at issue vol3 no2
TRANSCRIPT
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 1/38
Chrysler Vice Chairman Discusses Design Ethics
Sculpt inga Business Out ofChocolate
Morningstar Applies Designto Financia l Data
— • ; ; • • • -•• -». • — — - — .„. T H E J O U R N A L O F B U S I N E S S & D E S I G N
t i s s u e :H E J O U R N A L O F B U S I N E S S & D E S I G N
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 2/38
©issue:
Volume 3, No.2The Journal ofBusiness and Design.
PublisherCorporate Design FoundationSponsored by Potlatch Corporation
Editor
Delphine Hirasuna
DesignPentagramKit Hinrichs,Design DirectorKaren Berndt, DesignerAnita Luu,Design Assistant
Co ntributing Writers
Delphine HirasunaNoreenO'Leary
Peter Lawrence
Cover Photograph
Michele Clement
M ajor Illustrationan d PhotographyJohn CraigBarry RobinsonStefan S chilling
EditorialAdvisory BoardPeter LawrenceCorporate DesignFoundation
Sara Beckman
Haas Schoolof BusinessUniversity ofCalifornia atBerkeley
Agnes BourneAgnes BourneInc.
Kit HinrichsPentagram
Delphine HirasunaHirasuna Editorial
Peter Laundy
Doblin Group
James PatellGraduate School ofBusinessStanford University
Christopher PullmanWGBH EducationalFoundation
For m ore informa tionCorporate Design Foundation20 Park Plaza, Suite 321Boston, MA 02116
Telephone: 617-350-7097Fax: 617-451-6355E-mail: [email protected]
World W ide Websi te :
ht tp : / /www.cdf .org
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 3/38
I S S U E :
Presenting information is the nuts-and-bolts
of c a s e a t i o n design. It focusesm „ r e on
faci l i ta t ing the understanding of
words and numbers than
on a conscious style. This@ Issue
features two views of information-
driven design, start ing with techniquesused by Morningstar to make complex mutual fund
data accessible. For communicating with travelers, we
look at Diisseldorf Airport's5 1 new direc-_L ,11111^ g
-_ g D S S E L D O R F I 3 | .
tional sigi F ̂ H H e x e c u t i v e
interview, Chrysler Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz
discusses thecompany's design ethics. Remember our
earlier Abstract Painting survey? Turn to page 14 for
reader responses. Our most tantal iz ing s tory is on
Joseph ;jgPL Schmidt and his amazing chocola te
creat ions. Th en learn why
we picked Crayola as our
Business and Design Classic.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 4/38
© I S S U E
C h ry s le r 's R o b e r t A . L u tz o n D e s ig nChrysler Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz talks with Peter
Lawrence, Chairman of Corporate DesignFoundation, about
the role that design has played in changing Chrysler fromthe "perpetual problem child of the autoindus t ry" to Forbes
magazine's 1996 Company of the Year.
A 1994 New York Ti m es p i e c e ,"The
Des igners Who Saved Chrys le r, " c la ims
"design a l c h e m y " t r a n s f o r m e d C h r y s l e rfrom "the baske t case of the au to wor ld to
l eading the r e su rgence o f t h e A m e r ican au to
industry." Was i t just vehicle design that
made the d i ffe rence?
That's only half the story. Also going on
inside Chrysler a t the t ime was a different
sort of design alchemy— and, in fact, i t 's
the th ing tha t made our new produc t
designs and a whole lot e lse possible . I 'mtalking about how we total ly redesigned
our organizat ion at Chrysler.
What was Chrysler l ike
before th e reorganiza t ion?
I t was organized around a very t radi t ional , sequent ial ,
component -based process charac te r ized by ver t i ca l ly
oriented funct ions— or "chimneys," as we l iked to cal l
them. Mos t depar tments were in separa te bu i ld ings ,
l i teral ly insulated by bricks and mortar. Our designersworked pret ty much in a vacuum, conceiving a product
and "throwing i t over the wall" to engineering in the
next bui lding, which would do the same to procure-
Robert Lutz is Vice Chairman ofChrysler Co rporation and amember of the Office of theChairman. H e directs Chrysler'sproduct development activitiesand is involved with all majorcorporate decisions. Of Lutz,Automobile News recentlywrote: "Automotive historiansare likely to regard him as thetowering figure in the Americanautomobile industry in the last
three decades o f the century."Prior to becoming ViceChairman, Lutz was Presidentand Chief Operating Officer,responsible for Chrysler car andtruck operations worldwide.
ment and supply, and down the l ine. This
caused the produc t deve lopment p rocess
to function in a sequential manner with lotsof mis com mu nica t ions , fa lse s tar ts and
waste . There was no s imultaneous contact ,
no exchange of ideas, no trade-offs occur
r ing ear ly in the program.
Did you topple the chimneys at Chrysler?
Ye s , we have replaced them with completely
hor izon ta l , c ross - fun c t iona l "p la t fo rm
team s ." Our en t i re com pany i s now orga
n ized a round in format ion f lows , no tt radi t iona l not ions of funct ion. Dec is ion
trade-offs are concurrent, not sequential,
and made a t the lowes t poss ib le l eve l in
the organization. Our senior managers also
have two dis t inct job t i t les— one funct ional , one cross-
func t iona l . For ins tan ce , the hea d of our Je ep / t ruc k
pla t form team i s v ice p res id en t o f eng inee r ing tech
nologies . This naturalcheck-and-balance sys tem keeps
the focus on the whole, ra ther than on pieces of thewhole. I t is one reason why we're able to achieve not
just "process-driven design" in our organizat ion, but ,
equal ly important in our view, "design-driven proce sses ."
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 5/38
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 6/38
© I S S U E
How has th e new ChryslerTechnology
Ce nter s upp or ted your reorgan iza t ion?
Now des igners , aes the t ic des igners , t echnica l des ign
ers in the form of engineers , procurement and supply
people, key suppliers , f inance, market ing and so for th,
al l work on a vehicle program simultaneously from
incept ion to prototype, through prototype hardware andready-for-volume product ion, a l l in our vir tual ly "wall-
less" Technology Center. Employees are in constant
contact . They can go down an escalator and into the
shops where the veh ic les a re phys ica l ly t ak ing shape .
The y can go from com pute r screen to conferen ce room,
down to v iew the "phys ica l s" wi thout moving more
than 30 yards or so. That has
proven to be of enormous value. As
Wins ton Church i l l once observed ,"We shape our bu i ld ings ; there
after, they shape us."
Does the Chrysler Technology
Center allow m ore interaction
among employees?
The Chrysler Technology Center is
laid out in an open way, with large
atr iums and various levels connect
ed by escalators. It has fast foodplaces and cafeter ias to encourage
intermingling of employees from
various funct ions and discipl ines .
Chance encounters and semi-relevant
conversations often lead to some of
the most creat ive breakthroughs.
A building can greatly facilitate that, or hinder it .
How does Chrysler integrate the use of
design with its corporate strategy and objectives?We keep reminding ourselves that a lmost every vehicle
out there —old, new, big, small , passenger cars , sports
ut i l i ty, roadster, minivan— fulfills the basic trans
portation function, and they all fulfill i t roughly equally
well. Yet people go for the new. They go for the good-
looking veh ic le . Tha t ' s why advance produc t des ign i s
the core of our business s t rategy.
Often we adopt designs that other companies may
compromise . For example , the eng ineers may say thedesign is too difficult to execute; it 's going to add weight
or cost . They ask i f they can move something an inch.
We say, "No, the whole vehicle concept depends on
e r y g o o d
I compan ie si Iwill have the
sam e des ign e th ic
no t on ly in th e i rproducts , but in
every way th a t the y
fac e t he pu blic ."
the integrity of the design. Try to work with it , without
wate r ing i t down."
We also expect the design process to come up with
completely new direct ions for us to go in, such as
f ind ing new ways to in te rpre t t ranspor ta t ion or psy
chological needs. We expect the design ethic , and
not necessar i ly the des igners , to d r ive every th ing .Wasn't the Dodge Viper an example of
Chrysler's design ethics and team approach?
Yes, probably no other car company on earth would have
or could have put this design into production. The origi
nal Viper concept car was first shown at the 1989 Detroit
Auto Show. Response on the auto-show circuit that winter
was so overwhelming for this V-10,
4 0 0 - h o r s e p o w e r t h r o w b a c k t o t h e
or ig ina l She lby Cobra tha t wedecided, what the hel l , le t ' s bui ld
it! Since we were going broke at the
t ime , we figured we might as well
go out with a bang. The Viper street
car went from show car to showroom
in just three years flat. Team Viper,
ma de up of just 85 pe ople, proved
to us there was magic in smal l ,
empowered, co-located teams. It wasthe forerunner of our platform
team approach .
