Un descriptor

... pe o firma, undeva in drumul spre masa de pranz: ''sisteme de umbra".

Elegantly branded

If you miss the simple beauty of good old branding (a rare sight on the web, I must admit), check out the "Title" section of the Royal Opera House.

Believe

Frumos de la Honda.

Mind Share

Monochrom tried to evaluate the actual power of brands by making Austrian people draw logos from memory. Here is what they got.

Bar Mitzvah!

NESTEA® Refrigerated Tea (Chilled) FAQ

Q: Is NESTEA® Kosher?
A: Yes, OUD

Logo Redesign

How Brands Collide III

Miss Naming

LONDON (Reuters) - A chain of retail stores in Britain has withdrawn the sale of beds named Lolita and designed for six-year-old girls after furious parents pointed out that the name was synonymous with sexually active pre-teens.

Woolworths said staff who administer the web site selling the beds were not aware of the connection.

In "Lolita," a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the narrator becomes sexually involved with his 12-year-old stepdaughter -- but Woolworths staff had not heard of the classic novel or two subsequent films based on it.

Hence they saw nothing wrong with advertising the Lolita Midsleeper Combi, a whitewashed wooden bed with pull-out desk and cupboard intended for girls aged about six until a concerned mother raised the alarm on a parenting website.

"What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either," a spokesman told British newspapers. "We had to look it up on (online encyclopedia) Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now."

Woolworths said the product had now been dropped.

"Now this has been brought to our attention, the product has been removed from sale with immediate effect," the chain said. "We will be talking to the supplier with regard to how the branding came about."

(Reporting by Peter Apps, editing by Paul Casciato)

Micul dejun al campionilor

In 774 si-a facut loc in Cronicile lui Charlemagne, dupa o foarte placuta intalnire cu imparatul, undeva la vreo 50 de km de Paris. Cava mai tarziu, Louis XVI si-a pierdut cu adevarat capul pentru ea: ajuns foarte aproape de esafod datorita revolutiei franceze, si-a dorit sa ii simta pentru ultima oara atingerea. A fost preferata lui Napoleon. In 1814, in timpul Congresului de la Viena, Talleyrand a medaliat-o, proclamand-o regina.

Un final fericit, dupa ce a incantat atatea palate.

Astazi ne-am intalnit la micul dejun. Ei bine, cam asa ar trebui sa inceapa toate diminetile, daca ma intrebati pe mine: cu Brie de Meaux si bineinteles, cu sampanie.

Fairtrade

Ciudat cum designul reflecta involuntar realitatea sociala: daca ne uitam dintr-o perspectiva pozitiva la logo-ul Fairtrade din stanga, vedem o persoana de culoare care cultiva ceai verde sub cerul senin, uitandu-se increzatoare spre viitor. In negativul acestei imagini idilice e insa foarte prezenta umbra dinozaurului corporatist, ascuns sub masca onorabilitatii, cum ar spune criticii de stanga.

So, it's debate time:

Lasand designul deoparte, zic sa ne incepem ziua nu doar sorbind din cafea, ci si invatand cate ceva despre conceptul de "Faitrade" si despre principalele argumente impotriva sa, spre buna intelegere a consecintelor reale ale cheltuirii celor cinci lire sterline la cafeneaua independenta din coltz.

Cum amicul C. probabil ca va sari ca ars pentru a-i apara pe cei multi (deformatie profesionala), iar amicul meu M. va alege sa fie criticul de dreapta (vocatie liberala sau dreprept din nastere, nu e foarte clar), ma voi sacrifica eu pe post de critic de stanga (socialist de nevoie).

Tuturor celorlalti care vor sa intervina in discutie: cel mai bun discurs fie el pro sau contra va fi premiat, cu ce altceva decat cu o cafea platita de subsemnatul.

A side story

Pentru ca tot mi-am adus aminte de criptanalistii de la Bletchley Park, haideti sa va spun o poveste despre oameni si branduri, exact ca in headline-ul blogului.

Probabil ca nu multi dintre voi au auzit de Alan Turing. Cumva e normal, in masura in care nu ati trecut printr-o facultate gen AC sau informatica. Celor care nu il cunosc, cred ca e suficient sa le spun ca el a inventat modelul teoretic pe baza caruia functioneaza calculatorul pe care il folosesc, sau ca datorita muncii sale in materie de criptografie, Marea Britanie si ceea ce Churchill numea "the British way of life" au fost probabil salvate in timpul bataliei Atlanticului. Primul test pentru masurarea inteligentei artificiale i se datoreaza, precum si primele cercetari despre matematica din spatele modelului viu.

Problema e ca Turing era homosexual intr-o perioada in care homosexualitatea era pedepsita prin lege in Marea Britanie. Undeva in 1952, in urma unui incident, matematicianul este acuzat de ceea ce legea britanica numeste "gross indecency", chestiune tratata de Alineatul 11 al Criminal Law Amendment Act din 1885, ocazie cu care isi recunoaste public orientarea sexuala. I se da sansa sa aleaga: fie intra in puscarie, fie i se va aplica un tratament pe baza de hormoni, pentru a i se reduce libidoul, urmat de o perioada de probatie. Alege varianta a doua. Bineinteles, omul isi pierde slujba, stigmatizat fiind de lumea pe care o salvase.

