modern8 eNews: September 2003

The mating habits of the Nigerian Beetle aren't on the class schedule when Northface University accepts its first students in January. The school for software developers has partnered with IBM, Microsoft and Unisys to develop a focused educational environment for real-world implementation. We produced posters and newspaper ads for a college-age target market with an edgy illustration style by modern8 programmer/designer Justin Milo. The poster positions Northface as the clear choice for serious seekers of schooling in software development.

New additions to the Portfolio section of the modern8 website have expanded the section significantly along with small updates all over the website. The portfolio can be viewed either by the type of project or the industry served.

When we run across a magazine or web article that has a worthwhile and relevant point of view we're going to link you up here: the modern8 magazine rack.

The comments of Virginia Postrel, in a Wired magazine article titled "The Aesthetic Imperative", bode well for companies that recognize the importance of pleasing the senses and for the providers of those services.

"Competition has pushed quality so high and prices so low that few manufactures can survive on performance and price alone. To produce value, they must give customers something to please their sensory side. Aesthetics is the killer app." More...

Branding has moved from just the latest "word-du-jour" to the mantra of marketing and communications executives everywhere. It seems we've gotten to the point where everybody and everything must be branded. And yet what is the definition of a brand?

Let us dispel some myths. A brand is not your logo. A brand is not your identity. And it is not your product.

So what exactly is your brand? A brand is a person's gut feeling about your company, your service or your product. You're not even the brand owner. Your customer owns your brand - because brands are defined by individuals - not by companies, markets or the public.

In other words, your brand is not what YOU say it is. It's what THEY say it is. modern8 is a brand design firm that consults and creates strategic branding programs.

Shawn Johnson, of the modern8 Visual Merchandising Group, and Justin Milo just returned from the VM+SD Retail Design Conference in Miami Beach, where each others' diametrically opposed culinary preferences (Atkins and vegetarian, respectively) made for interesting restaurant selections. Despite that, the conference generated new retail design contacts and ideas for the recently organized Visual Merchandising Group. / Randall Smith, modern8 Creative Director has been asked to play host at the social hour preceding AIGA speaker presentations. The first occasion was with Paula Scher, the nationally known Pentagram partner from New York who spoke to the local chapter on September 25. Randall drank water, but the conversation was spirited.