Colorful Brands

I recently challenged myself to re-think an everyday activity, to put to test my observation skills while stretching my mind a little bit. After careful consideration, I choose the mall experience. I wanted to pick a place where I could watch people going through every day life. I also wanted to rethink an experience that is personal to me. So, I hauled myself over to the Cross County Mall in Yonkers, NY, with my camera, notebook, and thinking cap on.

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Fifteen years ago, I distinctly remember begging my mother to drop me off at the mall. Once I won the drop-off battle, I would proceed to argue the pick-up time. I always wanted at least three more hours than my mom was willing to give me. For me, the mall represented freedom, independence, and control. My friends and I were adults for those five hours. Now that I am an adult, why is it that I hate the mall? This question led me on my quest to ‘change’ the mall experience.

I figured an equivalent to free, independent, controlled shopping in the 21st century would be online-shopping. Equipped with this profound technological insight, I headed to the nearest mall to ‘enhance’ the shopping experience. While there I took furious notes, snapped hundreds of pictures, and wrote down all of my findings. I was ready to introduce more technology into the mall and was prepared to come up with the next big technological advancement to hit mall shopping. However, I stopped in my tracks when I realized what I loved seeing at the mall were the groups of people. It was the mothers and daughters shopping together, families entertaining their little ones, and groups of friends giving each other advice that make the Mall the Mall. I looked back at my notes and sure enough I saw a pattern. The only people using their cell phones or typing on their smart phones were people who were alone. I began to question my conclusion, is online shopping the only effective 21st century shopping experience? I began thinking about how technology is making us less social and more individualized.

Off track, I brought it back to the mall. What was it that my 14-year-old self loved? I loved going with friends, asking for opinions, and interacting with whomever I wanted to. I wanted to scrap all my research, chose a new location, and start all over. Instead I went back to the beginning and then it came to me. I just wanted to be 14 again. Not for the fashion or tremendous amounts of lip gloss purchased, but for the DROP-OFF. As an adult my least favorite part of the mall experience is the PARKING…

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“A heart attack occurs when blood flow to a section of heart muscle becomes blocked. If the flow of blood isn’t restored quickly, the section of heart muscle becomes damaged from lack of oxygen and begins to die, “ (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/)

Through my research I came out with this insight: the parking lot is blocking the consumer flow to the mall. When I think about going to the mall I start to sweat thinking about dodging cars, traffic, baby strollers, and other pedestrians. Though I would love to dive deeper into this topic, I have posted a few images with my ideas to get ‘the juices flowing.’

Last night I went out to support a friend who was selling her fashion merchandise at an event in New York City. I drove into the city, met up with friends and walked into an unexpected Girls Night Out.

Walking down a red carpet laid out in front of a loft style building in Soho, we were escorted up to a room filled with hundreds of women. We found ourselves at a Shecky’s Girls Night Out. A quick scan of the room, I noticed promotional liqueur booths, a female DJ, two half naked men posing for pictures and a handful of vendors. I was both overwhelmed and mildly excited. We heard women talking about free beer, booze and gifts. Like any workingwomen just getting out of work we went straight for the booze.

Full beer in hand we shuffled our way through 3 rooms. We stopped to try on rings, necklaces and to sign up for free raffles. At this point we met up with a few more friends and caught up on life, work and significant others.

Women apparently make 80% of all consumer purchases. Women as a market segment are the hot topic for companies and brands. There are always new articles about how to effectively appeal to women. How to educate, empower and provide women with all the tools necessary so that they may buy more and often. I am in no way an expert on how to market to women. However, after I hugged my friends, put down my Bud Light Lime, grabbed my Lean Cuisine flyer, thought about the Veet I didn’t take and walked back to my car, I realized every brand at Shecky’s had effectively and unobtrusively entered my subconscious.

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a Prom located in Queens, New York. I was very excited to attend a NYC Prom. Having attended my own Prom, I was interested to see the difference between an urban Prom verse a suburban one.

I walked into the BSGE prom ready to have a whole new experience. I walked in with my date, the HS art teacher and saw students of all different shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. There were multi-racial couples, gay couples and singletons. I watched the kid’s dance, eat, and crown their Prom King and Queen. I observed students awkwardly asking each other to dance, surveyed girls dancing protectively in circles and felt as though I was witnessing the end of their childhood.

Prom is the ceremonial ending of childhood and the induction into adulthood. Prom happens at the end of the school year and more importantly at the end of a High school career. It marks the beginning of adulthood, wearing adult clothes and openly talking about adult decisions. It’s funny how a strapless bra, high heels and a whole lot of makeup can make a young girl into a woman. How an ill-fitting suit, a date and a boutonniere can make a boy into a man.

