More about branding – Gilt Groupe

When I was younger I used to like clothes, but now I love fashion. There is a significant difference between both words. And while clothes are incorporated into fashion, the latter is conceptually different. Fashion represents not only utilitarian products, but also artistic approach to oneself, a tool to be unique.

Because of the above described, I often shop on websites that sell designer clothes at reduced prices, such as ruelala.com, hautelook.com and ideeli.com. I began doing so slightly cautiously about a year ago and so far most of my purchases have been very successful. With time my purchases became more extravagant and even included my wedding gown! I like the daily email I receive about a new sale and the feeling that I can find something unique that won’t cost an arm and a leg.

The only website I shunned away from for a while was Gilt Groupe. The reason for that was me not feeling fashionably  savvy enough. However with time, I grew out of this insecurity, became more curious about it and checked the sales more often. I discovered that the experience Gilt offered was different. It is not only about bargain shopping, but also about style. The website is designed differently from the others, in a way that allows the user to filter by brands and categories, depending on a sale. The product pictures have a similar look and feel to them and I imagine that it is because the company has its own inventory. That creates a consistency in look and messaging, which visually de-clutters and allows for a smoother interaction.

A long story short, I found a dress that I loved and placed an order. The package arrived today. It was very plain and very neatly taped with small strips of fancy tape. I noticed all the details because I like neat packaging and because there was no indication on the box about the company, not even a logo. I was very surprised, especially since I expected Gilt to be all about brand awareness. Perplexed, I opened the box and was taken aback by the creativity in packaging and a great brand message. This is what I saw:

I found it so clever that I decided to search for articles about the Gilt Groupe Brand and I found one from 2010 in Fast Company Magazine. In it the CEO states: “A big part of the Gilt brand promise is discovery”. This message was clearly delivered in the package as well as the lively new dress and I suspect that I will shop there again.

What’s in a name?

Recently I have decided to start a consultancy focusing on brand development and identity design for new and small businesses. I started my venture by securing a project developing a brand strategy and positioning for floral and event design startup led by Gabrielle Aronas. Additionally I started developing my own business plan and brand strategy. All was great until I reached the part in which I have to name my business.

There are many brand companies that are named after their founders, but I am trying to stay away from that, mostly because my business will focus on developing the brands of other companies and I believe that my company will be about those businesses and not my personal style. But here comes the laborious process of determining the name for my company. After researching and auditing and thinking about it constantly, I am still in a naming limbo. I found that for me it is the hardest task in branding by far.

Despite all that, my research yielded interesting results, like this conversation about naming and logo Identity from Branding Business. The most interesting takeaway is that naming strategy and design can often go hand-in-hand. A designed name presented to a client can evoke an emotional reaction needed to make the right decision. I found it to be a great insight, because I noticed that when I am thinking about a name I am imagining it already designed.  I will experiment by employing this insight and laying the words on the screen in different typefaces and maybe my naming nightmare will have a quick end!

Vanity Fair – November 2010

taken from http://pureblog.tumblr.com/

As I mentioned in the previous post, Vanity Fair is one of my favorite magazines. Why? Because for the most part I judge magazines by their covers. And this cover with Marilyn on it is very appealing. I love the centered type and the contrast of text with the photograph, however the quote by Goethe on the left is that little element that completes it.

There are several things that make me like or dislike a magazine: content, logo, typography, layout, photography, brand message, price and individuality. So here is what I think of this one.

Content – I don’t have the patience to read all the articles. I read the editorial, the cover story and a few other articles. I like the consistency in style and I think that for the most part it’s smart. There are elements of celebrity kissing of the behinds, but overall it’s tolerable. I do enjoy the cultural snobbism. In this issue, the article about Marilyn was interesting, and specifically, the focus on her psychoanalysis. Fascinating stuff albeit being slightly horrific.

Logo – I like the retro san-serif. It makes me think of flappers, paper boys and the Great Gatsby. The thought is entertaining.

Typography – there are some great stylized headers, but the type is mostly classic and easy o read and it is a desired quality in a magazine.

Layout – below is my favorite layout from this issue. I like that the advertisement for the Conan show fits so well in color, type and style. Can’t be as enthusiastic about the show itself, but the ad is cool. The left page is part of the FANFAIR section, which I’m still trying to figure out, and is all about iconic things from the past. Among them umbrellas. Hm, that’s fair.

Brand Message – consistent and clear. Again Bravo for the the Goethe quote.

Price – can’t complain. $4.99 and $1 an issue for subscription.

