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BrandingMagazine

RegulaR Issue 02 brandIngmagazIne.com

a Revolution is upon usSvein Haakon Lia, Bleed

The creative director of norway’s unconventional agency speaks on the

potency of unexpected creativity.

July 2013

Green iS tHe new BLack a glimpse into how a start-up named modavanti represents the thematic pillars architecting the sustainable fashion space.

if Jack DanieL’S HaD a voice, He wouLD Be a Great StoryteLLeramerica’s cultural icon paves the way for branded heritage and intriguing tales.

Flavia BarbatEditor in Chief

[email protected]

Chuck KentEditor

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dorian CiobanEditor

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Katrina RadicEditor

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Cheda YovanovitchArt Director

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david BrbaklicDesigner

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advertising / Media Kit [email protected]

general [email protected]

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DisClAimEr

© 2013 Branding Magazine. some Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publish-er, except in the context of reviews.

Branding magazine accepts no liability for any unsolicited material whatsoever.

Opinions contained in the editorial content are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publish-er of Branding magazine.

Despite careful control Branding magazine accepts no li-ability for the content of external links.

As an independent online daily brand journal, Branding magazine represents an insightful source of news and opinions from the industry.

A dedicated team of writers strives to keep its readers up-to-date with the biggest and freshest news about global brands, while concentrating on successful brand strategies, corporate and brand identity work, brand de-velopment and brand evolution

BrandingM a g a z i n e

Index_

04_What Happens When Humor and sensitivity Co-Create…interview by Flavia Barbat 06_A revolution is Upon Usinterview by Flavia Barbat

09_Green is the New Black interview by Flavia Barbat

12_international Branding: The Anthropologic DesignerBy sebastian guerrini

14_Wine Branding: it’s All in the Bottleinterview by Katrina Radic

19_Android: A story of successBy dorian Cioban

22_if Jack Daniels Had a Voice, He Would Be a Great storytellerinterview by Katrina Radic

25_star Quality: Film Branding with The Great GatsbyBy Flavia Barbat

4 BrANDiNG mAGAziNE rEGUlAr issUE 02 / JUlY 2013

insightPacKagIng

When we saw the new packaging for Clavin: Erection Blister, we knew we had to get in touch with those respon-sible for it. Turns out the—let’s say—prominent packaging came from the Czech republic and, more specifically, Ogilvy & mather’s Prague office. On top of it being quite the execution, the project also won the agency a Gold CliO Award. Therefore, as promised in our teaser article, here we have an exclusive interview with Will rust, the Executive Creative Director for this project. Needless to say, his responses deliver the kind of crude, Czech humor that one cannot help but love.

What Happens When Humor and sensitivity Co-Create…

Interview by Flavia barbat

1 _ When you were given the project, were you worried about the delicacy of the subject? How did that delicacy (or lack of delica-cy, if you believe there was none) affect the way you handled the Clavin packaging task?

The brand is very well established here, and the czech republic is a very secular country. The czechs have very few qualms about being open on sexual issues. I think the issue for us was to do something that gave you just enough of the subject without overdo-ing it, which would be easy.

2 _ do you believe that your location (the Czech Republic) affected the way you handled this project? do you believe that it had some kind of effect on the humor of the packaging? on its reception?

like I said, the czechs are very open about sex. The clavin brand runs regular TVcs in prime-time evening commercial breaks – such as during champions league matches – and the czechs also have a very dry and direct sense of humour. but since images of the pack started getting shared internationally through online media the appeal has been quite universal, so I guess it’s a classic case of a local idea with global appeal. We were interviewed about it re-cently by Tokyo’s brain magazine. but then the Japanese love that kind of stuff!

http://www.brandingmagazine.com/2013/06/14/inside-clavins-new-prominent-packaging/


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3 _ What is the intended consumer reaction for this project? What were you hoping the public would feel or do as a response to this packaging?

