17 Quotes on Design Philosophy From Apple’s Sir Jony Ive

Recently, Apple announced it was “promoting” its lead designer, Jony Ive. The promotion is little more than a title change, as Ive has led Apple’s world-changing product design since joining the company in 1996. “Sir” Jony Ive (he’s been knighted by the Queen of England) is well known across the globe for his innovative designs that made Apple the world’s biggest company and changed the way we interact with technology.

As designers, we draw inspiration from a variety of sources – the word around us, the innovative products and services of our clients and the work of great designers past and present. Ive is certainly one of those greats. The following collection of quotes from Apple’s creative maestro offer an interesting look into the philosophy that drives Apple’s world-changing designs.

“Simplicity is not the absence of clutter, that’s a consequence of simplicity. Simplicity is somehow essentially describing the purpose and place of an object and product. The absence of clutter is just a clutter-free product. That’s not simple.”

“There’s no learning without trying lots of ideas and failing lots of times.”

“Different’ and ‘new’ is relatively easy. Doing something that’s genuinely better is very hard.”

“We shouldn’t be afraid to fail- if we are not failing we are not pushing. 80% of the stuff in the studio is not going to work. If something is not good enough, stop doing it.”

“There is beauty when something works and it works intuitively.”

“If something is not good enough, stop doing it.”

“If you are truly innovating, you don’t have a prototype you can refer to.”

“What we make testifies who we are. People can sense care and can sense carelessness. This relates to respect for each other and carelessness is personally offensive.”

“Apple’s goal isn’t to make money. Our goal is to design and develop and bring to market good products.”

“True simplicity is, well, you just keep on going and going until you get to the point where you go, ‘Yeah, well, of course.’ Where there’s no rational alternative.”

“What I love about the creative process, and this may sound naive, but it is this idea that one day there is no idea, and no solution, but the next day there is an idea. I find that incredibly exciting and conceptually actually remarkable.”

“A small change at the beginning of the design process defines an entirely different product at the end.”

“When something exceeds your ability to understand how it works, it sort of becomes magical.”

“Designing and developing anything of consequence is incredibly challenging.”

“Making the solution seem so completely inevitable and obvious, so uncontrived and natural – it’s so hard!”

“It’s a very strange thing for a designer to say, but one of the things that really irritates me in products is when I’m aware of designers wagging their tails in my face.”

“The best ideas start as conversations.”

San Diego Digital Marketing Agency | Jacob Tyler

How Design Consistency Builds Brand Recognition.

There are many factors that go into creating a widely recognized brand. Without design consistency however, this can never be achieved. On a recent trip to visit family in Cincinnati, Ohio, my then two-and-a-half-year-old son, Teigan, crafted a perfect case study on the matter.

A few days into our trip, my father-in-law came home with a new car. Not just any car, a white, 2015 Porsche Boxster S. Being one of the most stylized car brands in the world, the new Porsche quickly became one of Teigan’s favorite rides. What I thought was simple excitement of something new showing up, and the fascination of seeing a car with, “no-roof” as he proclaimed, turned out to be much more than that. Little did we know, Teigan was building brand recognition and becoming a fan of the Porsche brand.

A week or so had gone by since the new car arrived, and my wife and I had taken the kids to visit the local Aquarium. Just as any major attraction, we arrived to a packed parking lot, filled with cars of all makes, sizes, and colors. While pushing the kids through the lot in their stroller, my son yells out, “daddy look, this car same like Tim’s.” Yes, he calls both of his Grandpa’s by their first names. As I started to look around for what caught his eye, I initially looked for a white car, maybe a two-door sports car, or a convertible. Something with what I would classify as obvious similarities to the white Porsche Boxster. After seeing no cars with any of these qualities, I asked Teigan to point out the car that sparked his interest. To my surprise he points directly at a dark blue Porsche Panamera. For anyone not familiar with the Porsche lineup, the Panamera is considered a full-size, four-door luxury sedan. A completely different class then Tim’s white convertible roadster. Being caught off guard to my son’s brand recognition, I had to clarify if there was something to this or if it was just a random coincidence. I asked him why the car looked like Grandpa Tim’s. His answer, “same logo daddy.” Wow, a two-year-old with a small but growing vocabulary was already speaking a visual language and experiencing brand recognition through of the Porsche logo.

