by Miriam Hara | Aug 8, 2025 | Advertising, Agency, Business Success, Creative, Design
Unmistakably Purple
If voice shapes how a brand sounds and represents, its visual identity is how it’s remembered. In a world crowded with choices, visuals are strategy, personality, and first impression all at once. For my business... my brand, that unforgettable visual identity begins with one unexpected colour: purple.
The Layering Approach
An unforgettable visual identity is never just about what looks good on a page. It’s about crafting patterns, moments, and details that make an impression before you’ve said a word. It embodies and propels forward the brand's logo while carrying the momentum to social media communications, and advertising.
When I considered what would signal my business to the world, I started with the simplicity of a my business' visual identity. I started with a colour that was unexpected 37 years ago. It was a colour that was rarely seen or utilized in the business world yet oddly traditional. It was a bold move in the seas of grey, blue and burgundy. Additionally, I wanted a colour that sparked curiosity, commanded attention, and reflected the kind of creative courage I bring to every project.
Why Purple?
Purple wasn’t chosen by accident. It’s the signature of my brand for a reason. Throughout history, purple has signalled creativity, originality, and even a little bit of rebellion. It’s confident, distinctive, and unapologetic just like the brands I love to build. And let's not forget...purple is often associated with courageousness...with braveness.
Albeit, purple is also personal for me. It reflects imagination, a bias toward bold ideas, and a commitment to standing for something unique, not just what’s expected. It’s the heartbeat of every piece of creative, every campaign, and every brand moment we deliver.
Consistency Creates Confidence
Of course, visual identity is about more than just one shade. It’s the patterns, rhythms, and small details that turn colour into memory. Purple is the visual thread that runs through our brand. It appears in the logo, the website, event booths, even the energy of the team.Consistency is a competitive advantage. I want people to feel the brand before they even know it’s us.
Purple invites a double take. It stands out in a sea of sameness and, in our world, that matters. Clients and potential clients alike, take note of our brand colour. Unbeknownst to them, from the very first hello, we are already having a brand conversation. One that enables us to really show what we can accomplish for their brands. The use of purple is very intentional.
Visuals That Speak Volumes For My Clients, Too
Many of the brands I work with are navigating complex, crowded spaces; health, innovation, food, lifestyle, and legacy industries that can feel overwhelming and even feel a little sterile. For them, standing out isn’t just a luxury; it’s survival.
When I and my team are given to develop an unforgettable visual identity... it isn't only about colour. It's about being unexpected...and whatever that form takes. We aim to make their message impossible to ignore and giving their brand sense of confidence and cohesion that transcends vehicle. Confidence in their communications, advertising and of course, confidence for their sales force to articulate what needs to be. The visual identity is the springboard for which all brand communications (digital, print, sales) take flight. Clients have told me that our creative choices, especially the signature visual elements, help their brands claim space, spark conversations, and signal that they’re not afraid to lead.
When someone is exposed to one of my businesses' campaigns or walks into our office, I want them to feel that spark. Purple makes sure they do. It’s a colour that opens doors, starts conversations, and makes the brand unforgettable not just for me, but for every client I have the privilege to work with.
by Miriam Hara | Jul 8, 2025 | Advertising, Creative, Marketing
The importance of asking What If?
What if? It’s a small question, but one that has shaped some of the most memorable brand moments in recent history. It opens the door to creative freedom, to alternate outcomes, to ideas that move a message beyond expectation. Not every great idea begins with a plan. Sometimes, it begins with a possibility. A simple question asked at just the right moment. One that doesn’t look for confirmation, but for expansion.
In marketing and branding, asking What if? is about formulating vision. It invites us to imagine something just outside our usual frame and to explore how to bring it into view.
What if? invites us to challenge assumptions
Most briefs are built on a defined problem and a set of guardrails. They are written to sharpen focus. But sometimes, they also limit possibility.
Asking What if? allows a team to to imagine up to the fringe of those parameters and possibly step just beyond those edges. It offers a way to reframe the assignment. What if the product is not the hero? What if the audience is broader than we thought? What if the solution lies in the opposite direction?