It was a pretty simple goal. These products (erectile dysfunction remedies) are generally seen as medicine for older men who have troubles with — how shall I put it — their prominence? We wanted to make the brand look smarter, cooler, younger, and show it as a recre-ational drug rather than a treatment for a perceived dis-order. one of the big changes was making the pack dark blue with a red interior rather than the classic medicinal white.

4 _ Your work for Clavin won a gold Clio award (con-gratulations!). Why do you believe that your work was selected over others? Was it the packaging itself, the client’s product or something entirely different that you believe drew most attention to you as a candidate for the prize?

I can only assume it was the simplicity of the idea and the execution. I know that juries I’ve attended in the last few years have all been rather fed up of watching case films and results and free generated media figures and social buzz and all that crap. I’d like to think that our

little pack was appreciated just for what it was. nothing more, and no hyperbolic padding surrounding it.

5 _ When posted on ogilvy & Mather’s Facebook page, the Clavin packaging photo was followed by a link to the Fast Company “pervasive Creativity” page (sponsored by ogilvy & Mather). How do you see your work fitting into that descriptive category?

We’ve been running with the pervasive creativity motto for several years now and it simply means that we try to be creative in everything we do and in every way. We don’t stick to traditional forms of media. This particular project started out as a press ad. Then we said “Well, why don’t we make it for real?” That’s pervasive creativity.

6 _ to continue with social response, many people on Facebook commented on the packaging as being a waste, stating that it was ecologically harmful (too much plastic for one small pill). What would you re-spond to those critics?

annually Facebook uses 532 million kilowatt hours of electricity and emits 285,000 metric tons of co2. We made 500 promotional blister packs. I rest my case.


trendsagency

During Belgrade Design Week, we here at Branding magazine decided that it was the perfect time to delve into the expert opinions that the event offered. And so, we became acquainted with Bleed, an agency in Nor-way whose work is anything but ordinary. The agency beckons its members to go against the tide, dipping their creative fingertips into the unexpected and unconventional in order to create identities that truly promise to stand out.

From interactive to print, identity architecture to product development, bleed executes a long spectrum of projects. However, it is the mentality that we found particularly striking. Here we hear from the source, creative director and Founding Partner of bleed, svein Haakon lia.

a Revolution is upon us



1 _ Bleed seems to be all about the revolutionary. What are some of the predominant conventions in interna-tional branding that your agency is trying to revolution-ize?

much has happened since we started bleed in 2000 and so has the forms of revolutions. We and others have pushed the boarders for how to communicate through design. In our statement that we have kept and lived by from that time we say; “... representing a mix of cultures and disciplines to challenge today’s conventions around art, visual language, interaction, media and identity.” We take the predominant conventions in the segment the cli-ent operates and challenges them. There are very differ-ent boarders to cross or not visually, but also what media to use and what actions actually give the brand content.

We are interested in the clients that are not middle of

the road safe or medium good. We are very aware of that this is often where both the money and the fame is, but it is just not that interesting.

2 _ With both clients and society as your critics, how do you build an identity that truly resonates without cross-ing the limits?

It is a risky business, but I believe that you actually have to cross borders to make something that makes a differ-ence to people. everything we now think of as classics in furniture, architecture, art and design, was revolu-tions when they came out. no one remembers a medium product, brand or design.

“... Representing a mix of cultures and disciplines to challenge today’s conventions around art, visual language, interaction, media and identity.”

trendsagency


3 _ Were there moments when Bleed had to decrease its radicalism in order to fit clients’ needs? if so, how do you make that decision between Bleed’s mission and the clients’ desires?

I think this is a challenge for all studios. We are careful to communicate who we are so the client comes to us for the right reasons. This helps us get great clients, brave clients and we do love our clients. our mission is to help our clients archive their goal. sometimes there are dis-agreements how this is done best, and part of doing what we do is also sometimes to be proved wrong.

4 _ When looking through Bleed’s previous work, there is a noticeable pattern of juxtaposition—black and white together or gray tones with pops of vibrant col-ors. is there an inherent efficacy in juxtaposition when it comes to design? More so, does juxtaposition trans-late to wider audience comprehension or acceptance?

