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Behind famous logos are scrappy stories, not pricey brainstorms. From Adidas to Volvo, names often spring from rivers, jokes, and founders’ quirks, proving creativity and context beat consultants.

Brands live in minds, not infrastructure. Sell your true vibe, not generic “quality.” Lean into what you are—authentic culture beats wishful rebrands and earns loyalty faster than polished spin.

A customer’s attention: it’s exceedingly difficult to acquire, experts measure it in milliseconds, it vaporizes if mistreated, and it’s worth far more than gold or diamonds. Scared? Don’t be—it’s putty if you know how to handle it. **Attention is the most fundamental unit of design.** Once you get p…

With campaign season in full swing, I’ve had some recent chats with my colleagues about the universally weak and uninspired nature of campaign signs. It seems like political marketing is about nothing more than putting your name on a solid color background (usually blue or red), and maybe adding som…

Alltel’s faux lawsuit fizzled. Forced jokes, cardboard characters, and fear of offense drained the story. Viral needs craft and risk, more novelist than ad shop, or the web shrugs.

It is estimated that there are around 85 million websites in existence at the time of this writing. By the time you launch your website, it will probably be closer to 100 million. The days of “If you build it, they will come” are long gone. Don’t lose hope, though. Your website can receive the atten…

Stop copying competitors and build a site people want to visit. Focus on useful content, stickiness, professional craft, and ongoing care. Challenge assumptions, measure wisely, and keep refining with love.

The web design and development industry can be difficult for businesses to navigate, with options ranging from your cousin looking for iTunes cash to multi-million-dollar agencies like [Avenue A | Razorfish](https://web.archive.org/web/20060820095208/http://www.avenuea-razorfish.com/). This guide wi…

Those five shiny words won’t win hearts anymore. They’re basic table stakes that scream defensiveness. Ditch the clichés, uncover what truly sets you apart, and claim fresh, memorable territory.

A tongue in cheek tour of corporate stock photo tropes, from triumphant thumbs and flirty headsets to manure powered growth and rockside WiFi, exposing how cheesy visuals quietly sabotage authenticity.

Once upon a time, marketing was about hyping the benefits of a product in order to convince you to buy it. Whether you were happy didn't matter much, because you already had your money and had moved on to other customers. In a contemporary consumer society, however, that's thankfully no longer a sus…

Stealth marketing blurs the line between clever and creepy. From overt BMW films to disguised Mercedes trailers, buzz wins until backlash hits. In a networked world, deception travels fast.

This is a question that has gnawed at my soul for months. I’ve sent e-mails to a variety of prominent people who could answer the question, but I haven’t received any responses. Maybe they think I’m a nut.In any case, I now present this as an open question to the public: **What’s Wrong with Commas, …

Forty has been in business for over a year now, and it's been a wonderfully successful first year, having completely blown away our business plan estimate, our own expectations, and even our craziest ambitions. While I don’t claim to be a business expert, I do think that we’ve learned some things th…

The world’s biggest branding crisis isn’t accounting scandals, poor customer service, or ugly logos—it’s executives’ paralyzing fear that they’re going to do something wrong. Imagine that you’ve just been chosen as the new CEO for a Fortune 500 company. The numbers you see each morning are comparabl…