In a speech, I heard you say,
"The customer is not always right."
Could you explain that comment?
At Chrysler, we love our customers
and l is ten to them, but we don' t expect them to do our
cr i t ical creat ive thinking for us . Customers have a
rear-view mirror perspect ive. They can tel l us what theyl ike among designs that are already out there. But
when it comes to the future, why should we expectthem
to be clairvoyant .
For the Dodge Viper, we did absolutely no market
research. That 's not to say we hate research; we con
sider i t a valuabletool—but only for confirm ation .
To come up with great creat ive ide as, you s imply h ave
to have an unfet tered, f ree-f lowing environment . You
can't find those kinds of ideas simply by sifting
through marke t - research da ta .
At Chrysler, we l ike to zig just about th e t ime every
body else is zagging. For instance, just about when
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 7/38
© I S S U E
everyone else was t rying to catch up to modern looks
l ike cab-forward, we decided to go in a completelydif-
ferent direct ion with a concept car cal led the Chrysler
Atlant ic , f i rs t shown at Detroi t Auto Show in 1996.
Could you talk about this most
recent concept car, the Atlantic?
The Atlant ic was Chrysler 's desire to think along newavenues. Historically, automotive design has been linear.
In the t eens , ca rs looked l ike horse less ca r r iages . In
the la te '20s and '30s, they became very boxy, and
in the mid- '30s , they became boxes wi th rounded cor
n e r s . Toward the end of the '30 s, s t ream linin g ca me
in. In the '50s, we got into the "pontoon" shape where
the fenders d i sappeared . Then we
moved more and more toward pure
aerodynamic shapes . Some peoplepredicted, "That 's a road to nowhere,
be cau se if you go for the pure aero
dynamic shape, a l l cars are going
to look the same." That 's as silly as
saying, since fish are all formed
h y d r o - d y n a m i c a l l y, a l l f is h a r e
going to look the same.
However, on the other hand, I
asked the des igners , "What a re wegoing to do when we've run the full
course of more and more modern?"
If you look at other industr ies ,
whether watches, fountain pens or
furni ture, many have successful ly
gone back and picked up great
themes out of his tory and brought them up-to-date using
modern proport ions, mater ials and surfaces to avoid
some of the convolu ted de ta i l tha t we had ba ck then .There is a way to br ing the essence and character of
those designs into the present day. It is a treasure trove,
a mother lode of design ideas that you can reach into
and grab. Needless to say, we are going to exploi t i t .
The new Atlantic pays homage to the heroic look of the
custom coachw ork era of the '20s and '30 s.
At Chrysler, does design excellence
extend beyond the look of the vehicle?
Design is important to everything you communicate
about your product and your busine ss . I t includes design
ethic s such as the appe ara nce of your annual report ,
product catalogs and dealerships. Very good companies
ustomers
have a r ea r-
view m irror
p ers p ec t ive . .. when
it c o m e s t o t h e
fu tu re , we sh ou ldn 't
e xp e c t th e m t o
be c la i rvoy an t ."
will have the same design ethic not only in their
products , but in every way that they face the publ ic ,
whether it 's a web site or the tonality of their advertising.
Even the qual i ty of paper used in the catalog is par t
of conveying a sense of design excel lence. The same is
t rue in the physical workplace faci l i t ies . I t can be
both a manifestation of a company's design ethic and anoutward comm unica t ion of a com pan y's design ethic
and drive for excel lence.
Do you th ink the unders tanding
and use of designis changing in bus iness?
I t cer tainly has changed in our company and, I think,
i t ' s changing in general . Everything has got ten so
competi t ive. For example, oi l com
panies spend cons iderab le
amounts of money and energy ongas s ta t ion des ign . They ' re mak
ing sure that they look accessible
and friendly and not in any way
c laus t rophobic . Near ly a l l bus i
nesses have realized the importance
of product design. But when i t
comes to the importance of adopt
ing a design orientat ion, the way
you design your processes andcorporation and how it looks to the
outside world, I don ' t think that
unders tand ing i s very deep ye t .
It seems that many corporate
senior executives don't feel that
design is important to business
success. Why do you think this is the case?
Most senior execut ives today are the products of the
way our business schools worked 20 or 30 years ago.Anyth ing judgm enta l , a r t i s t i c o r non-quant i f i ab le was
felt to be irrelevant and non-existent. If you can't prove
i t in numbers , then go away and don' t bother me. This
lef t -brain-focused ethic is s t i l l very much with many
sen ior execu t ives . Chrys le r and many o ther companies
are being run by a combinat ion of r ight-brained and
lef t-brained people. Best yet are people who are both
right-brained and lef t -brained, and have that balance
of appreciat ing the ar t is t icnon-quantifiable side of thebus iness whi le respec t ing the numbers . I th ink tha t ' s
the combination that clicks. But it is not yet a prevalent
combina t ion in Am er ican bus in ess .
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 8/38
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 9/38
© I S S U E
D e s ig n in g f o r D a taOne of the hottest financial services companies in the industry,
Morningstar has carved out a strong brand identity for i tself
by emphasizing design in the creation of i ts database products.Attract ive and intel l igent ly designed, the Morningstar "page"
is often asked for by name and lauded for providing useful
information on mutual funds to individual investors.
Joe Mansueto
Founder and C ha i rman
Championing design from the start, founder
Joe Mansueto believes that "good design leads to increased
product demand, which leads to greater profits."
David William s
Des ign Di rec to r
Working with design consultant Philip Burton, David
Williams leadsMorningstar's in-house design team and
closely collaborates with the company's editors.
Back in 1984 , a 27-yea r-o ld f inanc ia l ana lys t in
C h i c a g o n a m e d J o e M a n s u e t o a n t i c i p a t e d t h a t
aging baby boomers, fretting over the possibility of
a bankrupt Social Security system, would seek shelter inthe stock market. "Mutual funds were beginning to grow
strongly, but it was an underservedmarket," Mansue to
r e c a l l s . " P e o p l e n e e d e d r e l i a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n t o m a k e
more intel l igent decis ions. Problem was, a lot of infor
mation on mutual funds was avai lable to inst i tut ional
investors , but nothing for the general publ ic ."
S e n s i n g a n u n t a p p e d o p p o r t u n i t y,
Mansu e to dec ided to t ake ins t i tu t iona l -
qual i ty information and bring i t down toa mass level to the people who were real
ly buying mutual funds. Camping out in
h is one-bedroom apar tment , he s ta r ted a
quar te r ly publ ica t ion ca l led "The Mutua l
Fund Sourcebook" and began bu i ld ing amutual
funds da tabase .
This year tha t bus iness , which Mansue to
nam ed M ornings ta r, expec ts to repor t $ 40
mi l l ion in revenue .Customers have been drawn to the qual i ty and
accessibility of Morningstar 's financial materials,
and M ansue to at t r ibutes m uch of that succe ss toi
the effective use of design. "Creating products that are
intelligently designed, attractive and display information
in a helpful context is a core part of our business," he
says . "Morningstar, at i ts heart, is an information company, so part of the design problem is how to display all
this information in a way that is logical and helps the
user extract greater value from it. We wrestle with many,
many design issues here. Part of my job is to say that
design is important and to get people focusing on it
and to recruit wonderful talent to concentrate
on these i s sues . "
His determinat ion began with a te lephone
cal l to the legendary designer Paul Randin 1989. "After the company was five
years old and we were on a firmer footing,
I thought it was time to improve our design
standards," recal ls Mansueto. "I looked at our
old logo and knew we had to start there. It
seemed diff icul t to inst i tute a high-qual i ty
des ign program wi thout a p roper logo ."
Mansueto had read R and's "A Designer 's Art ,"
and became a fan of the landmark logos thatRand had created for IBM, Cummins, UPS, ABC,
NeXT, among others . He t racked the 75-year-old
Rand down at his Weston, Connect icut home,
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 10/38
I S S U E
and pursued h im wi th le t t e r s and phone ca l l s , f ina l ly
f lying to Connect icut to meet with him in person. After
hear ing Mansue to ' s reques t , Rand rep l ied , " I ' l l work
on i t and let you know when I 'm done." Four months
later, Rand sent Mansueto the f inished piece. Although
R a n d ' s d e s i g n f e e w a s $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 , a s i g n i f i c a n t s u m
for a company then r ing ing up sa les o f $1-2 mi l l ion ,Mansu eto cal ls the logo "one of our most valuable a ssets .
