Archive for the 'Brands in general' Category
A new look for Liquid.
The walls came down and the gloves went on to jump start a new look for the San Jose Liquid Agency office. After occupying the large building that spans between South Market Street and First, it was time for us to make it our own, in true Liquid fashion.
Before any work could begin, we established the look, feel and materials that would be used in the renovations. Many sketches were created to review where the new walls would be established, to ensure a successful transfer of all servers, electricity and computers. Sketches also helped to look at the materials that would be used, including the sliding conference room doors, paint for the walls and size and shapes of the new carpet squares. Before we knew it, the time had come to evacuate the area to make way for the changes to begin.
The client services team packed their computers and bobble heads and got cozy with the creative team as walls came down, and carpet was ripped out.
After a few months of hammering and drilling, the office was once more at peace. Farewells were said and the client services team migrated back to their new habitat, and happily so. Geometric grey and black checkered carpet replaced the once solid wall-to-wall, new walls were created, giving our IT department more space to roam, as well as giving life to the new conference room. A secondary meeting area was formed, allowing for more meetings to occur simultaneously and more clients to be met with. The new orange screen doors gave a new life to the area, not only giving a punch of color, but help barrier conference calls from the productivity on the client services side of the building.
No commentsMarty at dConstruct 2010.
Going into it’s 6th year, dConstruct 2010 invites and brings together leading industry figures to explore the power of design thinking. Held this year on September 3 in Brighton, England, dConstruct is the affordable one day conference for those designing and building web applications.
Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency, has been invited to speak at this exciting one day event. His latest book, The Designful Company, explores how complex business problems we face today can’t be solved with the same thinking that created them. Instead, we need to break away from traditional management approaches and start with designful thinking. In his session, Marty will explain why designful thinking will become the new best practice, and how you can leverage your unique position as a brand-builder to transform the way business does business in the 21st century.
Follow dConstruct on Twitter for the latest updates. Find out who the speakers are here.
No commentsMarty Neumeier at Brand ManageCamp 2010.
Brand ManageCamp 2010 is an intensive two-day conference that features the most engaging and dynamic speakers in branding. This year, Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency has been selected along with twelve peers to speak at this renowned event in Las Vegas, September 21-22.
Created by experienced branders over eight years ago, the Brand ManageCamp marketing conference has become a place to generate new ideas today’s brands need in order to survive. Industry mavericks, best-selling authors, world-renowned experts – these leaders in innovative brand thinking will cover a wide variety of topics to help broaden perspectives, generate fresh, actionable ideas, and become a stronger marketer and a more dynamic leader. Some topics will include: Determine where to spend your precious marketing dollars, Drive innovation and creativity through a discipline of inspiration, Get big results by thinking and acting small, and much more.
“Industry professionals attend this conference because they want fresh inspirations on how to take their brand to the next level,” said Marty Neumeier. “I’m both honored and excited to be able to share what I’ve learned at an event like this.”
Marty will be speaking on Wednesday, September 22 about “How to build a culture of nonstop innovation” from his latest book, The Designful Company. In an era of fast-moving markets and leap-frogging innovators, companies can no longer merely “unlock” wealth. Today they have to actively “create” wealth, or end up in the fossil layers of business history. As a result, brand-builders have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a key role in the next management revolution.
Find out more about Brand ManageCamp 2010 here.
No commentsInnovation Workshop wins two Telly Awards.
We are proud to announce that Marty Neumeier’s Innovation Workshop won awards in two categories at this year’s Telly Awards. The Telly Awards receives more than 13,000 entries from all fifty states and five continents. Each year the Telly Awards honors the best television programs and commercials, as well as the finest video and film productions for broadcast, along with work created for the Web. Innovation Workshop is a 45-minute tutorial that helps individuals and teams to transform their company into a powerhouse of nonstop innovation. Branding expert Marty Neumeier presents concepts from his three bestselling “whiteboard” books — The Brand Gap, Zag, and The Designful Company — to give viewers the tools they’ll need to thrive in the new economy.
