Design

As passionate food freaks, it's all too common to get caught up in the tastes and exoticism of what we are experiencing, rather than in what makes the most sense and is good. In fact, if you look at what makes something 'gourmet' these days, more often than not it's the item that has taken great effort and care to produce and spent the least amount of time traveling from the farm to your table. A good example of this in Vancouver is asparagus. Ask around and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who can tell you specifically that they've even tasted fresh, local asparagus. Seriously. Most of what people buy comes from Mexico or California with little thought to the seasonality, or what was done to it to get it to grow, or survive the long trip here. In contrast, the local season for asparagus is very short—a few weeks at best. If you're not quick, and early, at the farmer's market, you might not even realize we have an asparagus supply here! Enter Foodtree. Although manifest as a website and mobile app to share fresh, mouth-watering photos of food in your community in a fun and simple way, Foodtree is a philosophical and fundamental shift in our approach to understanding the where, why and how of the food we consume. If information is power, then this is one of the key ways we as consumers can control our food supply future. Until we empower ourselves in this way, organic and healthy food will remain a novelty and just slightly out of reach of the mainstream. Yet, mainstreaming this concern about where our food comes from and what's in it, is precisely what's required. Inspired by the symbols, styles and ideology of the Homesteading movement, the new identity hearkens to a simpler time of getting back to the land and a self-sufficient lifestyle. The hand-crafting and do-it-yourself ethic also produced a unique aesthetic evocative of an era past, but also in resurgence. Our future may very well lie in the successful merger of a new integration of technology with the sustainable methods from our past. This is what Foodtree represents and the logo and its application is meant to evoke. [post_title] => Know your food [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => know-your-food [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-07-05 12:26:47 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-07-05 19:26:47 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=5309 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 1 [filter] => raw ) -->

Know your food

Sometimes it is convenient that our food world and our design world cross paths. Recently Foodtree asked us to help rebrand in the time leading up to the launch of their new iPhone app and City of Vancouver collaboration. Rolled out simulta [...]

Posted by: Ben Garfinkel on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Categories: Branding, Industrial Brand, Sustainability | 1 Comment »

We had a recent situation where a client wasn't versed in design language and we failed to interpret. In this particular situation, the kerning (space between letters) came into question. Actually, the design had been kerned, but it was re-kerned and resubmitted only to have it returned with the same comment. As a designer being able to take criticism is a required skill, but there is no guarantee that a client has the vocabulary to communicate the issue. Resolution finally came when we switched to the telephone and were able to ask the client to point out the problem, it turned out that the “letter spacing issue” was that the “f” and “i” were touching. It was a ligature. To us, it was design love and attentiveness; to them, it looked like an error. We were speaking different languages. The fact that the client did not know what a ligature was flew under our radar, but had we stepped back from their initial comment and considered its context we may have saved time and irritation for us all. So why hasn't the ligature passed into the realm of common visual vernacular? Why don't they feel as natural to clients as layouts designed with the golden ratio? One reason ligatures have not saturated the designscape is that in recent history many typefaces did not included them, so the designer had to choose to change faces, or create them by hand. However, with the dominance of OpenType, this seems to be a problem of the past as many typefaces are equipped with a large variety ligatures. Another force working against the pervasiveness of the ligature is the designer’s nightmare–the dreaded word processing program. Fortunately, fixes have been created for Pages and you can now choose to “use ligatures” and Microsoft Word 2010 has added support for OpenType ligatures, (for help enabling them you can find a tutorial here). Technical functionality is not the only hinge when it comes to ligature use; personal taste is also a factor. To some, the use of ligatures is on par with the choice of serif or sans. With roots in early writing, some see ligatures as carrying a certain rare elegance, adding class and refinement to text. On the opposing side, some view them as antiquated, traditional and superfluous. Lovers of the ligature will argue that they are not merely ornamental, but efficient, replacing two letters with one and simultaneously increasing legibility–exuding the modern ideals of form following function. Ligatures are a decision that every designer must make for themselves. To me, they are something special; so efficient, so thoughtful, so graceful, so salacious–and when I come upon them in life, I can’t help but smile, as I imagine two letters making love. So we pose the question to you, are ligatures an element of typographic style you cannot live without? Should we as designers come together and create guidelines for their use? Or, are they archaic and a tradition that needs updating or better yet, to just go away? [post_title] => To love a ligature [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => The ligature: music to your eyes or an outdated typographic nuisance? [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => to-love-a-ligature [to_ping] => [pinged] => http://webexpedition18.com/articles/typography-tutorial-a-primer-on-ligatures/ http://www.fontshop.com/glossary.php?ltr=k http://ampersandampersand.tumblr.com/archive [post_modified] => 2011-06-08 13:02:09 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-06-08 20:02:09 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=5225 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 2 [filter] => raw ) -->

To love a ligature

The ligature: music to your eyes or an outdated typographic nuisance?

Posted by: Dana Deschene on Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Categories: Design, Fun, Industrial Brand, Learning, Pop Culture, Technology, Typography, Uncategorized, We love | 2 Comments »

Being the first ever edition of this conference format, rookie organizer Shawn Johnston opened the day by sharing his vision for Interlink, explaining that his intention was a "peer-to-peer discussion both among the attendees and between speakers and workshop leaders and the audience". The topic of inspiration sometimes seems ubiquitous at design conferences, but web industry veteran Denise Jacobs kicked off the conference by sharing practical tips for embedding this often elusive muse into a creative process "on demand". Jacobs countered basic ides like ignoring our inner critic or giving ourselves permission to produce bad ideas with examples of strategies, habits and tools a web designer can use in the daily pursuit of creativity and inspiration. "It doesn't matter how much you like some ideas, as they may not like you back." explained Portland's popular and well-spoken design guru Frank Chimero. Stunning the audience by declaring he'd scrapped his planned presentation, instead talking about his personal journey, and the frustrations and revelations he encountered in his design practice. Using the metaphor of the painter stepping back from the canvas to evaluate the process itself, Chimero discussed the difference between the "how" of design (the techniques and tools we use) and the "why" (the choices we make). Chimero presented an argument that it was where these overlap that real design happens. Referencing the continuing rapid changes on the web, Chimero challenged the audience to consider that designers "don't actually solve problems, they produce design responses" with a myriad of possibilities for most design challenges. "If we solved design problems, there would be only one Twitter client app." joked Chimero to chuckles from the audience. "There's a different between good work and valuable work, and we don't have to choose." Chimero continued "But valuable is how you get to good. The point is to make stuff to help us live better." The first of many UK designers was Elliot Jay Stocks, who used humour to challenge the audience to move past established Web 2.0 aesthetics with a straight-talking rant about "cheesy effects" and illogical choices so commonly made by web designers. Refreshing was Stocks' contention that it was the obligation of serious web designers to learn the fundamentals of traditional graphic design and apply it online. "Bogged down by web design?" asked Stocks cheekily, "Then go do some print design—it's so liberating." "Good design does not necessarily mean good experience", argued New York-based designer Whitney Hess, as she explained her user experience philosophy and introduced the audience to a set of ten design principles anyone could apply in their own practice. The foundation of Hess' approach was the notion that "user experience is the establishment of a philosophy about how to treat people," echoing Frank Chimero's earlier sentiment that good web design is about making people's lives better, not just creating pretty graphics or cool effects. Through creative use of striking photography and a charming presentation style, Hess inspired many in the audience to frantically jot notes, a sure sign of a compelling conference presentation, and more than a few attendees posted tweets about how they planned to initiate a set of design principles themselves. Still reeling from Hess' inspirational talk, the audience next met UK-based mobile interface designer Sarah Parmenter, a straight-talking (and striking) Virgo perfectionist who claims she started designing iOS apps "because she likes surrounding herself with aesthetic things." From the benefits of an application definition statement to a series of examples and techniques, her glossy presentation included practical tips and tricks for any web designer wanting to make the leap to designing interfaces for mobile devices—something she claims is inevitable for anyone in the web design field these days. Parmenter also emphasized the importance of respecting the user experience, a theme woven throughout the entire conference. The most technical presentation of the day, Yahoo designer (and one of only two Canadian speakers) Jonathan Snook walked the audience through an overview of the evolution of CSS and demonstrated a series of useful techniques and tips. While not everyone in the auditorium were as engaged by this code-heavy presentation, Snook's talk reminded all that using technologies such as HTML, CSS and JQuery is an important part of being successful as a web designer—and not nearly as daunting or awkward as in years past. "At less than 15 years old, our industry is still young—it hasn't even had sex yet." began DIBI Conference producer and English web designer Gavin Elliot. He certainly got the attention of those in the auditorium, but it didn't get much better unfortunately. His presentation, called "A Better Process" was billed as an intro to web design process which we could put into action to make our own work better than ever. "We don't build websites, we build systems" was the most memorable statement in his slick presentation, while the core of Elliot's talk lacked much practical or applicable learning suitable for this well-informed audience. The final conference presentation was by yet another Brit, this time web designer Simon Collison. His presentation was arguably the most academic, rooted in the fundamentals of visual language as he discussed applying a more analytical approach to content and structure and how they affect the choices we make as designers. "The influx of type choices online requires us to think smarter about type design choices" argued Collison, echoing the sentiments of Ethan Dunham and others. His contention that static web design, versus adaptive or responsive web layout resonated with numerous attendees who could be overheard discussing ways to make their own interface designs more flexible. Still buzzing from a jam-packed day of conference presentations, attendees returned to Capilano University on Saturday for hands on workshops by industry experts. Simon Collison continued his theme of the importance of visual language with his "Analytical Design" workshop, explaining some of the science and meaning behind the decisions we make and offering ideas and methods for improving design process. Canadian Steve Fisher, who argued that there isn't any fundamental difference between UX and design, gave attendees practical tips on how to spend more time examining the reasons and motivations behind the functions and interfaces we create. "I'm in the process of blowing out at least 30% of my process because I think it has been lying to myself, stakeholders and other team members." Fisher explained. "Things like static wireframes essentially lie." Wrapping up the workshops was a pragmatic, no-hype introduction to HTML5 by Manchester-based developer and Opera Web Evangelist Patrick Lauke. "HTML5 is a huge topic." says Lauke, "People use it to refer to "really cool shit" for everything that is out there." explaining that HTML5 is still basically a proposition under development, but in the final stages of review for W3C recommendation. "What people think of as HTML5 is most often javascript or CSS3." explained Lauke. Attendees were treated to an overview of this new specification along with some useful training in new syntax/semantics, improved form interactivity, and the "flash-killer" features like native support in browsers for video, audio and canvas. Aside from a few comments about the inconvenience of the venue location in North Vancouver, and the mayhem of the Stanley Cup playoffs (go Canucks!) interfering with some social activities, Interlink successfully delivered on its promise of bringing thought leaders together from all over the world to spark discussion and debate regarding the evolving and constantly changing face of the web. One group of attendees chatting over drinks on Saturday night discussed a longing to see more real-world project case studies and panel discussions next year. "Apart from a few hard to follow and slightly obscure talks, I was thoroughly impressed with the level of quality of the discussions." offered Calgary-based designer and developer Matt Trienis. "Lately, I've been feeling like I need to step up my game, and Interlink really confirms that." said Vancouver web designer Catherine Winters. Congratulations to Shawn Johnston and his volunteers for hosting the first of what will surely be many more successful Interlink Conferences. Photos from the conference can be on Flickr. [post_title] => Interlink Conference: helping designers help people [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => interlink-conference-helping-designers-help-people [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-06-07 12:35:19 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-06-07 19:35:19 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=5283 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Interlink Conference: helping designers help people

