“Often the identity of an organization that has many subsets can best be brought to life by the use of its supportive materials within the systems (promotion pieces, packaging, websites, signs, merchandising materials). This is an especially effective methodology because it can allow for a logo or identity system to gain resonance and recognition over time in connection to materials that are capable of being far more expressive than logos. For example the Nike logo, which has evolved over time into its current form, became a powerful symbol to the masses because of its effective use in advertising campaigns. The “cool” of the logo happened in connection to some brilliant campaigns by Wieden & Kennedy, and the effective positioning of the mark on merchandising materials. As pure form, if the “swoosh” appeared alone in a design school critique (or on a design blog) it would most likely have been dismissed as too thin, weak, and pointy, looking like a checkmark and not really conveying motion.”

Via Paula Scher’s article What they don’t teach you in design school, on IdentityWorks.com.

A lot of other sites have reviewed this movie far more eloquently than I could, and I’m sure I wouldn’t be adding much to the praise already given to this short film. Publisher of Adrants and film participant Steve Hall summarizes:

“Lemonade is a 40 minute documentary about how people changed their lives for the better after having been laid off. In the film 16 people, including yours truly, tell their individual stories. There’s the guy who got laid off and posed nude Burt Reynolds-style to find a new job. There’s the woman who lost her job and launched a yoga business. There’s the guy who went to an interview and ended up in a truth campaign commercial. There’s the guy who lost his job and decided to change his gender. And there’s the guy who lost his job, got colon cancer and started a little blog called Adrants.

Each story is unique. Each story is heart warming. Each story illustrates the fact there is life after the pink slip.”

Before we get to the movie links: if you’re a creative-type like me currently looking for work, be sure to check out Please Feed the Animals. You can create a profile, search job listings, and read a blog chock-full of useful information. Film (and PFTA) creator Eric Prolux points out some ways that you can support Lemonade.

Watch the trailer here:

Catch the full version on Hulu here (not sure how long it will be available).

The story is inspiring to anyone watching- if you’re currently employed, or recently-separated from your job, you’ll find something valuable to take away from the film.

Me? I made some posters based on some of the quotes in the film (after the jump):

Continue Reading…

Featured on the HOW Blog, here’s my submission to their HOW Conference sticker contest:

As I mentioned last June, I was fortunate enough to attend my first HOW Conference in Austin, TX, and I can’t say enough good things about my trip. I met some great people, attended several informative (and relevant) seminars, and returned back with a wealth of new information and skills!

If you’re a designer (or marketing professional) on the fence about whether or not you should go, spend the money and go- it’s worth it!

“Thank you!” to the folks at the HOW Blog who were nice enough to publish my submission.

The Concrete Goals Tracker, developed by David Seah, is a helpful form that helps you track the work you’ve done over the course of a week. Available in multiple sizes for printing or as an Excel spreadsheet, this form will help you get your productivity back on track. David writes:

“As you accomplish various goal-related items throughout the day, fill in the appropriate bubble to log the points. At the end of the day, you will see how well you did (or didn’t). Each CGT form tracks an entire week, so you will see how you did every day, and week-by-week… and most importantly, what you did to move yourself along your path. Since the items on the task list award points only for tangible results, you will have made actual progress.”

Via Lifehacker and David Seah.

According to Steve Rubel, it’s become easier than ever to implement data-driven tools into your daily life.

“Self-tracking goes beyond just capture, though. You need to use the data to glean insights. Google Spreadsheets has a great way to do this with their gadgets. You can even set up forms for to make capturing the data even easier. For more on this topic, read Chris Brogan’s “three words,” Flowing Data and The Quantified Self. Other tools to look at include 23andMe, Nike Plus, Evernote and a host of others.”

Via SteveRubel.com. Check out Flowing Data for some of 2009’s best data visualization projects, too.

“The government is telling us that the economic stimulus is working and the recession is over. But you wouldn’t know it from looking at the unemployment numbers. While we may have dodged another great depression, unemployment is at its worst since then, having fallen to 10 percent by the Fed’s own reckoning.”

(Click to enlarge.) Via Mint.com.

Scott Belsky from The99Percent.com shares some tips from leadership guru, Stephen Covey on how to not let your concerns get the better of you.

Whenever I get frustrated with something, my stepfather always tells me to “just worry about the closest alligator to the boat.” Truer advice has never been spoken. Covey’s theory, similarly, is that there is a circle of influence around you: assess which concerns you have control over, and fix them!

Belsky takes Covey’s advice and applies it to designers:

“As creative people, our passion for our work makes it more difficult to worry selectively. Why? The more passionate you are, the more protective and perfection-driven you become. Any concern becomes exaggerated just based on your beautiful vision being obstructed. Regardless of whether or not you have influence, you will want to tackle every problem as it emerges.

This tendency is dangerous. Your energy becomes fractured as you start to obsess over details and situations that are beyond your control. Ultimately, your ideas and projects suffer.”

In my current job search, the last thing I want is for my energy to become fractured by runaway worry. By identifying what I can control, I will be ensuring that I can do whatever I can do to get myself noticed above other job applicants (the assessment). My resumes, cover letters, and personal brand will all be in order (the preparation). Finally, I have to remember that my drive, my abilities, and my talents yielded success at a previous employer- and that they’ll do the same for me at my new employer, too (the focus).

With the proper assessment, preparation, and focus, runaway concerns can be a thing of the past!

It occurred to me just a short time ago that as a graphic designer, my résumé should reflect my creativity and not be something that would camouflage itself in a pile of traditional (all text) résumés. I started out with a 5-column legal-sized page, and wanted to incorporate graphical elements into something that would still communicate my past professional and educational experience. Taking it a step further, my second goal was to highlight my various skills in a fun way that would draw the reader’s eye down the page while giving the reader a good picture of who I am. I’m happy with the way it turned out, but knowing myself, I’ll have a few more smaller changes as time goes on.

If you or someone you know is hiring in the Boston area, please feel free to pass my information along! You may download a copy (of the above) here, or a plain-text copy here.

Via Frank Chimero.

Ever since the summer of my freshman year of college when I was searching for my first co-op job in Boston, I wanted to work for the Mass Bay Brewing Company (which manufactures Harpoon). Each co-op semester, I would search their site and look to see if any openings were available for interns. Of those times that an availability was there, it seemed as though my timing was off, and I had already accepted a position at another company.

Over the years, I’ve supported their brand, attended some of their customer events, toured their brewery, followed them via social media, and almost religiously checked their website for any job openings that I would be a good fit for. Last month (or thereabouts), I made the decision that I needed a new challenge in my work life, and wanted to move closer to friends and family in the Northeast. I decided that moving back to Boston was where I was going to make that happen.

So I made a list of all the companies in the Boston area that I admired and would like to work for. How would I get them to notice me? How would I get them to even look at my resume?

It hit me one night while I was sipping a Harpoon I.P.A: why not replicate their 3″x3″ I.P.A. label into a 24″ square poster? The photo (above) is my finished product (designed in Adobe Illustrator), and last Friday I shipped it off (along with my resume) to three individuals within their Marketing and Creative departments.

The “bar code” in the lower right corner of the poster is actually my cover letter.

Update: It seems that someone who got one of the posters checked out my site on Monday afternoon! Mission accomplished- to a point- my shipments reached the right people, and the right people noticed. They even took a few moments to get to know a little bit about me. (Isn’t this the goal of any marketing campaign- to get your “customer” to notice you and make that first move toward a “sale”?)