I have always thought of design is a pattern of con-trast and repetition. This is what makes communicative strength combined with a rhythm the brain is attracted to. This works in music, art and design.

5 _ How do you evaluate your audience? is it more about the client or society? and where does the global com-munity fit into this evaluation?

We always evaluate based on global trends. We don´t believe in borders in communication even if there are cultured differences. never before has a local company had so much potential in having a global market, this makes for exciting possibilities.

6 _ How would you describe the contemporary balance between design, art and technology for brands? do you believe that one element has more potential to effectu-ate global change than others?

I think they are one, they should not be thought of as separate entities. The combination is what makes it in-teresting and possible to do amazing things.

7 _ as digital access creates advertising noise and sav-vy consumers, what advice do you offer to international brands attempting to remain relevant? do you believe that visual identity design is the key?

I think there is not one answer to this. relevance is about the simple classic question: who are you and why? and the answer is different for every brand. I do not think identity design is key, but identity in a more holistic sense is. 8 _ When it comes to global branding, what recent trends do you consider most noteworthy or exciting?

I think it is good that more emotions are introduced in communication again. It has long been a focus on the practical use and functionality as a way of communicat-ing, and this has put a stop to the big ideas. These things should be hygiene and are also becoming it. even google suddenly are visually stunning. now it is time to think big.9 _ scandinavia is renowned for presenting fantastic design, but what is an area of the world (a country, a region or a specific agency’s office) that you admire greatly for its brand identity work? and why?

not really, I think interesting things are happening all over.

trendsagency


brand

When asked about the initial pitch for Modavanti—the way it was positioned and described at the very begin-ning to investors, designers and shoppers—Clancy ex-plained that the concept has not changed much over time.

The concept for modavanti has stayed remarkably stable over time. at the very beginning we were unsure whether there were enough sustainable brands to main-tain an online retail store. as a result, there was some thought given to focusing more on the charitable dona-tion side but once we realized how many great designers are producing sustainably – and how important it is to alter the wasteful practices of the fashion industry – we haven’t felt the need to alter the concept.

He then went on to describe that the fashion industry requires some kind of alteration because of its effects on the planet. Modavanti is looking to spearhead those transitions and abolish some of the industry’s negative trends. Clancy explains:

We are trying to make the fashion industry more sus-tainable. For us, that encompasses two broad catego-ries: environmentally friendly and ethically sourced. The terrible toll that fashion production takes on the envi-ronment – the chemicals and toxins that are used, the wasting of resources – and on the workers who make the clothes (for a tragic recent example, look at the factory collapse in bangladesh that killed over 1100 workers trapped inside) are the kind of things that we’re trying to change.

Throughout the 21st century, there has been an evident rise in green brands—brands preaching the values of eco-friendly development and products. What started with energy, automobiles and the food industry has now been pushing heavily into the fashion industry. some of the biggest brands (H&m being a fitting example) have decided to showcase their attentiveness to Earth’s health and prosperity by introducing “conscious” clothing lines or simply partnering with others dedicated to the cause.

While everyone is watching the industry’s giants create these and those initiatives, we decided to take a look at a new, young contender in the eco-fashion space. modavanti, born earlier this year, breathes the air of sus-tainability. Their mission is to deliver sustainable fashion in a social setting where all users not only know how their purchases affect the Earth, but also share that knowledge with others. Once the brand sparked our inter-est, we decided to speak to Adam Clancy, the Director of Operations at modavanti, and delve a bit deeper into modavanti’s position not only as an eco brand, but also as a start-up.

green is the new Black


insight

http://www.brandingmagazine.com/2013/01/23/vanessa-paradis-hm-conscious-collection/

https://modavanti.com/


We believe that if we offer high-quality, on-trend cloth-ing that is produced sustainably then we can convince other designers to begin producing sustainably as well.

