This dilemma came up over lunch today with a friend, PhD and New York university marketing professor.

Back Story

Many years ago, R.BIRD developed a service offering called, “Off-the-Shelf.” The premise was simple. For a small, fixed fee, we would take a look at an existing product package design and develop one design-improvement response with rationale for the approach.

We believed this offering would open up a largely untouched market: Smaller companies or teams with limited budgets or planning that might, otherwise, not begin to move forward on any degree of change. In other words: Off-the-Shelf would be a quick-fix, low-resistance solution from a proven resource.

This offering turned out to be wildly UN-successful. Zero interest. No takers. But… there was one completely unexpected side-effect.

We had arbitrarily chosen “Jiffy Mix” as the model we used to illustrate the potential results of the offering. Shortly after publishing the offering on our web site, we received a call from Howard “Howdy” Holmes, President and CEO of Chelsea Milling Company, the makers of Jiffy Mix.

That phone call resulted in a mutually-beneficial and rewarding relationship that still continues nearly a decade later.

Fast Forward

While discussing new business development in present time with aforementioned marketing prof, he made two observations:

1. Many creative people, including prospective client contacts, resist the idea that an outsider should come in and change things, and
2. They are visual people. Proving our expertise via case studies with other clients is abstract. Wouldn’t a visualization of what we could do for them, specifically, be more intriguing?

Both ideas hit home, as I recalled the Jiffy Mix experience with Chelsea Milling Company. In that very successful and accidental situation, we had:

1. Not suggested any immediate need for change, but
2. Demonstrated, visually, an opportunity for incremental improvement

Proactive Audition

I’ve been a design professional for 35 years now. I’ve always refused any client or prospect suggestion that we show them something up-front without compensation. Never done that. Never will. In fact, I am an early adopter and supporter of the AntiSpec.com community.

In my “Off-the-Shelf” example, there was no client. There was no brief. There was no need or call for solution. Most significanly in the end, the result was extremely positive for R.BIRD and for the “unsuspecting” prospect.

Absolutely: If we take a request from a prospect to “prove” what we can do without compensation. It will never happen here. That’s not going to change, ever.

I expressed this to my marketing PhD friend. He was surprised, but offered the term, “proactive audition,” as a metaphor. When actors react to a call… an audition, they prove themselves with a quick, off-the-shelf performance. It’s not the real script, stage or audience. But, it’s the real you.

Academically Speaking

“The Dieline” claims to be the most popular destination in the world of package design. A good part of its content is “speculative.” Student works. Designer musings.

If a student speculates on what they believe Pepsi packaging could or should be, no one is going to fault them for the effort. But, is that Spec Work? Or is it, “Proactive Audition”?

I think the latter.

The Question

When is speculative work not work-on-spec?

A few weeks earlier, Inc. Magazine rang me up asking for R.BIRD’s opinion on a rather dramatic packaging redesign hitting the shelves from New England ice cream maker, “Gifford’s.”

There were two telephone interviews, followed by a couple more fact-checks and clarifications.

When the story was finally published, the 30-minutes in phone calls and notes had been boiled down to a few sentences. The fewer-than-100 words didn’t fully capture my thinking. There is a lot more to be said, both in support of and not-so-much in favor of the redesign.

Here are my own notes, taken during the interviews and follow-up sessions:

Original Package (above)
* Has changed little in the small company’s 30 year history
* Perfectly fine for a heritage brand in a local market, but…
* In any other, much larger context: so much like every other “micro-gourmet” brand
* There’s a million of ‘em!

Growing
* In order to grow into a larger market
* To attract an audience unfamiliar with the “Gifford” family name and brand
* A big, bold statement has to be made to get that attention
* The Briggs agency did the right thing.

The New Package
* The new Gifford’s logo is clever, simple and easily understood
* The very large, bold, cropped typography is what grabs attention at the shelf - attracting unfamiliar consumers
* It’s not necessary that it’s readable. Its role is just that - to get your attention - and it does
* Photo-illustrations of blueberries, mint leaves and lobsters (!) communicate flavor… and
* Create a center line on which the Gifford’s brand and graphics balance left and right
* The organic paper texture in the background quietly communicates, “natural, homemade, goodness.” It lays a foundation for trust in the brand.

Questions
* How will the stock clerk in the big stores orient the package on shelf? Carefully enough to properly center the flavor illustration?
* A professional eye understands the basis for the design, but will it “disorient” some consumers?
* Gifford’s is a local, family-owned brand with a long history. This seems to have been lost in the redesign. There is no clear “heritage” element to tell that story - at least not on the front panel
* For example, the tag line under the Gifford’s logo might, instead, say “famous since 1980.” That’s a start.

It was 1985 and the studio, now in its third year, was growing leaps and bounds with revenue doubling every year. But, something was wrong.

Margins were disappearing, while we were working harder than ever, despite hiring twice as many designers that year.

In an effort to discover the secrets to success as we grew, creative director, Christopher Mietlowski, and I attended a seminar offered by David Goodman, well-known designer and consultant. This one-day (October 2, 1985) workshop (How To Increase Your Profits) focused on growing a design business and changed, forever, the way R.BIRD manages projects, budgets, time and revenue.

The answer to our increasing business and reduced profit conundrum became plain as day: We had become “too good” at what we were doing. More clients and more projects were simply translating to more “busy-ness.” We worked harder and accomplished the same tasks in less and less time to meet more-and-more, shorter-and-shorter deadlines. Because we could.

We missed the point that, as we became better and faster at our profession, the value should increase. And, since we were billing our accounts based on hourly rates and not value-based fees, the effect on profits was dramatically negative.

You can define “better” in any dimension you like: speed, knowledge, experience, consistency, reputation, et cetera. No matter what, the better you become at whatever you do, exponential value applies.

This principal holds true without exception, to this day. Recently, it was suggested by a client contact that we should reduce our fees because, “you know the brand, you understand the business, and you’ve created successful solutions for the same brand and business many times over.”

Simple answer was this: “If you were suddenly diagnosed with brain cancer, of course, you would seek the specialist with the most knowledge, experience and success rate, yes? What would you expect to pay? More or less?”

I like to call this phenomenon the, “Superman effect.”

If Superman (not Clark Kent, mind you) were a designer on staff and we continued to manage fees based on “time required,” we would have been out of business exactly 25 years ago.

P.S. Twenty-five years later: Thanks, again, David Goodman, wherever you are.

The Question
We are working on a new corporate identity program and we began the process by asking a lot of questions about the client company, its business, partners, employees and history.

Suddenly, one of the executives pushed back with this comment, “What the heck does this have to do with creating a new logo?”

Our Answer
Well, we don’t know the answer to that… yet.

What does an Apple have to do with computers (or The Beatles)?
An Alligator and Sportshirts?
A Dog and Radios?
An Egg and Hosiery?

Here’s a closer-to-home, real-world example:

This is R.BIRD’s official, corporate logo, that appears on our executive stationery and adorns the glass wall of our conference room. So, what does this have to do with a design company? I can tell you.

It connects with the company, R.BIRD, in three meaningful and lasting ways:
# R.BIRD is a design company with a history, nearly 30 years now. So, we wanted a logo symbolic of traditional foundations, not current trends or graphic tricks.
# At the same time, we have always been forward-looking. The company was founded on that basis.
# Finally, to tie it all together, my “BIRD” family tree goes back to 1792 in this country when ancestor, Powell Bird, was the first non-native settler in what is now Sullivan County, PA. A true pioneer.

Now, no one in the public domain would know these things. But, everyone can intuitively connect on the first two points. Plus, there’s the added benefit of a story to tell behind the logo that will always resonate and ring true.

These are the kinds of things that come out of asking questions (our surveys, for example) that might, at first, seem to have nothing at all to do with “creating a new logo.”

P.S. The R.BIRD Explorer was drawn for us by Mike Bull and inspired by the style of his well-known “Indian Head” logo for Mohawk Paper company.

+++

Sharing
Here are links to the surveys we created to start this project. Feel free to use them as a model for you own initiative.
Corporate ID Survey for External Audience
Corporate ID Survey for Internal Audience

Related
What Does A Hummingbird Have To Do With Money?
What Does An Apple Have To Do With A Computer?

On a recent, bright and sunny, Sunday afternoon I found myself in a suburban Westchester music store that was hosting, “The Westchester Guitar Show,” an inaugural vintage guitar buy, trade and swap meet.

One of the exhibitor tables clearly stood out from the crowd and caught my eye. Julie Rosenberg hand paints and builds custom guitars. I felt an immediate connection and struck up a conversation. Like me, Julie is both musician and artist for many years. And she has found a calling in the convergence of these two skills, turning it into an innovative business idea.

Coincidentally, only four days later, I attended the The 99% Conference here. One of the speakers was Frans Johansson, author of The Medici Effect who believes successful innovation most often happens at the convergence of diverse disciplines.

It’s interesting to have found a real-life example of this principal. So, you are in a good place, Julie! Good luck to you!

Vintage guitar shows, meets and stores used to be plentiful 20 years ago in and around New York City, which was when I began collecting. As a former player and performer, collecting vintage instruments is one way to keep the connection alive. (I would sometimes run into Steve Howe, an avid collector, at such gatherings.) The available inventory of instruments is dwindling and prices continue to climb, which has resulted in fewer shows and public venues for sought after instruments.

Vintage guitar collecting is now a certified investment activity where returns can be healthy, far outperforming equity markets and other commodities. Musician, artist or investor, if you’d like to look into vintage guitar collecting, you might start here: Vintage Guitar Magazine with a subscription.

Our client design briefs are, generally, quite complete and fully understood. (When they are not, we follow our own survey form to facilitate writing a brief.) As a result, we are able to write a concise project proposal that outlines goals for the first step, expected outcomes and parameters for the following steps.

Our first phase creative explorations can then be quite broad. All options are viable concepts and fully address all the parameters listed in the project brief. Curiously, feedback sometimes avoids comment on what has been presented and, instead, focuses on what has not been presented.

When this happens, phase one feedback suggests a broader range of exploration, rather than a process to narrow the field through careful refinements. This is both counter-productive for the project as well as unprofitable for the designer; creating an impasse.

There needs to be structure in the way early concepts are evaluated and how feedback is communicated. From both sides of the equation, let’s look at how improve the effectiveness of Phase One evaluation and feedback:

Designer: Rationalize the Phase One Concepts
Though, it might seem to be apparent from the project brief and approved proposal, be sure that Phase One ideas are, one-by-one, supported with a written, objective explanation as to how they answer the parameters of the brief and why they are being recommended. Avoid subjective terms, such as, “we like.” Provide written reasoning as to how each concept achieves the goals agreed upon in the original brief and the project proposal. It needs to be in writing even when there is a verbal review, since the designer will not be present to support the concepts as they progress through the client organization.

Client: Evaluate Each Concept
Likewise, the client should respond in writing to each one of the concepts presented. What are the Pros and Cons, Positives and Negatives, Assets and Liabilities for each concept? (Avoid subjective answers, such as “we don’t like…”).

In this way, each concept will have a better chance of moving forward into a refinement step that is more rationally defined and the project will be less likely to expand and create issues with timing or cost. Even the feedback on concepts that don’t move ahead is valuable and will help to build better understanding of overall decision-making.

Concept Rationale and Feedback
Follow a simple, written framework to support each concept and facilitate more concise feedback for Phase One design presentations. A good way to do this is to include the concept rationale on the same page as the concept. Encourage the client to do the same on the return. Here’s an example:

Example: Concept Rationale and Feedback (PDF)

Discipline
Both Designer and Client must be disciplined to provide written rationale and detailed feedback. It is all too easy to allow familiarity to become an excuse for shortcuts.

Finally, remember that refinement steps are generally expected to narrow the field of options and not to expand on them. If the latter is happening, then it could be an indication that the phase one brief was not sufficiently detailed or the phase one concepts presented were not fully understood.

Sometimes (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more) it’s difficult to get decision-makers to focus on the big-picture and to avoid the distraction of details. This is especially true early in strategy or concept development.

