“where in the world is peace?”… decking the halls, where the heart is.

A trimming for the tree, a gift underneath, a treat for a particularly intellectual pet (!)…  In different places, in different ways, peace is finding its way home this holiday season.

Thanks so much for sharing these “52 Weeks of Peace” pictures from your homes ~ from the heart!  

Brightest wishes for peace to all.

(ps:  all “where in the world is peace?” images are being compiled on a special “where in the world is peace?” page. Totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com or join our FaceBook page and post them there. Let’s see where peace goes!)

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“where in the world is peace?”… the emerald isle

Wishing Peace to the Irish. Many thank you’s for these shots of our Celtic Peace (week #29) bag in Dublin, Ireland!

Where to next…?

(ps:  all “where in the world is peace?” images are being compiled on a special “where in the world is peace?” page. Totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com or join our FaceBook page and post them there. Let’s see where peace goes!)

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“where in the world is peace?”… sunny california

One of our bags found its way to the west coast, winding up at Huntington Beach, California. (I have to say, the “peace with mermaids” made me smile from ear to ear.) All three are terrific shots, and I love seeing the concept spread. More peace ambassador thanks goes out!!

Where to next…?

(ps:  all “where in the world is peace?” images are being compiled on a special “where in the world is peace?” page, here. Totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com or join our FaceBook page and post them there. Let’s’see where peace goes!)

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Orchestrating a Website

You need to bite the bullet and create a website. Or your old site is in dire need of an update. No big deal, right?

Maybe, maybe not. There are easy ways and harder ways, less expensive ways and more expensive ways. But whichever way you choose, you have to understand that there are moving parts involved.

It’s a virtual symphony of information and imagery, with varying degrees of interconnected elements that create the whole song. And as with song, the parts can be arranged well or not so well ~ and the audience can tell the difference.

So before you begin, do your homework. Know what your site is about, and organize your content ~ at the very least a simple outline. Figure out who your audience is, and speak to them ~ try to put yourself in their shoes. Look at what your competitors are presenting … discover what makes you/your business unique. Play to your strong points while being as authentic as you possibly can.

Consider what your main topics will be, your sub-topics, what you want to say and how you want to say it. Whether you want a blog, a website or both. Whether you’ll tie in to social media, use videos, slide shows, shopping carts. Whether you’re enamored by bells and whistles or truly need them to boost your message. Whether a template, a modified template or fully custom is best. Whether you need a very simple web presence, or a full-fledged living website.

When you’re ready to make the plunge and toot your horn, there’s help out there to get you started and/or take you through the whole orchestration.  We’re one of those places. Talk to a few; find the match that suits your needs. And whoever you choose, make sure communication is clear and open in both camps so that the flute solo comes in on cue and the trombones don’t drown out the violins.

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“where in the world is peace?”… west of the delaware and south of the mason-dixon line

Book by book, bag by bag, button by button, good people are spreading the message that “peace starts here”. Much appreciation to these new peace ambassadors!

The fabulous Hunga Bunga Java shop in Surf City, NC

The Hunga Bunga Java mascots!, North Carolina

off to school!

Christmas in October at Lake in Wood campground, Narvon, PA.

Delta Gamma house, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH

"Tiger Spirit", Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH

My Jacket

(ps:  all “where in the world is peace?” images are being compiled on a special “where in the world is peace?” page, here. Totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com or join our FaceBook page and post them there. Let”s see where peace goes!)

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To Logo or Not to Logo…

A client posed the following question: “What’s your perception of logos and are they a cost-effective investment?”

I love this question. It’s not new, nor is the discussion. But considering the unstable climate of our financial times, one worth a revisit. Everyone’s trying to be more careful and make more intelligent decisions about where their dollars go. So, I felt inspired to share my answer:

A logo is the hub of your brand identity. The grand central station. It’s the singular consistent visual that appears everywhere, on everything, carrying your identity into livingrooms and faraway lands and back.

It’s what you put on the packages you send out that says “we’re a real company”. It’s your signature, your great “identifier” ~ so that when people repeatedly see a certain shape or combination of shapes, colors and letters it prompts a psychological association with a company, a person, a quality. You get the idea.

It’s recognition by repetition. And that’s a good thing, because you want to be noticed. And you want it to be strong at-a-glance; something that’s, if not remarkable, at least memorable. Like these classics:

That all said (and I kind of hate to say this since logos are something I do) … you can have a “look and feel” without a logo per se. You can create an “identity” with colors and fonts and use of space.

Case in point: another client wants to establish herself as a voice in the fashion world via writing, and her cash flow is tight. She was convinced she needed a logo and a whole brand identity scheme (all of which can add up to a pretty penny) ~ when in truth, for her needs, she doesn’t “have to have” a logo. What she does have to have is great content and great imagery.

Sure I would have preferred that she need a logo and could pay me to create it, but this is how I advised her because in her case it makes sense ~ not only from a monetary perspective but in terms of creating an online presence that can grow as her own voice grows.

A logo can appear very simple. A simple type treatment, or one with a clever twist, or a symbol as its core. The value, aside from it being “just yours”, is in its consistent use across the board, applied to all things “Business X” and serving as a steady, stable ambassador. And that is no small thing.

But a logo is not, as I’ve said in previous conversations, in and of itself, The Brand Identity. It’s a big part of the whole (and not to be fooled with or “just anything” tossed up). There are many factors that make up that whole, and sometimes it’s both necessary and okay to approach it from a different perspective. Worth pondering before jumping in. And if you do jump, understand its value.

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“where in the world is peace?”… oktoberfest, of course!

We’ve made it overseas! To Stuttgart, Germany’s Oktoberfest.

Wonder if this peace bag got filled with spätzle and weiner schnitzel, some dark chocolate küchen and a nice Riesling. Maybe some dreikornbrot … ah, sehr gut. Danke schön for sending in!

Oktoberfest Peace

(ps:  all “where in the world is peace?” images are being compiled on a special “where in the world is peace?” page, here. Totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com or join our FaceBook page and post them there. Let”s see where peace goes!)

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Another Legend, Another Lesson

Milton Glaser is Graphic Design and Illustration.

Referred to as the design industry’s “icon”, he truly is the Master, who long ago reached the pinnacles of success. With intelligence, passion and integrity (and amazing talent!) he’s stayed fresh and irrevocably admired well into his 80’s.

Talk about longevity, he’s it. His work inspires millions, his discipline influences countless students. He’s done it all, exceptionally well.

And just the other day, he posted this picture on his Facebook page, which I thought was pretty neat. I looked through the comments, remarks of honest admiration. What do you say to this, after all?

1976 concept sketch for I ♥ NY / © Milton Glaser

But this simplest of “sketches” is more than a cool memento. It serves as a reminder of the raw power of an idea. And what we do or don’t do with it.

Ideas can come in an instant, we all know that. The key seems to be whether we acknowledge or dismiss that instant. And in the next breath, whether we grab a pen and the nearest scrap of paper, napkin, gum wrapper, and jot it down.

What happens after that has a lot to do with the validity of the concept, the practicalities, the applications, the creative development. And lots of those “sudden insights” end up in our own sort of slush pile.

But sometimes…. it’s golden.

So thank you Milton for this humbling image, reminding us to give ideas the light of day, the freedom to breathe, roam, and define themselves.

Draw it, write it, sketch it, record it. … do it!

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