after establishing modavanti’s positioning in the mar-ketplace and its ultimate goal, we then began asking questions regarding the brand’s business trials and trib-ulations—an obvious inquiry for a small start-up in such an extremely saturated market. We asked clancy how the investment process was progressing for modavanti and whether the sustainable aspects of the brand were assisting them in the hunt. He stated,

any young start-up has a struggle to find investors and we were certainly no different. but I do think the strong social impact that is at the core of our mission is some-thing that has attracted interest in modavanti, from in-vestors to designers to consumers. It’s nice to see that our investors share our belief that profit and progress can go hand in hand.

an obvious jump for us, we were then curious if the brand’s identity was being relinquished at all when deal-ing with the financial necessities typical of a start-up. However, clancy assured us that this was not the case, mentioning,

We’ve managed to keep a pretty consistent brand iden-tity despite the financial challenges that life in any start up presents. of course, we’re always open to change if the situation dictates it, but right now we feel pretty com-fortable with our identity and we’re hoping to keep build-ing on it as we move forward.

He went on to describe the role that investors play in Modavanti’s branding process, speaking to the tie be-tween the investors selected and the brand identity it-self:

We’ve been very fortunate so far in that our investors have entrusted us to make our own decisions through-out the company, including branding. our investors will occasionally provide some important feedback but it is done so in a casual manner and we’ve never felt like we

had to introduce or later something solely because an in-vestor demanded it. as a result, I consider the two things completely separate.

But what about the designers? Clancy mentioned that there was some initial fear as to whether enough sus-tainable brands existed to architect the site; however, it seems that the tables have turned quite a bit—to their pleasant surprise.

at the start, our biggest challenge was finding sustain-able designers. We had no idea where to even start be-cause there a lot of them were reluctant to brand them-selves as sustainable. This is precisely why a company like modavanti is important because we provide a beauti-ful platform for designers to promote their sustainability credentials. While we are always on the lookout for more brands, we have noticed that we are getting 1-2 emails per day from designers looking to be on our site. It cer-tainly makes our life a little easier when they come to us!

We pushed this even further by asking Clancy if these designers come from specific regions of the world or whether a particular location seems to breed the most creativity and drive within the sustainable fashion space. His response, although Modavanti is heavily us-focused, presented some insight as to the differences between europe and the us in this regard.

our brands come from all over the world but predomi-nantly from the us because of the logistics and shipping costs involved in getting items to a us customer (we cur-rently only sell in the us although we are looking to ex-pand internationally later this year). new york and cali-fornia are the two major hubs for sustainable designers in the us. I would say that european designers are prob-ably a few years ahead of us designers when it comes to sustainability – but the us is definitely starting to catch up.

brand insight


”

therefore, after touching base regarding Modavanti’s identity, investment and designer pool, we only had one last question and this was regarding the unique badge system that Modavanti has introduced. the badge sys-tem comprises of eight different sustainability badges that are utilized to categorize products throughout the website. these badges include eco Conscious, energy efficient, Fairly traded, Hand Made, usa Made, organ-ic, Re Cycled purposed and vegan. this is probably one of the most intriguing parts of the brand, a characteris-tic that will surely catch on to other companies as they attempt to showcase (and, more importantly, validate) their brand images as being authentically green. Clan-cy seems to definitely agree:

our badge system is crucial to the modavanti brand. our goal is to make sustainable fashion desirable and trendy, and to do that we need to have a simple, easily identifiable and aesthetically pleasing system. We think we’ve done that with the badges and we’d love nothing more than to see them adopted industry-wide as that will signal that we have gone a long way in achieving our goal of altering the way people conceive of sustainable fashion.

Whether this identifier system permeates the industry or not, one thing is obvious: brands big and small have influence. better yet, sometimes it is the fresher brands that have more impact, bringing ideas and concepts that are of the times, free of bureaucracy and tradition. While modavanti marks a clear stance against eco-damaging behaviors, the brand also represents the ability that small, contemporary start-ups have to brand the future.

brand insight

https://modavanti.com/sustainability

https://modavanti.com/sustainability


First we have to realize that in social life nothing ex-ists without being interpreted and represented.

even the world can only be grasped just by our inter-pretation. Places or nations do not have life in them-selves: Their truth is the result of people’s thoughts and imaginations.

moreover, we have to recognise that we cannot see things as they are, but rather can only see things as we are. That is quite a challenge for international communi-cations, a topic that requires us to go beyond ourselves. It expects us to recognize the humanity and essence of each social group, even if they have criteria, thoughts and habits different from ours.

international Branding: the anthropologic designer

by sebastian guerrini

“I have worked in 26 countries and have come to the conclusion that I can create brands for clients anywhere in the world. Why? because I am an anthropologic designer.”

