At Issue Vol3 No2

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



©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

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.cdf.org/

http://www.cdf.org/

mailto:[email protected]



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.



© 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 ."





© 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



© 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 .





© 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,



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.



© 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



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



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



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

http://www.morningstar.net/

http://www.morningstar.net/



© 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.



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."



© 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


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?


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?


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



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



© 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



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



@ 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



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



C D

C/)



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.



© 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



@ 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.



© 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



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



© 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.



© 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



IflSIKiMflgMfiJI



© 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.



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.



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.



© 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



_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



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)

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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.



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Published by

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