Eat Your Brussels Sprouts
July 15, 2010
We’ll admit it: we don’t know much about Brussels, Belgium. What we do know is that if we ever go there, we want to stay at The Pantone Hotel.
The Pantone Hotel is the stuff of a graphic designer’s dreams. Each room has a different color scheme based on the Pantone color chart, 
which is the graphic designers’ tool chest when it comes to matching colors. Each room uses Pantone color swatches as art work that set the tone and feeling of the room. The hotel’s overall look embodies clean, European design with lots and lots of beautiful white space. The attention to detail is pretty impressive, too; the bicycles, coffee mugs and even signature cocktails are marked with their Pantone colors.
And, hey, we can even afford to stay at the hotel on a graphic designer’s salary! The only downside of the Pantone Hotel? When we stay there, we probably won’t see much of Brussels.
To Inform and Delight
April 28, 2010
Last night the South Dakota chapter of AIGA (the professional association for design) provided a free showing of Milton Glaser’s To Inform and Delight at Southeast Technical Institute.
From Arthouse Films’ blurb:
For many, Milton Glaser is the personification of American graphic design. Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the enduring I ♥ NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser’s remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary portrait, Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight. From newspapers and magazine designs, to interior spaces, logos, and brand identities, to his celebrated prints, drawings, posters and paintings, the documentary offers audiences a much richer appreciation for one of the great modern renaissance men.
Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser’s personal life and capture his immense warmth, humanity and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.
To Inform and Delight is a wonderful movie chronicling the famed New York designer Milton Glaser and his warm connection with humanity. If you’re in Sioux Falls or the surrounding area and want to catch the movie on your own, make sure to get registered for Adobe Days on May 6th, where AIGA SD will be giving away a copy to one lucky member!
Where Is the Line? (On Advertorials and Front Page Ads)
March 9, 2010
No one would claim that the garden variety advertorial is a journalistic endeavor. Situated alongside a publication’s content, however, it can often be mistaken as real – especially if designers have taken great pains to replicate font, layout and details.
Advertorials happen. They happen all the time. Whether you think they’re effective or misleading, you probably rarely give them a second thought.
That is, until they begin appearing on your front page.
Alice In Wonderland
Historically, newspapers and magazines have held the front page as an Advertising Free Zone. It only makes sense. No one buys a publication because of the ads on the front; they look to the cover as a de facto table of contents. That’s where the impulse to purchase is created.
But with the decline in advertising revenues, publications have begun allowing more and more leeway. Small banner ads appear near the bottom of the front page. Plastic covers promote wireless services. Post-it notes offer coupons. Ads are creeping into that valuable space, precisely because it’s valuable. Precisely because magazines and newspapers can’t sell the insides as much as they once could.
So, you can imagine, if you offer a newspaper $700,000 to print a full front-page wrap, there’s a good chance they’re going to take it.
That’s what Disney did with the Los Angeles Times. The ad – a four-page wrap that mimicked the Times’ front page – was designed to “create buzz, and to extend the film’s already brilliant marketing campaign,” said John Conroy, spokesman for the Times. It also pushed the day’s headlines to a second page.
It’s not the first time the Times has slipped advertising in under the radar. Last April, an ad for NBC’s Southland gave only minimal indication that it was, indeed, an advertisement – and that was long after the “article” would have been read.
Newspapers: a Vehicle for Journalism or Advertising?
Which begs the question: where is the line? When does journalism begin and advertising end?
According to the American Society of Magazine Editors, ads and editorial content require a clear separation, and front-page ads not allowed. But when faced with the decision between selling a lucrative front cover ad and the ASME’s minimal repercussions (a letter or reprimand and exclusion from the National Magazine Awards), there’s often no more than the approval of a publisher standing in the way.
More than anything, newspaper and magazine readers place their trust in the publications they’re consuming. When ads are placed in a way that blurs the line between editorial and advertising – when advertisers seek to gain attention through deception by designing an ad that looks like real content - that trust is taken advantage of.
In other words, the content of the ads should be considered – not the location.
The Times ad reaches the news outlets because it’s on the front page. But it’s clearly an ad. It steers clear of deception simply because it’s too big to be believable. No one read that and thought, “this is a Los Angeles Times article about the movie.”
However, an advertorial clearly wants to be seen as content. Its entire premise is dependent upon a reader seeing it as an article. Posing as something it’s not, the advertorial plays upon the trust of the reader.
In other words, outrage seems to be misguided because the definition is so hazy. The line is smudged. Possibly irreparably. And it’s up to us – as advertisers and publishers – to, once and for all, redraw the line. Clean it up. Set some standards.
