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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: GETTING PERSONAL
Featured in the January magazine later this month is our 45th Anniversary People To Watch edition. Each year we choose a group of people — creative, talented, successful, newsworthy, influential — who embody the spirit of the creative community. We pose serious questions about the future of the profession because... well... it seems the right thing to do. But we know what you really want: the personal stuff. We generally stay away from the sensational ("boxers or brief") and the political ("boxers or temple garments"). Very much on the agenda, however, are favorite entertainments. As a bit of preview, it turns out The Office, 30 Rock and Top Chef top the TV ratings, along with gone-but-not-forgotten Arrested Development. No shock that Picasso, da Vinci, van Gogh sit among the pantheon of fine artists, but the inclusion of Joseph Cornell provides a refreshingly odd twist. And movie choices? Can't argue with The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Spinal Tap, Annie Hall, Breakfast at Tiffany's. But, frankly, we were blindsided by Dumb and Dumber and The Sound of Music (though I always shed a tear when Maria and the Captain fall in love during the Austrian folk dance scene). So please watch for our people to watch, and their favorite music, books, websites, foods, gadgets as well as TV shows, movies and art. If you have a spare moment, check out the serious responses, too; they're good and good for you. Finally, drop us a line if you have suggestions for next year; we cover a community of special people with uncommon talents doing extraordinary things and we are acutely aware that so many more of you deserve the spotlight.
— Gordon Kaye
GRAPHIC DESIGN NEWS
G2 Founder Retires
Kurt Haiman, G2 Branding and Design's founder, Creative Director and former President steps down after 38 years in the Grey Advertising family, and 46 in the advertising world. Kurt began his career at Grey Worldwide in 1969 and spent more than 25 years there as a VP Creative Director. In 1991, he recognized the need for a design subsidiary within the company and created Grey Design as a go-to agency for promotional, branding and design needs. In his illustrious career, he has served as President of the Art Directors Club, taught design at SVA and Parsons, won hundreds of awards and, throughout, found time to pursue a passion for drawing and painting. "Kurt is not only a talented creative leader, but also a savvy businessman, and a gifted mentor," says G2 Branding & Design President, Jason Press. Kurt sums it up as follows: "It's like I've always preached; make sure you choose a career you'll love, for you'll be doing it 16 hours a day, sometimes, for the rest of your life. You got to love it. I did, and I still do."
People-Centered Design
BBK Studio, the ten year old Grand Rapids MI-based design consultancy headed by Kevin Budelmann and Yang Kim, has rebranded as People Design. Explains Kevin: "Design as a discipline has become more complex, with many deep specialties. But today's consumers are loyal only to companies who deliver a reliable experience. This means all of the design and communications disciplines must now work in concert to offer that seamless experience, from first awareness of a product or service throughout the customer's life with that brand. 'People-centered' design helps solve that problem... Design is about people, for people, by people. But people are often the missing component in design. Too much of design is about itself. We believe in people-centered design. What could be more banal, or more profound?" The 20+ person firm has produced work for, among others, Herman Miller, Whirlpool, Spot, X-Rite, Jaguar and Izzy Design
 Navigating BusinessWeek
Modernista!, the Boston-based advertising agency, has redesigned BusinessWeek. Making a bold statement of change right on the cover, Modernista! shifted the logo from serif to sans serif. Inside, says editor in chief Stephen Adler, "it's clean, simple, it's bold but elegant, and kind of straightforward... The reader is much busier, they're much more engaged with the global economy than they were before, and they're consuming business information way differently from the way they used to." A new organization seeks to reflect those changes, with a briefs section greatly expanded, financial charts more colorful and readable, international news integrated into current sections, and an overall cleaner look with department slugs and oversized page numbers designed to aid navigation. Modernista! co-founder Gary Koepke has had extensive publication design experience, having served as the first creative director of Vibe magazine.
Graves Targets Altagraf
Michael Graves, renowned architect and designer, selects Altagraf principal Bill Healey to assist in the redesign of Michael Graves product packaging at Target Stores nationwide. Graves has been a leader in consumer product design since the early 1980s when the Alessi Whistling Bird Teakettle was introduced and quickly assumed iconic status. After a successful 10-year partnership with Target Stores, his group has embarked on development of a new line of lifestyle-focused products. These products—along with the new packaging, a new color palette and instore graphics—are expected to launch in early 2009. Altagraf's Healey has served as director of graphics during the entire marketing venture. Select projects included complete rebranding of the Michael Graves product packaging and instore graphics at Target Stores, a repositioning/re-branding project for Wolfgang Puck foods and kitchen products, and an identity design project for the new Hotel Michael in Singapore.
