Greenpeace is hosting a contest to redesign and rethink BP's (Beyond Petroleum) logo, which with it's sunflower like form and "earth friendly" hues, is in stark contradiction to the disastrous consequences of current events and future plans to essentially do the same on land (see article in link). In any case like the company or not this is a brilliant piece of marketing. Relevance + Contest + Awareness = Genius Marketing. Below is my contribution, which simply shows how BP takes from the earth, period. Give it a try!
No phrase within the design lexicon has been used more often than that singular statement, "Think outside the box". Having dedicated a good half of my life to design and marketing, I've come across many an idea, product or design touting it's innovation and radical newness, only to realize that new means borrowed and radical is a * place new graphic treatment here* (i.e. .375" white borders, distressed typography, vector art, etc…) solution. I show this video as an example that there are still new ideas to be had and gives even this "jaded" designer hope that there still is room outside the box.
Remember the acronym K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)? Remember when it was relevant? In this ever changing world of "smaller is sexier" technology and "at your finger tips" applications, this rabid demand for all things technologically unnecessary begs me to question, "What do I really need and want?".
I recall days when my phone seemed more like a burden rather than a social-life support system, when conversations equated to well, conversations and not short continuations of text messages, interspersed with Facebook updates, Yelp reviews and YouTube one liners.
In this age of more, more, more, I've taken a stance, albeit it a small one, against the new wave of unecessaryatti and have chosen to cancel my Facebook. No longer will I know what exactly my "friends" are eating, who is in or out of a relationship, and the numerous other voyeuristic tidbits that my peers freely share. I've chosen to resort to beta forms of communication and simply ask a question, inquire when interested and comment in full sentences and hopefully be engaged in truly meaningful social discourse.
It is in my search for subtraction that i hope to K.I.S.S. off the unnecessary and once again, like before, be truly connected.
5_3_2010 TOYOTA’S LOGO: COMMITMENT RING OR CAUTIOUS TALE
Branding, like a relationship, builds its foundation on trust, but strengthens and solidifies through consistency, dependability and familiarity. In essence as a relationship grows, as does that trust. With consistency, your partner or audience familiarizes themselves with who you are and begins to understand what you represent. In turn this builds an innate trust, which informs them that you are dependable and finally as a result establishes familiarity.
In the case of Toyota, their brand was built on these three tiers. Never known for their ground breaking design or automotive technological prowess, they were known as the mature, reliable go-to car of the practicalitti. A company that understood that function superceded form and that no matter how hard we try we all grow up.
True to form, their introduction into the American market was not marked by chest thumping, but by a modest almost forgettable launch. This quiet confidence enabled Toyota, to slowly but surely, find and build a middle class fan base that begrudgingly realized the maturity meant choosing practicality and performance over speed and sexiness. This reputation, albeit it yawn inducing, allowed Toyota to grow confidently through 3 recessions, political and social shifts and countless copy cats.
In respect to Toyota’s brand or possible rebrand, I would like to remind everyone of Ford’s attempt at modernizing their fleet. When they removed the familiar and one time leader Taurus sedan from their lineup, their market was left without a familiar staple and were all but forced to reestablish a relationship with newer, but also untested models. So rather than bending to the pressure of the mob, Toyota should stay resilient and stand behind what they initially and still stand for dependability. I see Toyota simply as a partner that has strayed and simply needs to revisit those vows and prove that in good times and in bad, they will still provide the consistency, dependability and familiarity that people, know, love and remember.