Pau l Rand . Tha t ' s where our des ign program began ."
C o n c e r n e d t h a t " s o m e h a c k " w o u l d d e v a l u e t h e
effect iveness of his logo, Rand, an avowed curmudgeon
w h o d i e d i n 1 9 9 7 , i n t r o d u c e d M a n s u e t o t o P h i l i p
Burton, te l l ing him that with Phi l he 'd be in good hands.
Burton, who Rand had taught with at Yale, had s tudied
in the Swiss school of typography. Thanks to that back
ground, Burton is the kind of designer who enjoys puzzlingout the nuances of com
plex information problems.
Morningstar had a vexing
one: the redesign of the
company's core product ,
" the page " - a dense , con
stant ly updated sheet of
data , graphs, charts and
analysis for a given mutual
fund. Burton, an associate
professor of graphic design
at the University of Illinois
at Chicago, agreed to
work with Morningstar as
7 e absolute
need is to
know th e con
te n t , not jus t
to design in anaesthetically
pleasing way."
a design consul tant , which he cont inues to do.
"When I f i rs t saw the page, I said,'This is a cata
strophe, '" recal ls Burton. "You can ' t have a page with
type in all caps, with different point sizes, with differ
ent weights . Information design is not the kind of thing
people find flashy. It 's dealing with lots of data. The
job is to make things clear."
In tackl ing the project , Burton needed a l ike-minded
assoc ia te on s ta ff a t Morn ings ta r. He in t roduced
Mansueto to David Wil l iams, a designer for the Museum
of Contemporary Ar t in Chicago who had been a
student of his a t Yale. Wil l iams was hired as the com
pany ' s des ign d i rec tor.
"We star ted out saying,'There's a t remendou s t ruck-
load of stuff on this page, '" Williams remembers. "We
had to look at what groups of data exis ted. What should
M ailing EnvelopeSold through subscriptions not in retailstores, Morningstar software productsare mailed to custom ers in utilitariankraft envelopes, branded with thecorporate logo and custom-designedicons used in the product.
Principia™ MaterialsLogo, color and typefaceconnect these reference
materials to Morningstar,with a simple bitmapped
arrow suggesting theproduct's technology.
Principia is a so phisticatedsoftware product devel
oped for professionalfinancial planners.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 11/38
© I S S U E :
Color-Coding SystemsMany customers subscribe to multipledatabase products, each coveringdifferent types of funds. Color-codingenables them to identify the databasethey want w ithout reading the labels.
M agazine AdvertisingMorningstar comm unicates its
corporate identity in this adthrough the use of its signature
red, the logo and the easy-to-understand tone of the text.
Corpora te Ident i ty Program
Morningstar has been thorough and consis
tent in applying its corporate identity to
every communications medium. Whether a
CD product, packaging, a magazine ad or
promotional i tem, there is a familiar
"Morningstar look" that the public has come
to recognize. While sophisticated andcontemporary, the Morningstar image is kept
clean, simple and approachable to reassure
customers that i ts information-intensive
products are user-friendly.
EmployeeT-Shirts
Logo T-shirts and coffeemugs are given to
employees to helppromote camaraderie.Employees often wearthe T-shirts to investor
conferences and seminarso broadcast Morningstar's
presence.
Systems within the SystemMorningstar's identity
system allows for subsystems for each product
line. StockTools™materials,for instance, have their
own design identity, whilestill giving prominence to
the Morningstar name
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 12/38
I S S U E
QuantitativeD ata Tables
This timelinepresents six types of
data about eachfund in a single graph,
including historicalinvestment style,
average stock percentage, performance
growth, benchmarkgrowth, management
change informationand performance
within its category
C I
Category RatingThis gauge shows
how a fund israted within its peer
group of funds overa three-year period.
TypographicStyling © ~A standardized
system of rules,fonts, type sizes and
weights divide andarticulate levels of
data and informationon The Page. Thissystem influences
the typographicdecisions on other
Morningstar products.
The Morningstar RatingMorningstar's proprietary rating systemsgraphically provide at-
a-glance analyses. Thehistorical riskvs. returnperformance of a fundis rated with stars.
The Page
Designers at Morningstar have spent countless
hours analyzing ways to compress voluminous
amounts of information onto a single page in a
clear and accessible manner. A model for the
industry, the Morningstar Page integrates numerous
graphic devices to give investorsat-a-glance infor
mation about the performance of afund. To keepthe layout clean and open, gratuitous design styling
is absent; every graphic element contributesvalu
able information to the reader.
T Manager ChangeV Prtl Manager Change• Mgr U nknown A fter-* Mgr Unknown Before
Management StatusArrow symbols repre
sent four differenttypes of managementchange. They areplaced on the performance graph so readers can note whetherthe change had animpact on growth.
Style BoxMorningstar presidentDon Phillips providedthe idea for thisnine-unit grid, whichshows a fund's trueinvestment style basedon how its portfoliobreaks down.
Patented B inder D esignMorningstarengaged an industrial design firm to develop a binder
that could handle more than a thousand pages of information. Thefirst true binder innovation since 1913, the Morningstar binder lies flat
when open and closes easily without having to be shaken to shut properly
10
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 13/38
sit next to one another. How type drives
layers of information. How layers of
information drive the problem."
But unl ike other more visual ly dr iven
designers , Wil l iams and Burton found
they had to col laborate closely with the
Morningstar edi tors who developed the
content of the page.
"Much of our design understanding of
the information comes from discussion
with our editors about the meaning of rela
tionships between data," Williams says.
"If edi tors and designers are doing their
j o b , this information is displayed in a way
that is intui t ive and easy to understand.
There is a logic to its sequence that,
hopeful ly, the user understands."
The designers stripped away existing
heavy black rules that gave the
information a caged, cramped look.
They wanted the consistency of a single
typeface and set out to find one with all
the weights and s tyles necessary. The
font also had to possess a good, clear set
of numerals . Serif numbers weren ' t r ightfor this kind of data, Burton and Williams
agreed. They didn't want to mix up a sans
serif face with serif numbers either. They
finally selectedUnivers , a typeface "that embodies a lot
of integrity because in the 1957 original, designer Adrian
Frutiger created 21 versions of the type," Burton says.
"T he amo unt of da ta in f luen ces po in t s iz e , " he
explains . "I t r ied to use as large a type s ize as I could
without squeezing the type onto the page. You need tohave enough air and weight on the page to read. Rules ,
and how you use them, are dictated by the nature of
the information. Serif versus sans ser i f type, rag versus
just i f ied columns? You use what 's best to resolve the
problem. The only one absolute is you have to know
the prob lem ins ide ou t . "
Eventual ly, the typographic handling of the data
has come to defineMorningstar's corporate image. In
addit ion, the company has incorporated user-fr iendlydetai ls l ike a s tar-rat ing system and pictograms.
"We try to present the information in formats that
are appropriate for the type of information," Wil l iams
© I S S U E :
Legendary designer Paul Randfilled a notebook with sketchesbefore arriving at the final design.O Struggling with the length and
compound words in Morningstar,Rand condensed the letters tomake the signature appear shorter,
but found it lacked a memorablevisual device.
O Substituting the letter 0with a star gave the name somemnem onic value, but looked"trite" to Rand.
QA single round 0 betweencondensed letters seemed more
natural, but lacked "surprise."O Trimming the base of the 0made the name visually compellingan d suggested a rising sun.
says . "Tha t means no t obscur ing what
the data is t rying to say with a meaning
less i l lus t ra t ion or an in app ropr ia te
graph such as one of those 3-D doughnut
graphs. We try to be as clear, appro
priate and to the point as possible . That
goes for the overall layout of a spread
and the presen ta t io n of in format ion in
t h e s e q u e n c e t h a t r e a d e r s i n t u i t i v e l y
want to receive i t ."
The "page" became compel l ing proof
that design could be a powerful point
of difference for Morningstar. "It may
be hard to appreciate the t rue beauty of
our page until you actually use it to
se lec t a mutua l fund ," says Mansue to .
"Try picking a fund using i t and then
try picking a fund without it . You'll see
a huge difference. I t ' s a wonderful
example of s t rong design."
The page 's t ransformation also became
a ra l ly ing c ry a round the company.
