Acting out for branding’s sake

For those of you who don’t know, the extrovertic offices are populated with very lively, hard-working, sociable, and yes, loud people (we are extroverts after all). Our natural exuberance was put to work by taking 2 days to turn strategic, creative, and account resources loose.

The motivation for this mayhem? Designing extrovertic.  

The goal of this project was to redesign the agency to offer a uniquely extrovertic level of service to our clients, and to create a brief for rebranding the agency to better reflect the way we work, communicate, and to explain why we exist. To develop our ideas, we broke into multiple teams. Each was named for different masters of design: 

  

   ·     Milton Glaser
      o   Famous for designing the “I Love NY” logo

   ·      Jonathan Ive
      o   Famous for his iconic designs at Apple

   ·      Charles and Ray Eames
      o   Famous for their amazing designs and comfortable furniture

The motivation behind naming each team after a famous designer was to get us thinking about elegant yet innovative solutions. Employing a design mentality means going deep into understanding how something should work and then ensuring that its ultimate aesthetic serves a true purpose. Ultimately, we didn’t want extrovertic to merely look different, we wanted to be different. In our small groups, we discussed our professional pasts and presents to discern what worked and what didn’t. Topics we brainstormed included:

   ·      How do you make a lasting impact on a client during and after a pitch?

   ·      What is the extrovertic client journey?

   ·      What makes an agency a fun place to work at?

Lastly, each team presented their findings to the agency as a whole. In true extrovertic style, some of the presentations deviated from the PowerPoint norm— some groups even showed off their acting prowess by presenting their findings in hysterically funny skits.

And the result?

With a deeper understanding of what we stand for and how we work, we developed new agency branding and updated our website (see last week’s blog post). To get a better idea of how it has changed our work and work environment, you can keep reading our blog, or better yet, become a client or extrovert and see for yourself!

-Jared

“Soldier on, partner,” and other notes of inspiration from a cough drop.

It's been a few weeks since we extroverts embarked on our quest to identify how good design can add value to the healthcare agency model. As a result, I am now seeing smart design everywhere, from the construction of our company chairs to the wrappers on my cough drops.

To be more specific, the power of design really hit me as I unwrapped a cherry-flavored Halls Defense drop. I had recently stocked up on them to help fight off an impending cold. While looking at the packaging, I expected to see the usual ingredients—zinc, Echinacea, and vitamin C (to give me a little boost). What I hadn't expected was, "A pep talk in every drop." But that’s what I got.

Printed on each Halls wrapper were 3 or 4 brief, aspirational messages. My wrapper reminded me, "You've survived tougher," implored me to, "Be unstoppable," and told me, "Don't give up on yourself." As intended, the drops gave me both a physical and a mental boost.

What a great example of taking customer insights and transforming them into a design element aimed at generating customer delight! Halls takes the concept further with their corresponding TV spots, which are sure to put a smile on your face. The print ads are great too!

Halls’ clever design makes me wonder how we can incorporate little pick-me-ups into all the patient education, packaging, relationship marketing, and digital programs we create for our healthcare clients.

-Dorothy

First, AIGA. Next, Jetpacks.

As Extroverts, we are naturally inclined to seek out others whose work relates to what we do. That’s why, in keeping with our Designing Extrovertic theme, we recently took a company field trip to see the best of the best in design, as captured in an exhibition sponsored by the illustrious AIGA.

For those who are unaware, AIGA is the professional association for design. Their philosophy is to highlight exceptional pieces in every product category whose design particulars increase their ability to communicate.

Our team of Extroverts walked down the block to the AIGA NYC chapter on Fifth Avenue and 21st street to view offerings from the winners of the AIGA 365 Design Effectiveness competition. We saw a collection of clean, sophisticated items that clearly outshone the pedestrian designs we see on a daily basis.

Two features stood out to me as consistently effective design elements—strong geometrical precision and clutter-free layouts. These elements were utilized on a wide range of products, from 3-D design books to coffee bean packaging to corporate financial reviews.

With these pieces fresh in our minds, we returned to the office, where we had a free-flowing brainstorming session. We discussed our thoughts on the out-of-the box design principles we’d just seen, and shared personal insights. Feedback on various design elements ranged from “niche ideas work(ing)” to  “surprising and delighting (your audience).”

Beyond the elements of design, we began thinking about ways to apply these approaches to our own work. Taking a “no ideas are wrong” approach, we shared our thoughts on different ways to improve the agency’s design profile. The resulting suggestions ranged from “embracing cool for cool’s sake” to “providing company jetpacks,” (which was my personal favorite tidbit).

What I am learning at Extrovertic is that advertising doesn’t begin and end with fulfilling client requests. It also involves looking to the forefront of creativity. Every piece we produce should explore different ways to present material that will benefit our clients and the patients they serve.

This ability to integrate design and creative problem solving into everything we do will eventually become part of Extrovertic’s status quo. A smartly designed communication affects account people and creatives alike—it makes our collective work better, which benefits everyone involved.

That’s why we look to AIGA to identify pioneers at the forefront of integrated creativity.

Who knows, maybe someday Extrovertic will be the first agency to introduce jetpacks into everyday office life. An AAE can dream….

-Thomas