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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Sametz Blackstone: an ongoing collaboration
In the depths of one of our worst winters in decades, the Atlanta Symphony’s director of design joined us on Blackstone Square to collaborate on the new season’s subscription brochure.
The disruptive weather prolonged our collaboration, which bore fruit in the form of an evolved aesthetic for the Atlanta Symphony brand. The new brochure stays true to the guiding principles of the now 2-year-old brand re-launch, while developing and deploying new visual elements and a new approach to working within the symphony’s existing color palette.
This evolution of the visual system won’t, however, stop with the season brochure. We’re deep in the process of working with the Symphony to redesign their website; and much of what we discovered together while working on the season brochure has advanced the web design process. We’re looking forward to announcing the launch of the new site soon!
And still the brand grows! The Symphony is launching a label—ASO Media—to distribute its music. We’ve working with Rob and the rest of the Atlanta Symphony team to develop a special identifier for this new initiative, as well as an approach to the design of the music packaging itself.
There’ll be more to share on this story, so stay tuned!
Categories: Branding, Design, Uncategorized
Retweeting flowchart
Categories: Uncategorized
The QR code: fire starter?
This year our Sametz Blackstone holiday card includes a QR code to link recipients to our blog. We had a lot of good discussion about the code: some think it’s techno-cool, others think it’s hideous. Some think it is a step—albeit clunky—towards the future of interactive mobile marketing while others think it’s a passing fad. We agreed there was a decent opportunity to generate a few clicks on our website in 2011, but it’s to be seen whether we’ll include it in 2012.
The QR code—it stands for Quick Response—has been less popular as a marketing and advertising tool in the US than in Japan where mobile phones are shipped with QR code readers. Elsewhere, it seems the public just doesn’t recognize the QR code (and other 2D barcode formats such as Microsoft Tag) when they see it because it isn’t directly incorporated into our mobile toolbox (users must download an app).
The value of linking from our tangible physical environment—often in the form of print—to digital can’t be argued (a commenter on a blog post about QR code adoption remarked, “My city (Wrocław, Poland) has those on bus stops. They lead to online bus schedules.”), but we’ve struggled with the means. The printed URL is problematic; cluttering up visual space, it is a behemoth that escapes memory and is prone to typos. The QR code feels like a caveman milestone—an infantile step in the evolution of connectedness. The problems reflect those we often see in design and branding:
- A visual design that offers little flexibility (due primarily to technical limitations that can stunt creative ability; the two examples above for TIME Magazine and Louis Vuitton are merely “decorated” codes);
- Undefined / limited target audience;
- Lack of supporting information / context (I saw the TIME example above in a bus-stop near Boston’s Symphony Hall; I imagine only a handful of pedestrians knew what the pattern represented);
- Requirement to download software in the form of an app (similar to the problem of web-based plug-ins for Flash in past years);
- Often no unique, valuable reward / result and ensuing lack of interest. Many codes just lead to more advertising instead of worthwhile content.
I’m no technology oracle, but I would guess the ability of devices to “read” will become more advanced so the QR code pattern itself won’t be necessary. Maybe when print really is dead, ads and articles—even objects and venues—will simply speak directly to your device. Whatever the method of delivery, the key to longevity will be making the technology a natural part of daily routine—like texting—and connecting to content that generates and maintains interest. So while the QR code as it exists may go the way of the dinosaur, it is a little spark kindling the content delivery flame.
Categories: Uncategorized
Welcoming in the new year!
Happy New Year to all our friends near and far!
This little video we cooked up together features our New Year’s card, which celebrates the power of collaboration — and we look forward to another year of collaborating with you!
Categories: Uncategorized
Supporting a cause, one ’stache at a time
Here at Sametz, we’ve always prided ourselves in the work we do with nonprofits. It’s an important part of who we are and what we believe in. As individuals, most of us have also contributed our time and talent to various pro bono, nonprofit, or volunteer projects.
To name a few: Joerg has contributed design to the Provincetown Art Association and Museum; Kerri to the Human Rights Campaign New England Chapter; Venus to the Episcopal Boston Chinese Ministry; Alyssa is involved with the Salem Arts Association and Gateway Arts; and in addition to tirelessly running our business, Roger devotes many an evening to numerous boards.