Individuality – I am still not sure about it, but there is a reason why I’m drawn to this magazine above others in the lifestyle/pop culture/fashion genre.

In conclusion I decided to subscribe.

Magazines, beautiful magazines

Coming from a Graphic Design background made me extremely appreciative of editorial design. Like many graphic artists I can spend hours browsing through magazines in a store; looking at layouts, typography usage, photography and just feel the texture of glossy paper. However, despite my love for really cool designs I sometimes notice that the content does not measure up to the layout quality and is often overcompensated by creative usage of typography or interesting images. I am not writing this to bash the magazines out there. I am writing to talk about the ones I love. I have been subscribed and bought a variety of different publications, mostly focusing on current affairs, art, fashion, design and food.

Recently I have gotten into the habit of trying new ones and I have discovered a few really good ones such as the Russian Magazine Snob, the British Living Etc, Elephant and a few others. Although The Economist and Vanity Fair are still my favorite. The reason for that has less to do with design itself, but more with a clear and focused content. My interest in magazines led me to think that it would be an interesting experiment to analyze the magazines I buy and see what makes them good. I will focus on the brand message, content relevance, typography and layout design. The first one I will subject to scrutiny in my next post will be the november issue of Vanity Fair.

Toolkit for surviving unemployment

I am finally ready to share my thoughts on how to survive a prolonged unemployment period. It is hard to stay in a balanced state of mind, when one is searching for a job and is being rejected on a daily basis. The lack of structure and income can be a heavy burden and it is important to develop a set of behaviors to protect one’s sanity and pocket. So here is my list of dos and don’ts to handle this unpleasant time in your life.

Don’t
1. Sleep till noon just because you have nowhere to go. Try to wake up early and prepare yourself for a day of action.
2. Continue spending as if you are working or will be working very soon. Cut costs immediately on unnecessary things.
3. Borrow money from friends and family unless you absolutely have no other choice. It will add an additional stress on you and can damage important relationships.
4. Be around people that evoke negative feelings within you (jealousy, self doubt, etc). You are not in a great place as it is and these feelings are just not necessary.
5. Go on a drinking binge. It won’t help.
6. Settle for a job if you can help it. Use the time to really understand what you want to do and try to find the right position.
7. Complain too much to others. People are uncomfortable with your situation and they won’t understand what you are going through anyway.
8. Go on shopping sprees to make yourself feel better. You will feel better for  about 10 minutes and then won’t be able to sleep at night thinking about your lack of income. You will see that with time you will “want” things less and less, which is a liberating feeling.
9. Don’t use credit cards. Really, don’t. Cash is king.
10. Forget that this situation is temporary and it will end sooner or later.

Do
1. Accept that you’re in a sucky situation and it’s ok to be a little depressed.
2. Try to use this time to learn new skills by going to school or just reading.
3. Accept invitations from friends to lunch or dinner and let them pay if they offer. It will give them a chance to feel like they are helping and for you to get out of the house.
4. Invest in self improvement. Go on a diet, do yoga, develop your spirituality and intellect. Just try things.
5. Write down goals and tactical plans in attaining them. You will be surprised to discover a plethora of new ideas when you write things down.
6. Love. Be around people, who love you, find love and just love yourself.
7. Invest in your mental health, go to therapy if you can.
8. Eat simple and healthy food. It is cheaper in the long run and you will definitely lose weight. Apples, vegetables and chicken can be a very simple diet with many variation opportunities.
9. Give your loved ones holiday and birthday presents. Giving can increase the feeling of  your self-worth.
10. Buy things for yourself based on “need” not “want”. You will see that there are very few things you actually need.

These little tips can make a big difference in attaining a balanced state of mind. Not every one of them is applicable to your situation, but the main thing to keep in mind is – make sure to depend only on yourself. Treat yourself with respect and accept the challenge that your life has given you.

Creating beautiful visual data

I have my graduate thesis presentation this coming Saturday and I have been in charge of designing a PowerPoint presentation. This time I decided to really spend time on this and toiled for days, designing animated info-graphics. I have to admit, I kind of hate graphs. I have always dreaded them. They always looked so condescending with their numbers and the statistics. But recently I found a new interest in designing beautiful visual data.

So while staring the thesis PowerPoint presentation, I researched images of creative graphs to get inspired. I have discovered amazing visuals. Like this:

Isn’t it great? So simple and beautiful. I had never thought that I would be interested in an info-graphic design, but I think that it can be a very powerful communication tool, which I have underestimated until now . So here are a few tips on how to correctly and beautifully rearrange data. The Anatomy of an Info-graphic.