The BSGE prom may have not looked anything like my prom, but what I realized is that their experience of moving from childhood to young adulthood is exactly the same. The stress and anticipation of the American Prom Night is universal, it transcends race, geography and economy. The theme of the BSGE 2010 Prom was Black and White and what I came away with was that with Prom there is no grey area. It is indeed sharply defined as the climax of the adolescent experience.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a street artist by the name of Billi Kid. He has developed a company called Public Works Department, whose newest endeavor is exclusive graffiti and street artist apparel. A Pop-Up shop was created to sell these wares for one month. A small space on the lower east side with artwork on the walls and 6-8 racks of clothing stand to represent the artists. Billi Kid himself runs the small shop. A very friendly, animated guy, Billi Kid talks passionately to anyone who walks into his shop. Whether he is explaining his new project or his last successful endeavor the Barney’s windows of Eames Inspiration, he thoroughly explains his role, mission and purpose behind all of his projects. After covering every topic from the role of street art to the purpose of the gallery, I was anxious to hear what he hopes to accomplish with the Public Works Department.

I personally am not a street artist, but have come to appreciate what art in the street has to offer, not only for the public but also the artists themselves. Having been trained at art school I understand the limitations and opportunities that different creative disciplines?face. An artist equipped with a message, an image and a final product is not always going to be able to expose their work to an audience. Street art allows anyone with a passion; dedication and inclination towards risk the opportunity to display their work. Companies and corporations pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to spread an image and message to thousands of people. An artist with a great message, a few bucks, a lot of wheat paste?, and some paint, can reach those same hoards of people. The urban landscape in some ways is made whole by these images. Walking down a city street and seeing an image or message in an unexpected place is commonplace, almost expected.

In today’s over saturated, over stimulated world the big question becomes not what’s permissible, but what’s genuine. What’s really worth our time, really worth understanding? Artists in the street all marchto their own drum and all create work for their own purpose. It is becoming apparent that those who have a personal purpose, real depth and a reason or concept behind their work, create a fan base and develop a market. It’s the artists who genuinely care about the product they are making and whole heartedly believe in the message they are crafting that have longevity. These artists go by a street art name, some even a secret identity and all of the work they put out in the street gives them exposure and reinforces their name. In other words, they are all out there night and day building up their Brand.

The word Brand probably makes a street artist cringe. The notion of brands seems to have become synonymous with big corporations, which ellicit feelings of selling out. However, the 21st century concept of brands and branding is much bigger than any corporation. Branding is away to identify ourselves, whether it’s someone defining what they stand for or a consumer broadcasting a message of who they are. Branding allows us to navigate the world and make sense of our role within it. What I walked away with yesterday, after purchasing a $45 dollar tank by The Dude Company, is that Billi Kid and the Public Works Department are creating spaces, projects and dialogue for graffiti and street artists to continue to build and elevate their Brand.

My early childhood was spent in the 80’s. I am a product of Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Teddy Ruxpin, and Barbie before she had 125 careers. The Berenstain Bears served me through all of my first doctor appointments, and I had my pivotal birthday parties at McDonald’s. No one questioned the diversification of information, the quality of nutrition, nor ethnic awareness I garnered from my childhood. I am ok with that. It seems it was a much simpler time. I was not aware that light skinned dolls might confuse my ethnic identity nor that eating a burger and fries could make me fat. My elementary education consisted of a uniform, desks with the chairs attached, and saying prayers before lunch. I wouldn’t change one thing about my childhood.

My mother has never been married and adopted me from El Salvador as a single parent in 1985. I grew up in a well-adjusted household, always surrounded by family, and never going without. At some point in elementary school, I was asked to draw my family portrait. I casually drew my mom with big permed hair and glasses, then myself with our single-family house in the background. There was nothing particularly special about it; however, it became the cornerstone of my experience with ‘perception.’ Once a week after school, I was to attend a special group called “Banana Splits.” Sitting there listening to other kids talk about hating their parents, blaming themselves, and not understanding how holidays worked, I was confused and bored. My mother never had me go back. It’s understood that I am a product of a single parent household, but I am in no way a product of divorce. I realize now that this was my first real experience of not fitting in.

In my first 18 years of life, I never checked a box about race or ethnicity on forms and tests. I never joined a multicultural group. I grew up in a predominately white suburban community. My last name was Ukrainian, and I did not speak Spanish, so thinking of myself as Latino or non-white never crossed my mind. Going to college in an inner city, there was never a question about my ethnicity; I was El Salvadorian, end of story. I realize now that I can check the Hispanic box on forms, comfortably join multicultural groups, say I only speak English, and not have to worry about not fitting in. I am Branded Brown for life and its up to me to strengthen and evolve My Brand perception.