Essays
From time to time we feel it's nice, or even necessary to give our customers insight into the creative process or the design business. Here you'll find a collection of essays we've written concerning the issues that face our business.
Wish We'd Done It: Panasonic Packaging
Occasionally (okay, all the freakin' TIME) we see work out there in the world that we wish we'd done. This is one of those times. We don't normally chose to highlight the work of others, because, well, why would we promote the work of others? Right? Well, this is so brilliant in its simplicity that we just couldn't resist.
“Write nothing instead. It's shorter.”
Brilliant, and poignant, and a constant struggle.
Of course, this is a quote from Seth's Blog, but it's a sentiment that we (and by we, I mean people concerned with the effective communication of ideas: designer, writers, artists in general) express every day.
Fitting In
Seth Godin's got another blessedly short entry on a topic I could talk about all day: Fitting In and Standing Out.
Anyone who's worked with me in the last 5 years knows how I feel about this. The goal is to stand out. You have to look at what's going on in your field and do something different. If every software company you see has a conservative blue logo set in Arial Bold Italic, than the one thing you must NOT DO is make your logo blue, Arial Bold Italic, or conservative. It's too hard to make it conservative, blue, Arial BI, and somehow BETTER than your competition. Just steer clear.
Webfonts At Long Last
I've been designing websites since most people didn't know what the web was...and in the last 16 years it seems like EVERY client I've designed a website for has had a really hard time understanding how fonts work (or don't) on the web...and with good reason: It's horribly complicated. But, the good news is, that could all change very soon thanks to Google.
Logo Design - A Case for 1 Color
Since the beginning of what anyone would call the formal study of logo design the masters have extolled the virtues of the 1 Color design. Like many arguments of a qualitative nature, this used to be frequently reduced to some financial or technical (in other words, quantitative) argument in order to convince the non-believers acquiesce. In the age of mimeograph and fax machines and four color process printing that required the creation of multiple physical printing plates, often by hand, it was easy to argue that having a logo that worked in 1-Color was the only fiscally responsible course of action. However, in the age of the web-only company and four color process printing that often costs less than 2 color (or even 1 color for metallics) spot printing, and with the significantly decreased relevance of the fax machine, it's easy to think,
Who Doesn't Want an Apple Store?
In this video, wherein Fast Company talks to Ford CEO Alan Mulally, he says he wants Ford dealerships to feel like Apple stores. The headline on Fast Company's site reads, "Ford CEO Alan Mulally Wants Dealerships Like Apple Stores..." and that idea initially had my pretty excited, not because I care what Ford is doing, because it gave me an idea.
What is a Graphic Designer?
This weekend, over Easter dinner, one of our family friends asked me how business was and, through the process of telling her about a project we just finished, she discovered what it is we really do for our clients.
Sufficed to say, it's a lot more than make graphics. She was genuinely surprised to hear that we had, for this project, designed a website, helped the business owner define their vision of their company, helped define businesses processes, and specified and implemented a system to manage the business through the website.
The Lowest Common Denominator
Many times, when you're making something for mass consumption you're asked to aim for the lowest common denominator. There is an old vaudeville aphorism made famous by Groucho Marx that speaks to this, "Will it play in Peoria?" Which we are to take as, "Will this appeal to a mainstream (or, more pejoratively, an unsophisticated) audience?" Sorry Peoria. Vaudeville is cruel.
The Value of Pushback
Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for another Seth Godin inspired post. ;-)
Saturday Mr. Godin published a blog on the value of a really great freelancer. He argues that sometimes the highest value proposition is to hire a really talented, passionate, and independent professional who is more interested in making quality work than fitting in, and more interested in the outcome of the project than even you are. The essential point of the post is that sometimes, by paying a tiny bit more than you would for something mediocre you can get something awesome.
Low Cost = Bad Deal
If you've read the ohTwentyone blog for any period of time, you know how much I like Seth Godin. He has some really interesting thoughts on the subject of marketing, and on the relationship that marketing builds with the customer.
Improve Any Project With an Outline
Many times when we're starting a new project, we start by making an outline, even something you'd think of as simple...like a logo. It really helps us generate ideas, stay organized, and define the needs of a project. We find ourselves telling more and more people about the virtues of outlining as a creative tool, so we present to you:
WNYC's Radio Lab is Awesome & Fun
I should seriously start a blog where I JUST talk about how often I agree with Seth Godin. Seriously. Anyway. He's right again, but it's not about business or marketing or anything like that this time, it's just a matter of taste. It seems that Seth is a fan of awesomeness, I mean, WNYC's Radio Lab.
Design is a Process
Clients sometimes look at me quizzically when they ask, "How long does it really take to design a [insert project type]?" and I answer, "It takes as long as the budget allows."
Really. This is how I answer the question, and it's not because I'm greedy, or that some clients can pay more and therefor should, or any other quasi-ethical flimflam that sleazy consultants try to pass off as enlightened business practices. Every one of our clients gets exactly what they pay for, if not more.
Seth Godin says, "Give in Early."
Seth's 'blog doesn't have comments (which, I can't blame him for, ours doesn't either) so I am left little recourse than to write about his writings on our blog...so here we go again:
Seth's got a short entry today about "giving in early," that is a principal designers have long been telling stories about.
Rush to Judgment: Apostrophes
Seth Godin has a blessedly concise little thought on his blog concerning the misuse of language in marketing material. When you're done here, go check it out.
So, here's the gist: Seth stops just short of posing the question, "Are your customers assuming you're stupid because you have poor grammar, or misuse quotes and apostrophes?" I would add to that misusing homonyms and 10-Cent words in general.
Google Attempts to "Pay with Exposure"
There's an interesting piece in today's New York Times (which, to be fair, was brought to my attention by Gizmodo) about artists and illustrators being asked by one of the largest and richest (and, until today, I thought one of the coolest and least evil) companies on the planet to develop custom skins for their popular web browser, Chrome, without being paid.
Process Essay: Alliance Logo
I was recently commissioned to design the logo for Alliance Business Insurance and, as luck would have it, haven't accidentally destroyed my notebook yet, so I'm presented with the golden opportunity to document my logo design process.
I feel it's noteworthy that although I do have a general process for logo design, it changes on every project. First, I am always trying to improve it. Second, every client is different. Third, I think design is about discovery, and you have to go where tha process takes you. Although design is a process, it does have a result, and the service of that result needs to be the ultimate goal.
Okay, so now that I am down from my soap box, here's how I designed this logo.
Process Essay: The Dracul Logo
I was recently asked to design the logo for a new comic book based on the real life childhood of Vlad Tepes, aka Vlad "Count Dracula" the Impaler. It's the first logo in a really long time that I have done where I hand-lettered the type and developed a custom logotype without using an existing font, so I thought it would be an interesting case for a process essay. Now, let me begin at the beginning:
