Posts tagged with “Design

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What Is Brand Strategy and Why Is It So Powerful

February 5, 2024  •  8 min readWhat is brand strategy and why is it so powerful
Brand strategy isn't just about logos and color palettes—it's about finding the sweet spot between what your audience wants and what makes your brand unique. When you nail this intersection, you create something truly magical: an emotional connection that transforms casual customers into devoted fans. Let me show you how it works.
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Why Is Brand Strategy Important

January 15, 2024  •  6 min readWhy is brand strategy important
Brand strategy isn't just another buzzword—it's the foundation that separates lasting design from fleeting trends. In my experience, I've learned that pretty visuals are easy, but creating meaningful work that stands the test of time requires something deeper. Here's why brand strategy matters, and how it can transform your approach to design.
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I Read the Newspaper Today, Oh Boy!

February 18, 2022  •  3 min readNewspaper
After decades away from print newspapers, I rediscovered the tactile joy of reading the San Francisco Chronicle over breakfast. The crisp pages, inky scent, and familiar sections brought back memories of Sunday mornings in North Beach cafes—reminding me that sometimes the medium truly is part of the message.
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The Apple Design Process

January 19, 2022  •  6 min readCreative Selection book with Roger Wong's Apple badge
Drawing from my time at Apple and insights from Ken Kocienda's 'Creative Selection,' I share how Steve Jobs shaped Apple's legendary design process through relentless exploration and refinement. From creating hundreds of packaging mockups to weekly design reviews in the mysterious Diplomacy room, this is an insider's look at how Apple's obsession with quality came to life under Steve's ultimate creative direction.
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Representation Is Powerful

June 13, 2020  •  2 min readWhere are the Black Designers
As a design student in the 1990s, I never questioned why all our celebrated design heroes were white men. Today, with Black designers making up only 3% of the industry, it's time to examine how we teach design history and create meaningful representation in our field.
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We Make the World We Want to Live In

June 6, 2020  •  3 min readScreenshot of Facebook's hate speech banner
In the wake of Twitter finally fact-checking Trump's tweets and growing protests over George Floyd's murder, tech companies are being forced to confront their role in enabling harmful content. As designers, we're not just passive observers in this system - we help shape the digital world that billions of people interact with every day.
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What Comic-Con Teaches Us about Design and Branding

July 26, 2019  •  8 min readPhoto of the Hall H stage at Comic-Con
As a designer, I've always been fascinated by how Comic-Con creates such passionate brand loyalty. By examining the core elements of storytelling - from worldbuilding to character development - we can apply these same principles to create more compelling brands and products. Here's what I learned from studying one of pop culture's biggest phenomena.
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Smart Data Needs Smart Design

December 11, 2015  •  3 min readSmartest Time to Buy Infographic
How I transformed raw data about car-buying patterns into an elegant, circular infographic that tells a compelling story. Starting with a simple Excel chart, I created a sophisticated visualization that reveals the best times to buy a car—by day, month, and vehicle type.
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Designing a Data-First Infographic

January 30, 2015  •  6 min readExotic car marques timeline
When tasked with creating an infographic about exotic car company ownership, what started as a simple timeline evolved into something much more ambitious. Through deep research into automotive history and exploration of various visualization techniques, I developed a detailed 24" x 36" radial timeline poster that tells the complex story of luxury automotive brands and their changing corporate parents over the past century.
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DesignScene 2.0 Launches

January 16, 2013  •  1 min read
Yesterday Lunar/Theory (my partner David and I) launched version 2.0 of our iPad app DesignScene. Take a look at the trailer…