Archive for March, 2010

03.31.10

The Power of Colour – in Art & Brand Design

In life you often meet people who are passionate about what they do, but it is far more exciting to find someone who is completely obsessive. The beautifully colour sensitive installations of Swedish sculptor Michael Johansson are such an illustration.

“I am fascinated walking around flea markets finding doubles of seemingly unique, though often useless objects I have already purchased at another flea market. Despite the fact that
I did not have any use for them even the first time, the desire to own two of these objects becomes too strong to resist. The unique and unknown origin of the object increases my desire to want the double. This combination of the now-familiar and the new-unknown are among the various factors that come together to create the irresistable pull of these objects.”

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03.30.10

Logorama – Brand Stories, Tarantino style

A World of Logos
As a creative agency of brand thinkers and designers, we see the world with a decidedly brand perspective. Brands play such an ever-present role in our day-to-day lives that we barely notice them as they compete for our attention from billboards, TV, supermarket shelves and product packaging. When we came across this little gem, we simply couldn’t let it wait. Awesome short directed by the French animation collective H5, Fraçois Alaux, Hervé de Crécy + Ludovic Houplain. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2009. It opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2010 academy award under the category of animated short.

As baekdale.com calls it ‘Pulp Fiction for Brands, It’s not for kids, it’s nasty, it’s cruel – but it is incredibly well made.’

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03.29.10

Trend Report – The Visual Language of Brands (Chapter2)

The Second Chapter in our Comprehensive Trend Report
on the Visual Language of Brand Identity
Last Monday we published the first section of our report into trends in visual language. Each Monday for the next five weeks we’ll publish another chapter. This week’s chapter focuses on trends in brand visual language related to ‘Authenticity’.

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03.26.10

Qantas in Hot Pants – Melbourne F1 Grand Prix

Melbourne has the hype of the Grand Prix this weekend, when petrol heads from around the country descend on our fair town for some thrills and spills. The event is a highly subsidised marketing program designed to build the profile of Melbourne internationally and, along the way, inject some dollars into the local economy. There is always heated debate about the merits of hosting this event. The suggested cumulative $622m cost to tax payers since the circus began in the mid 90’s in Melbourne means that the event represents a huge ‘opportunity cost’ to the communities of Victoria what ever way you cut it.

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03.25.10

Stunning Matchbook Art by Madeleine Stahel

The Beauty of Blank Canvases
We’ve been banging-on about blank canvasses for months. Blank canvases are the myriad of brand communications points that currently connect with your audience, but have not been identified as opportunities to create brand messages. Whilst the humble matchbook has long been used as a brand tool, it’s rarely used to its full advantage. Whilst not strictly a blank canvas, have you ever considered taking your matchbooks to the next level of beauty, richness and remarkability?
Check these 77 little beauties by illustrator Madeleine Stahel.
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03.23.10

Heineken Creates a Unique Brand Experience

A Standout Creative Campaign
There’s plenty of talk about the changing face of advertising. Every day I read about the fragmentation of markets, of channels, of brand messages, of how the task of connecting to consumers is becoming more and more challenging. And then you come across an example of an ad that has so effectively risen to those challenges, it simply reminds you that creativity is the answer. A work colleague sent this absolute ripper of an integrated campaign for Heineken to me today.

YouTube Preview Image

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03.19.10

Direct Marketing… the eFuture is Bright

We recently received the mailing below from our bank and it looked old and tired because it’s effectively the same format that’s been used for the last 20 years. I first saw this format of DM in finance when I was working with Lloyd’s bank in 1998 – back then we copied an American bank (MBNA) in using this format. It begged the big question; ‘Where’s direct going to?’

Westpack Envelope

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03.17.10

The New Domain Goldrush for Brands

Flicking through the news today I came across a post on John Gruber’s Daring Fireball blog. Canon is beginning the process of acquisition for the .canon top level domain name. Based on the new generic Top Level Domain (gTDL) registration system which will allow a company name, brand name, geographic region, or service type to be used as a gTLD within website and e-mail addresses. The new system is expected to be approved in the second half of next year from then on you can expect to see all the major international brands doing the same. It wont be long before we see .nike, .coke and .apple

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03.17.10

St Ali’s Laneway Project – An Awesome Brand Experience

As a brand strategy and design agency we spend much of our lives working in the front line of brands, defining strategic positioning and designing new visual language to launch them afresh in the market place. But often it seems though much energy and importance is placed on the initial brand positioning, the task of actively maintaining the brand’s position is given less attention. To achieve the long term promise of the initial brand work there needs to be an ongoing commitment to engaging in brand activities that bring to life your brand’s essence and values. To keep your brand vibrant and relevant the question you need to continually ask yourself is; ‘what do we do next?’

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03.15.10

New Retail Theater – 7 of the World’s Best Store Designs

Welcome to the New Retail Era
The world of retail is changing more rapidly than ever. On-line stores compete with off-line stores, fashion boutiques feature new ranges every month, and it seems almost everything can be made in China for next to nothing, creating undifferentiated commodity markets where retailers of all description find themselves competing with similar product offers at a similar price point.

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