knowing who their clients are, how long they have been around and what their culture is like will show.
4. Be humble. It is great if you had the best portfolio in your class, interned at six nationally recognized places and have won a ton of awards. Broadcasting that over and over again is off-putting.
5. Dress to match the culture of the agency. Don’t wear shorts to Vanguard. Don’t wear a suit to 160over90.
6. Ask good questions. If you have no questions during the interview it can give the impression that you aren’t interested, weren’t listening or are too timid.
7. Modify your portfolio based on where you are interviewing. The expletive driven campaign you think is hilarious won’t be appropriate everywhere.
8. Presentation skills. Amazing work with no explanation or presentation is not so amazing.
9. Quality over quantity. Having 7 or 8 stellar pieces is better than having 15 where half are just ok.
10. Follow-up with a thank you. Even if you felt the interview went horrible or the interviewer was a jerk always follow-up and thank the person. Their is a good chance they know someone else you will be interviewing with at another company. And believe me, we talk.