In 8 June 1954, Alan Turing e gasit mort in propria casa; un grand finale, probabil o sinucidere: langa el e descoperit un mar injectat cu cianura de potasiu ce purta urma muscaturii sale, exact ca in povestea sa favorita, "Alba ca zapada".

Ei bine, aici intra in scena brandurile - exista o legenda conform careia unul din primele logo-uri de la Apple Computer ar fi defapt un tribut voalat adus lui Alan Turing.

E o poveste adevarata, e o simpla legenda urbana? Clienti, intrebati un om de branding si bucurati-va daca va va raspunde: Who cares? "Branding is the art of telling people stories they want to believe". Ce e o poveste, pana la urma? Calatoreste, e rezistenta, durabila, transporta valori. E un vehicul cultural.

Dar dupa ce usile se inchid si voi plecati acasa fericiti, cu platforma de comunicare in brate, stiti care e satisfactia noastra secreta? Ca am reusit sa spunem inca o data povestea lui Turing, pe banii vostri murdari.

Asta e povestea noastra. Asa sa stiti.

Strange

"Strange fits of passion have I known

And I will dare to tell
But in the Lover's ear alone
What once to me befell."

William Wordsworth

Fotografie de Tommy Oshima (descoperit via Kitblog.com).

Tzara lui Bic si Boc

Cand am vazut prim data logo-ul Administratiei Publice din Romania, prima mea intrebare a fost: de ce dracu' alearga omuletzul de la Bic cu un steag romanesc in mana, printre literele tzarii mele?

Apoi, m-am mai calmat - daca stai bine si te gandesti, are totusi un pic de legatura: pana la urma, treaba baietilor astora din administratie e cu pixu'. In plus, ce le lipseste lor cam tot timpul, care e elementul aspirational? O mina de aur!

Nu am apucat sa verific, dar prietenii spun ca daca citesti manualul de identitate, poti sa cazi din scaun de ras, sa te sperii fara sa vrei sau sa plangi singur, la alegere.

Design yourself a life

Exista o mare diferenta intre mine si Yvon Chouinard, fondatorul Patagonia (un alt brand bine construit si comunicat, despre care merita sa cititi cate ceva): in timp ce el este un alpinist reputat, I'm just an average couch potato.

Singurul lucru care ne uneste este o replica pe care am murmurat-o amandoi, in doua contexte diferite: "Definitely, I can do better than this. At half the price." Ei bine, pe el il frustra lipsa de customizare a echipamentului de alpinism; pe mine, cea a mobilei de prin magazinele patriei; credeti-ma pe cuvant, cand esti relativ mare, nimic nu este mai incomod decat o "comoda".

Adevarul e ca suntem amandoi niste consumatori egocentrici, care nu inteleg de ce brandurile incearca sa imbratiseze lumea, in loc sa ne imbratziseze pe noi. Genul asta de group hug ma lasa foarte rece. When it comes to the things I use, I don't want to fit, I want to be fitted.

After some thinking and a lot of dissapointing experiences I came to the conclusion that the only decent option is to start creating your own stuff, mainly because:

1. Nobody knows you as well as you do; potentially, you are the best designer option you can count on;
2. Good design is the most cost effective form of luxury. But good design is always going to evolve in a. mass-produced or b. prohibitive price tagged products. Either way, it won't last as a means of self-expression;
3. When it comes to exclusivity, customisation should replace the price tag as a value criterion. Luxury without customization = 0; this is why people laugh when they see Bentleys driven by wealthy midgets.

So, take my advice for it: design yourself a life. As a bonus, rest assured, you will definitely make the world a better place in the process.

Grapefruit @ MNAC

Pe holul de la ultimul etaj al Muzeului National de Arta Contemporana, o prezentza familiara, semnata Grapefruit: logo-ul de la Internetics, still hanging around dupa ce locatia a gazduit editia din 2005 a festivalului...

Apropo de forme alternative de publicitate, ar fi misto daca cineva ar lipi in mod discret o eticheta cu numele lucrarii si autorul acesteia, transformand-o in exponat :)

De ce zero

Rebrand100: among the winners!

Hot news: ultimele proiecte la care am lucrat in Grapefruit (Antibiotice si Transavia, la care am prestat strategie de brand, alaturi de Stefan) au fost premiate la Rebrand100 (The Merit Award). Printre membrii juriului, un columnist de la BusinessWeek, un Worldwide Brand Director de la Xerox, un Design Director de la Procter & Gamble si un Executive Creative Director de la Interbrand. Zic ca e bine!

Grape, cred ca o sa trec pe la voi sa beau sampanie din galeata! :)

The more, the merrier

Watching this in-store Ikea ad, at first sight I thought they got into a new line of business: industrial cloning for human organs. But no, the truth is so much simpler: putting aside the fact that the chosen illustration accidentally speaks about a naturally assumed dehumanizing, life-disrespecting attitude, it seems that at Ikea nobody found out yet that quintuplets are the worst nightmare of every young Romanian housewife.

A quiz

In your opinion this image should be used as:

1. A visual metaphor describing Romania and its people;
2. A visual metaphor describing the victorious outcome of the chinese cheap products invasion over the traditional Romanian brands;
3. The "ARO" entry in the Hilariously Illustrated Brand Trust Index;
4. Other... (please contribute).

How Brands Collide II