Robert's PlayGround

Shake up your brand!

Strong and established brands often inspire creative people to play with them a bit. And every time that happens, there are influential people who jump the barricades. "Don't play with my brand. NEVER mess with the logo!" That thinking probably stems from times when advertising was largely built on the principles of repetition and painstaking consistency. I agree that brands can be religious, close to 'holy' stuff. I don't share the opinion that brand and its features should remain untouched at all times. If a brand represents something that's strong enough for us to play with, then it's probably about time that we did. A bit of change might just be the thing to revive, rejuvenate or refresh something that is about to be ignored for the fact that people are getting to familiar with it. When a brand is being taken for granted, it's time to shake things up. I applaud Mars for their guts to be playful with their logo. I can imagine the debates that the mere suggestion of changing the pack has raised in meeting rooms. Well done! You've just proven that Mars can do something many brands can only dream of. And I'll probably hand out the bars that I've bought as a present to people in need of some positive energy.

Why looks matter

We all experience life through our five senses. One out of three people has a natural preference for visual stimulus. Another one out of three tends to prefer auditive input. And the remaining person is said to be a 'touch-taste-smell-type of person'. This says much about the extent to which we are sending out optimally effective messages to a wide audience with our traditional audiovisual advertising - statistically a potential third of the people we communicate with isn't reached deeply. Nevertheless, last weekend I read (from a trusted source) that some 70% of all stimulus that we process comes to us via our eyes. And it is true: often does what we (think we) see influence what we (think we) hear, smell or touch. Intuitively I feel that design is getting ever more important to commercial communication. In a world where products, services and brands are increasingly similar, the looks of things can become a decisive factor. In attracting people. In affecting people. In creating a bond. Why pay attention of buy something dull or ugly when you can have something beautiful instead? Though, don't misunderstand me: I still believe too, that brands should strive to engage all five senses. And to make sure together they make up a coherent experience. Getting the looks of your brand right is a first serious step. That's your entry ticket. Designing just the perfect sound, touch, taste and scent for your brand is stuff for brand olympics. However, for some reason there's still a lot of ugly stuff produced. Products, corporate designs, interiors, advertising. Whilst making them beautiful probably is not more expensive. Perhaps things end up being ugly because they need to appeal to everyone. And if you try to do that, you often end up painstakingly avoiding being offensive to everyone. It ends up grey and void.

Typography rules (another demo ad)

I found this classic in The Art Direction Book. The typography is the idea. Reading it comes quite close to a bit of an experience. The demonstration of a point. I love this simplicity. Art: Paul Arden.

Stunning cigars

When it is increasingly difficult to stand out and cut through with words, the picture gets even more important. I am among those who believe that visual communication - DESIGN! - is something that anyone in commercial communication should pay more attention to. We will need to improve our skills in creating stunning and engaging looks for the brands we build and exploit.
The design of Cohiba, a cuban longfiller sigar brand, is one of my personal favorite classics in product design and visual identity. I'd better not try to explain why in words, I think looking at these cigars is as great as tasting and smelling them. There's no official Cohiba website that I could find; just google the name. Smoking them would be an even better idea - I prefer the robusto. Less expensive yet tasteful: Non Plus Ultra Corona.