The Blend, Sep 14

 

People are sharing good stuff all the time. Things that make us smarter, think more creatively and encourage us to push ourselves just a little bit harder. When we find these things, we put them in The Blend and share them with you.

Here’s some good stuff from good thinkers to help us through the week…

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To start, Disney’s corporate strategy can be summed up in one charming diagram. It’s from 1957 and is still true today.

 

Like Disney, many brands are seeing the value of creating experiences for customers. Which is why some of the brands we buy at the grocery store are opening brick and mortar restaurants.

 

But some things don’t change much, like The New Yorker. In fact, here’s a brilliant look at the evolution of many magazine covers (or not) over the past 100 years.

 

(In general, if you ever talk about 100 years of change, try to do it like this: Web Design, The First 100 Years.)

 

And yet often when things change, we cherish what was. Like that wonderful 1975 Nasa logo—which you can have again, if you want.

 

Switching gears, I’d like to invite you to think about cars a little differently; they will change dramatically over the next 20 years.

 

Here’s an 8-year-old girl who has a better newspaper than lots of communities do.

 

Here’s why small agencies are kind of a big deal. (We agree!)

 

And here’s why people hate cheap things.

 

I don’t think it will surprise anyone that our addiction to smart phones has now reached new heights.

 

But that’s also largely the reason why people can freely—and easily—construct their own identities that extend far beyond traditional demographics.

 

In closing, when someone shows you a chart that’s supposed to influence you, make sure you take the time to study the way they’ve charted the data.

 

And finally, I love good interviews that go inside the person we kind of think we know and allow them to tell you who they really are. So here’s the masterful Robert Redford and the entertaining Quentin Tarantino in two of the best interviews I’ve read all year.

 

Here’s to a productive, creative and thought-filled week. If you find stuff that belongs in The Blend, please let @JohnDrake know.