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March 31st, 2010 by Matthew Brett
It can be very easy for design to become an antiseptic process, devoid of the craft and general messiness that were a necessary adjunct to our profession in the days before the Mac. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Mac. I also love the fact that designers no longer work with rubber cement, spray mount, zylene markers and any number of other chemical and carcinogenic materials that no doubt took years off our lives in the early days.
And by early days I mean the nineties. It is important, however, to roll up the sleeves from time to time and recharge the batteries a bit, by getting one’s hands dirty. I recently had the opportunity to do just that by participating in screen printing class at Chicago Printmakers Collaborative. The eight week class afforded me the opportunity to print up poster size reproductions of pages from our recent New Year's promotion. More importantly, it was a welcome break from so much time spent in front of the computer screen. The CPC offers summer classes and workshops in silkscreening and etching for both beginners and advanced students. A special thanks to the very talented (and patient) Megan Sterling who taught the class. Not only was she a wonderful instructor, she was kind enough to not berate us for the occasional ink spills and missteps that were left in our wake. March 28th, 2010 by Matthew Brett
We will be joining several Chicago design studios in the annual AIGA Spring Portfolio Review at the School of the Art Institute on April 21. This is a great opportunity to see new work by young designers just entering the field and provide design feedback and career guidance. Having benefited from the input of many established designers when I was first starting out, this provides the opportunity to reciprocate.
It's not entirely altruistic. The last portfolio review we participated in led us to bringing on our first intern, Jordan Freeman, who has been an invaluable asset to Substance. March 17th, 2010 by Matthew Brett
They sit stuffed within a ruffled stack of documents beside my desk, although the haphazard nature of their filing belies their importance to me. They are “official immigration documents” but their value to me is far more personal than political.
The first document is a copy of the manifest from the good ship Oceanic, sailing on the Atlantic on the White Star Line out of Queensboro, Ireland in September 17, 1902. It arrived at Ellis Island, New York City and the historical record transcribed on the manifest is as follows:
Name: Michael Brett Age: 17 (typed as 14) Occupation: Laborer Cash on person: $15
My grandfather left Ireland with not much to keep him there. He lost both of his parents at an early age, presumably to tuberculosis, although the historical record is a bit sketchy on this matter. Michael came over as an orphan with my great uncle John Brett, seeking a better life for he and his future offspring.
What guts.
I moved to Chicago from Ohio when I was 21 and I was intimidated by the prospect. I can't fathom what it must have been like to venture to a foreign country you have never visited. Then again, I also can't imagine what it must have been like to be an orphan as a teenager with only $15 to your name.
From time to time, I read the manifest when I feel the urge to take a big step and need the proverbial kick in the ass to pull myself out of my routine. We all get stuck from time to time, as individuals and organizations. Change can be scary and paralyzing, particularly in a recession where you don’t know what lies ahead. But it beats stagnancy any day.
What big moves have you made to keep yourself moving forward and take yourself further in your journey? Are you moving ahead or spinning your wheels? Sometimes you just have to jump on that ship and see where it takes you.
The move worked out pretty well for Michael Brett. The orphan from Tulla, Ireland ended up having ten children of his own, and siring 53 grandchildren.
That second document I keep beside my desk? My Irish passport, which I was able to secure through Irish citizenship, the benefit of my grandfather being born in Ireland.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. March 12th, 2010 by Matthew Brett
The most esoteric play of the year award goes to Lincoln Center Festival production of Dostoevsky's Demons. The source novel is a 700+ page story of a political assassination among a radical student group in 19th century Tsarist Russia. It's dark, laborious, difficult to follow, and one of the best books I've ever read. In its own convoluted way it's a bit of a page turner, once you fall into the rhythm of the prose.
The upcoming New York production, of which only two performances will be held, does justice to the novel in length if not content. The play is 12 hours long, performed in Italian, and will be produced on Governor's Island. Audience members will need to take a ferry from Manhattan to the island then walk to the warehouse where it is being staged.
It's unlikely I will see the play, but I love the fact that it is being produced. Having just come off an eight month literary journey of reading all the major Dostoevsky works, as well as the Joseph Frank cinder-block sized biography, I have an appreciation for his genius and the demands it makes upon the reader. While I can't vouch for the quality of the performance, the scope and duration is exactly the type of translation a work of this magnitude calls for, an ideal translation of user experience.
We've all sat through movie adaptations of books that, by necessity, eviscerated the plot to conform to the demands of a two hour running time. This play does the opposite, which seems to be the only way an adequate translation of the book could be accomplished.
In a world of the Kindle, which conveys information but not experience; and increasingly shortened attention spans that substitute scanning for comprehension, it's gratifying to see a production that pushes boundaries and tests stamina. March 8th, 2010 by Matthew Brett
One of the challenges of owning a design firm is deciding what type of clients to pursue and what type of work to take on. Historically, we have been very successful with professional services firms, including a number of Fortune 500 clients, mixed with the occasional not-for-profit or pro bono work. The mix keeps things interesting and forces our thinking to remain fresh.
We made the decision at the outset of 2010 to consciously pursue not-for-profit clients that were doing interesting and socially relevant work. This work comes not at the expense of our existing corporate clients, but in addition to them in our client portfolio.
Our efforts have paid off, in our collaboration with AIDS Foundation Chicago on the 2010 Chicago AIDS Walk / Ride, and our continuing work with YMCA of the USA.
I'm thrilled to report we will be partnering with another great organization, the Illinois Humanities Council. The IHC, through programs and grants, promotes an understanding for and appreciation of, the humanities in Illinois. They fund numerous activities throughout the state, including seminars, discussions, performances, film, and the written word.
Any time we land a new client, it's always pretty exciting. But the opportunity to work with one whose mission directly correlates with many of my own hobbies and interests is a coup worth celebrating. March 3rd, 2010 by Matthew Brett
Back in the day, Coca-Cola gave us an object lesson in how NOT to change your product. We all remember it. They wanted to reinvigorate their brand by refining the formula for Coke. After extensive research, including focus groups which universally lauded the new product, they released New Coke to massive fanfare.
It fizzled.
After a few months on the market, it was pulled and Classic Coke went back to being just plain Coke, the kind we still drink today.
This time around, a company finally gets it right when it comes to redoing their product. Of course it helps that their product was pretty terrible to begin with. Domino's Pizza overhauled their pizza formula after 18 months of growing criticism. Rather than close their ears and hide from the poor reviews, they embraced it. After a guerilla ad campaign that showed diners criticizing the pizza, comparing it to cardboard with sauce, Domino's is back with a new pizza and revived sales to show for it. The company profit has more than doubled in the wake of the new recipe and campaign.
I can't vouch for the quality of the pizza, not having sampled it. But from a marketing and crisis communication standpoint, the company did everything right. They admitted there was a problem, they addressed publicly in a memorable and humorous way, owning the story at every step.
The commercials got people talking, the new product got people buying.
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