As a variation, Hertz has created a concrete countenance on stationery surfaces by reenlarging one blank sheet of copy paper through several color-photocopy runs. On that background is overprinted -- by in-house Macintoshes and laser printers -- marketing-support information. All internal transmittals, such as work-flow schedules, requests for vacation, expense vouchers, and shipping, receiving, and invoice forms are laser-printed or photocopied only as needed.
Among the stickers affixed to shipments of promotional materials is one that at first glance appears to be cheaply rendered in only two colors; on a closer look, it can be seen that Hertz had these stickers printed in four colors (which, incidentally, costs plenty). The reason: that's the label he uses to send unsolicited promotions to architects and interior designers, a discriminating audience that'll appreciate the subtle difference. "I had a hard time justifying their cost," Hertz admits, "but I feel it's worthwhile. First impressions are everything. When they get it, they automatically say, 'Wow, that company has a design aesthetic; there's a thoroughness, an identity, from the first label all the way through.' "
At Syndesis's offices, no document meets an ignominious end in a waste bucket. After it's been recirculated for printing on the other side, it goes to the shredder, there to be joined by magazines, flyers, and anything else lying around unread. "We get this interesting texture, kind of like confetti," says Hertz admiringly, who forwards the slivers to shipping for reuse as protective packing.
Hertz turned to desktop graphics to compose the set of icons that visually represent Syndesis's five divisions: a Monopoly-like house for architectural applications, a chair for furniture, a cone for retail accessories, a cluster of shapes for contract manufacturing of precast configurations, and a representation of the earth for research and development in waste recycling. The symbols are arrayed on most public and internal communications; they're even debossed, like hieroglyphs, into hulking slabs of Syndecrete posted outside construction sites.
To establish an integrated program of corporate design, any company would obviously be lucky to have an architect/designer for a CEO. But Hertz seeks outside talent for important components such as the main brochure and the Syndesis logo. "Identity is absolutely worth spending money on," he insists. "If I were a start-up company, I'd put everything into my business card, even if it was all I had."
Address labels printed in four colors, trucks bearing "chiseled-in" logos, photocopied-to-death images, transparency holders treated so there's no stickum to gum up clients' projectors -- are such declarations of individuality productive, or are they merely indulgences?
In Hertz's case, they helped reassure one of his earliest clients, Smith & Hawken founder Paul Hawken, of the young and unknown company's professionalism. Hawken happened on an exhibit of architectural materials, was attracted by Syndecrete's looks, and sent for backup material. On receipt of the corrugated-carton collection, he hired its creator not only to convert an old school building into corporate headquarters for his mail-order business but to install Syndecrete tiles, counters, sinks, and baths -- and several vases -- throughout his own home.
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE
'Design management is at the core of this institution -- not in any one piece but in how all the pieces fit together.'
-- Design judge John Rosenblum
'What's extraordinary is that these marketing and promotional materials were internally produced and done inexpensively.'
-- Design judge Paul Cook
The Role of the CEO
For everything about a company's look -- from its products and logo to its work space and billing statements -- to successfully communicate a message, that message needs to be clear in the first place. Which means the CEO is the de facto head designer. Only the CEO can definitively answer questions like these: What business are we really in? What values shape our company and are important for customers and employees to know? As Hertz, of Inc. Design Award-winner Syndesis, would attest, you can't design anything well without understanding your company first.
Uniformity
Because the messages good companies send are consistent, good design is consistent across its applications, too.
At Syndesis the trademark textured-looking green representation of its product, Syndecrete, and the use of simple earth-tone and seemingly natural materials are repeated ev-erywhere. Coherence of visual presentation suggests that a company is well managed enough to execute its mission.
Inform the Whole Company
The best design is ubiquitous. Because a coherent design sensibility informs the whole company, no one at Syndesis can miss its attempts to capture and express visually what it deems important. In the production area -- in most businesses, a place that gets little attention in terms of appearance -- Syndesis continues to use the colors and design consciousness that are brought into play in its front offices. Even the workers' uniforms are carefully blended with the visual scheme. The message to employees and visitors alike? The representation of Syndesis you receive in the mail isn't a front; the values are honest and inseparable from the company's daily life.
Attention to Detail
Just as successful design is uniform and evident everywhere, it also reflects an almost obsessive attention to detail. At Syndesis no shipping package, piece of stationery, or work-space layout fails to demonstrate that in the company's view the small stuff matters. Attention to detail broadcasts to the outside world that a company follows through and implies that it delivers on its promises and doesn't let things fall through the cracks. Employees note the attentiveness, too, and are more likely to practice such thoroughness themselves.
On the Cheap
Small companies don't have big resources to lavish on self-presentation. But as the example of Syndesis shows, a tight budget can work to your advantage by demanding creative solutions instead of purchased ones and by suggesting to all your company's constituencies that resources are husbanded and maximized, not squandered -- a message that customers, investors, suppliers, and employees all will appreciate. Syndesis uses raw -- and attention-getting -- cardboard to cover most of its product-information packages, and ties its sheet materials in with the packages by matching the cardboard's color and texture.
