My obsession with designers continues

I have had an obsession with designers for a while. As I guess I see them as a much better problem solvers than people in the marketing or even advertising community pretend to be. I guess its all getting a little bit muddled up in terms of who does what now. But I just love the way they work and how they attack problems.
So here is an interesting list of 13 things on how to make things happen from well known designer Michael Bierut from Pentagram went through at the Behance 99. Some great things in there that I have stolen previously. But also a couple of great simple ones that I will steal this time. Check out the article on fast company.

1. Keep a notebook. Bierut started this practice in 1992, and now has 86 of the things. But they're not some fancy Moleskins full of lush watercolor sketches. They're plain vanilla notebooks, filled with, well, notes and the occasional sketch. They seem to work as well as the high-priced spread.

2. Listen first, then design. Actually, you don't have to be a designer to take this advice. If you're selling office paper at Dunder Mifflin, or pitching an account at Sterling Cooper, listening is still a good way to get a project off on the right foot.

3. Don't avoid the obvious. The obvious can be your best friend. There are few new ideas, folks. Mostly just better iterations of the old ones. Trying to reinvent the wheel too often just results in a lot of wheel spinning.

4. The problem contains the solution. Read the brief or the specs, or actually pay attention to your notes from the client meeting (see #1, above.) Often, the solution is right there.

5. Indulge your obsessions. They're passion made tangible.

6. Love is the answer. There are worse things than leading with your heart. As Bierut has proven, you'll often be successful, do great work, and probably make money. And you'll likely be happy.

Here's a final round-up of other big ideas from the conference that may help you get from inspiration to action:

7. Don't let the urgent demands of today always subvert your plans for tomorrow.Scott Belsky, CEO, Behance In other words, don't let the often trivial demands of an overflowing inbox consistently distract you from the more important items on your to-do list. Along those lines, keep two lists: one of daily tasks, the other of longer term projects with specific action items attached. -

8. Don't underestimate the importance of staying organized. Chaos subverts progress. Creativity x organization = impact - Belsky

9. Hang around people who are passionate about things. Their enthusiasm will rub off on you. Whom you hang out with really matters. - Jason Randal, theorist on developing expertise

10. Hire the best lawyers. "I've met many people who run billion-dollar companies. They aren't that smart. They hire good lawyers. It's one of the things that made this project happen." Robert Hammond, Co-founder, Friends of the High Line.

11. Share ideas liberally. If you share quickly, you'll be more accountable. - Belsky

12. Surround yourself with people who motivate you, and write things down. Something as large as a presidential campaign was done simply by checking items off a to-do list. - Scott Thomas, design director, Obama for America

13. Nothing trumps hard work. "Many successful people don't want to talk about how hard they work. Even when you've made it, you've got to keep working." - Jill Greenberg, photographer

Are brands overated ?

Someone asked this question over at one of my favourite magazines. Fastcompany. This is the response I wrote

Great question. I am going to look at it with two hats on.

First hat: someone sells branding to clients
From this perspective I always tell clients you are living in a world of product parity. If any of you have seen the movie Paycheck with Ben Affleck where he is a reverse engineer or the clip of Borat in the US asking a store manager about cheese, you will see what I am talking about. The products are very similar if not the same. In the UK the supermarket brands products are often made by the branded products manufacturer. So no difference. But what you sell is an emotional connection .... not a product function. Nike sell that you are going to be a better athlete.... not that their shoes are better. They have taken this even further by giving you greater tools to do it with Nikeplus, tie ins with iPod, technology etc. Brillant. But what is the real difference in the shoes. I would argue there are better functional shoes for running on the market. But I would buy Nike.
Hat two: the angle from of a person buying into brands.
With a huge strive for people to identify themselves, brands act as scrapbook in the search for their social identity. Kids are all over social networks like myspace/bebo because it gives them an opportunity to express who they think they might want to be(research I have seen shows they dont quite know yet. People in their early 20's are trying to show people who they think they are). Brands do that across all ages..... and help people link with communities of likeminded people. People link with likeminded people everywhere, sports clubs, hobbies now online... so seeing a commonality in the brands people use is also becoming bigger. I wear this shirt or those jeans...and look some of my friends do as well. Look at Harley Davidson riders, or Mac Computer users(before the iPod)... or people waving to VW Beetle or Mini drivers waving to each other.
Where its now getting really interesting is the growth of mass inclusive brands like amazon, ebay etc. Which are built from the mass collective of people. Not because of a big company did a great marketing campaign that everyone liked. Take my relationship with Fast Company. I sat waiting for a friend in his agency once in Australia and started reading it. A friend that worked there, who I respect raved on about how great it was. I started reading it regularly and loved it. I aspired to be an entreprenaurial, innovative, leader with great management techniques and understanding of technology. I shared it with my friends who are simialr to me. I hang out and write here because I want to be with likeminded people which fast company has brought me online.

Now the best bit is trying to show the old brands how to do it in the new way.

Heres my notes on some of it here

http://thingsdonotchangewechange.blogspot.com

thanks for the great post

Minority Report Technology is REAL....

I so want one of these...... Got this video over at Fast Company

I hear Apple are bringing out touch screens on their laptops soon or maybe I just made that up off the back of some information about the new Nano technology. I cant remember... I do want one though