Colorful Brands

I know what it’s like to win the lottery. I was 20 months old. Winning the lottery before you can talk really makes you think. Born in a war torn country to arrive at the doorstep of an amazing single lady, I’ve always questioned why I’ve deserved this good fortune. Now in the face of this Master’s in Branding degree I find myself asking the same thing, ‘what have I done to get here?’.

I like to think it all started when I opened my first business – at eight, when I convinced my mother to invest 25 dollars in pounds of embroidery floss. I was curious and convinced I could make money off of something I loved doing – friendship bracelets. Though J&J bracelet boutique didn’t land my mom or me the fortunes I imagined, it did lead me to art school to continue my curiosity of making things to make a living.

In 2001 I found myself at Pratt Institute pursuing painting. However, my life took a detour when I met the most amazing group of women in the world. Among learning – leadership skills, working in groups and navigating college politics, I also learned that I was a woman of color. At times learning the hard way that my personal and cultural identity was complex, in order to make sense of it all like any good art student I changed my major – A focus in advertising.

Advertising led me on a strange and winding path, making detours in fashion, art direction, design and research. Determined that these seemingly unrelated adventures would all lead somewhere, I stumbled upon Branding.

Looking at my journey, I have noticed a pattern. For good or bad I go about the same sequence of events. I first become really curious about the topic, then completly focused on making sense of it all and finally slightly obsessed or I guess I should say determined. This program has been no different. When I first found out about a Masters in Branding, I had major bouts of curiosity, finding out everything there was to know about each professor, then focused on every branding article, blog, and website out there. And finally slightly obsessed with Design Matters.

The first few months of the program my pattern started all over. Curious about all my classmates, focused on each assignment and then determined to work as hard as I could. Now at the crossroads of finishing up this program and launching myself into a new career, I find myself once again at the beginning this crazy pattern. I’m curious, focused and slightly obsessed with the following three things: Kimberly Clark, well honestly Christine Mau; Cottonelle, but really the difference between folding and scrunching; and a brand new adventure in Wisconsin.

Having just completed this amazing program with 23 unbelievable people, a tremendous faculty and with my long time design hero, Debbie Millman, I truly feel I have won the lottery AGAIN. However, this time around the lesson I’ve learned is that the reason for my good fortune is not as important, but rather it is what I do with it. And with that, I look forward to positively impacting the world of branding with an exuberant amount of curiosity, focus and determination.

This semester we’ve been tasked with the daunting exercise of navigating our own brand. Our first assignment was to compose a 2 to 5 minute speech about our philosophy and unique point of view on branding. Below is my attempt at sorting through my personal brand attributes.

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I’ve spent a great deal of time with the idea of nature vs. nurture. Having been adopted by a single Italian/Ukrainian mother I have always been aware of how appearance effects perception. I don’t look like my mother, I don’t sound like my mother, but I certainly, for good or bad, act like my mother. My first real experience with nature vs nurture and it’s implications on branding came when I went to college. I was invited to a sorority potluck dinner and approached to bring rice and beans. As I went to the market I simply bought the brands my mother bought. For me it was Uncle Bens Minute Rice and Campbell’s Pork & Beans. Clearly not the rice and beans anyone had expected the short Latina girl to bring along and certainly embarrassing, but a real cultural learning experience for everyone involved. Culture is not necessarily the color of our skin or the origins of birth, but more then likely what we buy, what we buy into, and what we are surround ourselves with everyday.

When I found this branding program at SVA I was immediately reminded of the rice and beans story. As I thought about it, I recognized it as my gateway into branding. It helped me to understand branding’s impact on self-identity. But, as I’ve headed down this 10-month journey of design, business, strategy, innovation, design research, trends and ultimately this larger concept of branding, I’ve come to recognize the powerful similarities to my larger life question of nature vs nurture.  Nature, nurture and everything in between is a really a question of human behavior. Branding for me is also an in-depth study in human behavior. I believe people simply want to belong. Whether it’s within a family unit, community or organization, people just want to feel included in something larger then themselves.

