CapsuleBlog

Logos for women

Shana Moulton has made a brilliant visual essay showing logos created for organizations targeting women. There is a frightening number of swirls, hearts, hair strands, flowing limbs, and dancing going on. And also some bad design, but we're not saying which is which.

Here's a brief selection, but we recommend checking out the whole thing:

Have you heard about Giant Steps?

There's a cool event happening on October 1st we want to spread the word about. Giant Steps is a one-day, interactive conference plus an evening concert/after-party taking place in the Twin Cities on Friday, October 1, 2010. According to the website, it's a gathering of inspiring folks forging their own paths and designing their vision of work and life.

The daytime portion of Giant Steps will include interactive, large-group sessions with insights from some of our amazing contributors. There will be tons of info about -

• Getting started
• How they've evolved their work and their outlooks along the way
• What's worked...and what hasn't worked
• Interesting ideas and models for new ways of doing things

There will also be small-group workshops on a variety of practical subjects and focused group discussions. Some of the workshop topics and "mini-panel" discussions include:

• Understanding basic personal finance and links to your business finance
• Legal topics for entrepreneurs, artists, and independents
• How to write an amazing bio
• Networking and promotion
• Using social media effectively
• Gaining access and coverage for your work in the media
• Working with (other) artists
• Building an audience for your business / art
• Working with youth--for income and inspiration
• Exploring alternative funding models
• Building an on-line presence for you and your work

In addition, there will be photographers providing FREE headshots, a forum for exchanging information about useful resources, and The Storefront for Ideas from Works Progress.

There will be many opportunities--both organized and organic--to mix, mingle and meet the other amazing people in the room.

Capsule's Aaron Keller will be on one of the panels and we know this is going to be great!

The designed economy

The pattern of our society evolving from agrarian to manufacturing to service economy has been identified by many authors (Joseph Pine and Joe Gilmore being my favorites). Now, the next economy has been predicted to be everything from the information economy, the digital economy, the experience economy and many others. No one will know until we can look back after a few decades, so until that time we should all enjoy ourselves and make some predictions.

Continue reading Aaron's prediction of the next economy here.

The new hoarding

There was brief discussion of the disturbingly watchable tv show Hoarders over lunch at Capsule today. I am far from a hoarder IRL, but there is just so much beautiful creative inspiration on the web that it can be really tough to keep track of it all. I started by saving certain images I loved in a folder on my desktop, but soon found it was getting huge.

Capsule designers also rely on mood boards to help clients articulate their vision and to spur new perspectives in their work.

Here are some ways to keep track of all that inspires YOU:

Pinterest - like a virtual corkboard of stuff you want to keep - they're calling it a "social catalog". It's in beta right now and it's still invite only, but I'm keenly awaiting to sign  up. You can also follow the collections of other people that share similar taste. Check out some beautiful staff favorites here.

Tumblr - helps you post and collect images, notes, links, quotes and anything else you find across all genres. Capsule's new Tumblr account is here.

Polyvore - create collages of fashiony goodness and pretend that one day you'll actually own some Louboutins. 

Olio Board - spend hours fantasizing about the perfect living room with other interior design aficionados.

Ffffound - a general catchall to collect, post and share your favorite images from the web.

Untitled by nookie featuring a tiered skirt

The Dieline gets boozy

Things just keep getting better for The Dieline. They've noticed there's enough sweet wine packaging out there to give the genre its own blog, at The Dieline Wine.

Things to know: Research

Conducting research in the creative world presents us with both opportunities and painful realities. Using research to gain understanding is smart; using research only to prove your point is dangerous. Start with a checklist and confirm your findings with triangulation:

1. What are you seeking to understand?

2. What are your objectives?

3. What methods will be the most efficient?

4. What methods will have the least amount of bias - or where can bias be managed?

5. What level of confidence can you expect from this research?

6. What do you expect as an outcome?

7. What do you not want to see as the outcome? What happens if this does occur?

8. Who will be researched? Who will be profiled? 

9. How will you connect with them?

10. How long will the research take, and how will this influence your market plan?

11. What will it cost? Will the knowledge gained be more valuable than the cost?

12. What else can the research results be used for?

Time to turn to Martha

I've written about Martha Stewart before, and as the leaves slowly begin to change in Minnesota I'm thinking of her once again as my holiday decorating instincts kick in.

