When Fast Company put me one their 100 Most Creative People in Business 2011 list, they asked that I draw an image of my creative process so they could use it to promote the event. They also asked me to send a self-portrait. So, since neither my creative process nor my self-portrait is sacred, I thought I’d have a little fun with the assignment. Above is a sketchy display (made under heinous deadline pressure) that describes the high-level flow of creation as it occurs in my life and work. And below is the person my mother most often compares me with in order to bolster my self-esteem. Never in my days did I expect to be labeled a “creative” (or an “artist” for that matter), and I continue to find those occasional categorizations flattering but confusing. For now, I’m happy to have been recognized, since I know damn well there are thousands of creatives out there who also deserve the attention.

To my pleasant (and slightly confused) surprise, Fast Company chose me as one of the folks on their 100 Most Creative People in Business List for 2011. (I came in at #56, so take that, Ryan Seacrest!)

In seriousness, I was pleased to be acknowledged as a “Creative,” since it’s a title I haven’t embraced throughout my life. And from the lives of Frank Lloyd Wright and Marie Antoinette, I’ve learned that public appreciation comes and goes. So I’ll enjoy the glory while I can and thank you, friends and clients, for being supportive of my work.

Own Products was founded by the  (now former) CEO of Method Products, which many of us know and love from the People Against Dirty campaign. Alastair Dorward took Method from a great but small company to one of the market titans in non-toxic cleaning products. And he’s about to do the same with Own. Tom Fishburne introduced me to Alastair so we could decide how to approach the illustrations of their brand story. The brand is smart but not pedantic, environmentally conscious but not condescending, and scientifically valid but simple. So we opted for clean, black-and-white, occasionally sassy, hand-drawn illustrations specific to each product line: suncare, anti-aging, and acne and to the brand itself. I worked with Gershoni, a kickass husband-and-wife branding agency in San Francisco, to really nail the concept and aesthetic of these images that would be part of the visual storytelling on their landing page. So what you see above are some of the compositions I drew to represent the message and the brand. Which, by the way, I am very proud to support. Own Products have zero poisonous chemicals and are incredibly effective based on the worldwide clinical trials they’ve conducted. The people behind this brand are GOOD people, so you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be sporting their products. And lucky for me, they’ll be sporting my work. Oh, and they’re also sporting my big face in the product explanation videos on their site – it turned out that I was a good fit for the illustrations and also as the spokesperson. What?! They were happy with the output but I try to avoid seeing the videos. I let my mom appreciate that kind of thing.

]]> http://sunnibrown.com/2010/09/29/own-products-branding-images-and-visual-storytelling/feed/ 0 http://sunnibrown.com/2010/06/03/pbs-this-emotional-life/ http://sunnibrown.com/2010/06/03/pbs-this-emotional-life/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:08:25 +0000 Sunni http://sunnibrown.com/?p=1378 PBS released a documentary called “This Emotional Life” and I saw it and went to pieces. If I could narrow down one aspect of human education without which we all suffer, it would be the lack of education around emotional intelligence and emotional management. “This Emotional Life” discusses a broad range of the emotional trials and tribulations of being human, but also shows us how sustained happiness isn’t as far out of our reach as we may think. The field of positive psychology – studied by companies such as Zappos – actually gives us tools to shape our states of happiness instead of bumbling around hoping we stumble upon it. It was such a powerful series of films that I sought out the producers and the host, Dr. Dan Gilbert, and requested the documentary transcripts so I could do a “visual series” of the content. After some explanation of what I do and after sharing with them my portfolio – specifically The War of Art piece –  they got excited about the project and decided to be supportive of it. We haven’t yet decided how these visuals could be incorporated into PBS’ campaign around this film, but we’re working on it. What you see above is Page One of many to come. I plan to stitch these visual narratives together, ultimately to create a sort of (digital) graphic novel that summarizes the power of emotional health and how we can get there.

New addition (page 2) is now on the scene. Below.

New addition (page 3) is now on the scene. Below.

Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art left an indelible impression on me (and many others I’m sure), so I decided to memorialize some of the lessons in a visual format. Both visuals were done by hand in one sitting, with calligraphy pens, no white-out and no first-try pencil marks. On occasion I would forget to breathe because I was trying to be so still. The first graphic visualizes principles from the first section of Pressfield’s book about what Resistance is and what forms it can take. The second graphic references how we, as aspiring artists or anything else, can defeat Resistance – by going Pro. I absolutely cherished the process of creating these because the principles are universal and timeless and because we all need a swift kick in the pants from time to time. This is the first of many visual book summaries I plan to do – all of them on books that have meaning and practical application in my life. Enjoy.

How am I supposed to know?

Dangerously close.

As many of you know, Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos) is preoccupied with the pursuit of a little thing called happiness. He studies it, he gives presentations about it, and he successfully incorporates it into Zappos’ best practices for corporate culture. Since I met Tony, Alfred Lin and Brian Kalma at SXSW 2009, I’ve had the privilege of working with Zappos on various visual-thinking-related projects. The latest, what you see above, was a design project to create images for Tony’s forthcoming book, ‘Delivering Happiness.’ The specific graphics above won’t appear in the book – the project had to be handed to another illustrator because I was on my own sadistic book deadline – but they were used as a creative catalyst for the images that will be published. I’ve processed the emotional letdown by shaking my fist at God. I think I’ll be fine – especially after I read a good book on happiness.

So I’m reading a book called Tell Me a Story: Narrative and Intelligence, by Roger C. Schank, as a part of my research for Duarte Design. This is my 2nd book on the power of storytelling and the reality of that power is starting to dawn on me. According to Schank, the virtual entirety of our intelligence is based on our ability to process, synthesize and repurpose the stories we hear throughout our lives. At first I thought that was a pretty bold statement, but it becomes more compelling when you read about what he refers to as “index construction and retrieval” for memories. (It’s that idea that inspired the visual above.) Long story short, when we hear new information, we are constantly comparing it to an internal index – something we’ve already filed away in our memories based on our experiences. And generally speaking, if that new information doesn’t map to our own experiences we tend to dismiss it. But the beauty of telling a good story is that there can be enough “indices” contained within that story to trigger a relational experience with people who may believe they have nothing in common. So the moral of this story (for me) is that we can bring commonalities to the surface by sharing our stories. So, while we may not share backgrounds, religions, beliefs or status, we all share something that can be triggered by a story, because the emotions that underly experience are universal. And THAT, my friend, is powerful stuff indeed.