The balance, really, stands between editorial honor and the need to keep the lights on. We can take sides, fighting against either the stuffiness of journalistic integrity or the demons of advertising greed. But both sides have their arguments. Because without determining where that line is – the line between honorable content and the advertising that helps pay for it – we may lose the trust of our readership.
Being a Realtor on the Web
February 23, 2010
Let’s face it. Choosing a Realtor can be scary.
A lot needs to happen in selling and buying a house, and that puts a lot of responsibility – and therefore, a lot of trust – into the Realtor/homeowner relationship. Trust that needs to be earned. Trust that can’t be forgotten.
Which means, often, homeowners are on the defensive when it comes to buying or selling. They don’t have time to set up meetings with prospective Realtors, listen to presentations and choose. And often, questions arise before the Realtor is even chosen. What will stop my house from being sold? What do I need to do to prepare? Should I even sell?
For that reason, Realtors are taking to new ways of getting their positioning statement public in more non-traditional ways. We are happy to help one local Realtor – Tony Ratchford – in this very thing.
The concept: offer a seminar on selling a home on the potential seller’s time. Instead of setting up an appointment, coordinating schedules and arriving in person, Tony and his team developed a short video that highlights the needs for selling a home – and the benefits of doing so with Tony.
It’s simple: request a password, view the video, and proceed from there – which, coincidentally can all be handled on the same site. What’s your house worth? What homes are on the market? What resources are available in the community? It’s all one click away.
Fully automating the Realtor/homeowner relationship while still reaching out for a personal touch. It’s the best of both worlds, and it’s the future of buying and selling homes.
Check out the site for yourself at www.WhyHomesDontSell.com.
That plane is really an infographic
February 4, 2010
This airplane is really an infographic. And, for that, I salute Kulula Air (a low-fare, small airline out of South Africa), despite the fact that I’ll probably never get to fly on a single one of these planes.
From the Fast Company article:
With the help of local branding agency Atmosphere, Kulula launched this new look, called Flying 101. It’s more proof of the ubiquitous cool of infographics, I guess–everyone loves a good labeled diagram. And what a way to stand out on the tarmac, amidst South African Airways plain-Jane fleet: white, serifed type, and the most predictable logo possible, the South African flag.
They may not have Jet Blue or Southwest level service and support, but they certainly have an extra level of awesome. Nice work from Atmosphere.
(via/ Fast Company)
Another batch of Wolff Olins snake oil
November 23, 2009
AOL (or, I guess, Aol.) revealed a new logo treatment today.
You can look elsewhere to see what the overall consensus is. (My take: What. A. Joke.)
That being said, there’s a bit of inconsistency that proves Wolff Olins’ ability to b.s. their way through a logo design.
“Historically brand identity has been monolithic and CONTROLLING, little more than stamping a company name on a product. AOL is a 21st century media company, with an ambitious vision for the future and new focus on creativity and expression, this required the new brand identity to be open and generous, to invite conversation and collaboration, and to feel credible, but also aspirational.” said Karl Heiselman, CEO of Wolff Olins.
Their solution, naturally: stamp the company name onto a handful of stock images.
Come on, guys. After the London 2012 debacle, don’t you think we should be trying a little harder? I mean, THE LEAST YOU COULD DO is make sure the fluffy, inspirational quote defending your work isn’t at odds with the nature of the work itself.
What Montana taught us about design
November 10, 2009
It happens what seems like a million times in what seems like a million meetings around the world. Over-designing. Too many gradients and too much color and seven different fonts and a billion little bullet points and a few logos – one for each sponsor, as well as one for the company itself – and suddenly…
Ugh.
You and I know better. But that doesn’t mean we can stick it to some group of design non-believers with a list of the Seven Deadly Design Rules and force them to submit. We have to understand that, sometimes, circumstances require us to be creative in our application, that, sometimes, those bullets are necessary and that extra typeface is needed and those logos are untouchable.
Then again, sometimes, we need to stop, step back, strip it all down and reconvene with the bare basics.
Believe it or not, sometimes, it works.
Today’s example: the State of Montana.
After years of diverging license plate designs, ugly pastels, a roster of causes (105 in all, not counting University-specific plates) and, yes, what seems like a million typefaces, Montana took its recent history of over-design and wiped it clean.
A lack of consistency? Gone. A full palette of colors? Gone. A feeling of retro freshness that will hopefully inspire others (including Nebraska, of whom we will only say, “Please. Hire. Designers. Next. Time.”)?
Absolutely.
(Photo via greatfallstribune.com, ©AP Photo/Matt Gouras)
Great design doesn’t mean doing the most with what you have. It means doing the best with what you need.
Thanks be to Montana for reminding us.
(via: Design Observer, which was via: W Magazine)
The Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting - A Recap.