Considering the car’s were complete opposite in size, color and class, I figured the my son’s recognition of Porsche rested solely with the logo. Sure, I can distinguish the design consistency across the Porsche lineup, but could a toddler? Back home in San Diego, I was out on an evening run with Teigan in-tow when he shouts yet again, “daddy look, this car same like Tim’s.” Seeing his little finger pointing towards the road and the car that was flying by us, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Not a Boxster, not a Panamera, but a Porsche Cayenne, their SUV! Keep in mind the Cayenne was zooming by at about 50mph, so clearly it was not the Porsche logo that caught his eye, but the Porsche styling. I was stunned, and immediately sent a text to Grandpa Tim sharing the news that Teigan was officially a Porsche enthusiast.

Without design consistency across the Porsche brand, the Boxster, Panamera, and Cayenne would have been just any old cars to Teigan. But because of the unique, highly stylized design qualities that Porsche carriers across their model line up, Teigan was able to build a strong brand recognition and a particular liking to Porsche. What started with an interest in a single model, the Boxster S, lead to his appreciation of the Porsche logo, and ultimately to his attraction and understanding of the visual qualities across the Porsche lineup. Thus creating brand recognition based solely on design consistency alone.

So, what does this mean to brands and designers looking to create a widely recognized brand? It’s rather simple. Create a style, a look-and-feel, and apply it with strict guidelines across all touch points. And if a toddler can distinguish your products as part of the same family, there’s no doubt your target audience will as well.

Jacob Tyler | San Diego Advertising Agency

Get the Grease

The old adage “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” is most often used to describe the value of complaining. It conjures images of a cranky old man demanding a new bowl of soup because the temperature is a tad off. But I’ve never thought of it that way. I think it’s the perfect idiom for standing out in a crowd – in a positive way. For brands looking to stand out in a crowded market, – and just about every market is crowded these days – the squeaky wheel is your marketing, and the grease is your profit. How do you make your marketing squeak?

Start with these six tips:

Be Bold: Know what you want to say and say it. The best campaigns aren’t afraid to take chances. Exude confidence in your brand, and you’ll win the confidence of your audience. Boldness is leadership. Be the leader in your market.

Be Relevant: If you want your marketing to resonate with its intended audience, provide that audience with content relevant to them, and to your brand. Know your audience demographically, geographically and emotionally. Know their needs and desires – and provide them with a solution. Without relevant content, your efforts will disappear faster than free donuts in the office.

Be in the Right Place at the Right Time: Go to your audience; don’t wait for them to come to you. Determine your audience’s pain points and provide them with a solution at the right time. If your product is a snow shovel, don’t advertise in July. Develop a timeline for your campaign and try to anticipate events that would trigger a need for your product or service.

Be Creative: Creativity is the soul of individualism. There will never be another Steve Jobs, another James Brown or another Andy Warhol. Great creative separates you from the masses. Be different. Stand out from the crowd. Create something beautiful and compelling.

Be Available: Marketing is a conversation. In the digital age, brands can interact in real time with their audiences. Utilize technology and be present and timely. Start a conversation; you might just win some new evangelists for your brand!

Go forth, and get the grease!

For more marketing tips, contact us. (Look right!)

Marketing by Jacob Tyler in San Diego

Shake, Rattle and Roll: Shake Shack’s $1.6 Billion Brand

At Jacob Tyler, we draw design inspiration from the world around us. We create functional and intuitive designs that accurately portray the brand they represent. In order to achieve this end, we immerse ourselves in the culture of an organization to ensure we can “feel” the brand as well as we can see it. A great design is inspired by culture, product and when applicable – physical surroundings. Shake Shack – the high-end burger chain that recently launched a $1.6 billion IPO – is a great example of what could be called “indigenous” branding. Created by world-renowned designer Paula Scher, Shake Shack’s branding was meant to mimic its original physical location and construction. Built in Madison Square Park as a part of the park’s conservancy, the structure of the original Shake Shack was constructed with corrugated metal to blend in with its surroundings – an urban park landscape. Drawing inspiration from both the structure and the core of Shake Shack’s offerings – a 1950’-inspired burger joint – Scher created a simple, flat design that conveyed both past (“neon” 50’s roots) and present (neo-urban landscape).

