http://vellandi.wordpress.com Writing on the Core Functions of Business: Marketing and Innovation Sat, 17 May 2008 08:17:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en One year ago, I wrote an article for a nonprofit multi-author book project called "The Age of Conversation". At the time, social media in the form of online blogs and other interactive/collaborative content was a very hot topic in sociology, journalism, and business circles among others.   While I saw ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/collective-intelligence-in-the-age-of-conversation/ Embrace polarity & celebrate duality. Style is one element of product design. Its stimulation of the senses - visual, auditory, taste, olfactory, tactile - often makes it the most prominent feature. Its importance, however, is relative. In product design & communication, the metaphorical colors we choose and their luminosity determine ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/the-tao-of-style/ While marketers have debated the meaning of 'Brand' like the classical Greeks had with 'Democracy', or the French & Italians with 'Love', one contemporary author has nailed an excellent definition for our times. What follows is the first of an article series covering themes from the book: A Clear Eye ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/the-essence-of-branding/ Last Friday brought the premature death to the well regarded life of Nau, a clothing company. Nau made fashionable clothing from sustainable & eco-friendly materials, and exclusively distributed them online and through retail stores in various U.S. cities. Their ethos resonated corporate social responsibility. The preliminary autopsy report according to their press ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/death-of-a-noble-tailor/ . . . Clorox and Green Supply Chains - The company faces some unique challenges with a few brands' supply chains in making sure the end-product doesn't get too expensive. . . . DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation - The big plastics and chemical company's 20th award ceremony honors 7 winners and 3 ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/green-links-5208/ Here is a look at my current reading list over the next few months. Not quite all the books, but most. One of the best aspects of reading business, design, and communication books is all the advanced material so well explained and enlightening, that one just cannot meaningfully retain from magazines ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/my-reading-list-spring-08/ April 11th, I attended the local tour stop of Design Green Now, a seminar that explored green and sustainable product design & development. This article is Part 2 of a series that highlights the panelists, their presentations, and issues discussed during the Q&A. . Nathan Vanhook Art Director, Senior Wetsuit Designer Body Glove . ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/seminar-design-green-now-part-2/ http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/creativity-and-the-childadult-mind/ I read a story today of a gentleman having came to San Francisco, and was unable to find a prepaid SIM card for his phone. This presented a big problem for him because he needed cellular service, but didn't want to buy a new phone, nor pay overseas roaming fees. ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/american-cellular-telecoms-sustainability/ . . . A model for concept development I put together, as part of a weekly series of info diagrams from different designers, marketers, and other creative types. The series is called "Think Draw Make", the website is www.thinkdrawmake.com , and is organized by DT of DesignSojourn.com Here is my official ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/think-concept-build/ Last Friday night, I attended the local tour stop of Design Green Now, a seminar that explored green and sustainable product design & development. This article is part of a series that highlights the panelists, their presentations, and issues discussed during the Q&A. The moderator, Rob Curedale, is an industrial designer ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/seminar-design-green-now-part-1/ After one week since Blogger Social, it's been great looking back at the whole experience. The only general expectations I had would be that everyone would be really friendly and smart in their own regards. While this held true, there were other things I noticed and felt. In follow-up to ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/04/13/the-blogger-social-experience-2008/  Just a little over a year ago, on April 4th, I began writing this blog.  Before jumping in, I spent a LOT of time commenting on blog posts (just about everywhere!) and getting to know the various individuals that write exceptionally well AND connect to their readers.  Then I ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/mi-primo-anniversario/ We've all seen this font before -it's quite popular for use with books, magazines, posters, and billboards. The dead giveaway is the lack of serifs on the capital N's top-left and bottom-right. Trajan is an actual replica of ancient Roman letterforms found at the base of Trajan's column in Rome. The ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/trajan-the-original-roman-serif/ The Age of Conversation had a great debut last year. Through our writers' and friends' collective efforts, our proceeds-from-sales to the children's charity Variety amounted to more than $11,000. Now we've been able to bring this fine book to Amazon, and if you buy this book today, your effort will radically ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/03/29/the-age-of-conversation-bum-rush/ http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/on-measurement/ In a major economic address at Cooper Union yesterday, Senator Barack Obama called for a modernization of our regulatory framework. He made the case that while markets are the engine of American progress, the government’s role as a steward is critical to the function of the free market. While I ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/no-country-for-old-rules/ http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/on-forecasts/ One thing I love about product design is the ability to combine separate objects into something new and practical. I like to stress that last adjective. The concept of novelty can be applied liberally, and usually implies a sense of amusement. However, the degree to which the novel product (or ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/multifunctional-product-design-part-i/ While I've liked Futura for a while, especially having seen it around from street signage to books, I recently came across Avenir and liked the bit more comfortable look. Avenir was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1988. He described it as: ...intended to be nothing more or less than ... http://vellandi.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/avenir/