Most of us have an album from our childhood that evokes powerfully nostalgic feelings. We remember the place in our rooms where we would listen to the music. We remember our friends at the time, the clothes we wore, and the first time we heard the music. Our memories aren’t limited to music, and we get the same wonderful feelings from seeing the album art. Is that feeling lost in the explosion of MP3’s? Jeff Kleinsmith, founder of Patent Pending Industries, and art director for Sub Pop Records, honestly admits that he was worried for a while that he might lose his job because of the digital boom. Sub Pop actually uses the phrase “Sub Pop – Going out of business for the past ten years,” in some of their promotions. The truth is that although the methods that we get our music are changing, we still have a need for the visuals that accompany the songs. That more than anything is why Jeff Kleinsmith’s art stands out. He is able to fill the visual hole that is left by music downloads. Posters are not only popular for collecting, but Jeff makes an interesting observation: Without the branding that comes with CD packaging, posters are contributing to the “brand” of the band. This is really unique. Since posters are usually commissioned by the people promoting concerts (not the record labels or the band), the brand of the band is partly out of their control. Poster design’s like Jeff’s can be much more powerful because a poster doesn’t have to survive the political minefields that often sink great album art. There isn’t a committee, a target market, research, or even long term goals for the design.

The other major impact of digital music is that it is forcing CD packaging to be more than just a jewel case and a cd. Design can add value to the cd. This plays right into the hands of Jeff’s design which has a tradition of forcing interaction between the person and the artwork. Once he got over the fear of the digital revolution, he was able to recognize that his work was actually more relevant as a result. He is able to do more innovative cd packaging as well as satisfy an audience with an increasing appetite for music posters. That’s not to say he has embraced MP3’s himself. He still hasn’t opened the iPod he got for Christmas.

Marshall shared his shorthand notes with us in a preview for this blog. It is interesting to compare his finished session with his notes. As a designer that is slowly becoming more of a writer, this session is very pertinent to what I do here on the blog. Of course we as designers work with images and words on a daily basis.

Here is some of his advice about writing. Write about what you know about. Anything else is plagiarism. If you don’t like dogs don’t write a children’s story about a dog. He also talked about how he recommends that a writer should write by hand first because it looks too finished when you write on the computer. It was interesting to hear that perspective about writing since we hear it very often in reference to design. After you write it by hand, Marshall recommends that you read it into a tape recorder. If you can’t read it through then there are problems in your writing.

I have to admit that I was not very familiar with Marshall’s persona. He is definitely and individual. He is obviously a very visual and spiritual person. He has psychics in his family and he says that he sees auras. That is a hard one to digest for a person that doesn’t see them.

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Stained glass and organ music welcomed us to the sold-out “Designing the Brand Experience” this morning. I almost forgot that it wasn’t Sunday, and I half expected Brian Collins to be wearing a clerical collar or a robe. I have to admit the church theme had me thinking “man, this guy really takes this brand stuff seriously!” Brian Collins’ first experience with a brand was with the Catholic Church. The church had graphic costumes, extrordinary artwork, and an incredible story. It communicated a message. To illustrate this point, Brian invited a local Chicago gospel choir on stage. After a moving (not Catholic) performance, Brian returned to the stage and defined designers as “Possibility Creators.” “This is the perfect moment for design,” he said and added that he thinks today a MFA is as valuable as the MBA degree used to be. Design is hot right now and has leaped into the mainstream press. Business Week, Fast Company, and Wal-mart have all put design in the headlines recently.

Brian’s sermon notes were five key attributes of creativity and inspiration: Collaborate, Clarify, Challenge, Commit, and Delight.

**1. Collaborate**

The ability to collaborate will be the most important skill of the next ten years. When Brian was starting at Ogilvy, he was in charge of starting a creative department. The Ogilvy office was ugly, and not conducive to creativity. He painted the walls black and turned the walls into giant chalk boards. Within a few days, the team was interacting and collaborating.

**2. Clarify**

What is the first chocolate company you think of? Hersheys? What is the first chocolate factory you think of? Wonka? Hershey’s owned the idea of chocolate, but they didn’t own the idea of where chocolate was made. Ogilvy’s team proposed that Hershey should buy a building on Times Square and create a Hersheys store. By story telliing, Hershey was able to start a new business. About this time, the audience starts to smell chocolate. Brian Collins explains that they created a chocolate fragrance that was used to fill the Hershey’s store. The same sweet fragrance was being pumped into our room. It was great.

