The latest news, ideas, projects, missives, and thoughts from Wildfire Studios
(Also known in laymans’ circles as a ​“blog”)
Kindling 42: Do the difficult thing
On the difficult things only your brand can do.
Kindling 41: You can’t skip practice
Practice is the game, and if your brand doesn’t show up, every single time, and practice in public, you’re going to lose.
Kindling 40: Substantially different
Substance without attention is irrelevant. Attention without substance is noise.
Kindling 39: Solidarity, not alignment
The hard part of a rebrand isn’t the execution. It’s getting everybody on the same page.
Kindling 38: Mistaken Identity Problems
On the branding and packaging problem AI has created for everybody.
Kindling 37: Logos, literally
How literal should your logo be?
Kindling 36: Shrinking Moats
Most brand exercises ask where you want to be in twenty years. A better question: what threats will shrink the moat around your brand in that time?
Studio Missive 35: The word is the logo
Why I do stylescapes differently, and how typography becomes the foundation for every brand
Studio Missive 34: Your brand is not your logo
A brand isn’t a logo. It’s a rhetorical device you use to persuade the public to see your organization as who it is.
Studio Missive 33: Falling in love with the process
On embracing the messy middle of the creative process across a client rebrand, a documentary, and my own logo redesign.
Studio Missive 32: The design inspiration behind a stylescape
How I research design references for a stylescape — with links to great brand identity work from zoos, museums, aquariums, and more.
Studio Missive 31: Back to the drawing board
Last week’s strategy got approved, and now it’s stylescape time. Plus: hard drive woes, a rebrand reset, and Don Knuth’s brush with Claude.