Quantum CMG | creative media group

“In 1917, Elsie Wright, 16, and her cousin Frances Griffith, 10, borrowed a camera belonging to Elsie’s father and took two pictures of what the girls claimed were fairies in Cottingley Beck, England” (Iconicphotos.wordpress.com, 2010). Believed to be real by Elsie’s mother, the images sparked debate about the existence of fairies, creating sides whether “they do exist.”

These days, its just as difficult to spot “real businesses”–they’ve got the “magic photos” of facebook and twitter, but are they really there? Is all this “media’ making a difference? Sure, my customers feel “connected,” but has being connected replaced the actual reason we connect with companies?–to buy something? What’s interesting as I reflect, because I’ve been forced to ask that question too–does QCMG exist? Our company “tweeting” has dropped 39% over the last quarter, our blog posts have decreased, and overall, some clients feel like our social media has fallen off the map.

Touché.

I think all of the design studios I know personally have lost a little mojo this past year. While its been a rough year, here’s what I know; there’s a difference between social visibility and business visibility. As a business, there’s more important reasons to be in business than to be “socially relevant.” This has to be the icing on the cake–something you do that’s fun, an added bonus, and overall additive to your marketing plan, not THE marketing plan. © Bleughck.

David Baker, of Recourses, calls social media a lasting trend. I have to agree wholeheartedly. I don’t have position papers on this, but here’s the lowdown–when you consider something a “media,” you have to ask yourself, “Is there an industry that supports this media?” If you work in broadcast, there’s a broadcast industry. There’s print, web, interactive, branding–a slew of businesses devoted to the craft that emerged both over time and due to technology. When you talk of “social media,” there’s not a design business focused on “DIGG,” or creating “facebook pages.” This seems so trite and ridiculous put into such normative terms. While I don’t doubt you can hire someone to work in a “Social Media Position,” the lack of industry support makes it personally difficult to justify during both hard economic times and acute perspective on it all.

So for those who want to know what’s up with QCMG, don’t rely just on tweetdeck or the blog to know–there’s a wealth of interpersonal connections available. Just ask our clients. Current clients. New clients. Be a client–those are the best ways to be inside our head(s)–is to be paying for it. After all, that’s our purpose–to unlock and unleash potential.

And to cater to those blog-hungry, social media thirsts, check out the previous post, entitled “State of the QCMG.”

REFERENCES: Cottingley Fairies. (2010). IconicPhotos.Wordpress.com. [website]. Retrieved May 13, 2010, from http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/the-cottingley-fairies/

I don’t remember the last time that I logged in to the dashboard of our CMS and created a new post. Its been a while.

So, I thought that I’d take some time to update everyone on the status of QCMG–and use as many em dashes as possible–I using them.

WHERE’VE YOU BEEN?
First, my time over the last year has been split between work and school–running QCMG from my local Panera office, Adium, and email and working on my receiving my MFA–a Masters in Fine Art in Media Design, from Full Sail University. I recently graduated from FSU with a 4.0 and was awarded highest honors as Valedictorian, not to mention several additional achievement awards. It was remarkable.

During the last month of Fullsail, my time was split again, joining the part-time faculty at the Art Institute of Tennessee-Nashville, a branch of the Ai ATL. I starting teaching Typography (GD141) and Art Direction (GD432). After graduation I picked up two new classes– Design Business (GD351) and Intro to Applications (CAA106). I barely had time to skip a beat between transitioning grad school to teaching (which I almost prefer).

Then there was the Nashville flood. 5 foot of water in the house later, I was ready to go to Orlando to graduate. The house is now dry, stuff has been thrown out, and we’ve recovered emotionally and mentally. Replacing things, is another matter.

WHAT’S NEXT
I’ve got a saying–”One foot in the classroom, one foot in the industry, both hands in my work.”

There’s no separation for me between design and education, they go hand in hand. This upcoming year, while I will remain at AI and continue to show my commitment to undergraduate education, QCMG plans to keep its client roster of design clients and continue to expand.

