Critique Wall.com

Brian Collins is executive creative director of the Brand Integration Group, BIG, at Ogilvy & Mather in New York, teaches at School of Visual Arts and among other things is an . He talked to the Orlando AIGA chapter about creating "brand experience".

Linda Tischler writing for Fast Company gets Collins to explain brand experience. She writes:

"brands are moving from a marketing model that says, 'I'm going to talk to you and you better listen up' to an experiential model. 'Marketers need to focus on the way a brand gets brought to life tangibly, where it really lives,' says Collins. Whether it's the folksy humor of Southwest Airlines' flight attendants, the boudoirlike ambience of a Victoria's Secret shop, or the Zen-like simplicity of TiVo's remote control, the experience conveys the essence of the brand. And often, it's design that creates the experience."

Collins talked about growing up in the Catholic Church as his first encounter with a brand design experience. The Church has environments, icons, ritual, story, costumes and the goal of turning information into understanding. As I understood his fast moving lecture, he didn't truly grasp the meaning of the information until he attended a gospel mass. His illustration was providing us with a first hand experience from the gospel group he called Praise. Their energy did indeed inspire the information.

Our goal should be to create a brand experience that turns information into inspiration.

The rest of the lecture mostly involved showcasing design projects which you can read more about in this Fast Company article. He has also influenced students at SVA who have created products that have earned a lot of media recently:

• Mesu Bowls
• Target Pill Bottle

My notes are attached.