EP 127: Designing Brand Strategy | Howard Belk
This week we talk about simplicity as a strategy.
Howard Belk pulls double duty as Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer of leading global brand experience consultancy Siegel+Gale, which he claims is one (or two) of the six best jobs on the planet.
He is an entrepreneur who helped a 50-year-old branding firm reestablish industry leadership by embracing its disruptor legacy. Since his arrival at the firm in 2004, he and his colleagues have established Siegel+Gale as The Simplicity Company, truly the go-to firm to help untangle the mind-bending brand mash ups that result from the entrepreneurial adventures of the CEOs they love.
Over his career, he has partnered with Fortune 500 clients to embrace the power of simplicity, purpose, experience and design to transform and grow their companies. Today, he is one of those rare birds who understands both business and design, and more importantly how to embrace one to succeed at the other.
Episode mentions and links:
Howard’s photo credit: Madeline King
Howard’s restaurant rec: Omen
Howard’s book rec: The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
Follow Howard: Twitter | Insta | LinkedIn
Follow Siegel+Gale: Twitter | Insta | LinkedIn
Episode Reflection:
I have always loved brand and logo design. It’s fascinating to me how much a logo or wordmark can communicate using simple ingredients such as color, shape, font, scale, positive and negative space. Not only does a well-designed brand communicate intent and emotion, but it’s also temporal in nature. Like fashion, brands change with the times. A company's logo from 10 or 20 years ago looks heavy and outdated when held up against today's monochrome and simplified marks. They say we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but with the thousands of choices we are presented with every day, we have become comfortable with making a choice based on our first glance at a brand logo or image.
Our guest this week spoke a lot about the power of simplicity and how simplification is the first step to many of the projects at Siegel+Gale. To the design-minded, this makes total sense. The best designs frequently prioritize simplicity. Removing steps from a process, making something easier to use, or less confusing. Bon and Howard brought up the concept of having more Chief Creative Officers in healthcare, but I think what we really need are Cheif Simplicity Officers! We are plagued with layers of complexity in healthcare and so many of the negative experiences had by both patients and staff are caused by frustrating complexity that seems to serve no purpose other than to infuriate. Just imagine what a healthcare experience could be if it was someone's job to ensure simplicity was considered right up there with safety. I can think of a few design-minded organizations that were discussed in this week’s episode that are certainly leading the industry with a delightfully simple experience. What can traditional healthcare orgs learn from companies like CVS?
Written by Rob Pugliese
-
Bon Ku: Welcome to another episode of Design Lab. I'm your host Bon Ku on this podcast, we explore the intersection of design and health. We love it. When our listeners reach out to us, you can message me on Twitter at B O n K U and on Instagram and threads at D R B O N K U.
Our guest today is Howard Belk he is both the co CEO and the chief creative officer of a leading global brand experience consultancy called Siegel and Gale.
He claims it's one of the six best jobs on the planet. Howard's an entrepreneur and he helped a 50 year old branding from reestablish industry leadership by embracing its disruptor legacy. He arrived at the firm in 2004 and Howard and his colleagues have established Siegel and Gale as the Simplicity Company.
They help untangle the mind-bending brand mashups that result from entrepreneurial adventures of the CEOs they love. Over his career Howard has partnered with Fortune 500 clients to embrace the power of simplicity, purpose, experience and design to transform and grow their companies.
Here's my conversation with Howard Belk.
Howard Belk, welcome to Design Lab. I'm thrilled to reconnect with you and have you on the show.
Howard Belk: Yeah, I'm really happy to be back here, Bon, it's good to see you. You look great, man. What have you been doing? How do you stay so healthy?
Bon Ku: Well, my listeners probably get bored of this, but I am, am a surfer, so I've, I've actually surfed a lot this year in all these different places I've been to surfed in Morocco. Nicaragua and Western Ireland. Let's jump into your roles at Siegel and Gail, you're the Chief Creative Officer and the Coco, is that correct?
Howard Belk: Yeah, that's
Bon Ku: Cool. Yeah.
Howard Belk: Two really good jobs.
Bon Ku: I love that title of being a chief creative Officer. So let's dive into both them. First of all, for those who don't know what Siegel and Gail is, describe your company and, what do you do there on a day-to-day basis?