An edited version of the following article was published on DesignEdgeCanada.com on June 7, 2011: Walking into the Interlink Conference felt a bit like witnessing two worlds collide. Half the audience was the hardcore designer set, with th [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Categories: Design, Education, Events, Inspiration, Learning, Vancouver | No Comments »

Taking place June 2 through 4 at Capilano University  in North Vancouver, the Interlink Conference website promised "discussions to inspire the web we imagine". But aren't there already a bunch of conferences with a similar mandate? "SXSW was a disaster for me," said Steve Megitt, a web designer from Toronto. "To me most conferences like SXSW or HOW feel more like hero worship with designers on stage showing off portfolio work more than a real learning or dialogue and debate opportunity." This sentiment was echoed by others at the conference who felt that many large conferences have evolved into big parties better suited to industry juniors than anything suitable for a seasoned professionals seeking new connections and paradigms. "My body is sore all over from dodgeball last night," said designer Dan Rubin who kicked off the workshops on a rainy Thursday morning with a presentation about hands-on prototyping and user testing. The primary takeaway of this case study-based presentation seemed to be a focus on designing for user goals before company goals as an approach. In another popular workshop, Washington DC-based designer Samantha Warren lead a group through her approach to working successfully (and efficiently) with web clients. "She presented really well and gave awesome advice & tools" said recent interactive design grad Stephan Rosger. One notable example of this was Warren's "style tile" approach of rapidly creating multiple examples of colour options, patterns, button styles, navigation treatments, and typographic possibilities on a single browser page. Inspired by swatch boards commonly used by architectural and interior designers, these early conceptual style tiles allow a client to consider and approve early expressions of mood, tone and style for their website design before much time has been invested in a particular interface design, essentially eliminating the need for multiple design mockups. In another classroom across the beautiful Capilano University campus among the trees, a packed room of eager webbys hung on every word from Brooklyn-based designer Meagan Fisher. Attendees to Fisher's workshop were treated to a peek into a master's CSS toolkit, showing the power and capabilities of CSS beyond common simple effects. Fisher, who famously argues that web designers should literally ditch Photoshop (gasp), demonstrated in real time how to design rapid prototypes directly inside a web browser, where changes can happen quickly and evolve to better suit user needs or project parameters as they come into focus. Her argument is that not only is it faster with some practice, but leaves your developer with a solid framework for production without needing to slice and dice pixels. As the gloomy rain gave way to a beautiful Vancouver sunset, webfont expert Ethan Dunham  closed the day with a workshop called Web Font Revolution. Dunham, who is the man behind FontSquirrel.com and FontSpring.com, presented a three-hour crash course on the history of webfonts and demonstrated that web designers have essentially run out of excuses for bad type online, with nearly 100% support for webfonts and the technology to deliver and create them. Even so, he explained why it is continues to be a challenge to render fonts well in Windows, and encouraged attendees to join him in pushing the boundaries of what's possible and demanding greater simplification of the current fractured licensing landscape. Shocking to many in the audience was Dunham's disdain for fonts-as-service providers such as Fonts.com and Typekit. "Users should be trusted and offered webfonts the way desktop fonts have always been sold" argues Dunham. Dunham concluded with a challenge to the audience to take the time to learn the art and rules of beautiful typesetting and apply them to the web better than has been the recent norm. "My goal with Interlink was to connect peers to peers rather than teachers sharing their wisdom with a room full of students." says Shawn Johnston, "No craft is ever mastered. We are all students." Perhaps this youthful perspective is what motivated Johnston to kick off the conference with a game of dodgeball. Will the main conference day of presentations truly break down this teacher/student paradigm? We'll see in the coming days. But the theme seems to have been embodied in the first day of this new conference with ideas and techniques delivered like a dodgeball thump to the head. Only in this game, everyone goes home a winner. For more on the Interlink Conference. [post_title] => Interlink Conference: peer-to-peer web design event kicks off [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => interlink-conference-peer-to-peer-web-design-event-kicks-off [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-06-07 12:18:42 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-06-07 19:18:42 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=5280 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Interlink Conference: peer-to-peer web design event kicks off

The following article was published on DesignEdgeCanada.com on June 2, 2011: Web design veteran Shawn Johnston was frustrated by a lack of local forums for progressive conversation and collaboration aimed at propelling the web from a new i [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Categories: Design, Education, Events, Interactive, Learning, Vancouver | No Comments »

