Note before reading: We DID NOT DESIGN THIS WORK. This is a campaign by Wolff Olins.

We've had the privilege here to watch several talks from the speakers at the Brand New Conference. In the talk by Marina Willer, she speaks about a case study on Amnesty International, which she had directed while at Wolff Olins.

What is Amnesty International?
Amnesty International is a global movement of people fighting injustice and promoting human rights.

The Problem
How can the Amnesty International brand be unified and represented consistently across all countries? How can it stand to deliver a message that is applied to different languages and cultures?

The Approach
Less design.

Marina emphasized creating a visual language "without much design". A simple typeface and the color yellow, signifying hope, were chosen as the brand elements.

Why?

The thought was to create the reverse of oppression. Instead of masking the organization with a new identity to make it look more "well-designed", they courageously chose to present the brand with a simple, yet brutally honest approach, thus freeing the brand to live and breathe on its own.

Even more thoughtfully, the decision was made to keep the existing logo. Marina says, "We thought it would be a crime to change the [Amnesty] logo because it is so well known. Whether we like it or not, it doesn't really matter. It's famous and it can save lives."

The Result

We can all have our own input, but I'd say it is a brilliant and humble way to put the needs of the brand/client first. It's not always about the next revolutionary design, but carefully considering the brand challenge at hand and offering honest solutions.

“Building Community One Bike at a Time”

The Beltline Bike Shop is a neighborhood-driven organization that provides the opportunity for kids to earn a bicycle through community service. During this process, kids learn how to repair bikes, generate self-confidence through helping others, and develop lifelong relationships with members of their community.

Challenge

Every year, Matchstic and some of our wonderful partners gift a rebrand to a deserving non-profit that is making our city a better place. Our 2011 recipient, the Beltline Bike Shop, posed some unique challenges. With an existing logo that seemed to completely change in almost every application in addition to the need for a logo that is able to accommodate the potential of opening additional locations, the Beltline Bike Shop needed a flexible mark that symbolizes the Atlanta beltline, community, and hard work.

Our Primary Inspiration

A Few of Our Sketches

Solution

The contained mark echoes the way the Atlanta Beltline contains our city. As a visual capsule, the gear’s rivets represent multiple members of a community that, when combined, create a unified presence. Two wrenches, the most commonly used tool in the shop, come together and form the bicycle's tires. The typographic choice is inspired by the industrial space that the shop lives in and is subtly rounded to match the curves of the gear. Overall, the combination of color and shape creates an ambitious mark that is supported by a subtle 3-dimensionality.

Primary Brand Mark

Supplementary Marks

Rave Card. Special thanks for our printing partner Standard Press!

T-Shirt. Special thanks for our printing partner Zoink!

Stamp

Cupcakes by Becky

Website. Special thanks to our friends at Hybrid Design, Tastemaker Communications, and Ries & Ries.

App Website

iPhone App (Free Download!). Special thanks to Highgroove.

Hand-Painted Sign

This weekend, the Beltline Bike Shop will be hosting Adair Park’s 2012 Spring Porch Crawl. Proceeds from the Porch Crawl will aid the shop and it’s a great way to get to meet members of the Bike Shop and hear stories from the community it has impacted through the years. There will be snax & libations! Visit the Beltline Bike Shop Blog to learn more.

Ripple is an IT company that believes service is about communication. Offering complete, unlimited IT management at every level of service is the philosophy that guides Ripple to "Help People, not computers".

Challenge

Already carrying a good identity, Ripple needed to figure out if it was good enough to visually encompass all of their values. They needed to find a way to clarify their humans first approach with authenticity while still presenting strategic business value. They needed a new mark that would put a stake in the ground and align their visuals with the best bits of their DNA.

Ripple Collateral Before

A Few Sketches & Process Images

Solution

The new Ripple identity system is extendable to any medium and shows a very human (and very Ripple) trait of communicating. The brackets create a framing device – like a target – that can be used to highlight elements that are most important. The soft red is friendly and more ownable color in the I.T. space than the previous blue. Ripple truly is unique in the I.T. market and this new system highlights their humans first approach to solving real business problems in a memorable way.

Primary Brand mark

Tagline Lock-Up

Business cards

Proposed Apparel Designs

Proposed Poster Design

Website Design

Mike Landman, Ripple Founder & CEO, talking about working with us.

