: : CRONAN : :

A creative strategic identity consultancy. We work with change-makers looking for innovative answers. Deeply experienced in naming, branding and design thinking, with results including TiVo and AmazonKindle. 

Who Named Kindle (and Why)? By Steven Heller

 
 

Ever wonder what Kindle, the name of the Amazon "e-book", means and where it came from?

"The word’s roots are from the Old Norse word kyndill, meaning Candle. 'I verified that it had deep roots in literature,' adds Hibma. 'From Voltaire: The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others and it becomes the property of all.' No other name could hold a candle to Kindle."

Read the article in The Daily Heller

Kindle is Amazon's largest selling product

Go to Amazon Kindle

TiVo's B-Day

"Jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those... antenna! TiVo got its identity (both the name and its perfectly cute face) in 1997 from the big brains behind : : CRONAN : :. Because TiVo was a first-of-its-kind product and service, and about to forever change the way people viewed television, Michael Cronan asked, What would we name the world's next TV?"

Go to TiVo's newsletter to read about the origins of the name

 

An interview with Michael Cronan about creating TiVo

Matt Haughey, PVRblog: "Take us back to the very beginning of the project. Before TiVo had a name or mascot, how was the project described to you when you began?"

Read the interview with Michael Cronan about the origins of the name and the mascot

 

TiVo name and corporate identity development

"The question was, how could they let consumers know that, although this was a television-related product, it was as unlike regular TV as radio is to the internet."

logolounge.com article

: : CRONAN : : Walking Man featured in a new book on product design and branding

November 6, 2008

The Design Entrepreneur, Turning Graphic Design Into Goods that Sell

Noted writers Steven Heller and Lita Talarico have authored a lively new book about designers who have expanded their reach by creating and selling their own products, the ultimate "walking the walk." Karin Hibma : : CRONAN : : partner, discusses founding and developing Walking Man, an apparel line that we design, manufacture and sell online. In her interview, Karin points out that we created Walking Man, now in its sixteenth year, as a kind of environment whereby one can travel from appointment to occasion and be completely well dressed. The line has received many design accolades including ID Magazine's Consumer Product Gold Award for two successive years.

Among the list of other design luminaries profiled who have created successful products are: Seymour Chwast; Maira Kalman; Yves Behar; William Drenttel & Jessica Helfand.

 

Visit Walking Man online

Buy the book

Michael and Karin at the Aspen Design Summit discussing social entrepreneurship

Michael at AIGA Aspen.png

In conversation with Chee Pearlman, Karin Hibma and Michael Cronan discuss how they helped to change the focus of the Aspen Design Summit to serve the needs of disigners today while continuing to respect the Aspen legacy.

Go to overview story and podcast

More important than E=mc2.

"From the recent AIGA Aspen thinktank session, I have many good memories. One in particular is the diagram drawn by the team that included Michael Cronan shown here on the right. Our team was given the topic of discourse while Michael's team was given the topic of money."

- John Maeda, writing about Love and Money at the Aspen Design Summit

View article

Paying One's Dues

American Institute of Graphic Art (AIGA)

Earning self respect and the respect of others. - By Michael Cronan

"Payment comes in different forms. Time, energy, intellectual attention and patience are all legal tender; most dues are paid in combinations of those items. And rarely do we figure the love of doing something into the equation, but love and passion are powerful in finding the resources to make the payment."

Go to the article

If a fellow named Hill calls and invites you to Texas, go.

Graphis, New Talent Annual '07/'08

The Creative Summit at Texas State University in San Marcos: An Ecosystem - By Michael Cronan

Imagine a stage filled with world-class creative people like Kit Hinrichs, Anita Kuntz, Gene Hoffman, Dana Arnett, B. Martin Pedersen, Jennifer Morla, Lana Rigsby, McRay Magleby, C.F.Payne, Stefan Sagmeister, Greg and Pat Samata, Forrest and Valerie Richardson, Michael Vanderbyl, Francois Robert, and Jack Unruh. They are all applauding and looking out to the audience with big smiles. Shyly a nineteen-year-old student stands up and makes her way to the stage to accept an award and cash prize for her package design, which is projected twenty feet high above everyone's head. It is a moment that that young lady will not soon forget.

View the article     

Articles on the Creative Summit featured in Graphis