Shake Shack’s branding was not conceived to represent an international chain restaurant, only a one-off location. But the restaurant’s immediate popularity gave way to a meteoric expansion that now includes locations in Russia, Dubai and even Turkey. And the original brand design survived – and thrived. It’s a great example of indigenous branding. While Shake Shack is now a multi-national corporation, it’s appeal remains grounded in its original offerings and that first location in New York. Your brand represents your company’s core – it’s culture, it’s products and its way of doing business. Success doesn’t change brands – it strengthens them.

To read more about Shake Shack’s brand story, check out this article from Fast Company: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3041777/the-untold-story-of-shake-shacks-16-billion-branding?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=codesign-daily&position=1&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=02022015#1

To learn more about how Jacob Tyler can help with your branding needs, fill out the form to the right.

Branding by Jacob Tyler in San Diego

The Jacob Tyler Super Bowl Ad-wards

It’s that time of year again: the advertising orgy known as the Super Bowl. Each year, brands line up to pay a sum greater than the GDP of the country of Burundi to spend 30 seconds on the world stage promoting themselves to the largest TV audience on the planet. In between commercials, a football game is played. This year’s Super Bowl audience was the largest ever, making it the most watched TV program of all time. The effectiveness of the ads is debatable, but brands certainly got a lot of eyeballs on their products. To honor the financial sacrifice these brave brands made this year, we’re dolling out some awards. Without further ado, the Jacob Tyler Super Bowl Ad-wards:

Best Set Design/Logistics Nightmare: Bud Light for “Coin”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9A1NowrnGI

Expanding on their “Up for Whatever” campaign, Bud Light treated an unsuspecting bar patron named Riley to a real life game of Pac Man. The set was constructed in downtown LA, populated with 20-somethings to cheer on the action and Michael Buffer to kick the game off. We’ve got to say, it looks really fun. Maybe real life Donkey Kong for next year?

The “It Takes a Village” Award: Newcastle Brown Ale for “Band of Brands”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaqRwWwXau0

In a wonderful sendup of the Super Bowl ad frenzy – and a clever financial gambit – Newcastle recruited 37 other brands to pitch in money for this 30 second spot featuring a couple hurriedly trying to mention all of the brands before time runs out.

The Tearjerker Award: Budweiser for “Lost Dog”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAsjRRMMg_Q

Because, puppies. Not everyone agrees though. The wolf lobby was none too pleased.

Best/Weirdest Newcomer: Loctite Glue for “#WinAtGlue”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKe7j9tSwW4

The little-known brand leaped into the spotlight with this delightfully odd spot that features a group of socially awkward people in fanny packs getting down to a glue-themed reggae mix. Your move, Crazy Glue.

The “Wait, What?” Award: Nationwide Insurance for “Make Safe Happen”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY

Super Bowl Sunday is generally a feel-good day for families and friends to get together, eat food, drink beer and be merry. But it’s also a time to be reminded that THE WORLD IS INCREDBILY DANGEROUS AND IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL KIDS WILL DIE. Nationwide’s controversial spot drew a ton of criticism and some pretty funny memes. When grilled about the appropriateness of the ad, Nationwide said they wanted to “start a conversation.” Mission accomplished!

Best Dad Ad: Dove for “#RealStrength”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY

Dad ads were big on Super Sunday with spots from Nissan, Toyota and more. But Dove takes the prize with a heartfelt spot featuring dads being dads.

The Guilt Trip Award: Weight Watchers for “All You Can Eat”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppPpgdCHzAE

Weight Watchers’ spot puts the gluttonous American diet and its marketing on trial in front of Super Bowl fans who are undoubtedly taking part in a gluttonous American afternoon and encourages us to “take back control.” Thanks for ruining my super-sized pulled pork sandwich, Weight Watchers.