Here are some suggestions:
# Spread all the concepts out. Set aside those that connect based on your first, gut instinct. Move quickly.
# Set aside those that, instinctively, don’t seem right. (The “include” method is preferred - as in option 1.)
# Group concepts by any agreed similarity or other criteria. Choose standouts from any group.
# Group concepts by purely visual themes. Choose one standout design from any group.
# Use the “Eye Doctor” method. Go two-by-two and decide which one is “Better or Worse,” “Better or Worse.” Only the “Better” moves forward to the next comparison. Think on your feet.
# Use comparisons to facilitate feedback with simple language and visual support. “Concept X is a winner, but it needs to say ‘spectacular’ more strongly… like concept Y does.” Consider the ideas eliminated by other methods, too.
# Score each concept on rating scale(s) of your choosing. Compile total scores. Three or more participants.

Sounds like a good idea, but certain labels within the product line read as follows:

ORTHO ecosense™ brand*
*not intended to imply environmental safety…

Marketer’s plan to pre-approve production companies called ‘absurd,’ ‘shortsighted’

Count me in on “absurd” and “shortsighted.”

This initiative from P&G seems to be aimed, first, at producers rather than strategists, but still unsettling. As principal and founder of a brand strategy firm of 3 decades, I’ve been on the receiving end of exactly the same “process” more than once applied (with devastating results) to creative and strategy. This includes demands for “transparency” (most despised biz-speak) and requests for firm revenues by client, expenses, staff salaries, et cetera, no matter public or privately held.

For new readers: I have ended and declined R.BIRD client relationships worth $millions defending our value against client proposals toward commodity.

In this creativity-online.com article, one excerpt sums up my reaction:

“When you’re in a world blasted with so much imagery and you need to stand out to make a difference, you want to get the most talented, most creative people to make your stuff stand out. The way to do that is not to bully their creative choices or create a shallower talent pool.”

As example: R.BIRD was very recently tendered an RFP from a major national brand. The RFP came to us (surprised?) via a third-party, procurement agency. Despite that, we considered the problem and wrote our recommended response with rationale, process and cost. The response was,”Fill in the rate card only.” The result of such a process endorses an ever-shallower talent pool of resources best at reducing costs and nothing else.

In college, I studied fine art: Drawing, painting, and printmaking. I even traveled to Rome and Florence to study art history. As an aspiring illustrator, I had three significant influences at the time: Leonardo, Frazetta and Dean.

Today, while cleaning out my browser bookmarks, I found a link, that I saved as many as 10 years ago, to an artist I admired for the same reasons as the aforementioned trio. His works are, at the same time, fantastic, powerful and artistically sensitive.

Take a look! Pascal Blanche

P.S. As I acknowledge influences in this post, I must include Professor of Art and Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, Emeritus, at State University of New York, James Mullen, (and more ) who taught all fortunate to be in his classes, “how to see,” the most valuable skill I have ever learned as an artist and creative thinker.

Late this evening, I made the time to review a presentation by Alessandro Finetto, Director Global Consumer Design, Whirlpool Europe, at DMI’s Realities conference 13 in Europe.

My big takeaway from Mr. Finetto’s presentation is this:

He knows, instinctively as a designer, that 250 new product introductions in one year is, plainly and simply, too much. Why? The costs are high for development, delivery and risk versus reward. Simple.

It is no longer reasonable to throw out every idea under the sun, because one of them will surely succeed. Venture capital firms know this, too, and they are much more particular about how they spread seed money today.

However, new product design and exploration is not less needed in such an economically challenged environment, but more important than ever. It must continue.

Design and innovation is an extremely efficient method. It involves fewer, and more specialized, team members that require relatively small budget percentages. The results, simultaneously, develop innovative opportunities and filter the results to rational, yet intuitive and discrete, resource commitments.

In other words, now is the time to expand innovative and creative explorations, rather than to contract or eliminate them.

Your thoughts, please.

Inspired by this article in the New York Times, I’m going to try some creative marketing and offer our book on package design, Patterns:The Book, at a special price every Tuesday!

According to author, Motoko Rich, Amazon (via the Kindle) has effectively set the bar for delivery of digital book content at just about $9.99. For many non-paper book buyers, that’s the limit.

Authors and publishers who differ claim that the reader is paying for content, not medium, and the price should be set accordingly.

As both author and publisher, I do agree and disagree with some features of each opinion. But, let’s see what happens in this real-world test! For a limited time, we will offer Patterns: The Book (PDF) for just $9.99 every Tuesday.

That’s:
* Less than $1 for every category report
* A little bit more than a nickel ($0.06) for each observation
* Or, about 5 cents per page!

$9.99 on Tuesday

I’ve always been fascinated with web site analytics.

My favorites, I rely on every day, are:
* Mint, and
* Google Analytics

Now, add to that list:
* Quantcast

Quantcast is very interesting, because its data analysis and presentation is more Marketer-focused (demographics, et cetera) versus the Webmaster (Time on page and so on).

Check it out. I’m going to be watching.

I was astounded to see, that when comparing our domain to that of a major competitor, our female audience was nearly doubled. Now, I must know why.

Lately, we’ve found ourselves looking, first, to digital or online publishing before anything else. Why? Practical reasons, really: faster, more portable, easily updated. My current favorite for R.BIRD publications is ISSUU. Publisher and user experience seems flawless and there are further options for embedding and customization of UI.

I like this platform so much that we used Issuu for first preview of our book, Patterns: about design in consumer packaging.

Wacky Packages, first introduced by Topps Chewing Gum nearly 40 years ago, are back in the form of a coffee-table-worthy book to be prized by casual curators everywhere.

Wacky Packages were a series of stickers and gum cards made in the late 60s and early 70s. I looked forward to my weekly trip to the local “five and dime” to collect the latest. And it probably did cost a nickel.

Ted Anthony of Associated Press put it this way, “Wacky Packages turned the supermarket into a buffet of obnoxious jokes, bad puns and skeevy illustrations.”

My bedroom headboard and high school notebooks were plastered with these wacky pack stickers when they first appeared. Schoolmates and I loved these irreverent blasts as pure comedy - completely unaware of their social context… or fateful prediction of career. (My bed was even covered with a Wacky Packages quilt - still in my possession!)

Imagine a time when commercial creativity was largely free from analysis… a time when reckless expression and social satire was encouraged and rewarded. (Thank you, Andy.)

Check out a complete collectors reference here:
Gregory Grant’s Wacky Packages Web Page

What’s your favorite?

There’s no mistaking the trend in brand and packaging design toward more streamlined brand identity and packaging. Suddenly, it seems, marketers are beginning to appreciate how simplicity and clarity go hand in hand to create more aesthetically pleasing presentations and more memorable communication.

Now, Maxwell House follows the lead of Pepsi (see Now Koke Smiling Too ) and many others with a revolutionary evolution of brand mark and packaging.

Most noteworthy in the new design is the absence of the trademark “good to the last drop!” slogan and cup. This is no small change. The overall look of the brand and package is a significant departure from tradition. Like Pepsi’s recent redesign, “departure from tradition” seems to be the mantra of the day.

While we may applaud openness to change - and we’re not talking incremental tweaks anymore - the consumer will quickly send a message to Maxwell House coffee bean counters: thumbs up or thumbs down ( see Caught Up In The Competition ).

Change always invites critique. So, assuming we endorse “change,” since without it designers would have little to do, I have some comments on the execution of this particular example:

The Logo - Pro: I think the strategically rounded Optima-like font selection is right on. Con: The off-center stack and poor kerning creates a train-wreck effect for me. I can’t stop looking.

The Yellow - Pro: Once again, great ®evolution. The introduction of warmer colors is a big plus and creates a sense of sunny, greet-the-day warmth that was surely lacking in predecessors.

The Cup - Pro: The oversized blue mug and its shadow preserves the presence of Maxwell House Blue. Con: Where’s the coffee!? The brobdingnagian cup, though serving a purpose, seems too much in my face and contributes nothing to appetite appeal or sense of coffee-drinking experience ( see Research in Package Design for Coffee ).

The Beans - R.BIRD did some work for Yuban many years ago and much attention was given to presentation of the bean. After dozens of illustrative and iconic iterations, we were still unimpressed even by our own work. The same goes here. If the bean is obligatory and given focus, there must be a better way. These beans, enlarged and in a ringed spotlight, don’t sing either.

The Brew Strength - The before package wins hands down with a highlighted color bar that was easy to understand. The new “triangle->medium” solution lacks context and seems more appropriate to an interactive environment (a web page, for example) where active involvement reveals additional meaning and relationship.

The Last Drop - Absence of the heritage coffee cup drip, the “good to the last drop” slogan and the steaming coffee image leaves no clear communicator of flavor or experience, which I feel is lacking in the new design.

Balance - Nothing in this layout is on center. Everything is off balance - as an element or even line by line. I’m not sure what the rationale might have been, but to my mind it creates a sense of instability that undermines confidence.

Kraft and the Maxwell House brand teams deserve credit for their courage to champion such a broad change in presentation of the brand and packaging on shelf.

Designers and coffee drinkers out there, what do you think?

Edition #3 for Separated at Birth
(Yes, it’s been way too long.) Yet, due with this post.

During a recent client commissioned Patterns report we came across this astounding matchup:

On the left is Diet Pepsi MAX. On the right, Gillette Series Gel. The coloring (structural and graphic), typography and electrified arcs are remarkably similar. Great minds think alike?

Desktop Eutopia!

I’ve been longing for pre-OSX and pre-Vista days, when customizing my desktop and UI (Mac or PC) was a pleasurable distraction that I devoted a certain amount of time to every day, like reading a good book on the train.

Since modern (read: less open) operating systems like OS X Leopard and Windows Vista have been introduced, such a pursuit has become more complicated while sitting atop shifting technological sands.

So, my attention moves toward what I can more easily do to tweak my daily user experience at the desktop. And the simplest thing is: changing my desktop wallpaper.

I’m pretty picky about such things, being a designer, mind you. So, finding a fresh collection required some diligence. I’d rather go with basic gray when there’s so much bad wallpaper out there, people. And, there is.

Hallelujah, today, I found desktop wallpaper euphoria when I discovered the works of artist, Vlad Gerasimov at Vladstudio.

Vlad’s works are rich with emotion, depth and detail. There is variety in color and feel enough to satisfy just about any ephemeral desire. The wallpapers are available in aspect ratios and resolutions to fit a wide range of resolutions, including dual monitor setups.

I highly recommend - and encourage - everyone to visit and support Vlad’s work with a lifetime subscription to Vlad’s daily desktop pleasures.

Thank you, Vlad.

Enjoy!

Mike Rohde takes note-taking to a higher level with his fantastic and engaging sketch notes.

I first became aware of Mike’s sketchnotes from the first, and surely not last, Seed Conference featuring Jason Fried 37signals, Jim Coudal Coudal Partners and Carlos Segura T26 in Chicago.

JF confirms that, indeed, Mike’s furious scribblings on Moleskine happen in real time. Amazing. Sitting next to Mike Rohde anytime, anywhere for anything must surely be an exhilarating experience.

Renewing an interest in music listening is prompting a restoration in-progress for my long-neglected, uninformed, audiophile-wannabe, hi-fi.

I’m sure many of us have found ourselves awkwardly bent over the backs of stacked players, preamps and amplifiers in dark, cramped quarters, struggling to see which connector gazinta what.

While adding a nice, entry-level, dedicated CD player, this week, there was an “ah-ha!” moment. Take a look at the image above. Notice anything unexpected?

Wow. What a simple idea that should become a standard. The silkscreened labels for the primary interconnects on this CD player are inverted for easy reading when your world is upside-down. Notice, too, how the same connection points are given plenty of breathing room and are not crammed into a “wall of connectors.”

Cambridge Audio gets credit for this personal event. Now, let’s see how it all sounds.

