Otherwise Incorporated

09/15/2025

Ever feel like brand systems are breaking under the weight of too much context, too many platforms, too many contradictions?

Maybe it’s because we’re still trying to build them like they live in flat space.

In our latest post, we look to Non-Euclidean geometry for a new metaphor: branding not as a static system, but as a dimensional field — one that curves with culture, bends through time, and holds shape without locking in place.

Rethinking identity in a world that bends, folds, and warps

07/23/2025

What if your brand was a handrail you didn’t know you needed? See new post on metaphor in Linkinbio or Nancy Lerner.substack.com

07/06/2025

🔮 What if your brand existed across dimensions?

At Otherwise, we explore branding through unexpected lenses — including physics, myth, and metaphor.
Read our latest blog to explore our 5D branding framework: from surface to story, interaction to symbol.

✨ This is branding. Otherwise.

At Otherwise, we’ve always been drawn to the spaces between disciplines — where metaphor becomes method, and strategy is stretched through unfamiliar

07/09/2024

In the unforgiving terrain of the startup world, where unicorns are revered and the mantra of “build fast, sell faster” reigns supreme, branding takes on a vastly different hue. It is not the slow, patient art of building deep relationships, but a swift, agile dance toward value. Yet, even here, in this frantic rush, there is room for potent principles that endure. Branding must adapt, but it must not lose its soul.

Read more in our latest blog post here: https://www.otherwiseinc.com/blog/branding-in-the-world-of-startup-businesses/

04/04/2023

Fresh on the heels of the resounding success of the BHHS Chicago Move Confidently campaign that Otherwise debuted in 2022, we have continued to celebrate the team and what makes them tick. The new campaign, which broke in early March with out of home, transit, digital and print, will run throughout 2023. This fresh creative remains proudly anchored by the Move Confidently tagline — the BHHS Chicago anthem — and rings evermore true today.

The campaign that has emerged is themed Make Room. More than simply a space to be occupied, the word “room” conjures images of opportunity, possibility and a life well-lived. Making room is an intentional act to build the kind of life you want, surrounded by the people and things that make you feel most at home. With references to both concrete and abstract ideas, Make Room is aspirational and unrestricted, an invitation that opens the metaphorical door to partner with BHHS Chicago. Head to the link in our bio to read more about the Make Room campaign!

03/29/2023

During a time rife with racial segregation and prejudices, one woman stepped onto the tennis court and changed the game. Althea Gibson, a trailblazing Black tennis player, shattered not only the color barrier in the world of professional tennis, but also single-handedly upended the gender roles that prevailed at the time. All while serving up one success after another. The story of Gibson's incredible journey is a testament to her strength and determination. Discover more about Gibson's extraordinary life at the link in our bio!

03/22/2023

As the Little Rock Nine walked into Central High School on September 4, 1957, the entire country tuned in to live television broadcasts to watch. What they saw was a mob of jeering white students surrounding a lone Black girl by the name of Elizabeth Eckford, whose eyes were shielded by sunglasses. What most Americans didn’t notice, however, was the trailblazing woman who organized those nine Black students that day to take a stand against oppression, changing the course of racial segregation forever. That was Daisy Gatson Bates. Discover more about Bates’ extraordinary life at the link in our bio!

03/15/2023

Nearly 40 years into her esteemed acting career, Michelle Yeoh showed and told the world on Oscar Sunday that a woman is never past her prime. Unironically, the acclaim came from her performance as Evelyn Wang, a middle-aged Chinese-American immigrant who saves the world through kindness, compassion and love – values she has exemplified throughout her own work. Discover more about Michelle Yeoh’s inspiring life at the link in out bio!

03/08/2023

“Brave Bessie,” “Queen Bess,” and “The Only Race Aviatrix in the World.” These were all nicknames given to Bessie Coleman, the first woman of African-American and Native-American descent to soar brilliantly across the sky as a pilot — only 20 years after the invention of the first airplane. Known for her grit and ambition, she was one of the meanest pilots to ever touch, a yoke performing a variety of tricks throughout her incredible but heartbreakingly short-lived career when her life was cut short in a tragic plane crash. Her goal was to encourage women and African-Americans to reach for their dreams, in the same way she reached for the sky. Learn more about the trailblazer, Bessie Coleman at the link in our bio!

03/01/2023

Albert Murray was one of the last surviving links to a period of flowering creativity and spreading ferment among the Black intelligentsia in postwar America. He made his mark during a time when the growing force of the civil rights movement gave rise to new bodies of thought about Black identity, political power and the prospects for progressive equality in a culture blighted by a history of racism.Born in Alabama, Albert Murray attended Tuskegee Institute, where he befriended Ralph Ellison, author of the legendary novel, Invisible Man. Murray was an essayist, civicist, and novelist who charged national discussions about race by challenging Black separatism through his pugnacious essays, exclaiming that the Black experience was essential to America’s culture and inextricably tied to it. When Black Americans fought in the streets for civil rights, Black integrationists and Black nationalists battled in the schools, books, and essays. Mr. Murray was in the middle of it all, along with writers, artists, and friends including James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Romare Bearden. Learn more about Albert Murray in the link in our bio!

02/22/2023

There is perhaps no individual who conveys the power and prose of photography more than Gordon Parks. One of the iconic photographers of the twentieth century, Parks was born into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1912. From an early age, he was drawn to photography when he saw images of migrant workers taken by Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographers in a magazine. Shortly after discovering the field of photography, he bought himself a camera from a pawnshop, taught himself how to use it. The first decade of his career was spent capturing the awe and stature of Chicago socialite Marva Louis, the spirituality of churchgoers in Washington D.C. and portraits of prominent figures at the time including Richard Wright and Marian Anderson. Despite his lack of professional training, Parks flourished in the world of photography, earning the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942 because of the unique way he saw and interacted with beauty within African-American culture. Learn more about Gordon Parks in the link under our bio!

02/08/2023

As sports became a growing national obsession, football — which emerged from a bout of friendly collegiate competition — seemed to hold the door open, at least a crack, for Black athletes. The most ardent of football fans probably have heard of the likes of Kenny Washington and Art Shell. (Washington broke through the color barrier in the “modern NFL” era in 1961 and Shell was the first African-American coach in the league, taking the helm at the Oakland Raiders in 1989.) But when speaking about “firsts” for Black professionals in American football, you simply can’t go another day without knowing the name Fritz Pollard, and appreciating the changes he was able to usher in for the game.