J H I Blog

In case you’ve ever wondered whether or not a logo matters, here’s an interesting overview from Fortune Magazine of the evolution of several famous logos, both successful and not so…

For a moment, I thought I was dreaming on the 2.5 hour car ride from Austin airport to Waldemar ranch. The desert was expansive and the landscape idyllic even if it was composed of mainly dirt, rocks, and cacti. I appreciated the calming effect it had on me, in a way foreshadowing what would be a relaxed and rustic experience during the next 4 days.
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Here at JHI, we are big fans of billboards: they are quick to the point and they reach your customers where they are – being in their car and seeing billboards about cars is not lost on me in this instance!  We’ve done quite a few in our time for clients, and although we’d like to take the credit for this one by a BMW dealer – this stroke of genius is entirely theirs.  Not only does it directly respond to a competitor in a tongue-in-cheek way, it has also caught the attention of the blogosphere and the twitterverse – thanks to a blog post on the BMWBlog.  Interestingly enough, BMWBlog isn’t owned by BMW AG, and I would bet their marketing and PR people are having a good day given all of the positive goodwill spreading around the net since the post on Monday.  Well played indeed.

The internet is great for so many things, but just try and find a mailbox that you are in love with and…forget it! Especially if you want one with your company identity on it…nada.

So, wanting a heavily-branded J H I mailbox that was also a comfortable visual fit with our midcentury modern building, we decided to “gulp” have it custom made. We went to Old Dominion Metal Products, which has made all of our galvanized aluminum work surfaces and they said: “sure”. They can do anything, and I mean ANYTHING with metal. But what about the cost? 100% pure, last longer than any of us, hand-made, stainless steel, mounting holes and rubber cushions for the lid so it closes nicely…surprisingly LESS than we expected and less than many, many of the mailboxes we decided were better off left out in internet land.

When we have mail for pickup, we just hang one of our J H I rings over the side to let the postman know that he’s got mail. Anyone have any ideas about how we can get even more J H I symbols on our mailbox??? If you want a beautiful powder-coated J H I ring, just stop by.

Freshly uncrated today in our entry/conference are two stunning Bertoia Diamond Chairs manufactured by Knoll.

These unique chairs are the 1952 visionary brainchild of the Italian-born designer and elegant metal sculptor, Harry Bertoia. They are iconic; they define an era. And, they not only look great, they are surprisingly comfortable.
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Ross Catrow of PharrOut.com sent us this link: a top 10 list for corporate website and social networking do’s and don’ts. There are some thoughts here that can save you a lot of heartache and money if you’re responsible (partly or fully) for this at your organization, or if you work with clients on these tools….

Smashingmagazine.com Harsh Truths about Corporate Websites

Whether you’re a fan of the Cardinals, Steelers, or simply didn’t care to pick sides, if you watched Sunday’s game you probably experienced a barrage of commercials. In my opinion, many of the commercials this year were not as successful as I hoped and failed to grab my attention, but there were a few (very few) that stood out and made me laugh out loud. These were simple and humorous. It takes smarts to be funny.

Jemie liked the 3-D commericals. Here’s a before and after shot. Partying can take its toll.

We designers are always looking for new ways to present information. We scour the internet looking for graphics that are beautiful, effective and, most importantly, compelling. So imagine my delight at finding Toby Ng Kwong To’s “The World of 100.” His posters combine elegant illustrations with some surprising information. It’s also a great way to gain some perspective! Enjoy!

On my way to work this morning, with all of the sleet bouncing off my windshield and the chill in my bones from just looking at people getting into their cars, I couldn’t help but think that a nice cup of hot chocolate, a book and a warm blanket on the couch would be a perfect way to spend the day.  Well eMarketing is really insightful (reading minds in fact), as my daily email from AdAge was waiting in my inbox with the headline “Marketing’s New Red Hot Seller: The Humble Snuggie.”  When I first saw the ad on TV, I had a similar response to Ellen’s.  But, apparently, 4 million people and counting (as there is currently a waiting list to get your hands on one) felt compelled to act to the company’s quirky ad – which according to execs behind the project, made all the difference.

So perhaps I’m a little late to the party: all of a sudden I’m really into GOOD, despite the fact that I’ve known about it for a good (hah) while now. I just never really sat down and gave these people my full attention. That is, until yesterday (mid-informal-brainstorm) when Maya, Carter and I sifted through their site for inspiring infographics.

We found some:

It turns out they’re doing some other pretty cool things over there at good.is. continue reading