What am I noticing?

I'm still working on my Free Agent Formula. One of the questions I've asked myself over and over while I formulate is 'What am I noticing?'. Some of what I notice is serious, but most of it's just silly. Or seems silly until I start to strand the silliness together to find trends. 


This is what I've noticed lately:

• We like to shop before we buy. (While I whole-heartedly agree and also like to shop before I buy - duh - what kills me is when what your shopping for is, in it's very nature, required to be custom. A logo, for instance. A logo is developed based on the goals and objectives of a company. If a logo is created for a fictitious company and then purchased for use by a real company, it might look and even smell like a logo, but at it's core it is far from the correct brand solution for that company. It was chosen out of personal preference, not strategy or marketing savvy. There are numerous companies popping up offering this sort of shopping experience for those in the market for logos. Inkd, iStock, Logos in a Box, etc. A logo in 2 HOURS! Are you kidding me? A 'stock' logo? What an oxymoron. This sort of trend took over the photography industry years ago and it seems the design industry is next. The game is changing. What does that mean for me? And why does it have to be a game anyway? Okay. Moving on.
• Everything is connected.
• I like hand-written things. (Did you know they're actually working on publishing a hand-written Bible!? How bizarre and awesome is that!?)
• Purple is the new black. (I think I actually heard this from Winnie, professed lover of purple.)
• Building business is about building relationships. (Noticing facilitated by the editor of CMYK)
• I wonder...what's coming after the world wide web?
• The one thing successful people have in common is failure. - Erika Worth of Collective Intelligence, a StudioM client
• I'm really particular about the order my '!' and '?' go at the end of a sentence. The '!' must preceed the '?'. (Notice punctuation in comment about hand-written things above. I'm OCD, I think.)
• Typography is a brand's fashion statement.

 

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