If It's Not Shaped Like a Can, Is It Even Cranberry Sauce?

Did you know that having canned cranberry sauce on the Thanksgiving table is an important tradition in many American households?

Forget the fresh cranberry nonsense.

If it’s not a gelatinous cylinder with ridges, it’s not Thanksgiving.

You would think sweet spiced, orange-infused cranberries that pop in your mouth would be the hands-down winner. But apparently, people actually bring their own can to the celebrations just in case the host decides to get fancy with her cranberries.

Long held traditions are hard to break.

They give us a sense of familiarity, comfort, and safety...even if it comes in the form of cranberry jelly making a slurping noise sliding out of the can.

The memories and feelings attached to a tradition run deep.

It also explains why “ugly” designs and brands sometimes do better than polished, professional looking brands.

Like the cranberry sauce, beauty isn’t about how pretty something looks...

?...it’s about the?response?that is evoked, the?experience?for the viewer.

If you can successfully attach emotions-thoughts-ideas to a visual icon in a way that those emotions-thoughts-ideas are automatically triggered at the sight of the visual icon, then congratulations. You have mastered the art of persuasion, communication, and impact.

It’s why people?luvvv?Dan Kennedy’s home-grown, low brow style.

They love, admire, and trust him. Copying his style in their marketing reinforces those emotions. Like the people who sneak canned cranberry sauce in their jacket pockets, those emotions are too powerful to break.

The jiggly jelly, the ridges, the hockey puck slices are like the 15 different fonts, walls of text, and tiny margins that Dan loves to use as part of his style.

Connecting ideas and emotions to the senses...

As creatives, this is something Zine does naturally. We decided long ago we’re not interested in making pretty designs. We want to compel response.

As it happens, these exact concepts are discussed in depth in Ben Settle’s newest masterpiece called?Markauteur.

It is his latest publication and it details the process that his creative circle, including Zine, uses to create the irresistible World of Email Players.

Ben describes it in his own words here:

https://emailplayers.com/design/?Be sure to read all the way to the bottom, where I describe it in my own words.

The book is launching in December so the order page will be empty. You can subscribe to his list to get notified of the exact date.

For you busy types who ain’t got no time to click on no links, here is the short description:

"In the whole world, you're talking about the 1% who can think at this level. Very few people can operate at this level. Now that doesn't mean that they can’t, some people, they just haven't seen it. They just haven't been introduced to it."

Consider this a formal introduction.

Peace and cranberry jelleh,

Kia Arian