What I get excited about for brands is that they are here to give us that something to believe in. Brands are a promise. They give us a suggestion of who we can be and eventually assure us of who we are. Branding as a discipline is the opportunity to nurture that brand promise and execute on that experience.

As I look at my professional journey I recognize that my experience has been very much about the birth of design and the defending of visual language. However, what I’ve realized over these past few months is that I find inspiration, passion and interest in the nurturing of ideas, ideals and values. My own experience has taught me that when you commit to loving something, it doesn’t matter where it came from or what it looks like, if you nurture it, love it and believe in it, it will make you proud and carry with it everything you stand for. And it is for this reason that I want to work with brands, ones that we interact with everyday and shape who we are, and nurture them across all creative and experiential touch points to bring them to life through solid research, cultural insights and ultimately through design and design strategy.

My own personal career path may take me in various different directions, which I hope it does, however, I want to make sure that each path leads me on the same journey – nurturing a brand through the good and bad, helping it realize its full potential and releasing it into the world to help others shape their cultural & personal identities.

I once wrote a future predicting essay; I was to predict 25 years into the future. I was in fifth grade. Eleven-year-old Jessie imagined herself owning an animal hospital with her best friend, and I am pretty sure could not spell veterinarian; therefore, it was to be named R & R Vet. Obviously, both last names began with an R. Though my very progressive young self predicted ownership in a female operated company, my feminine ideals did get the best of me; I was to be married. I had predicted I would be married by twenty-six. I have absolutely no recollection of writing this essay and would adamantly deny such writing had it not been for my ever-sentimental mother who kept everything relating my childhood. I was not only reminded of this essay, but I was further provided proof on a double-wide, crumbled-up, cursive ridden piece of paper on my twenty-sixth birthday.

On a dry, cold Saturday in the middle of February, I was to meet my boyfriend in Washington Square Park. Having dated for almost seven years, we didn’t really believe in Valentine’s Day, so we figured we’d go for an early-bird special the weekend before. I walked out of the train, checked my phone, and proceeded to our meeting spot. When I approached the designated bench, my phone rang; Michael asked me to meet him on the other side of the park. As I walked over to the narrow west village side-street, I saw him waiting; little did I know my life would be changed forever. There was no bended knee, there was no great blue Tiffany’s box, and there was definitely no choir of angels singing my name; however, there was stifled emotion as I said yes to my boyfriend holding a diamond ring.

I have never thought of myself as overly feminine or expressively girly, but I do know what I like when I like it. So, I figured wedding planning would be fun, not stressful, and definitely on my terms. Everything was working out as planned, or rather not planned, just the way I liked it. Until my mother called about wedding-dress shopping. Mind you, I was planning on going to J. Crew or Express and picking a white strapless cotton dress, the ones I always tried on and never bought because they reminded me of wedding dresses. When I told my mother of my plans she laughed, coughed, hacked into the phone, and told me that is just not the way it is done. She explained to me that every girl must go to a bridal boutique; she threw in that I didn’t have to buy anything, it was just for the experience. Not sure when or how it happened, but I agreed to make all of her dreams come true and accompany her for some wedding dress shopping. Within three weeks I was scheduled to go to Kleinfelds for what my mother called ‘wedding dress exploration.’

Wearing flip-flops, cut-off shorts, and dingy undergarments, I walked into a grandiose building in Chelsea. Seeing my mother and her twin sister sitting in ornate furniture surrounded by glamorous women, I instantly knew I was out of my element. I was ushered into a HUGE dressing room and rapidly questioned about my dream wedding dress. Speechless, I said white. The woman was like great-great, at least we know you don’t want ivory, off white, pearl, cream, or oyster. I stuttered, Aren’t those white? That’s when the wedding-dress consultant and I simultaneously realized this would be a very long afternoon.

