Research is Beauty

There is more to your brand, print collateral, and Web site than just a few pictures and colorful fonts.

As your design & marketing team sit down with you to establish your business & marketing objectives, your business plan should accompany all of your conversations. Our project profiler is a companion to your marketing plan that includes everything from extracting demographics to highlighting your goals.

I wish I could say that one's logo, brand id, or other creative project results from the 'swish and flick' of my magic wand, but I cannot. As we walk away from the table, our action items embody the research of cultural and social anthropology to effectively articulate your position within the market place. A deliberate use of imagery (color, photos, typography) and verbiage that relates to your customers accomplishes three objectives:

• it strengthens your brand;
• enhances trust; and
• promotes loyalty.

Global brands continue to dominate and cross-pollinate cultures. Social structure, language, law, politics, religion, magic, art, and technology have an intrinsic effect on our perceptions. We must keep in mind that there are complex, traditional ties affiliated with color and typography. For example, a white wedding dress in the states may mean something entirely different in Korea. Our awareness to the inescapable influence our cultures bestow, provide kaleidoscopic interplay and an opportunity to broaden our creative solutions.

Revisiting Andrew's remark on creative thinking: Creativity is not just the process of putting things down on paper; it is also the process of understanding the importance of each mark. Moreover, art direction takes years of life knowledge and experience.

Design Thought Strategy We recognize that you have other tasks on your plate, let us interpret your distinctive positioning within this global landscape.

Making Lemonade out of Lemons

How important is it to make the best of any situation bad or good? Well, it can be very important for your brand to make sure you treat every situation and individual as an opportunity.

Case in point - Yesterday Lisa got a call from someone who we met at the Atlanta Gift Mart. The person who called made the comment that it was obvious we were in the wrong section of the show (we probably should have been in High Design) but were doing our best to make the most of the situation we were in. About day two of the show we started to realize the same thing, but that didn't change the way we treated anyone who came by our booth or who we talked to about how the show went. As a result we have at the very least generated good will among those we met and strengthened our brand in the process.

So remember, it is always important to make the most of every opportunity you have to talk with people, whether they are potential customers or not. You are always representing your brand and you never know when one of them might come back in the future as a customer or potential business partner.

Not in my yard!

When considering functions or tools to be added to your Web site, they must be of value to your audience. If you're not sure, ask yourself, "Would these items annoy me on my worst day?"

Bells and whistles, such as bubbles chasing the cursor around the screen is only one of the huge annoyances to date, as is automatically playing Moon River in daunting midi format. While the coding is out there for one to use, it doesn't mean it is worthwhile. Visualize 100 plastic pink flamingos, now visualize them on your front lawn. Would you have them in your yard?

Design Thought Strategy Do you want the bells and whistles on your site to drive away customers, or would you rather they glide through the call-to-action refreshed and excited to return again?

Defining Your Web Site Audience

The first question you need to ask yourself before developing your Web site is, 'For whom is this Web site?'

If you're not sure whether it's for your customers or your CEO, ask, 'Who primarily will be using this site?' Chances are, your CEO will bow out and claim that he may head to the company's intranet to view happening within the organization, but rarely will he move out to the public site to read.

Your Web site is an online manifestation of your organization and must speak to your customers; it isn't developed through charms and alchemy.

Understanding the call-to-action that your site should provide is imperative to the success of your business. Additionally, the needs of the user should be understood before the site is developed. Is it a news site? Is it an entertainment site? Do you want your customers to reach you for additional products or services?

Perhaps you think you'd like to involve several of the objectives above. Confusing priorities and providing irrelevant information will only overwhelm your customer, causing them to click out of your site and into another.

Design Thought Strategy The bottom-line goal of your Web site should be effortless to your customers. If you don't believe your customers are getting the best experience from your Web site, contact Lisa or Andrew for assistance.

Thought for the Day

Eschew Mediocrity!

Why do I need a branding system if all I really want is a logo?

Excerpt from SAVANTNews

When you think of companies with famous brands chances are that you think of more than just their logo. Take for example: Disney. Everyone knows the Disney logo and their various trademark images (Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc.), but people also recognize Disney properties and products even when they don't have the logo present. They have developed one of the most effective branding systems in the World. From their use of typography and imagery to colors and layout everything they produce says Disney.