I’m basically a print designer, and even though I have done web design I worried that they would be “talking in code” and I’d be lost. I was pleasantly surprised—the presenters who showed some code did it in a way that I could understand. Even Eric Meyer’s chat on “CSS for evil” was presented in a way that made sense to the print designers like me! Monday morning started with AEA founder Jeffrey Zeldman giving a history of Emoticons. From the simple smiley face to winking emoticons with hats and mustaches to the difference between eastern and western styles, we were impressed with Zelman’s vast knowledge. Just joking :) Seriously, you know that the next two days are going to be great when you hear things like “Beautiful no longer means flash-based.” Zeldman’s passionate opening on the history of the web—Web 2.0—set the tone of the conference. He kicked off AEA by showing inventions from history that led to the web, and showing why we stand at the dawn of a newer and more mature web powered by standards. Following Zeldman, we heard from Sarah Parmenter on Crafting the User Experience. She discussed principles from human psychology, such as speed, simplicity, surprise, social behavior and stirring emotions, and she gave practical advice for using psychology when thinking about web design and user experience. Rounding out the morning was Jason Santa Maria’s session On Web Typography. He began by talking about what makes a good web typeface and major typography considerations, such as dimensions, special features, prolonged reading and internationalization. “Good typography is invisible. Don't make me think about reading, just let me read!” Then he talked about the advances and choices we now have with web fonts. Even though those advances are exciting, he cautioned, we still have to use good design and web standards. The afternoon started with Scott Berkun talking about Why Designers Fail and What to Do About It. He gave us his thoughts on how we’d never learn and move forward without failure. He said all designers fail 95% of the time, but design suffers from a lack of failure analysis—how to look at the reasons we fail and what to do about it. One of my favourite sessions was A Content Strategy Roadmap with Kristina Halvorson. She provided valuable insights into how we spend a lot of time on strategy, wireframes and design before obtaining content for our websites. Content often comes last, when it should come first. The bottomline: “Start designing from the content out, rather that the canvas in,” she said. Finishing off the day was Luke Wroblewski, whose presentation Mobile Web Design Moves left me eager for his full-day mobile web design course. It was exciting to hear about the huge growth in mobile usage, the immense possibilities of mobile web design and how we need to think differently when designing for mobile devices. Day two started off with Eric Meyer and his talk The CSS3 Anarchists’ Cookbook. Basically, he gave us tips and tricks on how to use CSS for “evil”—how to mess with your co-workers by changing up code in their browser’s user stylesheets. I was a little scared of this talk, but whenever Eric showed the code he showed examples of what it did so it made sense. It was a cheeky way to show the new tools in HTML5 and CSS3. Jeremy Keith followed with a discussion of Design Principles. He talked about how your principles and design should match, and how this will help you reach your goals—“The more you can boil down your design principles, the better.” Aarron Walter then did a presentation titled Idea to Interface. It was great to learn how those iPhone apps you have in your mind would translate from just an idea into actuality. He said you need to give yourself permission to be the person with the idea, and he outlined how you would carry it through. The afternoon continued with Andy Clarke and his presentation Smoke Gets in Your Eyes about CSS3 web animation. We learned about the latest CSS animation techniques, and he showed some entertaining videos, such as the Flash vs. Web rap battle. Alexa Andrzejewski, the founder of Foodspotting, followed with an intriguing presention The Dimensions of a Good Experience. She talked about evaluating experiences using 10 principles from urban planning, and how these same qualities could be applied to digital experiences—“Design influences our experience of the world.” It was the process that led her to create the Foodspotting app. Finishing off day two was the humourous and incredibly passionate Tom Coates talking about Everything the Network Touches. He reminded us all about how exciting and powerful the web is and how the network is not only extending to people but to objects and places. His final thought: “I am going to say something controversial: I don’t think we should have web standards. It’s only with the ability to explore and not be bound by rules and regulations that we going to create and discover new realms.” With our minds on overload from these two days we headed into day three, Mobile Web Design with Luke Wroblewski. Again, I had no reason to worry that we’d be doing something super techincal. It was all digestible information. Talking to a crowd of 300, Luke did a great job of getting us to interact with him and each other. He started by asking the audience what we’d like to learn. We also did a few interactive projects by sharing in small groups. Throughout the day, Luke took us through the major considerations when designing for mobile: what the constraints are, stats on usage, what behaviours drive the use of mobile devices and how they are used. AEA, you know how to throw a conference: 12 exceptionally fantastic speakers, a live Twitter feed, three parties and a soundtrack! If you’re looking to attend a fun web design conference that runs seamlessly with loads of exciting and passionate people, check out An Event Apart. Having attended many design conferences I found AEA to be among one of the best experiences I've had. I went from not knowing anything about this conference to coming back with practical experience and tools ready to be put to use in our office. Further reading: A List Apart World Wide Web Consortium Luke Wroblewski’s Notes on AEA Presentations [post_title] => An Event Apart [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => An overview of An Event Apart, the design conference for people who make websites. 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An Event Apart

An overview of An Event Apart, the design conference for people who make websites.

Posted by: Sylvia Rigakis on Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Categories: Design, Education, Events, Inspiration, Interaction, Interactive, Learning, Social Media, Technology, Websites | 1 Comment »

Ledalite Product Design And Brochure

Branding a new cutting edge LED lighting product that jumps past the competition—with hot pink of course.

[post_title] => Multisport Centre of Excellence [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => multisport-centre-of-excellence [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-02-01 15:48:53 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-02-01 22:48:53 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 252 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?page_id=4943 [menu_order] => 127 [post_type] => page [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Multisport Centre of Excellence

Creating a brand identity and website for a world-class sports training and rehabilitation centre.

MutliSport Centre finally under construction

There’s something happily surreal about sipping on your morning coffee and reading the newspaper when you stumbled across a story about a client’s success story. Very nice indeed. A few years ago we designed the logo, brand iden [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Categories: Design, Industrial Brand, News, Vancouver | No Comments »

The warm weather and beautiful hotel near the beach made for an idyllic setting for this type of event, requiring us to step out of our reality and objectively consider our business situation and personal leadership styles and management approaches. From the moment we joined the group for cocktails on the first day and met the group, we knew we were among like-minded peers. The materials presented by Dr. Henry Cloud and the discussions during breakout sessions can be classified into two categories for us. The first being things that re-contextualize how we look at situations/people/ourselves and our company. The second being tools or strategies that we can apply that will allow us to more effectively manage our people, company—even ourselves personally. Considering how our past experiences contribute to how we react to situations, and the notion that consideration of the wake you leave behind (like a boat) forces you to make adjustments as you move forward seems mildly obvious in hindsight, but it was a good reminder for us. And the idea that only by making colleagues understand that you understand (them and the situation) will you create trust and establish credibility with people was a terrific reminder that a human approach, including really listening and acting with humility, are key characteristics of successful leaders. This, combined with the idea that highly successful leaders spend a considerable portion of their time training and coaching team members and not only encourage failure in their staff, but require it of them, left us wondering how we could incorporate this into our own studio management practices. The lessons surrounding differentiating between “urgent” items versus “vital” ones hit home for both of us, as we both tend to get caught up in the daily distractions as critical tasks gather dust on our to do lists. Similarly, the analogy of “pruning” in business, the leadership trait of successfully removing stuff getting in the way of results like pruning a rose bush so it can flourish, was something that excited us. This idea, combined with every leader’s need to fight the natural urge to avoid confrontation and negative issues, choosing instead to deal with them more proactively are aspects of our own management styles that we’ll want to spend more time considering and improving. Dr. Henry Cloud’s sessions reminded us of the wisdom of another wise management guru, David C. Baker, who encourages firm leaders to work ON their businesses as much as working IN them. But Dr. Cloud’s wisdom was timely and poignant, reinforcing for us that beyond the cunning business strategies and due diligence available to us as entrepreneurs, our leadership styles could include more human expressions of love and appreciation for our team, involve more one-on-one communication and coaching, and involve a renewed dedication to taking appropriate risks and action when necessary as we steer our business forward. In some ways it was a shame that the leadership forum couldn’t be over a full weekend, allowing more time to discuss strategies and learn and practical tools that could be applied in our business back home. We stayed an extra day to explore Santa Monica and visit a couple friends in the area, which turned out to be a smart choice as the forum left our heads spinning a little, and we never actually spoke about the topics discussed and lessons learned until we returned home. As our first APDF exposure begins to fade to memory, both Ben and I feel great about the experience and satisfied with the value and outcomes. Besides enjoying a much-needed break and the pleasantries of being welcomed into the group by friendly, experienced professionals we can certainly learn from, it was nice to connect with many design professionals in similar situations to ours that we could share our experiences with and perhaps even assist ourselves. As they say, you often only get out what you put in, so we’re looking forward to contributing to APDF as much as benefiting from it. [post_title] => Our First APDF Event: Head Spinning In LA [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => our-first-apdf-event-head-spinning-in-la [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-04-05 15:12:06 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-04-05 22:12:06 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4809 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Our First APDF Event: Head Spinning In LA