This month however, two colleagues have gone above and beyond in the realm of charity. Here are the handsome fellows, hard at work on the fundraising trail:
Matt and Michael are taking part in Movember to raise awareness and funds for cancers that affect men (1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime). Members agree to start clean-shaven on November 1 and grow a mustache for the entire month. Personal web pages allow donations to be made to individuals and their teams. Last year, the campaign raised $40 million (USD) with funds benefiting the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.
What with the tiresome abundance of ribbon causes and walks, this campaign is refreshing in its uniqueness and irreverence, it targets an untapped charity demographic: men (as both fundraisers and beneficiaries), and it gets the conversation going. Who can restrain themselves from commenting or inquiring when you see your compadre sporting a fresh ’stache? The participant is wearing the “in” on his upper lip.
Click here to donate on behalf of Matt and Michael (both part of Team Boston) or at least learn more about the cause!
Categories: Uncategorized
Betwixt and between: how are you taking your news these days?
At the beginning of the iPad-palooza several months ago, I was intrigued and curious about iBooks—but even then I had a hunch that periodicals would get the most play on the cool new Apple tablet at my side (though I do still yearn to have and to hold newsprint.)
Now, it seems, the more some things have changed, the more they’ve stayed the same. My reading habits are all over the place, and I yearn for some consistency.
A couple of examples:
The Boston Globe, to which I still subscribe daily (yes, the ink on paper version), has announced a new digital strategy that will include a subscription-only pay wall on their website beginning late next year. But right now, Globe readers are in an odd limbo. Read the print edition and—unless you truly are a Luddite—some of it really is old news.
Log onto boston.com and you get news, but you also get what I call “relentless news”: over the last week I’ve seen the story of the new MFA wing in so many iterations on boston.com that I feel a little weary (and there is no bigger fan of the museum than me!).
And last (but not least?) the Globe has something called “GlobeReader”: a digital version of the day’s newspaper viewed using Adobe Air. But don’t go there looking for breaking news: GlobeReader is a digital manifestation of the newspaper, and only updates once a day.
Got all that?
On the glossier side of things, one of my favorite magazines, Esquire, launched what many have praised as one of the best magazine iPad apps with their October issue. It is indeed beautifully constructed, with lots of extra content and nifty visual (and some audio) tricks. But, as of this writing, the digital November issue just appeared… many weeks after the print issue arrived on newsstands.
Talk about keeping your loyal followers hanging after lifting them up! “Where’s my damn November iPad issue, Esquire?” was my refrain for weeks as I’d stare at it forlornly in the bookstores, holding out for the digital version but itching to buy the print issue. Such a strong brand can weather many storms, but loyal readers need to know where and when they can find you… much like I know the Globe will be there to greet me every morning when Moxie and I go out for a walk (though I still have moments of déjà vu when I see the newspaper on my front step with a headline and “news” I read online the night before).
In our practice, we talk a lot about “meeting customers / constituents / followers where they are,” and I think that is the crux of the rock and hard place in which many publishers find themselves. The phrase “loyal readers” speaks volumes about how a brand, such as the Globe or Esquire, must attend to setting, aligning, and meeting expectations.
Many of my other favorite publications have strong, consistent digital presences (Time is a great example on the iPad), but many still don’t really “get it” (The New Yorker still doesn’t give print subscribers a discount on their iPad version). And now, just last week, comes a merger of the old and the new: Newsweek meets The Daily Beast. We’ll see what magic Tina Brown can make of the partnership.
So, where are you in your journey with your must-reads… in print and / or online? Stuck in the middle, like me? (And since mine is such an Apple-centric view, I’d welcome thoughts from Kindle owners.)
Categories: Uncategorized
The-way-it-should-be-ness: video series explores color theory
Josef Albers and his students. North Carolina State Archives.
Designers are often asked to describe the why and how of color: Why did we choose these colors? How do they contribute to a solution?
Dwell Magazine’s three-part video series The Full Spectrum articulates, through seemingly disparate worlds of abstract artist Josef Albers and modern furniture design at Herman Miller, that the “right” color is achieved by a combination of intense exploration, disciplined practice, and a level of intuition. (The middle segment about a clothing retail shop is unremarkable.)
Josef Albers, well-known for his concentric squares paintings, compared himself to a chef trying new recipes. The squares were “a platter to serve color” that allowed him to explore how colors affect one another, how they influence depth perception, and how they relate to their environment. Albers methodically recorded his “recipes” or color experiments with great detail on the reverse of his canvases. Nicholas Fox Weber, Executive Director of the Albers Foundation, says that Albers believed that a mechanical, scientific approach could lead [to] poetry and spiritualism.
