We recently completed a piece that I’m really proud of - an environmental stewardship brochure for The Brick Companies, based in Edgewater, Maryland. This project highlights the outstanding efforts that this real estate company makes toward sustainable business, and reinforces their collective commitment to doing work “for good.”

This is not your average brochure. As a sustainable company, The Brick Companies sought to communicate their commitment without creating additional waste. We suggested developing a brochure in the form of a downloadable PDF housed on their Web site, which is available for downloading and printing if necessary. And since at events and at their locations, their customers often demand something tangible, we have created a postcard with the Web address and a short description which is printed on seed paper (paper that when planted actually grows).

We’re quite happy with the results, and I encourage you to click HERE to visit the environmental stewardship section of their Web site or click HERE to download the PDF to check it out for yourself - If for nothing else, to read all about what a forward-thinking company does to lessen their impact. A few select pages of the brochure are below.

Nice work, EJ, Beth and Ande!

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

As brand marketers, we always seek to find businesses and organizations that have solid business models and a true unique quality that makes them better than the competition - and allows them to deliver a great brand experience. This makes our job much, much easier because we believe that a brand cannot survive on great branding alone. If we were in math class, it would look something like this:

Great branding + Great business model = Success
Great branding + Mediocre business model = Fail!

Unfortunately, not every business that seeks professional marketing help is backed by a solid business model. Many businesses simply exist, with no unique, compelling characteristics that consumers crave. I believe that these businesses, even with the help of a slick brand, cannot survive in the long-haul. And to add insult to injury, it’s a difficult fix that most business owners aren’t willing to embrace.

On the other side of the coin are businesses that deliver an amazing brand experience, yet aren’t supported by a healthy branding effort. The problem with this is consumers use a company’s brand image to decide whether or not they want to engage/purchase/patronize/etc (Think about it the next time you’re in the grocery store trying to decide which shampoo to buy). If the brand isn’t up to snuff, many consumers won’t give them the opportunity to deliver a brand experience because they’ll just move on to the next brand…That equation looks like this:

Bad branding + Great brand experience = Fail!

This happens too often. On a local scale, here in Maryland there are countless brands that I have come across that are truly remarkable brands. A couple that come to mind right now are Terracycle, Carols Western Wear, Chevy Chase Bank and Lemongrass (Thai food). Each of these are companies that I feel deliver a PHENOMENAL brand experience, but could use some help with making sure their brand communicates it. Luckily, I know just the right group of people to solve their problem…

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

p.s. Thanks Alchemy for the image.

Promotional items are notorious for generating useless waste. So if you’re going to buy 20,000 of something to give away, why not do it right? This is a great resource that we’re definitely going to use: http://ecoimprints.logomall.com/default.aspx

Thanks, Brandflakes.

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

Have you heard that a group of former Google employees just launched a new ‘revolutionary’ search engine that they claim is better, deeper and more effective than Google? Gutsy, for sure. It’s true, and you can read about it HERE. It’s called Cuil.com (Pronounced “cool”) and the Internet is abuzz with chatter about the product.

I was excited to check it out this morning and have to say I am not sure if I dig it. The initial aesthetics of the site are pleasing - similar to Google, except a full-black background. The design itself probably much more sophisticated than Google (not that Google strives for sophisticated design) but the results of the search were a little difficult for me to digest. It could be that I’m so accustomed to seeing the results in the format that Google spits back at me, but I just wasn’t feeling the multi-column results.

That said the article discusses the benefits of this system over Google - mainly that it searches a database of as many as three times the amount of Web pages that Google does! If that’s factual, it’s pretty impressive. Could it be that this product is actually better than the Google search engine?

I’m not sure, but as I mentioned, the design ruins it a bit for me. The way it reports results is a bit overwhelming and I’m not sure I know what to make of them. It also seemed, initially, that it brought up many more irrelevant results for a couple of searches I did.

What do you think?

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

It was announced last week that Baltimore will be getting a new 18,500 seat arena at the site of the current First Mariner Arena. This is big news for the City of Baltimore, as the 1st Mariner Arena has become a bit outdated and lacking over the years. The new venue will be great for concerts, sporting events, rallies, and shows and will greatly enhance the city’s west side.

Dan Rodricks, a writer for the Baltimore Sun and former talk show host, wrote a really interesting bit of editorial on the new arena that caught my eye and beckoned to be passed on. I invite you to read the full article HERE, but here are a few excerpts:

It is absolutely essential that the city recruit a visionary architect to design the new arena, and this design must be green from the ground up - even below ground.

When I say “green,” I don’t mean 20 percent green. I mean green beyond green - far beyond what has been achieved in public and private spaces so far. Baltimore’s new arena should meet or surpass goals of the U.S. Green Building Council. It should have a major wow factor architecturally but also set an example of sustainability for the nation and the world.

Now is the perfect time to champion this Earth-friendly ethos, and the new arena is the perfect project: a high-profile building in a redeveloping city that needs to keep doing dynamic things to attract new businesses and residents. A major green-as-can-be project would put Baltimore on the cutting edge. There would be no sports arena like this. It would be a model for other public and private projects to come. All sorts of businesses would want to be associated with it.

I think Mr. Rodricks is spot-on with his assessment. One can only hope that city officials put some of his theories into practice with the design and development of the new arena. Cheers for sustainable design!

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

Aaron reminded me of something a week or so that I’d be remiss if I didn’t write about. Apparently July marks the 40th anniversary of the cubicle. Originally coined the “Action Office,” the cubicle is meant to isolate workers from the sights and noises of their office–theoretically allowing workers more privacy and helping them to concentrate without distractions.

We don’t have cubicles at Orange Element. We don’t think they’re really good for collaboration, which is one of the contributing factors for the successful work that comes out of our shop (plus, who wants to stare at a fabric-covered wall for inspiration?). That said, if we were into cubicles, we’d want them to resemble what design firm IDEO came up with back in 2001 as their version of the ideal cubicle. Their design allowed for modules that could be selected based on an occupants needs. It’s a very cool idea.

If you could design your own cubicle, what features would yours have? I have a few ideas:

Whiteboard
Sound system (with a dome to keep the noise in my cubicle)
Foot massager
Single serve coffee maker
Treadmill
Smoked glass (so you can see when someone is coming)
USB-powered mini-greenhouse

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