Howard Belk: Siegel and Gail is, one of the world's leading, and, and I really, it is, brand strategy and experience companies, we have offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles. London, Dubai, Shanghai and, and affiliate office in Tokyo. So yeah, in interesting parts of the world. we work with, most of the time large established organizations that, are going through moments of transition and we help them.
you big picture you could say with relevance in a way, you know, so we're a branding firm, so we, approach it from that perspective. what's the story, what's the unique story of each one of these companies? you know, how do they match up in a really, smart way based on the strengths they have, you know, in their competitive set.
what's the true story about them? That helps the world understand what they do, how it's unique, and why it matters, you know, and why they should care about it. And, and then that, that exercise, helps them with obviously marketing, also with talent. you know, attraction and, and also focusing of town.
It helps them engage with communities in productive ways, and it helps them really, assert their relevance in the world. So that's kind of what we do. a great company. Several hundred people around the world, a phenomenal set of, talents and backgrounds from obvi. We have designers and we have digital specialists, and we have research people and strategists and namrs and a really, interesting collection of talent, which makes it really fun.
Bon Ku: You must really have to get into the mental headspace of companies going through this transition. You almost have to be, you kinda ha almost have to act as a therapist, don't you, to help them come up with their identity sometimes.
Howard Belk: You have to love them Bon. you, you have to, you have to fall in love with them. And, we, we work with so many different kinds of organizations, you know, that do all kinds of different things in the world, you know, And so, part of the job, I think, and I tell our people, you know, I, encourage our people is find the thing you love about them, about their people, about what they do, the impact on the world.
Because if you don't, if you harbor any disdain for them, that will become apparent. And it's just, it's gonna wreck the whole thing and it's gonna, it's gonna take the joy out of it. So, that's key. Love, love matters.
Bon Ku: And before we dive into some of your clients, you've had a long history with Siegel and Gail. You first visited them when you're in your early twenties. Is that correct? can you talk about that?
Howard Belk: That's one of my favorite stories and, this story actually shows up in, in a biography that's been written about our founder Alan Siegel, but this is my favorite story. You know, I ask people sometimes, guess what? The first five words Alan Siegel ever said to me, and they were, who the hell are you?
Just like that. I was, you know, like 22. A really good friend of mine was a designer over there, and I was, visiting him at night. We were actually doing a little freelance job on the side in the Siegel and Gale offices, and Alan came back after dinner about nine o'clock at night, finds me alone in a room.
He's like, who the hell are you? I stuttered something, you know, and he's got, he rums and walks off and, uh, I didn't see him again for 20 plus years. So that, that was pretty funny. and, and, and enormously satisfying to be appointed CEO of that company, you know, you.
Bon Ku: Amazing. And so are you trained as a designer? Do you go to design school because you're in this, unique position of, being in a C-suite with your background?
Howard Belk: Yeah, I did go to design school. I, Went to design school in Philadelphia and, came to New York out of school and, and worked as a designer, but always had a pretty entrepreneurial bend Bond. So I, I founded a company with, somebody I was at school with,
Bon Ku: Oh, cool.
Howard Belk: twenties and, and, who was sort of off to the races.
So then it was design and, building and running, a company. And then, you know, interestingly, Back when we founded that company, we did a lot of annual report writing and
Bon Ku: Mm-hmm. Hmm.
Howard Belk: And so that put us into direct contact with CEOs of companies interviewing them, and I found that fascinating and really paid attention.
You know, so I'm, We worked with major companies, you know, like American Express and Texaco and Neiman Marcus, and Dow Jones and Pfizer, and Honeywell and Nabisco and all these really, you know, sort of global brands. And this document was very important, almost personal document to their CEOs. So it was like their report card and also I.
Their ambition, and I found it fascinating and it was like a, you know, tutorial in business. And, that's really actually, you know, been helpful for me as, as we then, you know, embarked on our own journey with our company. So,
Bon Ku: Hmm. So that's fascinating. So you didn't study business in, in undergrad. You studied were, did you study graphic design
Howard Belk: Yes. Studied graphic design. Yep. In a program at University of the Arts in Philadelphia, which at the time was, That was staffed by a number of really accomplished design educators that all had come outta Switzerland. So they were this sort of Basel, Swiss design school, very philosophically driven.
So I came out with that background. but then, you know, sort of went through, we built the business to a really good size and then, as the internet started to happen in the nineties, we really latched right onto that.
