Forgive my random notes from Seek Design Conference, but there are some good tidbits in here.
Strategy takes away much of the subjectivity of design.
Logos are symbols of what lie beneath.
Common vocabulary does not always mean the same thing.
There were 22 interviews of what the word "brand" meant and 22 definitions.
Brand is about belonging to a certain tribe.
...an emotional experience with the consumer.
Great brands are on a mission. They know where they're going.
Brands are literally stories.
Henry Ford on market research at the turn of the 20th century... "if i asked people what better transportation would be, they would say a faster horse." They wouldn't know what they want.
We should go into situations, communities and start looking for problems.
Brands can help us feel more connected. Not happier. But they can make us feel better about ourselves.
Designers can design the future. They should start their own brands and own businesses and change the world.
Authenticity is everything.
Some will like it. Some will not. And that's the way it goes.
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt
The image/images tell the story. Let the reader read through the images.
Insights - take the guesswork out of what you do.
Who is the the audience? What are users doing at the site? What are the expectations of the user? How do those expectations vary by segment? what are their perceptions of the brand/product How do those perceptions align with the sites tone and.design?
Consider a journal like approach with people. Follow them for a day to see how they interact with content.
Last weekend we (Brian, Tyler and I) had the honor of hosting Rue Royale (whaaaaaat????) at our apartment. Nate and Mere asked if we would consider hosting it a few weeks back and to be honest I thought it was an extreme long shot since I was at a design conference in DeKalb all day. But, lo and behold Brian took off work, the neighbors approved and it worked out splendid.
It still kind of blows my mind that we hosted Brookln and Ruth at our place in Bloomington. Anyway, special thanks to Mere, Lindsay and Natalie for being "superfans" and letting me in on this musical treasure. Here's a clip from last weekend, and a few links to my top two songs:
One of my favorite things about Simantel is the fact that they're all about continued education...at work. So many different lunch and learns and ideas flowing in our creative meetings. I honestly don't know if I've ever been in such a stage of humility and learning before (even beyond design for that matter).
Anyway, the newest thing I've been learning about are Mood Boards:
"A mood board is a type of design that may consist of images, text, and samples of photos in a single composition."
They've been super helpful for me as a designer to flesh out what the overall look and feel for certain projects will be before diving deep into a campaign. It also helps take different mediums into mind from the beginning stage so you're not just creating a print ad or logo without web and interactive in mind. I'm posting one that I finished tonight for Mercy International. I loved that I was able to do the logo and pretty much have free reign with the rest of it. (website and videos to follow hopefully!)
P.S. the bottom row of photos are copyright of Esther Havens. They're just in there as placeholders for now.
I love how the simplest words, expressions, acts, music, objects, smells (you get the point) can inspire so profoundly. The simple somehow becomes supernatural. I find myself in these places every so often--but don't very often write about it. A few weeks ago it was a place of worship and reflection with music. A few days ago, I was by myself at Starbucks in Springfield and a little boy was laughing and running around in circles as I was trying to sit down with my coffee and oatmeal. The dad was taking delight in watching his kid do this over and over until he saw that I was coming his way. The dad's expression immediately turned to parental control mode as his voice grew stern and motioned towards having his son get out of my way because it was the polite thing to do. Play time was over. At least until I passed. I had a few choices: give the dad a quick head nod in approval for taking control of his kid and proceed to my seat, don't acknowledge either of them or simply smile at the boy and dad to proceed in running around--because that's what little kids do (which is what I did). When the dad saw me do that, he immediately had a huge smile on his face and let his kid do his thing again. It was a simple act but it reminded me to not lose sight of the impact of those interactions. I'm not telling you to smile at everyone and tell you about the power behind a smile. I am, however, excited about what God does through simple acts. Whether it's starting a conversation at the store, paying for someone's meal--whether or not they're poor, giving someone a ride, listening to a story that seems like it's going nowhere, giving a compliment to someone, asking a question you normally wouldn't or simply smiling... it has the ability to become supernatural. As in, God often uses the simple to open up the doors to the deep. When Audrey and I bought groceries for a woman in Riverton last winter, naturally, it shouldn't have made her break down and cry and confess to us that she had given up on God and told Him that she no longer believed a few days earlier. But it did. When I was talking to my friend Ben tonight and got a mental picture of him on a teeter-totter (weird, I know)... I hesitantly asked him if he liked teeter totters on the playground and he mentioned he did and that he was just on one this past Sunday. Crazy. That led into much deeper conversation and a place we probably wouldn't have gone had that simple question not been asked.
Even Jesus' greatest commandment was to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Simple and supernatural. Oswald Chambers said it best: "God is supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural."
OK, now I'm doing a complete backtrack to the beginning of the post where I talked about music. This song has been pretty moving. It's "Find My Own Flame" by United Pursuit Band. Since I'm pretty easy-going, I can make decisions or act a certain way based on what other people think and lately I've been praying for a passion that comes directly from God--not people. And I love it. When you have your own passion/inspiration/vision it's different. You just know that it's going somewhere because deep down inside you believe in it. And these past few months I feel like I'm really getting to know Jesus, not church or a conference or a message, but Jesus himself. Here are the lyrics to the song (such a simple song...which leads to you know what): I don't want to ride on somebody else's passion
I don't want to find that I'm just dry bones
I want to burn with unquenchable fire
Help me find my own flame
Help me find my own fire
I want the real thing
I want Your burning desire
Do what only You can do
In my heart tonight,
There's no better time
There's no better time
There's no better time
There's no better timeDeep down inside see it coming alive
I'm still very much still mulling over the things I heard and experienced at STORY11 but I have a deep feeling welling up inside of me that profound movements are going to happen in this season of my life. I really believe that. I'll share more here when I figure that out.
Until then, enjoy some Ascend the Hill, who is helping me enter into reflection and thought this afternoon.
I read these the other day and was moved:
• Pray unceasingly
• Give sacrificially
• Dream unreasonably
• Serve wholeheartedly
• Love unashamedly
• Walk innocently
• Believe undoubtingly
• Live powerfully
These are all of the qualities of the Church (what she should be). She is called to be the most creative force on the face of the earth. Therefore, we must not allow ourselves to become known for our boxes–that is, famous for what we don't do because of all our righteous constrictions. Religion can conform the most righteous, reigning saints into mindless zombies, puppets repeating someone else's convictions they don't even understand themselves.
I'm writing these characteristics, these TRUTHS down so that I'll remember and challenge myself and others to walk in them daily.
Here's one of my latest pieces, a TV spot for one of our clients. It was pretty cool being involved in the storyboarding process (something I hadn't done much of before) and feeling a part of the end result. In the past I felt like I had just designed a few titles and let other people determine the script and direction. We wanted that Ford F150 commercial feel to this and wanted to stick to just type with a few supporting visuals. I think it stands out.
