But in this case, no such conversations need take place.  That’s because the drawing has been produced not by a well-remunerated corporation, but by a child. It is the work of nine-year-old Florence Jackson, from Bristol, who was one of 17,000 children who entered a BBC Blue Peter competition to design the new coin. The media, the public, most (not all) designers, when they know that it is designed by a child, will soften their eyes and celebrate, rather than criticise its flaws. And, even if they missed the press release, no one’s going to be in any doubt about its youthful provenance because the design is so obviously juvenile. Crude, puerile and naïve her art may be, but in the context of such a competition these are exactly the criteria that the competition judges would have desired. Indeed, I am confident to assume that many more accomplished submissions will have been rejected for being too good; not childlike enough. This competition was never about the quality of the design but what it is that the design represents.

This highlights a crucial aspect of human judgment that applies to design and much more widely beyond. It’s the reason why brand consultancy is not only the most important discipline in the marketing mix but a critical component of modern business strategy. It might even help us to define what “brand” means. Yep, I’m making a big deal of this one, because I think Florence has hit on something important here.

To up the ante a little from 50p, let me ask you a question about another piece of art. If the Madonna of the Pinks that hangs in The National Gallery turns out, as some suspect, not to be by Raphael but a fake, is it worth less than the £22M it cost to buy? Philosophically, the painting could be said to exist in two parallel universes. One, where it marks a brave and progressive watershed in the history of religious portraiture that inspired not just art but generations of social history. Another, where it is simply a derivative work by a talented, yet insignificant forger. Physically, the two universes of the paintings collapse into one – its tangible attributes are the same. Intellectually, they are forever apart.

Old Masters may be an extreme example but the point is this: we judge things not for what they are but for what we think they mean. To truly understand something we need to look beyond its tangible qualities and consider its intangible attributes too. We seek to explain what we see (hear, touch, taste, or smell) by giving it a back-story – a meaning beyond the physical experience it provides. The Madonna of the Pinks is not just a well-executed painting of the Madonna and child but a landmark moment in art history. Florence’s coin is more than a badly drawn picture, it represents the hope, potential, and the carefree joy that only a child would have the courage to see, yet to which all adult human beings aspire.

Don’t just take my word for it. This aspect of human intellect is a fundamental philosophical concept. In the 4^th Century BC, Aristotle defined hypokeimenon, literally meaning the “underlying thing”, as the quality that sits behind a thing’s physicality and persists through any change. In the 13^th Century John Duns Scotus described haecceity, literally “thisness”, as the quality of a thing that differentiates it from another with identical form (where its form expressed in generic terms is called quiddity, or “thatness”). Neuroscientists have explored these concepts in their analyses of how the human brain makes decisions, examining the complexity of the relationship between rational and emotional processing. Some, like Chris Frith, even suggest that rational decision-making is an illusion created by our own brain to defend us from the incomprehensible reality of our truly irrational selves. The scientific and philosophical facts are clear: things are not as simple as they seem.

And this helps us explain what a brand is. A brand is the complete set of criteria upon which the human brain decides. (Note that lower order mammals don’t use ‘brands’, just sub-conscious instincts; they don’t ‘decide’.) Brands are a complex interdependency between rational and emotional propositions where each works to shape and explain the other. They are about hypokeimenon (essence), haecceity (differentiation) and quiddity (experience) and touch not just logos and marketing but every aspect of what an organisation thinks and does. It follows then, that managing a brand requires profound and holistic consideration, with the intellect and imagination of a deeply enquiring mind. If we are to believe Chris Frith, then it’s the most important thing that any business should consider, overriding all the rational considerations that businesses typically prioritise in their plans.

Of course some philosophers (the empiricists and phenomenalists) disagree with this point of view. For them, a thing is no more than its tangible self: The Madonna of the Pinks is just paint on canvas, worth no more than, say, 50p. They would consider a conversation about brands to be an exercise in vanity and a waste of money and time. Such people should be introduced to Florence. Sometimes it takes the perspective of a nine-year-old to help you open your eyes.

Today we paid a visit to the lovely people at Woodside Press at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for some help setting some type for an exciting new job. It was great to get away from a computer screen for a few hours, delve into their amazing collection of wood block type and remind ourselves what it was that made us want to be designers in the first place. Big thanks to Andy, Micah and Bucket the dog for an inspirational afternoon.

After the success of our make-it-yourself catalogue for last year’s Jerwood show ‘an experiment in collaboration’ (featured in the Creative Review annual, Design Week Awards runner up and winner of a Platinum award at Graphis) we were asked to make a catalogue for Jerwood’s latest show: Laboratory.

The Laboratory is an experiment: three artists take over the gallery and, starting from nothing, build a show as they go – a totally unpredictable process, with no way of knowing what the work will be like from one day to the next. Everything they do exposed to scrutiny and comment, from the resident writer and photographer to the public and press.

