Magazine Features

Le Labo: Where Success Smells of Beauty and Dreams
Scott Ballum | December 10, 2009

Giorgio Armani tried to kill Fabrice Penot. At least, it seems his business almost did. A perfume designer, Fabrice worked for years on the House of Armani brand. But even though he was brought in to run the fragrance division, he was constantly called to answer to the financial and marketing departments, who demanded a justification—a real world example of how and where a particular concept has worked for someone else—for every idea he tried to pursue. Demonstrating tested marketplace success before acting is the opposite of innovation, and nearly drove Fabrice Penot mad.

Type Casts: Identity by Association?
Scott Ballum | November 17, 2009

My partner and I have an ongoing debate about identity, and the possibility of being aware enough of how we’ve constructed our own identity to be able to change it. This gets particularly messy when we talk (oh so calmly) about “types” and what it means to be a member of a group or to identify as certain sort of person. He thinks it’s as impossible for us to stop being a “type” as it is for a table to stop being a table, or something like that.

Sea to Table, a Family's Direct Line from Sustainable Fisheries
Scott Ballum | November 3, 2009

Chefs in St. Louis like him because they can serve fresh Mahi-Mahi just 24 hours out of the water. A single-boat fisherman in the Bering Sea likes him because he now has a national market and increased revenue. FedEx likes him because they have a contract to use gel ice and time/temperature indicators to deliver perishable goods from Tobago to restaurants all over the United States. He’s also a proactive member of the newly-formed Common Spaces cooperative workspace in Brooklyn, quick with a beer run or pizza order.

What Color is Your Chicken? Can design do more than get us to the other side?
Scott Ballum | October 19, 2009

It is surprising to find myself as a graphic designer in the seemingly irreconcilable position of having more interest in discussing socially and politically relevant work than the relevancy of design itself. Perhaps that it is because to me, talking about the potential of design is like talking about the potential of language. Talking about design is like talking about the diction and eloquence of a speaker before considering the content of his address.

FilmSprout: Growing Documentary Film Audiences From the Bottom Up
Scott Ballum | October 15, 2009

To fully understand what Caitlin Boyle does for a living, you first have to understand that the dominant distribution model for independent documentary films is broken.

The Revolution Will Be Taxed. Four Possible Ways to Structure Your Business.
Howard Samuels, CPA | October 8, 2009

If you are running a small business, or are thinking of starting one, have you wondered if you need to be a corporation? Do you have employees or independent contractors working for you? Are you paying your help in the most tax efficient manner? Do you travel a lot for business and pleasure, or both? If so, are you deducting the correct portion of your trip? Are you maximizing how much money you can put away in retirement savings plans?