What is that, you ask? An anthropologic designer is the role which allows one to understand the Other, a role that helps one to comprehend as much as pos-sible about each case, each community, each market and customer’s expectations. moreover, being an an-thropologic designer helps one conceive the accurate communication strategy for every context, whether global or local. i invite you to this, then, my stage of action.

International brandingAs a result of the influence of present media and the fragmentation of communities, new identities are constantly been produced worldwide. Accordingly, there is a special claim in businesses and institutions about international communications—but interna-tional communication is a special topic. For that rea-son, five issues are important to note:

brandIng opinion


ing to explore and identify the points that unite and sepa-rate the different subgroups. With discourse analysis in pursuit of imaginaries, the regulations and realities of each sector are also involved. either way, there are many tools indeed that can be applied for catching common denominators, but we must explore the subject and be flexible. Without this capacity we cannot achieve what we need.

Finally, as anthropologists, we have to create a kind of social map of our brand’s field. later on, as a designer, we have to draw over that map and create the path that will allow us to reach our desired destination.

Fourth, we have to recognize that brand designers are storytellers. In this context, the symbol must always arouse a story in its audience’s mind—a story that should come from the depths of what individuals, companies and organizations want. Then, the question is to find what we have to narrate by the brand; so, in turn, the basis of the brand’s story must always be a communication strategy, since the brand is what makes that strategy visible.

Fifth, the device that employ in our storytelling can always be strange to us. This is a complicated item because, in order to architect the brand accurately, we must learn about the cultures involved and how they ex-press themselves. For example, to find the appropriate symbolism, I studied arabic calligraphy for one job and Japanese Kanji for another. Then, within this knowledge, you must utilize your best art for creating the visual mes-sage.

is it necessary to do all of this? another methodological option is to think that the

brand itself will magically find the hidden symbol that everyone searches for, a symbol that can be decoded by the diverse citizens of this world. However, this method is dangerous as exampled by the many brands that have failed. It is up to you to decide.

branding is part of this process of acquired sense, of interpreting our social soil. as designers, our job is to represent: We create images which act as characters within fluctuating action scenarios and bridge messages between different cultures. That means that we do not work with shapes, fonts and colours, but with mean-ings—and our duty as brand designers is to communi-cate these meanings through images.

secondly, if we want to design cross-cultural brands, we must accept that images’ power lies in what those images arouse in spectators. Furthermore, we must re-alize that images never truly have power, but that their power always comes from what viewers have deposited upon them. Hence, what a brand says or shows does not matter; what does matter is what it achieves. This means that image, design and stories are not relevant per se, but only serve as useful resources to transform the view-ers’ lives. In other words, the aim of the brand is never as crucial as its concrete influence upon the beholder.

third, we must gather that the biggest challenge for any inter-cultural brand is to integrate diversities by finding common denominators among regions and cul-tures. In that way, the efficacy of the brand depends ex-clusively on how different people feel, take and assume that brand as their own.

Thus, dialogue and consensus are more important than the aesthetic when it comes to the success of this kind of brands. Pictures that cannot be decoded require us to try to impose them by force, which ends up being more ex-pensive and provides no guarantee of achievement. For that reason we must listen, read and see. and in order to do so, we are required to research the specific action scenario and deduce the likely viewer conduct.

but how is this done? It is accomplished by conducting participatory interviews, face-to-face or video meetings or questionnaires with open-ended questions—all look-

brandIng opinion


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Wine Branding: it’s all in the Bottle