Using memorable principles and simple exercises, Neumeier leads workshops participants on a lively journey from traditional business thinking to “designful” thinking. “If you want to innovate,” says Neumeier, “you’ve got to design. Design thinking is the process that can turn a company into a leader.”
The 2010 Telly Awards honored the video in two non-broadcast categories: “How-to/Instructional” and “Training for Corporate Use.”
“We’ve received a lot of feedback about how the Innovation Workshop DVD has helped teams and organizations excel,” said Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency. “I’m especially pleased that my peers have found merit in it.”
Neumeier’s books, on which the DVD is based, have won wide acclaim in management and marketing circles, including media stalwarts such as Fast Company and BusinessWeek. His second book Zag was named one of the “100 Best Business Books of All Time.”
No commentsLiquid launches the Hitachi LifeStudio brand.
Hitachi hires Liquid to develop launch campaign for new brand.
Hitachi LifeStudio is a new brand of hard drive products that takes simple storage and backup to a whole other level. When Hitachi started looking for an agency to help them launch the new brand, they selected Liquid because of our experience with technology brands and retail. Working on the LifeStudio launch has been fun because the products are truly unique. LifeStudio is much more than an ordinary drive – the products include software designed to help users manage their “digital mess” through an innovative interface that enables people to find, organize, and share photos, movies, music and files like never before. This is a total breakthrough for this category…as no other drive offers this type of user experience.
From messaging to merchandising, we delivered a complete launch campaign.
Liquid worked closely with the Hitachi marketing team to collaboratively develop all of the materials needed for the launch. We started by crafting a new messaging platform, then we developed product videos and marketing collateral, and lastly we designed a modular merchandising solution that includes inline, end caps, and stand alone kiosks for retailers nationwide. We worked with Rapid Displays to quickly execute prototypes, work out details and to build the units that would end up in the retail stores.
LifeStudio is truly an amazing series of products.
Hitachi has practically re-invented the category, and built tons of innovations into the LifeStudio series of products. As is typical with most new products, there are a few areas for improvement, as pointed out by Walter Mossberg in his recent review on the Wall Street Journal: “I can recommend the LifeStudio drives for local and online backup, if Hitachi follows through and fixes the “read-only” bug I encountered…” According to Hitachi the company is addressing all of the issues and it is committed to delivering a great user experience. LifeStudio has also been reviewed by CNET, and CoolestGadgets, among others.
Want to get one of your own?
The new line of products are currently available at Office Max, Fry’s Electronics, Micro Center, and can also be purchased online at Amazon, BestBuy, and Newegg.
The 2011 REBRAND 100® Global Awards.
Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency has been invited by REBRAND to be one of ten jurors selected every year for the annual REBRAND 100 Global Awards.
REBRAND is the first, and only expert-led, global resource for case studies and programs focused on effective brand transformations. It has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNNMoney, FastCompany, Yahoo! Finance, other publications and various media.
The REBRAND 100® Global Awards is the highest recognition for excellence in brand repositioning – and the first and only competition of its kind. Businesses, brand strategists, and various organizations have come to value knowing they are among the best in the world when it comes to effectively meeting strategic goals and building loyalty and strong connections with their targets.
Global organizations, Fortune 50 corporations, small businesses, accomplished entrepreneurs, respected nonprofit organizations, cities, and renowned universities from around the world are regularly represented in the REBRAND 100 Global Awards. Past winners have been based in Brazil, Canada, China, India, Italy, Lebanon, Romania, Australia, and the United Kingdom, in addition to the US.
Once a year, an esteemed panel of international design and business leaders is selected to jury the competition, with the ultimate goal of showcasing the most effective brand transformations to the world via RERAND.com and credible broadcast media. “I’m thrilled to be a part of this competition,” said Marty Neumeier. “Branding and design has been my passion for so many years, and to be selected as a juror along with nine other peers from around the world is really a honor for me.”
See this year’s juror panel at: www.rebrand.com
No commentsKnowing. Making. Doing.