The Q Score Award: Left Shark for “Halftime Show Featuring Katy Perry”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAtCSio876c

OK, this isn’t technically an ad, but any mention of the 2015 Super Bowl that doesn’t include Left Shark just doesn’t seem right. During the halftime show, a pair of sharks joined Katy Perry onstage for a dance routine. The shark on the left – now forever known as “Left Shark” – was hilariously out of sync – and quite possibly drunk – causing the Internet to explode. Left Shark went from total obscurity to the undisputed star (with apologies to Malcolm Butler) of Super Bowl XLIX. How’s that for a jump in Q score? #WeAreAllLeftShark

Want to discuss how you can make a big impact with your brand? Fill out the form to the right – let’s talk!

San Diego Branding Agency by Jacob Tyler

Crashing the Party: How Brands Engaged an Audience of 33 Million at the College Football National Championship

People always want to be invited to the biggest party. The parties with the “In Crowd.” It’s human nature. These days, they call it “FOMO” – Fear of Missing Out. But it’s more than that. It’s the desire to engage with others. It’s the desire be accepted by your peers. Because if you’re not in, then, well – you’re out. This year, for the 10^th year in a row, I failed to receive an invitation to HBO’s Golden Globes after party. While I was a little bummed, I understood why I didn’t make the cut. I don’t work in Hollywood, I don’t personally know anyone who attended and I didn’t even watch the Golden Globes (or realize they were happening). Still, it stung a little. I could have made some great connections and maybe even drummed up some new business. But alas, there will be other parties. And now that we’re living in the digital age, invitations are no longer needed to get in to some of the biggest parties of the year.

Take the NCAA football National Championship between Ohio State and the University of Oregon. 33.4 million people tuned in on Monday night to watch Ohio State take home the title. That’s a BIG party. And everyone was invited. Through the magic of social media, anyone with an Internet connection or a smartphone could join in on the fun. Whether it was OSU and UofO fans taunting each other, people taking issue with some of the referee’s calls or talking heads tweeting out stats, everyone was in on the conversation. It wasn’t just individuals at the party. Lots of big brands – and plenty of smaller ones – were in attendance as well.

Today, brands must engage their customers and potential customers in order to survive. The numbers of choices consumers have for each product is staggering. Brands must now go to where the consumers are instead of the other way around. Brands have to be at the party. During the National Championship, they showed up in droves. AMC Theatres and Marvel Studios were there; reminding everybody how awesome the new Avengers movie will be, after debuting its first trailer at halftime. Nike – a massive Oregon benefactor – was actively chatting up the crowd (and reminding everyone that they sponsor Ohio State as well). CNN, among many others, noted that the lead referee was an uncanny Bob Newhart doppelganger. Bob Newhart himself (still alive, still funny) even joined in on the fun, tweeting a joke in response. Macy’s showed off their Oregon and Ohio State tee-shirts, and Butterfinger – always quick with a joke – capitalized on their name and the unusual amount of fumbles by tweeting this picture. Even small brands, like Garden and Gun – a lifestyle publication from Charleston, SC – got in on the fun, offering up game time recipes. Everyone – save Oregon fans – had a good time.

The sheer volume of brand engagement during the game – and the witty, personable voice of those brands – is a testament to the effectiveness of customer engagement in the digital age. And though the communication feels off the cuff and natural, it’s part of an all-encompassing branding strategy to reach and engage with customers, no matter what party they’re attending.

If you’d like to learn about how your brand can engage customers, fill out the form to the right and let’s chat!

San Diego Branding Agency | Jacob Tyler

What’s Old is New: Miller Lite Goes Back to the Future With Re-Rebrand

Miller Lite, once America’s most popular lite beer, is going back to the future. Miller has redesigned – or rather recycled – its can design from the mid-70s in an effort to attract Millennial drinkers (ages 21-30) who prefer a “vintage” feel in their products of choice. The meteoric rise in sales of what was mostly a forgotten artifact beer – Pabst Blue Ribbon – amongst the hipster set proved a hypothesis that image has as much to do with taste as well, taste. In fact, Miller conducted taste tests with its new/old can, and found that people actually thought the beer tasted better than the “old” Miller Lite. The beer’s recipe, it should be noted, has not changed.

The can first launched as a part of a promotion with the movie Anchorman 2, set in 1979. Reception was so positive that Miller made the can permanent. Though the company remains behind Bud Light and Coors Light in light beer sales, the results have shown promise.

