The Numbers Game

Before I was a branding guy, I was a fine artist.
I actually have a masters degree in painting - not graphic design. Graphic design I picked up along the way. But that’s a story for another day.

What I really want to tell you about is one of my favorite artists of all time, Pablo Picasso.

In his lifetime Picasso created over 150,000 works of art. Drawings, sculptures, prints, engravings, murals, ceramic sand paintings.

It could be argued that he was one of the most prolific artists in history.

He banged stuff out right and left. Boom, there’s another drawing.

His studio was literally littered with...well, Picasso’s.

Boom, here’s another one...

He didn’t get caught up in perfection.

Now, let me ask you a question:

How many of these 150k works of art are considered to be masterpieces today?

Probably less than 100.

I know there is some curator out there turning red in the face right now thinking...”But every Picasso is a masterpiece!”

The fact is, less than .5% of the artistic content he produced ever mattered in the long run.

So if you’re creatively stuck and are being a perfectionist about that one piece of content you have had on your marketing ‘to do’ list for weeks...

Bang it out.

Because creating masterpieces is a numbers game.

You just have to start.

Good luck ignoring the alligator

In 1933 a German psychiatrist named Hedwig von Restorff did a study.

She presented human subjects with a list of categorically similar items, with one distinctive, isolated item on the list.

When their memory was tested about the list of items, the memory of the distinctive item as always better than the rest.

The phenomenon became known as the “Von Restorff effect”.

For example, if you have a list where one item stands out against the others, for example: desk, chair, lamp, table, rug, bed, alligator, couch, dresser, armchair.

“Alligator” will be remembered the most.

It also turned out that the effect happens when you alter things like size, shape, color, spacing, fonts and underlining.

In this case, let’s say you have a shopping list with 20 items on it including: eggs, milk, bread, apples, chicken, lettuce, onions and cheese, etc. Then you color the word “apples” with a yellow highlighter.

Almost everyone who reads the list will remember that the list had apples on it.

In trying to win in todays market, many brands focus their time and energy trying to create better products or deliver deeper functional benefits or more meaningful emotional experiences.

But the fact is - that in the war for consumer attention, the most powerful method of establishing brand recall is to be different.

Just somehow noticeably - different.

We are now all doing business in an “Attention Economy”.

So, if you can just stand out in a sea of sameness…

You win.

You Think it’s a Mistake but it’s Actually Perfect

At the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey perfection was my goal.

I wanted to create perfect logos and websites. Upload perfect videos. Publish perfect blog posts. Send perfect emails.

But it was paralyzing.

And because of that, nothing was getting done.

Five years ago this month, when my finger was finally hovering over the “send” button for the very first issue of this newsletter, I was sweating.

What if I made some grammatical error? What if one of the links goes to the wrong page?

What if something is inaccurate and makes someone, somewhere, somehow irritated at me?

But it turns out I had it wrong all.

Since the 16th century, the Japanese have practiced an aesthetic concept that they call “Wabi-sabi”. It celebrates the slightly flawed, the not-quite symmetrical, the unrefined.

It can be seen in pottery with rough uneven edges or intentional chips, in architecture with off-center roofs, in the patchwork robes worn by Buddhist monks.

It embraces the idea is that imperfections are where the beauty lies.

That the true value resides in the flaws.

We should all remember Wabi-sabi when we go about our marketing work, design work, project work, our conversations with clients.

Because perfection isn’t the goal, it’s the enemy.

It’s the imperfections that make us relatable, interesting and authentic.

And they also help us get things done.

The Wrong Ingredients

There is a marina in Lahaina, a small town on the western coast of Maui, Hawaii and it's home to one of the best scuba diving sites on the island, Mala Wharf.

Mala Wharf is a collapsed pier that extends hundreds of feet into the marina. The submerged slabs and pillars of concrete create an artificial reef teeming with tropical fish, eels, rays, lobster and octopus.

The wharf didn’t collapse with age. It didn’t collapse because of a hurricane or some natural disaster. The wharf’s demise was the result of a bad recipe.

You see, when you make concrete with fresh water the material essentially becomes stone and will last for decades.

But when you cut corners and use salt water instead, the concrete seems OK for a few years, but then it begins to crumble.

Unfortunately, they used the salt water recipe for Mala Wharf.

After the wharf collapsed it was going to be far too expensive to clean it up. So they just left it there - and let the marine life take over.

Building a successful brand is like building something out of concrete.

You need to use the right recipe.

You need a solid brand strategy, a stunning brand design and to create an impeccable brand experience.

If you cut corners, before you know it things will start to crumble and cleaning up the mess gets expensive fast.

But if you use the right ingredients and a proven recipe, that brand will last for decades.

14 Trends in Graphic Design for 2021

I want to share with you 14 trends that I've seen in graphic design moving into 2021 that are exhibiting themselves in the marketplace. 

The thing you want to remember about trends is that trends aren't seeing into the future, they're not some sort of crystal ball. They are movements in design that have gained enough traction and enough usage to actually be recognized as something that is “trending”.

Trends aren't always brand new, in fact, very little has never been done before. I recommend you use trends to stay inspired, take them and make them your own. Take them to a different place in your creative work, or you can consciously react completely against them if that's what you choose to do. But knowing what is trending is critical either way.

#1: A.I. Design

Everything you're going to see on this slide was actually designed by a computer. This is machine learning. This is artificial intelligence designed, created by computers. Now it's not great design, but it's important because even though it's clunky and it's primitive, so was Microsoft Paint back in the day, so were the first Macintosh's right. It will only get better. It will only get more sophisticated over time. Yes, these look kind of surreal and deconstructivist, but they are something that you have to pay attention to.

#2 Electric Fade

Electric Fade has been around for a while, but it just keeps getting deeper. Electric Fade is characterized by electric turquoise and cyans and purples and magentas, being used in curvilinear blends. It's being used in tech and in sportswear and in print and in environments, it's even being used in political ads. Two of the graphics on the right side of this slide are from the Biden-Harris campaign. It used to be really cutting edge, but now in many ways it's going much more mainstream. This is a classic definition of a trend. It is something that's been around for a little while and gaining momentum and used to be a little low on guard, but now it's definitely getting mass usage.

#3 Environ-mental

This is topography that's being used in physical environments. It's used in wayfinding and interior design, art installations, retail stores, and museum display. These are single letters or blocks of text or numbers that are much like a trend that's going to come later in this presentation called singularity. It's stacked topography, it's often in all caps. Often it's wrapping around three-dimensional objects or surfaces or around corners. And it uses elements of force perspective, that's optical illusions that are making elements feel closer or farther away than they are now.

#4 Figure isolation 

These are human figures where the background has been removed and they've been placed on open, airy, or blank environments. This creates a juxtaposition between the 3D of the figure and the flatness of the design element's colors and texts that surround them. There are graphic elements, texts, shapes wrapping around through and over the figures. This gives it the design of focal point or an anchor to these more abstract elements. The figure kind of grounds in the abstract composition in reality, and it gives the eye a place to rest and orient itself in terms of the picture plane.

#5 Redline

Red line is characterized by red, black, and white compositions. Red, black, and white are one of the most striking color combinations. It's an emotional spectrum. Color red is angry and powerful environment. In fact, when psychiatric patients are given colors to work with in art therapy, red and black always run out first. This color combination is often used with black and white photography, and it shows up in outdoor advertising, active wear apparel, print, packaging, transportation, and even retail. There's almost no way to go wrong with black, white, and red.

#6 Sliver of Light

Sliver of light isn't as much of a trend as it is a graphic technique to draw the eye into a composition. It's mainly used in illustration and text layouts where the illustration is the primary storytelling device. It's characterized by a Ray of light that acts as a visual pathway to pull the eye into the composition. It's often used with a human figure as the focal point of that light. It's used in things like movie posters and book covers and editorial illustration, and it really creates an intense sense of drama and mystery in the composition.

