George Bernard Shaw once said, professionals in almost every discipline, foster a language designed to speak only with one another and keep the rest of us out. The design profession, unfortunately, is not an outlier.

After many decades, we have determined that by actively engaging with our clients in the process of designing anything and everything the results are almost always better, certainly more satisfying and longer lasting.

We will never know or fully appreciate the businesses of our clients in the ways that they do. That is our disadvantage and our advantage.

What we know is how to identify and translate the core elements of an organization’s culture, character and values into the language and imagery that will connect them with those they wish to serve.

Joseph Michael Essex, Managing Partner

This is designed to identify and prioritize the most influential audiences to the sale of a new reintroduced product or service. The system will also suggest which communication devices will best assist and support that sales effort at each stage of the communication continuum.

Prioritized Audiences : Each audience designation (moving from top to bottom) identifies and prioritizes the most influential group at a particular stage in the communication process. These audience examples will change from message to message, from product to product.

Communication Stages : Each stage (moving from left to right) records the process of human communication from awareness to understanding to implementation. They acknowledge the emotional transition from the conceptual to the particular, from the intangible to the tangible in a diagrammatical form. While the majority of these stages are constant because the process of understanding is constant, the implementation stages will vary from message to message and from product to product.

Communication Vehicles : Each stage identifies the most effective methods of communication materials or technique to communicate a particular message, to a particular audience group, at a particular communication stage. The mix of techniques will vary from message to message and from product to product.

Trademark Categories: Applications

Each application category presents unique and appropriate characteristics that will support and enhance the clients communication goals and objectives.

Word Mark Applications: Shorter complete names that could stand alone with a unique presentation of it’s individual letters without becoming too complicated

Monogram Applications: Organizations whose names no longer reflect the current company’s business or entities with longer and/or complicated names

Pictogram Applications: When an organization’s essential nature or purpose can be reduced or synthesized to a familiar visual object or figure across language and cultures

Symbolic Applications: For applications when the essential nature of the organization is so complex or the diversity of its products and services are so expansive as to warrant a non-literal image, that could be emotionally or conceptual driven

Typographic Applications: Most effect when used for organizations with substantial brand equity who what to expand or update their current trademark without jeopardizing familiarity.

Trademark Category: Taxonomic

Each Taxonomical category is expressed over time from the Classical to the Next generation.

Word Mark: Individual letterforms are reshaped and manipulated to create distinctive and unique letters groups

Monogram: Organizations whose names no longer reflect the current company’s business or entities with longer and/or complicated names

Pictogram: A stylized or graphicly simplified version of a naturally occurring or identifiable object, a derivation of a familiar element

Symbolic: An interesting and/or aesthetically pleasing arrangement of non-objective graphic elements designed to elicit an emotional connection

Typographic: The combination of both the “word or monogram” and “pictogram or symbolic” categories

Connection Branding

This process is designed to visually connect a principle organization to those with which they have a business, financial or professional relationship. Connection Branding positions each organization, providing a strategic and competitive advantage with their individual audiences and/or customers.

Over drinks the other evening our friend of 30+ years Robert Petrick returned to me the device pictured, right.

At the time I was directly responsible for a staff of 20+ and indirectly another 30. I said the device was designed to stimulate creativity in individuals who were stumped on a particular assignment. The premise was, by starting on the outside of the wheel, examining the words/ideas with each turn, at each level, solutions would present themselves. This was, of course, bull-shirt.

As young children, almost everyone is creative by nature, free of preconceived judgments, assumptions based on experience and the lethargy that comes from second guessing ones self. The most productive way to reconnect with that kind of innocence and to basically get out of your own way is to engage your mind with anything other than the task to be accomplished.

The more energy is consumed to do that, the sooner the burdens of responsibility, obligation and self awareness will move to the background permitting possibilities, unanticipated connections and opportunities to REALLY present themselves. Creativity has never been about the probable but rather almost always the possible.