All the voting and comments were incredibly helpful. We like sharing the direction of the site with such great readers, and it also seems that there is some consensus around the following points:
1. The suggested tag lines are not so hot
2. "changing the world, one apartment at a time" seems to work for a lot of people
3. "Design Intervention" has a nice, edgy feeling to it, but might be a bit too much HGTV
Personally, we like the "changing the world..." choice with the alterations and feel that as much as nothing is perfect, this is pretty darn nice. We do have a manifesto (see below) and we do very much wish to tie interior design into better living in general. Feel free to add more comments here and we'll be deciding which way to go on Friday. MGR
Mission Statement 2.1
July 18, 2005
Mission
Helping people to make their apartments better places to live.
What We Believe
A calm, healthy, beautiful home is a necessary foundation for happiness and success in the world.
Creating this home doesn’t require large amounts of money or space. It requires inspiration, connection to resources and motivation to do something about it.
The basic elements of good home design can be learned and achieved by all.
Simplicity and luxury are not mutually exclusive.
What Our Goal Is
To connect people to the resources they need to redecorate their home while reducing their reliance on stuff.
What It Is
AT is a community hub that provides:
1. News (of what is going on in the home design world - ie. CNN)
2. Reviews (of stores, services and products - ie. Zagat)
3. Inspiration (opinions and essays - ie. Martha Stewart)
4. Interactive Community
a. house tours
b. daily questions answered
c. open threads
d. free classifieds
e. weekly surveys
f. monthly contests
Is it necessary for one to announce one's mission statement?
What I enjoy about well designed products is the use of restraint in design. I would be happy to see this same restraint attached to web design.
Apartmenttherapy makes living in an apartment seem better than living in a house. Imagine that.....
I don't think Maxwell's reminding us of the site's mission in the context of brainstorming a tag line is particularly "unrestrained"...
Quite interesting posting. I always thought that Apartment Therapy in itself was the best tag line of them all, it also is a perfect way to describe what the site is all about - why follow what every other website or blog does with a tag line and just keep it unique like the site - it is about apartment therapy and seems like you have plenty of fans in need of their daily dose..
"Changing the world..." is nice but LV's comments prompted me to think of this one: "Your Daily Dose of Design". It's more all-encompassing of the designs issues addressd on the site and addresses the "live"/daily aspect of this being a blog. Plus it ties in somewhat with "therapy"--the "dosing" concept. Just a thought.
Oh, and "Your Daily Dose of Design" is alliterative.
I've only posted once before, but I'm a faithful reader and I honestly like "Interior Design for the Rest of Us." It seems to me to be the distillation of your entire Mission Statement.
I'm the furthest thing from a design professional that you can imagine, but what others like me have accomplished within their own homes is inspiring. I can get tips, resource information and, most importantly, feel that I'm part of a community that cares about what everyone can do--not just those with deep pockets and/or design training.
"changing the world..." is a bit tired and overused at this moment in time. it sounded so familiar to me that i googled "changing the world, one at a time" and came up with this list.
changing the world, one gift at a time -- freecyle.com
changing the world, one server at a time -- afp548.com
changing the world, one chakra at a time -- sacredcenters.com
" ",one person at a time -- gallup.com
" ",one cup at a time -- internationalhouseofcoffe.com
and the list goes on.
mind you, i have nothing to offer at this posting, but it seems that AT deserves something fresher.
Enrique, I like your suggestion, but at this point I think Maxwell is in danger of developing tag-line overload.
Agreed, jimkk. I never know when to shut up! ;)
(Unless it's on threads that address such "hot-button" AT topics as IKEA, vessel sinks, Rick Santorum's retail endeavors, home grocery delivery, "Fab", the "gayness" of design, the ongoing nude representation debate, classist implications of high-end merchandise, etc. I fight every fiber in my body to comment on those topics again, even though my tongue is bloody from biting down so hard on it. And I've probably said way too much on those topics already--well, except for grocery delivery since that was an NYC-centric dialogue.)
no need for a tagline IMO
Apartment Therapy. The name says it all. IMO there is no need for a tag line. If you don't get it the first second you will never get it. I completely agree with LV on this.