#7 Architext

This trend is characterized by text blocks that are used as the main design elements. They're used as whimsical shapes, circles, curves, asymmetrical building blocks. These can be paired with photography and illustration, but generally text is the primary focus. Headlines and subheads can sometimes be put at right angles to each other. In this trend, the legibility or the ability to navigate the reading order of these paragraphs is of very little importance. This trend is arty, it's pretentious, and in it topography becomes the main design element in and of itself.

#8 Decontextualize

This trend is characterized by topography in a state of mid destruction. It's traditional elements of designs, topography, graphics, photos, shapes, and elements that are put into a kind of a visual blender. The result is abstract design, design for design's sake. It's used in design publications, in the music industry, in print and magazine work, and in event announcement posters. It's reminiscent of David Carson and Raygun magazine. It breaks all of the rules of design, graphic design that skirts the edges of fine art. Communication in this trend is of very little importance at all.

#9 Bright Geo

This trend is very similar to the Geo Max trend of last year, except the difference lies in the icon and the block shapes. It's characterized by Tetris-like building block shapes that are bisected and quartered circles, simple color palettes of reds, blues, oranges, and greens, also muted tones of gray, and they're all grounded in black or dark navy. Bright Geo is used in brand ID systems and web icons and editorial. It's even used in Google's G Suite icons. It's usually used in flat color compositions only, but it can be used in combination with photography and natural textural elements.

#10 It's All a Blur 

One of my favorite trends for 2021, It's All a Blur is a very popular trend and it's characterized by kind of an overlaid scrim of plastic or Mylar or just elements that are plain out of focus. We're seeing it everywhere, it's in video media, in animation, in signage, in editorial, in print. It's being used with figurative elements, typography, numerals, photography, and it creates a depth, a sense of mystery. It sparks curiosity and creates a level of visual movement that brings a real level of interest to a flat graphic picture plane.

#11 Chiseled Type

Chiseled Type is retro typography that's really historically anchored in the sign painting industry. It's a subset of the Sign Painters trend from my 2020 Graphic Design Trend video on YouTube. It's been adopted by art, graffiti, street culture, tattoo culture, and modern sign painters. This trend is characterized by fonts that are crafted to look 3D, as if they were carved out of or into stone or wood. Type designers have really adopted this style and are putting really interesting new twists on it. Single letter forms take on a monolithic life of their own and really become sculptures in their own right.

#12 Singularity

Singularity is characterized by composition that uses a single letter or number or a symbol as the main abstract anchor of the composition. It's a celebration of the abstract beauty of a single letter or number and its forms and shapes. It's often dramatically cropped and often used as an abstract element to wrap text around or intertwined with other forms, or it can be treated texturally in brushstrokes or in patterns. It's being used everywhere from editorial print to packaging, to illustration, and promotional posters.

#13 Wavy Gravy

Wavy Gravy is an offshoot of a trend from my 2019 Graphic Design Trend video on YouTube that I called Warp Speed. In this trend, topography is warped to create a wave shape. Sometimes they're regular waves, like an optical illusion to impede legibility of the text. Sometimes it's visually faithful to the text, but it's printed like it's on a waving fabric, like a flag or a banner. It's often used in black and white, but not exclusively. It's used mainly in print, and animation, and posters.

#14 Bee Yellow

Pantone announced its Colors for 2021. The colors are Illuminating Yellow and Ultimate Gray. This is not a graphic design trend in and of itself, it's really more like a dominant color story trend of yellow, black, white, and an injection of gray. I feel it's a psychological reaction against the difficult year that we've had in 2020 with the political upheaval and the Covid-19 pandemic, all of our financial struggles and the negativity overall in the world. It's kind of forecasting or encouraging a brighter outlook for 2021 and it's already being heavily adopted and used everywhere. It's showing up in product design and web design, sports apparel, editorial, print, the financial industry, promotional marketing, travel, and even entertainment.

How Can We Help Your Business Succeed?

Is your brand rockin' like nobody elses? Or is it a little tired? Maybe it's just being born. You want to do it right. That's where we come in.

We create new brands from scratch. We fix broken ones. We have all the brainpower, creative chops and marketing magic you’ll ever need and a ton of loyal clients to prove it.

You want nimble? We're the new agency paradigm. We scale up and down depending on your needs so you never pay for resources you aren’t using.

We’ll put the power of brand strategy, design and the most contemporary marketing techniques to work for you. Let’s talk.

Become a Great Public Speaker With These Quick Tips

If you want to reach the next level of your career, you can’t gloss over your public speaking skills. Successful designers, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals must present their ideas effectively and defend their work convincingly to an audience. 

Honing your public speaking skills exponentially increases your chances of success in your career. 

The opportunity to directly influence an audience is invaluable and is certainly worth the effort to improve.

If you are afraid of public speaking, you are not alone. 25% of people in the world rank public speaking as their number one fear. As Psychology Today explains it, there are myriad physiological reactions, negative thoughts and false beliefs that instantaneously paralyze you with fear when you take the stage.

Even if you’re not paralyzed with fear, you’re bound to get a little nervous before you present. You need to accept the fear. Quietly acknowledge, “I’m feeling nervous.” If you try to fight it, it will make it worse. 

Use these tips to feel more confident about your preparation, presentation, and follow-up.

Preparation

Watch and Learn: Watching great speakers and deconstructing their presentations will help you understand the important components of an outstanding speech. TED has some amazing videos from some of the best speakers in the world. Watch as many as you can and ask yourself: 

• How do they start their talk? 

• How do they engage the audience? 

• How do they tell a story? 

• How do they walk and move? 

• How do they present the slides that are behind them? 

• What's the cadence of their speech? 

• Do they tell jokes or are they serious? 

• Are they quiet or loud? 

Here’s a list of the 25 Most Popular TED Talks Of All Time to get you started. If you want to go even deeper, this video from Chris Anderson, TED Curator, explains the one secret ingredient of all great TED talks.

Rehearse: Knowing your material is the most important preparation step. 

Write diligent speaker notes and know your slides cold. Memorize everything until your presentation is mistake-free. Many people find mnemonics are very helpful with memorization. 

Mnemonics are based on pictorial memory, so if you are a visual person, it may be the right solution for you. This video from Mike Michalowicz, author of the business cult classic, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, teaches you the basics of mnemonics memorization. 

Assess: Observe yourself, either in a mirror or on video, to perfect your presentation. Notice and correct any distracting habits like:

1. Using filler words like "um," "ah," “like,” and “so.”

2. Long pauses or a very slow speech cadence. This will make it difficult for the audience to stay with you.

3. No pauses or rushing your words.  This will make it difficult for the audience to absorb what you have to say.

4. Using your hands too much.

It’s easy to lose perspective when you are watching yourself, so get constructive criticism. Invite your friends and family to watch your presentation. Ask them for their impressions and tell them not to hold back. They will tell you what you can’t see. 

When You're In The Room

Always Be Early. Ensure that you have a few quiet moments before everyone arrives. When you first get to the room, take a moment to collect your thoughts and breathe. Relax and release any feelings of being rushed. 

Next, make sure everything works. Gather your visuals, laptop, projector, and anything else you’ll need during the presentation. Make sure your laptop is charged and has the right plugs for the projector. Laptops have been known to crash the second you're about to start your presentation, so make sure you have a backup presentation and note cards or printouts so you can present without slides. 

Preparing for a disaster is very important. 

When I was presenting to Disney years ago, I brought my laptop that had my presentation on it in my backpack. When my colleagues and I arrived, the Disney executives gave us bottles of water. I took a sip, then put it in my backpack and went on a tour of the corporate offices.

When I got to the presentation room and opened my backpack, it was filled with 3 inches of water. My laptop was literally dripping as I pulled it out. It was soaked and destroyed. Luckily, I had a backup of the presentation on a thumb drive and was able to use someone else's laptop. 

Stuff happens. Have backup.

Setting The Stage: As speaker, you set the tone and mood of the presentation. 

Here’s a home-spun proven formula to start a speech and keep audiences engaged:

1. Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em

2. Tell ’em

3. Then, tell ’em what you told ’em.

Set your speech up with a very clear introduction about what you're presenting and why. 

This creates anticipation for the audience. After that brief intro, launch into your presentation. At the end, briefly review the key points in a concise conclusion. This structure grounds people in the beginning, the middle, and the end of a presentation. 