Mansueto upgraded the look of the rest
of the busines s 's packagin g, ma rket ing
mater ials , inter iors , internal forms, evencoffee cups. Turning to the industr ia l
des ign f i rm Fi tch , Morn ings ta r des ign
manager Robert Soto also set out to
crea te a spec ia l b inder to accommodate the more than
1,000 pages offered by the company. With such a large
volume of sheets , t radi t ional three-r ing binders wouldn ' t
lie flat and it was cumbersome to read and flip through
t h e p a g e s . I n a d d i t i o n , w h e n p l a c i n g t h e b i n d e r b a c k
on the shelf, cus tomers found tha t they f i r s t had tohold i t up and shake vigorously to get the pages in
al ignment . Fi tch 's design received the f i rs t new binder
patent s ince the or iginal was created in 1913. "I appre
c ia te tha t i t l i e s f l a t and a l l tha t , " remarks Bur ton ,
"bu t i t a l so sends a message about the company wi th
regard to its concern for design."
Last fal l , Morningstar began work on i ts web s i te .
As wi th the "page ," the p rob lem requi red a def t ba l
ance between diverse elements l ike data , news, featuresand user cha t a reas . Web technology added fur ther
chal lenges affect ing navigat ional ease and user-fr iendly
interact ivi ty. The s i te , launched in February, quickly
n
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 14/38
I S S U E :
became one of the most popular f inancial service dest i
nat ions on the Web. Mansueto at t r ibutes that success to
the way the des ign process has evo lved a t Morn ings ta r
and how i t has been integrated into the company's edi
to r ia l , marke t ing and bus iness p rac t ices .
"David [Wi l l i ams] and h i s des ign team were thor
oughly involved in our web si te 's development fromthe in i t i a l deve lopment mee t ings . I t made a hugedif-
fe rence ," Mansue to says . "Des ign has made
large contr ibut ion in terms of how our s i te is
s t ructured, how the information is grouped
and the nav iga t iona l scheme. We 'd l ike to
extend this type of design involvement more
throughout the company."
"The absolute need is to know the content , not to just
design in an aesthetic ally pleasin g way," W illiams conc urs.
Tha t e ffec t ive pack agin g of con te n t and v i s ua l s
h a s h e l p e d m a k e M o r n i n g s t a r o n e of t h e h o t t e s t
companies in the f inancial services industry. "The
brand that has emerged as dominant in the 1990s is not
Fidel i ty, Putnam or even Merri l l Lynch— but ins tead
i s M o r n i n g s t a r, " s t a te s a r e c e n t B e r n s t e i n R e s e a r c h
report . " Eq uity fund s ra ted with four or f ive s tars by
Mornings ta r have rece ived 80 -1 00 % of a l l ne t (mutua l
fund cash) inf lows. . . the brand name that t ruly inf luences behavior i s Morn ings ta r. "
Such pra i se i s a handsome payout on the gamble
Mansue to made when he f i r s t es tab l i shed des ign as a
hig h priori ty at the fledgling c om pany .
"In our industry, with the kind of look we are fostering,
there was a lways the r i sk we might be perce ived as
looking flip and immature by deviating from the typically
ins t i tu t iona l way of do ing th ings , " he acknowledges .
"But I th ink there ' s a ce r ta in cache t to tha t . I l ike the
a u r a — i t 's l ike that of a young Silicon Valley company.
Design has allowed us to stand out; to look different and
show that difference boldly. That f resh look ref lects
our fresh way of doing business , whether i t ' s design or
our approach to methodology.
" I ' v e a l w a y s l i k e d c o m p a n i e s l i k e S t a r b u c k s , N i k e
and Espri t , which developed a s t rong sense of design,"
he adds . " I t makes them spec ia l in the way they repre
sent themselves to the world, and it has paid off, whether
th roug h per son a l use r sa t i s fac t ion or in bo t tom - l ine
resul ts . Design has been a huge part of our success . I t ' s
given us our dis t inct ive edge over the competi t ion."
Electronic Program
With nearly 8,500 mutual funds to report on today, Morningstar
is increasingly turning to electronic media to deliver its database
products. A single CD can hold hundreds of pages of reports, and
the World Wide Web enables ongoing updates and immediate
customer access. Popular graphic rating devices, icons, title bars,
and even a l icensed type font were adapted from The Page for
the electronic media, so that customerswould fee l "a t home" on- l ine or
in print format.
www.morningstar.net Recently M orningstar has gone onthe World Wide Web. In addition tomutual fund data, the site includesdaily feature articles, financialnewsand a bulletin board social area.
NewsletterDesigned as a self-mailer, thisnewsletter is sent quarterly toMorningstar Principia™ subscribers.Regular helpful tips reinforce thecompany's service-oriented ima ge.
12
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 15/38
© I S S U E
Ascent™ Packaging SystemRecognizing that individuals are used to buyingsoftware in stores,Morningstar took a retailpackaging approach forAscent, a software productdesigned to help personalinvestors select andanalyze mutual funds. Principia
ManualsProminently branded
with the Morningstarlogo, Principia user manuals
are kept simple and to-the-point inside.
l • .EpSis.*r
i
>
• tilAscen t Portfolio AnalyzerDesigners planned screen "spreads"so that pertinent informationis shown together. Here, portfolioholdings are listed at left, with
composition by asset class displayed in a colorful pie-chart
Morningstar designers, working withprogrammers, developed the entireuser interface, including these icons.The icons were rendered in blackand white on a yellow checkerboardto keep from competing with theprogram graphics.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 16/38
I S S U E
Vi s u a lM e t a p h o r s :R e s u l t so fP a in t in g S u rv e yNearly700 people responded to "The Languageof Visual Metaphors" exercise (Volume2, No. 2),
which invited readersto pick the abstract painting that best matched their viewson fourquestions. Readers readily turnedthe paintingsinto metaphorsfor real things and attached
emotionaland intellectual valuesto them. Froma communications perspective, this exercisedemonstrates that readers form opinions abouta company and its philosophy basedon seemingly intangible visual qualities.It shows thatdesign, even without pictures, needsto be visually
consistent withthe image a company wantstoconvey. This spread presentsa compilationof
responses, along witha sampling of comments.The study was originally developedby Dr.
Angela Dumas, directorof research at the DesignCouncil in the UK and senior associate of the
Judge Instituteof Management Studies at the
Universityof Cambridge.
IYou have three job offers,onefrom eachof these companies.Which one do you choosetoworkfor, and why?
O Picasso O Mondrian Kandinsky
C o m m e n t s a b o u t C h o i c eA (Picasso)
"Seems to be a nice
balance between the rigid
rules and structure of B
and the chaos of C."
"The company appearsstable, but willing
to take risks. Not overlyflamboyant but not afraid to
toot their horn."
"I t wouldbe
re f resh ingto work for C.
A is too dark;B is too r igid."
"Looks more intuitive,
a more open environment
and encouraging
of creative thinking."
"Very dynamic.F u n , nice environment.
They are lookingfor
somebody very creativewholikes to work a lot."
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 17/38
© I S S U E
9ow imagine that each of the
paintings represents a different airline. Which one do youchoose to flywith, and why? 3
O Picasso O Mondrian Kandinsky
C o m m e n ts a bo u t C h o i c e B (M o n d r ia n )
"More conserva t ive ,
follows rules. I 'd trust i t with
my l i fe . "
"As George Carlinsays, "I dont want to be
on a non-stop flight.I want to land som e day."
B suggests order,safety. It even looks like an
airport from above.'"
"Order and efficiency; you
don't need your
plane to be creative, you
need it not to crash."
"Very safe, organizedfeel. Your reservations
would not be
mixed up; your luggage
would arr ive and
you would not crash into
other p lanes ."
Which picture representsthe organization youactually do work for?
O Picasso O Mondrian Kandinsky
Comment s abou t Cho ice A (P icas so )
"A lot of room to
move and try ideas, but
with limitations.
Not as adventurous as C."
"Good organization
but moody."
Comment s abou t Cho ice B (Mondr i an )
"Corporate; no room
for breaking out of the box,
no ne w ideas , s t ruc tured ."
"Rigid, conservative,limited color palette, color
within the lines,one route througho ut the
maze, strict hierarchy,heavy-handed."
"Ever changing,
fun but sometimes a little
vague and confusing."
"Too busy an d no t o rga n ized ,
but s t i l l seems to work."
4magine each of the paintingsrepresents a candidate fo rPresident of the U.S. Whichwould you vote for, and why?
O Picasso O Mondrian Kandinsky
Comment s abou t Cho ice A (P icas so )
"Structured, but s t i l l
loose enough to try new
things , take chances ."
"Organized but
not too conservative/'
"I wou ld vote for A.
I like the positions of C,but they dont stand a
chance in getting elected.