With an experimental show that is one big work in progress we set out to make a catalogue in the true spirit of the show: unpredictable, exposed and experimental. We decided not to design a catalogue. Instead we designed a process,  a way of creating a catalogue that we couldn’t predict and couldn’t control, a way of gathering and documenting everything that happens in the show in real time, built, like the show, in the gallery itself, and only finished as the show closes. We’ve just let it unfold…

Blog
The process started with the Laboratory blog. The artists, curator, writer, resident photographer and designers posted real-time updates on the show to the blog which also automatically draws in related content from external sites like twitter and flickr. Each post has a print option which we use to output content in real time for the printed catalogue. Every post prints the size it appears in the blog, so no two pages are alike.

Catalogue
Each day’s posts are added to the catalogues which are on display in the gallery so you can see the them growing as the  show grows. Posts are joined vertically to make one continuous chronological document. The catalogue kept growing right up until the moment the laboratory closed its doors.

• What’s the best way for me to get in touch regarding a placement?
  Contact a studio, ideally with a name of someone specific and provide three to four examples of your best work with a CV.
• How many placements do you give per year?
  We have 24 slots throughout the year, lasting four weeks but we can occasionally allocate for longer or shorter periods.
• What’s involved in doing a placement?
  We treat you like one of the team, not a visitor. We throw you in at the deep end with lots of different tasks and try to get you involved in many different projects. Scanning can’t be avoided and we have high expectations for tea-making but in general we get you designing, but more importantly we get you thinking – it’s why we got you in in the first place! A placement is your chance to shine, so don’t be shy. Ultimately, we want to miss you when you’re gone!
• How much does it pay?
  Although we expect you to do it for love, we pay £200.00 per week.
• Do placements turn into jobs?
  Rarely, unless we’re really really busy and you’ve been doing such a great job that we couldn’t bear to let you go.  But, in general they provide us with a chance to consider you as a potential future member of The Partners once you’re finished. (We like to think of it as road testing).
• How long do your projects take to finish?
  It varies, speedboats and cruise liners…
• How many people work at the Partners?
  In our London office we have around 40 people – designers, project managers, creative directors, strategic consultants, partners, some freelancers, oh and a dog.
• Is it all work and no play?
  Definitely not. We have a summer barbecue, a Lock In, a Christmas party and pub quiz every year, not to mention the reception turning into a pub every Friday evening…
• What’s your favourite typeface?
  Don’t be so geeky.
• Any general don’ts?
  Lie (it’s a really small world)
  Point out weaknesses
  Moan or badmouth anyone
  Pester or be pushy
  Seem desperate or over explain your work
• Anything else?
  Make sure that you check that the designer that you are contacting still works there and you spell their name correctly!
  Spell check any letter that you send!
• Do you have any interview advice?
  Arrive a bit early so you’re not in a flap. Pack your stuff well so it’s easy to reveal. Be enthusiastic and look interested. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see the person you expected. You may also have to go back over your work with some else who’s been called in. Don’t expect an on-the-spot offer (although it can happen). But most importantly, be yourself.
• Are there any books that you would recommend?
  Plenty but some of the oldies are still the best. Here are three:

  A Smile in the Mind – written by the much-loved founding Partner David Stuart, A Smile in the Mind is an classic example of getting ideas rather than just style into any design project, while still having some fun – (we called this book the ‘designers bible’ at uni – Kev)
  
  Problem Solved: A Primer in Design and Communication – by Michael Johnson – Problem: you can’t buy a book about problem-solving? Solved: you can now.
  
  The Art of Looking Sideways – By the late Alan Fletcher, it is a testament to visual awareness which Alan himself describes ‘a journey without a destination’.

Pictures by Matt Knight of W+K

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a D&AD pub night held at the Hoxton Pony, called: An Apple A Day: Technology in design.

The D&AD pub nights are informal presentations by designers to designers, based around a particular topic, and are always lively, slightly drunken, and filled with debate. The brief was to talk about a piece of technology that changed your life. I decided to take a slightly unusual angle on this and talk about a totally unsexy, unloved technology: the intranet. Yes that’s right, I talked about a piece of technology that is even LESS SEXY THAN POWERPOINT.

I used the daggy intranet as a way to tie in a variety of exciting brand engagement projects we’ve been doing for Deloitte. If anyone is interested in more info about the content of my talk please email me and I’ll create another post.

I was pretty nervous when I turned up, and was relieved to see that there were only a couple of hundred people there, as well as stage lights and cameras set up to record the event… (!!!) Overall it was a really interesting night with some great speakers from agencies such as Wieden+Kennedy, De-construct, Tonic and Dare.

Despite my nervousness in the lead up to the event, I ended up thoroughly enjoying the experience and would recommend other designers get involved in the D&AD education activities.

I’ll make another post once the videos from the night are posted up online.

Every entry is rigourously assessed by a team of hard-nosed typographers and designers (our own Jack Renwick and Mike Paisley included), and only the best submissions are deemed good enough to be awarded. The students are also offered membership of the society, which is a nothing to be sniffed at, with only around 30% of students making the grade.

We were especially lucky to have Alan Kitching, a revered typographer, and printmaker with us, presenting the awards to students; all of whom seemed inspired and excited to get a chance to meet him. Or was it the free bar that got them going?