PROCEDE® is the R.BIRD method for exploring creative strategies and greater possibilities. Its principles are drawn from more than a quarter century of experience and, not, merely invented for the sake of marketing. Our work at R.BIRD respects our Procede principles on every project.

I’d like to share some thoughts with you on the fourth principle of Procede:

There are no wrong answers It’s better to consider an option than to presume an objection.

This week, we are beginning a large-scale redesign for the corporate information and branded websites for a growing, multi-national, consumer product company. Like most website design projects, particularly at this scale, it’s not easy. Suddenly, every division at every level in every location, worldwide, is a stakeholder and has an unique opinion.

This is exactly why it’s important, as designers in the process, to have a 360-degree perspective.

[flashback]

Two examples.

One of our most professionally-rewarding programs in the design of corporate brands and communication was the “ME” program for Mercer. ME & Mercer The stated need was, “We need a PowerPoint template for a new employee welcoming event.” That seems simple enough. Many designers might move right to the drawing board and start cranking. Instead, we asked questions. Why is this meeting being held? How is this event different from those in the past? What is prompting a change? It soon became apparent that what was really needed was a cohesive employee communications program to support specific, organizational change goals. In the end, we delivered a highly visible and wide-reaching, branded communications platform to be applauded by leadership and employees alike.

Oversimplified explanation, yes, but, not just a PowerPoint template. Why did R.BIRD ask questions that might seem, at first, to be irrelevant to the tactical assignment?

Procede Principle #4.

Second example: Tempur-Pedic is a well-known brand, yes? We associate its name with best in quality and highest in price for its product category.

Just before IPO, management recognized that presentation at retail was less than best. R.BIRD was engaged to raise the bar. We were given a brief, of course, with very specific requirements and well-documented parameters. We always include existing background in our work.

Then, we consider options - greater possibilities - we prefer. Our findings suggested that a “health, mind, body, spirit” positioning was where the opportunity for growth would come. “Objection!” The client ruled, “We’ve considered this idea and rejected it.” We continued to explore the option and others. The evidence was overwhelmingly convincing. Today, the objectionable option is endorsed as overarching brand language for Tempur-Pedic throughout the marketing, advertising, and packaging of the Tempur-Pedic brand.

Procede Principle #4.

By the way, stock ticker TPX is up 150%.

[Return to Present]

Our multi-national, website redesign client has made it clear that the strategic focus is brand-building with consumers. The strategy is appropriate, assumed and currently ubiquitous.

However, two-thirds of revenue comes from retail buyers and wholesale distributors and the rest from consumer purchases at retail.

R.BIRD Procede Principle #4 says, “There are no wrong answers.” Then, of course, there must be no wrong questions.

What right questions would you ask? What options should be considered? And, what objections will need to be answered?

Bottom line: Assume Nothing. Consider Everything.

Patterns, our series of reports on observations in package design for consumer products is quite popular. In fact, the most popular report we’ve published is about Energy Drinks. The Energy Drinks report has been downloaded thousands of times and viewed online many thousands more.

Our report on Energy Drinks documents our experienced observations on how the makers, marketers and designers of these drinks use visual cues to communicate and attract buyers.

The Patterns reports online also allow comments to be posted by viewers. The vast majority of such comments on Energy Drinks are not much about design and more to do with health concerns over abuse, misuse and risks associated with consumption of such beverages.

There’s no doubt that the energy drink market is building a high. As every week passes, our web server logs prove so. Search keywords on “energy drinks” grow ever larger and larger.

Imagine our surprise to see the energy drink bonanza taken to a new high with the introduction of Blow Energy Drink.

According to story on Fox 5 New York:

It’s a powdered energy drink that looks like cocaine and is even marketed and packaged that way. It even comes with a mirror and a fake credit card. The company says it’s all in good fun and is supposed to be provocative but harmless. Some people, including a former DEA agent, that Fox 5 talked to think it is pretty outrageous.

This is a new, low-blow for marketing ethics. How will the marketplace at-large respond to such an approach?

Skipping through a recent issue of Real Simple magazine over lunch with R.BIRD creative director, Joseph Favata, our page-flipping was unavoidably interrupted by the stiffness - and thickness - of an “yellow tail” advertising insert (top-left-inset).

Pulling on a tab embedded in the insert set off a series of yellow blinking lights on the tails of what might be lightning bugs. Curious, as always, we decided to tear this insert apart to find out what’s ticking inside.

Our findings were disconcerting, to say the least. Not Simple at all, this tip-in extravaganza includes membrane switches, wires, light sources, circuit board and batteries.

What you see in this photograph is just ONE of 1.9 MILLION of these things (based on Real Simple published circulation numbers) casually and stealthily cast into the eco-system and, perhaps, wrongly destined for a community recycling program.

You might say that this example is akin to readily-available, musical greeting cards. The difference is: Choice was not involved in its delivery.

I’m going to send this specimen off to my son, a junior studying engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, for further fun and dissection. I’m imagining there might be several varieties of non-recyclable and even hazardous elements in its construction.

Sure, the effort was rewarded with our attention, but not in the way I think it was imagined by its creator and patron.

This all seems to be an obvious disconnect between wine and gizmos. And, certainly, not in line with the clean and simple image of Real Simple magazine. On the other hand, it could be right in tune with the profile of a target consumer for a sparkling wine named, Yellow Tail.

It’s been a a few years since I purchased a first-generation pair of B&O ear-“pieces” at a pricey boutique in Greenwich, Connecticut. I paid too much for the privilege, but took the risk. I’ve not been disappointed. I still prefer the Bang & Olufsen Earphones to anything else I have tried since.

I’m listening to them right now.

However, the current Bang & Olufsen website could be an example of how research and/or user studies might too easily dilute and overcome brand vision. I feel uncomfortable with the present B&O web presentation. It just doesn’t seem right with my 25-year history and feeling for the brand.

You can find historic references of your own vintage at the Internet Wayback Machine

So, what else is new?

Technology assistance in color hunting is now just seconds away.

Not too long ago, I posted Floor Tile Design - a very simple solution to discovering a useable palette using environmental observations, such as a photograph. Here’s a new twist…

There are free web services that can do all the heavy lifting for you when you are looking for color inspiration. All you need to do is pick a favorite photograph or other reference… and wait (seconds).

Let me make it simple for you. Start here:

Color Palette Generator

Color Hunter

Enjoy.

I recently came across a job posting by Avenue A Razorfish that blew my mind (you can see the original here … at least for a while).

In just one classified ad listing, I found this incredible list of requirement keywords for a single applicant:

information architecture
content strategy
transactional
informational
audience needs
creative concepts
business requirements
interactive experiences
user research
concept testing
usability testing
prototypes
transactional interfaces
taxonomies
metadata frameworks
and templates
collaborative environment
oral presentation
information architect
interaction designer
and… MS Word

Back in the late ’90s, job descriptions, resumés and USP’s (sorry) had been elevated to something of an art form with regard to buzzword density and superlatives. It seemed those days were gone. I was wrong.

They’re back.

Does anyone remember this Y2K classic?

eNormicom

Zack & J.C. continue to amaze with their ability to exceed expectations within expected limits. This Star Wars spoof and music video created for Comcast proves so. Wow!

I’ve worked with Zack Resnicoff and partner, J.C., during our brand campaign for R.BIRD client, GenSpec.

Just as Zack & J.C. delivered for GenSpec, they consistently demonstrate an ability to pull together talent, location, film and editing to deliver superior value way beyond expectations.

Rock on, Zarsonar!

I don’t like DoubleClick.

It was 1999 - just before the impending 2000 dot-com bust. R.BIRD’s offices were located in midtown Manhattan at 150 East 52nd Street, 14th floor. Glorious space. Designed by Architecture Research Office. Unfortunately, our lease was to expire in the heat of the dot-com boom.

In New York City, if one was lucky enough to find any commercial office space available, it was 3 times (or more) the price you were previously accustomed to. Irrational? Seller and buyer agreed.

So it was that R.BIRD lost its home to (did you guess?) DoubleClick.

At the time, DoubleClick had never in its, then impressive 7-year history, ever reported a profit. “It doesn’t matter,” said the building owner. “They’ve signed and given us 3 years cash security. We’d be happy if DoubleClick defaulted.”

R.BIRD moved out. I don’t believe DoubleClick ever did move in.

Google acquires DoubleClick.

I’ve been surprised by the continuously growing popularity of energy drinks. I have even found myself paying nearly $5 bucks for a small can of Red Bull on the Jersey turnpike.

Closer to home, R.BIRD’s PATTERNS design report on energy drinks is a most popular download from our website. Many thousands of copies have been downloaded and the pace continues unabated.

There’s no doubt that Wet Planet Beverages, creators of Jolt, have seen the report and, perhaps, even been encouraged in some way that contributed to their planned revival for the Jolt brand. (If not, then they certainly didn’t look very far. Try Google-ing energy drink design and see what you get.) As brand consultants in packaging design, the study you’ll see in our Energy Drinks PATTERNS report is a typical step we take on branded packaging projects.

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since the introduction of Jolt, the caffeine-enhanced cola drink. Time flies when you’re… well, flying.

I love WriteRoom

When R.BIRD was founded in 1983, our tech-savvy, leading-edge offices were networked by Wang Laboratories. We were the first in New York City with a network of Macs AND PCs sharing files and applications.

One of my favorite applications at my own workstation was Wang WP.

Wang WP was the defacto standard at the time for office word processing. And I loved working with it.

So simple. So quick and to the point. And green.

Its low-resolution green CRT interface had a certain style that I’ve not seen since, until WriteRoom.

The folks at Hog Bay Software might have been thinking the same thing when they created a wonderfully simple and compelling application for writers everywhere.

I highly recommend that you give it a try.

[this entry written and edited in WriteRoom, of course]

Did anyone notice something peculiar on page 9 of the April 9, 2007, issue of Advertising Age?

On page 9 is a full page advertisement for Advertising Age’s “The Green Conference,” created to promote eco-sensitive marketing practices.

The message is somewhat obfuscated, though, by the media attached to it. There - in the middle of the page is a tipped in piece of paid advertising - a large and thick piece of lenticular plastic. Probably not eco-sensitive.

The promotion has nothing to do with the conference or vice-versa, as far as I can tell. Nonetheless, such an unfortunate juxtaposition can’t be a good thing for Advertising Age or its paid-advertising client. Definitely not marketing-savvy.

It’s all, most likely, an unfortunate accident. Yet, it serves to provoke some thought on how Green Trumps Green. In this example, Advertising Age jumps on the current, cyclical wave of eco-friendly orientation, while it still gladly accepts dollars from advertisers whose offering may be otherwise.

I imagine that most creatives are like myself when it comes to awareness of what we do, and… how we do it.

We observe and dissect the lives and thoughts of our clients and audiences with practiced expertise. Yet, somehow, we too easily neglect ourselves in the picture.

As we live our lives as designers/explorers/thinkers, we must be our own documentary photographers, too. Whether by yourself, with a friend, or via hired pro: be sure to capture the process and special moments of creativity as it happens.

A single photograph taken in the heat of a creative session can mean so much in the present and even more in the future.

It’s a discipline that must be learned. Yet, its returns are exponential. Buy a disposable camera and always have one ready to take a snapshot. Whatever makes it happen in the moment. Informality is the rule. Just do it.

R.BIRD has tracked its website traffic quite carefully, since our first web page back in 1994. This second week of February, our traffic levels spiked with a peak 5 to 6 times the daily norm, without any known precedent.

On further investigation, we could see that this spike was the result of language- or culture-specific searches on the theme of “Valentine’s Day”… “feliz dia de san valentin” & much more. In 10 years, we’ve never seen this particular pattern of activity.

Coincidentally, we received today from our friends at Cheskin, an absolutely delightful exploration of how Valentine’s Day, or similar sentiments, are expressed and experienced around the world. Darrel Rhea, CEO, and his team deserve congratulations on simply recognizing the fact that cultures and such celebrations are merging, just as corresponding populations and geography are… and just as our web traffic metrics dramatically comfirm.