Comment s abou t Cho ice B (Mondr i an )
"Firm foundat ion,
solid belief system.
"Not th e m os t c o lo r fu l
or f lam boyan t , bu tI know
exact ly what I 've got ."
"Offers hope and optimism."
"Free th inking , c rea t ive ,
t akes chances . "
"Cap able of surviving ina chaotic political jungle."
15
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 18/38
I S S U E
Joseph SchmidtCo-Founder and PartnerJoseph Schmidt em igrated to the U.S. inthe '60s and worked as a pastry chef untilhe found his special talent sculpting anddeveloping new techniques in chocolate.
Throughout the world, there are hundreds of
thousands of ta lented craf t people, but few eversucceed in tak ing the i r bus iness na t iona l , espe
c ia l ly wi thout compromis ing the in tegr i ty of the i r
product . Even fewer succeed in es tab l i sh ing a d i s t inc t
brand identi ty for themselves within a f ield of leg
endary g loba l compet i to rs .
Joseph Schmidt Confect ions, based in San Francisco,
is one of those rare exceptions. Since the chocolate
company was founded in 1983, i t has developed into a
mult imil l ion-dollar enterprise, growing steadi ly at 15-2 0 % a year. Today i t produces two mil l ion pounds of
chocolate confect ions annually for 7,000 nat ional retai l
and inst i tut ional accounts , and i t wil l soon move into a
new 95,000-square-feet manufacturing faci l i ty.
What makes Joseph Schmidt products so special is
that they look unlike any premium chocolate avai lable.
Attract ive and irresis t ible , each piece is sculpted, mold
ed and hand-colored by the confect ioner into an edible
work of ar t . Pack aged in exquisi te hand-cra fted boxes,
des igned by Audrey Ryan , the products communica te
exceptional value, even before the f i rs t bi te . Li t t le won
der that gourmet shops and f ine department s tores such
as Neiman Marcus, Macy's andSak's Fifth Avenue have
been drawn to Joseph Schmidt chocolates. Not only are
Schmidt products equal to thefinest Belgian chocolates ,
they present beautifully in catalogs and retail settings.
Customers covet the chocolates as objects, and are oftentorn between displaying them and devouring them.
Within an industry known for following century-old chocolate traditions, Joseph Schmidt Confections is a maverick. From his signatureegg-shaped truffles to his colorful Tiffany-inspired chocolate tulips,Schmidt has literally reshaped the way people think of gourmet
16
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 19/38
© I S S U E :
But making des ign the brand s igna ture fo r Schmidt
confect ions ini t ia l ly wasn ' t a conscious decis ion. In
fact , the idea of special iz ing in chocolates wasn ' t par t
of the or iginal plan ei ther. When Schmidt and Ryan
left their pastry chef job s to s tar t a "co t ta ge " bu sin ess
in the i r home k i tchen , they wanted to bake European-
style pastr ies l ike pet i t fours that were hard to f ind in
the U.S and sel l them to local gourmet shops. As an
after thought , they added Belgian chocolate t ruff les to
round out their select ion. The runaway success of their
t ruff les , which at t ractedNeiman Marcus ' a t t en t ion ,
and the fact that the oven temperature made i t impos
sible to make chocolates and pastr ies in the same room
forced the decis ion to go with their s t rongest product .
Interestingly, Ryan was the one with formal chocolate
training, but it was Schmidt who fell in love with themedium. Unfamil iar with chocolate t radi t ions, he exper-
Audrey Ryan
Co-Founder and Par tner
Trained in confections and chocolates in
Europe, Audrey Ryan met her future partner
while w orking at a local pastry shop. Today she
designs and develops the firm's packaging.
imented freely. "I n Europe, everyone learns from a
master and fol lows i t l ike a bible ," he says. "By not
having any [chocolate] t ra ining, I didn ' t have any
restr ic t ions over what I could and couldn ' t do." Ignoring
the fact that the European truffle is basically a lump of
chocolate with cocoa modeled af ter the French mush
room truff le , Schmidt decided that the American public
would accept a different look."Americans say, 'Show
me something beautiful and I ' l l try it . ' I figured an egg
would be a very natural , beaut iful shape."
I t was but "w e didn ' t have any packaging for thetruff les so Jos eph s tar te d developin g the se wonderful
chocolates by turning each piece into a visual work of art. Usingproduct and packaging design to establish brand distinction, the14-year-old firm is producing sales of more than $10 million thisyear and is ranked among the premiere chocolatiers in the world.
17
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 20/38
I S S U E :
bowls out of chocolate ," says Ryan. Working with dark,
milk and white chocolates and food dyes, Schmidt cre
ated colorful lotus-flower-shaped bowls that were as
smooth and de l ica te as porce la in . Beaut i fu l and
intr iguing, the edible bowls caused shoppers to s top in
their t racks. The local sweet shop that was coaxed into
taking a few on consignment came back for s ix dozen
more the next day and 20 dozen soon af ter. "Ini t ia l ly,
we needed something to hold the product , but the boxes
became conversa t ion p ieces s t imula t ing word-of -mouth
s a l e s , " Schmidt expla ins . His ear ly exper iments wi th
bowls also gave him the opportuni ty to discover the
mal leab le qua l i t i es o f chocola te ."Chocolate is the
most fun material in the food business," he says. "I t
gets soft quickly, you play with it , and in a
few minutes, i t ' s hard as a rock." Like akid turned loose in a chocolate factory,
Schmidt le t his imaginat ion soar. He used
molds to make turkeys , Santas , NutcrackerJ
so ld ie rs and honey bears , a i r b rush ing and
hand-paint ing them so that they look more l ike toy f ig
ures than food. He created tul ip cups and swan bowls
and sculpted mult icolored f lowers and butterf l ies .
Working on a grander sca le , he des igned e labora te
l i fe-size exhibi ts , sculpt ing whole vi l lages, f lowers and
t r e e s , objec ts and people , ou t o f up to 10 ,000 pounds
of chocolate . Exhibi ted as ar twork in such places as the
American Crafts Museum in
Hand-Painted BoxesCharming hand-painted and hand-crafted boxesensure that Joseph Schmidt products stand outfrom competitors in a retail environment and communicate premium value. Designed by AudreyRyan, the boxes are individually painted andassembled by artisans in various parts of the world.
18
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 21/38
@ S S U E :
creat ions have at t racted global media at tent ion as well
as special commissions for events honoring digni tar ies
ranging from Nelson Mandela to the Queen of
England . Ongoing media in te res t , pa r t i cu la r ly a round
holidays and Valent ine 's Day, has garnere d Jos eph
Schmidt enough publici ty to forego any advert is ing.
But the "profit is not in the ar t ," Schmidt admits .
"You need a 'razor blade, ' something you can sel l a lot
of . Something smaller that you can t rain other people to
make. Then you can do magnif icent pieces to enhance
and make a name for your-
S c h m i d t ' s "razor blade" is the t ruff le , of which the
company produced 14 mil l ion large-size t ruff les last
year. More recent ly, the fi rm introdu ced Sl ick s, a f la t,
cream-fi l led medal l ion decorated with swir ls of color.
Schmidt and Ryan also recognized that their s t rengths
were on the creative side of the product and brought in
two business partners— an industr ia l manufacturing
engineer formerly from Nest le 's restaurant divis ion and
a former sales execut ive from Godiva Chocolates . While
they run the business s ide, Schmidt and Ryan focus
on the side they like most."We wanted to be
able to control the growth and s t i l l have
fun with what we are doing," Ryan explains.
"Basically we were always in the kitchen, playing around.
We didn't want to be bothered with all the marketing."
Whi le Schmidt cons tan t ly exper iments wi th new
chocola te ideas , Ryan has been equa l ly busy des ign ing
19
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 22/38
S S U E
The Art of Chocola te
There is virtually nothing that
Joseph Schmidt can' t make entirely
out of chocolate. Blending food
dyes into white chocolate, he
sculpts a delightfulbou
quet of tulips. His choco
late boxes, made to hold
smaller chocolate pieces, come in
every form, including stars
and vegetables.
The SevenSeasons of C hocolateTo keep products freshand encourage retailstores to display themyear-around, JosephSchmidt produces sevenseasonal lines a year.
20
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 23/38
C D
C/)
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 24/38
Volume 3, No. 2, Fall 1997
2Chrysler Vice Chairman Robert Lutzon Design
Robert Lutz talks about how design pulled
Chrysler out of the doldrums and turned the auto
maker into the industry trendsetter.
6Designing for Data
Morningstar proves that even when it
comes to straight financial data,
good design can contribute to success.
