Of course, as a brand person, a place-maker—as you are—we’re thinking: “if you’re not here, and not over there, then where are you? Do you know where you are? Or are you nowhere?” I’ve been talking A LOT about placemaking—and planning spaces, making places—since I’m walking around the edge of a move of one GIRVIN […] The post If you’re not here, do you k[no]w where? appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

A stride at Bláskógabyggð, Suðurland, Iceland I was questioning a brand client—and we were talking about the notion of soul, the spirit of the brand a human enterprise—and the mirroring of a human maker, and what they make in the journey of a brand. Everyone knows, if you know me, that the origins of the […] The post The Long Route | Getting Out There To The Brand New World appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

It happens to the best of us—there’s a confident gait, the gallant stride, a bold sprint and then: there’s a stumble. It rumbles in the background—all the time—the risk of misstep. Personally, I contemplate my own faltering—and there have been many. Moves that I thought were bold and smart, but somehow I hadn’t thought-through the implications […] The post Brand Stumbling appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

Anyone can think symbolically—and likely, we all do. You see something and think, “that reminds me of a…” Living in a creative space, the memory palace of explorations, memories and meaning—the imagination swerves to new pathways, neural leaps to stringing ideas together in new ways, the brain re-circuits and new paths are created. Working earlier, […] The post Brand Groves | Allegorical Brand Strategies and Symbolic Thinking appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

The world of brand extends to crime-fighting. In our history, we’ve consulted for various police agencies, patrol and security groups, building brands around protection of assets, people and their communities. It takes a particularly assertive sense of presence—something, as a brand that is, shall we say, gripping and powerful. Things go around, and they come […] The post Branding Crime Stoppers | Design Against Criminals appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

Dome Symbolism, kinæsthetic CX design strategies The View from Below and Perspectives of the Sky Rim I’ve been to three places where the architecture of the ground—the footprint of the structure—is remarkable, but the study of the built sky above it is far more compelling. Why, one would ask, is this relevant? In my experience, […] The post The View from Below And Perspectives of the Sky Rim appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

The leap of adventure in the movement of brands, spirit, soul and destinations— the risk to get out there, go further, get farther. In a recent set of GIRVIN brand soul summits, brandquest® workshops [how we work to get somewhere new as a team-based collaborative exploration] we talked about a brand’s spirit, the nature of […] The post The Leap of Imagination | Brands, Change, Fear and Risk appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

The Nine Gates of Brand Intelligence In the long watch of the brand shepherd, steward and sentinel— it’s important to consider a 360º surveillance of territories. In a kind of mirrored language, it shall be called outlook and look out. If you visualize your brand as a landscape—a palace of dreams, a lighthouse, a mountainous […] The post Keep Your Brand on a Swivel and Watch Your Six appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

Spherical Design Holism for Hospitality | A Manual for Brand Placemaking Integration for Experiential Strategies and Tactics The Deployment of *Experientiality Earlier in my career, I worked on a string of projects for Disney, working with the Disney Imagineers and Park Strategists at Disneyland—designing experiences, brands and their integrated strategies in Orlando and Anaheim. It […] The post Holistic Brand Design for Hospitality | A Guide to Placemaking appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more

The interplays in life, heartfulness and the courageous spirit. Thinking about the heart—and life journeys—in talking to my mother; we were walking the idea of courage. People, friends, family—they come and go—as we all do; it’s one in a string of challenges that we all face. Courage plays out as the movement—a song—in all, going […] The post Be Brave | The Character of Courage appeared first on Girvin | Strategic Branding & Design ..read more