This is the purpose of a branding system, to grow recognition of your company and brand through consistent presentation of elements to your customers. While these elements include the logo, they are not limited to it. So you can think of the logo as only one element of the system.

In its most basic form, a branding system consists of the business basics: logo, business card, stationery, business forms, collateral materials and clear usage guidelines. The guidelines set the parameters with which you can use and display the brand and provide guidance for developing new brand elements. New forms, advertisements and brochures are just some examples. The guidelines also outline what colors, fonts and styles can be used in conjunction with the brand as well as acceptable logo alternatives.

The initial stage in developing a branding system is research - lots of research. As a starting point we need to know your mission and get an understanding of the position you wish to hold in your customers mind as well as your competitive landscape. In addition, it is very important to understand who your target audience is and what other brands they use. Through this research we are better able to develop a profile of your company and start pulling out key words and images that can be associated with your business. This in turn leads us to the visual elements that make up your brand and eventually, through creative exploration to a logo and branding system.

This may all sound pretty complicated, and it is, but remember that developing the right logo up front can save you a lot of time and energy and should help make you a familiar name and brand to your customers.

Next article: Just what goes into developing the logo and branding system?

Aha! -Part 1 - Understanding Your Creative CORE

You Do Have a Creative Personality

After taking a brief test, I realize that I embody almost all 45 characteristics of a creative person. This makes me look pretty neurotic. I must be insane admitting this for the world to see, but these result in a creative individual -and I'll take it!

I don't subscribe to the misconceptions and limiting beliefs as outlined in this sub-chapter, which is a benefit to any creative endeavor and lifestyle. Creativity can be learned, logic and creativity can coexist, and producing a masterpiece is definitely subjective - it just matters how well it's been marketed to the masses. I've seen some pretty lame stuff get promoted and excel in the world of mediocrity. So, until you find an ingenious firm to advertise your work, that book of ideas or painting will find itself alone and dust-covered in the attic.

There is power to be creative in many ways. Seven ways are described from verbal/linguistic, mathematical/logic, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal. I realized that I excel in 2/3 of these ways, and definitely find weakness in a few others. I also acknowledge my weakness(es) and don't allow them to undermine my abilities -that's key. I ask for help where needed and still can't remember how to measure the time and distance of two oncoming trains. I'll just bring out my crayons to color the pie charts.

Most importantly, we need to own our creativity and in order to do so, Jordan points out four fundamental elements of the creative spirit. Hence C.O.R.E.: Curiosity, Openness, Risk, Energy. The understanding of these leads into a mini workshop to chart your comfort zone. If you never really understood 'thinking out of the box' he certainly defines it here -charts & all!

In the end, this establishes a nexus relationship between your creative spirit and the 10 strategies previously discussed.

Creative Mind Asks: Who are the risk takers in your life and how did they overcome the concerns you have? Additionally, what methods do you use to enhance your energy?

Revenge of the Right Brain

WiredMag - Logical and precise, left-brain thinking gave us the Information Age. Now comes the Conceptual Age - ruled by artistry, empathy, and emotion.

A new book by Daniel H. Pink, Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age discusses the impending change on the horizon.

Linear, logical, analytical talents are still necessary, but no longer sufficient. The seismic shift is ending the Information age and begins the Conceptual Age. Those of us who have mastered the abilities that were often overlooked and undervalued will now see that shift in the 'right' direction.

Goodbye to the rules, routines, and instructions, hello high concept!

After reading this adapatation, perhaps we'd all better get back to completing the exercises within Aha!

Hey, where have we been lately?

Ok, so we’ve been a little busy. Between catching up with our customers over the holidays, our ongoing search for new knowledge on ways to help our clients and transitioning our SAVANTNewsletter into SAVANTBlog, we've also been knee deep in self-promotion. As some of you may know, Lisa has been inspired to create and develop a line of pen & ink calligraphic gestures of pets – available under the CalligraphyPets brand - that were initially available in original limited editions, prints, greeting cards and assorted gifts. Since their introduction, the CalligraphyPets have been featured in several industry magazines – including multiple times in one of the largest – and are gaining a following across the United States and Canada. Additionally, in January we attended our first tradeshow on behalf of the CalligraphyPets: The Atlanta Int'l Gift Show at the Atlanta Market.

