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Hello FINE Friend, |
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Right from the get-go, you notice our email worldview’s changed. It’s less “look what we did!” and more “look at what you can do!” Tell us what you think. |
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5 Big Takeaways |
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People like About pages that aren’t so About-y.
And a brand newsletter should be more like a “yousletter.” Recipient-focused. Anything we foist upon your inbox should help better your brand. And if you want to know what’s in your brand, try asking: what’s in your yousletter? Thanks Cloudera Content Strategy, Prūf Cultivar Content Strategy, our own About Page.
Prototypes help brands dance.
In digital space, subtle nuances in movement and dynamics make big differences in perception that static designs can’t convey. It’s like your brand is dancing. Our Joe Flory breaks down how prototyping is key to designing a digital brand experience long before code happens. Thanks Joe Flory, Principle, Medium.
The MarTech Supergraphic is your frenemy.
This year’s tangled web of 5,000+ logos shows that navigating the digital world is chaos. Brand is the compass to help you ignore the dual enemies of detour and distraction. Instead, Bring Friends. Yes, this graphic is what inspired it all. Thanks U.C. Berkeley Integrated Marketing, Jambo the Leonberger, Mingle, Chief Martec.
Launch your own dang metaphors.
The launch of Fifth Wall’s site proved the value of metaphor in brand storytelling. The name alone speaks volumes. But the concept of investing in The Built World is what inspires a visual language, bold copy, and all the things that make your brand story-worthy online or off. Thanks Fifth Wall, Forbes, TechCrunch, CommArts.
Why Design Week Portland should feel like a lifetime.
It’s exhausting helping drive Design Week. It’s 402 open house drinks. Helming a website. Lots of talks, attending more. But it reminds us the idea is not just to “do” design, but infuse design thinking into all we do. Heck, we hardly talked colors and fonts. Every brand should surrender a week to re-center on the highest industry aspirations. Thanks DWP, Tsilli Pines, Design Week Recap.
14 Micro-Inspirations
1. Our Arune Suvanvej marks 10 years of design asskickery
2. Fifth Wall launches its Built World web-wide
3. Conn Creek Barrel Blends™ online and offline experience
4. Dirty Habit DC brands a cheeky addition to the DH concept
5. Cloudera Content Strategy touts big data possibility (so does their IPO)
6. XOJET’s new digital design’ll soon make you yearn to fly private
7. Kimpton’s Employer Brand: the secret sauce is people
8. TMC Group finds a new name for a new... Oh hell, it’s a secret
9. Yay, awards for Grand Cayman’s Seafire, Prūf Cultivar, Frank Family Vineyards
10. Boisset Collection: a global brand can cohere around really nice red socks
11. Amazing Director of Talent wanted to amazingly direct our talent
12. 6/21: Here at Refresh PDX, Developer Heidi Olsen shows CSS is brand body language
13. Because you want a mindbending digital audio experience. Because.
14. Yes, Steven Heller is still the most relevantest and graphic designingest ever.
See you next month. Don’t forget to tell us what you think.
Your FINE Friend,
Steve
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