These questions do not suggest that strategy gets thrown out. Instead, they keep it fluid long enough to explore the territory that often gets overlooked.
When asked early, What if? prevents ideas from settling too quickly. It keeps curiosity alive and creativity honest.
Imagination makes space for innovation
The best ideas rarely arrive fully formed. They begin with exploration. They need time to stretch before they take shape. What if? gives them that space.
Consider Apple’s early marketing shift. Rather than focusing on product specs, they asked a different question. What if we spoke to the creative spirit behind the user? That led to Think Different, a campaign that didn’t describe the product, but elevated the mindset of its audience. That shift in focus became a cornerstone of brand storytelling. It worked not because it followed the rules, but because it imagined something better.
What if? makes room for that kind of thinking.
Curiosity opens doors that research can’t
Strategy often begins with what we know. Research, insights, data are the tools that ground us. Imagination, however, is what helps us leap.
What if? lets us ask questions that the data may not suggest, but that the audience might feel. What if our brand stood for more than its category? What if we stopped trying to win attention and earned trust instead?
These are not ideas that come from spreadsheets. They come from creative confidence. They come from a willingness to explore before locking into the familiar.
What if? makes the process more collaborative
In a creative environment, What if? is one of the most inclusive questions you can ask. It lowers the pressure to be right and raises the potential to explore. Everyone gets to contribute. Everyone feels invited in.
It also softens the edges in feedback brainstorming sessions. Instead of saying no, teams say What if we tried another way? That shift changes the tone from evaluation to exploration. From critique to conversation.
In the long run, it builds better work. Because it builds better culture.
Asking What if? leads to stronger ideas
No brand finds its edge by repeating what already works. It finds it by testing the limits. That does not mean being reckless. It means being open.
When teams ask What if? they find room to pivot, to reimagine, and to reset. They create the conditions for breakthroughs, not by forcing them, but by staying curious long enough for new paths to emerge.
What if? does not ask for perfection. It asks for possibility. And possibility is where the best ideas begin.
Ready to start? Lets chat!
by Miriam Hara | Jul 3, 2025 | Advertising, Branding, Creative, Marketing
The Importance of Asking Why Not?
In our recent bi-monthly LinkedIn newsletter we received a lot of interest and feedback. In that newsletter, we emphasized the importance in marketing and branding of asking the question Why? That got me thinking about a few other key questions… like Why not?
Some of the best ideas don’t start with a pitch or a premise. They start with a pause, or a skeptical, raised eyebrow. The concept of ‘Why not?’ shouldn’t be taken as a rebuttal or a confrontation. In brainstorming sessions, it’s always meant as a thoughtful challenge to the status quo.
The simple question: Why not? is as important as it’s counterpart Why?
Unlike Why, which seeks to understand, Why not? seeks to expand. It allows us to open doors we didn’t know were closed or, dare I say, even existed. It pushes us to question the rules we take for granted. It helps brands go beyond expectation and bridge into relevancy. Now that’s exciting.
Challenging the norm is a good thing.
Whenever a new brand manager comes into a brand, I get excited. There’s nothing like a fresh pair of eyes and a new perspective on a brand that’s been worked on by the same team. A brand manager only has that fresh, almost naïve perspective once, and it’s during the first three months of taking over a brand.
Out of necessity, every brand develops unwritten rules and internal assumptions. These create creative boundaries. Add market conventions and conventional wisdom into the mix and the end result often becomes sameness. And while some of these assumptions are valid, many are simply habits. Habits that go unquestioned because “that’s how it’s always been done.”
Remember the terrible twos? Some of us don’t…but the Whys and Why nots were the only questions we asked!
Asking Why not? doesn’t just poke at norms. It forces us to examine whether they still serve the brand. Why not show vulnerability in a financial brand?
Why not bring humour to healthcare?
Why not simplify where everyone else over-explains?
Asking Why not? isn’t about disruption for disruption’s sake, it’s about staying relevant. And if the market has changed, and it has… then shouldn’t our assumptions change too?
Progress comes from pushback
I believe that the biggest creative breakthroughs come from challenging small constraints.