Luckily for us – and you - Andrew has loads of experience planning and managing tradeshows in his career. If you are considering having your business participate in a show or two, and don’t know how tradeshows work, please contact us as we'll be happy to help you plan your foray into the world of tradeshow exhibition. Warning: They can be very daunting if you’ve never done them before.

Meanwhile, we are receiving a great deal of interest from licensing agencies who want more from Lisa as a designer and illustrator. This has forced the executives at ECS|DC to do a little restructuring to the businesses we oversee, including the CalligraphyPets brand, and reposition them under a new umbrella: EC Stewart Designs, Inc. The new structure allows us to support our ECS|DC clients as effectively as ever while managing the CalligraphyPets and all subsequent illustration work under the heading of EC Stewart Collections as we expand our business on the licensing side of the house.

What does this mean for you? Not to worry, we aren't going anywhere. We enjoy working with our clients and helping them grow their emerging businesses and will continue to assist you in your design and marketing endeavors.

1840s Entrepreneur

Did you know...

Esther Howland, the woman who produced the first commercial American valentines in the 1840s, sold a then mind-boggling $5,000 in cards during her first year of business?

Moreover, Ester was in her late teens or early 20s when this happened. She eventually grew the business to gross over $100,000 annually!

Let's hear it for women!!

Happy St. Valentine's Day, y'all!

Creative Thinking vs Productivity

Beware of the time when the ten minutes you spend typing up something becomes more important to your employer than the 90 minutes you spent thinking it up and organizing the thoughts in your head.

Creativity is not just the process of putting things down on paper; it is also the process of understanding the importance of each mark.

Technicolor Worlds: Pleasantville in the Office

Lisa came up with this one a while back, but I think it is one of the best business analogies I've heard in a long time. Remember the movie Pleasantville where in the beginning everyone in town was living in their own secure, perfect world. Never changing from day to day, with little perspective beyond the edge of town and with very little desire to see what was over the next hill. Well how many of us work in companies that have a similar feeling. They use the past to define the present and have very little vision for the future, other than re-doing the same programs and projects that they have always done. Afterall these have always been successful.

Unfortunately, for them, the world is not a black and white place. It evolves and changes in sometimes unpredictable ways that can dismay people who live in their black and white worlds. To help companies get out of this rut you need to bring in some color. Different perspectives, new ways of doing things, outside-in thinking and disruption of the norm can all lead to a technicolor breakthrough.

In Pleasantville it took some new characters with different perspectives to bring color into their world. Can you bring color to your black and white world? Sure you can. Read, listen and learn. Attend conferences, meet outside experts and bring them in to talk with people in your company. Find examples of best practices from other companies and pin them up on your walls, doors or in hallways. Pass articles out at staff meetings. Finally, look for the people in your organization who are already in color and work together to make more of your organization glow in technicolor.

If you work in a stagnant environment make this one of your objectives: Bring Technicolor perspective to your Black and White World! Start today.

Flower Power

Our favorite business guru, Tom Peters, 'gets it.' He's talking about the businesses he discovers on his travels where floral displays 'Lovemarks' are in glorious abundance. Chicago, Lisbon, Bangkok.

Being inspired by flowers on a daily basis, my husband surprises me every now and then with a bouquet and last night was no exception. Two dozen lavendar that just happen to resonate in his sweetspot: nuances from our wedding. *smile* He confessed that he found some speckled roses that were just wild but they were 'almost' opened. Buying something because it's cool is worthwhile and if we were to mix the two -it may just give lavendar some punch & spice!

A commentary on our business? Darn straight. This kind of experimentation begets punch & spice into your projects. If you don't see something a little out of the ordinary when it comes to our business process or results, then we're doing something wrong.

Creative Mind Tells All that the 2 dozen lavendar roses were purchased at Sam's Club for only $24. Far cheaper during this holiday rush.