Bon Ku: Mm
Howard Belk: Sort of transitioned into a brand and, web company and then attracted investors and really scaled up to, you know, eight, nine offices, 500 plus people.
And we were on that. The IPO track.
Bon Ku: mm.
Howard Belk: And when the.com, explosion happened. So that was another like, that was like going to business school too, just dealing with scaling way up and then scaling back down. and the different sort of business metrics that mattered and how they shifted from growth, growth, growth, growth, growth to profits, profits, profits, profits, profits.
so that was an education.
Bon Ku: what advice do you have for the designers who are listening who wanna. on a path like yours, you advise them to go to business school or just, start a business or like how, I know every path is unique, what advice would you give them?
Howard Belk: Well, I mean, if, if somebody, most designers don't wanna go to business school, you know, it's that, it's sort of a rare. Person that would want to, and then come back to having a very design-centric job. However, if somebody does have that inclination, I would say go for it, cuz you'll learn a lot and you'll come back sort of able to run and grow a business and also help your clients more.
You know. But otherwise, if you, you know, if you're starting, a business or you're, you know, founding a business, I guess find some really good financial advisors that you, to help you understand how do we make money? Cuz if you, if you're not making money, your business is in trouble. So it doesn't have to be the ultimate driving force in your
life, but it is fuel.
Bon Ku: Mm.
Howard Belk: And so understand how the engine works, so that you can tend to that while you're tending to design, which may be, you know, where your passion really lies.
I'm sort of equally interested in both.
so it works for me and that education worked. And then I've been part of the, you know, our company was acquired by Omnicom, which is one of the world's largest marketing services holding companies.
And so now I've been part of Omnicom for over 20 years, and that's a very financially driven organization. So they, celebrate creativity, they. Are attracted to and purchase companies that are super strong in that domain, but then they really do impose a lot of financial discipline on you. So, for me, that's also been, you know, hugely educational.
So the, the business that I run today with my partner David Ri, is such a phenomenally well run business. in line with their brand purpose, which was to help people on, a path to a healthier life.
Bon Ku: Mm
Howard Belk: and so that's really a great company. They're, they're really purpose driven. They're, you know, really, a great culture, up there. They're based in Rhode Island, but of course they're all over the country. how did you land them? cvs. I mean, this has gotta be like such a hu I mean, there's such a, I mean, right now they're like over 300 billion in revenue. They have like, almost like 10,000 stores in in the us Yeah.
I think, you know, on the Fortune 100 list, they're in the top five. They're, they're. we had to, you know, we had to pitch. It was competitive. we did a lot of research about them, about the different businesses that make up CVS Health, cuz they're very different businesses.
You've obviously got the pharmacies, but you also have, these, benefits. Pharmacy benefits businesses a really big business for them. They have the MinuteClinics, they actually treat more patients in the United States than any hospital system.
Bon Ku: Wow.
Howard Belk: And they have this, you know, the specialty, specialty drug business where these are very expensive drugs for various, particular diseases and there's enormous support that comes with the drug prescription.
So there's, they have a lot of really interesting parts of the business. So we had to get very smart on that and present, a smart point of view about how all of that could be harmonized to be one brand. You know, called C V S Health, and how we would design that program and who it was, staff it with, et cetera.
they thought, yeah, this is gonna be the best firm. You know, we're also Siegel and Gale is, you know, we're a philosophically driven company around this notion of simplicity,
Bon Ku: Hmm.
Howard Belk: that our founder Alan Siegel landed on, you know, a long time ago in the seventies. And so we really bring that lens to bear on our approach to problems.
So, and that was really appealing to them cause it was a pretty complicated, challenge to harmonize all of that.
Bon Ku: What did you do for CVS? Because before they were called Caremark, right? Like, did you come up with the CVS Health name and the logo and like what did that
process look like?
Howard Belk: They were called c v s Caremark Cuz c v s had purchased Caremark some years before, and Caremark was a pharmacy benefits company. they had, when they engaged us, they internally had decided to take tobacco off the shelves. they had a purpose which was helping people on their path to a healthier life.
And they had, a CEO that was really committed to that. And the whole place was so, They came to that decision and you know, that was 2 billion in sales that they walked away from
Bon Ku: cigarette sales.
Howard Belk: tobacco, tobacco
Bon Ku: Oh my gosh.
Howard Belk: Something on the order of like 500 million in profit that they said we're gonna just, we're gonna abandon that.