I always think about the Dove’s Real Beauty campaign. I like to assume that campaign was grounded in the question: Why not show women the way they actually are? That simple challenge reshaped an entire category. This wasn’t a small gesture to appease a certain demographic profile. It was a perspective shift. It moved the conversation away from what the product was, to what the product was meant for. In doing so, it reshaped the brand and its relevance.
Reframe the risk
In marketing, we often treat risk as something to minimize or avoid. But there’s another side to risk and it’s the risk of irrelevance. The risk of sounding like everyone else. Of being easily ignored.
We need to ask ourselves: What’s the risk of staying the same? Or worse, what’s the cost of playing it safe?
Ensure a fresh perspective
When used in brainstorms or strategy sessions, Why not? invites input even when we don’t have all the answers yet. It welcomes different viewpoints. It makes space for questions that don’t have immediate answers but just might lead to better ones.That doesn’t mean we’re tossing the strategy out the window. It means we’re holding it up to the light. True relevance isn’t about fitting in. It’s about showing up with clarity, confidence, and curiosity. Why not? is the first step in getting there.
by Miriam Hara | Jun 3, 2025 | Advertising, Branding, Creative
There’s something about a visual that speaks before words do. In our world of creative marketing, we’ve always known that. We’ve built our reputation around it.
A single image has the power to invite, provoke, reassure, even challenge. The beauty of storytelling isn’t always told. Sometimes, and I would like to believe, often, it’s felt.
Today, with the emergence of AI, the art of storytelling seems to be on a clock. AI tools are changing the game, offering up content in a matter of seconds. Need a futuristic skyline? Done. A perfectly lit dinner table? Easy. A kid in space boots, eating cereal? No problem…easy peasy.
And yet, despite all this progress, something gets lost in all this instant perfection. Something important.
Speed Isn’t Vision
At the speed of business, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind. At 3H, although we enthusiastically embrace what’s new, we don’t chase the ‘shiny’. We ask why. We dig for truth. And when it comes to AI and creative work, the truth is this: the tool might be fast, but the vision still has to be ours.
Garbage In. Garbage Out.
Visual storytelling is so much more than design or a pretty picture. Every photo, every frame, should reflect something deeper. AI can’t feel the weight of a brand’s history. It doesn’t know your founder’s favourite colour or the reason your tone shifted last year. More importantly, it doesn’t understand your audience nor does it understand nuance. It understands patterns and what you tell it to understand. It draws from the information you provide to spool out visuals that articulate what you want. Without you…the output is lackluster.
Same Tools, Same Output
AI-generated visuals are starting to blend together. They’re clean, polished, technically impressive and often forgettable. That’s what happens when convenience starts to steer the process. You lose what makes a brand unique. You lose texture. Voice. Point of view.
Great branding comes from decisions that aren’t always obvious. A slightly off-centre crop. An imperfect detail left in on purpose. The shadow that softens a bold message. AI can imitate these things, but it can’t originate them
Use It. Don’t Depend on It.
That doesn’t mean AI doesn’t belong. It does. We use it. It helps us move faster when speed is needed. It helps us pressure-test concepts. It gets us thinking. But it doesn’t replace thinking.
We still build from the same foundation: insight, relevance, creativity, intention. And those things aren’t auto-generated. They’re earned. Experience, instinct, and a willingness to trust the process is what built them.
The Data Is Useful. The Direction Is Yours.
Automation can tell us what visuals perform well. It can highlight which colours draw attention or which layouts increase dwell time. But data is there to inform, not direct.
There’s still a place for surprise. For taking a risk that can’t be measured in advance. For following the feeling, not just the formula. That’s where real creative work lives.
Stay in the Story
If you take anything from my perspective, let it be this: storytelling doesn’t speed up just because the tools do. The moment you trade intention for efficiency, the message starts to slip. Fast isn’t the goal. Impact is.
AI is a tool, not a teammate. Use it when it helps, question it when it doesn’t, and don’t let it lead. That part still belongs to you. When it comes to building brands that last, it’s not about how quickly you can create content. It’s about how deeply that content can connect.
by Miriam Hara | May 27, 2025 | Advertising, Creative, Design, Marketing
Defining Design Strategy
After over 36 years at the helm of 3H Communications, there are certain truths in our profession that have endured the test of time. Creative concepts aren’t pretty pictures… and design isn’t decoration. When design lacks intention, it will be sure to miss the mark. Every curve, every hue, every seemingly simple design choice happens by the exercise of expertise and free will.
