These days, it’s on us, as designers, brand stewards, artists and creative makers
to offer something towards the spirit of optimism to share, to all.
And we’re all sorely in need of uplift, right now?
A dire and challenging time for many of us—it could be said to be, at least to my perspective—
part of a legacy of American patterning, the trending uplifts, the down-lows, swings left to contrastive right hooks.
We’ve been here before, in earlier generations, and we’re here again.
For us, what we try to accomplish, as a consultative team, is creating beautiful, thoughtful, compellingly engaging work.
Memorable. It stays. It makes a place.
With an emphasis on the Brandquest®, and GIRVIN’s moniker: Seek Beauty®
You know me, I’m always wandering around words. For me, it’s an impulse from my dear sweet mother, Lila Lee Shaw Girvin—the pianist, painter and incessant wanderer around the larger realms of creativity. She and I would talk—and wonder—“wait, what’s that word? What’s it mean?” And to my added query—“where did that word come from, what’s its history?”
Sometimes a word pops as a reminder—and it shows up unexpectedly, then again. Then again.
In the subway.
Then in a workshop, it shows up again—
client side, a discussion on the springy “lift” of a script master identity for Kleenex®.
The word, the work, that optimizes—it’s optimality.
Then another sorting—and another word.
They show up. What we need.
Earlier, working in NYC, I was designing customized font work in a string of years, for Bloomingdale’s—
with Creative director, John Jay—along with art directors Richard Hsu and David Au, among others.
How I found this word came in filing the dozens of project reports—and there it was, again. Optimism.
What this project string came down to was creating, week by week, dozens upon dozens of campaign themes—
along with signage, merchandising and shopping bags and packaging treatments—
like this French NYC Bloomingdale’s promotion, a calligraphic rhythmical,
Parisian-inspired gift, custom-wrapped, bespoke stock.
During these listening and exploratory sessions, another emergence: a brand character— optimism. “What is that word?” as I asked my Mom. The original of optimism?
From the Latin — optimus — simply: “the best.” To the idea of the best — to doctrine, holding to the principle,
“the best of all possible worlds,” in which the creator”
accomplishes the most good at the cost of the least evil.”
Good will prevail—optimism, from the Latin, optimus, “the best.”
If the core intention is to make, or to do, something good,
a betterment—it comes to make good on a promise
then the ultimate turning will bring this power,
this outcome, into play. The optimal best—goodness—forward.
And, in a manner, the craft of making—brands or otherwise—
will be about “construction” a constructive move to building.
To pile, to build together, accumulate.
And in this, we’re hoping for good things.
Creating a brand-aligned “good language.
Or a better one at the least.
Make: create, to form, do, prepare, arrange, cause, behave, fare—and finally, transform.
And this link, to work—which, to engagement in action,
the making, ties to the ancient word for urge—the need to create.
Brand syncs: the fire maker.
tim | West Queen Anne offices | Seattle Girvin
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