Own the room: This is the one time in your life where you want to be the center of attention. To do that, begin by asking the audience a question and then get them to respond by raising their hands. Some speakers even have people stand up, or tell them to clap or shout, “hell yeah!” They're taking control by forcing people to do something. That control makes them the de facto director of everything that’s happening in the room.

Avoid “Death By Powerpoint:” Keep your slides simple. Too much text, also known as "death by PowerPoint," makes it tempting for the speaker to just sit there and read through it, which will bore the audience to death. It also takes your face away from the audience which means you can’t control the room. 

Keep your slides super simple with minimal text so you aren't drawn to try to read them. 

Once Upon A Time: Stories are incredibly engaging. Tell a story or use a metaphor to make a point. Stories help people remember and internalize what it is that you're talking about.

Where’s Waldo: Be animated and lively when you are presenting. Walk around - don't pace frantically, but periodically move across the space. This keeps eyes on you and attention on what you are saying.

Make ‘em laugh: Have fun with your presentation and others will too. Don’t be afraid to tell a joke or put a funny or quirky slide in your presentation. I like to show a slide that is a red herring or doesn't fit in with the rest of the deck because it wakes people up. 

Having fun with your material is a great way to make sure the audience won’t be working on their phones or reading through their laptop during your presentation.

As You Are: Be human. Be vulnerable. People identify with the person who's presenting to them. They will, more often than not, give you some leeway to make mistakes or to say something that doesn't make sense. 

After The Presentation

Leave the last 5 to 10 minutes of your presentation for conversation and questions. This is where things really happen because you are interacting and connecting with the audience in a more genuine way. Speaking off the cuff forges a deeper connection; your audience can get a better sense of who you are with just a few minutes of candid discussion. 

If things don't go well - and it happens, don't make excuses but don’t get down on yourself either. Know you did the best job you could and move on. Don't admit that it didn’t go well when you're in the room. Always thank the audience for their time and attention and leave with your head held high. 

Perfecting your public speaking skills requires practice and patience. If you’re like most people, you’ll want to get better at it quickly, but be patient. Get practice by speaking regularly, either in an informal group of friends with public speaking goals, or through a formal organization like Toastmasters International.  If you are ready for the next level, this article from Inc.com will get you started with apps that can improve your public speaking skills. 

When we can all gather in person, someday soon hopefully, I hope to see you presenting at the next industry conference!

Guess What? You’re Drafted

Did you ever wonder why in the Indianapolis 500 race cars follow each other so closely? Or why in the New York Marathon elite runners run right on the heels of their opponent?

The answer is “drafting”. Any object uses energy to move quickly through air. That object then creates a vacuum of air behind it that “pulls” along anything that’s behind it - drastically reducing the amount of energy the follower needs to keep pace.

By using these aerodynamic truths, a Brazilian bicyclist recently reached an incredible 77mph on a highway by drafting behind a semi truck. A feat that would be totally impossible otherwise.

A couple weeks ago I started a private Facebook group called Brand Design Masters.

One of the amazing things about it is the broad range of experience and skills the members have. Some are seasoned industry vets with serious credentials. Some are just starting out - or making a pivot in their careers and starting fresh in a new direction.

But the best thing about mastermind communities like this is that it is rare that you are the most accomplished person in the group. There are others more knowledgeable, better connected or more experienced that are moving at a greater speed than you.

Why is that the best thing?

Because by using the power of drafting you can make faster progress in a shorter period of time than would be ever possible on your own.

How To Set Up A Kick-Ass Mastermind Group

Mastermind groups are designed to be the best growth hacking tools around. My experience with masterminds has been incredible. I've been in three masterminds over the last four years and I have found them to be powerful tools for growing my business. They have added jet fuel to my growth as an entrepreneur. 

Masterminds have helped me move from running a YouTube channel with my siblings and wife as subscribers to having over 180k dedicated followers and a catalog of branding videos with over 3.5M views. They helped me grow my email list of zero to 15k - now I’m publishing an industry-recognized newsletter, brand•muse, for over 3 years. I was named by the entrepreneurship guru Chris Ducker as "Youpreneur of the Year" last year in London. I could never have done all this on my own. 

You can leverage the power of the group to step up your business too.

The agendas in a mastermind setting are highly organized and the roles are very clear, so each member can get the most out of each meeting. The roles and agenda can seem rigid and complicated, but it’s really very simple to get started with a mastermind group. You just need to know the basics.

So what are the basics?

Step 1: Find An Existing Mastermind Group Or Create Your Own?

You can find a group that’s right for you by looking at your LinkedIn Groups or Facebook special interest groups. Also, research relevant professional organizations. For example, designers might search the AIGA for suggestions on masterminds they could join. Or in other industries, when you attend conferences, trade shows, or events, ask if anyone is involved in a mastermind. This is an easy way to get introduced to an existing group. 

You can also consider larger-scale paid mastermind communities. Many communities charge an annual fee to join a group as small as 5 people or as large as 400 or more. The advantage of these groups is that they are led by a facilitator who has an area of expertise that is particularly helpful to the group. 

Once you get going with a paid mastermind, you can form a breakout group; curate your own advisory board of like-minded people. I did exactly that (started with Chris Ducker’s Youpreneur group, then formed breakout groups including other Youpreneur members) and it worked very well for me. 

If you can’t find an existing group that’s right for you, start your own. 

Begin with your professional network first. Reach out on social media, especially Linkedin, to survey your network connections. If you belong to any specialized Facebook groups (e.g. one for creative professionals, business owners in your category, a resource-sharing group, etc.), start there. Poll the group to see if there is interest. Email past coworkers or classmates to gauge their interest. 

Step Two: Who Are The Right People For Your Mastermind Group?

It’s human nature to go with what you know, but stepping out of your comfort zone right from the start can really pay off. A great tip is to resist the urge to pick members who you know very well; your strong professional ties. “Weak ties,” or connections you keep in touch with once or twice a year are likely to be better mastermind partners. They can more easily help you expand your sphere of influence and widen your horizons with fresh resources, ideas, and connections. 

Be sure to choose some people who are in your industry so you can share ideas, ask them for feedback on your work, and see how they're progressing in their work. It’s also great to have entrepreneurs in other industries or categories who are doing the same kind of marketing and branding activities. Those in other industries will add even more scope on your problem-solving. A graphic designer for packaged goods, for example, will have experience that will benefit others in a mastermind for publishing designers. This will add different and valuable perspectives, and bring a particular level of expertise and application of that knowledge to the group. 

The people in your group will need to be ambitious, engaged, and driven. They need to be serious about what they're doing because you will be asking them to make an earnest commitment to attend and actively participate in meetings over a long time. The long timeline, about 6 months to start, helps you develop relationships within a mastermind group. These relationships directly relate to achieving your goals; the support you get from your group is going to help you accomplish your mission.

I suggest keeping the group size to 8 to 10. This size will give you enough time to share a variety of brainstorming ideas and input from everyone while allowing enough time to discuss and react to ideas.

Step Three: Where Will You Meet?

You can meet in person or online. If your group decides to meet in person, there are many options. You could rent a conference room in a co-working space or hotel, or you can meet in someone's conference room in their office. You can even meet if it's convenient in someone's home. 

More often than not masterminds happen in the virtual world. Zoom conferences or Google Hangouts or group Skype calls. This makes it easy for participants to be across the country or even across the globe. Developing international business relationships and getting international perspectives are a significant added benefit of masterminds that use virtual meeting technology.

Step Four: What Are The Key Roles And Formats In A Mastermind?

Generally, there's a leader or a facilitator who starts the meeting. This can be the same person every week or you can switch periodically. The timekeeper is watching the clock to make sure everyone is sticking to the agenda and nothing runs too long. A good timekeeper will make sure everyone gets their turn and the meeting ends on time. This role can rotate as well.

Most mastermind meetings start with 5 or 10 minutes of "quick wins;" everyone briefly shares their successes since the last meeting. This gets the group focused and realigned with each person’s current goals. 