I’m happy to note and promote the results of their effort. Enjoy.

Cheskin Valentine’s Day Greeting (PDF)

Well, really, like it’s 1998.

Greetings, FPAs (Future Podcasters of America).

“Podcasting” is like the word, “Kleenex,” except it refers to the creation and delivery of audio newsletters, rather than tissues. Allow me to translate. What we’re really talking about is simply the publishing of audio content for download over the internet for listening on your audience’s favorite device. Despite its “new-ness,” the basic idea has been around for many, many years… a decade, perhaps. In fact, R.BIRD created one of the very first dynamic applications for delivery of audio content over the Internet way back in 1998.

What’s “new” about Podcasting?

Of course, the iPod. The iPod from Apple provides a simple, user-friendly platform for interested “subscribers” to select and enjoy content specific to their interests. Hence, the ubiquity of the term, “Pod-” casting, instead of “broad-” casting.

So, Podcasting, or the sharing of audio content, can really be boiled down to three steps:
# recording the audio
# converting the result to a friendly format
# sharing

I know, that’s oversimplifying things. Each one of these steps can be a study. Yet, don’t necessarily need to be.

One of our clients has just now - believe it - discovered the idea of publishing audio for newsletter subscribers. We are helping them along… 10 years later.

So, I made some time today over lunch to see what I could find in the way of references to get them started on a learning path toward creating and hosting audio content - something that’s been a pet project in the mind of this client’s director for some time.

(fyi: Pity, this client org uses PC’s exclusively.)

These stories are “how to” introductions - overviews - to creation and publishing of audio content geared to Windows (PC) computer users:
* Podcasting with Windows
* Howto: Create Your Own Podcasting Show On Windows
* Windows Podcasting Makes Podcast Creation Easy
* Podcasting: The Radio On Demand
* Jake Ludington’s Podcasting Starter Kit

A book:
* Podcasting For Dummies

And, a seminar:
* Podcasting 101 (next date: February 14, 2007)

Pod-On!

How To Design A Flor Tile

R.BIRD has occupied 4 uniquely designed offices in its 24-year history and, in every case, we’ve satisfied a fetish for creating something unique out of ordinary floor tiles in our kitchenettes. See our current floor design above.

We often use a simple technique we mastered in the practically prehistoric days of computer graphics when special effects were born of imaginative thinking and not from menu items. The technique is commonly known as “pixelization.” Here’s a simple step-by-step using Photoshop and a favorite photograph.

1. Open your subject image in Photoshop and change Mode to Indexed Color. This mode disables Photoshop’s built-in anti-aliasing - the smoothing of image edges. We don’t want that. Tiles are not soft around the edge, right?

2. Oops. Forgot to mention this one. While changing Mode to Indexed Color, limit the number colors to match the palette you have available in tile. If your carpet or tile collection only comes in 16 different colors, limit the Indexed colors to 16 as well.

3. Now, scale your Image Size by a uniform percentage. Try 10 percent for a start, both horizontally and vertically.

4. Last step: scale the image by an inverse proportion to the one you just used in the previous step. In this case, 1000 percent x 1000 percent.

Voila!

If you changed mode correctly in step 2, you can now open up the image Color Table and modify the resulting palette to match as you please to what you have to work with in carpet, vinyl tile or ceramics. Using Select Color Range will also do the trick.

For a more abstract result, start with a reduction to 5 percent or less. (Find someone good at math for the inverse proportion.) For a mosaic look, start with a reduction of about 20% and an inverse of 500%.

(No, there’s not a missing letter “o” in this post’s title. We refer to Interface Inc.’s Flor system for carpet tiles.)

How about a quilt?!

A buyer licensed the use of an illustration for a specified period of time to promote services on its website and in a brochure. Agreements where rights are limited in time, venue and usage are commonly referred to as “managed rights” licensing.

Three years later: The once, friendly illustrator seems bent on suing her customer for an amount that is 30 times (or more) of the original fee negotiated.

What happened?

This happened: The original agreement expired without action by either party to recognize the timing of expiration or to negotiate a renewal.

The next communication was the threat of a financially catastrophic, copyright infringement lawsuit in U.S. Federal courts. Experience says that such a litigation process could cost as much as 300 times the amount of the original agreement in this case.

The customer communicated freely, immediately and in writing. An offer was immediately made for additional payment to extend the agreement. No offer was accepted. Instead, greater threats of litigation followed.

Does this seem right to anyone?

Why - did the illustrator wait three years before communicating with the buyer?
Why - not simply make a phone call or invoice at the end of the first year?
Why - did this person contact a lawyer, first, rather than simply make a managed and responsible phone call to the buyer to negotiate an extension?

There’s a three-year limitation against which damages can be rewarded in copyright infringement cases. A plaintiff can file anytime, but the limit to damages is 3 years. During that time, the greatest potential for damages is accumulated. Thus, it may be more lucrative for licensors of intellectual properties to manage litigation - and the timing of litigation - rather than extending the original agreement.

It could be no coincidence that the illustrator waited three years.

This scenario is disastrous to both sellers and buyers of managed rights: illustrators, photographers, designers and beyond.

The Keyword is “Managed”
When it comes to licensing of managed rights images, it’s important to recognize the potential for harm should the scope of the original agreement be exceeded by the fault or no-fault of either party. It’s no wonder that $1, royalty-free image stock companies seem to be fluorishing. Even Getty Images recognizes a trend and recently purchased istockphoto.com from its creators.

Small (Simple) versus Big (Complex)

In R.BIRD’s quarter-century, we’ve worked for clients large and small (1 to 300,000) on projects simple and complex.

Trend
In the last 18 months, the most rewarding projects at R.BIRD have come from “Small” companies with complex problems. The least rewarding projects at R.BIRD have come from “Big” companies with simple problems.

Rewarding?
I define “Rewarding” as: first) profitable (above all else, we seek survival), and second) creatively challenging… as in “love” for what we do. No matter, If it’s not profitable, it will not be rewarding.

Small, Big, Simple, Complex, Profitable, Rewarding
Where do you see the balance?

Hillman Curtis includes Paula Scher in his Artist Series of mini-documentaries made for the web. I really like these. They’re just the right length and present a nice, well-balanced impression.

Scher recounts how she sketched out the new Citi logo on a napkin in “one second” during an early client meeting. It’s quite a believable story, since I’ve shared the experience. Often, there’s a glimpse of a solution or an outright, clear vision during early client briefings or informal chats. Sometimes, I’ve done the same thing… sketched the answer out right then and there “in a second” on whatever’s handy.

Paula’s right, too, to add her 34 years of experience to the one second to yield the real time invested for such revelations to be enabled.

All that being said, I feel the Citi logo shown above is really not such an extraordinary leap, but a rather obvious evolution. And I’m somewhat disappointed because, in my mind, the merged rendering has casually reduced what was once an icon of the insurance industry (among few others, a group that includes Prudential’s “rock”?) to an oversimplified, concrete arc pasted over a cold and unemotional logotype. I’ll admit that I’ve never really been fond of Citicorp Identity to begin with.

Being naturally curious, I was compelled to dive deeper into the mark’s predecessors.

So, Citi sucks in Travelers usurping its trademark in the process as we’ve seen. Not too long afterwards, Citi spins Travelers back out… now stripped of its signature umbrella and its equity of immeasurable worth.

Finding itself in need of a new identity, Travelers, astoundingly turns the dilemma into an employee competition:

About 700 employees out of the company’s 20,000 participated in the contest and more than 1,700 ideas were generated. Once their ideas were submitted, senior management reviewed the ideas and chose 26 that were possible logo ideas. Then they brought in focus groups to help them narrow it down to three that would best express the company. The final logo, a red ellipse surrounding the company’s name, was a combination of all three winners’ ideas.

“A combination of all three winners’ ideas.”? I love that.

If not already battered and beaten enough, the very next year Travelers merges with St. Paul to form St. Paul Travelers.

-

The ripple of events for the first weeks of August, 2006, will reverberate for years.

The impact is immediate and demands attention. If your brand sells anything in liquid or gel, cream or cappuccino, solid or gas (is there anything left?) then the new bans on airport carry-on items demand immediate change in fundamental marketing models.

Personal care brands that deliver product in forms newly banned are in high-rent, high-risk environments. If volume goes down one tic, it can be catastrophic.

The impact of these events may not be limited to airport proximity. Your customer may be less likely to buy your personal comfort items if the ability to take them along when they travel is uncertain. High-traffic, high-cost retail environments are occupied by high-value brands. Suddenly, higher cost is a higher risk and no longer a higher benefit.

If your company sells fragrances, beverages, skin creams, balms, powders, water and so on… you can: 1) shut down, as some are doing; or 2) shift perspective.

Shift Perspective
At any airport, your customer about to embark is waiting for a flight with up to two hours to kill. Obviously, this has been a prime market. Nothing to do, but shop, until now. With increasingly strict security measures, shopping on entry to an airport terminal will certainly diminish or even vanish entirely.

Shift your perspective. Your new customer has successfully navigated ticketing, baggage checkin, security, wait for boarding, seating, flight, hunger, discomfort, anxiety, landing and disembark. How might your product welcome and reward?

Move Delivery
In what form might your product be sold that escapes new restrictions on travel? New product forms, packaging, vouchers, complimentary shipping, et cetera beg further consideration.

Next time you find yourself contemplating a brandmark, a corporate logo or symbol… shift your perspective. What do you see?

I love this one. I’ve admired it for years as a wonderful example of art and commerce brought together naturally in timeless harmony.

Or…

How to qualify prospects and lose more business sooner.

We receive more inquiries via email and telephone every week than we can possibly respond to immediately. They all promise the potential of new business. We’ve learned from experience that, unfortunately, the vast majority of those promises are empty.

I read a great article once that said, “lose new business as early as possible.” That’s great advice… and true. It’s way too easy to invest hours, days, even weeks, in exploratory dialogue, interviews, emails, travel, meetings, et cetera, only to find that the prospect isn’t really serious about the project, it’s too early in the process or it’s just not the right fit for designer and/or potential client.

At R.BIRD, through trial and error over the years, we’ve developed a good approach for quickly filtering in the inquiries that are serious and a good fit, versus not.

First, there are some good clues at the outset:
* Email is from somebody@yahoo.com.
* Only telephone given is a cellphone number.
* There’s no address given.
* There’s no company name.

Believe it or not, where any one of these conditions were true, the inquiry nearly certain to be a dead end, an empty promise, a bad fit, or all three. But, definitely not an opportunity. This rule has never failed us, even when our hearts have led us astray and we’ve pursued anyway. It’s best to invest little energy in pursuit in these cases.

Second, our first response to new prospects includes a brief questionnaire. A “pre-proposal” project survey with some very basic background questions. We have three surveys, one for each of our practice areas: CI, BI, UI.

Our survey for brand & packaging design prospects, for example, contains about 25 questions. Yet, the new prospect only needs to answer exactly 9 of them. The rest can wait. Once again, this has proven to be a foolproof method of not only filtering in serious inquiries, but also helping prospects clarify thinking to their own benefit. If the prospect can’t answer all 9 questions, then they are much more than likely not serious or not ready.

Every now and then, we edit and refine. But the surveys have remained essentially the same and quite effective. Some active clients have even adopted the questionnaires as a best practice for simplifying the task of writing project briefs.

I’m going to share with you one of the three: our brand & package design questionnaire. Here it is:

R.BIRD Brand & Package Design Questionnaire
As a Word Document
As a PDF

Download and use it well. Feel free to copy onto your letterhead and make it your own.

Received in a recent Email:

“Great chat at 37signals’ Fireside Chat. Do you have any book recommendations for someone new to GD. I would really like to have a good foundation in the ‘craft’.”?

Great question.