**3. Challenge**

Leigh Okies worked for Dove which was considering a Carl’s Jr/Paris Hilton style of campaign as they tackled the question, “what is beauty?” Instead of focus on celebrities, Ogilvy convinced Dove to use female photographers to tell a more responsible, realistic, and optimistic story of what beauty is. The photos went on an international tour. The catalog was a photo book. It was set up calendar style as a reference to the pinup calandars of the past.

**4. Commit**

Jen Panepinto shared the story of her senior project as a student of Brian Collins. She developed a set of nesting bowls that allowed you to know the measurements of the bowl you are eating out of. With nearly 2/3 of Americans classified as overweight, her simple design solution gave hope and beauty to dieters everywhere.

**5. Delight**

Deborah Adler was also a student of Brian Collins. She shared the story of her grandma who became sick after taking her husband’s medicine. This is a common occurrance that kills many people each year. She says that 60% of people who take medication have taken it incorrectly at some time last year. The error occurrs because medicine bottles lack design. Aside from the child-proof lids, the pill bottle has never seen innovation. Small type, dark type on dark backgrounds, coded “medical speak,” are just the start of a long list of design mistakes. Deborah’s solutions are beatiful, simple and intelligent. Most importantly, her design is saving people’s lives. Target adopted her ideas and has released one of the best products on the market today: ClearRX.

This was probably the best session of the HOW conference. I wasn’t sure what to expect being that Brian Collins works for Ogilvy. When I hear the name Ogilvy, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and not in a good way. As an ad man, Ogilvy didn’t seem to have much respect for designers. Ogilvy is a much different company now than it was during the rule of Mr. Ogilvy. It is innovative and is truely using design to change our world for the better. That is an uplifting message of hope. Amen? Amen.

With so many sessions to attend at the conference I had very briefly considered not going to this one. I had read the book and I was wondering if Jim’s session would cover a lot of the same ground. I was wrong. I really gained a great deal from Jim’’s session.

I could really tell that Mr. Sherraden spent a great deal of time preparing for this presentation. This session was chock full of examples of Hatch work, past and present. There two screens were constantly showing two different slides that related to each other. It was an excellent way to see two different blocks for one poster or to see the block and also see the final poster. Jim had put some of the recent work in the presentation, which was great to see. He even had work that was done within the last two weeks.

I was also greatly encouraged to see some of the great and more experimental design that is coming out of the shop lately. Jim has delegated much of printing and design of the new posters over to the interns and staff. While still using the original Hatch fonts these designers are achieving a new and innovative look. I appreciate the vintage justified Hatch poster, but it is great to see some different looks come from the historic type and blocks. He also has a great policy to encourage the staff to move on to other jobs, so more people can come in and learn this unique craft.

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I am not a writer. Why is it that I can write page after page for my blog, but when I get to work, I aggressively avoid writing copy? Lately my lie that “I am not a writer” has bothered me more and more. That is probably the main reason I chose to attend Juliet D’Ambrosio’s “Verbal Brainstorming” session. Here is what I learned from her presentation.

A brand is really just a company’s story. How do you tell that story? Most designers, me included, don’t consider ourselves to be writers. It is easy to make excuses to get out of writing. “I don’t need to. I don’t care what it says as long as it looks great. I’m bad at grammar and spelling. I hate writing. I don’t know where to start.”

Designers outnumber writers 5 to 1 in ad agencies. If that is true, then who is doing the writing? The answer is designers. When faced with the challenge to write, designers can tell powerful stories. We are all excellent communicators graphically, it just takes a little more work for us to write words. The first step is to stop making excuses and take the initiative to want to write. Once you have taken that huge step, here is some advice from Julet:

Start with the real world. Do research. Start by asking questions about things that interest you. Start with a purpose, and reframe the question. Start with your subconscious. Once you get started, you get past the intimidation of the blank page. Start with a typeface. Start with a single word. Instead of an outline, create a storyboard. Tell your own story. Redefine the structure of your story. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes. Avoid saying what the images say. The beauty is in the details. Push your descriptions and dig beyond the expected. Don’t tell boring stories just because your clients are boring. Tell the story through other people’s words. Use facts. Cross-pollinate with other formats. Don’t work too hard. Know when to stop and don’t overwrite. Be mercilessly simple. Share your work with someone you trust and admire. Read out loud. Always present in person. Listen to your clients because they *are* smart.

Her most important advice was to believe in yourself. You can do it.