Creative consultant Susan Lyons describes product color development at Herman Miller as an iterative process where you don’t know the end result. The designer’s job is to figure out what the material wants to be in regards to color application. That end result is even less predictable because furniture is destined for homes and offices where the surroundings and quality of light can’t be fully anticipated. Lyons eschews color forecasting. “It’s like throwing a dart at a dartboard; it’s too disconnected from the product.” To achieve what Charles and Ray Eames coined “the-way-it-should-be-ness” Herman Miller designers adhere to the principle of color practice rather than theory.
Designers rely at least partially on intuition to select a color palette, but it’s hard to justify that you just know when a color is right. This is where exploration and practice give weight to otherwise vague conjecture.
Whether print or digital, development of a color palette requires research of the subject and the audience, knowledge of how colors interact, how they act in various environments, what meanings they represent, and then testing and proving. And testing and proving again. Failures and successes should be documented. Of course all of this must (usually) be condensed into a ridiculously tight timeframe.
But the effort is what will give the ultimate design longevity and flexibility in many environments, like an Albers painting or a Herman Miller chair.
Categories: Uncategorized
New iTunes icon: upsetting the Apple cart?
The release of a new iTunes icon last Thursday has had the Interwebs a-buzz. From twitter profiles to its very own Facebook page, from articles on Forbes.com to Job’s reaction to the buzz posted almost everywhere, this little icon has a world of users… well, unsatisfied.
The ruffled feathers over this redesign—possibly as fraught with disappointment in the digital sphere as the Tropicana brand disaster of 2008 (okay maybe not soo boisterous!)—seems to us a bit over the top.
I asked some (might I say, often opinionated!) colleagues what they had to say about the new mark. With respect to execution and style: a resounding “what’s the big deal?”
We all have aesthetic opinions (we started as a design firm, after all), but is there more to this topic than just jabs at bevels, gradients, and (overuse of) Photoshop?
Eric replied with this, “…if anything, there might be an interesting discussion based on the fact that the program is a lot more than a music player—it’s an opportunity for communication design (name + logo) to encapsulate and symbolize not only what it is now, but what it could be in the future….”
Says Roger: “The issue is not how you do the notes but whether the notes even make sense.” Roger added, “the mark could complement the program rather than illustrate it.”
Tamsen felt like it was a missed opportunity to take advantage of what iTunes has evolved into from its origins as a way to create and manage personal mp3 libraries: a program that, in many ways, has become a comprehensive facilitator of our listening / entertainment lives. In other words, she says, “Why not reflect what it is, rather than what it used to be?”
(And on that note: in addition to missing the boat on pushing it past a simple connection to music, Apple seems to have missed an opportunity to elevate the mark beyond its two-dimensional iconic form. Why not extend their HTML5 and CSS3 creativity to their thinking on icon design?)
Meg’s take: “I think the new icon reflects the reality that music comes to us in multiple forms nowadays—mp3s, CDs, the resurgence of vinyl, streaming programs, etc. All the old icon brought to mind was a CD or DVD—and I don’t own many of either anymore. I’d likely have chosen something more monochromatic, but it definitely stands out on my dock. Really, though, I don’t think anyone is going to not use iTunes because they don’t like the icon, and it’s not going to change anyone’s relationship with the brand.”
One of our developers, Matt, immediately saw the icon as “sticking out from the rest of the OSX default set. Unsure if this was a direct move to separate it away from the pack or to use the bolder blue to make it stand out and create more of a ‘home’ for users.” Otherwise he felt iTunes 10—like its player—is nice and smooth in visual execution.To Matt’s point, if Apple had a simple design refresh in mind, why not stick to a systematic approach and update the icon to sit happily among its OSX cousins?
So you can see, our reactions to Apple’s design choice is mostly rooted in its concept. We may not all like the way the icon looks, but does it matter? As Meg pointed out, none of us (and we might suggest, none of you) are going to stop using iTunes in protest over design decisions about its icon.
Perhaps Apple’s icon design woes are of its own making: We (the world—not just us here on Blackstone Square) have come to expect Apple to unleash technology and design that exceeds our expectations, often wildly. So an unremarkable design? Pretty remarkable.
What do you think?
Categories: Uncategorized
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