Getting over the initial anxiety, the wedding dress consultant took my hand and led me into the largest warehouse of racks I had ever seen. My mother and aunt were left behind to dream about what dress I would pick. I had said fine to about a dozen dresses and said not bad to a half dozen or more. My consultant took all the huge, plastic monstrosities back into the fitting room. I sluggishly followed. With the consultant, my mother, and my aunt all staring at me, I was asked to undress. I realize now that a great bra and underwear really make all the difference under fluorescent lights. Trying not to be drop-dead embarrassed, I reached out for the cream-colored dress I liked the best. The consultant hurled, zipped, buttoned, and clamped my body into the lace, silk beast. My back to the mirror, I saw my mother instantly tear up, and I saw my aunt hand her a tissue. As I turned around, something must have happened, either the world stopped spinning or gravity stopped working, but when I saw myself in the mirror, I was a bride. I was twenty-six years old, absolutely fabulous, and about to get married. The consultant, out of nowhere, put a veil on my head and bouquet into my hands and said congratulations.

I tried on 20 wedding dresses that day at Kleinfelds, and I walked out with the dress of my dreams – the first dress I had tried on. I can’t say what happened or how it happened, but I was transformed into the twenty-six-year-old vision of my eleven-year-old dreams. In 2009 I married the best man I’ve ever met, in the most perfect dress I could imagine, and made my mother the happiest woman on earth. Whoever said dreams and inarticulate longings don’t exist never battled the wedding dress industry, my mother, or their childhood fantasies.

Imagine a world where every need is met, every desire is fulfilled, and every want is anticipated. That is the future. Looking into the future we are often lead down the road into our urban cities. What will those cities look like, what will they feel like, and how will they respond to the needs of the people. Urban cities have been called the platform of the future – the urban operating system. It will be with these systems that we understand our arrival into this future.

Overpopulation, over pollution, and limited attention spans are what await our urban operating systems. The mobility within these systems will be the challenge of most industries. The future holds vast possibilities for those willing to take up this challenge. For instance, car companies – imagine when car companies no longer talk about the aesthetic design of their automobiles, but in fact offer new solutions to the challenges of navigating an urban environment.

Imagine a vehicle that offers great mobility and a new way to envision freedom. Mobility that gives new value to driving and freedom that elicits fun and excitement. What is the number one compliment of having a car in an urban city? Parking. Where to park it, how to park it and whether it will be safe. Today we can only park in a space that accommodates the size and shape of our vehicle. Lets re-imagine that spatial experience. What if you could drive up to a space, examine the spatial challenges and then communicate it to your car? Your car would then release you from its sleek cabin and perform the task you always wanted it to do, but never thought capable. It folds up, it reconfigures, and it fits perfectly into that chosen space.

Mini copper and the smart car have changed our perspective on size, but imagine if their specs were commonplace. Imagine a car only 8 feet in length, carrying four people, modeled off the ergonomics of a two-wheeled vehicle? Can we envision a car with motorcycle-like steering, controls completely on the handlebar, or rather steering wheel in this case? These types of questions will bring a rethinking of the entire driving experience. Not to mention the way that cars are built. Cars will not only have to think about space, but also the efficiency upon how they are run.

Could car companies begin to realize that car manufacturing is not a sole endeavor; will there come a time when car companies partner with other companies that are developing new clean technologies? We will need companies to support each other’s research and development into these renewable energy technologies. Therefore, asking them to create partnerships that will span disciplines, borders and then continents.

Cars will not look like the future, they will act like the future, and we will see cars that mimic space ships, amusement rides, and bat mobiles. These will not have come from the creative minds of artists, filmmakers, or students, but rather the brilliant minds of our engineers, those being the greatest minds in science, math, ergonomics and economics. They will examine our needs, our wants and foresee our desires to bring us what we only ever dreamed of. The future is closer then we think. Allow me to bring you Peugeot concept cars and the ushering in of our future.

