As someone with a background in and love for advertising, I have always been a fan of the “big idea.” The idea and process of coming up with one driving concept for a campaign has always fascinated me. Having been involved in this process on numerous occasions I can honestly say that it is increasingly difficult to come up with one breakthrough idea that will both be unique enough to get an increasingly A.D.D. audience’s attention but also drive home a message that will make them act. Nearly impossible any more.

Even though I have always coveted the big idea, I have to say that I’m not sure if it’s on the pedestal it once was, particularly for the client that has an advertising budget that isn’t in the millions. Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of advertising agencies and design firms creating marketing that seemingly attempts to capture that big idea, but fails miserably. Radio ads are the worst, but I’ve seen my fair share of print, online and TV ads that are the same way.  It’s puzzling, frankly. By trying to capture that one big idea, the message is lost entirely. The bottom line is firms must not sacrifice effectiveness for creativity.

From Agency Spy, here is a perfect example of a company (Honda) working on a big idea that is extremely slow to develop. I just don’t really think any potential Honda buyer is going to take the time to watch this concept come to fruition. Sure, it might generate some Web traffic-I even went to the site. Once and only once. And on top of it all, I really don’t know what it has to do with selling cars….

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

I think I found out where Orange Element will be taking its next company trip. We’re going to go to Amsterdam on April 30, 2009 for Koninginnedag, which translated into English means Queen’s Day. Ok, maybe not, but it does look like a lot of fun–An orange holiday.

Read more about the holiday HERE. And check out some sweet pictures below. Thanks to How About Orange for bringing this awesome, orange holiday to our attention. It’s definitely something we should know about!

Orange is cool.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

I found this via Adfreak and thought it was worth sharing. Like Adfreak, I found something a bit disturbing about the execution of these outdoor exhibitions, which were seen in Canada. While the brief probably talked about showing that Vespa riders have a certain sense of style of which the Vespa is a part, I think the design execution missed. I find it VERY creepy. That said, I do applaud their use of non-traditional mediums to get their message across. It’s certainly not something you see every day.

What’s your take?

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Brandchannel has a new debate out that I found pretty interesting. The question is: “Are 3-D logos revolutionizing or ruining logo design?” My answer: Neither. Here’s more on what I had to say. I could have written a thesis on this but unfortunately you’re only allowed so many characters:

This is an interesting debate, but I don’t think there’s a right and wrong answer-And I certainly don’t think 3-D logos are ruining logo design. That said I think there is something to be said for taking the simple approach when considering a brand mark. Obviously as designers we are looking to communicate something specific when we set out to design an identity, so we have to make sure that the message isn’t lost in the complexity of a design. Unfortunately, turning a design into 3-D often adds another layer resulting in that loss of simplicity.

What I have seen a lot of lately are brand marks that aren’t “3-D,” but that do have some sort of dimensionality. This can even be seen in some of the most noticeable brand marks such as BMW, Apple, BP and even Nike. These logos are 2-D designs, but they all feel as though they aren’t flat. These logos have subtle changes that give them dimension, but they all START as a 2-D mark. Also as many other respondents noted, 3-D designs fall flat when reproduced in certain mediums. A true test of a mark is to start with a black and white version. If it holds up in black and white, the mark does its job.

The bottom line: Designs created in 2-D can be adapted to have dimension; however, a logo designed in 3-D is generally a failure in 2-D. I’m a proponent of simple, clean 2-D designs. If we find out that 3-D is out of style in a few years (which I think it will be), there are going to be a lot of brands with 3-D logos on the hunt for a branding + identity firm!

What’s your take?

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

As you can see at the bottom of the navigation at right we now have the ability to add a poll to our sweet blog. This week’s poll touches on something that I think about quite a lot. At Orange Element, we’ve always had this dream of developing our own custom designed product line. But not just any custom designed product line - one in which we are able to sell the products for profit, a portion of which would then be given directly to a charity or group of charities in our community.

We’re still in the initial stages of brainstorming how we could make it work, but it’s a very exciting thought for us. The opportunity to both help humanity while creating a tangible product that represents us and allows people to interact with our brand in a whole new way is very appealing to us.

So please, weigh in on the poll. Let us know what you’d be interested in. If you have other ideas or thoughts about this potential venture, please shoot them to me via email at garret [at] orange-element [dot] com.

My vote? Oh, I’m glad you asked! I cannot wait until we can do a limited-edition run of Orange Element designed Moleskines. I’m still researching the actual process of customization of the graphics and production, but I can definitely see it being a great icebreaker for new business meetings! The best part, which is great for lefties like me is that it opens completely flat. Previously the only option I had for taking notes in meetings where those stuffy leather portfolios that you’d expect an accountant to be bringing to a meeting. And that’s definitely not me…

In the meantime, I just ordered this limited-edition Plaid Moleskine. One of only 50 ever made! I can’t wait for it to get here.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com

I get a lot of people that ask me if many people actually read our blog. Thanks to advanced Web analytics that Wordpress has in place, I actually know the answer to that: Yes, I’m delighted quite a lot of people are actually checking us out here.

Even still, I was glad to see some hard statistics on Google Trends that point to the fact that Blogs are actually growing in popularity and are now even overtaking online newspapers and magazines in popularity on the search engine.

Check it out HERE.

Garret Ohm
www.orange-element.com