Remaindered Links Vol. 2
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Peguin Design Award winners and short list.
Wired puts going green into perspective.
Dubai continues to challenge conventional architecture.
Charles and Ray Eames Stamps!
On a More Serious Note
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I have a friend who believes that when it comes to movies dealing with critical issues, don’t watch it if you don’t plan on doing anything about it. His argument for this is that it just desensitizes us to a point where it becomes the norm to not react to the injustice that we’re seeing. Movies such as Hotel Rwanda or Blood Diamond. I have to admit that I saw both these movies and to his point, although deeply moved and disturbed by the injustice of it all, didn’t do anything about it. So when NBC Nightly News and Today did a news report on the crisis in Congo, I tuned in remembering my friend and knowing that I no longer wanted to ignore these critical issues happening around the world. As I watched, I learned that the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has caused more than 5.4 million people to die since 1998. But more than this staggering number, it was a personal story of a young woman that moved me to tears. She had been brutally raped over a period of 2 days by soldiers who had also killed both her parents right in front of her eyes. Instead of harboring anger and hatred by what had happened to her and her family, she thanked God for saving her from death and had hope for her life. I was blown away. I have since gone online and researched more about the conflict in Congo, the people and history there, and how I can help.
I am the first to admit that on many levels, I have been desensitized by the overload of all the bad that is out there and the hopelessness I’ve felt being one individual in this massive world. But whether you decide to take action or not, I do think it’s crucial to keep our minds active and aware of what’s going on around us. That something or someone will trigger a passion in you for you to say enough is enough and actually do something about it. And I’ve learned that if you haven’t felt the passion yet, just taking the step to do what is right will inform and shape your heart.
For a very compelling and powerful photo documentary on the crisis in Congo, check out http://mediastorm.org/0022.htm
The New/Different Rule
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A simple rule for developing breakthrough ideas
On May 14 I spoke at the University of Washington on the use of process within strategy and design projects. During this presentation, hosted by design faculty member Annabelle Gould, I articulated what I see as the major tension within process: repeatable versus unexpected. That is, a process should be the result of a proven methodology that can be applied over and over again—you don’t want to have to make it up as you go each time you start a new project. At the same time, you don’t want the same process to start churning out the same results. Generating the same results is great for homogenizing milk, but not in creative endeavors. For us, new ideas are entirely the point. So we want an expected approach to yield unexpected ideas. That’s the tension.
For creative professionals, a great process is a repeatable approach for putting yourself in position to connect with the unexpected. Note that I think it’s about putting yourself in position to connect with the unexpected, not that the process itself will spit out new ideas. That’s what your brain is for.
When it comes to using process to get to great ideas, I apply what I call the New/Different Rule. Creating new, unexpected ideas is the result of either:
1) Putting yourself in position to receive new information that helps you think about something in a different way.
Or . . .
2) Creating a different way of brainstorming so you come up with something new.
The first is usually about research. While the term research can sometimes sound a bit overstarched and monolithic, research can be a fantastic means of debunking assumptions. And that’s all about getting access to new information that will help you think about something in a different way. When we started working with the Seattle Symphony, one of the assumptions we were working with was that celebrity guest artists were important to have on the cover of sales materials because their celebrity images sold tickets. However, the research we did with subscribers and other ticket buyers revealed that the truth was citizens identified their patronage with the orchestra—not the guest artists. They were passionate and definitive about this. This new information fueled our creative explorations in a totally different direction.
The second is about architecting better brainstorms. During my talk at UW, I revealed a dirty industry secret: most brainstorms don’t work. I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I’ve participated in plenty of brainstorms that didn’t generate anything more than some interesting tangents and maybe some toilet humor. Coming up with breakthrough ideas requires a more thoughtful approach to the brainstorms themselves. Putting “brainstorm” on the calendar and then hoping for the best isn’t enough. Last summer when we were concepting for Boeing’s communications at the 2007 Paris Air Show, we structured our brainstorm around a different question: what are the bad ideas? I know this sounds counterproductive, but it worked. Sure, we came up with some stinkers, but we also came up with some concepts that eventually inspired the idea. And we never would have arrived there without approaching the brainstorm in a different way.
