logo overload.

i get attached (to work, to life, to projects, to people). sidenote: attachment is not a bad thing. in fact, i think my attachment often enables me to push through and achieve a final result that i'm happy with.

when that attachment and intense energy toward a project is struck down because of a lack of logos... i get irritated. we are a community that loves our logos. a community that embraces creativity. a community that likes to identify with brands.
but we are also a community immersed in logo overload. and at some point, design and function have to come together.

one logo = good.
three logos & your company name written out multiple times = bad.

creating something for an incoming generation of college/graduate students is not about logo overload. it's about the 'cool' factor. it's about the design and function. (by the way,  i do have a decent background in college students, not only was i a college student, but i was also a graduate student, and i got my masters degree in working with college students - so really, i'm not just making this up). 

so throw out the outdated logos. throw out the outdated desire to include your name on everything that everyone touches.

entice with design. get the material in hand. and then make them want it.
students don't want to be told what to do. they want the chance to make the decision on their own. and they want to feel like they're doing the 'cool' thing.

end story - one logo is more than enough.
lack of logo and simple hashtag or web address... even more exciting.

gray wall: meet can of paint.

this morning i sat in on an entrepreneurial session. listened to people talk about their start-ups. listened to awesome ideas and was overwhelmed by the amount of brain power i could literally feel within the room.

(exciting, yes)! my mind was racing. the thoughts were coming from my mouth in a completely non-understandable format. the images were leaping from brain wave to brain wave.

but then i walked into my own workplace... and i was overwhelmingly drained. not because of the overt thought processes that had just occurred, but rather because all i could see was the gray wall in front of me that seemingly repels the taste of 'new.'

i have ideas. i have good ideas. i want to help those people with awesome ideas get to 'the people' they want to reach. and i can. problem solving is fun for me. give me a puzzle and let's make the picture whole. let's find something to fill that empty void that is a result of a piece gone missing ten years ago. let's make it work (to borrow from tim gunn).

the company i work for just doesn't work that way. there are hierarchies. there are processes. there are rules. there is not 'on the spot' problem solving. no 'on the spot' creation. definitely no running with it because it could be the next big thing.

is it crazy to want to work outside of those rules? crazy to think that working outside those rules can actually move things forward? crazy to think that sometimes you just have to throw a can of paint at the gray wall and hope for the best?

i hope it's not crazy. the can of paint is coming.