And, that took a lot of courage and, so they had decided to do that. So. They had provisionally decided to change the name from CVS Caremark to CVS Health. , they asked us to validate that and to come up with some options just to consider, but they were well on their way to that, and that was a great move.
so we then, helped refine their strategic brand and platform. we designed their logo, their new identity through the CVS Health with the heart. And really showed how that that could be applied at the time, they wanted to use that just at the parent company level, not in the stores.
and so the stores were gonna continue to be c v s and just with the big bold, Helvetica type.
And that was it. once we designed the system and the world responded to it, bond with such. Enthusiasm. Then the folks running the retail organization said, Hey, we want that, we
Bon Ku: Mm.
Howard Belk: So then it got pulled down into the retail stores and, you know, applied to signage and w we thought that could happen.
So when we designed that, one of the things we knew, was that replacing the signage on the c v s stores. To take all that. If, if we had changed the type the, the, the C v S logo type plus added the heart, they would've to tear all that c v s lettering off of buildings. repair the building, manufactured new signs like that, reinstall them for over 5,000 locations.
And every location is multiple signs. So that was like a a hundred, literally a hundred million dollar
chain.
Bon Ku: What wow.
Howard Belk: So we designed that logo. So if it got pulled down to the retail, all they'd have to do is add the heart. They could leave everything else. That was massive.
Bon Ku: yeah.
Howard Belk: and so that's what they did. And then, then it got pulled inside the store in many, many different places and then applied to the other businesses as well.
And just the whole organization embraced it. And then we just had to continue to build out the system to ensure it was really robust. And then, then we started looking at really the sort of experience of going to CVS and being a patient at Minute Clinic and how c v s could, you know, help patients in a more profound and intuitive way for them.
And, and build the business at the same time. So, that then led to something called the Health Hub, which is a whole, you know, sort of next level MinuteClinic. and a lot of, lot of other really interesting things. It was a great project and, and great clients, so.
Bon Ku: How do you go about doing some of that design research? Is it like direct observation or like, and, and I guess what metrics do you use to know that? Your design efforts work because I, I remember being a little bit confused. I was like, what is going on with cvs? They're not selling cigarettes or becoming a healthcare company.
And that was like confusing to me, but now it's like, oh yeah, like I've gotten care at cvs. I've like, it's easier for me to get my covid vaccine shots over there and get covid testing than actually going to my own hospital. Because I live closer to CVS. I mean it is now. It's just part of my healthcare experience,
and it happened, it seemed like it just happened so seamlessly.
Howard Belk: that program was rolled out really well. So, um, there's a lot of different components to that, to how that branch shows up. I mean, there's the words and pictures of logos and advertisements, but there's also the tools.
And the kind of service you get and what's it like to interact with their people And also, you know, how do they live the brand internally and the way they engage with each other. so, you know, as you tackle those different parts of how a brand manifests, there's different ways that you get confident that you're making the right move.
And sometimes it's quantitative research, sometimes it's qualitative research. It's always looking at the competitive set. You know, it's a stakeholder first exercise. you know, I, I read recently that some someone said, you know, the, the best way to, create, you know, great brand experiences is you begin by meeting the customer or the stakeholder.
And then from that interaction and what they need, you walk backwards as you design things. You're always your eye on that. on that, that stakeholder and I, I really like that image and that that is what you have to do.
Bon Ku: Yeah.
Howard Belk: It's interesting, you know, and we do a lot of work in the health.
Sector. I mean, c v s is a massive program. And then they, they purchased, Aetna, which interestingly we had done the Aetna brand and Identity
Bon Ku: Uh, get
out. And they're like one of the largest insurers in the country, right? They're like top five or something like that. I think.
Howard Belk: Very large. health interest. So then c v s bought them and that extended. The c v s role in the healthcare value chain to really, they're kind of a, they're a company of, of one.
You know, if you think about from
Bon Ku: mm.
Howard Belk: on one end to the clinics at the other end, as so many other ways that people can manage their health and, so.
Bon Ku: they just bought right Signify, which is a home healthcare provider in Oak Street Health, which is primary care services. So they almost have the whole vertical stack. They just like don't own hospitals now or maybe yet. You know, like
Howard Belk: Well, I mean, they have MinuteClinic that treats more patients than any hospital
and the HA, health hub. Exactly. So, that's an interesting phenomenon you see across a number of insurers where they're getting into care.
