DAAKEPov

What makes a great brand

A brand is the gut feeling you have when you think about a product or service. It’s not the product itself. Thus, a great product or service must come before a great brand. A magnificent identity and an elegant website won’t save the day when someone buys from you and is disappointed.

Design’s Duty is to be Daring

What’s it take to stand out in a crowd today? Besides a stepladder.

Bombarded by media messages from the moment we awake until our last text or tweet before bed, it’s become increasingly difficult to be noticed. Years ago, hippies and radicals used shock as their primary tactic. Some animal-rights groups still do. But what about today’s start-up companies and service providers? They need customers, not confrontation.

They need creativity.

Great Marketing Can’t Save Everything

Put Eddie Murphy’s name on the marquee and you’ve got a blockbuster, right? That’s what Hollywood used to think. Remember “The Adventures of Pluto Nash?” Few people do. The outer space comedy cost $100 million to make and market – and earned $8.9 million worldwide. Ouch. Probably why they tried to strip Pluto of planet status.

A big name doesn’t equal a big hit. It takes an engaging plot, strong writing, compelling photography, etc. If all the ingredients aren’t there, no amount of clever marketing can save it.

Due To Popular Demand... The Outtakes

For those of you who received our Holiday card in early December... here are a few outtakes from the photo. Thank you to all of you (75+) kind folks who questioned the legitamacy of our vertical jumps.

Looking Back on the Old Year

Maybe it was our relatively warm fall. Maybe it was the “instant winter” as we were hit by not one but two blizzards. But suddenly Christmas has come and gone, and here we are on the verge of another new year.

By way of this blog, I’ve tried over the past year to offer a fresh perspective on several design and marketing topics. We’ve given you our opinions and shared our thoughts and ideas. Now it’s your turn.

Capitalize on Universal Symbols

Does everything have to be new to be effective? It doesn’t work that way with symbols. Pretty much everyone recognizes a red octagon atop a post at the intersection of two streets. Same is true with the male and female symbols that differentiate between restrooms.

But what about websites? Should every link look the same? Should every symbol, nationally and internationally, indicate the same thing? Is it an effective use of the visual? Or is it another indication of the “dumbing down” of the masses? I wonder how the folks at Apple and Microsoft would answer.

Design Has No Template

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but that isn’t the path most traveled by creative thinkers. Straight-line thinking is too restrictive, because there is no template for innovation.

Don’t Lose Control of Your Story

Of all the sins Tiger Woods may have committed, add to the list his failure to take control of the story. From behind the walls of his gated community – patrolled by security forces who ride in, ironically, golf carts – he severely underestimated the power of the news media, the Internet and social media.

Daake Honored in Midlands Business Journal ‘40 Under 40’

Greg Daake, principal and founder of DAAKE Design in Omaha, has been named one of the Midlands Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” young entrepreneurs for 2009.

The annual award is given to individuals based on their “creative leadership and growth of their company or organization under their direction.” Recipients will receive plaques during an awards breakfast Dec. 11 at the Omaha Marriott Hotel in Regency.

A Tribute to Old Logos

Call ‘em vintage, retro or just plain old, I’m talking about logos that have worn out their welcome. Designs of the times, they’re no longer deemed hip or representative. A few get updated, like Apple computer’s current monochrome logo that took over for its original rainbow with a bite. But others are tossed aside in favor of bold redesigns, like Kraft Foods’ new corporate logo, or Holiday Inn’s slashed and shadowy new H.