Congratulations to all the students who collected their certificates on the night, and of particular note, Chris Mahoney, of Lincoln University who not only managed to receive a commendation for his typographic representation of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, but also collected the Vincent Steer Award; named after the Societies founder – the highest accolade available, awarded to the single most outstanding submission. Clever boy!

Chris Mahoney, University of Lincoln

Finally a different sort of congratulations go to the affectionately dubbed ‘Drunken of Jordanstone’ students from Dundee. Who managed to withold the long-standing tradition of drinking the bar dry and being the last jolly mob to leave. Well done guys and girls, you make us proud – There’s more work featured after the break…

To encourage young designers from schools and colleges, our Creative Partner Greg Quinton was recently asked by D&AD to provide some pearls of wisdom in a personal take on having a career in design:

You may have seen all the fuss about “The best job in the World”. Caretaking a tropical Island? Wonderful. Everyone thought so, but I beg to differ. Nice for a long holiday from a British Winter, but long term? I believe the best jobs mean loving what you do and I love the creative industry.

Rewind twenty years or so ago to when I graduated, Macs were grey plastic bricks called Mackintosh. Phones were mobile (if you were strong enough) but everything in the shops had a prefix of ’designer’. It was a boom time for jobs and the coolest job around was in Graphic Design. I knew I was lucky with my timing even then.

At school I kind of knew what I wanted to do: design record covers, store bags, vans – you know – cool commercial things. I knew I wasn’t an artist. The problem was that nobody knew if it was an occupation. My careers advice lady stroked her beardy chin (yep nasty) and announced “You can be: an Archeologist, a librarian or – if you can pass maths – an architect” I was not best pleased, but design simply hadn’t made it onto the list of ‘real jobs’ yet.

So, searching, I blagged a place onto our local foundation course, worked bloody hard for a year and got shouted at every day for not drawing well enough. Finally the course leader said, “I’m sorry Greg, but you still can’t draw well enough to be an illustrator (long pause) I’m afraid the only option left for you… is graphic design.” She considered this a failure. I was in seventh heaven.

College was a joy. I loved every second of it. I knew this is what I wanted to do. From being bored and pretty average at school I was finally in my element. I wanted to do this forever, but knew had to find the right place. I drew up a short list without thinking I was good enough to work at any of them. Passion forces luck (and I was very passionate) and I got out there and did a D&AD workshop, interviews by the dozen, work experiences, made tea and did whatever I could to be noticed and get recommendations. Finally I landed an interview with Nick Wurr at The Partners who were at the top of my list. He (got sick of the pleading) and gave me a job.

Fast-forward twenty years and two recessions. I’ve forgotten many things but I’ve also learnt:

Creativity can solve so many issues. By using communication and design we can change perceptions, improve our environment and add real value to businesses.

We should always remember that clients don’t owe us anything. They take risks when they buy creativity. They could always play safe. Therefore, you should always avoid arrogance and work hard to create the best possible solution for every single project, whatever the client or their situation.

Most creative people (as a breed) are ‘givers’ and are generous with their personal commitment, skill, energy and passion. For many it is a vocation. This is a strength and should never be taken for granted or abused.

In these tough times it’s important to remember that the creative industry always needs new talent. This current ‘crappiness’ will come to an end at some point. We know that clients who invest in creativity during these low points will come through stronger than those who don’t. It is the same with agencies.

Try and have the long-term view. Agencies might not be able to give you a position in the short term, but please don’t give up, If you are truly passionate about your potential please keep going. Do placements, freelance, talk to everyone, do workshops, win competitions, set up your own thing, keep your chin up and do anything to avoid compromise for as long as you can. If you are good, there is a place waiting for you.

It might just be the best job in the World.

Greg Quinton
2009

Suzan Dann, our intrepid culture-vulture has nominated herself to inspire us, every fortnight, with design that has impressed her on her travels around the globe. Her first reportage comes from the Fragrant Harbour itself – Hong Kong. It was there that she came across the emporium that is ‘Goods Of Desire‘ and their provocative private joke. Here’s what she says about it:

“G.O.D. (Goods of Desire) is a lifestyle company on a quest to identify Hong Kong culture and promote and preserve it’s uniqueness. GOD is the phonetic sound of the Cantonese ‘to live better’, and the stores are filled with books, furniture, clothing and housewares.

It creates and sells products that have a modern twist on traditional Chinese items, and some of their best products give the sense that the designers are sharing local ‘inside jokes’ with you. Some of their products include bags with prints of Chinese text adverts that look nice to any non-reader of Chinese – but in fact are pornographic ‘personals’, and its T-shirt slogans that read ‘Delay No More!’ which also sounds innocent in English but means something like, ‘go *&%$ your mother,’ in Cantonese. Underlying all the humour seems to be an interesting and honest exploration of place, people, culture and what makes Hong Kong uniquely Hong Kong.”

Our efforts were gallant – we somehow managed to know the name of Will Smith‘s character in Men In Black (Agent J), Henry VIII’s sixth wife (Catherine Parr) and of course that the current bank lending rate is at 0.5% – yet still we managed to come in fifth place – which is an improvement on last year. At this rate we’ll be winners by 2013.

Many thanks to Vicky and the rest of the McNaughton’s paper crew for organising such a top event.