Next is the "hot seat," which takes up most of the meeting time. The member on the hot seat gets to put a spotlight on their business issues. They can present a business problem, workshop an idea, or surface a particular topic that everyone will share about and offer ideas around. 

The last 5 or 10 minutes of the meeting each member states the goals they will accomplish before the next meeting.

Take it slow

If masterminds are so great (and they are) you may be tempted to join more than one. I suggest taking it slowly and try only one to start. It takes a lot of commitment and focus to be part of a mastermind and it may be difficult to develop deep relationships with a broad group of people too quickly. Start with one and if you feel like you have the bandwidth or you really need a wider range of input, then get involved in another one after a few months. 

Tangible results

I have met people who are supportive, driven and highly talented. Their perspectives have helped me go farther and faster in my business - perspectives I never would have known any other way. Masterminds have introduced me to more specialists, including writers, coaches, software developers, strategists, and researchers. I've broadened my network significantly which has led to new business opportunities. 

Even though business building is not the focus of a mastermind, I have found that masterminds have been the most powerful thing in my business hands down since I have started my entrepreneurial journey. My interactions and participation in masterminds have accounted for an estimated 20% of my new clients over the last 3 years. What would you do to create a 20% bump in sales with an investment of a couple of hours a week? 

Sounds like a good deal, right? Believe me, it is. 

I encourage you to start your journey today.

Your Mind, Blown

My friend Adam got a Tesla. An $80,000 Tesla, to be exact. He ordered every bell and whistle. He said, “I went down the list of options and just checked every box”.

After we had dinner Saturday, Adam asked if I wanted to drive it. I can’t say I was dying to. But O.K., let's see your new toy.

Out on the street, Adam pulled out his phone, hit a button and the car drove itself over to us. Then I stepped into and literally drove the future.

Tooling down the road at 40mph Adam says, “Take your hands off the wheel and foot off the pedal”. It was freaky. Not only can it drive itself, it can pass cars and change lanes completely on its own.

When you read that a car goes from 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds that’s impressive. But then it also goes from 20 to 60 in 2 seconds. Two. Until you press a pedal and feel a car do that, you can never truly understand. I mean - Holy. Shit.

Have you ever had an experience with a product that made you reevaluate the very conception you’ve always had of particular thing? This Tesla did that.

How can you Tesla-ize what you do?

Brand Yourself Or Die: 8 Steps To Career Longevity

Remember when you could land a job and camp out at the same desk for 15 or 20 years? Those days are not just fading, they’re gone. People are getting more freedom and flexibility in their lives by giving up the serial desk job and working remotely for many different companies at one time. Apps like Uber, TaskRabbit, Fiverr and hundreds of others are redefining how we work. New technology is changing our economy and the way we are doing business. Adapt or die.

Ok, “adapt or die” may be a little strong, but the truth is that we are moving from an era of full-time employment into an era of independent contractors. It has been happening gradually, so you may not have noticed it at all, but it is in full swing:

●      In 2006, independent and contingent workers—contractors, temps, and the self-employed—stood at 42.6 million, or about 30% of the workforce. That’s more than 60 million people. (The last time the government counted contingent workers was in 2006, so updated numbers are not available)

●      According to a 2014 study commissioned by the Freelancers Union, 53 million Americans are independent workers -- about 34 percent of the total workforce. This number is expected to balloon to 50 percent by 2020.

A Personal Brand: Your Job Insurance Policy

Even if you are a full-time employee and have great job security, the way people perceive your work is changing as a result of this macro-socio-economic shift. More and more companies are divesting themselves of full-time employees because of the high benefits cost. It gives them more flexibility, but it gives the freelancer or contract worker less security. So controlling your career trajectory is more critical now than ever before.

The professional climate is increasingly unstable even compared to a just few decades ago. Now, in the marketing world, when agencies lose a client there are layoffs. When a company takes a downward turn, there are layoffs. An acquisition? A restructuring? Layoffs. Corporate unpredictability means you can’t be overly dependent on your employer for your personal identity or for managing your career. Having a personal branded presence that's strong and independent of an employer is really preparation for the inevitable. It will assure your survival and success in your career, whether that’s working for another company, agency or brand, or whether it's developing an independent freelance or consulting career.

Job? No Job? A Personal Brand Can Help

Developing a personal brand will help you take control of your own destiny.

Branding is a shortcut for people to get to know who you are, what you do well, and how you can help them. Since you can’t tell everyone everything about yourself, a brand does the hard work of getting your main points across. For example, we know that Tim Ferriss celebrates high performance, Ira Glass likes compelling stories, and Rachel Ray is all about kitchen confidence, all from their own personal branding. We don’t know those people personally, but we do know a good deal about them because of their personal brands.

If you have a full-time job, a personal branding presence shows your expertise in your field. It demonstrates to others that you are up to date on your industry, category, and career. It also has the added benefit of lending you more credibility in the job that you already have.

If you don’t have a job or are a contract worker, a personal brand will make you more attractive to recruiters or your next employer. LinkedIn, social profiles, and maybe even a YouTube channel will help demonstrate your skill. Developing content and writing articles about your work and industry will elevate you in search results and therefore easier for recruiters and potential employers to find. It will also make you desirable to an employer looking for the top talent in their industry because your brand is connecting the dots; broadcasting your expertise so they can easily understand how you can help solve their problems. The critical thinking you do about what you stand for and the independent actions you take affect how you show up in the professional world. It’s hard work, but it pays off.

While working on your personal brand, I guarantee you will encounter many ah-ha moments. These are moments of understanding about your own professional (and sometimes personal) development. Developing and maintaining your personal brand will help you discern which skills you have and those you may need to learn.

As you develop your professional profile, for example, you may see holes in your skillset, or an uneven distribution of knowledge in one area. You will want to address these so you can truly stand out among your peers. You may need additional skills and may want to go to more conferences or make more network connections. But also in these ah-ha moments you may happily realize you have even more experience to leverage than you thought.

Fear is OK

You may be thinking, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid of putting myself out there. Self-promotion was never my thing. Plus, it's a lot of work. What are people going to think of me? What's my employer going to think of me?"

You are probably overthinking it.

These are all legitimate fears that everyone has before they begin. In reality, your employer probably won’t even notice. You may be surprised to find that your friends or your peers are not going to really care that much either. In fact,  you're doing it for yourself. Your investment in your professional development shows a level of strength and interest in yourself and your career that I like to think of as professional self-care. Your friends, peers, and colleagues are more likely want to emulate you than criticize you.

Developing a Personal Brand is a Sign of Strength and Independence

Your personal brand is going to show that you have a life outside of your corporate umbrella and your employer will be less apt to take you for granted or feel that they have a controlling degree of leverage over you.

Fear sneaks up on you in unexpected ways when doing important work like this, especially in the form of excuses. One of the most common excuses? “I’m too (insert: old/young) to create a brand.”

I can guarantee you never are too old to start creating your personal brand. I began developing my own personal brand in 2014. Before that, I had lived entirely under agency and corporate umbrellas and had only a LinkedIn page and a meager personal portfolio site. Now, I have a 14k person email list, publish an industry-recognized newsletter, written over 80 articles and have a YouTube channel with 150 videos and 170k subscribers.  Going deeper into my brand development has reaped incredible benefits for my business. Over 60% of my new business for my agency comes exclusively from my personally branded content marketing.

Fear is natural, but don’t let it stop you from enhancing your career and stopping short of success.

Freedom is Inevitable

I like to reframe it and characterize fear as harness-able energy you can use to break through to the next level. You’ll find that your success is greatly enhanced by your ability to view fear in that way. The benefits of facing your fears, putting a stake in the ground and declaring your value are both subtle and profound. Here are just a few benefits that I think are important:

You will feel less physiologically enslaved. Having a personal brand that's independent of a job will make you feel freer so if job insecurity occurs down the line, you won’t feel like you are totally exposed and are taken by surprise without any idea of what to do next. You'll be more apt to feel that you have more control over your life and that you can more easily architect your next steps.

You’ll have more self-worth and confidence. You can get a level of emotional fulfillment and sense of personal identity from full-time employment. But when you have a presence outside of a full-time job and a strong commitment to that presence, your self-worth and confidence are independent of your employment status. And that's always valuable.