14Visual Metaphors: Results of Painting Survey
In a previous@lssue, we asked readers to look
upon three abstract paintings as visual
metaphors. Their responses were intriguing.
16Chocolate: Sweet Success
Joseph Schmidt Confections molds a name
for itself among legendary chocolatiers
by using design to differentiate its products.
24Alphabet Soup
Test your brand literacy by taking this alphabet
quiz made up of corporate logotypes.
26Communicatingon the Fly
In the aftermath of a deadly fire, Dusseldorf .ji
Airport overhauls its signage system and /
updates its visual identity. \
32Business and D esign Classic
Probably the first brand name many youngsters
learn, Crayola is viewed fondly worldwide.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 25/38
© I S S U E
Commissioned ProductsMany companies commission
Joseph Schmidt to producespecial products for their own
retail and catalog sales. Thestar (left) was made for
Starbucks; these dinosaursfor The Nature Company,
and Mickey Mouse (below)for Disney.
M olded C hocolatesJoseph Schmidt exhibits his true artistry through theamazing detail in his molded chocolate figures. Eachchocolate color is applied in reverse to the mold andallowed to harden before the next color is added.
21
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 26/38
@ S S U E
and deve lop ing the packaging . One reason they dec id
ed to c rea te hand-cra f ted packaging was because some
of the del icate chocolate designs didn ' t t ravel wel l .
"[Retai lers] a l l wanted the ar t pieces but we couldn ' t
ship them. So, we tried to put some of the artwork of
the chocola te in to the package ," Ryan expla ins .
Today Ryan's hand-made, hand-painted boxes, pro
duced in India , the Phi l ippines and Mexico, are as
sought af ter as the candies inside. On promotional tours ,
Ryan is often asked to autograph the boxes,
which are becoming col lect ibles in them
selves. The company's brand ident i ty is now
as much in the boxes as they are in the products . Here
again, they broke away from European chocolate tradi
tions. "In Europe, i t is the opposi te extreme," says Ryan.
"They don' t want to have different boxes. They feelcomfortable having the same box for 20 years because
it gives their product an identity."
Wi th Joseph Schmidt Confec t ions , re ta i l e r s a re
drawn to the visual exci tement of constant ly changing
decora t ive boxes . "They l ike us because our p roduc ts
decora te the s to re , " says Schmidt . "Sa les a re fan tas t i c .
S tores depend on us to genera te sa les . "
Ryan adds, "We bring larger segments into the s tores
dur ing the ho l idays . When we s ta r ted ou t , maybe they
would give us one shelf and a case. That has evolved
into s ix cases . Over t ime, they have come to recognize
our s t reng th ."
Because of this , Ryan says that a lot of s tores have
asked for products ear l ier. "They want us to br ing
Chris tmas in in September, but we don' t want our
chocolate produ cts around that long ." To ma intain year-
around sales and retai l vis ibi l i ty, Joseph Schmidtdevelops packaging and products around seven seasonal
Com m ercial Products
Our "bread-and-butter line" is how Ryan
describes their commercial products. "We have
to have something for sale that can be manufac
tured." Less fragile than some of Schmidt's
sculpted chocolates, the pieces are
designed to fit inmass
produced boxes that
can be shipped
easily.
TruffleBarsThese individuallywrapped truffle bars aredesigned to fit into acountertop display orbe packaged as a setof five in a book-style
gift box.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 27/38
© I S S U E
themes, including summer, Father 's Day and
Mother's Day. Intermixed with these hand-
p made seasonal packages are commercial ly
manufactured boxes. Designed by Barbara Mulhauser,
these boxes have also won packaging awards.
Al though Joseph Schmidt Confec t ions has been
profi table from day-one, Ryan and Schmidt say that i t
took the bet ter par t of ten years to win the complete
confiden ce of retai l custom ers."We had to develop a
track record, prove that we are always on t ime, a lways
del ivering. I f they want to double the business , we can
match i t , wi th no d i sas te r s , " Schmidt says .
"In the past, we had to fight to get them to increase
their budget, to keep us in stock during the holidays
when people purchase. If they sold out of our product in
one week, that was it . They hadn't budgeted to buy more.What is happening now is that they are allocating money
for our company and building us into their budget."
Although Schmidt and Ryan recognize that visual
appeal has played a large role in their market success ,
they emphasize that the qual i ty has to be in the product
as wel l . " I use the bes t ingred ien ts poss ib le , " Schmidt
says . "I t is very disappoint ing to see beaut iful food
and f ind i t tas tes terr ible . Then i t is doubly disappoint
ing. I don ' t want to disappoint people."
Schmidt and Ryan are also determined not to lose
sight of the reasons they began their business . "Money
isn ' t the dr iver," says Schmidt .
"The love i s there fo r the p roduc t , " Ryan adds .
"We didn ' t s tar t out to bui ld a business , but to have
fun with what we are doing." For them, the
fac t tha t Joseph Schmidt Confec t ions hasg*
t u r n e d i n to a p h e n o m e n a l c o m m e r c i a lsucc ess i s jus t the i c ing on the i r c ake .
Signature Truffles"Truffles pay the bills,"saysSchmidt While designed formassproduction, the truffles are filledwith different flavored creams anddecorated in many styles and colorsto give customers a visual treat.
SlicksTo suggest a hand-painted look, eachcream-filled Slick features a colored designon top. The flat medallions stack easily in theboxes, designed byBarbara Mulhauser. TheSlick flavors found oneach layer are namedon the side of the box.
23
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 28/38
I S S U E
Alphabe t SOUP You don't always need to see the whole
word to recognize the name of the brand. One letter will do. Used
effectively, a distinctive logotype becomes the corporate signature.
That is why many companies commission the design of a unique
typeface, or wordmark,that incorporates clues to their line of
business or operating philosophy. Other companies have adopted
" H 1 I N 3 Z V 0 IA A X O U 3 X ' 3 S fl 0 H 0 N I 1 S 3 M N I O H I A ' y 3 A 3 1 I N n ' V M ± ' S d V 3 S ' S y 3 ± n 3 U ' M 3 I U d 3 d ' 0 3 d O ' V S V N ' 9 V 1 A V W ' 0 0 3 1
24
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 29/38
© I S S U E
3 1 0 H I 3 ' N O S I M H O r "8 N O S N H O f' IAI 9I ' N N I A V O I I O H ' y V 3 A 0 O 0 9 ' 3 N 0 1 S 3 y i d' N 3 11 V N V H 1 3 ' 1 H O ' S a f l O 0 9 V 3 I H 3 ' S y V T 1 1 V 8 ' l a n v
2 5
an off-the-shelf typeface that they have made their own through
the use of designated corporate colors, upper or lower case styling,
condensed or expanded leading and other techniques. As with any
branding tool , a logotype must be used consistently and frequentlyto work. Test your familiarity with some of the best-known logotypes
by naming the brand that goes with each letter in this alphabet.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 30/38
© I S S U E
C o m m u n i c a t i n go n t h e F lyFollowing a devastating fire, Germany's Diisseldorf airport
urgently needed a clear, easy-to-read signage system. Traveler
safety and ease of movement were key considerations, alongwith establishing a distinct identity for the airport .
The worst a i rport f i re in German his tory
occurred on Apri l 11,1 996 , when f lames
broke out in the busy D iisseldorf airport,
quickly f i l l ing the terminal with acr id, toxic
smoke. Travelers f rant ical ly looked for exi t
s igns . In the ensu ing chaos , 17 people d ied
and 150 were in jured .
A spokesman for the Diisseldorf f i re
brigade, quoted in European news accounts ,blamed the high number of casual t ies on
passengers "ignoring" emergency exit signs.
For a i rpor t management , hav ing the s ig
nage s ingled out as a contr ibutor to the
d i s a s t e r u n d e r s c o r e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f
main ta in ing a c lea r communica t ions sys
tem in a crowded, publ ic space. Prior to the f i re , s ignage
at Diisseldorf had become a clutter of airline logos and
retai l and service ads, with direct ional s igns lost in thecacophony. "After our fire disaster, we knew we needed
to make bet ter s ignage and we needed to show passen
gers that Diisseldorf was making a fresh start," saysOlaf
Ebbrecht , a s t rategic planner at the airport ."We wanted
to create an image that shows that we are creat ing some
thing new and bet ter than our former days."
