As artwork, the barcode may not impress you. But as a technology, it is a phenomenon like no other. Barcodes shaped our planetary economy. The impact of these tiny black and white graphics is so massive, the scale dwarves the consequences of any other image in history. …

When artificial intelligence is fully operational, it will transform the media and marketing industries. In particular, I believe that synthetic personalities powered by AI will change the way we learn about new products and how to use them. In my previous article, I showed how the collapse of broadcast TV…

How would you explain brand identity to people who were completely unfamiliar with the concept? Once I had to do this very quickly. It wasn’t elegant, but I got the job done. In 1991, I arrived in Hong Kong as the newly-appointed head of on-air creative for the newest TV…

It’s not news to say that the Internet is cluttered with fake information. Everybody knows the web is stuffed full of pernicious nonsense. Consider just one example: the death of TV. This trope been repeated in the blogosphere for more than a decade. It is admirably tenacious and somewhat harmful…

Throughout history, in every epoch, the richest and most powerful people have commissioned artwork as a way to memorialize their splendor and burnish their reputations. The Renaissance Popes employed Michelangelo, Raphael and Bramante. The Medici Grand Dukes commissioned artwork from Donatello, Bronzino, Brunelleschi and many more. Though few remember the…

What is product identity? There are two answers to that question because there are two separate identity systems for products. Only one is intended for a human audience. And that’s not the most important system. When humans create a unique identity for a product, we tend to express it with…

There are two ways to establish personal identity in the real world: the “official” and “unofficial’ processes. In my previous post, I described the official process, where trusted identity begins with an assertion of some basic facts from a credible source like a government authority. …

How do you prove who you are? The answer depends upon who is asking. Suppose that we met in person for the very first time. Let’s suppose that you introduced yourself to me by telling me your name. And I replied, “Prove it.” You would probably think I was a…