(click to zoom into my bag)

Now that we are inspecting our bags, I realize that I have had this bag for about 9 – 10 years! But it was love at first sight, so in my eyes the bag still looks as good to me as it did the first time I saw it in the window of a small shop in the middle of Rome, Italy.

I had just finished visiting the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. It had been an interesting day of meeting a lot of people and having a delicious Italian lunch on a patio under a roof of leaves. On the way back to the hotel, I remembered that I had seen something out of the corner of my eye when I had rushed by that morning. Now, I was determined to look more closely. And there she was! Such a beauty – and with a price to knock my socks off!

Well, what can I say; what could I do in the eye of love? You might think I am the stoic German. But hey.. here I was in Rome..in Italy, and just had to give in to the romance of it all!

And as with any good love story, we live happily ever after. We are getting a little frayed at the edges as we go through life together, but she holds my secrets as I will hold hers.

I absolutely love the new color pallet and the choice of graphics over outdated photography.

A modern new logo, with clean lines and a rounded typeface:

Their printed materials have been updated with vibrant colors, a creative graphic treatment and simple copy to convey the message quickly:

Mill Woods’ revised ad campaign literally grabs visual attention with bold graphics:

If  your company’s visual identity is similar to the “before” examples… please call us so we can help modernize your brand with a new facelift!

Some may say that this is a bleak look at our civilizations’ creative future and take the opposing stance that finally previously undiscovered talent is being found. Thank you Scooter Braun for Justin Beiber!

It is true that entrepreneurs, artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers and the like are finding it increasingly easier to afford the tools needed to create as well as find the digital venues to be heard. This debate can go on forever, as no one truly knows what the future holds except massive change. 

First cable channels took on prime time networks in the fight for hour long programming. Cable networks like FX redefined the industry with shows such as Madmen. Now online movie and TV streaming services like Netflix are producing their own content, circumventing the networks and cable channels all together. Our understanding of television programming is definitely shifting.

On the music side, the music industry that those of us born before 1990’s grew up with has been completely obliterated. In my humble opinion this death has had dire consequences to the overall quality of the music currently being produced. Gone are the days of musicians crafting bodies of work known as albums. Today’s world of digital downloads have forced artists to focus on creating one off hits. iTunes has completely changed consumer’s buying habits and Pandora makes sure you are constantly introduced to artist’s single hits.

In the documentary PressPausePlay interviews with musicians, filmmakers, writers and artists from around the globe offer interesting and varied points of view on the very question of our creative future. In this documentary you’ll hear from Moby, Lena Dunham and Seth Godin to name a few modern day creators. I’ll leave the ultimate conclusion up to you but it’s definitely worth watching this well crafted documentary on one of my new favorite sites. – TopDocumentaryFilms.com

I have recently realized that I still have this same overwhelming attraction to these smooth, round shapes– but instead of picking up random things from God knows where— it now plays out with the packaging that I am drawn to and the products that I purchase. It’s made me wonder about the roles that shape  and “touchability” play in packaging.

Here’s what I learned:

• Touch is one of the most universal senses— it transcends language and culture.  Some even view touch as a language of its own—one that is learned well before writing and speech.
• Studies have found that touching an object creates a feeling of ownership and, that, if a person has a positive response to the touch, she is more willing to pay for it.
• Although shape is the first thing the human eye recognizes, it is second in the hierarchy of packaging communications (after color).
• Women prefer rounded shapes to linear ones and are drawn more to cosmetic products with a feeling of smoothness, regardless of its functional effectiveness.

These are a few of the products that I just had to buy recently, solely because I liked the way they looked and felt in my hand. (Turns out, I actually like all of the products too!)

(Counter Clockwise from Top Left: 1) EOS Hand Lotion 2) Rohto Ice Eye Drops 3) Sephora Dual Pencil Sharpener 4) EOS Lip Balm 5) Fabulosity Perfume by Kimora Lee Simmons)

I’m sure you wouldn’t allow anything like this to pass through at your company. Just take these examples as hilarious reminders to have someone look over your materials before the mass market sees them!

A private gratitude journal has been the traditional way of expressing daily thanks. In our current digital age this trend has changed dramatically. What once was a solitary act is now a group activity. More and more people are going online to outwardly give thanks to a common community.

Recently a challenge was issued through Facebook for people to make 30 consecutive days of gratitude posts. It has inspired thousands to take part.

In addition to social network challenges companies have found that daily gratitude has led to happier and more productive workplaces. A Malaysian digital publishing company, Mindvalley, went as far as to start their own site www.gratitudelog.com. They opened their site to vendor and client participation. The positive effects were amazing and produced actual measurable results for Mindvalley’s bottom line. This outcome was so impressive they have opened their site to the general public.

So with measurable results and studies that have shown that by writing down a daily gratitude for 30 consecutive days leads to a 25% increase in happiness. I offer the challenge to you to do the same and see what happens to your general outlook on life. See you online!

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”
~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Take a look at them and see if you recognize the errors.
The answers are below.

1) 

2)                                                            3)

4)

5)

1) Really, who has an arm this long!?

2) Ummm, half of that cat is missing.

3) … and half of that dog is missing.

4) … and A LOT of that mom is missing!

5) Can you see the on-coming traffic, eeeeekkk! Its okay, it was Photoshopped!

Now, I don’t want to get all “moral” on you, but I found the topic fascinating and I think the decision making process that was discussed is true, in general.

Interestingly enough, the tools that scientists use to research what influences our brain in the decision-making process are “stories”.

This is one of the stories:

“A trolley is headed toward five people, and the only way you can save them is to hit a switch that will turn the trolley away from the five people and onto a side track. But if you turn it onto the side track, it will run over one person.”

Most people say they would flip the switch and divert the trolley. They say they don’t want to kill anyone, but one innocent person dying is better than five innocent people dying.

Then the story is changed:

“This time, you’re on a footbridge overpass in between the oncoming trolley and the five people. Next to you on the bridge is a big person wearing a big backpack. The only way you can save those five people is to push this big guy off of the footbridge so that he lands on the tracks and he’ll get squashed by the train; you sort of use him as a trolley stopper. But you can save the five people.”

When given this dilemma, most people don’t choose to push the big guy to his death.

The content of the stories is the same but the first one is more abstract where the second one is more visual, and causes the listener to visualize the situation.

Psychologically that makes them very different. Pushing someone to their death feels very different from pushing a switch.

We actually have two complete different moral circuits in our brain: One that is rational and one that is emotional. The first scenario tends to trigger a more rational response, while the second one tapped into the emotional circuit.

Check the video out to get a fuller gist of our creative influence and capabilities! And please note that we don’t think you or your brand look just like the bearded fellow in this video, but without unitOne, you’ll probably look a lot like the guy standing next to you.

Just sayin. Enjoy!