Interview with brand expert Susan Parsons Gornell
posted by Nate Williams

Over the years, New York City based brand and design expert Susan Parsons Gornell has helped design and develop such brands as Godiva, Boots of London, Starbucks, Creative Artist Agency (CAA), Bed Bath & Beyond, Royal Velvet, Cannon, and Pepsico. Born and raised in Nashville, TN… Susan spent her formative years at University of Tennessee and discovered her design passion through the soulful influences of Howard Finster and Hatch Showprint. Her first important job was at the Smithsonian studying the design of money. But things soon brought her to the center of American brand communications: New York. Susan has lived in Manhattan for the past 15 years with her wonderful husband, Gabriel, and their two kids Scout and Molly Sue. Still a redneck at heart she still loves country music and biscuits. Though she won’t eat biscuits at any of NY’s so called top-notch Southern restaurants. They’re just not the same.

What did you learn from working at the Smithsonian Museum of American History?

I worked in the Department of Numismatics, (which is the) study of coins, currency and medals. This was when they were just starting to redesign US Currency, so we were looking at currency designs from all over the world.

We were studying design while thinking about issues like avoiding counterfeiting thru illustrations and watermarks. It was exciting and truly interesting. Byzantine coins were like mini masterpieces I could hold in my hand, it was really inspirational. Then seeing hair and teeth thousands of years old that were used as currency was a little creepy.

But my favorite part was when they had me down in the basement. All of the museums are connected by catacombs. What you see on display is about a tenth of what they have in the collection, anyway, whenever I went down there, I felt like Indiana Jones.

One time, I’m down there looking for these little velvet boxes for King Henry VIII’s medals. And I pull down this huge wooden crate that says NAPOLEON’S DEATH MASK on it. There are these tiny white gloves with a band of silk fabric around the edge, and there’s this incredible plaster mask of Napoleon’s actual face. It was amazing! But things move very slowly within the museum world, and at a certain point I knew I had to move on. I still have that death mask though. Just kidding.

What is unique about “brand building”?

Brand building is multifaceted and that is why I am drawn to it. When you build a brand, you get to tell the story of a company from the inside out. Their culture, their heritage, their philosophies, their product, their customers, their retail experience… their ‘everything’. That’s why it’s unique. No other design disciplines are so ‘big picture’ as brand building.

What is your favorite medium to design for?

I’m really most interested in the visual story-telling. More like Art Direction with the eye and approach of a designer. So as far as favorite mediums go… I really do like to do everything. As long as there’s a strong story and a good concept, the medium doesn’t matter to me. I can get just as excited about a logo as I can package design. Or even directing a film. For me it comes down to story and concept.

What are some of the most successful brands? Why?

Coca-cola. Apple. Nike. They all do a lot of things right. I personally think Elvis is the most successful brand. Whether you’re 4 or you’re 80, Elvis gets an emotional reaction. You could go to a remote corner of China and people will say, Elvis! Elvis! They will more than “say” Elvis, they’ll actually feel something. People identify with Elvis. And that’s what makes a strong brand – people can identify with it. There’s an honesty and an authenticity there. I’m from the South of course, so I say Elvis. Elvis is King.

How do brands adapt for each market?

It’s more important to be consistent to your overall brand personality than it is to be “local version of yourself” in any given market. Consistency grows brands.

Don’t ignore your local market. Of course brands should successfully adapt to local markets – local tastes, local customs, local culture or vernacular – in order to be in tune with their constituents. These days, that happens a lot through social media on the messaging side, and local ingredients on the product side.

However, local-centric communications has to be balanced with putting a stake in the ground and really standing for something, no matter where in the world you are.

Can you think of any brands where illustration is/was a key component?

iPod. When the iPod launched, it was done brilliantly through illustration. So simple. The silhouettes, bright backgrounds…and that beautiful white product. It lasted for several years and really helped create the brand. It was illustration used correctly.

Tell us about http://smavens.com/blog/? Is this trend analysis, prediction, tracking, etc

Part trend-spotting and part analysis. We named ourselves S’mavens because we’ve become “mavens” within the world of branding. The “s” stands for “susan” since the two founding partners happened to both be names Susan. Not at all confusing when answering the phone (laughing).

We like to learn and eventually know a lot about the topics that interest us, and then we share what we learn. That’s the big idea – we share what we learn.

We take note of and follow design or innovation trends. And we try to think deeper about why those trends are appearing right now. How is it related to what’s going on socially, politically, etc.? And then, finally, since we’re really writing this for our clients and other folks who build and manage brands, we relate it back to branding. What is this trend or that one going to mean for the way brands speak to consumers in order to really engage them and inspire their love and loyalty? So, basically, it’s part trend-spotting, part analysis.

I’m the first Susan by the way.

We seem to rely on research more and more. How do you find a balance between researched and intuitive decisions?

Typically, creatives don’t want to do research – they think they know best and don’t want to hear any contradictions from consumers. And strategists often fall into the trap of taking consumers literally at their word – if they said they like blue, then we surely should make it blue! We S’mavens are an interesting team, because we’re founded on creative with a respect for strategy plus strategy with a creative mind. So we are all about finding the balance between those two approaches. Basically we believe that understanding and speaking with consumers can greatly inform and inspire creative work. But we don’t ever want to live and die by consumer verbatims.

How do you measure success?

Well it’s really when all those boxes are checked. Makes you happy, makes the consumer happy, makes your client happy. It all ladders up to inspiring what we call Brand Love. If the work you’ve done inspires consumers to love the brand, you’re going to hit all those goals. You’re going to feel good about what you’ve done. And you’re going to have a happy client. And hopefully you enjoyed doing it.

What is your favorite part of your job? Why?

I love the front end of the job. I could explore forever and never finish a job. I love the research and the concepting, and the entire exploratory process. From the competitive analysis to color exploratories. I love it!

But the best best part is that moment when you know you’ve cracked it, really nailed it. It’s a high, better than sex or drugs. It comes in different places in a job. And you don’t always get it. But when you do, it’s awesome.

When do you use illustration vs. photography?

Generally speaking, when I need to represent the product itself or if I need to convey a specific lifestyle… I use photography.

But when I’m looking to communicate through marks, written words, or bold “ownable” iconography, I’ve genuinely been more successful with illustration or illustrative photography. A brand can “own” an illustration. It’s much harder for a brand to own a photographic style.

How do you discover new illustrators?

It’s two-fold. First, I work my network of trusted colleagues and I reciprocate. People are afraid to share their “unknown gems” because you are only as good as the people you work with.

Secondly, I dig. I dig. I dig. Google makes it a lot easier. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

What is the most desired skill from an illustrator?

Style first, then reliability. You’ll put up with some bulls#@! if you’re getting an amazing product in the end. Then again, you may not use them again…

What is something new you have noticed or learned recently?

I’ve been noticing the watering down of brands again. Some people are getting it right, but many others aren’t. Tropicana really missed the mark with that attempted redesign – they tried to streamline and clean up and really lost their way. A lot of package design has fallen into this trap and come out looking like store brand.

Do you have any other advice for illustrators?

It’s easier to sell an illustrator to a client if you have good exposure on the web. Articles written about you, awards, that kind of thing. Evidence that you’re established and have a good track record. So get yourself out there, follow your heart and y’all wear some deodorant.

Susan’s children

Related Links
website- http://www.smavens.com/third.html
blog - http://smavens.com/blog/
twitter  - http://twitter.com/#!/smavens

Keywords: article, branding, designer interviews, Susan Parsons Gornell. 








