blog post image

Rethinking Order, Beauty, and Meaning Through Asymmetry

For centuries, symmetry functioned as both aesthetic preference and worldview. From the balanced forms of Greek temples to the mirrored ideal of the Vitruvian Man, symmetry stood as a proxy for truth, order, and divine proportion. The ancients called it symmetria — a mathematical harmony that reflected the cosmos itself. By the time of the […]

Sep 28 2025 by Nancy Lerner in Brandshrink
blog post image

Beyond the Grid: Branding in Non-Euclidean Space

At first glance, geometry might seem like an unlikely source of inspiration for branding. But here at Otherwise, we often find our metaphors in what’s structural, not in what’s trending. Ideas that hold space and shape perception keep us on our toes. For centuries, Euclidean geometry — the geometry of lines, angles, planes — offered […]

Sep 14 2025 by Nancy Lerner in Editorials
blog post image

Wonder as a Working Method

Robert Frost’s phrase—our place among the infinities—opens a door we’re still learning to walk through. It suggests not one infinity but many: the outward sprawl of galaxies and the inward expanse of human interiority; the infinitude of time and the infinitude of interpretations; the boundless network of relationships that make meaning possible. In brand-building, this […]

Aug 19 2025 by Nancy Lerner in Editorials
blog post image

The Language of Trees: What Botanical Systems Teach Us About Growth

In the dominant business imagination, growth is a conquest. It’s framed in the language of acceleration, scale, and competitive advantage. Brands are expected to move fast, break things, and stay “ahead of the curve.” But in the face of ecological collapse, economic precarity, and cultural burnout, this mode of thinking is beginning to show its […]

Aug 3 2025 by Nancy Lerner in Brandshrink
blog post image

Metaphor as Our Sneak Path to Truth

Brand‑building is often framed as a linear exercise—logo, tagline, guidelines, launch—yet the lived experience of a brand is anything but linear. It is felt in heartbeats and muscle memory, in the quiet confidence of a good fit and the rush of belonging. To illuminate that multidimensional journey, we borrow from terrains that, at first glance, […]

Jul 23 2025 by Nancy Lerner in Editorials

Archives