Whether it’s making the bold choice of a deep indigo, the placement of a logo, a typography selection or the subtle curve of a package corner, every decision carries weight and purpose.
Behind every great design there is a rationale. A thought process that bridges creativity with strategy.
Marketing of Design.
Design strategy articulates what must be visually contextualize. What are we trying to achieve? Who are we speaking to? How will this design help us get there? It sets to align the visual elements of a brand with its mission, values, and goals. It takes abstract ideas and transforms them into visual articulations that are compelling, working together cohesively to tell a story and drive action.
Without strategy, design risks becoming a disconnected series of aesthetic decisions. Ultimately nice to look at, missing the mark in becoming a powerful tool for communication, differentiation, and long-term brand equity.
Ask ‘Why’ Always.
Think like a 3 year old and continuously ask Why? Why this shape? Why this texture? Why this spacing? Every answer must add to the bigger picture, whether it’s solving a problem, evoking an emotion, or influencing behaviour.
A curve on a package may very well be visually appealing, but it just might be about making it easier to hold or subtly creating an organic flow that aligns with a natural product promise. A colour isn’t just a shade, it’s a signal. It can calm, energize, or provoke.
Design Driven by Intention.
When intention leads design, it shows. It feels cohesive. It feels confident. It simply works well. At 3H, design intention is simply our process.It’s not just about how something looks. It’s about why it looks that way. Brands that endure do so because their design foundations are executed properly. Design strategy catapulted by intention ensures that even as trends shift, the core brand message remains intact.
Why It Matters.
We already live in an over-saturated world where consumers are bombarded with visual stimuli every day. Design without intention is noise. But design with intention? That’s where magic happens.
At 3H, our philosophy is simple: design is a strategic tool. Every project, no matter how big or small, starts with intention and is guided by rationale. We design with purpose. And in a world that’s always looking for the next big thing, that makes all the difference.
by Miriam Hara | May 6, 2025 | Agency, Branding, Creative
Spring is a season of renewal, an open invitation to reflect, reset, and reimagine. As nature begins to bloom, so too does our perspective. For those just discovering me or my agency, both are deeply tied with the colour purple. As with every year, this season invites reflection. It’s a time to look back with hindsight and forward with hope.
Branding in the Making.
Over 36 years ago, I branded the agency with violet purple as the primary colour and mustard as the accent. Back then, purple wasn’t used in corporate identities. Amidst a sea of blues, burgundies, and greys, our business card stood out.
Branding and Evolution.
Over time, our primary colour remained consistent. In 2008, however, we swapped mustard for titanium. This shift marked our entry into the digital era and underscored our growing expertise in the digital space.
Adding to this punch of colour is the fact that I wear purple, every single workday. Weekends are my break, but with a wardrobe dominated by purple, it sneaks in anyway.
Branding Isn’t…Or Shouldn’t Be Personal.
I am often asked if purple is my favourite colour. Full disclosure: it is not! Purple was chosen based on a specific set of criteria back in 1988:
1) Was this colour unique? At the time, corporate palettes were dominated by blue, grey, and burgundy. Purple was rarely seen.
2) Would this colour be impactful? After 36 years, every time I hand out my business card (yes, I still do), it sparks a comment about the colour… and of course the design! (what is colour without design!)
3) Would it be memorable? Absolutely. Whether it’s a business card or a cold-call package, purple leaves an impression.
The Purple Culture.
Over the years, our team has made 3H synonymous not just with the color purple, but with what it represents: Creativity. Originality. Passion. Boldness. Authenticity.
They’ve embraced our Purple Culture. It’s who we are as a brand.
You’ll see this passion for branding the moment you walk through our agency doors, or when you visit us online. You’ll be immersed in purple because that’s the first step in towards establishing a brand… being immersed it on all levels, and for all the senses.
Don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us. Let’s talk about your brand or your next branding initiative.