It will keep you sharp. Developing a brand persona keeps you on your toes. It forces you to stay up to date with your industry and core competencies as you develop your opinions, create your content and deliver your brand message. A personal brand is one of the best ways to stay motivated and strong 

It will work your creativity muscle. Challenging yourself to define and develop your own brand is a challenging project and whenever you face a challenge, you up your level of creativity. Consistently maintaining a personal brand, whether that's content, social media, website, branded assets, etc., will force you to consistently work that creativity muscle. This will keep you focused - on top of your category and on top of your career.

How To Create Your Personal Brand

I have organized a systematic, step-by-step way to approach building your brand. As someone who has created and developed hundreds of brands, I have been a student of brand building methodology for decades. I’ve succeeded at scaling some of the most effective branding processes used by global agencies and Fortune 100 clients so they can be leveraged by an individual in building their own personal brand. Each brand and its development is a little different, but if you follow these guidelines you’ll be well on your way to having a beautiful and exciting brand presence in no time.

#1 Current State

You need to start with a really clear picture of the current state of your personal brand. It’s a little like taking an inventory that will help you understand where you’re covered and where you need to develop. You need to know where you already have a presence, so ask yourself these simple questions:

●      Do you have a robust LinkedIn profile?

●      What social media platforms are you truly active on?

●      Do you have a website?

●      Do you develop content of any kind?

●      What is the extent of your network or audience?

●      Have you employed any visual design assets that identify you?

Your answers will give you a good understanding of your current state, your starting line, which will provide context for determining what you are missing and what you need to create.

#2 Your Future State

The future state of your personal brand may be a bit foggy when you first start out, and that’s okay. Like anything else, your professional and brand goals will evolve and change over time. But if you're ever going to get there, you have to start. Ask yourself these questions:

●      What do want to be?

●      What do you want to do?

●      What do you want to accomplish?

●      Who can you help?

Capture all your answers so you can plan how you will get there. Building out your future state can be a big undertaking and is way too much to cover in this article, but just getting your initial thoughts and ideas down is the end goal of this exercise. Begin with your most obvious goals and others will show up as your brand develops.

If you are having a hard time trying to find out where you want to go or discovering your passion, What Color Is My Parachute?  is a classic book that will walk you through the many ways your career can go. You can also check out my video on how to find your passion. 

#3 Skills

You’ll want to capture the current state of the skills you have so you can assess which skills you're going to need to get to your desired professional future state. Some questions:

●      Which software applications do you know? (e.g., MS Office Suite, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, other industry specific applications)

●      What specific skills do you have? (e.g., finance, customer service, account management, budgeting, media planning, promotional or sales/marketing experience. The list can go on and on.)

○      “Hard” Skills? (Technical Skills, physical skills)

○      “Soft” Skills? (People skills, communication, writing, negotiation, salesmanship)

Plan which new skills you can acquire now, and which ones you’ll learn at a later time. Mastering a new software program can feel like a big task, so I suggest breaking it down. Consider taking a class from reputable platforms like like Udemy, Lynda, Skillshare, Coursera or start where most projects begin: Google it. If you are really stuck, this article from Forbes can help you work through the rough spots.

#4 Grow Your Network

You can't do everything yourself, so you want to make sure that you know who’s in your network and who can help and teach you what you need to know. Start by getting your LinkedIn connections up to date; think of everyone you work with, socialize with and even enjoy recreational hobbies with (think: your basketball league or your kid’s soccer team parents). Once you’ve reviewed your network and have begun to consolidate them into LinkedIn, look for people who can assist you in getting to your future state.

●      Who you can you bring into a mastermind group?

●      Who can be a mentor?

●      Who can help you get an introduction to your top employer pick?

●      Who already does what it is you want to be doing?

●      Who could provide you an informational interview?

Figure out what you can do for yourself, but then also, who you might need to employ, or interact with in order to help with things that aren't necessarily within your skill set.

#5 Audience Definition

Your target audience is the group of people that will be interested in hearing what you and your brand have to say. To narrow this group down, ask:

●      Who are the people that can benefit from the information you have?

●      Who will be interested in your point of view and who will benefit from your knowledge and expertise?

These people are your target audience.

Once you know who your audience is, learn where they “hang out”. Think about how and where your audience consumes information, and that's the place you want to be. For example, you may be more comfortable in Snapchat or Twitter, but if your customer watches videos, is in the blogosphere, or in an industry Facebook Community or Group that's where you want to show up. Interact, join the conversation, ask questions, solicit feedback, build relationships, provide real value for free.

#6 Get In The Right Channels

Take another look at all the social media channels you listed in your initial “Current State” audit. Why have you chosen those channels? Is it because that’s where your audience is or because that's where you're more comfortable? Examine all your channels through the lens of your audience and weed out what doesn’t match up with their preferences.

Also, consider if all your chosen brand touchpoints or channels are supportable. Most people make the mistake of trying to be everywhere. They post on Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook, oh, and of course a blog. They drive themselves crazy trying to develop content or interact on way too many channels. They don't go deep enough to develop relationships and conversations within the channels where their customers show up. Think about how deep you can go into each of your chosen channels. Keep your list focused, your content interesting and your interactions truly engaging.

#7 Brand Design

From logo and color palette to messaging and graphics, these are the things people commonly think of when they think about brand design. Start with a good checklist so you can mark off the items you have and begin developing which assets (that’s design speak for different parts of your brand) you need.Do you have an identity? A color palette? Have you made choices around fonts or imagery or iconography? There's a broad range of elements that you need to have for your personal brand. Take stock, do an audit of what brand assets you have, and then you'll know exactly what it is that you're missing and what you may need to develop.

Start with this free pdf: “9 Design Elements Your Brand Absolutely Positively Needs”.  It is a very thorough list that will help you take a quick and easy audit so you can move ahead with certainty.

#8 Implementation

There's a saying, “You have to plan the work and then you have to work the plan.” It is true for putting together your brand. By going through this assessment, you have developed a valuable map of where you are and where you want to go. You know what you have and what you need. You know your target audience and how to deliver your brand. You have a clear idea of how to get to the next stage in your personal brand.

You have all the information you need.

I know, it’s a lot. But ignoring it is not an option. Don't be afraid to start. Get out there. The possibilities are endless, so try not to get overwhelmed. Just take one step at a time. If you put in consistent effort, you can get there. I guarantee you it's going to be an inspiring journey. Best of all, it‘s going to create in you a strong sense of security and control over your professional life.

The first step is always the hardest, but it's also the most satisfying. Once you take it, you're going to feel a tremendous amount of self-accomplishment. So look back over this list and get started today with #1. Take your “Current State” audit and after you do, make sure you take a moment and congratulate yourself. Every step that gets you closer to your new personal brand is a job well done.

Remember; be consistent and never quit.

Your Success is Real: 10 Ways to Conquer Impostor Syndrome

Here’s a phrase that sends chills: “ You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?”

Executives worldwide agree that their number one fear is being found incompetent (Harvard Business Review 2015). It’s probably a safe bet that the same fear applies to entrepreneurs and creative professionals as well. Psychologists call this fear of being “found out” impostor syndrome, a term coined in the 1970’s by researchers Pauline Clance, Ph.D., and Suzanne Imes, Ph.D. to describe the behavior that Clance observed in some of her graduate students.

So if you’re feeling like an impostor at work, take heart. Chances are that others feel the exact same way. Studies show that 70% of the population feels inferior at least once in their lives.

Impostor syndrome is defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. It’s a general feeling of unworthiness that manifests itself in:

• Being scared to try new things

• Being afraid to be ambitious

• Not pursuing your dreams or goals

• Not pursuing growth opportunities, like a promotion

Feeling like you don't deserve success and recognition, or diminishing your success affects creative people and entrepreneurs disproportionately to the general public, possibly because they are often more sensitive than other professionals. They also tend to be more egotistical, which paradoxically can be a precursor to the syndrome (see #2 below).