How's she been doing since we last spoke of her, back in October 2009? Well, her television program has moved to the Hallmark channel. The magazines are steady. Her empire has blossomed into the Home Depot with a line of carpets and other stuff, and pet products at PetSmart. Her stock has been shaky with the economic fragility of the past year, but so has everyone else's.

Something that always baffled me was her partnership with Kmart. Michaels for her crafty stuff, I get. Macy's makes sense. PetSmart is, well, smart. But Kmart just seemed like such a mismatch, which is why I guess it was no surprise that the contract was not renewed at the end of 2009. According to AOL Daily Finance, Martha blamed the parent company of Kmart, Sears Holdings, for letting her line deteriorate in recent years.

"It has been kind of ripped off. I would say it has been diminished. The quality is not what I am proud of," she said.

Then she ripped into the stores themselves. "Have you been in a Kmart lately? It is not the nicest place to shop." Ouch. Don't worry Martha, as if we thought you really shopped in a Kmart. I wonder what's next for Martha? A line of custom butler robots, perhaps?

---

P.S.

I can't blog about Queen Martha and not include this absolutely awesome excerpt from an interview with BusinessWeek:

Are you hard to work for?

I don't think so. I have people who've worked for me for 25, 26 years. I have cats who are 19 years old. They're still hanging out there.

That's different.

No, they work for me every single day. They pose for pictures. They'll do anything I want them to do. My animals are also employees, actually. Tell the IRS that. Franchesca and Sharkey, my French bulldogs, have their own blog. And they are brilliant at it.

Do you yell?

Not very much. I used to probably yell more. I have to yell at one employee because she's deaf. Sometimes if she's in the room I'm accused of yelling. It's because she has a cochlear implant and a raised voice helps her hear better.

---

I'm speechless.

Need an excuse to wear a Band-Aid

Our favorite packaging blog The Dieline is touting a gorgeous, limited edition line of BAND-AIDS by Cynthia Rowley. Did I ever think I'd be saying these humble little things could be gorgeous? No.

Forget Snoopie. These are so cute... I'll take the sequins please. I might just have to be extra klutzy when I'm cutting my avocado up for lunch.

Best of all, a donation from the project will benefit Design Ignites Change, an organization that engages high school and college students in multidisciplinary design and architecture projects that address pressing social issues in their own communities.

Big claims for a small pencil

I arrived at work the other morning to find a mysterious item on my keyboard. It was unavoidably placed as if someone could not let me begin my day without seeing it. But why?

What could the message be? What is the significance of an empty box previously resplendent with the "Dixon Ticonderoga World's BEST PENCIL", now with Microban?

My first guess was the illustrious Mr Keller. He likes to leave cryptic calling cards and I enjoy the challenge of figuring out the intended purpose. Like Dan Brown, I believe there is symbolic meaning in the most mundane of things.

Fast forward to the end of the day. I have queried everyone that has strolled past my desk as to the origins of the World's BEST PENCIL box. Each individual claims ignorance... until I spy the aforementioned managing partner of Capsule. Aha. The veil of mystery is thrown back.

This cultural relic is in fact what some Minnesotan (and presumably beyond) schools are now requesting their students purchase. Kids no longer get a choose your own adventure list of supplies but now have to find specific brands.

So why the exotic Ticonderoga? Are today's kids really that filthy that they need Microban in everything their stinking little fingers touch? Perhaps it's because, as a tiny logo on the back reveals, this prime specimen has been approved by the Pencil Makers Association. WHO KNEW?