Our firm is entering its 15th year, and despite being frequently hailed as successful design industry veterans, my partner Ben and I often feel like we have much to learn—both personally and professionally—hence our recently joining The [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

Categories: Associations, Design, Events, Learning | No Comments »

We all love to wax poetic about “back in the day” (a term I only now feel old enough to use), but it’s scary how much things have changed in the last 20 years. Another phrase I find myself using these days is “in the real world,” when talking to design students about the realities of what we deal with in our day-to-day profession. It occurs to me that I haven’t been giving my students the whole story about our industry. And it occurs to me that the opportunities for learning, networking and advancement via design associations aren’t what they used to be. Enough of that. We need to tear down the walls of complacency and lead by example. Times Are Changing When I entered this profession, the designers I learned from illustrated with brushes and paint, drew typefaces by hand and set type on a Linotype machine. Looking back, it felt like at that moment (1989) everything began to suddenly change. I remember the fear and trepidation so many of us felt as we realized how much of our training was already obsolete. Thankfully, we brought with us new skills and perspectives as well as our classical training, and together with the established pros, we forged ahead, evolved, and kept the design community afloat. But times are changing once again. And nobody likes change. It’s scary as hell. But change is a constant in the design field—like it or not. Some say that Canada’s reputation as a leader in our field has waned. Many argue vehemently that design has radically evolved beyond “graphic,” with designers around the globe adopting a new perspective and identity. And yet despite all this, Canadian graphic design associations cling desperately to old paradigms, terminology and mandates. It’s time we told the younger designers entering the highly competitive (and saturated) communication design industry the truth about what skills they’re going to need to thrive—or even survive. Stop Whining I’m guilty of it too, but really—let’s grow up. I’m about as sick of hearing about spec contests and crowd-sourcing as I am talking about it. And the debate over what we call ourselves and describe what we do? An important discussion, but god I’m bored of it. Sure, we can stomp our feet in protest every time a government ministry engages in a practice we view as disrespectful, but have those that represent us adequately secured the attention of Canada’s federal government, educating and collaborating with them? Not so much. Have regional association chapters stepped in front of the various legislative assemblies in the provinces across Canada? Nope. Have we even reached out to our local boards of trade with the message of the value we bring to business through design? Not to my knowledge. The reality is, the immaturity with which we’re viewed will never go away if all we do is whine about everything among ourselves, resorting to the equivalent of shooting spitballs from the sidelines. And seriously, do you think the best and brightest among us get caught up in discussions about what they call themselves? Or about the quality of typeface choices in James Cameron’s latest movie or how much they love or hate the latest logo designed by Peter Arnell? Of course not. Who cares? Are we artists or are we business strategists? Or perhaps both? Do we really even know anymore? We need to start looking beyond the ivory tower of design. There are more issues at hand than the improper use of Trajan. The Associations Are Failing Designers It’s been an exciting few years in the design industry. But when I look at the broader industry and the leadership within its ranks, I am ashamed. The associations are bursting at the seams with young designers, but there is an embarrassingly low percentage of experienced, successful design professionals among our leadership ranks. For the most part, Canada’s best designers don’t seem to understand the value of membership anymore, let alone feel compelled to step up and volunteer their expertise, intelligence, creativity and influence. In this time of change, made worse by economic uncertainty and the threat of overseas competition (when I was in China last year, there were nearly one million students studying design—one million), we need brave leadership, now more than ever. We don’t need the status quo, and we certainly don’t need to cling to old ways of thinking, trying to rebuild cosmetic meaning in an industry that has fundamentally changed. What we need is unity. Let’s be honest with ourselves, Canada’s national graphic design association isn’t really national at all. Until old differences are set aside and Ontario and Quebec properly join the leadership of this industry, we’re going to be burdened by fractured administration and provincial thinking. If we want to truly make change, we need to quit bickering and navel-gazing, band together and get to work. There are a growing number of professionals in our field who believes that unless our national association radically alters its trajectory, the only answer is to form a new group. This is a risky approach that would mean discarding more than 50 years of history. But this is the design industry; old things die and new things are created in their place. I’m not sure it’s the right path, but at least somebody’s making an effort—and if things don’t change soon, I’ll be right there with them. Designers Are Failing The Associations Most of these well-known designers who have abandoned the associations have elevated themselves beyond the level of merely producing graphics. They’ve acquired business acumen, expanded their professional networks and accumulated significant influence. They’re too busy producing results for their clients to get caught up in issues that don’t seem to relate to them anymore. Few of these successful designers turn their attention, time and energy to leading the Canadian design industry forward. To fix this, there needs to be constant change at the head of our national organization. There should be a number of candidates in the running for leadership positions. No one should be able to park in a position for years on end and win the same spot by default. Change is healthy for an organization, and I would argue it’s required to keep our broader industry evolving and moving forward. We need leaders who won’t get caught up complaining about how little money the association has, but who will set in motion a plan to fix that. We need leaders who not only recognize the importance of getting our message in front of big business and government, but who have the experience doing this already—successfully. We need leaders who have evolved beyond graphic design. So where are these leaders? I suspect that most of the really influential designers in Canada have become distracted by the allure of fame. Many designers who could bring a lot to the table have opted instead to self-promote, pursuing speaking engagements at design conferences and/or publishing books of their ramblings or works, instead of giving back to their industry in its time of need. Many will offer their design services and create posters, reports, even websites for the promotional opportunities, but these often seem more in the service of exposure in their quest to become the next Sagmeister. Good for those who enjoy this kind of professional success and notoriety, but what about those who follow? Who will be their mentors? So this is a call to those who have “arrived” and enjoyed success in their design careers. Instead of merely becoming opinion shapers worshipped by young designers, these leaders should step forward and use their experience, position and influence to create real, positive change. Winners Don’t Make Excuses By now, many of you are probably thinking, “He has a point. If we want things to improve, we need to put in the work. But I just don’t have the time.” Hogwash. This issue has been on my mind a lot lately as I consider my own future as a volunteer leader within the Canadian design community. I too have struggled to find a balance between running my own busy design studio and serving on the executive board of my local design association chapter. I recently posted a thread to Facebook that read, “Why do most of Canada’s best and brightest senior designers refuse to serve their national professional association?” I wasn’t surprised by responses claiming successful designers are busy, sometimes timid and often even elitist, but seriously, give me a break. This is not the time for timidity or elitism. I’m not negating the importance of family commitment or life balance, and we all understand the need to focus time and energy on work itself, but I asked why the upper tier of designers is absent. From my perspective, the people at the top of this game are always busy, but they’re also extremely efficient, tremendous problem solvers and often have deep resources. The responses that resonated most with me were those centred around the confusion about the value of design associations, which seem to be run by the “old guard” (a term that makes me cringe), which has collectively lost a sense of the state of the industry. Many senior designers replied that they have little interest in lending their talents to a community that still calls themselves graphic designers—a term few of those at the top use any more. And finally, some argued that the way the design industry networks and supports itself has changed and become much more fluid, global and instant, using online tools such as Behance, Cargo Collective, LinkedIn, QBN and Motionographer. Fine. Things have changed. We can all sit behind our computer screens and feel a sense of community via our Facebook pages or LinkedIn groups, but that’s not community. We need leadership. We need those who’ve come before us to guide and mentor us by sharing their tricks of the trade. We also need those who are enjoying success in the newer areas of expertise, such as interaction design, user experience design and brand design. They can bring to the table their unique experiences, so those who still think like graphic designers can look at the bigger picture and expand their ideas of what we do. We need winners to put their hands up and say, “It’s my turn—allow me to help out for a while.” Just imagine how many new designers could be inspired to band together as a community if even 10 or 20 influential design leaders stepped forward to compete for a term on the executive board of our national design association? I’m aware that my ideas don’t jibe with everyone’s point of view, but I believe in the power of design. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a coalition of the best of the design industry can bring about radical positive change, once again positioning Canada as the bright North Star of design leadership it once was. To do that, walls need to be broken down, and tough decisions made. It’s time to tell the next generation the truth about the mess we’re leaving them, and work with them to build a better future for us all. Will you join me? [post_title] => Designers, Tear Down These Walls [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => Design is in chaos, and leadership is sorely lacking. It’s time for those with the ability to take the reins of power and haul the industry into the modern world. [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => designers-tear-down-these-walls [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-04-05 15:10:39 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-04-05 22:10:39 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4782 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 1 [filter] => raw ) -->

Designers, Tear Down These Walls

Design is in chaos, and leadership is sorely lacking. It’s time for those with the ability to take the reins of power and haul the industry into the modern world.