To do so, Diisseldo rf a irport man age m ent tu rned to
MetaDesign in Berl in . Founded by renowned typographer
E r i k S p i e k e r m a n n , M e t a D e s i g n i s G e r m a n y ' s l a rg e s t
des i gn fi rm and i s fas t deve lop in g an in te rn a t ion a l
reputat ion for i ts process-driven systems design. I t was
ear l i e r commiss ioned to deve lop the new graphic s tan-
Old S i g n a g e S y s t e m
Dusseldorf airport's oldsignage system presentedairline logos together withimportant directionalinformation. In addition tothe visual distraction ofthe different logos, thesedeparture signs showedarrows pointing in oppositedirections, leaving passengers to ponder whichway to go.
dards for the complex public t ransportat ion
system in reunif ied Berl in .
Dusseldorf a i r p o r t m a n a g e m e n t f ir s t
l o o k e d t o M e t a D e s i g n t o d e v e l o p t e m p o
rary s ignage so the a i rpor t cou ld kee p
operat ing. In fact , just days af ter the f i re ,
the airport reopened in makeshift tents and
hangars , while workmen began reconstruct
ing damaged parts of the terminal . Witht h e s u m m e r h o l i d a y s e a s o n a p p r o a c h i n g ,
G e r m a n y ' s l a rg e s t c h a r t e r a i r p o r t i n
the Ruhr Val ley would soon see tour i s t
t raff ic swell f rom around 20,000 a day
to 70 ,000 . MetaDes ign had s ix weeks to
implement a s ignage sys tem.
I t s i m m e d i a t e a s s i g n m e n t w a s t o c r e a t e s i g n a g e
tha t would be usab le in the t emporary quar te r s and
then in the bui lding corr idors as the terminal gradua l ly reopened . MetaDes ign had to keep in mind tha t
the in te r im sys tem would be the bas i s fo r permanent
signage, once i t was decided whether to upgrade the old
terminal or bui ld a new one.
Another cons idera t ion was the compet i t ive env i ron
ment b rought on by deregula t ion of Eu rope ' s a i r l ine
industry. Dusseldorf airport was beginning to compete
with airports l ike Frankfurt , 300 ki lometers (187 miles)
away, and Amsterdam, just 250 ki lometers (156 miles)
away. Unti l recent ly, most German airports had shared
similar '70s archi tecture, and the same inter ior and s ig
nage color palet te . But eight years ago, Munich opened
26
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 31/38
IflSIKiMflgMfiJI
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 32/38
© I S S U E :
a new airport, with a lighter,open-space plan featur ing
lo t s o f g lass and s tee l . I t a l so broke f rom the pack
with s igns in white type on a l ight blue background,
a key ident i ty element . Other German airports fol lowed
su i t . S tu t tgar t in i t i a ted a sys tem us ing whi te type
aga ins t dark gray ; Frankfur t , whi te type aga ins t roya l
b l u e . "Diisseldorf had no recognizable ident i ty," saysM e t a D e s i g n p a r t n e r B r u n o S c h m i d t ."Also b e c a u s e
of so many prominent red-and-white LTU charter service
signs, i t had become known as the LTU airport ."
MetaDes ign convinced a i rpor t management tha t the
new signage had to be part of a larger identity system.
"At f i r s t they saw us on ly as s ign makers , " Schmidt
says . "But we explained that t ravelers need to recognize
Diisseldorf f rom the moment they pick up their t ickets
from the t ravel agent . That required a whole new systemof information."
Wi th the s ix -week dead l ine looming , MetaDes ign
sent eight staffers to live at the airport, with
suppor t f rom co l leagues back in Ber l in . The
Di i sse ldor f t eam worked 18 hour days , seven days a
week, in a noisy, hot hangar. A Berlin production com
pan y was sen t in to ma nufa c ture s igns t aken s t ra igh t
from designs onMetaDesign's c o m p u t e r s c r e e n s .The MetaDes ign team used v ideo and s t i l l cameras
to analyze the airport 's existing point of entry, departure
and transportation, service and safety routes. From there,
they deve loped n ine nav iga t iona l scenar ios based on
people a r r iv ing or l eav ing f rom var ious d i rec t ions by
car, taxi or underground train.
Over the years, Diisseldorf airport has been enlarged
through p iecemeal ex tens ions . The resu l t was a l ayout
where passengers of ten have to t ravel long dis tancesto get to a plane. People arr iving by t rain, for instance,
Color-Coding SystemTo distinguish groupingsof information bycolor,
designers looked for apalette of colors that provides both strong contrastwith the type and workstogether harmoniously.
Airline ListingInstead of showing eachairline's logotype, the newroster presents all thenames in the same typeface to enhance graphicsimplicity and readability.
Emergency ExitsDesigners made surethat new emergency exitsigns really pop outby choosing a brightyellow-green shade thatwould be visible eventhrough black smoke.
Kiosk Signag eReadable from fourdirections, kiosk signs,color coded by types ofinformation, are strategi-
: cally positioned in- corridors throughout: the terminal.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 33/38
I S S U E
have to ma neu ver ac ros s t r a in p la t fo rms and th roug h
t u n n e l s t o g e t t o s t e p s l e a d i n g t o c h e c k - i n c o u n t e r s
a b o v e g r o u n d . P a s s e n g e r s a r r i v i n g b y c a r h a v e t o b e
a le r ted on the au tob ah n as to wh ich a i rpor t ex it to
t a k e , t h e n n a v i g a t e th r o u g h v a r i o u s a r r i v a l / d e p a r t u r e
exits on airport grounds to find the appropriate parking
area . F rom there , the check- in counte r i s a one k i lo
mete r (3 /4 mi le ) t r ek .
"If you work at an airport every day, you don't think
about these p rob lems the way an ou t s ider would , " says
S c h m i d t . "You need to ge t in format ion to t rave le r s
exac t ly when they need i t , no t too ea r ly, no t too l a te .
Yo u a l s o n e e d t o b u i l d i n e n o u g h r e d u n d a n c i e s t o
m a k e p e o p l e c o m f o r t a b l e , to t a k e t h e m b y t h e h a n d
and guide them through a bui lding that may be total ly
unfamil iar to them." But not too many redundancies ." We h a d 1 , 5 0 0 e x i s t i n g s i g n s t o a n a l y z e , " a d d s
M e t a D e s i g n ' s M i c h a e l B o e c k . " We d i s c o v e r e d m o r e
than half were redundant and had l i t t le effect ive pur
pose . The s ignage sys tem was abso lu te ly chao t ic , wi th
a i r l ines pu t t ing the i r logos everywhere . You 'd a r r ive
at the ai rport and t ry to f igure out which direct ion were
ar r iva l s and depar tu res , and a l l you 'd see were s igns
for Lufthansa, Bri t ish Airways and LTU."
e taDes ign deve loped a s t ruc tu ra l h ie ra rchy fo r
the new s ignage sys tem, and c rea ted a mat r ix o f
i n f o rm a t i o n , d e t e r m i n e d b y i m m e d i a t e i m p o r
tanc e . For ins ta nce , De par tu re s igns a re shown before
Arr iva l s , s ince those passengers were l ike ly to be in
a g r e a t e r h u r r y. C o n c u r r e n t l y, i t a n a l y z e d t y p e f a c e s ,
colors and pictogram opt ions. There was no t ime "to tes t
a l t e rna t ive a r rangements , look a t d i ffe ren t s i zes o f
s igns and , mos t impor tan t ly, be more invo lved in theac tua l ed i t ing of messa ge con ten t and the i r p lac em ent , "
M
Big ArrowsLocational arrows are bigand bright yellow to makesure that they stand outType is set either flush rightor flush left, with the arrowpulling the information inthe appropriate direction.
PictogramsAlong with creating newsymbols for the Dusseldorfairport signage system,MetaDesign used the pictograms that it had earlierdeveloped for the Berlintransit authority
Two Languag esAirport signs are posted inboth German and Englishto accommodate foreigntravelers w ho don't speakthe national language.
Info TypefaceInfo's slightly roundedterminals help to controllight shatter and preventglare from pointed edges.
They also make letterseasier to plot on the vinylused to make signs.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 34/38
Airport A pproachesTravelers are introduced to the
airport signage system even beforethey enter the airport grounds.
The opal green color-code for transportation directions, arrows and
black-on-white icons, preview thesignage language that travelers will
find once inside the terminal.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 35/38
© I S S U E :
says Erik Spiekermann.Colors were chosen to contrast
D i i s s e l d o r f ' s b l a c k t y p e o n y e l l o w s c h e m e . Tr a n s
por ta t ion s igns fea tu re whi te type aga ins t opa l g reen .