Aha! -Part 1 - Understanding Your Creative CORE

Rekindling Your Creative Power

After a creativity test, results show that the loss of originality is profound. Adults maintain only 2% of originality where as children under the age of 7 conserve at least 20%. I'm ready to hang with those under the age of 5, they've got a shot at keeping 90% of their originality.

All is not lost, Jordan has outlined 10 strategies for rekindling the creative power. My scoreboard shows that I've achieved 5 daily strategies for creative living. I guess five out of ten ain't bad.

I've combined #4, #6, #10 by joining an artistamp group. I've lurked for the past couple of months but decided to jump in and create my first stamp. Okay, call me an overachiever, I had to create a card to on which the stamp is displayed. I didn't have enough time to create a series of stamps, as the theme lended, but one is a good start.

Additional components of this overachiever include:

*Contacting the director of this group to assign a personal AML#, mine happens to be #223.
*Personally create a fictitious 'Issuing Authority' and 'Issuing Country'. I am Countess Phaedrus de la Felidae Isle (Protectorate of Baccharoo) and my issuing authority is the Felidae Noir Poste.
*I will soon have my own authentic mail cancel stamp with my real zip code. Details forthcoming.

Meanwhile, let's revisit Jordan's top 10 strategies. The first: 'Connect with people' Currently, it's a bit difficult since I work alone in my studio.

Creative Mind Asks: Are there any other creatives out there who need to get out and meet over coffee to discuss the creative course? Perhaps take periodic field trips to invigorate the senses? Contact me and we'll talk!

No Official Openings, No Official Invitations

16 Days of Unadulterated Christo : The Gates


If there is one thing I wish I had right now within the next two weeks, is the time to take my husband on a St. Valentine's Day trip to NYC. Aside from the fact that we enjoy the frenetic energy on a quarterly basis to re-energize our batteries, we're both also huge fans of the artist Christo whose work will be realized for only 16 days in Central Park.

Partial Artist Statement
"...The Gates will be a golden ceiling creating warm shadows. When seen from the buildings surrounding Central Park, The Gates will seem like a golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees and will highlight the shape of the footpaths."

I can only imagine the experience of color, repetition, gestalt, sound of the fabric in mid-air, thwacking against steel posts echoing in my ears... (*sigh*)

I lament...

Creative Mind Asks: What does the gold wind swept fabric composition look like to you?

Book Review: Aha!

After Andrew's brief respite participating in Tom Peter's Summit in December, he made many wonderful contacts -namely authors. Every other day, we are bequeathed with another packaged book sent forth by request. I'll phone him at his new Mistress, to announce the box labelled with his name and pleading ask if I might be so lucky to open it and read any notes enclosed by his new friend.

Recently, we've received, Aha! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas by Jordan Ayan.

Some have found this personal growth manual to be inspirational and practical, a guidebook for freeing the creative spirit. Well, I'm always looking for a psychometric meter for self-assessment -specially one that measures just how creative I am. I need to be after all, I am your designer.

Bylined by Roger Von Oech, one of my all time favorite creative author of Kick in the Seat of Your Pants was introduced to me back in college. I love the illustrations within and principles to keep your mind moving along the track of discovery.

My thoughts are to journal what I've read, chapter-by-chapter, and go thru the exercises set forth and assess just how I measure up to the gurus who write this stuff. It might be revealing to the both of us.

Stay tuned...

Why Focus Groups are Imperative

One would think I am ransacking the net for the strange and bizarre. However, it just seems to be my lifestyle to point these things out while others believe certain products and beliefs 'just exist without question.' It's a designer's creed to create and understand optical illusions in pursuit of the client's final product.

Here is the classic example of an optical illusion. Do you see a young woman or an old lady? Bonus point if you see both.



Now, I have to ask, do these cheese spreaders look like mice to you...
or do they look like mini members of the KKK?

The reinforcment of this illusion is that the product is large and faded against the stark white background, while appearing to loom over the landscape like a cross on a landscape. Moreover, the contrived product with rounded arms seems like a friendly introduction for a KKK larve playground.

If you're new to the world of entrepreneurship or you're introducing a new product line, be sure to have your marketing team run a focus group on the intrepretation of your branding and the product itself. If the cheese spreaders were your product, you'll want to make sure you know your demographic, otherwise you may just experience a flaming mouse through your front window.