For me, one of the fascinating joys of travel is seeing what’s interesting to different peoples about culture. Generally, and stupidly, I don’t think of Western Europen media at a great divide from the US, but then I pick up the International Herald Tribune and there’s an article celebrating the 50th anniversary of a typeface for goodness sake (The IHT is owned, of course, by the New York Times, where I could rarely imagine such frivolous writing). Helvetica is at once the most famous font of the modern age, and one of the most dismissed, ignored, and revilled. It’s so common that though I think of myself as a middlebrow type hobbiest, I had no idea it was introduced as late as the 50s, which would mean when I first worked with it professionally it was less than 20 years old.

Read the article, see the movie, use the type. We do.

(Thanks to Richard Rutter for the great photograph of the great Helvetica documentary poster.)

Spending a long time in the business has made me as myopic as anyone; it seems hard to believe anyone has anything on their mind other than my industries. Invariably, when I’m thinking about great products and companies I think of stuff like [adult swim] or Apple or even The Ramones. But sure enough there’s a big world of star companies making and keeping promises to us every day like JetBlue, Whole Foods, and OXO International.

If one goes routing around the OXO website, there one would find a mission statement. That’s right, a company of lowly omelet turners, tea kettles, and measuring cups has a mission statement (”OXO International is dedicated to providing innovative consumer products that make everyday living easier.”) And, by the way, a mission they fulfill in a completely satisfying way. (more…)

Mosaic Records has led the way as one of the first record companies offering “limited edition box collections” by catalog (and now the web); they’re the leader in their field of complete recording collections of jazz musicians. They are part of the community of jazz fans (co-founder Michael Cuscuna is the leading reissue producer in the history of jazz recordings) and they know what they stand for. They’ve steadily stuck by their guns (their vision, that is). Long after competitors have come and gone (though they’re virtually the only ones whose primary offerings are available only by mail), long after others have expanded/contracted/exploded their versions of the box set, Mosaic has made a consistent set of promises from the first day of their existence. (Here’s a full profile of the company.)

Mosaic is so confident in their beliefs they list them in every catalog and on their website:

• Complete, definitive collections.

• Highest quality remastering.

• Important artists, not just popular ones.

• Numbered, limited editions.

• Elegant boxes with rare photographs.

• Thoroughly researched discographies, biographies, and musical analysis.

The proprietors of Mosiac have pride in their company, their products, their beliefs, and their customers. There’s every reason they’ve stayed in business successfully and happily for almost 25 years.

(Full disclosure: My former partner/brother-in-law/great friend Alan Goodman and I helped establish the Mosaic catalog in 1986, and Alan continues to write it.)

Well, I suppose that’s not entirely true, because I made my living, and hundreds of millions for my employers, doing it for longer than you can imagine. It’s the word I hate, even though it was introduced to the media biz by one of my colleagues*. (more…)

“I wonder what the the role of branding really is in the YouTube world. It’s part of a larger question about what will happen as people increasingly look to the internet for their video content.”

So muses Andy Eggers in a comment on the VentureVoice podcast interview I did a few weeks ago. I read that and figured I’d have a lot to say, but on reflection it seems to me I wanted to reflect a little bit more.

By the way, I’ve had more comments on this interview than anything I’ve done in several years (thanks Greg), since my small on camera participation in the original MTV Uncensored show. I’m not sure why that surprises me but it does. An audio podcast garnering more attention than a major cable network? Our world’s changing fast and it’s great.

Running into this article on the origins of the MTV logo in my junk recently reminded me of just how accidental the process of “branding” is and how often the most successful stuff seems to have an innate intelligence that really isn’t there.

Truth be told no one even knew the term “branding” then. Personally, I left the “branding” business the minute someone named it.

HA! logo designed by Fred/Alan/Noel Frankel.
Upper left illustrated by Lou Brooks

I don’t know, I’m asking.

As we’re in the process of finding great video bloggers and creative talent to work on our various networks I keep being reminded making good work doesn’t necessarily guarantee anything.

One of my favorite projects back in the day was one few people have ever seen.It started out as a TV network branding assignment, our agency’s specialty, for HA!: The TV Comedy Network. And it led to one of our favorite cartoons that not enough people have seen.

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