We’ve churned out several brands in the past few months and even began selling logos for fun on Brandstack.com. Several of them are people’s faves! Its a great feeling doing something you love.

We launched a website for beloved friend and copywriter extraordinaire, Alice Sullivan (www.alicesullivan.com). She’s classy, timeless, and writes well. Really well. So well, she’s slammed for the next few months.

QCMG started revisiting the “struggling musician” niche, creating brands and websites for artists who may not have the large budget, but have the large dreams and gusto to go with it. With referrals from other great design studios who don’t / can’t qualify these clients, its a great source of fun projects and creates unique challenges which we LOVE arising to.

NEW PRODUCTS
One of the things I love developing are solutions. Strategic solutions that fix problems AND are fun! Avocado and Orangemail are in BETA testing in house, and looking to be released in the next couple months, making great design more accessible to everyday people.

IDEAS
I’m really open to ideas right now. While Nashville is it for the next year, there’s no reason that QCMG can’t relocate homebase. Whether that’s as a CD or AD for another larger studio, long term plans are to expand QCMG’s reach through other design studios in our CMG. That’s why its called a CMG (creative media group).

For today, I’m back on the blog, tweeting more often, and finally–after a year of grad school–feel like my house is clean, functional, and getting worked on.

Keep inspiring, but keep on being inspired. Keep reading, and be read by others.

stvn

Most of America was dialed in on ABC’s presentation of the 82nd annual presentation of the Oscars. It was a star-studded show from the red carpet to the motion picture of the year. Some were hot and some were not. I’m actually talking about a different kind of participant; typography.

This year’s concept boasted crystal octagons and baguettes silhouetting Oscar himself and such set pieces as a wall of modern sconces, almost out of a wall of Pottery Barn, leading into category slides in Bell Gothic, all caps featuring elegant, yet literal depictions of the categories themselves.

The Oscars proved another kind of presentation – one of typography in commercial film. A departure from the retail and packaging type we see everyday, the film industry is often selective, either upon concept or context. Often we general uses of Helvetica (music for prudence) or we see (in my opinion) type blunders, such as the use of Papyrus, in Avatar – as if the color and texture overlay isn’t enough, the type is stretched vertically.

Two typefaces worth noting were the surprise use of Zapfino on the red carpet pre-show and the use of Instant Types on the treatment for The New Tenants. Both are in FontShop’s Top 100 Fonts of all time, Zapfino at #26, and #86 respectively.

What the Oscars offer is a chance for movie names to be presented in their corresponding type treatments, giving mention, notice, and use to some of the best and worst typefaces in use in the commercial film market. Not only do we celebrate their actors, but also the teams which make the movie happen.

Surprising to some was winning of Logorama, an homage to the commercial over-saturation of Westernized brands. The film depicts an animated world of brands through humor and satire, remaining poignant yet entertaining.

Overall, this year’s Oscar concept provided class and good typography, with respective winners taking home the gold.

Below is the top feedback we wish we could share with everyone who’s ask to sit at a desk here and hasn’t. Also, be sure to download some of the great resources that will help educate you in your process of finding your dream job.

