Sunday, February 28, 2010

Thinking for a living..


As part of a team who do - literally - think for a living, this was an interesting web find. Thinking for a Living is a collection of fascinating articles by design thinkers. One that stuck in my mind from a branding perspective is this tidbit from Frank Chimero:

"Consistent voice is more important than consistent style. Voice is about what you say. It’s content. Style is about what you’re wearing. It’s aesthetics. The prior informs the latter, not the other way around. Clothes don’t make the man. They don’t make your work either."

As someone who has always been the 'brand police' from a look and feel perspective, this is a different way of looking at things. Do you think a consistent message is more important than visual consistency? Can you have one without the other in a particularly visual world?

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Going too far?

Saw this article in the recent Property Council newsletter and thought it was an interesting one:

"Following ongoing lobbying efforts by the Property Council of Australia on recent amendments to the Building and Other Legislation Amendment Act, often referred to as the ‘Ban the Banners’ policy, Deputy Premier Paul Lucas announced today at our Downtown Breakfast that the Government will amend the legislation to reinstate the right of developers to enforce covenants that are not in conflict with achieving improved environmental outcomes".

Check out our THG Bulletin on this topic when it was first released.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Google's bid for world domination


Google, like other US companies Wal-Mart and Safeway, Kimberley Clark and Merck, has an abundance of land and roof areas which can be used to collect solar power for use in meeting their energy needs. As such, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the US have recently granted
Google a license to "operate as a utility", meaning they can generate energy for themselves as well as excess energy that they can then sell on to other customers.

Google is already investing and advocating green energy, saying that "t
he company is developing its own technology to increase the efficiency of solar thermal energy. The company believes it could also make wind a cheaper source of energy than coal."

According to Giles Parkinson of Business Spectacular, "
Google could undercut search engine rivals by providing a suite of services including energy supply".
[source]

Why hello there...


I'm Claire and I head up THG Marketing and Design (MaD), just one of the knowledge units within THG.

Welcome to the THG 'In The Know' blog. This blog will be where we publish what's inspiring us, what's puzzling us and what's going on in our world. For those of you who already read our In The Know newsletters, that's the sort of thing you will find here - a collection of thoughts, commentary and perhaps a few ramblings.

Please visit often!