As I said in my book The Designful Company, if you want to innovate, you have to design. Yet design is a foreign language to most business managers. This is because the principles of traditional business management principles evolved to serve the needs of the industrial age. They rely on a mechanical two-step process for making decisions: knowing and doing. You “know” something—from a past experience, a case study, or a best practice—and then you “do” something.
The problem with this process is that what you “know” is limited to either “what is” or “what was,” while innovation is all about “what could be.” It’s impossible to know what could be without the process of design. To generate new ideas, the design process inserts a middle step: making.
Through the act of prototyping—using sketches, models, maps, mockups, simulations—the “making” step puts options on the table that weren’t there before. It pushes back on what we think we know, and also changes what we’re likely to do. It shifts the emphasis from “deciding” the future to “designing” the future. In a business climate that requires perpetual innovation, industrial-age thinking is useful, but woefully inadequate. We also need design thinking.Here’s a simple pair of slides you can throw into your presentations when you build a case for a more innovative culture. Download slides.
12 commentsSlice and Eton are recognized by GDUSA.
Two of Liquid Agency’s packaging projects were recognized for their outstanding design by the Graphic Design USA through their annual American Package Design Awards competition.Liquid Agency received an award for the packaging system the company designed for Eton Corporation, which included packaging for the Eton brand, the American Red Cross brand, and the Grundig brand. Based in Palo Alto, Eton Corporation is globally recognized famous for its award-winning line of shortwave and emergency crank radios. Most of its radios are either hand or solar powered.
Liquid also received an award for the packaging design it delivered for Slice. Based in San Jose, Slice develops innovative products for the home and office, literally focusing on cutting edge design. Slice products include knives, box cutters, peelers and scissors, as well as line of manicure and pedicure accessories. Liquid has been responsible for the Slice brand since the company’s inception, and it has helped develop relationships with world class designers and architects such as Karim Rashid, Michael Graves, Yves Behar, and others.
“We are very proud of these two awards. This is a difficult and prestigious competition, with entries representing major brands in many categories across the US. Winning one award is not easy. We’re thrilled that our work landed us two - and much of the credit goes to our clients, Eton and Slice, who are both committed to fostering design innovation at every brand touchpoint” said, Alfredo Muccino, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Liquid Agency.
For more than four decades, Graphic Design USA has sponsored national design competitions that spotlight areas of excellence, growth and opportunity for creative professionals. One of the biggest annual competitions is the American Package Design Awards, which recognizes the country’s best package design. According to Graphic Design USA, “In this era of challenge and change, effective package, p-o-p and instore graphics are increasingly the “difference makers” in the success of a brand, a campaign, a product, a sale”. This year, entries in the competition grew by more than 20 percent, raising the total to over 1,500 entries.In the end, less than 150 firms and organizations were honored with a Certificate of Excellence and Liquid Agency was among them.They winning entries are featured in the March issue of Graphic Design USA. Both designs will also be published on the online version of the Design Annual. See more: www.gdusa.com
No commentsAlfredo Muccino talks about design trends at the upcoming PINC Show 2010.
Attended by over 1,000 people, the PINC Show is the event of the year for printers, creative professionals, marketers, and web designers in Northern California. The PINC Show speaks to how, why, and what’s new. The day-long event features a trade exhibition showcasing the latest professional software, technologies, and trends as well as a series of cutting-edge seminars.
One of the seminars is being presented by our very own Alfredo Muccino. Titled “Design for the New Decade”, the session will explore the design trends that are becoming more prevalent today and that will continue to grow in importance over the next ten years. As brands seek to engage their audiences in the physical world as well as in digital environments, companies need to embrace the latest digital and print technologies as well as issues such as environmental impact and sustainability, integrated campaigns, mobile technologies, augmented reality, widgets and apps, etc. The presentation will include a showcase of some of the most progressive and inspiring work being created today…and thoughts on how this work may evolve in the future.“
The industry is changing at a very rapid pace and our community needs to embrace new technologies and a fresh approach. Companies that innovate and adapt to the new ways that people are consuming media are the ones that will survive – while the others will go the way of dinosaurs” said Alfredo Muccino.
