One of my favorite new commercials is AT&T’s “Rethink Possible”. According the the New York Times article,

“Selling on price is a pathway to commoditization,” Mr. Passikoff said, which can devalue a brand image. “The only way to get out of that is to have the brand stand for something meaningful to consumers,” he added, like innovation or heritage.

A TV commercial that will help introduce the campaign uses a device of whimsical children’s drawings materializing in the real world to show what can be achieved by defying expectations. “Remember when you were 5,” an announcer asks, “and anything was possible?”

This is a great look into what branding is and shows that a brand is not just your logo, it’s your story, your history, what you’re about and what you stand for.

Enjoy the commercial and “…happy fifth birthday again.”

A few years back, Aids Alabama was trying to grow their organization and re-brand their efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Alabama. I designed this logo which was used throughout all of their communications and was also selected for PRINT Magazine’s Annual Regional Design issue.

AIDS Alabama Identity Design

Seth Godin’s blog posts are gold nuggets of writing that are always relevant to our businesses and sometimes relevant to our everyday lives. His latest post, “Simple five step plan for just about everyone and everything” is one of those nuggets that work for both:

The number of people you need to ask for permission keeps going down:
1. Go, make something happen.

2. Do work you’re proud of.

3. Treat people with respect.

4. Make big promises and keep them.

5. Ship it out the door.
When in doubt, see #1.

One of my clients, FedEx, needed to brand a delivery boat for their location in Venice, Italy. As with all of the branding designs for FedEx I had to make sure the the decal applications would meet the brand guidelines and include all of the information required by FedEx and the local Venice government. While this is pretty standard for any of my FedEx projects, this one had one additional challenge…would the decals remain above water line!

As you can see, I had to consult with the Venice branch and the boat manufacturer to see what the water level would be once the boat was fully loaded and use that as a starting point for the decal application.

Goodson Design application design for FedEx Venice

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love

Billboards should be concise. Make a point in seconds. A billboard usually doesn’t need a phone number, doesn’t need an address, might need a web address (probably not). Here’s a great post on a billboard campaign for an Irish pub:

Garcia’s Irish Pub

A few weeks back I read the story of the poster created by the British government just as war with Germany seemed inevitable. There have been several versions of the poster that others have created including one of my favorites “Get Excited and Make Things.”

One of my best friends, says when things get tough, “Just remember, breathe deeply and drink heavily.” Get yours and take a deep breath.

Here we go, I’m going to give my first piece of advice: if you’re going to hire a designer to do your marketing materials, logo, website, etc, let them do their job. How many times have you taken your car to the mechanic and started telling them how to work on your car? Thing back to your last doctor visit…did you tell your physician how to diagnose you or conduct the exam?

A great designer has years of experience, more than likely has studied in college to learn his art and craft, if very thoughtful when working on a design. A great designer will fully study the options, your competition, and your client/target audience when they begin to develop a design for your organization. Give the designer a brief that describes what you want to achieve with the brochure/logo/website/catalog/etc. and let them do their job.

Too often there is a tendency to micro-manage the design process and to back the designer into a corner with so requirements that they can’t fully vet the design proecess. If you want to dictate every step of the process, you don’t need a designer, you need a production artist.

Here’s what marketing expert Seth Godin had to say about Working with a Great Designer