SPECIAL EVENT: PRINT OASIS 2008
PRINT BUYERS CONFERENCE & EXHIBIT
February 9 - 12, Amelia Island Plantation, Amelia Island, Florida (near Jacksonville)
Print Oasis is the premier conference focused on the needs and challenges of print buyers, creatives and marketers. The $699 per person early-bird rate—by January 15, 2008—includes four-day educational conference with industry leaders featuring more than 30 seminars, Expo, Paper Show, special events and many meals! Don't miss our Sustainability Intensive addressing the issues to consider when creating environmentally sustainable print projects and the Marketing Track with sessions on how to repurpose your print campaign in cross-medias. Book your hotel room now while rooms and discount rates are still available! For conference details and to register...
http://www.printoasis.com
MORE GRAPHICS NEWS
 Kicking Off New Soccer Team
FAI Design Group is helping to launch New Jersey's Major Indoor Soccer Team, Ironment, who are now playing night home games at Newark's new Prudential Center. "Most logos we researched in the soccer league lacked the 'energy' we were looking for. Our goal was to create a strong, action-driven logo which successfully added an energetic atmosphere throughout the arena and helped to pulled the whole event together in an exceptional way," says FAI partner Allison Schwartz. Rob Scully served as art director.
It Started in Cincy
LPK, the local Cincinnati agency that has made good on a global stage, opens a London office to better, With the addition, LPK now employs fifty employees in three offices in Europe—London, Geneva and Frankfurt. The company's office in Ghangzhou, China, also continues to provide a strong contribution to overall sales. "We've doubled the size of our company in the last four years, hiring over 200 employees and have opened four international offices," notes LPK head Jerry Kathman. "During this period, the totality of our offices have worked on over 120 different brands, extending across 9 brand-building competencies", adds John Recker Executive Vice President, Director of Brand Strategy and Director of European Operations. Earlier this year, the firm was selected as one of thirty-five "best places to work" in the Winning Workplaces by The Wall Street Journal and was also named one of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies by Inc. Magazine.
 Belks Gets Lift
In providing design and post production services for a new spot for fashion retailer Belk, Filmworkers Club and its inhouse design studio Lift came up with a dramatic way to visualize the concept of change. The spot uses a butterfly as a metaphor for the reopening of Parisian stores under the Belk brand, with a woman walking toward the camera sprouting a pair of colorful transparent wings and then undergoing a series of quick wardrobe changes. Credits include direction by Russell Kozak with production by Story, Chicago; design by Lift, Chicago, with Jason White as creative director and Justin Pae as design director; and copywriting by freelancer Scott Galiher. Belk's inhouse department, led by vice president/creative services Katrina Streiner, served as the agency.
Sustainability Conference
The Academy of Art University in San Francisco is the locale for Compostmodern '08, an interdisciplinary design conference dedicated to promoting sustainable solutions within the design community. Promoted as a learning opportunity that can help transform idealism into actual business practice, and further define the role of design and designers in making the world a better place. Alex Steffen of Worldchanging is the featured speaker. Others on the panel include Adam Werbach, founder and ceo, Act Now, Mark Alt and Phil Hamlett representing the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design, Jane Savage of Nike, Scott Stowell of Open, and Jeff Walker, a principal at VSA. It all takes place Saturday, January 19.
http://www.aiga.org
 TAKE FIVE! CAREER TIPS FROM THE CREATIVE GROUP: CAREER RESOLUTIONS
Even if you've already broken your vows to exercise more, eat healthier or spend less money, it's never too late to set a few professional goals. Following are five easy-to-implement ideas that can give your career a boost:
1. Clean Your Desktop. Both in the office and on your computer. Spending just an hour or two getting organized can reduce time spent searching for files in 2008.
2. Set Up Lunch Dates. Breaking bread with peers, mentors and business prospects can help you solidify new professional relationships.
3. Beef Up Your Book. Update your portfolio with the work you're most proud of from 2007, and be sure to note the particulars, including the results of your efforts.
4. Get In The Know. Take a few minutes to sign up for enewsletters or RSS feeds from your favorite design news sources. Also, bookmark blogs and web sites of interest. A steady stream of useful information will keep you inspired in 2008.
5. Track Your Achievements. Set aside a folder where you can make note of your accomplishments. This information will come in handy when you're preparing for a performance review or updating your resume, or simply when you need to massage a bruised ego.
The Creative Group is a specialized staffing service placing creative, advertising, marketing and web professionals on a project basis. Please visit www.creativegroup.com.
TRENDSPOTTING
At this time of year, the futurists come out to play. Here are very brief excerpts from six forecasts of 2008...
Cheryl Swanson, Toniq from keynote address at the recent FutureTrends Conference; Swanson sees the coming of the Imaginational Era...
"Our fast lives are forcing us to redefine our personal and collective tempos, as we embrace spontaneity, creativity and daydreaming as antidotes to technology's sensory overload. A recent Harvard study shows that our minds may wander during routine tasks because daydreaming is the brain's normal state, rather than a distraction. Daydreaming is not just beneficial, it is necessary. So how do we get back to the daydream state? By managing the technology that fueled the past 10 years and allowing our imaginations to fuel the next 10... We are not going to get rid of technology, but we are going to start asserting our own control over it to begin to thrive..."
www.toniq.com
Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve foresees a turbulent global market searching for a new mental and spiritual anchor...