We’ve talked about this before. We are in the age of the rebrand. It is almost as though nearly every corner we turn, a recognizable logo has outgrown itself into one that hopes to appear “happy” or “reassuring.” Logos that previously yelled “I AM A STORE, BUY FROM ME” now kindly whisper “hey friend, the economy is bad, but I’m here for you.” But why is it that many of these new logos can easily replace the front of a Yogurt store?

There are three primary similarities one can identify. Intimidating capital letters are now replaced with conversational lower-case text. Joyful flourishes and leafy shapes make you feel as though your purchase of “cheese-product” was a good one. Gentle pastel colors give an indifferent mark a cheerful personality. And amongst the brands joining the “brandwagon” (yes, I just said that) is Sysco – a large American food supplier.

I might be late to the party, but I noticed the change on a recent commute to work. I know Sysco well (or did, at least). From my previous experience in the restaurant business, I knew them as a provider of cheap and scary genetically-modified foods (imagine chicken breasts larger than your face). Their new mark, however, screams organic and environmentally-minded – a total opposite of the company that I remember. Who knows. Maybe the company did change their values, but if not, I would love to discover the meaning behind their new mark. Does it represent a now-positive thinking food supplier or are they simply exploiting a familiar look to their advantage?

Source: The New York Times

In my last post I called attention to a number of organizations that are trying their hand at merging design with social activism. Well, I forgot these guys. And by these guys, I mean guys and girls. Hyperakt is a small design shop in Brooklyn providing "Meaningful Design for the Common Good."

I am drawn in by their personal approach, passion for design and seemingly cosmopolitan culture. Even the way they define and partition their client base on their website is inspiring.

One of my favorite projects of theirs is the Rebranding of Teachers.

It was actually in Mrs. Pettus' freshman English class reading A Prayer for Owen Meany that I learned how to truly understand the idea of theme. She helped me to craft an ability to connect supposedly unrelated instances. This is a huge gift that plays a significant role in my success as a thinker and designer. I am so indebted to the few good teachers I have had in my lifetime. Sometimes, I think I may have missed my calling to teach Junior Year English or European History. It is a special person that can teach and do it well. Hat tip to those of you out there.

It is this sentiment that is baked into Hyperakt's teacher rebrand. It is such a smart case study in its diagnosis and execution. I hope you give it a gander, and while you are at it, ask yourself the question, "How can my brand elevate to be good and do good?"

Shakespeare really understood something about names and their delicate value. He highlights here in Othello the power of a good name and the tragedy of it's loss. Brand's are not much different. A brand's name is the verbal moniker for it's reputation, and a good one is hard to come about and to protect. It only comes through a company consistently delivering on it's promise to customers. Do that, and the company will have a "jewel of their soul" that enriches forever. Do it not, and they shall be "poor indeed".

Look at companies like Apple, Zappos, Southwest, or Chick-fil-A. There is nothing magical about the ideation, construction, or verbal cadence with these literal words. Yes, they are great names, but I would suggest that years and years of consistently delivering remarkable experiences with remarkable products for their customers has resulted in that delightful feeling in our gut we all have about those brands. That's what brands need. Not new logos or websites (which do help with the right strategy). Comcast isn't fooling anyone with their new name Xfinity (Blah!). They will have the same dreadful service as always. Ally bank on the other hand (formerly GMAC) got it right. With a horrible reputation they shifted their perspective to their customers and committed to fixing the problem then reflected this change with it's new name "Ally".

Brands that thrive are brands that consistently & coherently deliver on their promise and protect their good name. Even the good book knew this truth…

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." -Proverbs 22:1

This is the Sprite Zero can I'm used to and the one that I found on the Sprite product page on the Coca-Cola Company website.

And this is the photo I took of the can I bought at the store.

I was surprised that I can't find anything about this online.  Maybe they are testing this in the Atlanta market for now, not sure.  Regardless, I think there is a lot to learn from this move.  Color strategy is a key component of brand identity development.  Color for a brand is used to communicate emotions as well as solidify a brand position with comfortable distance from the competition.

This is a very smart move for the Sprite Zero. When Coke Zero moved from a white can to a black can, it proved that moving to a stronger, more masculine color can produce wonderful results for a diet drink targeted towards men (emotional use of color).  Also, there isn't any diet soda that uses a color close to that blue, which strengthens the brand position (positioning use of color).  As we look further into this, it gets more interesting as we think about Diet Coke's brand position.  Diet Coke has long used silver as its main brand color, and with Sprite Zero moving away from that silver, it further solidifies Diet Coke's ownership of its color.

