The TED conferences have established a reputation for gathering big thinkers to share big thoughts about big things, so when they came to Detroit, we figured we’d better join in.

Right now, our vice-president (and Creative Director) Dane Downer, is at the full-day conference being held at the Detroit Institute of Arts –  a true local gem.  He sent us this picture earlier, showing a break in the proceedings, with attendees gathered outside to check out the Chevy Volt.

We’re expecting Dane to return to work tomorrow at least 7% smarter and with some sort of free tote bag.

What you see here is one in a series of ten commemorative pins to be given away at the Audiosonic Identiglyph release party to be held at the Steak Hut in Detroit, this Sunday, October 3.  They’re packaged in a blind assortment, so you won’t know what you’re getting for the three and a half seconds that it takes you to open the package!  (FUN!)

These are limited in supply and will be handed out on a first-come, first served basis at the breakfast-time event.  The free copies of the Audiosonic Identiglyph, on the other hand, are plentiful, so we should have enough for every single person in attendance.

… and if we don’t that means that we waaaaaay over-invited, but even then, there’s plenty of free hash browns!

… unless we waaaaaaay over-invited.

Detroit gets a lot of flack and a good amount of it is well deserved, and yet, it’s a truly wonderful place. That’s a difficult dichotomy to express to an outsider, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Detroit is a mess, but it’s also a glorious playground. If you are an artist, an entrepreneur, a pioneer of any type, Detroit is calling you.

Brand Labs is in a northern suburb, about 20 minutes outside of Detroit, but make no mistake, Detroit is the “Mother Country”. It’s where we go for the Red Wings, the Tigers… even the Lions. Each year, we line Woodward Avenue, ten people deep, to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade make its march to Campus Martius. There is a big, Old-English-style “D” tattooed on the heart of every southeast Michigander… but try to explain it to an outsider.

Well, a series of videos that’s been making the rounds in the last week does a pretty fine job of it. We present part one below, but they’re all worth a look. (Make special note of Bethany Shorb – owner of Cyberoptix Tie Lab, who created our exclusive design.):

Photo by Jason Matthews

We’re not entirely sure how to feel about this.

Internationally famous graffiti artist, Banksy was in Detroit recently and he did what graffiti artists do.  He graffitied.  One of his pieces ended up on a small fragment of a wall in the now derelict Packard plant.  The image of a small boy with a paint can remembering “when all this was trees” is irony layered on irony with a thick coating of melancholy.  It’s simultaneously hopeless and hopeful, acknowledging that change isn’t synonymous with death.

… or rather, it was.

After being tipped off on May 8, the folks at 555 Gallery assembled a recovery team and over a two-day period, they removed the piece and transported it to their gallery.  They claim the effort was about preservation and in their defense, any building in this state of decay is likely to be destroyed at any moment.  On the other hand, the critics point out that that may well have been Banksy’s intention.

Either way, a public art piece by an important, internationally recognized painter has been removed from the public eye (without permission) and no one quite knows what to do about it.

Local artist Matt Eaton (brother of another internationally renown graffiti artist, Tristan Eaton) summed it up this way on his Facebook posting about the incident:

“… and THAT is why you can’t have nice things, Detroit.”

(via The Detroit Free Press)

UPDATE: Tomorrow, Matt Eaton will be on our local NPR station, WDET, with Tom Thewes (of ©POP Gallery) discussing the merits of… well, let’s be honest, he’ll be verbally smacking the crap out of the folks at 555 Gallery.

Fittingly, Detroit’s motto is Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus… or for those whose Latin isn’t quite up to par: “We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes.”

We have a long and well-known history of troubled times, but despite that near-constant hardship, we endure, largely due to the efforts of people like John Hantz, whose Hantz Farm Project is taking steps to repurpose some long-neglected  Motown real estate as farmland.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  When life gives you dirt, make lemons.

Thank you Mr. Hantz.

(via Fast Company)

As we button up the office for the long Thanksgiving weekend, we’d like to take a moment to wish all of our clients (and the entire Volusion community at large) a safe and happy holiday!  2009 has been a fantastic year for Brand Labs and we owe a great deal of our success to our customers and supporters.  The rest of our success comes to us through the tireless efforts and boundless creativity of our staff, for whom we are thankful each and every day.

… and remember, there’s more than one parade going on tomorrow.  In the morning, for the 83rd time, thousands of volunteers will don embarrassing costumes and march straight down the center of Detroit on Woodward Avenue in America’s Thanksgiving Parade.  Be sure to watch!

… and thanks again!

UPDATE: We failed to mention that our own Courtney Boehm was part of a long-standing Detroit Thanksgiving tradition: watching the Lions get pummeled on national television.  Courtney had one of the best seats in the house, for the halftime show, at least.  She can (barely) be seen here dancing on the 50 yard line as Vita Chambers sings “Heat Wave” as part of the show’s Motown tribute.  While you can’t make out her face, at least she can rest well in the knowledge that she scored almost as many points that day as the Lions did.

We hate to blow our own horn, but we’ll do it if we have to.  Luckily, this week, that won’t be necessary.  Brand Labs has been featured in the latest issue of Crain’s Detroit Business, in recognition of our entrepreneurial spirit and our ongoing success in the midst of the toughest economic conditions in decades.

Of course, we’re always happy to be mentioned in the media, but we’re a little disappointed that the words “awesome” and “mega-awesome” don’t appear anywhere in the article.  We’re sure that this was simply an oversight on their part and we hope to see some sort of correction or retraction in the days to come.

You may read the entire article at CrainsDetroit.com (registration required).

UPDATE: Right now, (as of 10 am on Nov 11) our president, Kevin Harman, is attending Crain’s Salute to Entrepreneurship at U of M’s Dearborn Campus.  Drop by and say hi!

There was a time, ’round these parts, that Faygo was, quite simply, summer in a bottle. There wasn’t a picnic anywhere in Detroit that wasn’t well-stocked with Redpop and Rock and Rye. The (more expensive) Coke and Pepsi were for the grownups, but we didn’t care. Why would we want some dull, brown pop (not “soda” here in the mitten state) when we could pull the tab on a fizzy, sugar-saturated tin can of bright red liquid magic? We cherished every bit of the sticky syrup as its sugar coursed through our veins and it stained our lips, hands and clothes, marking us as pink-hued warriors, battling against maturity as the impending school year loomed over the horizon like a hideous beast whose sole purpose was to remind us of the fleeting nature of childhood.

With Labor Day on its way and Summer waning quickly, we offer this love letter to the season of childhood and freedom. Enjoy.

As much as we have no desire to flog a celebrity tragedy for any reason, the fact is that Michael Jackson’s recent passing has affected our entire office in a very specific way. Each time we receive a new contract, the folks in sales play “ABC” by the Jackson 5. It’s a nod to the common sales acronym for “Always Be Closing”, but it’s also simply a joyful song and we’ve gotten used to hearing it pretty regularly. We’ve tried alternates, but nothing else seems to capture the proper mood as effectively as that dynamic and enchanting 11 year old boy singing about young love. We’ll be keeping the tradition even though it may be touched with a bit of sadness for a time. From just north of Motown, we’d like to say thanks, Michael.

Today we celebrated the birthdays of Chris Jackson and Courtney Boehm! There’s still some cake left, so if you happen to be in the Rochester, MI area, stop on by for a piece!

… I do feel compelled to mention that simply standing within three feet of this particular cake is likely to contribute to Adult Onset Diabetes, so proceed at your own risk.