Brand Central Station

Here’s something fun to work on if you have a few minutes – and interest in earning a few bucks.

On Friday, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) posted an invitation to contractors to submit designs for a new “Art Works” logo.  You can download your own copy of the RFP off our site or from the NEA’s site.  The open period for questions (best asked after you’ve reviewed the RFP) ends at 5pm (EST) on Wednesday, February 10.  All material must be summited to the NEA for review no later than 5pm (EST) on Friday, February 26, 2010.

To be honest, this release caught my eye because NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman announced the competition at a Miami-area high school for art and architecture and I immediately thought it was a student competition.  I have an 18 year-0ld, aspiring designer and thought it would be a great opportunity for him to stretch his creative muscles and maybe pick up a buck or two.

Then I saw the government’s estimated budget for this project.

$25,000.

For a logo.

Wow.  Talk about your stimulus package.

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My business partner and I are working to save a client from his current web site.  The site he has now looks okay.  It should.  It was designed by an award-winning, graphic designer who knows a lot about designing attractive brochures, annual reports and the like. But she doesn’t know Jack about designing a web site.

Or should I say Jakob. 

Jakob Nielsen, that is.  For those of you who don’t recognize the name, Jakob Nielsen is the “guru” of web page usability as a concept in the design and management of web sites.  And while I’m not a big fan of the look of his web site on the subject, it does put his theories into practice in a clear and obvious way.  Which is, I suppose, the point of web usability in the first place.

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One of the things clients seem to hate is budgeting.  I get it.  Nobody likes to feel they’re the equivalent of somebody else’s Sunday dinner.

Last week, I had a client say to me: “I’m reluctant to give out a number for that project because I don’t want the vendor to keep loading it up with bells and whistles to meet my budget.”  It was a refreshingly candid (and honest) statement.

So in a world of creative smoke and mirrors – where every job seems to be a custom job requiring (at best) “educated” guesses at costs and production timelines; how does an in-house marketing manager get things under control and make sure he or she doesn’t get taken for a ride by an unscrupulous ad agency or design boutique?

Believe it or not, the best process to use for controlling production costs on the client side is very much the same kind of process agencies should be using on their side as well … but more on that later.

The secret to controlling production costs is to take the guesswork out of it. 

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Bill Bernbach may have passed away from leukemia in 1982, but the work produced by DDB under his supervision in the 60′s and 70′s is the epitome of great advertising.  While every student of the business remembers the “Think Small” campaign for VW, we often forget how counter-intuitive VW’s entire positioning was to the automotive market of the day.

This classic ad explains why VW didn’t discount the Beatle the way other car manufacturers slashed prices to move stock each model year.

Politically incorrect – maybe so – but still another in the line of classic VW ads from Bill Bernbach’s book.

Every first-year marketing student learns about the “bandwagon” … it represents a concept of consumer preferece.  A product achieves momentum via perceived popularity.  People see others using a certain product (or uttering a certain catch phrase or espousing a certain idea) and then they start adopting that same product (or slogan or philosophy) for the simple reason that they don’t want to be left behind.

It doesn’t say much for peoples’ ability to make their own, well-reasoned decisions.  But in the world of marketing, the physical concepts of momentum and intertia are very real.

Unfortunately, the bandwagon also rolls through the marketing profession – and every once in a while, it gets really obnoxious.  This year, the marketing concpt we would probably be better off without relates to the economic stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year.

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From Smashing Magazine – a great site for creative inspiration, innovation and information. 

Here’s a look at forty powerful depictions of human emotion.

So why should we link to this?  For the simple reason that communication that motivates consumers, employees and business partners need to find a way to tap into their hearts and minds.  Every bit of advertising, every story you tell, every presentation you make needs to make an emotional connection in order to unseat the preconceived notions held about your product and your competitors’ brands.

Not only that, but these pictures are awesome.

Grabbed this from the FontFeed newsletter.

Wolda, the high-profile, global graphic design competition, just announced the publication of its 2008 printed annual.  Between the covers are the best logos and trademarks designed throughout the world this past year.

So, just how do you determine which logos are the “best in the world”?  As it turns out, there are four key judging criteria:

1. Clear Communication of the key brand message;
2. Originality and Creativity (who said everything had to be subjective, right?);
3. Good Graphic Design;
4. and a Positive Overall Impression.

For businesses and marketers considering a logo re-boot (or if you’re just starting out), these four evaluation points are a great starting point for your own logo project.  But take special note of the first criteria (Clear Communication).  That point presumes, of course, that you have an idea of what you’re supposed to be communicating.

The fact is, whether you’re designing a logo for a new medical practice, a real estate development, a sports team or a new consumer brand – there has to be a message you want the mark and logo to convey.

Take your time to develop that message and make sure it’s true to who you and your brand are before you hire a design team to do the “fun” part.

And one other thing.  Send me your best logo work along with the brand strategy and I’ll post the best to the BCS blog!

See more great logos and trademarks from the Wolda Competition here.

With apologies to the Baha Men … a new viral video for JC Penney from Satchi & Satchi.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F2md4uGmMU]

Hilarious.

Note to self: 

     Things to get the wife for Christmas -

• Abdomisizer
• Dual Bag Vacuum Cleaner
• Extra Ram for her Computer
• New Bathing Suit for Hottie Mother-In-Law
• Mustache Waxer

Man, the Holidays are tough.

Here’s a pretty funny little video about the birth and development of a new idea at your typical ad agency. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoUntrhdfOU]

I pulled this off the NE Creative Blog but I’m not sure where it originated from.  If anyone has any information, please pass it along and I’ll update my post so folks are credited accordingly.

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Bon Secours St. Francis Health System recently launched a new web site – and along with it, a new approach to the residents of Greenville, SC.  The site, aptly named happyingreenville.com, allows users to explore the city of Greenville as well as the health system – learning more about both along the way.

The site, developed by Greenville-based Brains on Fire, along with Grow Interactive, provides a very user-friendly interface for users who may be intimidated by the typical health system home page which offers dozens of links to oceans of information.  By contrast, Happy in Greenville makes it easy to find a doctor, learn more about specific services and indirectly experience how deep BSFHS’s roots go into the community.

Very clever.  Very clean.  Very good.

Special thanks to AdRants for bringing this to our attention.

Sure, JibJab produced Office Max’s new “Elf Yourself” viral (at no charge, according to trade reports), but it’s been done.  The new fun holiday viral comes from the folks at McDonald’s: the coffee ring snowflake.  Users can create their own snowflakes (see the one I made over Thanksgiving) and then have them posted to an online gallery.

Have a great holiday weekend!

When you ask an art director or designer to create a logo, they all seem to have a different way of doing it.  Whether their “method” involves sitting down with a bunch of design annuals and looking at what other people are creating or taking pictures of the client’s “environment” from which they can draw inspiration – everyone has their own method.

This post, by Chuck Green, provides insight into his methodology.  A key observation, though, can be found from this quote:

To my way of thinking, designs emerge from concepts, concepts do not emerge from designs. My goal in creating a logo is, at best, to demonstrate the benefit of using the product or service and at minimum to create a visual symbol of the subject matter.

The value of a well-prepared brief for a creative team – whether they’re working on an advertising campaign, a brochure or an identity – can’t be underestimated for developing a clear position and concepts that are strategically on-target.