Bon Ku: Mm.
Howard Belk: Because it's what their customers need. It's, it's a way to enable them to be healthy.
And it's also better for the insurance company, obviously. So rather than leave it to third parties to make that happen or to, you know, people that are struggling with maintaining their own health, they're saying, all right, you know, it's better for everybody if we just take an active hand
there. So that's what's kind of interesting in the healthcare arena, how some of the pillars are.
supporting more of the whole structure, right? Yes.
Bon Ku: I mean, you could probably teach a class on. Healthcare economics because you have to understand how all these different components , work with each other, with this large type of system. Do you, do you have any other examples of how you apply some of your simplicity design principles in the healthcare space?
Howard Belk: Well, yeah, I mean we start there Bon all the time and so, I mean, just recently I was thinking. About in advance of our conversation today, you know, we, we helped Bristol-Myers Squibb rebrand. they made the largest acquisition in pharmaceutical history when they bought the biotech company Celgene a couple years ago.
Bon Ku: Oh, I didn't know.
Wow.
Howard Belk: that was a sort of a, game changer for Bristol-Myers Squibb. And, the CEO, Giovanni Caforio who's, you know, an amazing person, thought this is a moment where we really need the world to take a fresh look at us. This has changed who we are, and that's a moment to reexamine brand. And so, , to help them figure out the story of these two organizations together inside, why it made sense
is a exercise in simplicity. So that can be. to name the assignment. What are we trying to solve for here to detangling a portfolio of products or business units that's rather than mash 'em all together, say, okay, which ones fit together? How do we organize them in a way that's navigable? to, you know, creating a, an identity system that, represents the world accurately?
And is easy and simple to implement for the, for our client and also for all their other agencies that work with them. So the whole thing is an exercise in simplicity or simplification. I really love it because it gives you a place to start
Bon Ku: mm.
Howard Belk: with any assignment, no matter what shape and size it is.
Bon Ku: Let, let's simplify this and then start from there. Do you have to use a different, like, design strategy with healthcare companies or like pharma companies or health systems compared to non-healthcare companies? Or is it, are there some nuances there or is it kind of like the same? Same approach.
Howard Belk: I mean the, there's some nuances in terms of a program, it's going to be more, alike than different. But there are some unique, characteristics. One is, you know, Purpose and mission is a huge part of any brand story,
Bon Ku: Mm-hmm.
Howard Belk: and, in the healthcare arena, you know, that those purposes, their purpose and mission and reason for getting up and going to work every day is very, very noble, you know, and, and altruistic, let's say.
So, That informs the story in a big way. It informs how they show up and, the new areas they expand into and things like that. And so it makes them very rich projects to work on because of that, you know, we work with other companies too that are, different than that, you know, that are also really fascinating.
But they might be an industrial company. Also that has a, a real purpose, but it's, it's slight. It has a different twist to it that you're trying to, capture. So, it is kind of unique in, in that domain.
Bon Ku: I wanna have your title of being a Chief Creative Officer. I love that. I think every health system should have a Chief Creative officer. And, how would you describe the value of creativity in, in business?
Howard Belk: I think, you know, in, in this context, you know, creativity is imagination Bon. It's imagining. What could happen, what could take place, you know, out in the future for this organization? you know, we were talking earlier and you, you said you, you're imagining the sort of Tesla of a healthcare vehicle, right?
That's creativity, but that, you know, but it's imagination saying, wow, what if it was like this? And you know what? could be like that. And so, it's really important to bring that kind of thinking. To the programs we undertake and, and any program in business because you're, you're imagining a future.
And so how, how can you show up in the most compelling way? so that, that's where I think creativity matters. And it, and it can, it, it happens in every domain, not just in marketing or sales, you know.
Bon Ku: Hmm. Except for healthcare. Like, I think , I'm going to criticize, my field is, I think we undervalue the role of creativity, right? There's like, there's no. Chief creative officer for health systems. but what we do is important. We're always imagining the future of health.
You know, we're always looking like 10, 20 years out of, you know, how we're gonna think of how like AI or, you know, chat G P T is going to change the experience for clinicians and for patients. And so we always have to imagine the future, but I think we undervalue how important it is to apply our creativity to that.
Howard Belk: I mean, one place where I see is, is in, in many, let's say hospital systems, there's a sort of a chief experience officer.