October 30, 2009
What does it take to put on the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting?
It starts during the summer. Themes are discussed, a stage is mocked up, and a speaker is booked. This year, the Chamber’s theme revolved around the consistent exposure Sioux Falls receives as both a business-friendly city and a place with high quality of life. The forerunner in this praise: Forbes Magazine.
So the natural choice for a speaker? Steve Forbes.
Throughout the summer and into September, the staging is finalized, the design is set and the invites start going out. Schedules are coordinated, extra help is brought in. We build monster set pieces. It’s like being in Play Production, except the stage is massive and the talent does more than botch lines from As You Like It.
As we get closer to the date, work swirls in a fever pitch. Our building is filled with staging pipes and banners – printed in house by Jason – and speeches pass over an entire series of desks. Video reaches the final stages of production, and a handful of lucky HSers work late into the night.
And then, it’s the week of the show.
Though the program is Tuesday night, we begin setting up Sunday morning. The stage takes a day and a half to erect, video is double- and triple-checked, and the HS Dancers go through their final run-throughs. A skeleton crew stays back at the office while the real action occurs at the Sioux Falls Convention Center in a flurry of construction, rehearsal and anticipation.
An hour before the show begins, you’d have no idea that this has been a process of months. When the lights go down, you’re seeing the end of the work, and the beginning of a grand celebration of the area we call home.
By the end of the next day, it’s all gone. The room is ready for the next event. Hopefully, you attended. And hopefully, you gained a new appreciation for everything the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce does for us – not just businesses, but everyone.
If you could believe it, that’s not even the end. Because chances are, we’re already looking toward next year’s show.
UX by MTLB
September 8, 2009
We’ve been thinking about the cross between impressive technology and customer usability a lot around the HenkinSchultz offices as of late.
So it’s a pretty awesome surprise that my good friend (in a strictly “blogging-on-the-same-Internet” sense) Bill Green of Make the Logo Bigger summarizes the User Experience discussion in a series of Pac-Man and vehicle side mirror analogies.
From “Why is this user experience [swear word] so hard?”
However, if I want to incorporate more features into my Facebook page, the effort it’s taken hasn’t been worth it. A simple thing like incorporating YouTube videos or my Flickr account has been a major pain. I’ve wasted so much time with what I thought “should” be an easy task, and still not gotten it right.
It’s like Pac Man: I just need to get from Point A to Point B, but instead, I have to do a bunch of stuff first and avoid some very bad things along the way.
Cue endless pokes and virtual beers thank you very much.
(If Pac Man isn’t to your liking, then how about this metaphor: Trying to do something on Facebook is like entering your front door by first going through the garage, then walking around the house.)
Read the rest here. And rock on, Bill Green. Keep fighting the good fight for all of us.
Sandwich Artistry
August 20, 2009
This past week, Craig and Cami proceeded to take our pre-lunch hunger pains and rake them over the coals of agony as they turned our studio into a veritable sandwich shop for a Dakota Provisions photo shoot. Though we’ve done hundreds (thousands?) of photo shoots, this one was by far the most attractive.
If you like sandwiches, that is.
Check out their sandwich artistry below.
Setting up the shot.
The casting call.
You’d be surprised the difference that one tomato made.
Yeah - that’s a tasty beer in the background.
To see the set, check out our Flickr page.
ProTip: Those tomatoes look pretty fantastic, right? Well, those drops of faux perspiration aren’t coming from the tomato – they’re manufactured. Karo syrup, actually. See? Food photography is both artistic AND educational!
- Let Your Voice Be Your Guide
- Penn and Misspeller
- Eat Your Brussels Sprouts
- Rhymes With Rice
- Embrace Losing, Embrace a Tree
- Buses Attract Attention, and Most Recently, Awards
- From the Mouths of Babes
- Needed: One Awesomewriter.
- To Inform and Delight
- KFC Doubles Down, prepares for a bust
- Joe: Your building is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen –I’m more thinking the kid is going...
- Joe: Your building is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen –I’m more thinking the kid is going...
- Joe: Your building is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen –I’m more thinking the kid is going...
- Corey V.: That kid’ll surely be better than the one that just left.
- Mark Cummins: Here’s my awesome copywriter resume: Mark Cummins 6007 S Cliff Ave #204 Sioux Falls, SD 57108...
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About HenkinSchultz
HenkinSchultz is an agency. An advertising and marketing and branding and design and production agency. All of those things, and then some.
But, underneath all that, we're really a bunch of thinkers. As in, we think about stuff, both pertinent and not, with and without boundaries, as if our lives depended on it. And this right here, Post Haste, is where we write about it.
Visit us at http://www.henkinschultz.com.