Certainly, it’s not possible to become a great craftsperson in graphic design purely through book study. Yet, there are a few essential basics that I feel should be in every designer’s library. Here are four that easily came to mind, picked from our own library:

Graphic Design Manual: Principles and Practice - Armin Hofmann

Universal Principles of Design - Lidwell, Holden, Butler

Typographic Design: Form and Communication - Carter, Day, Meggs

Grid Systems in Graphic Design - Josef Muller-Brockmann

Response To Baby Magic Redesign Is “Overwhelmingly Negative”
Says WKYC-TV, Cleveland.

What?!

Earlier this year, the new Baby Magic product line (photo above) hit retailer shelves with new formulations plus new brand & packaging by R.BIRD for its client, Playtex Products, Westport, CT. Three months earlier, the Baby Magic brand had been sold by Playtex to Ascendia Brands of Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Now, this feature story appears on WKYC-TV in Cleveland, Ohio:
Magical Return for a century-old baby product
(video link - may be a little slow to load)

“Most of us remember the old bottles, but 8-months ago it changed, not only did it get a new face, but a new formula. The response was so overwhelmingly negative that it created a huge demand on eBay for the original…”?

Fascinating!

Not too long after the launch of R.BIRD’s redesign (the “change” mentioned in the news story), we began to receive emails from a few, frantic consumers. Though complimentary of the new aesthetic, these vocal Baby Magic customers sought the original formula - one going so far as to say, “I can’t live without it.”

It is quite common for R.BIRD to receive emails from consumers loyal to the brands we’ve helped owners change. Customers really do want to communicate with product manufacturers and find product-specific information. Sometimes, that’s not so easy, and R.BIRD is seen as more accessible. (We still receive emails from customers dissatisfied with changes we helped orchestrate years ago while respective product owners and retailers celebrate the post-change increases.)

Caught up in the competition?
Was Playtex “caught up in the competition,” without regard for Baby Magic customers as suggested by CSU professor, Ashutosh Dixit, quoted in the news story? Did Playtex Products throw the baby out with the bath water? What were the catalysts for such a global change in brand, packaging and formula for a one-hundred year old brand?

Consumer product companies change brands and packaging for many reasons: market share, new ownership, production efficiencies, pressures from retailers, cultural change, et cetera.

Is the WKYC-TV story simply about a very loud, minority of Baby Magic customers? Not everyone is comfortable with change. When making any step forward, regardless of market, product or service, it could be expected that a small percentage of customers will become disgruntled while the process of adding much larger numbers of new customers to the group moves on without them.

The risks of consumer research
When considering a change for any brand, consumer feedback can be a very important part of any redesign program for R.BIRD and its clients. It is important for all involved to understand the equities of current branding when exploring the potential rewards versus risk of change.

However, it’s no secret that information gained in consumer research, qualitative or quantitative, can be misleading. Simple errors in planning, sampling, questions, moderation and interpretation can dramatically taint results. And, all too often, we will hear what we want to hear and discount the rest.

“The new owners of Baby Magic are listening now”
According to the WKYC story, Ascendia Brands, the new owners of Baby Magic, are bringing back the original fragrances formulas and bottles, with the new logo and colors.

The “new, new” Baby Magic appears to be a hybrid of the original and the R.BIRD redesign.

Throwing the baby out with the bath water?
If some consumers were upset about the loss of the original scent product, why not simply add that formula back into the new line? Is a second redesign for the brand & package in less than 6 months going to add more to confusion rather than build support?

There’s alot we don’t know about this picture and some things we can’t tell. We don’t know anything about the transition of the brand to Ascendia or any other information about current product marketing support, consumer feedback or decision making, since R.BIRD has no relationship with Ascendia Brands.

Nonetheless, the redesign’s rise to prominence online and on TV is fascinating fuel for discussion!

What do you think?
* Did Playtex get caught up in the competition without regard for Baby Magic customers?
* Did retailer and consumer research mislead? Is the same thing happening again for the new owners?
* Is change too-quickly abandoned in favor of comfort?
* When should there be no change at all?
* What’s the best response to similar events?

As for the brand & packaging, here’s what we’ve seen:

Original Baby Magic
* Bloated and dowdy bottle
* Clumsy to hold and use
* Inefficient use of precious shelf-space

R.BIRD Redesign
* Slim and fit bottle shape
* Easier to hold and use
* More product in same shelf-space
* More efficient shipping volume
* Today’s Mom appeal
* Updated color palette for expanding formulas
* Serious skin care positioning

New Changes
* Return of original scent
* Return of original, plump bottle
* Hybrid of old and new brand elements
* Exit of Playtex brandmark

Can you tell me what it is that this company above actually does for its clients?

Can R.BIRD state clearly what it is that we do for our clients?

2007 will mark 25 years - a quarter-century of R.BIRD experience (7500 programs, 280 clients & brands, 34 categories… ). In that light, how might R.BIRD make its offering with more clarity?

While logging into one of many online accounts used in daily management of our business, I am presented with the above call to action, “Simplify your life by going paperless.”

R.BIRD has been testing the paperless office promise since 1987 (does anyone remember Wang Laboratories?). Instead of simple, going paperless has become exponentially complex.

Why? “Too Many” Too many options, too many players, too many incompatibilities, too many break-points. Too many variations on the theme. No standards.

Our company banks with JPMorgan Chase (a.k.a Chase, a.k.a. Chemical). We were among the very first to sign our business accounts to Chemical - largely due to promises of paperless bank transactions, including online bill-paying. When online bill-paying services first became available, we were there. We set up a batch of online bill payments, excited about the promise of savings in time and cost.

Soon, we received calls or late fee notices from all of the vendors we had paid in the new, paperless way.

We called the bank to inquire and we were told, “The ‘person’ responsible for online bill payments has been sick… so… online bill payments for that week had not been processed.” Please, tell me more. “When you submit an online bill payment request, an email is sent to the person responsible. That person then prints out the email copy, writes out a check as described, puts the check in an envelope and mails it to the payee.”

How very, very, cutting edge.

When it comes to workflow, we’ve come along way since then. But, not so far when it comes to the payment sender’s convenience.

Cut to present day. The deluge of paper continues.

Not so long ago I set out, once again, in an effort to conquer. Any and all vendor accounts that offered “paperless” billing and payments were acted upon. We assigned billing to one email address and payments to either a credit card or checking account.

Less than two billing cycles later, the disconnects began to appear. Our bank changed its ABA transit number; the credit card expiration date changed; the vendor name changed; the “person” responsible for e-payments recorded the account number incorrectly; there was a security compromise (please change your password); our ISP’s spam filter blocked authorization notices… et cetera.

Now, we are forced to counter-check all accounts where online payment is setup to be sure that the payment was made, received and recorded. This effort requires a minimum of 4 hours every week - half of one day. When we find an error, it’s double or triple the time needed to make the correction on the receiving end plus the corrections in bookkeeping.

Going Paperless Is Not Simple

So, why all the come-ons? Listen: It’s all to the advantage of the receiving end, not yours. Banks, insurance companies, credit card companies - even small businesses - spend $millions creating, sending, receiving, processing, copying, storing and retrieving paper. Like us, they would love to eliminate the paper cost, the steps required to manage it, the people-hours it all eats up and - above all - the costs that bite at gross income.

The $5 reward offered to account-holders in the ad above is easily recovered in a fraction of the first year. Meanwhile, you and I will likely continue suffering the burdens and frustrations of Going Paperless.

At R.BIRD, today, we’re making most payments with checks on paper and postage stamps. No errors reported.

Another perspective: More than 58% of all visitors to RBIRD.com in the last 30 days have screen resolutions of 1280×1024 or higher.

It seems to me that these numbers provide a green light to design for 1280.

Peripheral fact: While our web audience is ready to receive and our server is able to deliver 1280 pixels, our “SOA” LCD projector used in new business pitches is maxed out at 1024 native resolution.

In other words: The virtual experience metrics are beginning to eclipse reality metrics.

Virtual versus Real - In this case, Virtual is winning.

Allow me to translate: Those who visit R.BIRD in their browsers are more likely to have a richer experience and better view than those who meet with us in person. This is a frightening revelation.

This trend also speaks directly to the majority of our clients who still do not believe that their website presence is anything more than a nuisance they’d rather not have to think about. It’s all too often something thrown in with the last tenths-of-one-percent of advertising budgets. (Meanwhile, we are the first results when a client customer searches… a topic for another day.)

Back on track: Now, the numbers are bearing things out:
* Average television experience, visibility, resolution is 640 pixels (NTSC)
* HDTV is moving that up to 1080 pixels, while
* Web browsers are moving to 1280 pixels and beyond - 4 (*FOUR*) times the resolution of NTSC television.

Some of the tools that help run R.BIRD

ACCOUNTING
NetLedger
Quicken

Oracle’s NetLedger lets our office manager, account executive and accountant make and share bookkeeping entries in real time. Reports are instantaneous and always up to date. When our bankers ask for P&L or Balance Sheet, they are only minutes away from delivery by email. NetLedger suites are pricey, but we’ve offset the cost with reduced accounting firm fees. They have less menial work to do and are called on, instead, where it really matters: tax planning and management outlooks.

Quicken fills in the data gaps. NetLedger doesn’t download transactions, for example. Quicken downloads, then NetLedger imports.

TIME & BILLING
FileMaker Pro

We needed a time tracking and reporting application that followed our phased approach to project tracking and worked across Mac and PC platforms. There was no such thing. R.BIRD became a certified Filemaker Pro developer, gaining the know-how needed to write our own solution. FMP is accessible and flexible. In 3 months we had our solution that is still in place today (see visual for this post). Time tracking, budget reports and invoicing are on-demand versus the 30 to 40 hours a week we were previously spending on client reports.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Basecamp

When we think “project management” at R.BIRD, we are most concerned with client engagement. Basecamp is one of the best things we have ever done. Why? Because our clients and designers actually participate. We’ve lived through several other solutions - some costing as much as $15,000 annually. Learning: more features doesn’t necessarily mean better. You must learn to love SIMPLE.

MARKETING
Campaign Monitor
Daylite

R.BIRD uses Campaign Monitor for all managed communications that are email. We do this for ourselves and by contract for our brand clients. We’ve tried the rest, including Microsoft offerings (no comment). CM is the most simple and elegant solution we’ve encountered. The learning curve is virtually non-existent and reporting is automatic. We are able to respond quickly to data on who clicks what and when.

Marketcircle’s Daylite tracks contact information, letters, mailings, email, sales pipelines and more for nearly 10,000 prospects. We know when and what was said the last time we called or mailed any one of them - and when we plan to act next.

EMAIL
Webmail.us
DNS Made Easy

For more than 10 years we’ve hosted our own email server, DNS and everything related… until now. When our beloved Cobalt RaQ server died from old age, we decided to outsource both email and DNS for our domain and those that we support.

Webmail.us looks to be the straightest line from point A to point B for email. We’re only a few weeks into the transition and so far, we like it. (Honestly, the integration of email into corporate process has yet to be nailed - opportunity remains.)

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There’s more to tell. Of course.

One of the few moving speakers at AIGA’s recent Move3 conference in New York was Casey Reas. Not only was he able to form complete sentences and thoughts ;) but I found the focus of his work, Processing to be irresistible.

Just a few years ago, Casey and colleague, Ben Fry, set out to make the process of writing code more accessible to visual artists. On April 20, 2005, Processing 1.0 was released. It’s an open source project, growing daily as it’s fed by the visual computing community at large.

From their website:

[Processing] is created to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context and to serve as a software sketchbook and professional production tool. Processing is developed by artists and designers as an alternative to proprietary software tools in the same domain.

I think they’ve succeeded.

Most interesting to me as a designer is Processing’s application in creating visual expressions from data sources of many kinds.

Software is available for Mac OS X, Linux and Windows. There’s no shortage of helpful information on getting started and plenty of really fascinating examples.

The Check’s In The Mail… and Innovation, Too.

The “i-word” has replaced the “b-word.”

I’ve been thrilled to receive “Innovation” by U.S. mail.

In how many ways have you received?