The very nature of having a business requires you to stand out, it requires you to stick your head above the pack and say “look at me, look at what I can do”. While this is a necessary appeal for attention and approval it can also make us feel unsafe and judged. This feeling of uncertainty is the root cause of impostor syndrome (refreshedminds.com).

It's important to overcome the feelings of unworthiness. Left unchecked, these thoughts and feelings can become more deeply ingrained in your psyche. It’s best to address these thoughts and feelings as soon as they come up.

Here are ten ways to combat impostor syndrome:

#1 Feelings Aren't Facts.

Impostor syndrome is a feeling. It doesn't manifest itself in reality. It's simply your emotional reaction to something you perceive on the outside world. Emotions don’t always tell us the truth; so don’t treat them as reliable indicators of reality.

#2 Accept the hard work. 

It may seem illogical, but impostor syndrome is actually based on an unrealized feeling of superiority. Scientists theorize that children who are told they are superior (more intelligent, artistically gifted, etc.) and praised for their effortless success expect life to be full of easy wins. As adults, they mistrust praise and are convinced of their “failure” because they had to work hard for the result. To them, hard work means they are losing their edge and it’s not praiseworthy. Know that hard work is all a part of the equation for success. 

#3 Don’t keep it a secret.

Secrets fester, and your quiet feelings of inferiority can be self-perpetuating if they are not addressed. Talk about it with your friends, your spouse, or your co-workers. Take twenty seconds of courage to put it out there and be vulnerable. You'd be surprised by the support that you get, the number of people who will identify with you and the reality check that ensues. Let your secret out.

#4 Define your own success.

Don't compare yourself to Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Compare yourself to yourself. Other definitions of success don't matter. You can define your own life and your own level of success. That sentence is without a doubt the most important career guidance I have ever shared, the hardest to achieve and the most rewarding when you do.

#5 It's not about you.

Impostor syndrome traps you in a self-centered mindset. You become consumed with thoughts about yourself; I’m worthless, I’m scared, I’m a loser. You can overcome this hyper-focus on the self by helping other people. Look for ways to serve other people and help them succeed. Check in with your co-workers and clients to see what help you can offer. By making it about others you feel better about yourself.

#6 Be vulnerable.

It's counterintuitive, but being vulnerable makes you stronger. Exposing yourself makes you more YOU and dissolves the impostor feelings. Statements like “I don’t know,” or “I’m sorry,” can lead to open, candid conversation. Try sharing your tender side and see what happens.

#7 Collect testimonials.

This is a way of “stacking the positives” with facts about your performance, rather than relying on your own opinion of how the world sees you. A great way to start is by asking your LinkedIn connections to write you a recommendation. Most likely people will be happy to publish a sentence or two of praise about you. You can post these on your website or put them on your social media, or just keep them in a “love file” on your computer. Collecting kudos about yourself is a great way to boost your self-esteem and to overcome impostor syndrome.

#8 Put Blinders On.

Don't compare yourself to other millionaires, other entrepreneurs, or other designers. Put blinders on and run your own race. Don’t keep a scorecard. If you must keep track of something, keep track of how much you have learned during a project or job, not how you are performing.Think about how far you've come, what you've accomplished, and how much more you know. That will give you fuel to go further.

# 9 No one else knows what they're doing either.

Impostor syndrome makes you feel like everybody else has life figured out. They have all the answers, and they do it all better than you do. The truth? They don't. We're all human, and by humanizing people and realizing that we're all progressing and struggling together, it takes the pressure off you. As Tina Fey says, “Seriously, I've just realized that almost everyone is a fraud, so I try not to feel too bad about it.”

# 10 You're Never Finished.

You are a work in progress. You're not done until you're dead. Period. So when those impostor feelings creep in, fight them off by reminding yourself that you are not “done for” or defeated. Keep moving forward, knowing that you will always be learning and growing. You're in a constant state of becoming. Always.

Putting an end to impostor syndrome is an act of self-love. Being able to fully convince yourself that you are praiseworthy and talented will help your career and your creativity thrive. If you can simply stall the thoughts for a bit by using some of all of these techniques, you’ll get much further than you can imagine.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us." – Marianne Williamson

The Side Door

Jane Goodall wanted to study primates. But she didn’t know how she was going to do it. From England she made her way to a friend's farm in the Kenya highlands in 1957, but once there she desperately needed a way to make a living. 

The opportunity arose for her to study to be a secretary. It was a long way from studying apes, but she decided to take it.

One day, on the advice of a fellow student, Jane called Louis Leakey, the famous Kenyan archaeologist and paleontologist, to see if he needed help in his research. Louis didn’t have any openings for researchers, but he did need a secretary. He offered Jane the job.

Two years later she was in Tanzania studying primate behavior.

When I talk to my coaching clients I always stress the fact that you have to follow opportunities when they present themselves. Even those that may seem unrelated to your ultimate goal. Because one day they may help facilitate the achievement of your dreams.

What opportunity has come your way? Could it be a side door?

The Sexy Potato

There are watershed moments in our professional lives where something happens that changes everything. Mine was during a photo shoot for Lay’s potato chips.

Lay’s is, maybe unsurprisingly to salty snack fans, the largest food brand in the world, selling in 50+ countries with revenue of $1.7 billion. With a business that big you have to be very careful what you do in a package redesign - well, for obvious reasons. 

So there we were, shooting the sliced raw potato that appears on the back of the core plain flavor of Lay’s. My marketing partner was not happy. The raw potato was unattractive. The raw potato was missing irresistible flavor appeal, that je ne sais quoi.

She said “Philip, we need a really sexy potato”. It was in that moment that I realized I was not in the right place. And that I needed to make a change.

We finished the shoot. We had successfully coaxed the requisite appeal from the potato - as reluctant a subject as she was. But something inside me had shifted. Four weeks later I resigned from Pepsico. A potato was my tipping point.

We don’t get to choose our watershed moments. The trick is to use them as a springboard for positive change when they happen. For me it was a sexy potato. A potato that launched the most exciting and fulfilling chapter of my life.

Control vs. Creativity

Driverless cars are off to a bumpy start. The newest vehicles are racking up a crash rate double that of cars driven by humans.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is they obey the law all the time. This may not sound like a bug, but it turns out not following the rules is sometimes the best answer. Just try following the rules while merging onto a chaotic highway at rush hour. Following the rules doesn’t work out so well when no one else is following them. 

Sometimes you have to think creatively to be successful.

So how much should the car break the rules? Answer: Just enough to do what’s right. Somewhere in the valley there are a lot of AI programmers losing sleep trying to figure out how to make that happen.

When it comes to leadership in business the problem is the same. When you empower people and give them control over decision-making, most often they will simply choose to do what’s right. Or should you issue commands to follow the rules no matter what? It’s Control vs. Creativity.

How can creativity drive your success?

"Design ROI"-Rob Wallace

[The following article is a guest post from my good friend Rob Wallace of Best of Breed Branding. Posted with permission from the author.]

DESIGN ROI

Age of Accountability

While we live in the design age, we also live in the age of information and accountability. Today every business decision is supported by accurate and timely data.  Every effort is scrutinized for its direct impact on the bottom line. The new corporate mantra is, ”if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” In the vernacular, management is asking, “show me the money”.  If you are a design manager, my goal is to help you do just that.

The Proof

I wrote an article for the Design Management Journal that has been described as providing “ground breaking thought leadership” on quantifying design’s return on investment.  Please email me for a copy at Rob@wallacechurch.com

This article represented the culmination of five years of independent research on empirically calculating design’s value.  It was built on an ROI methodology created by statisticians and used data from Wallace Church’s brand identity/package design assignments plus a handful of additional case studies supplied by major cpg corporate package design departments.   The methodology is outlined in Don E. Schulz and Jeffrey Walters’s book, “Measuring Brand Communications ROI” which is available on Amazon.

This article concluded that, on average, every dollar invested in advertising and package design resulted in over $7 in incremental value for the brand.  Great news!   But even more interesting is the data from case studies where there was no advertising and package design was the only element that changed. In these cases every dollar spent in brand identity/package design generated over $400 of incremental profit.  