I recently put together a trend presentation for one of my classes at The School of Visual Arts. We were asked to collect images of common themes and ideas that we were seeing, and then follow these themes into a trend. This process turned out to be a lot of fun. My new obsession with Cyborgs led me down a natural path – pun intended. Below are the images from my presentation. My Trend: Organic Technology, which I lovingly refer to as ORGTECH.

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Below, you will see the idea and themes I was seeing: Environmentalism, Sustainability, Anthropomorphism, and Technology Overload. A quick look at how the 2011 Oscars interpreted these themes: 127 Hours – Man vs. Nature; Waste Land – Recyclable Materials; The Social Network – Tech Drama; Inception – Tech vs Reality. Next, I put together manifestations of what I am calling the Organic Technology trend. Also, included are sub trends of ORGTECH: Naturally Urban, Cyborgs, Moral Machines, Artificial Species. Lastly, I looked to history, to see if we have seen these trends before – we have. Plus, I have included my references. Enjoy!

This past week was February break for New York City schools. As a high school art teacher, my husband was more then thrilled to have the week off. He even purchased himself a new TV to make sure he maximized his leisure time. While, I was trying to read, write, and analyze research for my graduate classes, I couldn’t help but notice what movies he decided to stream to his TV. The first movie up was Robocop, followed by Terminator and then finally Star Trek. None of these movies being on my personal movie watching radar I was unfamiliar with how similar they all were.  I kept hearing the term cyborgs over and over. My curiosity got the best of me and I started researching cyborgs. Wikipedia outlined for me “Fictional cyborgs are portrayed as a synthesis of organic and synthetic parts, and frequently pose the question of difference between human and machine as one concerned with morality, free will, and empathy.” Now mind you, I never thought this would correlate with anything I’ve been interested in or reading about in my Branding program. However, the prior week I had the opportunity to attend Social Media Week in NYC. It was a week long conference covering topics from social gaming to real-time-data emergency response – all in the context of new media. It was completely free. Companies such as Google, Hearst, JWT, and Red Bull hosted topic specific sessions. All of the talk pertaining to new media, the power of relationships, and where the future is headed, flashed before my eyes as I continued to read about cyborgs – real and fictional. In that instance I realized that we are becoming Social Cyborgs. We are trying to understand the collection of relationships between ‘organisms’ that have both artificial and natural networks. Twitter for example is an artificial network made up of numbers and codes, which foster the relationships of users who have the natural want and need to connect. The recent events in Egypt have caused us to question twitter’s responsibility in helping to foster morality, free will and empathy. Sounds familiar right? It seems with all of our recent manifestations that demonstrate the power in social networking; we are seeing the uprising of a new man-machine reality. A reality that may not be so far from Robocop. I just might have to put Social Cyborg under specialties on my resume.

A few weeks ago I had a very bi-polar design-experience, experience. I was very fortunate to hear Alex Lee, the CEO of OXO speak about the amazing culture and innovation of their unique line of kitchen gadgets. Any bride-to-be will know what product I’m talking about, as it is usually the foundation for any modern bridal registry. The black and white packaging and amazingly intuitive tools, which make all adventures in the kitchen a positive experience. It was wonderful to hear about the notable thinking that goes into designing a common tool such as a potato peeler or the simple product of a measuring cup. I was blown away by the thoughtful, extraordinary research and implementation into the user experience that goes into every OXO product.