Think about a tub full of ice at a party and inside that tub is scattered about 12 packs of Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Coke, Sprite and Sprite Zero.  As you look down into it and get ready to grab a drink,  you can't see any specifics, you only see color.  Before this change there would've been a good chance you would mistake Diet Coke for Sprite Zero and vice versa.  But now they each have their very own clear color.  You will clearly see the colors silver, black, red, green and blue.  Brilliant!

Kudos to the folks at Coca-Cola who were behind this.  You continue to make me proud to be a life-long Atlantan.

Yesterday when the Brand New blog posted this rebrand of the Carolina Panthers, I was instantly excited to mix my two favorite things: NFL Football and Branding. The Panthers rebrand was a simple evolutionary update to the icon and revolutionary change to the type.  I was personally happy to say goodbye to the font that seemed like it was trying way to hard to be edgy and trendy in 1995 when the Panthers entered the NFL.

Within the NFL, there are teams that change and there are teams that stay the same.  For instance, the Chicago Bears have had virtually the same uniform since the 50s.  The 49ers tried to update their uniforms in the 90s with an awful drop shadow, then  in 2009 reverted back to their classic 80s uniforms.

The more I thought about it and processed it with some co-workers, the question arose, Should an organization's brand identity be made timeless or is it okay to change every decade or two with the trends of the day?

First, forgive my cliche fire innuendos, but I'm excited.

It has been quite a year. A new office, new team members, and finally — some new materials. We've had a new brand identity in the works for sometime now (reminded of the old saying “The cobblers kids don't have any shoes”). It started in fact last January when we decided to leave the Matchstic house behind and relocate to the Jane. We wanted to set the right perceptions for our own brand and felt the house just was not up to par with who we'd become. With a new office came a new matchstic once that again wasn't properly represented in our logo type. We needed a change.

Like all rebrands, we have two choices, evolutionary or revolutionary, when considering a change. We love our flame and wouldn't lose it for the world, but other outdated and uninspired elements were up for grabs.

We started with an update to the Matchstic wordmark. Running on over five years of use, the old type and banner was beginning to show its age. Not to mention the old banner had the by-line “Branding + Design”, a moniker found nowhere else since switching to “A Brand Identity House” in 2008.

For inspiration on a typeface we looked at our giant, metal found letters that hang by the front door. “Matchstic” is spelled out from a group of mismatched fonts, with a letter “t” that stood out with interesting character details. We used these characteristics to customize a new wordmark, simple with a subtle hint of personality, but better yet with a significant story to tell. Another slight tweak was evolving from a lowercase character setting to a title case. Even though our sign is all lower case we felt the new word mark held a stronger presence with a capital “M”.

After the word mark was complete and paired with our flame we moved into new collateral on a “doing retreat” back in October. We simply created, experimented, and had fun for a day. We came away with an idea of creating a system of standardized tools (like stamps) that ensure a consistent look and feel, but could be applied in infinitely unique and flexible ways. The result of that idea is 30+ custom Matchstic stamps that can be applied in various ways on business cards, note cards, packaging, and any other printed material (including body art). Included in the set is every team members personal stamp with their contact information to applied to our business card shell. This allowed us to letterpress two versions of really high-end cards for a fraction of the normal cost. The only catch is having to hand stamp all of your business cards (or have intern Patty do it). This stamp system allows us to have fun with our collateral. It allows us to make every piece unique. I no longer just send another thank you note, but I create one.

A few process images from our “doing retreat”:

Brainstorming Board

T-Shirt Comps

Some final products:

Blind Deboss – 2-ply 80# French Pop Tone glued to 279# Crane Pearl Kid Finish

Back Variations – "Start Fires" & "We ignite passionate brands"

Stamp Test Pad

Full Stamp Collection

Applied Stamp Set

Thank You Notes w/ "ch" blind deboss

Msc. Body Stamping

Gift Packaging & Set

Big thanks to Crayton-Heritage Letterpress in Charlotte for all their help.

By Jason Orme…

Maria Popova, of Brain Pickings fame, has taken on the task of branding the practice of regifting. She is giving away "free tools to de-stigmatize" the age old art of repurposing last year's coasters and the like. Talk about a daunting perception gap to hurdle. She asks the wonderful question: "What if we could normalize regifting, remove the guilt that bedevils it, and bake it into the gift-giving process from the get-go as an open and beautiful expression of honesty?"

With daring transparency, this endeavor garners support from a green perspective. Most of us give and receive a lot of things we don't want, much less need. Could regifting then be seen as environmentally conscious?

What are the current perceptions of regifting? What would have to be done to transform these ideas? Does this design make you think differently about regifting?