New Insights From the Forefront of Design ROI

It has been several years since this article’s first publication, and I’m happy to report that the additional data we have garnished further supports design’s paramount ROI.  I’m also happy to report that, independent of this article, the greater business community has begun to recognize design’s paramount value in brand building.  I am however, disappointed to report that we as an industry have yet to embrace a standardized method to measure design’s direct financial impact. And as a result, many design managers still have to fight hard to justify the resources required to fund and manage the design process.

ROI Roadblocks: Reluctance, Fear, and Disbelief

While most design managers believe that proving our value would greatly benefit the design process, many remain skeptical. To some, it’s wrong to extract design from all the other tools that drive purchase behavior. One individual articulately commented, “I have spent so much of my energy convincing marketing to consider design as an integral part of a synthesized branding effort, why would I want to separate it now?  Even if we can, we shouldn’t measure design in a vacuum, but as part of an integrated whole”.  

There are those who consider the $400+ ROI result shockingly high and therefore not believable. This result seems hyperbolic, and therefore, is an easy target for “too good to be true” skepticism.

To those concerned, I say, try it.  Prove or disprove it to yourself before abandoning the notion.  Until we can segment each marketing effort’s specific impact on the bottom line, we’ll never know how to best dedicate limited resources. 

There are a number of prominent design practitioners who are simply reluctant to be quantified. I well remember a discussion with design evangelist Tom Peters, and how he emphatically emphasized that design must never be “relegated to the providence of the bean counter”.  I understand his point. Still, I’m convinced that senior management will no longer allow design to fly below the accountability radar screen. To those who are reluctant to being quantified, I suggest that we designers initiate our own accountability process. We need to set our own standards and develop our own best practices. For if we don’t, surly a process will be thrust upon us.

There are those who are concerned about setting the bar and having to continually raise it. “Congrats! Our last design project resulted in a $400 ROI.  Tomorrow I expect $500, then $750 and then $1,000.” To those who fear this upward spiral of expectations, I suggest that we first establish our own base standard and then embrace a process of constant improvement. We need to continually hone our best practices until we determine design’s ultimate profit potential.

Then there are those who are concerned that the methodology is not universally extendable to all design disciplines. Most, if not all, design disciplines result in a “before and after” that can be measured and compared against costs. Disciplines such as product design, merchandising and promotion all have measurable variables. Some design disciplines have success criteria built into them such as web design “click throughs”.  Even “soft measure” design disciplines such as corporate identity or environment design, can be analyzed against perceived stock price or worker productivity. While there may be no one “magic bullet”, I am passionately convinced that all design initiatives can and should be quantified in financial terms.

Lastly, and perhaps the largest group of naysayers are those who flatly respond, “It simply can’t be done.”  These folks ask, how can you pin point design’s specific impact? How can you control the competition or the market dynamics, or Wall Street, or the rainy Tuesday that discourages shoppers from leaving home?  Until we can isolate design from all of these uncontrollable elements we simply can’t measure it. 

The Moment of Truth

In the last several years, we have discovered that there is a moment in time where all of these ancillary influences can be metered out and package design can be isolated as the only variable. This golden opportunity occurs when launching a major brand redesign effort.

During a redesign initiative, there is always a transitional phase where the new design architecture is “phased-in” to the existing shelf set. New design gradually replaces the old as the product is sold through. This transition often takes a number of months and can be a critical time to measure design’s impact.  Here’s how to take advantage of this moment of truth.

Select one retailer to sponsor the new design. Launch the new identity in its entirety into selected stores in a specific geographic market. Divert the old packaging to the same retailer’s stores in a near-by geographic area with the same consumer dynamics. Keep the pricing and merchandising efforts identical. And then simply measure sales between the test and control stores for a period of several weeks.

During this test period, the brand’s offerings are consistent, the ad campaign and its frequency are the same, and all of the intangible and uncontrollable social and economic aspects are all identical.  The same Wall Street dynamics and the same rainy Tuesdays preside.  Design is the only variable, and the incremental sales that it generates are irrefutable.

The Good and Bad News

These research results have been remarkably higher than expected.  New data shows an average of more than $500 of incremental sales for each dollar invested in design.  In one recent case study for a leading national cpg brand, design’s ROI was nearly twice that.  So what’s the bad news? The results are almost too high to be believed. The results might be more acceptable if they were more like 10 or even 50 to one, but at literally twenty times this rate, they seem “too good to be true”.

Proving the Impossible

The numbers may seem overbalanced because the cost of a package design assignment is so small when compared to other marketing initiatives. The investment in a new identity for a multi-SKU major cpg brand might require a couple hundred thousand dollars in design fees while this same brand might commonly invest millions or tens of millions of dollars in advertising.  If done well, package design architecture can out live two to three ad campaigns. Imagine the media cost if you were required to run an ad that would be seen by all of your possible consumers. In the cases studied, research indicated that only 7% of consumers see an ad before experiencing the product at shelf. Now consider how many possible consumers see your package design. Virtually 100% of your current and potential consumers see your brand’s identity at retail.  With up to 70% of brands in high turn selling environments purchased on impulse, design is the last and most critical opportunity to influence the sale.  Considering all these factors certainly design’s unsurpassed ROI can be justified. 

A New Design Advocacy

If we as an industry are going to prove design’s ROI, then this message cannot come from design consultants, but from corporate design management and independent, impartial and credible associations. Organizations like the Design Management Institute and the American Marketing Association need to take up the cause. In the UK, the British Design Council has maintained a well-respected program called the Design Effectiveness Awards where design is awarded merit based not on arbitrary aesthetics but on marketplace performance. We need its compliment here in the US.

I am calling for a new breed of design advocates to join the fray. I’m looking for a number of passionate professionals to build upon the initial data. I am seeking new advocates to apply this or other methodologies across the entire spectrum of design disciplines. From these ROI results and the processes that drive them, I see best practices emerging, industry-wide adopted standards around the appropriate time and resources dedicated to design so as to generate its highest ROI.  This will be the day that design’s golden age will truly be actualized.

Interested?  Drop me an email and I’ll forward you the methodology and engage you in an ongoing dialogue with other industry thought leaders.  Email me at rob@bestofbreedbranding.com and let's together speed the process to empirically proving design’s value. 

photo credit: Anthony Albright@flickr.com

Idea Muscles

It’s been a while since I worked out. Things are starting to get a little soft. I know when it's time to get back at it because it gets progressively harder to entertain the thought of actually doing anything physical. A body in motion…

I found that coming up with creative ideas works the same way. The more I don’t do it, the harder it becomes. Creative thinking is like a muscle. Just like lifting weights, there are exercises I do that make it stronger. When I don’t do them, my creativity sits on the couch and orders in pizza.

Inspiration doesn’t pop in your head like a lightbulb. You have to go out and hunt it down. I feed myself with graphic design on Pinterest, branding trend on Medium, hit my retail go-tos in Manhattan. Whenever I get a thought, any thought, I click to my Google Sheets tab and write that sucker down. I brain dump. I have to get 5 ideas down before I can take a breather. 

If you’re stuck, if you are feeling a little vacant, get that idea muscle to the gym. Lift some. Inspiration isn’t magic, you have to put in the work.

You Are A Package

I’ve done a lot of work in consumer packaged goods. The biggest challenge is getting consumers to choose your product from all the others on the shelf. Recently, in working with entrepreneurs and mid-sized businesses I have noticed how many of the guiding principles of CPG translate directly to their branding challenges. Here are three:

Shelf Pop: When you are on display, as an individual or business, you have to know what your competition looks like. What shape are they? What colors do they use? Iconography or photography? Bottle or box? You need to differentiate yourself in a way that makes you jump off the shelf when a purchase decision is being made.

Communication Hierarchy: At most, you get 3 levels of communication. Brand, variant and flavor. You have to make hard choices about what you want your customer to know. What motivates them? A functional or an emotional benefit? Are you going to make them look sexier? Make them smarter? Define what your label says. 

Shopper Journey: How do customers shop for you? Impulse buy at checkout? Always right next to the sunglasses? Are you with your competition or are you charting new territory in a different aisle to stand out? Create an intuitive path to help people find you.

