Seriously, is a year and a half the longest it ever took for a client to launch an identity you worked on?
PAUL: Yes. But it is strangely satisfying since Josiah gave us hell for taking 9 weeks to complete our proposal — "why sooo long?"
JOSEPH: Yes. But this was also the first time a client was another design studio.
MATT: By far. But this is the first project where we've been asked to help in the move of an already well established brand into an entirely new (but better fitting) identity. It's naturally complicated and so pretty understandable.
Describe the overall approach you decided to take with the project. Did you follow a standard branding process you have in place, or did you do something different?
PAUL: As with any project, we are trying, as Lorraine Wild put it, “to make a very functional thing, but also to come up with a solution that possesses some sort of ineffable quality, or ‘soul’.”
We have a basic process for discovering who our client is, who their audience is and what they need to communicate, but after that we try to let the personality of the client drive the brand proposals and the design solutions.
With this project, it was particularly enjoyable and stimulating: for a creative company like Medium, we found we could let our imaginations run wild. This manifested itself in several unusual ways:
- - a discovery presentation [our intermediate report from interviews and research on the client, audience and business objectives] made with overhead transparencies, a record player at an undisclosed location. And we wore suits and ties.
- - a final brand presentation made only through an instant message dialogue, set to a crazy soundtrack that involved an appearance by a man in a gorilla costume
- - a brand solution that is extremely conceptual, adaptable and evolutionary
JOSEPH: Each project we do tends to follow a different approach than the last, but with Medium the divergence from past processes was increased even more. One main factor that made this project differ from others was the fact that we creating an identity for our possible competitors. Naturally, this created some different variables and opportunities than we were used to. This also led us to take a few risks that normally would seem forced or inappropriate. Overall, we embraced a certain freedom with our approach.
MATT: We relied on what, for us, has been a proven process in working together with our clients to discover common goals and common ground. But because we were working with another creative firm, I think we found ourselves pushing the boundaries of our own process; taking risks in not just the mechanics of the process, but in the work itself.
When the project began, what was the central brand communication problem you identified?
PAUL: To create a creative brand identity for a creative company. One that communicated “More.”
- - more than just technological expertise
- - more than just creativity
- - more than just a single person or personality
- - more than just Chattanooga
- - more than the audience/customer expected
JOSEPH: Coptix = Tech.
MATT: Coptix = Coptix. How to change that? Why? If not Coptix then what? and why? If Coptix was really just a name that took on the character of the company then let's build a name and a brand around the company as you see it. As you see yourselves. The best of what you hope to be for yourselves and for your clients, and able to grow and evolve seamlessly with you.
What brand values did you see Medium trying to communicate (or needing to)?
PAUL:
- Growth yet Soul
- Web yet Print
- Idiosyncratic yet Relevant
- Aesthetic yet Tech
- Experts yet Approachable
- Gutsy yet Mature
- Focused yet Frivolous
JOSEPH: Creativeness. Coolness. Boldness.
MATT: Raw potential; simultaneously nothing and everything. intensely personal and customizable but also accessible, frank, and honest. Always fresh.
How did The Problem & The Values inform the design decisions you made?
PAUL: Looking at the problem and the values led us to an ethos Coptix had: that technology and communication tools should serve business objectives, theirs or their clients. Media used in a creative way to convey something essential about Medium or about their customers.
This led us to the old adage: “Medium is the message.” This became the essence of our brand communications and design.
JOSEPH: 3 things: Make it cool. Make it risky. Make it inspiring.
MATT: It (they) led us away from a fixed solution. I think our breakthrough moment was when we realized that we weren't looking for "a logo". The identity needed to be a mechanism for Medium's creativity (vs. ours). So instead of a mark, or a series of fixed applications, we designed a platform; a system; a philosophy that would let the Medium team build the identity. There are ground rules, of course, and over 120 logos to start with, but really just to set a common tone and voice until the Medium team gets more familiar with the system, the potential of its application, and the implications of looking at every piece of communication and every piece of material through the particular lens of its medium.
What's your interpretation of the name Medium? Were you happy with their choice?
PAUL: I did not care for the name in particular. But to be honest, I love the brand solution and we would never have gotten here without that name. So I think it ended up brilliantly.
JOSEPH:
medium |ˈmēdēəm|
noun ( pl. -di•a |-dēə| or -di•ums )
1 an agency or means of doing something : using the latest technology as a medium for job creation | their primitive valuables acted as a medium of exchange.
• a means by which something is communicated or expressed : here the Welsh language is the medium of instruction.
2 the intervening substance through which impressions are conveyed to the senses or a force acts on objects at a distance : radio communicationneeds no physical medium between the two stations | the medium between the cylinders is a vacuum.
• the substance in which an organism lives or is cultured : grow bacteria in a nutrient-rich medium.
3 a particular form of storage for digitized information, such as magnetic tape or discs : moving or copying backed-up data through a hierarchy of different mediums.
4 a liquid (e.g., oil or water) with which pigments are mixed to make paint.
• the material or form used by an artist, composer, or writer : oil paint is the most popular medium for glazing.
5 ( pl. -diums) a person claiming to be in contact with the spirits of the dead and to communicate between the dead and the living.
6 the middle quality or state between two extremes; a reasonable balance: you have to strike a happy medium between looking like royalty and looking like a housewife.
MATT: I love the name, and loved it from the start. It works on a surface level and so does not beg a lot of questions from the audience who tend to take it at face value. But, more importantly, it's a metaphor for it's own use and for what we understand to be the core values of the company. It's multiplicity creates endless opportunity for variation and inspiration, but always with an eye for what's "right", "true" and "honest".
Who or what were your external inspirations for this project?
PAUL: 1970's newsrooms, Dieter Rams, Modernist furniture and product design, Atari, ISO50, Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, ABC After School Specials, graffiti, The New Typography, Siggi Eggertson
JOSEPH: Jan Tschichold, Daft Punk & Citizen Cane
MATT: HiFi, solid state, electric buzz, Marshall McLuhan, DVNO, logic
Did you know what an absolute nightmare it was going to be for a North American firm to try to implement ISO 216 & the A4 sizes?
PAUL: Actually our stationery is in the European A/ISO sizes and we have to say it has not been a nightmare for us. So, no.
[editor note: for the record, W&S manually layout and cut every invoice. Now that's commitment to good design.]
MATT: Medium does not HAVE to do it, but they will. Because in their heart, they know that it's a better, truer, more resonant system. Medium isn't about easy, it's about getting it right.
What are some of the differences between branding another creative agency versus a traditional corporation or organization?
PAUL: It was much easier to let our creativity run wild and to be much more conceptual than we would for some of our other clients. We could take risks that most of our clients cannot afford to take.
MATT: Yes. I think I alluded to this earlier in the interview as well. There was a palpable sense that we needed to take off the gloves. The stakes felt higher for us and for Medium. We also felt that we had the flexibility (even the responsibility?) to create something adaptable and customizable, but in a package that was usable, manageable, practical, and clear in concept.
Do you always wear Gorilla costumes to your brand presentations?
PAUL: No, just when the brand presentation involves over 120 logos, kittens and a rainbow coffee mug.
JOSEPH: Only when David Young agrees to do it.
MATT: I so want the rainbow mug. I would consider it a special favor if you would make some of those. I promise that I would use it every day.