The PINC show takes place on Thursday, May 6, 2010 from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM at the UCSF Mission Bay / William J. Rutter Conference Center 1675 Owens Street, San Francisco, CA 94158. The “Design for the New Decade” seminar goes from 2:15pm-3:30pm in Room 213. To register for the seminar, please visit the PINC site.
No commentsProduct design by Liquid debuts at 2010 HouseWares Show.
In March, I attended the HouseWares Show in Chicago along with our our client, Slice, who was debuting a new logo, new booth, and a whole bunch of new products – including a new box cutter I co-designed with Scot Herbst. In terms of product design, this is a first for Liquid, and it was a very exciting event. Slice is a small company that makes a very cool set of products that cut, grate, chop…and, of course…slice. The product line includes peelers, graters, scissors, utility knives, kitchen knives, nail clippers..and now a box cutter. Liquid has been involved with Slice since the very start, when I helped design the product that launched the company – the iSlice – a simple one-sheet cutter with a very small ceramic blade. This product is still a best seller today, although it is now marketed as the “Safety Cutter”. From the beginning we’ve worked closely with TJ Scimone, a very dear friend, and the Founder / CEO of Slice. Over many breakfast meetings we worked together to defined the company’s brand strategy and business direction, and as the Brand Architect for Slice I have had the pleasure to be involved with every possible manifestation of the brand.
Most importantly, Liquid has helped develop relationships with some of the world’s most celebrated designers, including Karim Rashid, Michael Graves, and Yves Behar. We’ve also been instrumental in identifying fresh talent, like Scot Herbst – who is the man behind the popular Kaiku brand, and is now helping develop many of Slice’s new products. At the beginning, Liquid provided all of the design services necessary to launch the company, including the logo, packaging, literature and website. Today, Slice continues to grow at a rapid pace, and we remain integrally involved in every aspect of the brand’s evolution – with a great emphasis on product development – and as the Brand Architect for Slice, Alfredo Muccino provides high-level strategic and creative direction to a very diverse and very talented group of independent designers. For example, we worked on the packaging with Tom Crabtree, creative director of Manual in San Francisco (Tom designed the iPhone packaging at Apple) who collaborated with one of Liquid’s former Creative Directors, the very talented Joshua Swanbeck. They both put their considerable skills to work for Slice and revamped the entire packaging system as well as refining the Slice identity and creating new literature. We also tapped the talents of Jan Habraken, a multi-disciplinary designer originally from the Netherlands, now working in NY. Jan designed the new Slice booth – which got almost as much attention as the products. Good work, Jan!
The 2010 International HouseWares Show was a great success for Slice. According to Phil Brandl, president of the International Housewares Association, “We were encouraged by the significant increase in international buyer attendance this year as well as by the reports that U.S. retailers and senior executives were present in large numbers.” The Slice booth was visited by buyers from all over the world, including Japan, Korea, Australia, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Brazil and more. All of the visitors lauded the Slice brand for the quality of its product design as well as for the elegance of its presentation.
To much acclaim, Slice introduced a new Salt and Pepper Grinder by Karim Rashid – who showed up at our booth and helped introduce the new product. Slice also launched a complete set of personal care accessories by Michael Graves – the acclaimed architect who is also well-known for his product designs for Target and Alessi. Being able to introduce the Box Cutter that I designed along with Scott Herbst in such amazing company was quite an honor.
The Box Cutter uses ceramic blades that last 10X longer than traditional metal blades, while its unique shape offers a better grip and improved safety features. Without a question, the design of this product sets it apart from all other utility knifes on the market. We are currently at work on a number of new products and look forward to sharing them with you as soon as we make progress. In the meanwhile, please let us know what you think of the work we’re doing for Slice.We’d love to get your feedback…and any suggestions for new product extensions!!!