1. PORTFOLIO: “Creating the Breakthrough Portfolio,” by Ken Thurlbeck. This book is practical, straight-forward, and though provoking. It’ll help you learn how to in 30 words or less share who you and create a conceptual-driven portfolio. If you could tell someone you’re a “highly-conceptual art director with a forte in women’s retail packaging,” that would certainly help nail your job, etc. Your portfolio, in essence needs to capture who you are, and its needs to be the same as who you say you are and what you can do. This book is a must.Also, consider your presentation; ask yourself “Does my portfolio, in 3 seconds or less communicate who I am, what I do, what I’m good at, and sell me well? Does is conceptually capture my essence and what makes me remarkable?” If not, start over. Read the book above and it’ll help get you on the right path. If your strength is illustration, show it – focus on your strengths and show people that.
2. VERSATILITY: Today’s designer needs to know print, web, and how to art direct over new media. Showing you know how to design more than just one medium shows you’re progressive and understand how media is converging. You don’t have to know how to code a website, just how to design a beautiful one.
3. TYPOGRAPHY – We know that as designers, you should know what’s hot, what’s not, what’s new, and what’s on its way out. Be sure to consistently review the styles of websites of  <http://www.dafont.com> , but purchase fonts from <http://www.veer.com/type>  or  <http://www.typography.com> . Discover great foundries is important to building typographical acumen. Also, learn the difference between font types, legal issues, and don’t use downloaded ones with “baggage” attached. Bad font, boo.
4. BRANDING: To fully understand practice and process, check out the handbook on branding. “Designing Brand Identity,” by Alina Wheeler offers the thought process that you can’t learn just by going to school- you have to learn by experience, even if it is someone else’s. If you want a career in design, consider this as required reading and your first purchase for the library.
5. RESOURCES: It’s important to stay on top of what’s happening, EVERYWHERE. But, that’s hard, right? Not when there’s people who have that passion. Check out  <http://www.adage.com> ,  <http://www.brandrepublic.com> , <http://www.brandchannel.com> . Go to Interbrand’s website. Sign up for Stefan Luite’s Weekly Wire (every monday) at their website to know exactly what’s happening in the world of branding at  <http://www.grapefruit.ro> .Check out our friends and competitors, Brains on Fire and Matchstic. There’s enough work for everyone in this world, we promise. Also, see our downloads and White Papers.
6. LEARNING: Find three design firms (one large, med, and small) that does what you think you love doing. Find one person that you think has the job you want. Learn their career path, see if you can get them to lunch sometime. Even ask them what advice they can give you to get where you’d like to be. Even ask them what they see in you that you may not. The world changes when you ask and listen, rather than pursue and reach.
7. PROFESSIONALIZE: Design your resume. Make it look like belongs to a designer. Spiffy up your resume content- go to places like resumeedge.com and look at their samples, but don’t copy them. Accurately describe your experiences and what you learned. Why was Cracker Barrel on there if you didn’t? Send PDF’s, always. Never Word documents or text files. PDFs of your portfolio. PDFs of your resume.Get rid of the college email “Brittany_rox_and_is_cool_900@yahoo” (we made that up, we promise) or the screen-name sounding stuff with animals, nicknames, or codes. Get your name at a respectable email service, and consolidate all your emails into one.When presenting your portfolio and resume, reply back with PDF’s, not word documents, and ask for an interview. You’ve already lost the job. Professional designers don’t use myspace, DeviantArt, or Flickr to showcase their portfolio. If you need an online site, there are professional services that are worth paying for, and some are free. Layout it out intuitively, think about how people experience it. Check out Figdig.com, Qfolio.com, Thewhole9.com.
8. BE YOURSELF: Sometimes its not what you say, its how you say it. On on side, if you talked to people the way advertising sometimes does, you’d punch them in the face. On the other side, if we all talked the way cover letters did, we’d punch ourselves. Remember to be you, connect with the company somehow, and show that you’re real, passionate, and unique.Be direct and cordial, get rid of the “fluff,” and don’t try to sound important or intelligent. They’re the employer, and have lived without you thus far. Employers do however, want to hear what you’re able to do, and how it could help them. That means you do research, find out about their clients, and even come up with creative ways to get their attention. They respect tenacity, creativity, but most of all maturity and professionalism. Don’t do spec work for any candidate jobs either; they should pay you from day 1 for your work.
9. EMPLOYMENT: If you’re serious about your career, check out “48 days to the Job You Love” by Dan Miller. It’s a fail-safe, mature, comprehensive plan. Read it and apply its steps, and you’ll be father than where you are now.You wouldn’t expect getting a salon haircut from a tractor supply store. So go to the salon. This applies with job-site. Check out the legitimate creative sites that specifically apply to the Graphic Design Industry. Check out:  <http://www.krop.com> ,  <http://www.aquent.com> ,  <http://www.talentzoo.com>

Although the term may already exist, I’d like to copyrighting it. Reverse brand endorsement, or reverse story-telling.

