Ask a southerner if barbecue is a noun or a verb, and you'll get a passionate response that it's a noun. Sure, it’s a labor of love, getting up before dawn, tending and mopping all day. But what you end up with is unmistakably barbecue. I feel the same way about design… only in reverse. Design is a practice, an action, a verb.

Social media can be like poking around in a condemned psych hospital rumored to be haunted on a pitch-black night with a flashlight powered by batteries you last replaced in middle school. But it doesn’t have to invoke an ’80's slasher film if you understand one universal truth…

When it comes to CSR and DEI reporting, the disclosures your stakeholders and investors need are necessary, but the reason you do what you’re doing is far more important to the life of your brand.

So... What are you doing?

Being from Mississippi, it was virtually unavoidable that I would find myself afraid of dark skin. It didn’t take long for that fear to fade after I moved to Atlanta. But along the way I realized that I had been exactly what I never thought I was: racist.

I tell this story to illustrate that fear is a liar. We’re at a point where we must all let go of fear, be honest with ourselves, listen and respect other voices, and do what is right. I’ve taken on an extraordinary new project, and it is what is right.

Climate change is raging. COVID-19 has brought the world to its knees. And both have made painfully clear the vast inequities in our society and the systems that run it. It’s all connected, you see. And in order to overcome, we must adapt.

After the year we had, after going all in on my own business in the middle of a pandemic, after drama and death and disappointment, I thought it might be a good idea to allow myself one New Year’s resolution.

Lately I've been thinking the term human centered design just doesn’t feel right. But there was a tiny explosion of inspiration in my head during the AIGA Design Conference last week when I heard this:

If you widen the lens to include all the stakeholders, what you really have is humanity centered design.

If your brand’s guidelines don’t include tone, voice and vision, you’re missin’ out. No matter how it gets done, everything you put out there has gotta speak your language. A kick ass brand guide can make sure it does.

I’ve always loved maps, charts, diagrams. Maps like Tolkein's Middle-earth reflect the culture of the inhabitants just as much as the topography of the land, and Napoleon's Russian campaign by Minard presents multiple dimensions of data in a single image. And that's what a great brand needs to do.

2020 so far: a pandemic, toxic politics, some serious nesting, a newfound green thumb, and a shiny new independent business.

That last one is the kicker.