Posted by: Mark Busse on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Categories: Articles, Associations, Design | 1 Comment »

When considering design schools in BC, most think first of schools like Emily Carr, Capilano, and Kwantlen. But what about Langara, Vancouver Film School, Malispina (now called Vancouver Island University), The Art Institute of Vancouver, or Vancouver Community College? They may not be the first that come to mind, but each have design programs that may be well suited for you. Though perhaps not at the top of your Google searches, the students and faculty at these lesser-known schools can be as talented and passionate about design education as their counterparts in the bigger schools. Design schools differ in size and location, embrace varying philosophies and program lengths, employ instructors of all kinds with various backgrounds and experience, and range from inexpensive to rather pricey. But which one is for you? Unfortunately, the answer is the all-to-common "it depends". “After finishing my undergraduate degree in Alberta, I was seeking a particular kind of intense, shorter design program with real-world emphasis to take me to that next level,” says VFS Digitial Design student Joshua Michie. “What I didn’t realize until I really investigated and spoke with recent graduates and industry professionals,” says Michie, “was the variance between the programs offered.” There are currently six post-secondary institutions in BC that offer a Bachelors degree in the design field. They include Emily Carr University (Bachelor of Design in Communication Design), Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Bachelor of Applied Design in Graphic Design for Marketing), Thompson Rivers University (Bachelor of Design), Simon Fraser University (Bachelor of Interactive Arts and Technology), Vancouver Island University (Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design), and University of the Fraser Valley (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Extended Minor in Visual Arts). Several other schools, such as Capilano University, Langara College, Malaspina College, The Art Institute of Vancouver, Vancouver Film School, among others, all offer diplomas in various design fields, with a few of them currently restructuring their programs to offer Bachelor degrees in the coming years. Here are a few tips when considering which design school is best for you. 1. Do your homework. Determine which schools work closely with local industry and what efforts they make to get their graduates hired. Do they offer internships, co-ops, or job placement assistance? Do they invite industry advisors to engage with their program? Do they participate with local industry associations? Do they have any real evidence of their success, such as percentage of students who land positions after graduation? Considering the investment you are about to make, any school worth more attention will easily be able to answer yes to all of these questions. But your investigation should not end there. Ask to speak directly with one or two of their top faculty about the program—this could actually have positive results if you enroll at their school too as it says something about you, your process, and how serious you are about your education. Also, consult the Society of Graphic Designers’ website at gdc.net/education, or contact your local chapter’s Education Chair for some perspective and advice. 2. Consider your goals and what you are willing to do to get there. It’s important to consider what your dream job is and work towards that. What credentials will you require to get your foot in the door? There are numerous end results of a design education, with better schools offering Certificates, Diplomas, Bachelor degrees and some Masters degrees (even beyond at some schools, but not in BC). Some schools offer an intense multi-disciplinary education into one or two years, others have programs spanning three years, while the Bachelor degree programs involve a four year commitment. The important thing is to consider where you are now (perhaps you already have an undergraduate degree and experience in the design field), where do you want to go (do you want to be an Art Director or a production designer?), and how much time and money can you commit to your education? It's about fit for you, but do consider that there really is no substitute for a comprehensive education and a field as competitive as design has little room for short-cuts. 3. Seek out a balanced program. There are numerous choices for potential design students in BC, so one way to evaluate a program would be to look at the curriculum and consider how much hands-on studio time is involved. Criticism of some programs include too much theory versus practical, or too much emphasis on the electronic tools of the trade versus creativity, ideation, and the craft aspect (hand skills) of the trade. Some programs stress the importance of art and design history, and so they should, but you also want to find a school that embraces the cultural and technological changes that occur so rapidly these days and is committed to teaching current thinking and practical skills. What you're looking for in a design program is a balance between these elements. 4. Look at the results yourself. Perhaps the best evidence of a school's success and suitability is to evaluate their graduates yourself. Treat it like a design project and evaluate the competitive landscape among the graduates of various programs. Look at designers' websites, portfolios, employers, and see if you can identify any trends among your findings. Which schools produce the students winning the most design competitions, such as GDC's Salazar, Rock, or Graphex Awards? But don’t stop there, identify a couple Art/Creative Directors you admire or design firms you respect (or would like to work for) and pick their brains and ask them where they have hired their best young designers recently. The bonus is that once you make that connection you are on their radar, and that's powerful fuel for a new graduate shopping a shiny new portfolio around looking for work. 5. You get what you pay for. Obviously a key consideration when choosing a design school is cost. We're all restricted by the budgets available to us and often public schools are more affordable compared to private schools. More expensive design programs in BC—intensive year-long programs can be as much as $30,000—include some outstanding programs, opportunities and extras (some schools even provide laptops loaded with software when you enroll). Each school has different facilities and you should investigate what they offer, where they’re located, and what tools you get access to. But remember also that there is more to any particular program than can be reflected by tuition costs, so consider all the other factors above and make your choice knowing you did your homework and understanding what you'll get in return for your investment. 6. Evaluate the vibe. One important aspect of choosing a design program often missed is the culture or “vibe” of the school. Get into their space. Walk the halls, listen to the students talking, check out a grad show. A huge part of your educational experience will be the feeling that the school, program, students—even the space itself—is a good fit for you. Do you sense creativity and passion? Do the students and faculty seem enthusiastic about learning, debating, and exploring design and visual communications? Will you feel excited about going to school each morning? If the answer isn’t yes to those questions, think again. 7. Be ready to fill in the blanks. Obviously choosing a good design school is an important step in your education and career, but remember too that many remarkable designers have emerged from lesser-known design programs. While not an ideal situation, young design students sometimes find themselves enrolled in shorter programs only to realize they are missing key components of their education. The reality is that a designer never really stops learning and the good ones always overcome by filling in the blanks themselves. In many ways, your design education begins the day you leave school and start working as a design apprentice. “This is an industry filled with people that are working their dream job, making it an incredibly competitive industry to break into,” explains Joshua Michie, “I chose VFS because that gave me access to an international network that was connected to some of the biggest players in the industry.” In the end, the most important thing for someone considering a career in the design field is to pick a school you'll be happy with. So, with that in mind, spend the time to do due diligence as you examine your options thoroughly. Be relentless in your investigation of each school. Interview the school as much as they might interview you—but remember that they want you to choose them, so take their answers with a grain of salt and look for real evidence that they provide what you're looking for. Many of the better design schools maintain blogs, student forums, portfolio and grad show pages, social media pages on YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. Check them all out with a keen eye for clues that this is the place you want to be associated with. Seek out the information you need to validate them as your top choice, and then prepare yourself—be it a one year or four year program—there is hard work ahead. Graphic Design Degree Programs in BC (these are changing, so if you know of updates to this list, please add send them to me or post them in the comments below): Emily Carr University Bachelor of Design in Communication Design Bachelor of Design in Industrial Design (includes courses on sustainable design) Kwantlen Polytechnic University Bachelor of Design in Graphic Design in Marketing Simon Fraser University Bachelor of Interactive Arts and Technology Thompson Rivers University Bachelor of Design University of the Fraser Valley Bachelor of Fine Arts. Extended Minor in Visual Arts Vancouver Island University Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design Diploma: Arbutus College, Vancouver The Art Institute of Vancouver Canadian Community College, Abbotsford Capilano University, Vancouver Centre for Arts and Technology, Kelowna College of New Caledonia, Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo North Island College, Courtenay Oxford College, Vancouver Pacific Audio Visual Institute, Vancouver Pacific Design Academy, Victoria PCT, Kamloops Prince George, Prince George Pro-soft Training Institute, Surrey Royal Oak College of Design, Vancouver Selkirk College, Castlegar Surrey College, Surrey Thompson Rivers University, Burnaby Trend College, Kelowna University Canada West, Victoria University of British Columbia, Vancouver VanArts, Vancouver Vancouver Career College, Vancouver Vancouver Film School, Vancouver Certificate: BCIT/Emily Carr Joint Certificate, Burnaby Lasalle College International, Vancouver Northern Lights College, Chetwynd Vancouver Community College, Vancouver [post_title] => Design School Delirium [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => design-school-delirium [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-04-05 15:11:01 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-04-05 22:11:01 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4775 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Design School Delirium