Bon Ku: Yeah. Yeah. That role has been, gaining some popularity, so.
Howard Belk: that's a role that requires imagination. So, or, and creativity where you really are putting putting yourself in the persona of a patient or a patient's family, or a physician or a nurse or a caregiver who is in a, really fraught moments, right?
what is, causing anxiety and what is enabling success? Or, or the outcomes you want. And so I think that's a place in hospital systems where there's a real role for creativity. you know, also partnerships who do we partner with is a, a, another place where that can really happen.
And that's not only for, hospitals, but that's for pharma companies and universities and things like that. So I think there's a lot of places where. Imagination and creativity are success, huge success factors. and I also think design, you know, design as we understand it also matters and is acknowledged to matter.
the way that it can enable messaging and understanding and. facilitate navigation and, attract the right people. the evidence is out there that design pays. You look at a company like Apple, apple is a
Bon Ku: Yeah.
Howard Belk: you know, people become passionate defenders, you know, and advocates for Apple because they just, they love everything about it.
They love the devices, the way they feel, the way they work, the way they're detailed, the way that the interface unifies all these very different devices and form factors. So, I, I think on the business side there's a, a much broader acknowledgement that whatever we do, has to be very well designed.
Bon Ku: Yeah. I love it. I've been advocating for increasing or elevating the role of, of design in healthcare. I mean, I wrote a book with a graphic designer, Ellen Lupton, called Health Design Thinking, and, Are people in the healthcare space, like health systems, do you have to convince them about the role of design or do you feel like they're getting it more these days?
Because I often find that design is not understood by, administrators and the people in leadership in health systems.
Howard Belk: I think that's right. You know, I mean there's a lot of different roles in, these organizations, right? there's a lot of left brain types, you know?
, very quantitatively driven. And, and you know, the truth is they're not even thinking about design. I think often it's not that they've thought deeply about it and reject it,
but it's just not it's not what they're thinking
Bon Ku: It's not part of the conversation,
Howard Belk: No. So you know that they're, if su suddenly they can have an eye-opening moment where somebody points out an experience they just had or a tool they just used, or something that just happened as being really well-designed or very poorly designed. And then they'll sit back and say, oh yeah, that actually made a difference.
a, but there's a growing group of people who recognize it does matter,
Bon Ku: Mm.
Howard Belk: I think.
Bon Ku: Personally, how do you keep your. Creative juices flowing, running this global firm. It's so busy.
Howard Belk: Well, one is I talked about the people that are at Siegel and Gale. They're really, they keep my juices flow. I love, collaborating with them or watching them work or, just being around them. , It's very stimulating and you know, I've worked there a long time and a lot of our people have, so there's a lot of really nice working relationships where people are, you know, brainstorming, throwing ideas out and stuff like that.
So that just the process of.
Being around people like that and, and involved in interesting projects, keeps them going. The other, you know, I talked about loving our, our clients or, you know, really getting passionate about what we're trying to solve. That if you lean into, something, it just makes it more interesting.
So that, that's really big. And, and I'm a very curious person. I watch what's happening out in the world. I'm, I really admire a lot of things that a lot of different people are doing, and they get me really. Jazzed up to sort of build on those ideas. things like that. You know, I, I read a lot and, you know, on, on the personal side, I'm really into, cooking and chefing, you know,
Bon Ku: Yeah. I, I heard you're, you're a avid chef.
Howard Belk: I, I like that.
And my, and we have a bunch of 'em in my family. My, a couple of my daughters are really into it. And so, I, I really like, you know, that whole process of, of trying to create something. that we haven't before. And the, and with that also very immediate payoff.
Bon Ku: Yeah. And I love sometimes the design constraints of cooking of like, Hey, I'm just gonna cook what's in my fridge. I get a lot of inspirations from chefs. I just, I just interviewed, Dan Barber, a few weeks ago, so that's gonna drop probably, I think after this episode. So he's such a creative guy.
I'm gonna ask you a couple questions, ending questions here. So, If one of our listeners were to visit you, where would you take them out to eat? And you said you're a voracious reader. Can you recommend, a favorite book that you've read recently?
Howard Belk: Okay, so. we recently moved our office, in Manhattan. We actually moved a bunch of offices during the pandemic, you know, cause we went hybrid.
, we moved our Manhattan office to Soho in New York. And I founded my, , company, my first company, years and years ago. , we, our office was in, was in Soho.
