"When did TED lose its edge? When did TED stop trying to collect smart people and instead collect people trying to be smart? (...) What began as something spontaneous and unique has today become a parody of itself. What was exceptional and emergent in the realm of ideas has been bottled, packaged, and sold back to us over and over again. The whole TED vibe has come to resemble a sales pitch."

"This is one reason Mr. Brûlé has no plans for a Monocle magazine app yet: on an iPad, no one can see you reading Monocle."

"On the flip side, I wonder how many books with “loaded” titles or covers have seen massive increases in sales since the advent of the Kindle? On a Kindle, nobody can see you reading those awkward self-help books…"

By Andrew Blauvelt. "In the face of global branding, designers are seeking inspiration from the everyday".

"Mucca Design is an award-winning branding firm that transforms businesses through smart, strategic thinking and uncommon creative solutions."

"An algorithm can create 40,000 logo shapes in 12 different color combinations, providing the Media Lab an estimated 25 years' worth of personalized business cards."

Love the design for Berg & Berg.

"Acme Industries is a brand aesthetics company.

Our aim is to create lovemarks out of each project we’re trusted with. Centered around its partners, Acme is organized in teams that work either separately or collaboratively, depending on each project.

Research and strategy apply regardless of the type of work we undertake. Covering a full spectrum of visual services Acme’s portfolio varies from brand identity, packaging and structural design, environment and interior design, typography, art direction, photography to any communication collaterals.

Direct work with our clients ensures a more efficient relationship, without the intervening layer of account management departments. We take advantage of our experience with international brands and agencies in order to help our clients take the correct decisions and results confirm our methods."

On the iconography of the environmentalist movement.

"The typical American buys precisely one book a year. Ouch. Of course, this isn't true, because when it comes to books, there is no typical American. There are a lot of Americans who buy zero books for pleasure each year. And then there are people like me who buy 400. The average is irrelevant.

When you can't figure out the best way to treat all your customers, the best way to price things, the best thing to offer, realize that the problem is almost always this: you're trying to treat everyone the same. Don't. Break them into groups with similar attributes, and suddenly the path becomes a lot more clear."

-- Seth Godin's posts fit in Delicious' notes section. Cool.

"Most important of all, [most people] are not using their brand choices to compete with their fellow man, or to draw distinctions between them and their peer-group. They are using them to fit in. To conform, not to outdo. You go to the films your friends like, you read the books your friends like, you listen to the music your friends like. (...) And, when making a purchase, what most people want, most of the time, is not the best they can buy: they want something that's very unlikely to be crap."

AVA publishes educational books that are distinctly different. They are not only authoritative but innovative in design, and presented in a wholly accessible and visually striking way. Our focus is on the applied visual arts and the world of professional communications. That’s why we ensure that all our books are written by industry experts and leading academics. These are writers who inspire readers through their enthusiasm for their creative subjects, making AVA a publisher of exciting and inspirational books, designed for the student, practitioner and non-professional alike.

"Branzas este prima agenţie de consultanţă de brand şi design din România, înfiinţată în 1994. Specializată în branding atât pentru produse şi servicii cât şi pentru corporaţii, Branzas acoperă toate nevoile de analiză, creaţie şi implementare ale unui brand: de la logo şi naming până la sisteme complete de identitate şi expresie a brandului."