Three Reads | Feb. 18

ONE | Sunday's NY Times Magazine breaks down how Toyota went from making machines that weave thread to making cars that weave the road. Very informative and very well-written. READ

TWO | Last month, INC. Magazine profiled the potential brand image make-over of Dave's Gourmet, makers of Dave's Insanity Hot Sauce. Learn how Deskey, a Cincinnati-based design agency, creatively approached Dave's Gourment and all about the creative-process they went through to design a spate of new labels. You'll also learn why Dave's Gourmet ultimately decided not to pull the trigger on redesigned labels and remain a schizophrenic brand. A must-read for any brand manager. READ

THREE | Peruse PDF-Mags.com and I'm sure you'll find some creativity fuel. READ

Comments

[Mark Howell]

The INC. Magazine article is one of the best I've read in a long time. Very practical, too, with some good insights into how Deskey uses their concepts/tools to think through their process. Thanks for the link!

mark

[finn mckenty]

That Inc. article is really good from a number of perspectives. First, hats off to Deskey for their innovative means of getting the project. Second, another pat on the back to Deskey for realizing how important "passion projects" can be to a company.

But most of all, I admire the CEO of Dave's for having the guts to say no to their work. Deskey's work was formally appealing, but not on brand for Dave's. After Deskey invested so much time and energy in the project, it must have been hard for him to say no (I'd certainly feel like a jerk), but it was the right decision. Their work didn't capture the "insanity" of Dave's brand and would have been a mistake to put on shelves.