When I tell someone the name of our company I either get a blank stare or silence on the other end of the phone. It's almost always followed by the other person asking, "Heavy Giant?". You see, I have this theory about company names. If the name forces the viewer to visualize it then they will remember it. I used to have a company named whiteOrangedesign. I also came up with the name for PinkKoiFish.com. With HEAVYGIANT, someone might visualize a giant on a scale or maybe a giant crushing cars. So why "HEAVYGIANT"? It works on many levels. A HEAVYGIANT might be an analogy for a big player in the industry or it might have a deeper meaning where it represents the physical and mental baggage that weighs us down. The latter is actually what inspired the name. I was on flickr.com and came across a group that took pictures of all the things in their bag spread out. It ranged from things in messenger bags to things in purses. What I immediately realized from these photos was that not only do people carry a lot of stuff. But you can tell a lot about a person from their possessions. The type of bag or contents, the colors, the title of a book, Mac or PC, etc. These things of course weigh them down. The same could be said for all the mental baggage we carry each day. The stress of a project at work or the worry of not being able to keep that same job. We are all carrying a HEAVYGIANT of some kind on our backs.
Stay tuned, we have some big plans in regards to HEAVYGIANT. Here is a sneak peek.
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Companies are shaking in their boots right now. Between the unstable economy and the rapidly evolving advertising industry they aren't quite sure what to do. One thing is for certain in this age of tech, companies want to seem current. What better way to say "hey, we are changing with the times" than to refresh your company image. Not a full rebrand. Just a refresh. But when a brand is refreshed too often does it start to become desperate like a clingy girlfriend (or boyfriend) who can't take the hint that no matter what they do you still just want to be friends?
This is a design I did for a series of modular iPhone and iPod Touch accessories. I posted this on ipodtouchfans.com and got a lot of interest. Soon after I removed the images and began seeking a patent. Unfortunately I ran out of funds and time to finish it. The German version of Mac|Life published the images in their February, 2008 issue. I never got around to doing illustrations to show all the modules. But they would have included speakers, a keyboard, gaming controls and a higher quality camera among other things. Check out the gallery below to see the progression of the product. Or view the entire set on Flickr here.
The iPhone is undoubtedly a revolutionary device. It has changed the way we interface with hand held computers. It's faster than the mac I used in college. Oh, and it's also a phone. I think it is safe to say that when the iPhone was announced there was an audible gasp heard around the world. While gesture-based touch-screens are nothing new, (See the Bill Buxton videos from Alias | Wavefront in the mid 90's. He also specifically addresses the iPhone here.) it was the first time anyone has seen this sort of UI on a handheld device. At least something as elegantly designed. This is the type of gadget you would expect to see in a SciFi movie. You couldn't carry that many albums, movies, etc in your pocket just a few years ago.
Well we got our order of business cards today and they look great! Aside from some minor trim issues I'm pretty pleased. They are made of a synthetic recyclable material, that is water-resistant and virtually tear-proof. We ordered the profile-cards from Zazzle.com because they were based in the U.S. and had similar mini-cards to Moo.com. Of course, the day after I ordered these I get an email from Moo asking if we want to beta test the new U.S. store. Well, we will certainly give them a try on our next order of cards.
Not too long ago I read a great book called “Punk Marketing” by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons. It’s a refreshing perspective on the constantly changing face of marketing. The main thrust of the book is that the traditional methods of marketing are becoming less and less effective as consumers are bombarded with more and more daily advertising. With the explosion of online advertising, viral marketing, cell phone and video game marketing, those who don’t adapt are quickly left behind. The solution is multi-faceted but the short answer is to be different and adapt to these changes. Always let the solution drive the media. We are hired to solve problems, not to buy media. Come up with the best solution, then decide what media best represents that solution. Another thing to remember is that in this day and age consumers drive brands. As such, we as marketers need to look through the eyes of the consumers as well as listen to their feedback. “Punk Marketing” offers a mantra to live by and challenges the reader to develop their own. I’ve done just that. I’ve made a top-ten list of things that will not only help you be a better “Punk Marketer” but be a better person in general.HEAVYGIANT.com is alive! In the middle of one of the worst economic recessions this country has seen we thought it would be a good idea to launch a new company. HEAVYGIANT is the result of having too much time on our hands. Well that was a short lived problem! Shortly after forming, we are already pulling in business. As a result, we haven't slept much in the past few weeks. It's hard to balance building our own site when we have paying clients to take care of. Hopefully you can see the result of all that hard work here on our brand spankin' new site! It's not quite where we want it yet. But we have had so many requests to see our work that we had to get something up right away.