What’s interesting about brands is that they often have a parents company. With larger brand families, like Mars, SC Johnson, Proctor and Gamble, etc, products tend to already have brand equity in the parent corporation.

What what interesting today, was that today we proposed that a company use the brand equity in their product family to do some ‘reverse story-telling.’ By using the strengths of each products, the brand attributes and specific market profiles of each demographic, we’re reversing the formula of “Like father, like son,” to “Like son, like father,” where we’re painting a picture of the parent company by what their products shape them to be.

What intrigues me the most is the idea that it’s not rebranding someone, but its actually filling in the missing pieces and continuing a story that’s already been started. By continuing to dedicate brand touchpoints (print, web, video) for each brand, we’re creating a reflection of what the parent company must be like.

What are you like? Are you a reflection of your parents?

The apple tends not to fall too far from the tree. Especially, with brands.

Font Etiquette: Part II – the How-To of Healthy Fonts

In the last article, we discussed the importance of understanding fonts- what they are, where they come from, and what they’re most optimally used for – to create our understanding of font etiquette.

This article is the fun one.

I’m going to share the best practices and ways manage and use your fonts from download to activation.

1.) DOWNLOAD
First, the process starts with your fonts file(s). This can either be something you’ve just purchased, but most likely downloaded. With the availability of fonts for download, either free or illegitimately, the integrity of your font is at stake.

2.) DIAGNOSE
The first step in good font etiquette is to check the integrity of your fonts. This is important as important character, kerning, or meta data may be missing, causing the font to be unstable, possibly leading to a program crash.

You can use diagnosis programs, such as FONT DOCTOR to diagnose and organize your fonts. Do this BEFORE you load them. We’ll get to that process.

I once had favored font I wanted to use from dafont.com. It was fantastic, but unstable. Every time I used it, I could guarantee Adobe Illustrator would close if I tried to edit the type. Solution? I had to find a commercial alternative – there’s always one.

3.) ORGANIZE
Next, is keeping a separate folder containing the original foundry and family together. Create a Font Collection folder, and organize them. Each folder, such as Red Rooster or Umbrella will have their own sets of fonts. This is for your reference purposes only, but is helpful whenever you need to check out the specimen PDF’s.

4.) UPLOAD
Next, using a program such as Font Agent Pro, you’ll be uploading your fonts into your font library. You’ve already ensured the font is healthy, so no problems here. Font Agent Pro will keep your fonts organized and activated whenever you need.
There’s so much more to be said about typography and fonts, but maintaining and utilizing healthy fonts is the core of a designer’s toolkit. By using Font Doctor and Font Agent Pro, you’ll be building your library with healthy fonts, whether purchased or free.

Font Agent Pro can be purchased online at: www.insidersoftware.com
Font Doctor can be purchased online at: www.extensis.com

With the rise of popularity with sites like dafont.com and font distribution websites, one can’t help to feel bombarded with fonts. One has to wonder, what really are fonts, what is their purpose, and how does one use them most effectively? We’re going to discover just that.

For us to get up to speed on some good font etiquette, let’s take a quick glance at typography as a whole.

Originally, typography traces its roots before the printing press to the concept of die-cast emblems. Moving forward to plates and later to movable type, many printers carved their own movable type to print with.

From 1890 to the late 1980’s, typography as a whole grew into what it is today, not without growing pains, to say the least. Where this lands us in two places: successful type foundries / manufacturers and commercial typefaces with trademark-able capabilities, increasing the level of commercial branding, corporate design, and packaged goods overall.

Next, I should note the difference between fonts and typefaces. The word font and typeface are similar, but do not mean the same. A font refers to a file that contains all the characters. Font foundries and studios sell fonts to designers for use. We use fonts (the files), which are then identified by name in programs such as Microsoft Word.??A typeface refers to the actual display of style and visual characteristics that name and identify a font. Arial, Verdana, and Trebuchet are all typefaces, when identified in use. The font itself is the file that it used that contains the corresponding letters.

