The Brand Union Blogs

Vereinigung von Natur und Architektur

Judith

Das "Shell House" ist ein wundervolles Werk des Architekten Kotaro Ide, welches muschelförmig durch den Wald 'fliesst'. Prägnant ist der wellenförmige Aufbau und die einzigartige Verwendung von Beton und Holz inspiriert durch die traditionelle,japanische Bauweise. gefunden bei www.designboom.com

GAA Football Game

dermotoshea

In support of their sponsorship of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship, Ulsterbank have created a tidy little game for GAA fanatics to play. I think this would be even better if the application was developed to allow users to play against each other online.

Give it a go by clicking here ››

GAA Football Game

dermotoshea

In support of their sponsorship of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship, Ulsterbank have created a tidy little game for GAA fanatics to play. Would be great to see this application developed so you could play against other users online.

Give it a go by clicking here ››

Post 3: DOING QUOTES

Richard Bates

Referencing quotes is like experimenting with drugs. I totally see the appeal. Once you start using them—leaning on their quick, witty wisdoms—it can be very hard to stop. I come from the land of quotes: Ogilvy & Mather. New witticisms seemed to escape from David Ogilvy’s lips every time he exhaled. His insightful quips came autonomically, the way most of us produce less noble bodily functions.

Aware of the potential for addiction, I’m taking my first quote “hit.” I chose René Char, a French poet, which seems only fitting in light of the creative council’s imminent meeting in Paris. In full disclosure, I know nothing about Char except that he was alive and apparently quite feisty in 1948, so forgive me if he was notorious for tormenting puppies or something equally offensive when not writing prose. But compelled by creative angst, perhaps, or the revolutionary spirit of the time, he wrote the following:

“What comes into the world to disturb nothing merits neither attention nor patience.”

Char’s declaration—and the certainty of his conviction—is a clear, no-bullshit call to action for me and anyone wanting their voice to be heard. In the brand world, design solutions too often rest on the comfortable conventions of the visual and written language already being spoken in a particular category. The ubiquitous “starburst” announcing some new and improved product attribute is probably the most famous example. In the past several years, the “dynamic swoosh”—not to be confused with the very respectable Nike swoosh—has been used as a refresh device for “updating” an amazing number of brand identities. The gesture is often designed to appear hand drawn, as if the consumer, in a fit of passion, has taken a pen and circled or underlined the logo themselves, essentially choosing it, and thus claiming the brand as their own. Imagine taking Marilyn Monroe ruby red lipstick and flamboyantly underlining the mongrel vigor logo up above. There you have it. An updated logo infused with new energy, life and passion.

These examples are glaringly obvious, but just as dangerous are the perfectly pleasant design solutions that simply follow the leader. Conforming to what is expected by mimicking popular conventions, can only contribute to the din of well-intentioned but ultimately inaudible—and thus invisible—brand messaging.

Disturbing or disruptive creative solutions don’t have to be full-frontal assaults. They can whisper, sneak up on you, or just magically appear as if they were always there. The only requirement is that, while being grounded in the familiar heart of the brand—the core message—these disruptive moments must be surprising in their execution, offering a fresh perspective and allowing the audience to experience the brand or some facet of the brand story anew.

Moving forward, I will personally try to be as disturbing and disruptive as possible.

Handbags at dawn

Sean Trainor

Recent coverage of the clash of the birthday bash between M&S (125 years) and Sainsbury's (140 years) (Nostalgia the battleground amid birthday celebrations) got me thinking about which party I would rather attend. If I had the choice I'd have gone for Sainsbury's in the hope of meeting a well known celebrity. Not Jamie Oliver (I'll come back to him later) but Anya Hindmarch. Her partnership with Sainsbury's helped make reusable bags sexy, and featured on their nostalgic TV ad. That is assuming that any of her other brand partners (Creme de la Mer, Food Doctor, Selfridges, Blink, Chantecaille, Norris Ices, Scarlet & Violet, Primrose Bakery, British Airways, Grazia, Organic Pharmacy and Elemis, to name a few) would not be having a party on the same night. Malcolm Gladwell would probably call her a Connector I think I'll coin the phrase Brand Socialite. I'd like to make one thing perfectly clear - handbags aint my thing, on the other hand engagement is and Anya's recession busting engagement strategy is probably one accessory that most organisations would die for FT 19.06.09 pg. 14 (Bags of fun puts humour into recession busting strategy) But what of Jamie and his association with Sainsbury's? I recall a shopping experience when Sainsbury's launched "Jamie Oliver's 21 Day Extra Matured Taste The Difference British Beef" the supermarket claimed the product to be the culmination of 18 years of research and development and the celebrity chef endorsed the meat that "surpasses all other meat" in tenderness, succulence and flavour, as it was matured on the bone to ensure "maximum flavour". Now I like a good steak and was keen to see how Jamie's sirloin weighed up. As I stood perusing the goods at the aisle end I was spotted by two employees behind the deli counter opposite.

"Jenny, have you tried that new Jamie Oliver beef yet?" asked one

"Oh, don't talk to me about Jamie Oliver beef" her colleague replied, I bought a couple of steaks last Saturday but I wouldn't get them again - I couldn't taste the difference"

Mmm... the cost of 18 years of R&D and an expensive celebrity chef endorsed advertising campaign was suddenly wasted on me. The influence of this knowledgable, perhaps cynical, employee was enough to tip the balance the wrong way. Gladwell would call her a Maven, in this context I'll use the expression Brand Assassin. What a difference it could have made if this employee had been engaged with the brand and acted like Gladwell's Salesman or , in my language, a true Brand Advocate. My experience is that the cost of building employee advocacy is a fraction of the cost of external advertising and will yield greater return on investment. Gladwell desrcibes The Tipping Point as "How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference" I think we all agree.

Sustainable design website

msmith

A few things to consider when typing out that print specification.... www.lovelyasatree.com

This Is Another Test Post

admin

This is a test post.

Clean speed - Mission One by Yves Béhar & fuseproject February 4th, 2009

sauce

For those that know me, will know my love of beautiful bikes is always top of mind, this new concept claims to alleviate all worries of the environment whilst still maintaining beauty and relative speed. America’s Newest Motorcycle Company, Mission Motors, Launches at TED2009 - Mission One, World’s Fastest Production Electric Sportbike. The Mission One promises to be the world’s fastest production all-electric motorcycle. “As a motorcycle enthusiast and engineer I knew I could combine my passion for motorcycles with my passion for innovation and create a motorcycle that truly sets a new standard in the perception of electric vehicles,” said Forrest North, Founder and CEO, Mission Motors. “With the Mission One, we’re writing the next chapter in motorcycle design, delivering a new riding experience without sacrificing performance or design in a zero emissions vehicle.” via dezeen

Blu Ray soon to be obsolete?

mcadwallader

Holographic technology at its finest

For those of you who just started replacing your DVD collection with high definition Blu-Ray discs having not all that long ago finished the transfer from VHS, you might want to consider banging your head against a nearby wall about now. A clever chap at the University of California has just ironed out the last few problems with HVD (Holographic Versatile Disc) technology which can store 20 times the ammount of data. Personally I'm hanging on to my vast cinefilm collection for another six months at which point it's more than likely I'll be able to have the films transfered directly to a microchip in my brain using nanomachines.

Lux

Kheireddine Sidhoum

C'est le concept du kaleidoscope qui est à l'origine du design graphique de la marque LUX. C'est Bola Sociology Design, qui s'est chargé de moderniser cette marque de cosmétiques.