Small business branding basics

The issue of branding is more about gathering differentiation; it’s a way of telling a distinctive story that positions the company in a way that is discrete from the competitive fray. And it just might be that — a story. What do you really remember about...

Luxury Branding and Patterning

Perhaps you know the classic rendition of “A Pattern Language”? The premise of this fine theoretical explication by Christopher Alexander is that there are a series of movements, patterns, that relate to how space, volume and presence can be reflected in...

Brand symbolism

When you look, you find. In working on a brand development project in eastern Washington, I was walking their vineyard to get, literally, the lay of the land. And, I’m looking for what lies beneath, what lies inside the brand story. And in any brand development,...

TOM FORD | THE HAND

Tom Ford | The hand speaks Tom Ford sees, feels and creates what’s right for him. I went back to Tom Ford, on Madison Avenue. This time, to meet with Shirin Von Wulffen; I’d worked with her at Yves Saint Laurent. Now she’s the publicist for Tom Ford...

The Elevator Pitch

There’s an interesting positioning here — to the concept of the elevator pitch. And while I don’t have a elevator pitch, or a request for money, I do have a modeling that relates to your premise. So, a framing. Brands are about people. And we know...

Notes on Apple

Randall Stross… Greetings! Nice, your work: Sunday | NYTimes | Bright ideas! | Digital Domain 5.27.07 (Randall Stross) I found your observations on Apple Store, as carefully and clinically precise in their analyses as they could hope to be, I suppose, to be...

Paul Bertolli

Working with a master. Sometime, ranging a year or more back, I’d worked with Paul Bertolli. And a friend — Stephen Darland. Stephen was the one that introduced me; and he and Paul needed help in defining, creating a brand that evolved around the concept...

Nokiablue

Seen this? I’ve been shooting retail and designspace for a while — and I go in… The Nokia people didn’t like me in there, too much. And I go out. And then I send this to you. I do like the sheer presence of the blue, here — especially...