With the recent surge of craft and microbrew beer carving out a significant portion of the beer market, the large-scale, traditional breweries, like Miller and Budweiser, have had to get creative with new products and brands to stay relevant. Miller Lite’s re-brand is a great example of this. The new can design won’t make Miller into a microbrew, but it can create the kind of nostalgia that masks what many Millennials view as a mass-produced, “corporate” brand.

Miller’s marketing history, dating back to 1973, is an interesting study in in the life of a brand. Selling essentially the same product for 40 years, Miller has sold their beer in a variety of different ways using a variety of techniques. In the following article, Ian Crouch of the New Yorker takes a look at Miller’s past, present – and past again: http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/miller-tyme.

Rebranding by Jacob Tyler in San Diego

Rebranding NASA

In the following article, Fast Company contributor Susan Karlin details NASA’s rebirth by rebranding. Just a few short years ago; America’s space program seemed in tatters. In 2011, NASA was preparing for the final flight of its Space Shuttle program to little fanfare. Despite 30 years of incredible advancements in space exploration, public interest had waned. Perhaps because the shuttle itself, once a futuristic-looking space vehicle, hadn’t changed its exterior design in 30 years and now looked less modern than every car on the roads of America. Perhaps because the Shuttle missions had become – as far as the general public was concerned – little more than a shipping operation for the International Space Station.

As NASA’s funding dwindled, new competition from the private sector – including companies like Space-X – began to command more attention. After 30 years and five Space Shuttles (two of which, Challenger and Columbia, ended in tragedy) NASA seemed like yesterday’s news. Of course, the folks at NASA weren’t sitting around in an empty warehouse, wondering what to do next. A decades-in-the-making plan to eventually send a manned space flight to Mars was taking shape, and soon, the public would start to take interest in the famed agency once again. But it wasn’t just the mission to Mars or the recent landing of a probe on an asteroid that piqued the public’s interest. NASA conducted a conscious rebranding of itself, utilizing emerging media technology – including a robust social media campaign – to connect people to the adventure of space exploration in a way never seen before.

Astronauts tweet from the International Space Station. NASA scientists sit on panels at San Diego’s own Comic-Con. The agency has even redesigned their mission control room to look more futuristic and “Sci-Fi.” NASA’s rebranding is an amazing success story, and you can read about it in-depth in Karlin’s fantastic article here.

Rebranding by Jacob Tyler

The Delightful Pandering of Honda’s Skeletor Ad

The holidays have come and gone but we thought we’d revisit a campaign that had amazing reach! Everywhere you turn during the holidays, you’re inundated by advertisements for everything from vacuum cleaners to vacation homes. The message is the same: “Product X would make a GREAT holiday gift!” The competition for eyeballs – across digital, social media, TV, radio, print, and more – is intense. To stand out, advertisers not only have to get really creative, but also have to focus on specific market segments in order to get the most bang for the advertising buck.

Honda’s latest campaign is a great example of marketing towards a specific demographic – children of the 1980s. Now 30-something adults, this demographic is a prime target audience for Honda’s vehicles. The ads, featuring popular 80s toys headlined by “Skeletor” – the villain from the He-Man toys and cartoon series –summons the ghost of Christmas past. Transfer advertising is not a new concept, but rarely has it been so hilariously direct. The toys literally tell you to associate your good feelings about the 80’s with 2015 Honda vehicles. Skeletor, speaking from inside a Honda CRV, turns to the camera to say: “Remember the exultation you felt when you got me for the holidays? Feel that again with new CRV during happy Honda days!”

More 80’s toys – including Strawberry Shortcake, G.I. Joe, Jem, Stretch Armstrong and even Gumby – appear in subsequent spots, all espousing the same message: buying a Honda will make you feel like a kid during the holidays. The spots are well executed, well written and truly funny – they also garnered a great response, prompting Honda’s social media team to expand the campaign to Twitter, where “Skeletor” staged a brief coup on Honda’s account. The self-proclaimed “Master of the Universe” proceeded to troll a slew of big brands – including Olive Garden, People Magazine, Charmin and Sephora – as only a 1980’s evil cartoon mastermind could. The #Skeletakeover, as it was dubbed, is a great example of cross-platform advertising in the digital age.

Check out the ad, in all it’s 80’s glory, here.