"We found a good s t rong con t ra s t in the g ree n a nd
white that was at the same t ime sof t and calming— not
harsh l ike whi te type on b lack .
For se rv ice in format ion gu id ing passengers to ca fes
and hotels , MetaDesign used white type on gray. I t
had o r ig ina l ly cons idered min t fo r the background , bu t
a 50% screen of green turned out to be too close to
ex i s t ing emergency s igns—a c o n c e s
sion in par t to the gradual process of
i m p l e m e n t a t i o n .
"The n e w e m e rg e n c y s i g n a g e w a s
obviously very important," says Brigette
Har twig , the sen ior des igner on theproject."It had to be d istinctive in color,
orientation and size. In an emergency, i t
has to be a sign that you can see like no
o ther. The so lu t ion we came up wi th
is very vis ible . The color is more l ike
a y e l l o w - g r e e n , n o t d a r k g r e e n l i k e
o ther s t andard g reens you can buy."
"You're not going to be able to see
d a r k g r e e n t h r o u g h b l a c k s m o k e , "adds Boeck . "Br igh t g reen i s immedi
a te ly v i s ib le . "
At Dlisseldorf, signage has to be
legible f rom a dis tance of 35 meters
(100 feet) . In using his Info typeface,
Sp iek erm ann says , a major advan tage
is that i t takes about 12% less space
than Univers or Helvet ica . "That is very important for
long German words and of ten saves one whole newline. We can open the t racking, which improves legibi l i ty
e s p e c i a l l y o n b a c k l i t s i g n s w i t h r e v e r s e d t y p e , a n d
s t i l l save space . "
Su c h a d v a n t a g e s a r e o f t e n n o t r e c o g n i z e d b y
archi tects , he adds. "For most new airports , i t ' s the
arch i tec t s who c rea te the s ignage . I 'm appa l led
a t h o w l i t t l e t h e y u n d e r s t a n d t y p e , " h e s a y s . " T h e y
usua l ly use the same faces over and over : He lve t ica ,
Univers o r l a te ly, F ru t ige r. I t ' s a lways someth ing l ikewhite on black. But i f you use white on a dark back
ground, the type looks thicker, so you have to make i t
thinner. When you put a white mark on a black l ight
box, i t radiates and wil l blur shapes. I f too bold, the
ins ide shap e of the l e t t e r t end s to d i sa ppe ar and an V
can look l ike aV or an ' o . ' "
Di i s se ld or f ' s typ eface a l so ha d to work wi th p ic -
tograms that MetaDesign created or iginal ly for the
Berl in t ransi t authori ty - which, in turn, were b ased
on symbols designed for the Munich Olympics in 1972.
"Twenty- five hund red s igns had to be p rodu ced and
upd a ted eve ry th ree days o r wee k ly, " says Schm id t .
"We had to deve lop a genera l map wi th codes fo r the
ent i re a i rport . We needed a code for
every s ign 's locat ion so i f we got
up da tes , we 'd know if the information
was correct . The information we were
g iven changed every day. We were
designing in ant ic ipat ion of a permanent system, but we didn ' t know what
the bu i ld ing would be l ike . One day
the c l i en t would t e l l us the whole
bu i ld ing would have to be des t royed
a n d r e p l a c e d . T h e n e x t d a y, t h e y ' d
say it would rem ain in tac t . "
This summer, the a i rpor t ' s jo in t
o w n e r s — the German s ta te o f Nor th
Rhine-Westfalen and the City ofD i i s s e l d o r f — signed off on a new
bui ld ing des ign . The a i rpor t has a l so
approved a new logo by MetaDesign.
Tha t corpora te iden t i ty wi l l be
ba sed on the opa l g reen o f the a i r
por t s ignage , and , in the coming
year, MetaDes ign expec t s to re f ine
the inter im system to f i t in as a permanent f ixture in
t h e n e w b u i l d i n g a n d d e s i g n n e w s i g n a g e h a r d w a r e .Whi le l a s t year ' s dead ly f i re ins t iga ted the move
to new s ignage , under normal condi t ions , i t i s p rov ing
benef ic ia l a s we l l . Over the pas t year, the a i rpor t
i n f o r m a t i o n c o u n t e r r e p o r t s a 5 0 % d r o p i n i n q u i r i e s .
Hopeful ly, i ts effect iveness in a cr is is wil l never have
to be t es ted . But fo r the Me taD es ign t e am , work ing
in the shadow of the burned terminal , preparing for such
a poss ib i l i ty was a lways in the i r mind . "You can ' t
p r o v e p e o p l e l o st t h e i r l iv e s b e c a u s e of t h e s i g n a g e , "says Schmidt . "But obviously i f type is more legible ,
peop le have a be t t e r chance o f see ing i t in chao t ic
s i tua t ions . Tha t was our goa l . "
31
"You need
to bu ild in
enough redundancies to m ake people
com fortable, to take
them by the hand
and g uide them
throug h a buildingtha t m ay be to ta l ly
unfamil iar
to th e m ." M l
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 36/38
_lor millions of people, Crayola crayons symbolizea rite
• of passage from toddlerhood to childhood. These waxy
colored chalks, packaged in the familiargreen-and-yellow
box, are nearly every child's first drawingtool. Thought of
so fondly, Crayola is one of the 20 most recognizable smells
in the world. Since its introduction in 1903, more than 100
billion crayons have been sold - enough to circle the globe
four and a half times if the sticks were laid end-to-end.
Crayola's inventor, Binney & Smith of Pennsylvania,ori
ginally manufactured red oxide pigments used to paint
barns red and carbon black pigments used by the Goodrich
Tire Company to turn the then-common white tires black.
Following these successes, B inney & S mith began pro ducing
slate pencils and dustless chalk fo r schoo ls, but seeing a
need for better, more affordable wax crayons, the company
adapted its industrial marking chalk for children. Brightly
color and shaped for small hands, the crayons (named Crayola
from the French words for oily chalk) were an instant hit.
Even during the Great Depression of the 1930s, demand
continued, and the company hired local farm families to
hand-label crayons. Each farm became associated with
a different color name. This tradition continued for many
years, supplementing the winter income of farmers.
Today more than 200 million Crayola crayons are sold
annually in 60 countries. From its original eight colors, the
Crayola palette has grown to 96. Otherwise virtually unchanged
since 1903, Crayolas have outlived nearly every toy fad
and seem likely to delight children for generations to come.
D E S I G N A N D B U S I N E S S C L A S S I C : C R A Y O L A
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 37/38
Potiatch Corporation
The sponsor of©Issue, Potiatch Corporation has long been a
proponent of the use of quality design to create corporate identity,
promote products and establish credibility and distinction among
key consumer and business audiences.
At mills in northern Minnesota, Potiatch manufactures the
broadest line of premium coated printing papers available today,
including a selection of gloss,dull, velvet, silk and matte finishes
and a choice of fine recycled papers. In addition to setting thestandard for coated printing paper quality, Potlatch's printing paper
operations have earned International Standards Organization (ISO)
9002 certification, a rating verifying its manufacturing product
quality system is recognized worldwide.
CorporateDesign Foundation
Corporate Design Foundation is a nonprofit educational and research
organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life and
the effectiveness of organizations through design. The Foundation
concentrates its efforts in conducting research, developing teachingmaterial, and collaborating with business school faculty to introduceproduct design, communication design, and building design into
the business school curriculum.
@lssue: The Journal of Business & Design is specifically publishedfor business leaders and business school students to communicate
examples of how and why design impacts business.
Board of Advisors
Agnes Bourne, Owner, Agnes Bourne, Inc.
Sam Farber, F ounder, OXO International
Nancye Green, Principal, Donovan and Green
Marco Lansiti, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School
Peter Lawrence, Chairman, Corporate Design Foundation
Robert Potts, Executive Director of Design, Chiron Diagnostics Corp.
Christopher Pullman, Vice President of D esign,
WGB H Educational F oundation
Fritz Steele, Consultant on O rganizational and E nvironmental Change
Richard Teller, Attorneyat Law, Sullivan& Worcester
Printed in the U.S.A. on Potiatch McCoy™ GlossCover, 100 lb.;Potiatch McCo y Silk Text, 100 lb., and Potiatch McCo y VelourCoyer, 80 lb. Potiatch McC oy is a brand-new paper grade recentlyintroduced by Potiatch Corporation.
7/28/2019 At Issue Vol3 No2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/at-issue-vol3-no2 38/38
f3
a
co3•os
*
or
C
zo
The Journal of
Business and Design
Published by
Corporate Design Foundation
Sponsored by
Pot la tch Corporat ion
- •
C D