Over the years as a design director, design association executive, and design instructor, I’ve been asked by innumerable potential students about the merits or shortcomings of the various local design schools. It seemed time to put these [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Friday, October 15th, 2010

Categories: Articles, Design, Education, Learning, Tips | No Comments »

Keenly aware that our company is largely defined by its clients and projects, we always evaluate opportunities against a set of criteria that include profit, portfolio, ethics, and fit—but what about optics? At first, this situation felt a little like that which arose when gambling or pornography companies had approached us in the past, leading us to politely decline the work. No matter how you slice it, religion is a touchy topic. Our association with the project could have an impact our own brand, so we had to tread carefully. Once the project was finished, and though proud of the results, members of the Industrial Brand team would hesitate before discussing the Yaaway project, making sure to explain the situation clearly to avoid it being summarily categorized as bible-thumper fodder. Our team members' histories run the gamut of those raised in religious homes of various faiths, to those who are completely secular. We didn't all share our client's beliefs, but didn't oppose them either, and following the completion of our initial assessment process, we were surprised at how quickly we became comfortable with the subject matter. The message was positive, and nobody was being duped. Starting Out: Sunday School To set the stage, the Yaaway team—a group of experienced media professionals—had already spent over a year (and considerable funds) building the framework and technology platform for a large online community, based on media sharing and social networking. The site was much like a mash-up between Facebook and YouTube, but with a difference: each video and post would ideally be centred on personal stories about Jesus. Not necessarily about Christianity, but Jesus himself. The site would be free to join and use, there were no plans for any advertising or revenue streams, and any user would be welcome to participate, regardless of perspective or religious affiliation. You're thinking: “So what’s the catch?” Well, we wondered the same thing, and were suspicious about a business model that didn’t include any plans for revenue. We did our homework and discovered that there really wasn’t a catch. Yaaway was a group that had the foresight to say, “Okay, there are a lot of issues and stereotypes surrounding religion these days. So how do we still get out the message of ‘doing good for your fellow man’, while side-stepping the existing public perception of Christianity?” The answer they came up with was to distill the core messages from the historical teachings of Jesus and avoid getting bogged down by the dogma of organized Christianity. As the project got under way, we realized how unique the creative brief really was. How would we be able to create an identity suitable for a web-savvy community centreed on Jesus’ story and wisdom, while avoiding traditional religious icons? As a group of brand designers with varying perspectives on faith and religion, we were rather intimidated by this unusual situation. At the same time, we were excited by the design challenge to create an identity that expressed Jesus-centric sharing without looking 'churchy'. Like many previous challenging projects, sticking to our proven design methodology lit the way. Meet Jesus: Just a Guy With a Beard As we began digging into the project, we learned that the core of this online community was a unique world view. They called it a 'Spiritual Point of View', focused on the "non-religious life of Jesus, the humble person who transforms people of every social class and culture with a spirit of truth and love." We weren't convinced that you could really separate Jesus from religion. As designers in the branding business, we often toot our horns about building on the existing equity of a brand. This client had the exact opposite problem. It needed to distance itself from the existing brand perception of the Jesus camp—often viewed as right-wing fundamentalists. Beyond the unique portfolio addition this project represented, it was a rare opportunity and challenge. What the Heck is a Yaaway? The name Yaaway is a playful re-interpretation of Yahweh, originally an ancient Hebrew word for God, or "the one". By misspelling the word, our client sought to not only distance itself from a traditional religious word, but create a fun, youthful-sounding, nonsense word like Google or Yahoo. The word also wouldn’t have obvious religious connotations. Another benefit was that the word Yaaway could be purchased as a domain name, which was critical. Early on we uncovered the fact that our client had already invested significantly in the development of the technology behind the online platform, which was being beta-tested online. Yet after more than a year of work on the project, the company had not engaged in any brand strategy or identity design, and had been using a placeholder logomark which was essentially a knock-off of the YouTube logo—a thoughtless contribution by one of its technology developers. This approach was clearly unsuitable as its identity needed to stand apart not only from other religious-based sites, but from the social media/video sharing world. Said the company’s owner, "I feel like we've built a world-class race car without considering the body style or paint job.” [caption id="attachment_4755" align="alignnone" width="436" caption="The original Yaaway logo."][/caption] Seek and Ye Shall Find The goal for the Yaaway website was to create a safe, friendly and welcoming experience about the real Jesus, and not about Christianity. The brand and user experience would have to appeal to a global community of spiritually-motivated and non-denominational visitors pursuing truth and knowledge, and all faiths would be welcome. The core of the site content would be stories and video and, although debate would be encouraged, any antagonistic, irrelevant or inappropriate content—such as the promotion of exclusive religious doctrine—would not be welcome. That said, unlike so many religious websites (and there are many), this site would have virtually no editorial control. The content would be self-organized by the community itself in the spirit of a Wiki, with the founders 'letting it go', for the most part. Content that members enjoyed and valued would be promoted by users through a voting system, while content not viewed as harmonious with the spirit of the site would settle to the bottom, down-voted and nixed by the user community. What Would Jesus Design? An early research step in our process was what we refer to as a Brand Discovery session, essentially a workshop including a series of exercises and games designed to challenge key stakeholders' preconceived notions and assumptions. As with many clients over the years, our Yaaway clients arrived in our studio with ideas of what they wanted to accomplish, who their audience was, and what was needed to achieve their goals. Our first job was to challenge that paradigm, and dig deeper into the situation to reveal more than could be expressed in an initial creative briefing. The workshop culminated in identifying Yaaway’s brand essence and aspirations, and the creation of a visioning statement to provide the core direction for the brand design project. Due to our client's own moderate views on Jesus, we explored the extreme right-wing, church-driven fundamentalist websites, and determined how Yaaway was not that. In fact, one of the more interesting things that emerged during this research phase was that it was far easier to determine what Yaaway was not, which was one of the best ways of determining what it was. This was especially relevant to the project as the identity of the Yaaway community would be largely determined by the users themselves. Plus, this process of discovery made a huge difference to our own acceptance of the client and the project. Personal biases began creeping into our team’s psyche, and as communication designers, it’s critical that we’re able to set aside our own preconceived notions and focus on the goals, needs and audience at the core of the problem before us. However, the topic of Jesus Christ was a difficult one to remain unbiased about, regardless of faith or perspective. The tactic we settled upon was relative to a round-table discussion; one where any issue or query could be aired without judgment, and then settled before approaching the next. After confronting and discussing our biases, we let our process reveal what our assumptions clouded and the identity began to take shape. What Does Your Soul Look Like? As far as branding and identity challenges go, this project had many. In creating the identity, we had to dive deep down into what the site could become well into the future. This invariably led to some interesting and important developments when designing the website itself. Beside the fact that the intended audience was a vast multicultural group made up of various ages, educations and faiths, the client insisted that we avoid direct references to the image of Christ, as well as classic icons of Christianity such as a crucifix, lamb, fish, crown of thorns, etc. The logo and website interface had to look 'Web 2.0' while standing out against sites like YouTube, Facebook, DailyMotion, etc., and it most certainly had to up-stage related competitors such as GodTube, JesusClips, and GospelTube. Further, the site had already gone live as a beta with placeholder graphics and an interface that hadn't fully considered the user experience. We had our work cut out for us. We began by highlighting key words, targeting various graphic elements and iconography, in order to grasp particular themes and ideas. We then cross-referenced the visual language of spirituality (both subtle and blatant), with the vast online social networking meme, seeking inspiration for ways to communicate the concept of non-denominational spiritual dialogue, while avoiding cliché graphics. [caption id="attachment_4756" align="alignnone" width="436" caption="A sample of some of our concept sketches during the design process."][/caption] As community, sharing, connections, and exchange of ideas became central themes, we sketched and explored visual language that included speech balloons and quotation marks as connectors, links, overlapping elements, clusters and video screens. An epiphany came when the speech balloons were arranged to reveal a cross in the negative space—a fortunate point of view as the client didn’t want Yaaway to have any obvious religious or denominational overtones. Another moment of insight came upon reviewing many different styles of quote marks. Arranged in an organic cluster at varied sizes, they suggest abstracted talking heads coming together in their shared dialogue. With some adjustments, that central point of focus became the 'invisible' cross discovered earlier. Custom typography to complement the rounded forms of icon was developed along with a colour system flexible for both print and web environments. This vibrant palette suggests a journey from cold to hot, as from discovery to acceptance, as the ascending quotes reach upwards to a more spiritual focus. Four graphic elements not only provided the minimum for a sense of community, but four elements also serve to represent the four books of the New Testament and the four disciples who wrote their chronicles of Jesus’ life. [caption id="attachment_4757" align="alignnone" width="436" caption="The final logomark, fully realized and addressing the brief, client requirements and target audience."][/caption] As wtih all identity design projects, we ran the final top three logos through a theoretical strainer. Is it readable? Is it relevant? Does the typography resonate with the brand? Elements right down to subtle moods changes affected by colour were scrutinized. The editing process is always one of love and hate; but it’s what takes a logo from good to outstanding. Of couse, final delivery of the brand design included many elements beyond the logo. These included a comprehensive online brand usage guide, complete stationery package, collateral and promotional materials, signage, and the critical interface design for the website. Some of the applications of the new Yaaway identity and web interface: On the 70th day, We Rested Yaaway was a challenging project; one that our team will not soon forget. We are proud that our belief in creative strategy helped us overcome what at first seemed a worrisome project with a challenging brief. This case study will serve as a litmus test and benchmark for future brand identity projects, proving that even when faced with extreme difficulty, our individual talents, combined with our collective faith in the design process, will guide us to effective solutions. We no longer pause before showing off the project, often catching new clients off guard by saying “Can we tell you about Jesus?” But Was the Project a Success? The client was ecstatic with the brand platform and, after several months, re-launched its website, promoting it publicly. The site began to expand daily, with a growing collective of spiritually curious users signing up, engaging in dialogue and up-loading videos. The identity even won industry recognition such as a prestigious Communication Arts Award in the 2009 Design Annual. Then, trouble. It was found that the primary users on the site were Christian—no surprise for us, but a disappointment for the client. Although we were told the site was making good progress, the client suddenly announced that further development of the project was being halted and the core team disbanded. The owner felt compelled to change direction and discontinued his funding. With his original unusual business model lacking a revenue stream, it was no surprise that he ultimately decided to commercially market the technology platform to groups and associations looking to build their own media-based online social networks. Recently the Yaaway.com website itself went offline, surely a disappointment for those who worked so hard on it for two years. But, maybe one day, it will rise from the dead. Click here to view a brief case study in our portfolio or click here to download the longer case study overview as a PDF. [post_title] => Branding The Man They Called Jesus [post_category] => 0 [post_excerpt] => Separating Church and State (of Mind). At some point in our lives, each of us learns the lesson that discussing religion or politics in mixed company can backfire. [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => branding-the-man-they-called-jesus [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2011-04-05 15:11:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2011-04-05 22:11:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://industrialbrand.com/?p=4753 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) -->