, so. It's really kind of cool to be back there again. And there was a restaurant I used to go to back then, this was a long time ago, bond called Amen. And it's on, I think Thompson Street, right in the middle of, so it's a Japanese restaurant. It's a little tiny place, easy to mess.
The interior is, feels like it's from the countryside in Japan.
Omen. For, for those that don't know, is a particular kind of, soup, Japanese soup that is very thick rice noodles. And it comes with, with a really lovely broth. The noodles are in the broth and you get a side plate of all these different vegetables, and like toasted sesame seed and seaweed and things like that.
And you, and you sort of build the soup, eat the soup, put in more vegetables, and the whole thing is kind of a real experience.
Bon Ku: I love
Howard Belk: I think we might take people there, although, I mean, I have so many great favorite restaurants, you know, in New York, but that's, lately Omen. It's, it's really striking my, my, my heart chords.
Bon Ku: Yeah, I love that.
Howard Belk: Check it out, man. Check it out.
Bon Ku: I will, we'll put a link to that restaurant in the show notes as well. what about a book that you've read recently that you enjoyed and wanna recommend to our listeners
Howard Belk: Okay, so this is a, this is a really kind of a mind blowing book. It's called The Last Days of Night,
Bon Ku: last days of nights?
Howard Belk: the Last Days of Night. It's by an author named Graham Moore. And, this book is the story of a, of a sort of battle royale. Between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.
Bon Ku: That is amazing. That's so cool.
Howard Belk: So, and Nicola Tesla plays, is a meaningful character in it too, as is Alexander Graham Bell. So, the story is, you know, and this is sort of a eye-opener for me, but then I did research and I found it to be true. Thomas Edison is an interesting character. So he was, you know, he's credited as like one of America's greatest inventors.
What he really should also be credited as his perhaps America's first patent troll.
Bon Ku: Huh?
Howard Belk: So he, you know, sort of rated and created and patented thousands of innovations that other people actually had invented. But he then the ownership to them. And then would sue people, At any given time, this guy would have 200 lawsuits going
Bon Ku: Oh my gosh.
Howard Belk: So somebody else invented the light bulb. Thomas Edison then started to build on it, and his way of in inventing was just like brute force. He'd just have a whole bunch of people just doing shit that, that's how that famous saying of his, you know, if my experiment doesn't work 10,000 times, I didn't fail 10,000 times.
I discovered 10,000 ways something doesn't work. That was making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. And Nikola Tesla was one of his scientists that he was having worked like that, and Tesla just couldn't do it, you know, cuz george Westinghouse also sort of improved this invention of the light bulb. He actually, built the best light bulb out there, but Edison then filed suits at him to try to sort of tie 'em all up. so that, that backstory is really interesting. Meanwhile, the first light bulbs, ran on DC current, direct, current, which meant that, They didn't cast much of a light and they had to be very close to the energy source.
And so there was a huge, battle to figure out AC current. And this is where, Nicola Tesla came in. He figured that out. And Alexander Graham Bell, I'm sorry, I keep mixing them up. The reason Belle is in it is because he embedded the telephone obviously, and Edison sued the pants off of him, but he won the lawsuit. and at one point, George Westinghouse goes to Bell for advice in this, this legal battle. Anyway, this is a fascinating book with a lot of real characters and, that it's worth a read. It's a quick, it's, it's a easy read too.
Bon Ku: Well, I got some summer reading and I got a nice place to go to in New York City when I'm, when I'm there. Yeah.
Howard Belk: Also, and, and, and when you think, when you think about inventions and the impact of inventions, think about that for a second. Before the light bulb, you know, people's days, they ended at sunset. You're, you have candles or gas light and whale oil and like, stuff like that. And, and the quality of light was so poor and suddenly, you know, over time, the world is illuminated.
Think about the impact of that on people's lives. That's massive.
Bon Ku: Yeah. Well, I know you're busy. It's Friday. I wanna let you get to your weekend. I appreciate your time and thanks for coming on the show, Howard.
Howard Belk: You bet, man. I'm sorry to go on and on about that book, but you asked,
Bon Ku: I. You can find Howard on Twitter at H O w a R D B E L K.
Design lab is produced by Rob Pugliese editing by Fernando Queiroz. Our theme music was created by Emmanuel Houston and the cover designed by Eden Lew. See you next week.