Next, to understand the importance of fonts, we need to know how to best use them.

While Microsoft Word is jam packed with so many fonts, you really don’t need them. Microsoft Word is a “word processor,” it ultimately is meant for typing, documents, and publishing materials. Instead, fonts like ransom, Bradley hand, and Comic Sans have dumbed down the application into a poor form of graphic design. This isn’t where we use fonts.

Fonts are best employed in design programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or InDesign – specifically for the use of creating layouts, type, and design-related materials – things that are meant to be designed, looked at, and artistically  interpreted. (that memo last week? No.)

Our next article will focus on best font practices, in regards to use and management. Stay tuned.

It was announced today that QCMG partners will be launching a new logo and type foundry as a new division of QuantumCMG, called Avocado Logo & Type Foundry.

Avocado L&TF will primarily serve as a cost-effective type and logo foundry, serving design and branding professionals. Avocado will continually sell high-quality commercial fonts and logos to the design community, creating incentive and alternative to high-priced logos and fonts from sites such as Brandstack.com or Typography.com or Linotype.

While QCMG respects and enjoys these design foundries, the launching of Avocado will create a new platform for the purchase of high-quality, custom fonts and typography within the “middle market,” for studios that are bigger than a mom-and-pop shop, and yet don’t consider themselves a full-fledged agency.

Designers and studios will be encourage to hire Avocado for ghosting services and retain their logo budgets and get custom typography at deep-seated discounts.

The website will be found at www.avocado-ltf.com

For more info, contact QCMG  – hello@quantum-cmg.com

An energized brand exists in a positive or negative state

In my last article, I shared the 6 worldviews of branding based on furthering brands through the propitiation of enjoyment, economy, emotion, function, progress, or community. While these remain a larger worldview, they do not exist by themselves, but rather, like a wooden wheel with many different spokes, they coexist together in harmony, pulling a healthy tension between the values and propelling the brand.

Now that we understand the purpose of why we advance the dissemination of brands through these values, its important to understand how a brand exists; we first have our worldview, then we have our “world.”

In this article, we’re going to look at the quantum theory of brands. Simply stated, the quantum theory says you’re defined by the amount of energy you have; change can’t occur unless it comes from one of two places- inside or outside.

Change from inside, would be natural, showing that you have a surplus of positive energy. If you had an energy deficiency, you’d be attempting to steal energy from other sources. Apply this theory to brands, and you’d be attempting to steal energy from other brands – doing what they do, being like them, taking their thunder and appeal and attempting to use it for you own.

What’s interesting about this theory is that it acknowledged a few “givens” while advancing our understanding of how brands work, exist, coexist, and advance. Let’s examine a few of the givens and platforms of the quantum theory.

1.) Brands Exist – The quantum theory doesn’t argue about the origin of atoms, or in our case, brands. In fact, it focuses on what the brand is doing – existing in a state of energy, capable or incapable of change.

2.) Brands are Positive or Negative, There is No Middle – When considering the periodic table of elements, there are none that have zero energy. They are positive or negative. Likewise, our philosophy of branding is that your brand exists in a state of positive energy or negative energy.

3.) Change Occurs – It is important to know that change occurs, whether we intend for it to or not. In the world of branding, change can be planned and anticipated, but can still feel contrived, forced or lacking of the correct exchange.

As we move forward, we reflect on the premise that branding needs to occur in the real world, not a vacuum, in an ecosystem of enjoyment, economy, emotion, function, progress, or community. We’ve also developed the understanding that brands exist in a positive or negative state prone to change.

In our next article, we’ll engage the ideals for our “energized brand.” Stay tuned.

When I first set out as a designer, I had no idea that I’d be where I am today. Currently, I’m a branding studio owner and a design professional with one foot in the studio, one foot in the classroom, and two hands in the professional design economy. If there’s anything that I’ve discovered, there’s two things that separate you from your competition – how you think, and the framework from which you operate. These two can be similar, but are comparable to none when combined.

