Nobody walks in LA. But sometimes, I do.
Nobody walks in LA
Apr 4, 2013
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TARGET IS BEAUTIFUL
Apr 4, 2013
I admire Target’s simple grace in-store. The various executions of wall signs, hanging signs, aisle violators, and owned-brand packaging all contribute to a mood and brand that’s unmistakably Target.
Not only is Target consistently on-brand and clean across its many incarnations (some much, much cleaner than others), the store itself signifies purity, the type of place you can feel good about learning the latest trend or walking out with a $20 birthday present or $100 trash can.
I loved working on Target because I got to observe firsthand how dedicated their Minnesotan marketers were to the Target Mission. They agnonized over the perfect balance, mood, and execution of each photo, model, and facial expression.
It’s interesting how clean the logo and straightforward the concept of Target is: a central vortex, once entered, that stands for success.
How simple a symbol to repeat, and be drawn to. How many images and mood boards and nonverbal communication must happen between every individual in order to ascribe such a harmonious visual presence?
The answer is: a lot. Target workers shared images and mood boards and paid attention to the details. They visited Target stores all the time. They used Target merchandise. They lived their brand.
Target attracts brand fanatics to Minneapolis the same way that Nike pulls athletic, driven workers to their headquarters in Beaverton. The brand lives. It’s one we’ve grown up with. The psyedelic supermodel commercials were like nothing else on TV; I remember being amazed.
Who created these images? How were they done? On a computer? Where was this white and red world of beautiful multicultural people? What was the industry and jobs and faces of the people who made this be on TV?
The answer is: people who wanted to make those images made them. It was a partnership formed around a circular beacon. These opportunites to strike forth on new advertising ground, with campaigns like Target’s iconic red and white psychedelia aren’t impossible, but they are rare. They require a unique combination of personalities and opportunity, of permission and bravery on both the client side and the agency side.
When a formula works, it can create a brand standard that informs the company’s creativity and output for years in the future, much like a strong genetic strain in a species.
I believe the types of emotional work that affect people on a mass scale are created by individuals who exist in an emotional state of support. The best work comes out of informed creativity and transparent, two-way communication. In simple terms: everyone gets along.
All these things I think about while shopping Target. And I think Target is beautiful.
xo
suzymae
p.s.
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Lessons from the Blogcademy
Apr 4, 2013
I’ve never approached blogging as a “thing I do,” when people ask me what I’m into. That answer is usually, “I draw,” or “I make art,” or even, “I make ads and think art can be advertising.” But never, “I’m a blogger.”
Yet, I’ve maintained this blog since 2008. And it needs work. Enter the Blogcademy, an intense 2-day educational gathering where Gala Darling, Shauna Haider, and Kat Willams spoke about blogging best practices.
Most of the girls I met mentioned Livejournal or MySpace as the place their blog habits began, but for me, all negative blog memories track back to that time.
When Livejournal was happening, emo was in. I was in high school. And whoever had a journal worth following usually meant it was overshare to the extreme. Reading someone’s Livejournal sometimes seemed like a huge invasion of privacy, no matter how public the forum: weird and sleazy.
So I stayed away from overshare, and kept this space as a pre-Pinterest collection of images. Then I started writing. I realized I liked writing.
A huge issue that I believe contributes to the anxiety of Milennials and Generation X— we’re being tasked to create our own online/ digital etiquette.
No one sat us down in grade school and explained when and where it was appropriate to use your cell phone. No one told us that sexting was only for mommies and daddies who loved each other very much. We’re making this shit up as we go along.
I realized that blogging is merely a new form of interacting with the world and people across the globe.
If the energy you put into the universe is the energy you get back from it, my 2D presence should reflect my meatspace personality as much as humanly and digitally possible.
So much Blogcademy inspiration came from seeing the Headmisstresses compeletely own their project.
Packed with fashion, fun, intelligence, humor, design and honesty, the three ladies have been doing this since last February. That’s incredible. They’re now on a world tour, creating connections and leaving a trail of inspiration and groups of new friends in their wake.
The idea of connection, I realized, is the true spirit of blogging. Every woman (and it was mostly women) I spoke to had a yearning to “find her people” or to “connect,” beyond simply finding new customers for their life coaching or customers for their photography sessions.
Mini-Blogcademy-marketplaces have begun to spring up, with women contracting women to help program, strategize, design, photograph, model for, and promote one another’s blogs. This, for me, is the interesting part. I love to watch commerce thrive in its own little ecosystem– and when this occurs, you’re doing something right.
Currently, I’m in talks with a team of amazing women to transform this space into a fresh, new home for my words and images.
If you’re interested in my strategic and research skills, you’ll be able to learn more about who I am, how I work, and how I think. You’ll be able to read case studies, ask me questions on Twitter, and find me on LinkedIn.
And if you want to collaborate, here I am, my forever favorite sights & sounds on Tumblr; my shenanagins on Instagram. We only live once- but in 2013, we get to do so in the digital world, as well as the physical.
Live, learn, and optimize.
xo,
suzymae
All images ©suzymae, the Blogcadettes, Headmisstresses, and especially Caroline Winata of www.milouandolin.com