This was the very first R.BIRD post on About Design:

Guns Then Butter

And the concept rears its ugly head again:

Eye Tracking Web Usability

Is this unexpected from Jakob Nielsen?

Eye tracking is an old idea, since its inception was decades before. It’s a new idea, since this is the first time I’ve heard of the technology applied to the web page, rather than the ad page or the consumer shopping environment.

I must say that I find the “F” pattern quite fascinating. Yet, this will deserve more thought.

A word of warning to Jakob and friends:

Some of R.BIRD’s most creative, emotional and positively engaging brand expressions have fallen victim to the worst of metrics.

Think about it. As you are driving down any highway, what captures your immediate, transfixed gaze more powerfully: the flora and fauna on one side or the grisly, mangled flesh and metal on the opposite side? It’s no question which of these ideas would score more highly in an eye-tracking test.

I affectionately call this the “train wreck effect.” (Note the TM!)

It can happen to you.

“The ability to say no to compromise is a rare thing these days. Many companies would like to be able to say it, but so few have the autonomy to actually do it.”

The timing of the idea is perfect.

R.BIRD is, this very day, in the first steps of a significant brand and product line repositioning and redesign. We’ve been targeted and hired, specifically, to execute on what the client calls, “the fantasy assignment.” Assume no precedence and no rules. This is what R.BIRD does best.

Yet, preliminary direction from same client is all about what must be exactly right, absolutely complete, fully detailed, according to standards, subject to review, within timeframe, never seen before but tested, same yet different, red and blue et cetera.

Obviously, there’s a problem with individual aspirations versus group requirements.

So few have the autonomy to say no to compromise. (Hint: substitute “anatomy” for “autonomy.”)

How about you?

While visiting New York for the Fuse conference, Mr. M made a special appointment to visit R.BIRD offices in a quest to learn more about differences and similarities between North American and South American design practices.

I am most always willing to share. Both he and I learned:

At R.BIRD, our clients are mutually interested in exploring many valid, yet still-fuzzy ideas. At M-Design, the first project step presents a short list of product design recommendations that are fully realized in every detail.

At R.BIRD, a single, second step narrows the field to one or two with minor tweaks. At M-Design, there can be a never-ending series of refinements and experimentations. It’s interesting to note that R.BIRD’s approach to first creative usually results in only one refinement step, while M-Design’s approach somehow encourages never-ending experimentation to follow.

At R.BIRD, project costs expand or contract according to new events. At M-Design, project fees are fixed.

At R.BIRD, our experience has shown that “more is more” when it comes to ideation. At M-Design, “less is more” is what Mr. M demands and his clients seem to expect.

More or Less?

What are the pros and cons?

What does your experience say?

I hope I’m not the only one who sees the phallus, complete with a special focal point, here on this new light beer design.

Excuse the graphic thought, but they must have known, right?

That’s not said lightly or for bragging rights. It’s a concern.

As every year goes by, our minimum expectations for Entry Level Designer gets deeper and more difficult. At the same time, the candidates we see emerging from academia move farther away from meeting the minimum.

When we hire Entry Level Designers we are more likely to be creating added burdens for the company. That is: more time (and cost) invested in managing and nurturing the talent with reduced output (a.k.a. “lowered expectations”).

Of course, “everyone needs to start somewhere.” But, in my mind, the starting should have begun much earlier in the cycle.

Take a look at the current recruiting page at RBIRD.com.

I attempted to post the same skills description as a single job opening ad on Creative Hotlist.

It was refused.

Why?

The director said, “this is clearly not one position, it is several. Please create separate job listings….”

I don’t think so.

That list of skills and pursuits is an achievable - I think, necessary - model for designers at all levels. So, we continue our looking.

What does Entry Level mean to you?

Centrum vitamin bottles have a beautiful and unique “fin” design on the cap with its mirror image on the base. Curiously, it seems as if the function of the form has been reversed… slipping while trying to open the bottle and gripping when closing.

We are attempting to reprogram our Avaya phone system to account for changes in phone line assignments. We’ve done this before, but today we have no time or patience for the process.

Five years before, the challenge would have been expected and, even, welcomed. Today, it’s nothing of the kind.

Should we choose to go outside for programming changes, consulting options point to a cost of $1,000 or more per day. Crazy.

Clearly, the “enterprise” PBX and small business phone systems of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s have long outlived their usefulness.

We must move away from the burdens of hardware and its tedious updates.

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So, what’s the new way?!

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Ho, ho, ho it’s magic!

Subscribe

Rumors say R.BIRD will publish, “Creativity & Innovation: Principles for Designers & Clients.”

I’m here to confirm.

The book calls on a quarter century of R.BIRD experience and reveals the company’s basic principles for success in brand, packaging and corporate identity design programs.

This exposé includes knowledge gained from real experience in R.BIRD’s history of more than 7,000 design programs for hundreds of domestic and internationally known clients and brands.

Nothing will be left to imagination. Names will be named. Secrets will be revealed. Facts will be facts. Models for practice will be yours. In R.BIRD’s spirit of exposure and sharing, this publication is not merely another fashionable portfolio review, but valuable insights and actionable resources for designers and clients.

Subscribe to be notified.

Okay, logo designers of the world, can you guess this one?

There’s so little of this visible, yet I would not be surprised to see the challenge answered with a first comment! Let’s see what happens.

Like Jiffy, this brand icon also has a long history.

When the mystery’s over, we’ll have some more fun exploring the history of this mark.

Note: Color is not a clue.

3/24 Update. Above is about where it all started in the 1920’s. Not too bad, really. Somehow seems like it could fit into today’s cosmetics counters.

And this is an undated picture from the American Package Museum website. Based on style, I’d say 1940’s. Careful with that… lots of thin sharp edges! It’s interesting to see how designing the brand to follow advertising and type styles of the time was obviously more important than expression of product attributes.

At what point did the soft, round, script first appear?

Squint. It works every time.

We’ve just been able to publish one of our Patterns™ reports on Razors for Women.

In its color observation, we’ve used a very simple technique to discover where an on-shelf opportunity might exist to differentiate. Squint. Or, take your bi-, tri-focals off.

Where do you see the color opportunity here?

I had lunch, this week, with a friend and design colleague here in New York. Our connection spans quite a number of years. Yet, the fact that we’ve each become principals of our own firms has kept us too often apart from nurturing an ongoing dialogue.

After lunch that day, I invited myself to her company’s offices at Union Square.

“Show me something representative of your work,” I asked.

Among several examples, she showed a recent ID mark for a financial services firm that caught my eye.

Its symbol was the representation of a hummingbird.

I immediately was drawn to it, yet somehow needed to know how the connection was made between this seemingly irrelevant artifact and the identity of the financial management company.

My friend explained, “The hummingbird is graceful, precise and in control. Above all, it is a natural and reliable event.”

Perfect. Of course, here, we all get it.

How was it, Michelle*, that you were able to convince your client of the link between a hummingbird and their daily business? We’d like to know.

What are we talking about? See What Does An Apple Have To Do With…

and *Cassuto Design

We rely on her presence frequently, whenever computer displays seem to be drifting from anything less than perfect.

It used to be that Adobe bundled her right along with Photoshop. She lived mostly alone in the “Goodies” folder.

Do you know? Who is she? And, where is she now?

Early concepts for a new identity program we’re working on have been put in front of focus groups for comment. We can’t yet speak about the client or their business. But, let’s say they build coffee machines and one of our concepts revolves around the image of a butterfly.

Say what?

Exactly.

Of course, we hear, “What does a butterfly have to do with coffee machines?”

And we do not hear, “I love it.”

Instinctively, we know that this idea could be a killer presence that would instantly elevate awareness of the brand and should propel sales of the company’s quality product, but… we can’t prove it. Larger numbers or different test methods are not likely to prove the idea reliable, beyond doubt, for any CFO.

Rational, left-brain analysis will reduce a right-brain revelation to mediocrity or statistical irrelevance every time.

Wait a minute. How about these odd couples:

• An Apple and The Beatles?
• An Alligator and Sportshirts?
• A Rock and Insurance?
• A Dog and Radios?
• An Egg and Hosiery?

(How many more do you know?)

Interesting things to think about:

• These everyday objects previously had no relationship to the product or service they now represent
• the curiousity of the disconnect surely garners attention, and
• these symbols have now become synonymous with the company, a product or even an entire industry.

Surely, it was the passion, conviction and courage of a champion that brought these things to market. The entrepreneur, a CEO, a persistent designer.

Imagine, before it all happened, what the future might have held for some of these ideas if the go or no-go decision was made solely on the anlayses of numbers.

You are spending a late evening or liesurely weekend in the city. You find yourself in the presence of an Apple retail store. “Hey, I’ve been looking for something that might help me better manage my web content business.”

Looking at the shelf, you find the options are slim to none. Hold on…

I see two products I’m not familiar with: Web Editor 6 - and - Sun Suite 3.

CloseUp

Which one?

Our office management works every year with the Salvation Army to collect donations of food. This year, R.BIRD went to our local supermarket and cleared its shelves of every last box of JIFFY brand Corn Muffin Mix and pitched it into the hopper.

Call To Action: C’mon, everybody. Go right now to your local mart and buy every box of JIFFY and donate it to your favorite community effort! Really! It’s inexpensive, easy to make (it can’t be done wrong) and proven tasty.

We are sometimes contacted by potential clients with this first question, “Have you worked with, or are you currently working with, any clients in our product category?” This question is posed not because the prospect wishes to seek experience, but because they prefer - or mandate as policy - not to be working with a consultant who has or is working with a potential competitor.

This is an unfortunate thing in our business. In any engagement, we invest a great deal of time studying specific product categories to develop understanding and discoveries that would potentially benefit anyone in the category without regard to specifics of any specific project initiative. (See our Patterns reports for an example.)

Yet, competing companies will choose not to take advantage of the experience we have already gained and, instead, choose - and prefer - to recreate the learning process with an uninformed resource solely to avoid the potential for conflict of interest.

Meanwhile we are paid once for the prior effort only to find ourselves restrained by both the original client and potential future clients without any remuneration in exchange for the restriction.

In a survey sponsored by the APDF this question was posed: “Is it a conflict of interest to simultaneously work with two clients if their products are in the same industry but a different category? (for example, trucks for Ford and cars for GM). My answer to this question was as follows:

Certainly, I feel the potential for conflict exists. This is particularly true when competing clients share intellectual capital with a common outsider. There’s no avoiding it. For example, we may know that GM will be touting pink paisley automobiles in 2005 - a significant and revolutionary thought. Meanwhile, Ford has asked that we explore new colors for 2005. Might we irresistibly be compelled to explore “plaids”? let’s say, rather than solids? We may not explicitly communicate or expose our GM knowledge, but it certainly can influence thinking that otherwise would not be pondered.

An honest relationship is always the best. Provide ALL information you are legally allowed to provide regarding current client relationships that your prospect may consider at-risk. Past conflicts can actually be an advantage in consideration of the similar industry experience. If you avoid communicating potential conflicts of interest, then your relationship and firm are unnecessarily at risk.

Each client organization’s view is unique, as well as each client representative’s view. We have relationships where competing clients feel it’s an advantage that we have broader knowledge (business consulting and financial services clients). We also have prospects who won’t even speak to us unless we eliminate potential conflicts (consumer product clients).

The “conflict of interest”? refusal happens more often than we would like. It is troublesome particularly when an active client forbids one to work with a competing company - effectively making hard-earned, specific knowledge worthless and restricting the growth of our firm in return for a vaguely-defined and fragile relationship.

A real dilemma. Even we see both sides of the coin. Is there a middle ground? What do you think?

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The image above? My prized 1968 Pink Paisley Telecaster Bass. Mint condition with tags. Oh yeah.

When in New York, check out the new MISSHA shop at 516 5th Avenue, perhaps before you stop at Sephora. MISSHA pitches its own branded line of 500 personal care products all priced at $4.99 or less. The CEO calls his company the “Dell Computer of cosmetics.”