The following day I had the unfortunate task of going to the Bronx Courthouse. I was to testify to a grand jury about the aggravated assault of the previous week. The information for my appearance came to me on a beat up piece of paper with vague instructions, but what I could decipher was the address of the Bronx Courthouse. Arriving at my destination, I proceed to stand in line for over an hour and half – just to walk into what I might add is a beautiful new building. The details of my experience follow this same line of thought, frustrating, confusing, and ultimately substandard. After my eight and half hours of waiting on various floors and what seemed to be the same looking waiting room, I came to a final conclusion. The amazing design thinking that goes into our kitchen gadgets has yet to reach systems that we take for granted and only notice when we need them. These past few months I have been immersed in what can only be called an awe-inspiring journey of design thinking, innovative user experience, and genius branding philosophy. I cannot wait to go out into the world and make great work, but this past week has made me stop and think about what really defines great work. Is it work that changes the lives of a select few with great recognition or work that impacts a larger group with most likely no recognition? Is time to put the white halo on design thinking? To start putting the same amount of effort and considerable thought into the public systems we take for granted, that is until we actually have to experience them? I just may be ready to go out and evangelize design thinking – a colorful cape and all.

We had the unbelievable opportunity to hear one of the best and brightest minds in the world of corporate design speak to our class Tuesday night. Moira Cullen gave a great presentation on iconic brands. A quick Google search for Moira brings up her incredible resume and even more impressive work. I was beyond excited to hear of her experiences at Hallmark, Coca Cola and currently Hershey. I was not disappointed. After about an hour-long presentation I was smitten. Her presentation style was impressive, her personality electrifying, and her design process approachable. I left Tuesday’s class excited about the possibilities of corporate design and particularly future opportunities.

Working late on a group presentation I headed home on the 2 train a little after midnight. Arriving in the Bronx at around 2am I walked home thinking about how to reach out to Moira and thank her for a great presentation. However, my thoughts were abruptly and horrifyingly interrupted. Ten years of living in New York City I have never been attacked. On this cold snowy Tuesday evening I was mugged for the very first time. Lucky to have not been seriously hurt and fortunate enough to still have my cell phone I was able to call 911. Three police officers arrived within 2 minutes of my phone call. I was able to accurately describe my attacker and after 15 minutes and 7 police cars canvassing the area, my attacker was taken into custody. My physical purse was retrieved and I was taken to the precinct to fill out paper work. I was safely home by 4:30 am. Visibly shaken, physically sore, and mentally wounded I went to bed.

The next morning I woke up trying to forget the events of the previous night and sat down at my computer. My first email of the day was to our Tuesday night teacher, asking for Moira’s email determined to reach out and send her a heart felt thank you. I received a phone call from the arresting officer asking me to come down to the Bronx courthouse to press charges. He offered to pick me up so that I wouldn’t be inconvenienced. We had a great chat on our way to the courthouse, discussing his believe that every woman should feel safe walking down the street regardless of time and place and about the meaning of family. I was escorted to the Bronx District Attorney’s office where I was told to wait. Taking out my blackberry I was eager to see if I had received an email about how to precede with Moira’s thank you letter. I made the decision that I would write and send one off to Hershey that weekend.

After 3.5 hours of waiting and observing all of the activity in the Bronx DA’s office I was finally taken back to speak to an ADA. I felt surprisingly relieved after I recounted all the details of the night before. When I was finished I took in my surroundings. There in front of me was awful purple paneling and probably the worst cubicles I had ever seen. I looked over at the arresting officer who he had been sitting there all day waiting to tell his side of story on my behalf. In that instance I realized life is not always about future possibilities. Here I had spent the majority of my day thinking about what to write Moira hoping to reach out to her in the future. Not once did I think about sending a thank you note to this officer, a man who literally changed my life and preserved my belief in personal safety. Life is all about perspective. Branding is all about experience. This past Tuesday reminded me that my personal brand is not just about future interactions and opportunities, but truly about my participation in the world. I will be sending out two very well thought-out, heart-felt thank you notes this weekend, but with a very different perspective – no future expectations. People come in and out of our lives, give us perspective and add to our experience. It is my hope to recognize, reflect, and thank all those who help me build my personal brand character of today, not of tomorrow.

