Increasingly A Blur - 02/07

Each February we spotlight the few companies and vendors that are truly graphic designer-friendly. Here is why... “Man is a tool-using animal,” wrote the essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle. “Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.” A bit hyperbolic, perhaps, but it is the driving sentiment behind our annual roundup of 100 designer-friendly companies. The companies are, to be sure, important purveyors of tools and technologies that help graphic designers succeed in a world where the line between creative and production is increasingly blurred. But they are also the rare birds who understand the creative mind (to the extent that understanding it is possible), who support the creative community with education, information and resources, and who aspire to combine traditional values with state-of-the-art solutions. Deep relationships with suppliers are more vital than ever, and our special roundup is an appreciative bow to that reality. That said, let's not get crazy, since the human brain is the transcendent tool. Said Nobel Peace Prize-winner Christian L. Lange, “Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master.”

Overextended - 02/07

I am a brand identity firm groupie. I admit it. Ever since I met the folks at Landor Associates, Anspach Grossman Portugal and Lippincott & Margulies while cutting my teeth as a Graphic Design USA freelancer in the late 80s, I have been starry-eyed about the capacity of brand strategists and identity designers to meld a product, an image and an era into a successful outcome. These are my favorite kinds of stories, and I always give branding projects the benefit of the doubt, assuming they result from careful analysis, intellectual and emotional intelligence and, where appropriate, empirical testing. But today... the thrill is gone, my presumptions no longer valid, the dream denied. All because of the new TippingSprung survey of brand extensions, their third such annual exercise, done in conjunction with Brandweek. True, the survey notes a few elegant and natural brand extensions, but it also casts a cold eye on some real stinkers: Cheetos lip balm. Salvador Dali deodorant sticks. Diesel Jeans wine. SpongeBob Squarepants organic edamame. Willie Nelson Biodiesel Fuel. LiveStrong (Lance Armstrong) mutual funds. What genius came up with Play-Doh perfume and Daytona 500 fragrances? Or Jimi Hendrix vodka. You can’t make that stuff up; you just can’t. The thunderbolt of recognition has affected in me in two ways. First, I now see branding people as human beings with the same frailties as you and I, not as the gods they once appeared to be. Second, I am starting to lose confidence in our own brand extension plans: GDUSA barbecue sauce, the GDUSA body and bath collection, GDUSA pet apparel. Even the GDUSA aftermarket auto parts franchises now seem questionable. Disturbing, very disturbing.