"Our mindset is characterized by the Current DissedTrust. People continue to reject the "establishment" (government, commerce, religion, etc.) because they expect it to lie, cheat and abuse employees, communities and the environment. There will be rich rewards for any institution that can reach the bar of trust; but most will find that measure simply too high to attain." Visit Faith Popcorn's TrendBank, visit www.faithpopcorn.com
J. Walter Thompson's Ten Trends That Willl Shape Our World in 2008...
"Demography's Dead: As life expectancy increases, marriage as a lifelong commitment will be a different proposition in 2010 than it was in 1960. Will it be smarter to marry in your 20s, hoping for the best but leaving room for another shot at marriage in your 30s? Or will it make more sense to focus on building career and friendships in your 20s, playing the field until your 30s with the risk that marriage still won't work out the first time? Over the coming decade, the possible permutations of age, gender, marital status, family composition, work status and health status will become too complex for easy demographic pigeonholing to be useful or meaningful. Watch for marketers and others to focus on behavioral targeting and segmentation and stages rather than ages."
http://www.jwtintelligence.com/specialoffer.html
BrandWeek Outlook 2008, December 31, 2007...
The successful marriage of content and digital technology is expected to play a major role in reaching niche groups in 2008. For marketers, that means knowing the cultural nuances, identifying specific consumer preferences and understanding the significance that the Internet and mobile devices play in the lifestyles of the diverse audiences they are trying to reach. "Technology is allowing marketers to reach a finer and finer segmentation of consumers," said Howard Buford, presi- dent and CEO at multicultural agency Prime Access, New York. "In multicultural marketing there's more demand for culturally specific messaging and more demand for authenticity in speaking to these audiences." The buying power of the U.S. Hispanic, African American and Asian populations is projected to climb to $3 trillion by 2011, per the Selig Center for Economic Growth, Athens, GA."
Corbis Top Ten Creative Trends including "Globesity"...
Obesity, once thought to be a North American problem, is rapidly expanding across the globe creating a phenomenon known as Globesity. The fact of the matter is modern living is making people fat. Experts conclude that increasingly busy lives, affordability and convenience of fast food, lengthy commutes and the popularity of sedentary activities such as spending time on the Internet, watching television and playing video games, have all led to a dramatic increase in global obesity... What does this mean for advertisers and the visuals they are using? Advertisers and marketers are increasingly showing ways that people—of all sizes—can combat obesity and strive to live healthier lives. More images feature real people doing their best to stay in shape and make the right decisions for themselves and their families. Marketers are trying to cut back on visuals of children with candy and ice-cream cones in favor of those with fresh fruits, whole grains and vegetables. And more than ever, images are showing people leading active lives—whether it's pictures of people working out, kids playing sports or a couple taking an after dinner stroll."
http://www.corbis.com/boutique
Next Level SMG brand strategy firm survey of marketers on the top five New Year's branding resolutions...
"1. 28 percent resolve to spend more time and money understanding their consumers and how to better meet their needs;
2. 18 percent aim to take more risks with their business, recognizing that a dramatic change in strategy can reap significant rewards;
3. 16 percent say they'll find more creative ways to reach their audience;
4a. 12 percent plan to be more externally focused, looking to direct competition and complementary categories for growth opportunities;
4b. 12 percent will be investing more time and money to better understand how to create relevant innovations."
http://www.nextlevelsmg.com
SPECIAL EVENT: INSOURCE - THINKING INSIDE THE BOX
February 20, Lenfield Hall, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison NJ
How Design Innovation Comes From Within. That is the topic of this one day event sponsored by InSource, An Association of Corporate Creatives. Included are presentations by Tim Cox, Director of Creative Services for Publix Super Markets and Marianne Klimchuk, Associate Chair of the Brand Packaging Design department at FIT. The continuing goal: to motivate creative thinking and promote best practicies. To register, visit...
http://www.in-source.org
CALL FOR ENTRIES: AMERICAN INHOUSE DESIGN AWARDS
The 2008 American Inhouse Design Awards, presented by Graphic Design USA and sponsored by The Creative Group, is now open for entries. The original, the largest and the premier showcase for outstanding work by inhouse designers, it represents a unique opportunity for design and marketing departments to be recognized by clients, colleagues and upper management for creativity and execution, for the special challenges they face, and for the value they bring. The categories, reflecting the central activities and unique strengths of inhouse departments, include Annual Reports and Corporate Reports, Announcements and Invitations, Brochures and Collateral, Direct Mail and Catalogs, Internet and Intranet Design, Letterhead and Stationery, Logos and Identity Programs, Newsletters and Publications, Packaging and POP, Advertising and Sales Promotion, and more. To request a hardcopy entry form, please email your street address to awards@gdusa.com. Or to download an entry form, please visit... http://www.gdusa.com/contests/aida.php
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