CREATIVE TOOLBOX • VISUAL DIARY

Shared reflections — inspirations • insights • ideas — gleaned from our spirited journey
through the worlds of communication and design

Lyft Co-Brand

Lyft operates Citi Bike through its mobility division, Lyft Urban Solutions. The division powers bikeshare and micromobility systems in 57 cities across 16 countries, with more than 185,000 bikes and vehicles deployed worldwide.

Bikeshare Identity

Citigroup became the founding sponsor of Citi Bike in 2013, securing the naming rights that gave the system its now-iconic identity. The partnership helped launch what has grown into North America’s largest bikeshare network — now with more than 35,000 bikes...

Conference for Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels

Conference Branding

This week more than 50 countries are gathering in Santa Marta, Colombia for the First Conference on Transitioning Away From Fossil Fuels. During the planning phase, 2,608 organizations expressed interest in participating.

Movement Identity

Observed annually on April 22, Earth Day focuses on global environmental protection through campaigns including End Plastics, The Canopy Project, Climate and Environmental Literacy, Food and the Environment, and Fashion for the Earth.

Earth Day 2026

Kudos to artist and musician Miles Wintner regarding this bold, bright poster design for Earth Day. The composition, titled “Earthflower,” depicts our planet as a bloom held and admired in human hands, a figure of collective care drawn at a scale that renders the gesture...

Design History

On the eve of Earth Day, it is interesting to look back to the first Earth Day — April 22, 1970 — as illustrated by this poster, now housed in the NYC Public Library’s “Manuscripts and Archives Division.”

Interactive Logo

I attended Sun Day, a national climate action event, last September. I was mightily impressed, both with the smart (and inspiring) message regarding the promise of solar energy(stay tuned for more on that), and also with the brand identity.

Certification

Third-party certification is one way to build credibility and trust in a brand. B Corporation a private certification of for-profit companies regarding social and environmental performance, conferred by B Lab, a global nonprofit...

Act-ivist Branding

I don’t usually broadcast my age (range — wink-wink) but this group of over-60-y-o’s caught my eye. Because they are climate change AND democracy focused (two of my priority “causes”). And also because the organization’s branding...

Name Extraordinaire

Ring is famous for being rejected by Shark Tank and then selling to Amazon five years later. The company was founded by Jamie Siminoff in 2013 as Doorbot, which he pitched to the “Sharks” that same year. Renamed Ring, the smart doorbell...

Bluetiful

Delightfulness! JetBlue’s collection of creative tail fin designs are unexpected and so fresh. All communicating different expressions of “Blue.” One more example of imaginative thinking from the so-called “disruptor” airline.

Classic Engraving

The NYC landmark, the James A. Farley building at 421 Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, was once the city’s main post office. The main façade features a Corinthian colonnade (the largest of its style...

Blue Sky

Re Threads (see Startup Platform), I am going with Blue Sky. The expression “blue sky” refers to imaginative, expansive thinking without constraint. Like with brainstorming, we are not held back...

Tattoo Wisdom

“Joy as an act of resistance” is the message Andrea Learned tattoo-ed around her wrist earlier this year. An inspiring response to what I am calling “all-over-the-world-all-of-the-time craziness.” A message that informs my own corollary...

Display Symbiosis

Regarding the recent Verizon rebrand, the connection between the Times Square 42nd Street storefront (window, interior graphics & signage) and a ginormous digital display directly across the street is astounding.

Transparency

An inspiring — and authentic — illustrated tagline from Just Coffee Co-Op • Fair Trade and Organic Coffee. “Justice” is demonstrated through transparent reporting of actual “fair trade” practices.

Event Posters

I was amazed to see an entire wall in the bullring museum in Ronda, Spain, dedicated to print posters for recent fights. It feels so “old-school” graphic design now. Completed in 1784, the Ronda bullring...

Translucency

The serendipitous creation of color by overlaying various hues (here, the CXD brand colors) of different translucencies is so unexpected. How in the world do we get olive green and ochre gold?

Subtle Beauty

A demonstration of glorious restraint spotted in Spain. Minimalist typography designed with the double “s” in mind. Letterspaced to perfection. PICASSO capitalized and bolded for emphasis.

La Marca

La Marca. Definitely a nicer way to say “the brand.”

Startup Platform

What DO we think...about the Threads platform and this logo? According to AI, Threads is a text-based social media platform developed by Meta and launched in 2023. It allows users to to share posts, engage in...

Fractured Portrait

At the entrance to the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore. Can you find my eye? Hint: right in the middle. Holding to our center in a divided, chaotic world is certainly the task at hand.

Just Say No

Sometimes Communication By Design speaks for itself.

Sort Your Values

Card sorting is a great way to identify and prioritize values. This deck happens to be more personal than professional, but it is super nicely conceived, designed, and illlustrated by Pacific Northwest duo...

Verizon

Thank g** Verizon rebranded after years of the heinous checkmark. According to verizon.com: “the new logo, a red V with a yellow glow, anchors in the name — Veritas (truth) and Horizon (the future).”

New York City

It doesn’t get any bolder than this. Cities benefit from visual identities, and this is New York’s — in its simplest form, on which a multitude of variations are based.

Be the Good

Inspiration for my fellow “On the Sunny Side of the Street” walkers. T-shirts are THE best for spreading your brand and/or message — walking billboard mode! This one with a clever color-emphasis typography design.

Team Attire

A brand (haha) new CXD-color collar for our Chief Experience Office (CXO) and Receptionist just arrived. The idiom “God is in the details” is often attributed to minimalist architect Mies van der Rohe, who probably co-opted the phrase from the ...

Communication By Design Creative Toolbox

Notes from Drydock Reading Room Brandology

CREATIVE TOOLBOX • VISUAL DIARY

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