So there you have it. The New/Different Rule. Put yourself in position to receive new information that helps you think about something in a different way. Or create a different way of brainstorming so you come up with something new. I’d love to hear how it works for you!
Environmentally Friendly and Improved Bottom Line
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Every day that I ride my bike to work…I have time to ponder a few things that we all think about at one point or another. In addition to a “small” contribution to the environment, how much money am I really saving by riding my bike to work? I’m not factoring the investments of getting proper equipment, but just the monthly cash flow.
Do the math: I ride 9 miles to and from work. So 18 miles round trip. That’s at least one gallon of gas burned, in most cars, especially if you take into account stop and go “city” traffic.
That’s $4-5 per day, or for the sake of conversation, $15 per week (if I ride 3x). That’s $60 savings per month and so on…$720 per year…
Another question I often think about… Is buying a latte every morning draining my bank account? Let’s do some more quick math. On average, a coffee drink costs $3. If I indulge 5x a week, that’s another $60 per month. Now it get’s interesting. Add a pastry to the equation for $2 a day…and I’m looking at $100 per month… $1200 per year… not to mention I’ll throw away somewhere in the neighborhood of 240 coffee cups, lids and sleeves. Yes, I’m guilty… why don’t we all use the thermal cups????
These little expenditures add up… almost $2k per year. If I invested the same 2k every year for 10 years, at 5% interest, I would have nearly $30k in the bank. Not bad. What if I managed to get 8% return on my investment? Nearly 35k saved.
This is the kind of thinking you’ll experience if you hop on the saddle and ride! Enjoy the breeze, save some cash and help the environment!!!
If you were mugged…
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I regularly teach a workshop at the School of Visual Concepts (SVC) on writing creative briefs. I always set up the workshop with what I believe is the fundamental tension within creative briefs: being comprehensive versus being concise. And while a big challenge in writing a creative brief is cramming a whole bunch of important information into a one-page document that should also be inspiring and…well, brief, this tension goes way beyond just creative briefs. This tension is at play in all communications, especially brand design.
This is the set-up I use: If you were mugged at the ATM, you might end up at the police precinct to give a report and offer your description of the villain. While it’s unlikely for (just) a mugging, a sketch artist might be brought in and the two of you might go back and forth with the charcoal pencil and sketch pad, endlessly adjusting details such as ear size, eyebrow height, lip shape, and on and on. If it was a slow news night, that sketch might even be shared with the public. And then what do you think would happen? Probably nothing. That’s because police sketches don’t work very well. Over the years, researchers from MIT, the University of Central Lancashire in England, and others have conducted studies that show police sketches work less than 10% of the time. Have a look at these police sketches and the actual criminal faces that informed them.
There’s not a ton of resemblance. And, just to take the Unabomber and Son of Sam as two very high profile cases, neither sketch aided in their capture at all despite press coverage that dwarfed the media buys of most brands.
Conversely, take a look at these political cartoons of George W. Bush and North Korea’s Kim Jong Il.
The proportions hardly look human, and yet we instantly recognize these individuals. And if you think this is just about having a face that everyone sees over and over, think again. The same truth is at work with those caricature artists depicting everyday citizens at waterfront piers, amusement parks, county fairs and birthday parties around the world. This isn’t about celebrity. This is about the way the brain works.
The human brain recognizes faces and other images by exaggerated characteristics, not finely tuned details. I think this also holds true in communications. Which is why there’s a lesson here for those concerned with marketing and brand design. The most recognizable brands are about big, bold strokes, not lots of details. They are concise, not comprehensive. It’s why the innovator’s use of white space is better than the stalwart’s gazillions of bullet points. Remember this when you’re having difficulty focusing your brand on just one or two exaggerated characteristics.
The inclination to be comprehensive is human. And so is the human brain’s inclination to ignore all those details. So it’s a simple formula for your brand: be bold, be concise, and be remembered. If you’re a criminal, you should hope police sketch artists keep focusing on all those finely tuned details no one will recognize.