Branding The Man They Called Jesus

Separating Church and State (of Mind). At some point in our lives, each of us learns the lesson that discussing religion or politics in mixed company can backfire.

Posted by: Mark Busse on Friday, October 15th, 2010

Categories: Articles, Branding, Industrial Brand, Websites | No Comments »

Graphex 2010 = A Reflection Of Me!

We just received the Call For Entries for Graphex 2010—GDC’s biennial national design awards. The concept is “A Reflection Of The Best Designers In Canada”, so I photographed myself reflected in the shiny mirror postcard [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Categories: Articles | 2 Comments »

Vancouver has a real opportunity to emerge as THE next significant creativity and innovation centre in Canada, yet City Council seems uninterested in supporting efforts to that end. Content, it seems, to leave that role to other cities like Montreal and Toronto—both of which have wonderful design centres. Vancouver has none and it's our turn. There is exciting stuff happening in this city, but no one knows much about it on the other side of them hills. When the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC), in partnership with Icograda, presented an appeal to the City's Mayor and Council seeking support for the Design Week Vancouver international design conference, their polite response was that this globally-promoted event "does not meet criteria as set by City Council," specifically quoting a policy that states:

"That Council not consider financial support, in the form of hospitality grants or otherwise, to conventions being held in Vancouver, sports teams holding championships in Vancouver or to other events of this nature, except in the event that senior City staff, in their professional capacity, are directly involved in the event, and the topic is particularly relevant to the business of the City."

I'm sorry, what? Excuse me, but are they saying that the burgeoning design community coming into its own in Metro Vancouver is not "particularly relevant to the business of the City"? Uh, aren't Electronic Arts, Rainmaker and Bardel major employers in Vancouver? Didn't Disney just set up a Pixar studio here? Aren't some of Canada's most successful advertising studios such as Cossette, DDB and Rethink located in Vancouver? Or brand design firms Identica, Karacters, Fleming, or Karo? Hasn't ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver been selected to host SIGGRAPH's massive international computer graphics conference in 2011—the first time ever outside of the US? Is New Media BC wrong in estimating there to be over 1,100 digital media design companies currently in BC? Aren't schools such as VFS, Capilano, VCC, Emily Carr, SFU, Kwantlen, BCIT, Langara, AI, and Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina) all enjoying tremendous growth in their design programs? All true. I can assure you Mr. Mayor, that the various facets of design, including branding, communications, advertising, web, product, interior, architectural, and game design, are indeed relevant to this region's culture and economy. Very relevant. In fact, the secret to achieving your goal of making Vancouver the greenest city on Earth may very well lie within the design industry itself. Tourism Vancouver seems to see the relevancy, having been a key supporter of Design Week, helping GDC/BC win the original bid last year. BC's Ministry of Housing and Social Development also seem to understand the importance of this event, recently awarding significant funding in support of Design Week. And the BC Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts calls Design Week "an important international cultural and business event, creating an international profile for British Columbia, bringing the global community of designers to Vancouver and reinforcing BC as the international hub for design." In 2008, former Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan wrote a glowing letter of support during the Graphex national design awards, hosted by GDC/BC in Vancouver, saying, "Design is an important part of our everyday life and business, and Vancouver is fortunate to have a thriving creative community." Even Premier Gordon Campbell, infamous for slashing arts & culture funding in BC, wrote "The Province of British Columbia is committed to excellence and innovation in visual arts, media arts and design" in a letter of support of GDC's efforts. Well, Mr. Former Mayor and Mr. Premier, maybe you guys could talk to your buddies back at your old mayoral office and convince them to recognize the value and relevancy of supporting the design community before it's too late. And it really is almost too late. Design Week Vancouver is less than five months away. Vancouver is spending millions on the 2010 Olympics to lure potential business investors, but I believe they are short-sighted and not showcasing the best Vancouver has to offer. The "afterglow" of the Olympics everyone is counting on will have to be founded on something other that just our pretty geography, overpriced real estate, and fancy new sports facilities. What is Vancouver's real "mojo"? Its great appeal? Could it not be our emerging dominance as a creative force so we can be more competitive with the country's existing economic centres to the east? If we truly want to convince companies and investors to shift their attention to Metro Vancouver, then we have to make sure we showcase what Vancouver really stands for post-Olympics. Having recently returned from Beijing, China, I saw first hand what is happening there and frankly it scared me. Many have accused China of overspending on the Olympics in unsustainable ways, but do you think they are sitting on their laurels, hoping the world shows up to do business with them while they're in town touring the Bird's Nest Stadium or Water Cube as a tourist? I assure you they are not. In fact, Beijing just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars hosting the Icograda World Design Congress and 1st Beijing Design Week. There were literally dozens of corporate sponsors, with one print sponsor alone donating $150,000 to be a sponsor of such a prestigious event. They even invited their respected friends from Canada to showcase the best designers at a Graphex 2008 exhibit at Tsinghua University's prestigious Visual Arts Center Gallery—an initiative that GDC paid for out of its own coffers with no support from government or corporate sponsors, although thanks are due to Martin Charron, Senior Trade Commissioner in China from the Embassy of Canada, for generously hosting a packed opening reception. The Beijing World Design Congress opening ceremonies were attended by 2,500 delegates from around the globe, and was held at The National Center for the Performing Arts. The opening of Beijing Design Week was held at the National Art Museum, with over 2,000 witnesses to one of the most impressive ceremonies I've ever attended—all part of their plan to change their reputation from one of "Made in China" to "Designed in China". They are very serious about this folks. Check out this review of their recent conference to get a sense of the scale of their commitment to their design community and its reputation. I spoke at four of the top universities in the country during my visit, and learned that there are hundreds of thousands of students (some say upwards of a million) currently enrolled in design programs across China, and new design studios are opening in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing every day. These will be our competitors very soon. Now, I'm not saying that Vancouver is just like Beijing, but I do fear Vancouver may be putting all its eggs into the Olympics basket and forgetting to invest in an important industry that will help our fine city to flourish. I certainly don't want to live in a city primarily known for hosting overrated, over-budget sports events. BC's economic base has begun shifting away from natural resources as our chief export, and tourism, real estate and finance aren't rock solid economic foundations either—just ask Dubai how it's going for them. Markets are now globalized and continue to evolve at break-neck speeds. In order to compete over the long haul, Vancouver needs to become an economy that values innovation—an economy based on the flow of ideas and imagination. We already have a strong basis for that economy in place in Vancouver, one that's ready to grow, mature and take its place on an international stage, but we cannot do it alone. Without the clear and present support from our municipal, provincial, and federal government, I fear we may be just spinning our wheels, destined to host a lovely little design conference and little more. A conference that will show off how pretty our city is, but also demonstrate how small-minded our City is in terms of supporting design thinking. I'm sure Brisbane and Madrid, the next two Icograda Design Week host cities, will do a terrific job of positioning themselves as world-class design communities thanks to the significant support they are receiving from their city councils and regional governments. We're living in the design age where long-term economic growth is based on creativity and innovation. Having spoken with Mayor Gregor Robertson about this in person, I thought he agreed with me on this point, yet his City Council friends with the purse strings still seem to think that a national design association hosted international design event featuring presentations from some of the most notable design experts on the planet isn't "particularly relevant to the business of the City." Disappointing to say the least. Enough ranting for today. If you have any thoughts on this or any ideas what we can do about it, let me know in the comments below. Or if this bugs you as much as it does me, fire off an email to the Mayor's office and City Council yourself and tell them your thoughts on the matter.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Since posting this personal rant (which is in no way the opinion of GDC or Icograda), The City of Vancouver's economic development arm, appropriately called Vancouver Economic Development Commission (VEDC), has indicated they intend to financially supporting Design Week which is a positive sign indeed and I am encouraged. In no way am I claiming that this post had anything to do with this recent development, but I am happy to eat my words and and update this post to declare Vancouver DOES  support the design industry!