What does your scent say about you?

While in high school, I accidently discovered my favorite perfume. It was accidental, because I was visiting my friend, who just happened to put on her mother’s perfume as girls sometimes do. The scent was so interesting, so elegant and so completely inappropriate for a 16-year old. It was YSL Paris.

Naturally, after that I begged my mom to buy it for me as a birthday present, which to my surprise she did. I started wearing it on special occasions, but it did not feel quite right. I loved the scent, but the scent did not love me. I tried it again in my mid-twenties and it felt much better, but still not how I expected it to feel.

A few years ago I discovered a line extension of Paris, a limited edition. I had to have it! When I put it on the scent was perfect! It was everything I wanted to represent at that time: romance, vibrance, individuality. After finishing the bottle I was satisfied. I was happy that the edition was limited, because I moved on, my life had changed and I would have not wanted to buy it again.

Since then I have been looking for a signature perfume that would represent who I am now. Even today I still don’t think that I can pull off Paris. Luckily for me YSL came out with a wonderful scent again. The new perfume Parisienne is exactly what I want. I fell in love with it the minute I put it on, I walked on the street imagining the kind of woman I wanted to be. Later, when I read the scent description I was surprised to discover that it was a direct translation of my thoughts. I guess YSL is my brand after all and there is always Paris to look forward to.

The food insanity

After reading today’s WSJ article on Denny’s free food promotions, I am honestly starting to believe that people’s thinking needs to be redesigned. The Title “Who could eat all this?” paired with this visual is a scary interlude to the article describing the food contests that are being held as a promotional tactic for restaurant chains.

The article focuses on the success of free meals during tough economic times. My beef is with the consumers, not the companies. Why would you go out to eat during lean times in the first place? And why would you eat so unhealthy and stuff yourself with low quality food to the point that it’s damaging to your well being? In my opinion leaner finances should trigger new approaches to handle the budget and might even get you going in re-evaluating the priorities in life.

My logic is simple. I should buy good food and less of it. As a result I will lose weight and keep my body healthy. Food should not be the cheapest thing in your budget list. It sustains your body (and sometimes soul) and there is no other way to go about it. I don’t buy the excuse that larger families can’t eat healthy. Sure they can if they would not spend money on plastic utensils and dishes, unnecessary packaged goods and just general crap.

Why is it so hard to just stop and think about the consequences? These habits are symptoms of flawed thinking patterns. This thinking needs to be redesigned if we are to move towards a healthier and more sustainable way of living. Then the businesses will follow.

The selfish approach

I recently watched Food, Inc, which impacted me more than I thought it would. Despite the constant conversations I have had on sustainability and the environment for the past 2 years as part of my graduate program’s curriculum, I was still affected by what I saw. I knew about the damage that the industrial farms create for the environment, I knew about Monsanto and I knew about genetically engineered food, but I still had difficulty relating the facts to my own life until I saw the movie.

I then remembered the first project my team and I worked on, which we named “The selfish approach”. In that project we took the regular environmental issues that have become sort of a white noise in public’s ears and showed the audience the impact they have on an individual’s health, wallet and well being. Food Inc. did the same for me. Since I saw the movie, my desire to eat chicken breast has evaporated due to the visual of miserable overweight chickens moving like invalids on their featherless stomachs. And something as harmless as corn has ignited a little flame of anger within me. As a result I turned to a very basic diet of fruits, vegetables and few selected proteins. It is too early to see the changes on my body, but I have to say that my budget has improved substantially.Which only proves that the selfish approach in conveying the message works the best.

Bad economy is not a good reason for career stagnation

Yes, I agree that when things are rough and one needs to make her ends meet, there should be room for compromise. However it infuriates me when people’s advice for a person’s unemployment problem is: “You should just take anything that comes your way. At least it’s a job.” But what if the “job” is off your career strategy? Should you just take it anyway, suck it up and maybe loose valuable time that you can invest in your career development? My response is “Absolutely Not.”

I agree that humility is important and maybe starting at a lower salary or title is the right thing to do, when you’re strapped for cash, but the job selection can’t be a random process based on your rent needs. After reading Penelope Trunk’s “Frugality is a career tool” blog I realized that intuitively I have been living by the same principle of frugality, which enabled me to stand firm in my job search for a long period of time. I choose to be frugal so I won’t have to be mediocre in the future. I choose to spend less on “stuff” so it won’t distract me from my life’s goals. I consciously do that, because I know where I need to be and wasting time on “at least it’s a job” is not what will help me getting there.