The design of MISSHA packaging is simple, systematic and sometimes delightfully different. (A line of body creams, for example, comes in what looks like a miniature ice cream tub.) There are faults, but here is coordinated thinking in the designs and forms that is not usually practiced by price brands.

The disconnect between aesthetic and pricing is slightly disconcerting. So, what about the third dimension, quality? Comments from customers seem to say that MISSHA product is “happy,” too.

Curiously, the story behind the brand comes from an internet-based beauty company in South Korea, yet no MISSHA products can be purchased online at its website

MIT’s Advertising Lab on the future of advertising technology includes R.BIRD’s Patterns reports.

Patterns™

The convergence of biology, technology, coreography, microscopy, art, and artificial intelligence is mesmerizing and creepy at the same time. Irresistible to artists in any discipline. Right here in New York City, 1st Ave Machine is exploring new horizons and proving new ground for technical impressionists in a way I haven’t seen since the days of PDI. I can’t stop watching Sixes Last and wondering what might be next.

Response to Stupid Basecamp Trick 001 was off-the-hook.

(Clueless?: See Basecamp)

Here is *Stupid Basecamp Trick 002.” We call this collection, “iCamp” - with variations. Enjoy.

Get the specs here.

Just barely in time for Halloween. If you’re a Basecamp admin, here’s a couple of ready-made appearance theme treats. Get the specs here

PROCEDE is our method for developing creative strategies and exploring greater possibiliites™ and, sure, it’s part of our marketing mantra and may be seen as self-serving in this venue, but its ideas are tried and true… and I’m happy to be sharing with you.

Eliminate the superfluous: Unnecessary details can put the brakes on innovative thinking. Better to focus on big picture up front. The details will follow naturally.

We’ve proven this over and over again. Before you put pencil to paper or pixel to screen, eliminate the detail. We agree on what we call “minimum requirements” for design development. It’s far from everything the client asks for in the brief. It’s the elements we see as most important to visualization. It might be as simple as a product name and tag line, but usually no more than three items and as few as one. If you’ve got more than three, force one out.

This is a very difficult change in approach for many, yours truly included. Yet, when no longer encumbered with the task of managing hierarchy and detail that just doesn’t matter for now, creativity flourishes.

Try this technique on your next first-phase design development and be amazed at the exponential improvements in output. Let us know how it goes for you.

More… Principles of PROCEDE

We will think about it sooner or later. What should the headstone say? Forget about what it will say. If you’re a designer, here’s your chance to wonder about what it will look like. And cast aside the typical stones and granites for something completely different.

Lundgren Monuments are translucent memorials created with kiln formed glass, four inches thick and mounted into a stainless steel or bronze base. Your personal information and artwork is carved into the placid surface.

These irresistible icons are the collaborative result of artists Jim Nelson and Greg Lundgren in Seattle, Washington. Art and theatre meet. The end welcomes the means.

An incredibly brilliant, hopeful and uplifting alternative to the vast and dark collections of typical markers.

Let our imaginations run wild with the possibilities.

7 out of 10 new business inquiries in the last 90 days at R.BIRD specify bilingual (English/Spanish), multilingual (English, Spanish, French), and dimensions of cultural awareness (e.g.: Asian; African-American; and other conversions) as criteria for the projects. This is a significant note.

In all of these cases, the driver is THE RETAILER - not necessarily the client’s prescience or strategy.

For all - (100%) - of such inquiries, R.BIRD has won the engagement - YES!

Are we experts? It is wrong to claim expertise in what is an emerging field of practice. Yet, how many “experts” in “bilingual, multilingual, culturally transitional branding and packaging” can you find? Let me know.

So. How is it that we’ve become a focus for such things?

1. We listen
2. We explore
3. We learn
4. We share
5. We are open

More than 3 years ago, we launched Ask Marivi - our blog space on a mission to find understanding and cultural influences from a designer’s perspective. The results have been beyond all expectations. Google this: “Latino Package Design” - and, what do you see?

More and more retailers are telling our clients that they require - even, demand - English/Spanish - multilingual - branding and packaging before they will consider taking on a newly branded product line.

We continue to expand our awareness and trial-by-fire experience. It seems to be working.

R.BIRD is recommending bilingual and multilingual executions to all R.BIRD clients as a foundation for any developments in Corporate Identity, Brand Identity and Internet ID programs.

R.BIRD not only preaches this concept, but endorses the idea. Amaya® is a brand and product line of our own creation.

Remember the post here about the complexity of one SONY alarm clock? Well, in a recent stay at the El Tovar in the Grand Canyon… there it was, again. This time: with a letter-sized, conspicuously placed and presented, instruction booklet, prepared by the hotel (not by SONY), with an 8 step program to make things work. It didn’t much help.

Extraordinary R.BIRD concepts cast aside as a result of process filtering… much of it deserving the light of day.

Number 003 in the series. Again, at Apple’s 30” display resolution.

Excerpts from our own creative developments. Eye candy from R.BIRD for your desktop. Enjoy.

RBIRD-Visible-002.gif

CLUE: This one was created using this technique starting with our own creation.

Being on the losing end of a decision is always disappointing. Sometimes there are forces at work beyond your control:

• The Real Decision Maker(s) are protected
• The Real Criteria on which the decision is finally made is not in the brief, and
• Creativity, Process, and Experience may not be among them.

A few thoughts:

The Real Decision Maker(s)
Who are “they” anyway? We don’t often know until the decision call comes. We’ve never met with or spoken to most of “them” and “they” don’t know us. We were once involved in a capabilities review of R.BIRD shared via WebEx among several locations across the country. One of the prospective client participants would only be referred to as “Purchasing” and contact information was not provided. Why is “purchasing” participating in creative reviews?

The Real Criteria
We went through a very thorough qualification process with a fast-growing convenience store chain. They called. Loved our work. Knew our history. Knew some of our clients. Sent us a very detailed brief. We presented our capabilities. We received the RFP. We made first cut to the top three out 10 national firms being considered. When the call came, we were told that “they” were concerned about our experience in retail. Nowhere in the brief, including the section titled,”criteria for selection,” was the word, “retail.” Had we known, we could have easily focused both our qualification steps and the project recommendations.

Creativity, Process, and Portfolio.
Creativity, Process and Portfolio is always why R.BIRD is called in. That’s where the interest comes from. It’s where all the discussions are focused. It’s 80% of the project mission. It’s at the heart of the client problem in search of a solution. Unfortunately - (this is how it ends) - project decisions can be made on other points: location, size, conflict of interest, familiarity, vacation schedules. This phenomenon is the one that concerns me. When searching far and wide for creativity, why choose to go with the office around the corner? When the past is no longer working and the future demands brand or product reinvention, why choose to go with what’s familiar? When courage is required, why choose comfort?

A graduating designer who wants to work at R.BIRD asks me what software she should learn. This is how I respond:

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Would you believe that our library of software approaches thousands of applications? Yes, it is true.

It is interesting that you characterize Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop as “simple”! We’ve been using both applications since versions 1.0 and I have never met anyone that I consider to be a master of either. There is a great disparity between academic curriculum and real-world situations.

I do not mean to discourage you, rather, to awaken you to the challenges ahead.

Alright, let me answer your question with something more useable.

If I was to recommend software studies to any student of graphic design, my list would be in order of importance:

Typing - learn how to do it well (and spelling, too). And use more than one finger on each hand.

Font Creation - design and deliver your own digital font. Fontlab.

Word, InDesign, Quark, Pages - It doesn’t really matter, you must master a tool to design useful pages of information. After 30 years of this, I keep coming back to InDesign for its ease of use and great handling of typography. All other times - I am using TextEdit or BBEdit. Understand the grid.

Adobe Illustrator - most universally applicable throughout creative to production workflows. Attempt to master this one.

Adobe Photoshop - complements AI and can mask other technical deficiencies.

Motion - Flash, of course. At least understand how it works. Beyond that: Motion, Final Cut Pro… and the list becomes increasingly intimidating.

Web - Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver (and BBEdit).

3D - to expand your vision. In my own order of preference and accessibility: SketchUp, Modo, Lightwave, Vellum, SolidWorks - with FPrime, Vray and Maxwell for rendering.
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There you have it.

I started my involvement with the convergence of computers and art in 1973. I wrote my own software in Fortran to take in topology coordinates that I measured in the field myself with a transit, converting the data to 3D coordinates and mapped the results to a series of overprinted typewriter characters on paper in such a way that when viewed from across a room… an image of land mass became recognizable and meaningful.

I’ve learned a little about everything and mastered nothing. Guess what? I think that’s a good thing. I see far too many resumés where the applicant claims to be “proficient” in a short list of graphics application software. I don’t believe it. Better to say:

“Familiar with many… Master of none.”

As long as the statement is true, I will select this one for the interview.
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Photo above?: Artist’s CG workstation circa 1983. Artronics’ PC2000 paintbox to be exact - and yours truly at the tablet.

Try this once and some will be hooked. Icon Interactive’s Link Popularity Tool checks the number of pages that link to your site or domain in AlltheWeb, AltaVista, Google, HotBot, MSN Search, Yahoo!, and more.

A site that has a Link Popularity Score of 1,000-5,000 is considered average. A site with a Link Popularity Score of 20,000 is considered popular. Sites with a Link Popularity Score above 100,000 are Internet “Icons”.

Where are you? Where are your competitors… your own “icons”? Now you can know (every day ;).

Sure you’ve stared at Bloomberg TV through too many cycles of the same data and news stories late at night. On the left, eye candy for the booming baby. On the right, eye candy for the baby boomer.

When thinking about product design, it can be a fun thing to bring to the client, or consumers in a focus group, a board that looks something like this: a collection of silhouettes from the project category with some others sprinkled in for stimulation. Number 3, for example, won’t likely be missed. Number 9 is not so unique. Number 10, though quite unusual, might be a bit more of a challenge to name.

“Fluids in motion fascinate me. I see the curves as smooth and effortless, the forms reflecting a perfect balance of dynamic forces. They tickle some faint physical memory in my body, as a scent can evoke some forgotten mix of feelings. Like clouds in the sky, they are three-dimensional inkblot tests.” -Martin Waugh, Photographer

Alan Siegel, in GDUSA’s current issue says the business of design is changing, “…a major transformation, from a business that once had a lot of passion and focus on graphic design to our current environment with its preoccupation with integration, its focus on research to deliver the brand promise, its organizational changes to insure that you do so….”

Thanks, Alan, for taking the time.

Image above: “Comfort food” - Three long-time R.BIRD favorites less on branding business and more on the art of design.

For one of our most enjoyable CI clients, we had just completed a celebrated, two-year, 360-degree reinvention of corporate and brand identities around the world to universal acclaim. Finally, the board convened in New York for the presentation of our global website vision… No small undertaking, since it meant consolidating hundreds of databases and technical resources in more than 60 countries and dozens of languages into just one navigable solution. All who represented this organization were present: Japan, Brazil, Korea, Paris, Germany, Canada and more. To this day, I still remember one comment from Belgium, “We were expecting something different.” What did this mean? The answer inevitably appeared. If you aren’t already familiar with the works of group94 … where have you been?

I can remember as a youngster being fascinated with the food-shaped deformations of TV dinner trays.

Which is one reason why I just love this cake plate by Lunar Design for Heath Ceramics. They’ve rediscovered the joy of fitting round pegs into round holes with triangle cake into triangle plate. The brilliant addition of the candle holder promotes the idea beyond curiosity and utility to a higher level of experience. So simple, the best ideas are.

We’ve been working on a special project of our own design here at R.BIRD.

As part of this project, I remembered Cibachrome from my advertising agency past as the most brilliant color prints ever seen. Cibachrome is (or was) a direct from color transparency, photographic printing process. Its results were incomparable then, and remain so now. They were known for their icy, glassy appearance and an electric vibrancy in color that most closely matched what professional photographers achieved in shooting E-6 process transparency film - whether 35mm, 4×5 or 8×10.

