CapsuleBlog

So what's this social media thingie?

There are a bazillion guides to social media floating around out there.

I thought I'd round up some of the best:

Ten steps to helping your business kick ass on Twitter

19 presence management chores you could do everyday (Note to self - Presence management. I like that.)

Ten commandments of social media

Why trust is important in social media

Leveraging social media in regulated industries

Seth Godin speaks about social media

These are just a drop in the ocean, of course, but if you start with them, you'll have a good grasp on what you need to know to get started (or make your current efforts more effective).

All eyes are on your face.

Typefaces are everywhere. That billboard. The tissue box. The pen you stole from the last hotel the company sent you to. Do you know your Goudy and your Garamond? Meta or Trade Gothic? The impact type can have on mood can't be underestimated. To a designer, Goudy is to burlap as Garamond is to silk.

The number of typefaces available is hard to even comprehend. Think truckloads of telephone books. The downside of this abundance is that misuse abounds. Quite sad, considering that type has a major presence and a subtle but potent ability to convey tone and personality. Consequently, an unreadable or inappropriate typeface has just as much potential to distract from a beautiful logo design as it does to enhance it.

So how does the humble designer find the golden needle in the haystack -- ie, the right type for the logo design?

1. Gather the largest library of available typefaces that you can access.

2. Consider what the brand needs to communicate and identify the brand's fundamental attributes.

3. Browse typefaces and select a few that communicate the attributes.

4. Conduct type studies, examining how the type works with the letterforms of the brand name.

5. Consider creating a custom typeface, or adapting one to make it unique to the client.

6. Find complementary typefaces that work as a secondary typeface with the primary selection.

7. Review the typeface and gather feedback from other designers.

8. Integrate typefaces into the logo concepts so that you can show them in the first presentation to the client.

To get up-to-date on the latest in type, spend some time with the I Love Typography blog.

Malcolm Gladwell is either a) brilliant or b) full of it. You decide.

Everyone these days has an opinion on Malcolm Gladwell, author of the wildly successful books The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. If I had this bibliography to my name, I don't think I'd care about the general opinions of me and my writing.

So if you bring him up in conversation at a fancy dinner party you'll cause a wicked divide. On the one side,  you'll hear from an enamored crew who admire Gladwell's ability to bring cultural theory to the masses. You could argue the same thing about Oprah Winfrey. Or worse: Dan Brown. Hmmm. That may or may not be significant. I don't want to insult my readers, so I'll leave that up to you*. I am channeling a choose-your-own-adventure book here.

At the other end of the platter of vol au vents sit the naysayers. "The Flipping Obvious Point!", they'll cackle. Are they genuinely not impressed with Gladwell's insight or merely jealous of his presumably fat wallet? Read his books, if you're of three people in the continental USA that hasn't, and get back to me.

Brandweek.com brings us a tantalizing headline this week proclaiming SCIENTIST: INFLUENCER THEORY IS BOGUS. Ouch. Take that, Mal. Duncan Watts (yes, the scientist in question) proceeds to rip poor Gladwell to shreds apparently because the influencer theory is too vague, too subjective, and not actually capable of predicting anything useful.

Read more here.

 

* By reading this footnote,  you've risked offence. However, I can't not say it. The Da Vinci Code was beyond terrible. There, I said it.

Want to know some of our naming secrets?

Check out Aaron's excellent post over at the Dieline (only the world's #1 package design blog).

Capsule names new Herman Miller chair

Capsule is very proud to announce that we were asked to name the latest chair released by the iconic and innovative leader of furniture design: Herman Miller.

Named one of Fortune’s Most Admired companies, Herman Miller designs to improve the human experience wherever people work, heal, learn and live.

The pressure was on for this one. The new chair follows some of the most successful chairs ever made: the Aeron, the Embody, the Eames Lounge… there was no room for error. According to the wonderful world of Google, we also discovered that every man and his dog has designed and named a chair.

“Naming is one of the most challenging components of our work at Capsule,” said Aaron Keller, Managing Principal. “The volume of names considered and rejected would surprise many inside the business of naming and shock those who haven’t named. It’s an honor to say that Capsule named the newest Herman Miller chair.”

Upon receiving the prototype of the nameless design in our office, we were immediately impressed by the incredibly unique spine and inspired to explore the concept of unrestricted movement.

We delved deep into a range of cultures and philosophies to find out more. In Hindi, the word for bridge is Setu. A bridge allows you to move freely, connects you, and takes you to a place never before possible.

Setu. Simple, visually strong and intriguing. A perfect moniker for an amazing chair.