You’ve got your business “Big Idea”! Excellent, now where do you go? Creating a new product, real estate development, or commercial business is an exciting, intense project. There are many moving parts that require scrutiny and attention to detail. One of these is determining branding and market strategy. One of the first steps is determining what you are...
It seems that brand identities have tipped the scales towards what is termed as 2.0 design. Perhaps I am aging myself again, but “back in my day” certain restrictions and processes had to be factored in when creating logos. How does it look on 2 colour printing? How does it work in reverse applications? Can it Fax?...
Recently, The Huffington Post - an online news site recently purchased by AOL - has joined the latest trend of crowdsourcing creative work with their “Huffington Post Politics Icon Competition.” It seems that the final straw has been drawn on large corporations seeking free work. When a company like AOL spends $315 Million to buy your company,...
Picture this: a quick trip to the local grocery market. Grabbing a few bananas here, a carton of milk there, you make a bee-line to the checkout by cutting down the cereal aisle. What ensues is a sensory overload. Colourful, cartoon-character toting boxes of sugar cranked cereals vie for your attention as you battle through. Now....
I heard some comforting news this week. SunChips Canada has decided to keep their eco-friendly, biodegradable bags in circulation. Even after much heated debate about the bags being too noisy which has caused the US brand to ditch the green bags. Instead of returning to the original, land-filling packaging, SunChips has decided stand up to the naysayers...
It seems that nowadays it is difficult to get away from lumbering zombies. After years of being in the shadow of the vampire (pun intended) it appears that the undead have found themselves in a social revival. There have been a surge of zombie sightings recently. From Hollywood flicks to video game to TV commercials, you...
The latest buzzword. Wikipedia’s definition: the study of ethics in the marketplace. For years now, companies have been working hard to "Go Green" (it's almost business suicide not to). What started out as company one-upper, has quickly become an expectation from consumable-conscious consumers. Purchase decisions are no longer just based on price comparison, or calorie intake...
Perception vs. Reality. For years Hollywood has done a great job of portraying ad agencies as glorified frat parties, filled with designers lounging on couches with glamorous women, or playing foosball while mixing their micro-brewery beers with bowls of uppers/downers that can be found at the reception desk. Gone are the days of 3 martini lunches and...
Some things should never be changed. Kraft Foods has made some changes to the Australian icon, Vegemite. Sacrilegious! Besides an attempt to try to modernize something that I recognize to be as Aussie as kangaroos and boomerangs, Kraft opened up the naming of the new Vegemite to consumers via social media. Social Media has pounced on the...
I did a bit of dabbling on YouTube and found some fantastic old commercials. Most of them are from the age of innocence and naiveté. Back when smoking was sexy and endorsed by everybody. Who would have thought that having a creepy Ronald McDonald, waterskiing while smoking, or having Barney Rubble smoking would be a logical...
