Brand66

Just what the world needs: another blog from another self-important design guru. Brand66 is a design discussion presented by — me, Michael Rylander. Over the years, I've been lucky enough to work on some the world's great brands, like Apple, Sony, BMW, Fortune, and American Express.

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Pint-sized food trucks

Just like their foodie parents, pre-schoolers can now thumb their noses at traditional restaurants and dine off the grid. Famous OTO, a toy company based in New York, has taken the current food truck craze and miniaturized it. The cardbaord vehicles — measuring 40” x 36” x 24” — are 100% recyclable and a must have for wee chefs and diaper-clad entrepreneurs. Måns Swanberg, a director for NY production company Blacklist, is currently running a fundraising campaign for the first round of manufacturing. The whole idea has us drooling.

HUSH The Series

One of the reasons I love my job so much is that the sandbox enormous. One day I’m shooting TV commercials with a cast of hundreds, and the next day I’m zooming in 500x, sculpting the pixels of a new logo. So I felt a bit of childish glee when I was asked to create branding for a new web series called HUSH. It also didn’t hurt that one of the stars of the show is my multi-talented sister, Sharon Rylander.

The elevator pitch: a noble doctor discovers a controversial cure for cancer and gets arrested for it. The story line is a whodunnit: a young reporter backtracks through time to figure out who turned the doctor in to the FDA. 

They hope to shoot this summer and start publishing the episodes throughout the fall and winter. Check out the teaser on the Kickstarter page (and feel free to throw a few production dollars their way should you feel inclined).

Packaging in quarter notes

Not sure how this clever package design for Panasonic’s earbuds escaped the Brand66 design radar. I imagine a few folks over at Apple are kicking themselves.

The other Facetime

In late 2009, I had the pleasure of sitting down with friend/entreprenuer, Ted Barnett, who was interested in developing a digital watch. I left the meeting excited by the idea and returned a few days later with a Keynote presentation. Mind you, this was six months before Steve Jobs introduced FaceTime, the videotelephony software, at the 2010 Worldwide Developers Conference. (The longer you play in the business, the more you see these crazy coincidences.)

Now that the rumor mills are humming with reports of Apple developing a smart watch, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the work.

Toronto Film Festival poster

Brilliant work by Overdrive Design in Canada. 

Water

Eight years ago David Foster Wallace spoke to the Kenyon College graduating class about the value of education. Stunning in its simplicity and truth, it’s now my second favorite commencement speech next to this one by Steve Jobs. Nods to Duarte for posting.