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I Wish Vancouver DOES Supported the Design Industry

IMPORTANT UPDATE – See amendment below for some good news. I love living in Vancouver for a myriad of reasons. The more I travel, the more I realize how good we have it here. But I have to say, as a creative professional who makes his [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Monday, November 30th, 2009

Categories: Articles | 13 Comments »

Following is an email I received from one of the 4th year students at China's Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing:

Hi Mark. My name is Sam, we met at CAFA in Beijing. I was at your lecture. You said something that I didn't quite understand and I hope you can expand a little bit more on it for me. You said that we need to, as visual communicaters, articulate well, write well, spell well. My question is WHY? I'm not sure I understand. Could you just go a little deeper for me? Thanks. Also is there any book, especially ebooks (being in china and not being able to purchase english books and all), that you could reccommend that could help me in my studies? Thanks again.

Wow. I often see the fear in the eyes of young students when I explain the importance of writing to them as a designer, but I must admit this type of reaction always surprises me. Perhaps after 20 years in the business and 12 years running my own design firm, but it seems obvious to me that writing well is a crucial aspect of the business of visual communications. Success in the highly competitive design industry requires it. Unless you fancy yourself an old school graphic designer, our job does not primarily involve drawing beautiful illustrations, picking pretty colours or choosing and setting beautiful typography. Rather, visual communication design is concerned with the creation of ideas and meaning through a variety of means—including words and language to a large degree. I hope all readers of this agree on that point. The business community worldwide uses carefully crafted written communication as a cornerstone of its daily operation. I can't tell you how much time I spend each day writing business emails, proposals, briefs or corresponding with remote clients in writing via Skype or instant messenger. If I didn't write goodly, what would these often well-educated professionals think of me and my company? In my experience, key decision makers (clients) often require clear explanations of strategy and meaning behind our proposed solutions as they often lack the visual language literacy we posses as trained designers. If we truly want to be respected and place designers in corporation boardrooms around the world, we have to use language they understand—at a competency level they're used to. I have found that those designers with superior writing skills are more often those enjoying the highest degree of success. Not do they use writing when developing winning project proposals, but offer this valuable service to their clients alongside visual design and production. Many designers offer illustration or photography as well as graphic design, but being able to write copy and edit content provided by a client is almost expected these days. In terms of self-promotion, writing is a powerful tool when communicating the rationale behind your design solutions in presentations, case studies, and promotional materials. Too often I've seen beautiful (looking) work ruined by poor writing and what would otherwise have been effective portfolios and websites fall flat due to poorly composed written explanations. Furthermore, our communication skills—both verbal and written—are a reflection of our work ethic and professionalism. As clients are most often found within the business community, then isn't it imperative we demonstrate our superiority in an increasingly competitive industry? Having *pretty* looking work in our design portfolio isn't enough anymore—clients want to know about strategy, approach and results. Uh-oh, that means we need to write again. The reality though, is that a talented graphic designer who lacks advanced writing skills need not fail or suffer as long as he recognizes the need for excellent writing and collaborates with an experienced writer who understands design and the project at hand. At very least it's the designer's responsibility to make sure the copy is checked carefully by a competent (and briefed) writer before committing layout designs to production. Just like some communication designers who admit they can't even draw or code, it is possible to enjoy success by partnering with those who can, though I'd argue it's always better if done by the designers directly. While outsourcing to writers is common and often required, it is also the old paradigm and writing should be, in my opinion, a key step in the design process itself. It boils down to this: Words and message are a major part of what we use and deal with every day as communication designers, so we should be experts at using words ourselves—don't you agree? Being a skilled writer isn't as much about being a successful communication designer as it is about just about being a successful professional. Period. If you want to succeed in your career, regardless of the specific trade you specialize in, written and spoken communication will always be important. I worry that so many young designers abandon any interest in composition, grammar, spelling, etc. once they start pursuing visual language. And to be honest, we design educators need to take some responsibility for this too. Design is hard work kidlings. And the business world is glued together by words, not pretty logos. Learn how to write and you will enjoy success. Fail to recognize this and it will hold you back. This whole discussion reminds me of a Canadian designer, GDC colleague and friend, named Eric Karjaluoto of SmashLab, who wrote a good article on this topic called Designers Must Write arguing that being able to write was as important being able to draw—two skills he argues are critical for designers—both taking practice to master and keep up. Eric's writing has become such a large part of his own design practice in recent years that he has just published his first book called Speak Human. Blair Enns, author and founder of Win Without Pitching, has recently been preaching about the merits of writing as a communication designer, claiming that writing makes you smarter and gets you found—especially in the online age. As a respected speaker and consultant to marketing and advertising agencies and design firms around the world, Blair argues in an article on his site called Four Reasons to Write that writing is a powerful differentiator for communication professionals. My response to the Chinese design student Sam was essentially what became this article, and I'm happy to report he fully understood and agreed, even deciding to take this to his teachers to ask them for help in this area. I didn't really have many book suggestions for him, though there are a number of decent options available on Amazon.com as well as some suggestions from Google. I did mention the e-book Writing For Visual Thinkers from PeachPit which seems worth checking out. If you have any recommendations, please add them to the comments below. Oh, one final thought: The international language of business and design is now English—although obviously Chinese is crucial for a Chinese student who pursues a career within China—so correct spelling and grammar in English has become another key factor in presenting yourself as a professional to potential clients and the public. Lucky for those of us who were taught English as our first language, but I have a warning for you all: China is not far behind us. They are all learning English at an early age and they are working hard to become the next global design superpower. There was a lot of talk about the dynasties in China's history while I was there, but when I left, after witnessing an impressive show of support by the Chinese Government for its burgeoning design industry, I felt like I had been present at the dawning of a new era in Chinese history: the beginning of the Design Dynasty. Soon we won't be seeing "Made in China" on products, but rather "Designed in China"—and the writing that accompanies them will be as impeccable as the production quality. [Thanks to tnarik for the photo] [post_title] => I'm a designer, not a writer. WRONG! 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I’m a designer, not a writer. WRONG!

When I was a much younger man studying fine art in university, we spent a lot of time practicing how to interpret and describe artwork, its meaning and how it made us feel. Later, during my business administrations studies, writing essays, [...]

Posted by: Mark Busse on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Categories: Articles | 7 Comments »