These days, the physical and digital worlds are packed with brands to choose from. Your goal is getting picked. Becoming someones favorite. How will you make it from the shelf to the cart?

"Brand" is Tired

The word “brand” is tired. It is no longer inspiring to the savvy client. It used to be you could get clients jazzed and hungry for change by merely uttering the word in association with their products. They desperately desired to be a real “brand”. 

But “brand” has become a hackneyed term, part of pop culture where every teen on Facebook is nurturing their own personal brand. But I would argue that because of this, having a clearly communicated brand is even more important. The expectations of the consumer have been raised. But “brand” is too small a word to describe what the world expects from a product or service company anymore.

What I see time again, even with Fortune 100 clients, is a brand ecosystem or brand experience that is fractured. Considering the totality of a brands equities and representing them consistently at every consumer touchpoint has gotten harder to achieve as the range of touchpoints has grown exponentially over the last couple decades. Even the biggest brands are often confusing their customers. 

What we are really being tasked to do for our clients is “experience design”. This encompasses the whole of a brand, all equities and all consumer interactions. It is our job to come in with fresh eyes and tell them what is broken and what we need to do to fix it. To perform beyond the brief. Show them what could be.

In the world of consumer goods, packaging is the big gun. Experience with a capital “E”. Packaging is a touchpoint that triggers all of the senses. Sight, touch, smell, sound and (in some cases) taste. More than any other, packaging is the equity that keeps on giving. It lives on the consumers home, in their cupboard, on their desk, visible on their shelf long after the purchase decision was made. It is the one equity that can, if well executed, drive trial when a consumer encounters the brand for the first time at a store. We must remember that up to 65% of purchase decisions are made when the consumer is standing in front of the shelf, in that final 3 seconds. 

If consumers are overwhelmed and are not choosing our clients offering that is our fault. It is because of an inconsistent brand strategy and an articulation that is not differentiated from its competition. You have to throw a big rock to make a splash these days. 

When brands develop, execute and guard focused equities and a clear strategy is when they win. It is our job in design to be bold, be different and create a remarkable “experience”.  

Because creating a “brand” is no longer enough.

Credits: Image Source: Flickr.com: Adam Goode

Measuring Up: Quantifying Designers Performance

One question that’s plagued many a creative director is this: How you measure a creatives performance? You can measure an account person by how much business and revenue they generate. How about designers?

Designers in the commercial design industry are tasked with creating work that works. Work that pleases the client, delights the consumer and drives sales of goods or services. Sometime that includes the work pleasing the creative director, sometimes not. It’s commercial work, not fine art. Fine art has the luxury of being subjective and can be purely conceptual. Commercial work has to sell stuff.

The clearest metric to evaluate design work and by extension, the worker, is "adoption rate". Did the client choose the work? Did it make it to shelf, or on-air? Could the client quantify a sales bump? Or were all your designs left in the "outs" bin.

A slightly more subjective metric is whether the design delivered on the strategy of the project. Does the designer consistently hit the target - doing work that actually makes it to a client presentation (that is, past the CD and the account director whether the client chooses it or not).

The final criteria is the WOW factor. Is it gorgeous? Did it make the CD's eyes tear up just a little bit? Pure aesthetics are important, too, and a seasoned creative leader knows beautiful work when they see it. We were trained to recognize it and we have years of experience judging it. It also has a tendency to win awards if you’re lucky on top of being good.

I generally take notes as the year passes and capture who did what work in my designers goals folders, so at annual review time there are clear examples to reference in your conversations. 

Other factors also influence a designers success in the studio. Do they show up to work on time? Is the work ready at critique time? Is it visually presented well? How well do they speak strategically to the work? What do they bring to the table in brainstorming sessions? What do they contribute when it comes to studio-wide inspiration? What creative energy two they bring to the workplace? How are their client relationships? All important factors.

But the crucial metric of a designers success is certainly “adoption”. Do they do strategic design work that makes it through the gauntlet? Is that work of high aesthetic quality? If the answers there are yes, you’ve got a winner on your hands and many other sins can be forgiven.

Credits: Image Source: Flickr.com: University of Salford Press, Techhub Manchester Murals Project

In Praise of the Cube: Creatives Need Privacy

I'm a bit of an introvert. Maybe more than a bit. I find group activities somewhat draining. I find solitude rejuvenating and I do my best creative work when I'm alone. 

Given that, it's kind of funny that I've spent my career leading large groups of designers and artists in creative settings, Fortune 500 companies, global brand consultancies and learning institutions. 

I began weaving the web of my career as a painter, a fine artist. A solitary pursuit for the most part. When I needed to find a path to make a better living I got my MFA so I could teach. I loved teaching because I love learning. I love sharing how to travel a path of learning with others. 

Later, I found that being a creative director was a lot like teaching except you made more money. Also, your work and the work of your teams are enjoyed by people all over the world. No artist wants to work in a total vacuum.

But with this transition came a need to be more outgoing. To be more often involved in group pursuits than individual ones. I built up that muscle. And it took a lot of trips to the gym.

Susan Cain, in her book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" writes about how in the 20th century as our society moved from agrarian communities in the country to the cities, we changed. We went from working with a small group of people who we knew well to living and working in large groups of people we didn't know. Being "outgoing" became the goal. Our hero's became the great salesman of the world. Our bible, Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people". 

This evolution brought with it physical changes to where and how we are working. In the corporate world and particularly design studios, the move to create open floor plan work spaces has reached a critical mass. In a knee-jerk reaction to breaking down the walls of de-personalization that the Dilbert-esque office cubicle seas wrought, we have lost something that was worth protecting. Solitude. Designers need solitude. They need quiet and privacy to ruminate and ideate and play with ideas. Without distraction.

The casualties of this evolution are everywhere. You can see them in any design studio in the world hiding under their noise-cancelling headphones. They aren't just getting into their own jams. They are trying to escape the constant noise and distraction the crumbling of the cubicle walls has brought down on them. 

One designer on Whirlpool articulates what I have heard over and over in my years as a creative leader: 

"I work in an open-plan office, and hate talking to the people near me. I just don't want to annoy everyone else. So instead, I hole up at my desk, earphones on all day. I email people who sit five feet from me. Whoever designed my office has absolutely failed: Instead of making people more collaborative, it separated them. This trend needs to stop."

The results of this trend are also quantifiable it turns out. Finland's Institute of Occupational Health reports a decline of 5-10% of the performance of cognitive tasks like reading, writing and other creative work when in an open office setting. Management might be too drunk on the work-pod Kool-Aide and the cost savings in office furniture. Or the shoulder-surfing tabs-keeping on "what the hell are these people doing?". 

Or that open office plans just look cool. And I have to say they do look cool. Because if we look cool and modern, we are cool and modern, right? I mean, can you imagine a design firm with cubes? I didn't think so. This, it turns out, is a big part of the problem.

The facts increasingly point to this: Companies see open, collaborative spaces as an extension of their brand image. They are more interested in how it looks, than how well it actually works. Solitude is just out of fashion. Simple as that. And for creatives and designers that's a problem. 

It should be a problem for their companies, too.

All this is outweighing optimal creative productivity. And since when has business turned it's back on improved productivity? Especially when in today's business world, creativity and innovation are what separates the winners from the also-rans.

The fact is people whose work is distracted make 50% more mistakes and take twice as long to finish. Maybe that has something to do with the complaint that we are working longer hours than ever.

Plus, most designers don't like it. You've heard "A happy wife is a happy life"? Well it goes triple for designers.

The real question is: What does work? The answer is choice. Balance. Companies and agencies need to give designers access to both kinds of work spaces. If I were to place a bet, I would bet that the spaces that afford designers quiet, uninterrupted concentration and a reasonable amount of visual privacy will be the ones being fought over. Tooth and nail, if I know my designers. 

The pendulum of open floor plan offices needs to swing back to center.

In re-watching Susan Cain's amazing TED talk about the power of introversion, one statement jumped out at me. "There are no revelations without solitude."  

What design revelations and innovations have we already missed by removing our creatives space to think?

photo credit: Ben Mautner, @flickr