Yesterday I made a cake for my husband. Since the last birthday of his twenties fell on a Monday of my spring semester of graduate school we did not celebrate together. I left for class as he was coming home from work. In order to surprise him and make myself feel better I decided to bake a cake. I realized 200 plus pages of reading, a 3,000-word chapter to bullet, and a variety of online articles really prevented me from putting too much time into a cake-baking venture.

While running around the grocery store, dodging grandmother’s and small children I knew what I needed – my good friend Betty Crocker. I walked right past the already baked gorgeous looking, very easy to take-out-of-the-box type of cakes straight to the ‘baking’ aisle. I loaded my cart with Betty’s dark chocolate cake and classic chocolate frosting. I preceded to the oil aisle then on to the dairy section to locate myself some farm fresh eggs. Checking out, I felt pretty proud of myself. I even looked to see if the cashier was looking at my items, thinking she would congratulate me or at least ask what the occasion was. She did neither, but I’m pretty sure she knew I was about to embark on a great undertaking. After 4 minutes of slaving over a hot oven and with my 8-inch cakes side by side baking evenly, I couldn’t help but think about the sacrifice of convenience and the reality of homemade.

I recently learned that after World War II Betty Crocker and other cake mix companies sought out to sell women on the convenience of baking a cake by only adding water. Well that idea backfired. It turns out that housewives of the mid twentieth century wanted convenience but couldn’t wrap their heads around abandoning all traditional expectations. It turned out that the ability to add a few ‘fresh’ ingredients struck a nice balance of conveniently homemade. As a modern woman of the twenty-first century I am hard pressed to say I have anything in common with the housewife of the 50’s and early 60’s. However, what I learned while baking my husband’s cake is that adding a few of my own ingredients and selflessly baking in my own oven, really allows me to feel I’ve created a labor of love. Even in today’s hyper-fast-moving-convenient culture I’m pretty sure a cake with which we just add water would not get the ‘homemade’ stamp of approval. While we sacrifice a lot for convenience there are just some realities about our expectations of homemade that we still have not abandoned. Betty Crocker seems to understand this. My cake was a quite lopsided, partly crispy, and bit dry, but my husband blew out his candles and thanked me for taking the time to make his day extra special. What I realized after this baking adventure is that a good brand should seamlessly integrate themselves into our lives, understand our oddities, and make us feel right at home.

This past Holiday Season I was walking around mid-town where there were thousands of people milling around trying to find the Rockefeller Tree, meeting up with friends, and taking pictures of pretty much anything with lights. Running late to meet family friends I kept my hood up and tried not to get caught up in the crowds. However, the large amounts of snow, people, and lights not only slowed me down, but also forced me to stand still often. One of these moments I happened to look into a large and what I assumed was a corporate building lobby. Not thinking much of the interior I noticed a large banner hanging above the doormen. Quickly reading it, it said “Last year we spent $17,000 dollars on poinsettias. This year we donated that money to Meals on Wheels”. This sign definitely gave me a reason to pause. I have no idea what company or companies reside in this building, but there was no doubt in my mind that the banner was put up in hopes of building brand image. I continued on to my dinner. For the rest of the week and into the New Year I have been thinking about what that banner really means. Poinsettias on first impression represent decoration and extravagance. Being that we are still recovering and sensitive to over abundance and opulence, I could see why a company would want to broadcast their cost effective actions and do-good deeds. Be that as it may, I can’t help but think about who or what was on the losing end of this brand-building maneuver. New York City is filled with small businesses that fulfill many unnoticed jobs. I wonder if the building and/or company researched who brought, set-up, and maintained their poinsettias? And if the loss of this holiday contract had any effect on THEIR business? Brands are all about cause and effect. Brand image, if handled improperly can be dangerous if the goal is only about immediate reaction, obvious outcomes and are oblivious to repercussions. What I realized is that Brands like poinsettias, need to be nurtured, put on display and are in bloom long after the holidays. Imagine if this building lobby had put some research into the small business that thrives on Holiday botanical maintenance. Then the lobby, small business owner, and the Brand would have bloomed.