In 2004, at the beginning of my career into the world of “brandonomy™,” I was developing my thinking, far be it from the sole influence of commercial branding books and design resources, but somewhere in the middle, seeing them as milestones and references, not guiding beacons. I stumbled upon an innovative theory that I developed over time, which was the groundwork of my studio philosophy of “creating energized brands.” While studio philosophies differ, they’re all pretty much the same to some degree. It was those qualities that I isolated and discovered there were principles and elements that were universal – that brands were using over and over as their foundational groundwork for the branding process – and no one was talking about them. They were essentially perspectives, or worldviews of branding, that when placed in focus, helped align the positioning of the brand in its respective and competitive setting.

Before we get to Part II of the this article, I need to lay the foundation of branding worldview, before we discover the quantum theory of brands – how they exist and expand.

BRANDING WORLDVIEW
Branding is notoriously successfully at breaking down the “life of a brand” into processes, stages, and analytical statements of progress, but I began to question the purpose of what we were doing, the bigger picture, and the greater story of what branding was doing locally, regionally, and globally. I discovered that before there were elements of branding, there were founding principles of a Branding Worldview™. Ultimately, there were human principles driving the momentum of branding, not just the process.

They are as follows:
1. Hedonistic (enjoyment)
2. Commercial (economy)
3. Inspirational (emotional)
4. Utilitarianism (functional)
5. Progressive (progress)
6. Social (community)

Let’s break these down.

First, the Hedonistic Worldview (WV) of Branding finds the ultimate purpose is that people are mean to enjoy; products are meant for consumption, but ultimately, enjoyment.

Second, the Commercial Worldview of Branding finds the purpose is to drive the commercial econony and economics of society- producing products for supply and demand. An economy is seen for its potential of consumers.

The third worldview is the Inspirational Worldview of Branding; this core belief is founded that people are emotional and are driven to connect. Products are a connection point and ultimately create community through participation and consumption. The buzzword here is emotional.

Utilitarianism is the functional worldview of the six, seeing that the commercial and consumer economy functions best when consumers are functioning through brands. The brand purpose here is that brands create function- they allow a higher level of functioning.

The Progressive Branding Worldview states that brands are meant to progress society and advancement. This is high in product use, technology, focus groups, and word of mouth / grassroots communities. The progressive model is one that pushes towards the utopian ideal. Ideal is the buzz the word here.

The Social Worldview of Branding is focused on the concept of community and social connectivity. This WV states that brands serve to create and foster community, rallying consumers together.

While incapable to be separated from each other, each of these worldviews creates a worldview-wheel – each a spoke in a larger wheel that turns and motivates the functional and emotional communicae of brands in our society. You cannot have a wheel with just one spoke. Push the emotional envelope too far and our “wheel” may become soft, lop-sided, too rigid, or uneven. Likewise, this applies to any one WV principle.

How you apply this is the consideration of the motivations behind strategy, the first stage of the branding process. While this seems intuitive, it is actually the development of the other perspectives that allow you to see how you fit in the marketplace; not only should there be room within your market, there should be a formidable fit in comparison to the other markets.

For example, you are launching a new identity for a executive placement HR firm. In your consideration and review, you not only consider your landscape, but also the corporate landscape of the area you’re targeting – using the branding worldview to create a fuller landscape of your client’s audience to fully understand what motivates them within their market at large. Each worldview becomes a scale of sorts.

Pick a town. Now isolate their tendencies to purchase for enjoyment, the commercial economy, the level of emotional cognizance, the functional products in their landscape, their commitment to progress and community, and you’re painting a holistic picture, not just a demographic or basic anthropological research.

The Branding Worldviews are a fundamental component to our everyday brands. We each know and understand them as precursors and motivators, but seldom stop to evaluate them on a scale. By doing so, you are understanding the principles that drive the functions of the branding process, not just branding for branding’s sake, but for a common purpose of which users experience your brand.