I wanted Cibachrome prints as the final step in our special project. The first color labs I called were out of business. Shocking. Those who were still around no longer did Cibachromes and couldn’t tell me who still might. Remember, I’m calling labs in New York City, not Kansas.

Duggal is the premier printmaker in New York City. Known all over the world. Duggal must still do Cibachromes, right? Nope, but they offer a replacement for Cibachrome called, “Vibrachrome.” So, we call. The other end says, “You better hurry if you want one… not sure we’re going to be doing them much longer.”

Another contact remembered there might be “one guy” left in New York who made Cibachrome prints. I called him. No longer has any staff or lab. Does everything digitally now.

I call our professional photographer friends of R.BIRD and they don’t know either. It seems the quest may bear no fruit.

Determined, I start calling anyone who comes up in a Google search for Cibachrome, no matter where they are. Again, “We don’t do that anymore. Don’t know anyone who does.”

Eventually, I get to West Coast Imaging in Oakhurst, California. They came up at the top in a search for Cibachrome. Guess what? (insert pause here) They don’t do Cibachromes anymore. But here’s where the story takes a positive turn.

I’m speaking with Jeff Grandy, Scan Master. And it’s immediately apparent that he really knows his stuff. And, he knows exactly what I’m looking for as a designer and artist. He explains how West Coast Imaging was founded by a former assistant curator and colleagues of Ansel Adams galleries. Having seen the writing on the wall, they set out to achieve the same technical and artistic qualities they embraced in the darkroom at Ansel Adams, but this time in digital workflows.

I’ve already spent a collective 90 minutes on the phone with Jeff and Melanie Crutchfield, Print Professional, at West Coast in very stimulating conversations and I’ve never been a customer, yet. They are technically knowledgeable and artistically sensitive; perfect!

My mind’s made up, of course. We’re going with West Coast Imaging and this workflow:

35mm color transparency -> Heidelberg Tango Archive Scan -> Chromira light printer -> Fuji Crystal Archive Super Gloss.

20 days it takes before we see our first print from West Coast Imaging. This is not fast food. I’ll keep you informed.

I’ve stopped looking for Cibachromes. There is certainly someone out there still making them. But I couldn’t easily find you. Yet, glad I found West Coast Imaging.

-
[UPDATE] 3 June 2005

Two days ago, we received our first test print from West Coast Imaging. Actually, we received three test prints:

• Chromira light print on Fuji Crystal Archive Super Gloss (our original spec).
• Chromira light print on Fuji Crystal Archive Gloss, and
• Epson 9600 inkjet on Epson Premium Lustre.

At first, the Epson 9600 print seemed to have the better fidelity to our original image. The oranges and pinks were truly vibrant and full of energy. The density curves were wide and smooth, with no quick falloffs.

On closer inspection of the Epson print, however, we began to see its flaws. The path of the print head moving back and forth across the paper was actually visible when looking for it - something that would not be seen in a light exposure print. And, in the bright, white highlights of our image - where no ink would be sprayed - the now visible surface of the paper created a noticeable change in glossiness.

The Chromira print made with light exposure to Fuji Crystal Archive Super Gloss was looking fantastic. Its gamut was not as wide as the Epson, yet its richness and depth were what I remembered from the days when Cibachromes were the gold standard of printmaking. This print appeared as though it emerged directly from a darkroom with no evidence of any digital origin.

The Fuji Crystal Archive Gloss (sans the “Super”) was identical in color to the Super Gloss. But, unlike the Super Gloss where the finish is smooth and glass-like, the Gloss finish was visible to the eye and interfered with the content of our particular image. The Gloss finish (sans Super) might be better suited to less graphic and more naturally occurring subjects.

The soft, visible grain of the Fuji 35mm on which the image was first captured combined with the glossy depth of the Fuji Crystal Archive Super Gloss is absolutely gorgeous. We’ve managed to capture all the romance and visual excitement recalling Cibachrome’s glory days. Yet, even better, we now have the advantage of digital. This is our workflow:

1. 35mm Fuji RVP Velvia for original shots
2. Heidelberg Tango drum scan
3. Master craftsman retouching
4. Chromira light-exposure print to
5. Fuji Crstyal Archive Super Gloss

In the end, we have the richness and depth of a Cibachrome: an “analog” print made with light to a glassy (with an “a”) medium. Plus, the benefits of digital capture and editing. We now have an archival scan and workflow that we can call back and repeat many times over with exact results. Wonderful!

The total cost for this round trip is perhaps 50% higher than a one-off, true, Cibachrome print. But, factor out the cost benefit of the digital archive scan and retouching, and it’s a real value.

I’m excited about the potential of this venture. Keep an eye on it all at Lavaluva.com.

In the summer of 1999, we introduced NASA’s Deep Impact project in our cover story and design for the copper industry’s annual report document. In about 60 days, on July 4, the copper-encased impactor will finally meet its destiny when it slams into the comet, Tempel 1, at 22,300 miles per hour. (The fish is a different story.)

Logo designers everywhere are quite familiar with the careful transformations of historic brands over time: Quaker; Prudential; Bell Telephone; et cetera.

Can you guess this one? There’s a 75-year history behind it. Despite what little there is of this showing, I do believe it’s possible someone might get it right rather quickly. But just in case, I’ll be updating the image every so often to reveal just a little bit more. Check in.

4/30 update. Just a little bit more of this vintage brand’s curves. I know I’m not making this easy, but that’s what makes an interesting challenge!

5/2 update. Time for another image. This one a different view. And a clue: “The Pillsbury Dough Boy and Al Unser share this in common.”

5/2 PM update. Joel Schou has guessed right. Jiffy (Mix) is the correct answer. No time right now, but I will post interesting details behind this one!

5/6 Update: All About Jiffy. Jiffy Muffin Mix first appeared in 1930, the product of family-owned Chelsea Milling Company in Chelsea, Michigan. Though, the primary display panel background is entirely white, the product is often referred to as “the little blue box,” which can be found in tens of millions of households in the United States and some foreign countries via the U.S. Military.

Today, Jiffy remains the undisputed leader in a $250 million category with more than 55% of market share. Even more remarkable, Chelsea Milling Company doesn’t spend a dime on advertising and marketing. Success for 75 years is by repeat customers and word of mouth.

Currently at the helm of Chelsea Milling Company is Howard “Howdy” Holmes, grandson of founder Mabel Holmes. Howdy Holmes is included among the best in Formula 1 race car driving in the 1970’s and 80’s, winning Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year in 1979. (Hence my reference to Al Unser and the Pillsbury Dough Boy - both having been competitors with Howdy Holmes!)

A good backgrounder on Chelsea Milling can be found in an article that appeared in Fortune Small Business magazine.

It’s commonly believed that the package design has never changed, but that’s not entirely true. There were several, relatively adventurous experiments early in the brand’s history. The mark chosen for this little game appeared first in the early 1930’s on side and back panels - never making it to the PDP, as far as I know. The quirky quotation marks, however, have resisted change and are as much a part of the brand’s unique character as its bright yellow muffins.

—
5/6 Update: That’s not right. It’s no surprise that few outside of the U.S. know Jiffy. And “that’s not right.”

So, I will send at my own expense two boxes of Jiffy Muffin Mix to the first 10 unique country delivery requests posted here on About Design after 17:45 GMT-5 (New York time) on 6 May 2005. One for you and one to share with a friend.

Post your name and country here so everyone can see the top 10 unique countries as they come in. Then send me an email with complete information.

I will send a box out within a week by U.S. Post, so don’t expect it overnight! (Unless you wish it so at your expense! :)

Edition #2 of Separated at Birth
On the left is RedZone by OldSpice. On the right, Russell Stover Low Carb chocolates. The swirling red/foil cyclone background and action-oriented branding is uncannily similar in these two designs. Two old world brands with high performance appeal. (Never thought I’d see a “performance” chocolate!)

Extraordinary and stimulating R.BIRD concepts cast aside as a result of process filtering… much of it deserves light of day.

Number 002 in the series. Again, at Apple’s 30” display resolution. Eye candy from R.BIRD.

I like where this is going… more vision to come.

For now, download and adorn your workspace. Enjoy.

RBIRD-Visible-002.gif

Great Quotations (About Design). Everybody has one, at least… one. Today, I see three on sticky notes to my Cinema display. All relate to design in some way. What’s your favorite quotation about design? Post it here as a comment with a reference to its origin and it will be added for all to see.

I’ve been reading about DNA Barcoding. The ordering of DNA nucleotides within certain genes provides a unique pattern - enough to create the equivalent of a UPC for living organisms. The science of it is stimulating reading and the color-coded visualizations of DNA as barcode are fascinating to see.

This gave me an idea. I coded a little program to take the first 100 design images published in our portfolio and automatically generate a unique barcode pattern - our own designer DNA barcode.

There’s so much great stuff that I see happening every day here at R.BIRD. Too often, the really extraordinary and stimulating concepts are cast aside as a result of process filtering - doomed to invisibility. Much of it deserves the light of day. So, you win. This number 001 is the first in a series that I hope to see continuing: Bits and pieces of R.BIRD designed elements laid bare for your enjoyment.

These are true artifacts of real project explorations. You may never know whether these R.BIRD creations are potential brand icons of the 21st Century or merely discards along the way.

This first image is rendered at Apple’s 30” display resolution. Enjoy!

(There’s more about this to come.)

RBIRD-visible-001.jpg

Bee Docs’ Timeline is simply beautiful. A graceful little application devoted to just one thing (the best way): Timelines.

The results of any effort, whether project plan, personal biography, world history, or baby’s first year are assured to be absolutely exquisite in every detail. Even, suitable for framing.

I’ve started our own “great moments in the history of” project at R.BIRD in its honor. Thank you, Bee Docs.

On the left: New Gillette TAG body spray for men. On the right: Wacky Pack spray for men. (The one on the right is funny.)

After a 36-hour marathon of travel and meetings from New York to Chicago I had nothing else on my mind except getting some sleep. A wake-up call would be too easy to blow off in my condition, so I’d set my alarm. All I wanted the hotel clock radio to do was two things: time and alarm. Nothing more. I counted no fewer than 25 buttons and indicators. My sleepless delirium surely contributed — like attempting to navigate the seas by unrecognizable constellations I could not figure out how to change the time or alarm which was oddly set to New York and a 7:30 AM (6:30 CT) bell. Guess what time I was awake. Thank you, SONY.

Can’t get over the similarities between these two products. Can you tell at a glance which is the sports fitness beverage and which is the fuel additive? Neither can I. This is a perfect example of the design vernacular from one category influencing that of another — E.g. two products that have been “separated at birth.”

On the left: Outlaw fuel injector cleaner. On the right: Shredder Power Punch. Do not drink the one on the left. And do not dump the one on the right into your fuel tank.

Many of the technologies we enjoy every day are descendent from military or other government sponsored sciences. Even high-tech, high-priced mattresses for a better night’s sleep. (And every time we send a man into space, we potentially get a new flavor of TANG!)

We design a lot of brands and packaging graphics here at R.BIRD. Many of the final design candidates are client-tested using an eye-tracking system that counts the frequency, velocity, duration and target of a consumer eye as it moves around and around the shelves and labeling. Almost science fiction, it’s fascinating to see. That technology was first developed as a way to target weapons in the battlefield following a human sight line. Now, it’s tracking our level of interest in jams, jellies… and butter.

Procter & Gamble has a brand new computer system to rate creativity. Using a matrix of data, such as awards per client, global presence, results per dollar, et cetera, the system apparently is built to calculate some kind of index for creativity and assign it to agencies on the list. More prestigious awards for fewer dollars in shorter spans of time, for example, might produce a higher creativity score - possibly indicating a fast-moving, high-efficiency talent with great ROI potential.

It seems we are willing to become more and more comfortable with - even dependent on - technologies, data, and logical measurement as a way to validate the creativity of advertising or the art of a branding campaign. Or is it, too likely, a very efficient way to filter out instinctive reasoning and intuition?

3D Image is by Dave Marsh with permission.