Seattle branding graphic design and marketing creative studio Design Kompany

Dolphin faucet

Written by dipika February 2nd, 2010 in Interesting Finds.0 Comments

Pop quiz for those of you in Seattle…

Which Indian restaurant has a dolphin faucet in their restroom?

Sounds like Grand Theft Auto

Written by dipika January 30th, 2010 in Interesting Finds.0 Comments

A; I hope nobody’s out there trying to drive in this snow.
D: Oooh. I had this dream about cars sliding.
A: …
D: I was trying to drive, and suddenly I had this aerial shot of the highway, and one car was sliding all over the place. Totally out of control.
A:
D: I go, “Is that us?”
A: Uh-huh?
D: And then there was this explosion behind us.
A: Sounds like Grand Theft Auto.

3 ways branding is like improv

Written by dipika January 29th, 2010 in Desk Notes and Interesting Finds.0 Comments

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What!? Carrboro hosts a comedy festival?!

The answer is YES! And!—it’s next month.

More about that is at DSIComedy.com, the club that hosted last night’s Social Media Club Triangle event for people who are into linking up online. This was WAY more low-key than the SMC Seattle event DK attended last summer, and we liked the Chapel Hilly style quite a bit. (KE, I see you shaking your head.)

Here’s how DSI’s Zach Ward said branding is like a style of comedy called improvisation.

Repetition. Building a brand is about making a clear statement. Over and over again. Tweeting and updating Facebook with a clear, consistent message often is one way to get people to believe you. Did you know people have to hear about you seven times before they’ll buy from you. Seven times! Did you hear? Seven times before they’ll buy!)
Contrast. The only way people will click links on your status stuff is if it’s different from what’s already all over the place. Same with branding. You really want to differentiate yourself so as to be memorable in the eyes—and more importantly, hearts–of the beholder.
What goes around comes around. If you are positive, you attract positive energy. If you get someone’s back, eventually they’ll get yours. In the theater, players do this for one another all the time. And like concentric circles made by skipped stones, the good vibes ripple and grow.

What do you think? What other ways is comedy like social media? Which stage counts more as “real life”? BS, are you out there? Curious what you’d say.

The more things change

Written by dipika January 20th, 2010 in Design Inspirations and Desk Notes.0 Comments

I went to Askew Taylor’s yesterday for the first time in 10 years.

Cluttered with art supplies of all size and variety, it was exactly how I remembered it.

Of course, being a decade older made me a lot less intimidated by the Artists who Shopped There, plus I got to strike up conversation with the owner, Kirk Taylor.

DK: Thanks for staying in business!
KT: Well, sure.

Here’s a quote by Kirk on the store’s website:

In the 1960’s, my father told me the best way to be successful was to take care of each customer’s needs to the best of your ability and let the business grow through word of mouth. This also reflected John Askew’s business philosophy. Now, it is my goal to implement that philosophy as well as they did.

Be good to customers. Grow by word of mouth. Wow, that’s exactly how we kick it at DK, too.

I hope to get to know more about how Raleigh has evolved, but also stayed the same.

It’s nice getting reacquainted with my hometown.

2012 shoulda been Japanese

Written by dipika January 15th, 2010 in Design Inspirations and Interesting Finds.0 Comments

Crashing waves, overturned Navy ships and blinding volcanics rendered in computer graphics at last night’s viewing of 2012 weren’t impressive enough for Akira.

I guess Akira is the same as Akira.

Here’s our post-2012 discussion:

D: I was hoping after everything was kind of okay they would cut to a creative future scene. You know, to see how it would pan out in a billion years or something.
A: That would have been good.
D: …
A: Then it would have been like anime.
D: …
A: It should have just been a Japanese anime instead of what it was.
D: Dude, last week I was here to see Astroboy. Why didn’t you come?
A: That one you saw—I don’t even want to think about it. It’s just not the original Osamu Tezuka!

The Fountainhead, Clientele and vintage graphic art

Written by dipika January 12th, 2010 in Interesting Finds.0 Comments

Hello Raleigh-Durham.

Here are some of our picks for intriguing events coming up in the Triangle in January and February.

Fountainhead, the movie, to screen soon in Triangle

Classic movie celebrating the ego. This Thursday, January 14, the local group Triangle Modernist Houses will host a screening of The Fountainhead, based on the smashing novel by Ayn Rand. I read this for the first time during my economics class at N.C. State. A lot of architects know about it, and more people have an opinion about Rand. It’ll be at Cary’s Galaxy Cinema, at 7pm. Register for Triangle Modernist Houses’ Fountainhead screening. Also see our previous post on trusses.

Art of Business at Raleigh City Museum Vintage graphic design exhibition in Raleigh. Raleigh City Museum’s newly opened exhibit The Art of Business shows old graphic art for commercial use in Raleigh. Vintage signs, ads, and package designs are part of the show.

“Museum visitors will get a glimpse of beautiful craft that went into designing the business identities of the past,” say the organizers. “Highlights will include an extensive look at former business letterheads from the 1880s to the 1940s, and a look at the first advertising agency to set up shop in Raleigh, The Howard Agency. ”

Scary but intriguing play about online weirdness. Manbites Dog Theater will show “Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom” by Jennifer Haley and director Jeff Storer starting February 18.

“The lines blur between reality and fantasy, and fear takes on a life of its own when kids in a suburban neighborhood become immersed in a sinister online game.”

I’m not usually a fan of this genre but I haven’t been to Manbites Dog in a decade. Yay that it’s still there!

Irish music. Celtic Woman is coming to Durham Performing Arts Center on Saturday, February 13. I recommend this blind because a) I love Irish music since we lived in County Cork for three years and b) I hear lovely things about the new arts center.

Other music. DK went to see this band called The Clientele twice in Seattle—they’re coming to Cats Cradle on February 24. Should be good.

20 best things Homer Simpson ever said

Written by dipika January 10th, 2010 in Interesting Finds.0 Comments

Check out this list of “The 20 best things Homer Simpson ever said:” http://bit.ly/51jveJ

Homer Simpson

“Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is: Never try.” —Homer Simpson

Tonight they’re airing the 450th episode of The Simpsons. On Fox.

Plus there’ll be an hour special called “The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice,” by documentarian Morgan Spurlock, whom some of you will recall from “Super Size Me.”

Which was interesting, but I gotta say I prefer “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle I.”