Interview by Katrina radic

in today’s consumer society, store shelves are packed with similar products, all reaching out and yelling “buy me!” Branding and labeling those products becomes more and more complicated with each passing day and new competitor; a well established brand and striking, communicative packaging becomes a necessity in the market. We decided to single out a product which we thought would be interesting to analyze in today’s market, brand and packaging wise - wine. We reached out to The Collective, a successful packaging design agency from Ultimo, Australia - with its portfolio consisting of almost an A-z of the Australian wine industry - to talk about labels, design, identities, heritage, the market and what it really takes to make a successful wine brand. Here’s what margaret Nolan, one of the partners at The Collective, had to say:

1 _ You specialize in packaging design for drinks - es-pecially wine. How did it come to this? and does this specialization help?

my partner rowena and I had quite a lot of drinks ex-perience between us so when we started The collective it seemed only sensible to tap into this. Penfolds was our first major wine client and it all just started to hap-pen from there. The wine industry is really unique in that people share information quite freely, especially amongst the smaller wineries. We got a lot of work initially (and still do!) through recommendation. We just got more and more wine clients this way and it sort of had a snowball effect.

as far as specializing and does it help, I would say most definitely, especially with wine labels. For many winer-ies their label is a huge expenditure and the only chance they have to sell their wine; it’s really make or break. The wine industry is full of tales of a great wine but a poor la-bel meant it just didn’t succeed. For a winery, the choice of designer is crucial and I would highly recommend a specialist agency.

“The only wine brand to be listed as a National Treasure, Pen-folds has a heritage pedigree and a reputation for excellence.”


let’s look at a different scenario: if you needed heart surgery would you want specialist heart surgeon or a general practice surgeon? your general practice surgeon is very talented, very capable, and can do lots of different operations very competently, but lacks the crucial spe-cialist knowledge. your heart specialist may not know about arms and legs but he knows every scenario about the heart. What can go wrong, what to look for etc. It’s the same with wine. We have built up a wealth of knowl-edge and experience that really helps our clients with not only pinpointing consumers but helping them get through the maze of production issues: bottling limita-tions, label restrictions, capsule manufacturing etc etc. my partner row is a walking production encyclopedia and our clients love having her as an amazing resource on their projects.

2 _ How does the creative process of designing and/or redesgning a wine label start?

obviously the brief is where we start. We talk to the client in depth about the wine, the region, the vineyard, the wine style, grape quality etc etc. We ask what they feel makes their particular wine special, and usually this is a good vein to tap. We also ask what the background to the winery is, how much the wine sells for, who their distributors are, who their current client base is, what their production limitations are re their bottling line, etc. We also go through what their objectives are, what the design brief is and what they want to achieve. We then go away and write a detailed reverse brief and once this is agreed by the client we start work.

For me the creative process starts as soon as the cli-ents starts talking. row always laughs that I can get this distracted far away look in the middle of a meeting and she can tell I’m already thinking of ideas. I really love having thinking time so I often have a few projects just on the boil in my head while I’m working on others.

3 _ What are the obstacles you face when designing an identity/packaging?

I think the hardest obstacle is what we call a “thin brief”: for example when a wine is a bulk mass produced product with no region, no vineyard or simply no story to tell. It’s hard to create a reason for being for products like this: consumers are increasingly very savvy about wine and you can’t fool them easily.

4 _ sometimes wine brands have a rich history - how important is it to show this history in the identity/pack-aging? What does this history mean for the brand and what does it mean for you as creators of the brand’s visual components?

as far as heritage brands, we work for a number of australia’s oldest wineries. Their history is usually fasci-nating and often intrinsically linked to the settlement of

“Yaldara has been making tawnies and red wines for over sixty years from its distinctive winery in the Barossa Valley. Yaldara’s packaging, thanks to The Collective, now reflects the age and

stature of the wines they produce, by adding significant premium cues to the packaging and gift boxes, thus positioning Yaldara as a

serious tawny producer.”

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australia so there is a lot of rich material to work with.Quite a lot of these brands got stripped of any heritage

cues in the eighties and nineties, so a number of our projects have been to restore the history and stories to the brand.

I think telling the brand history through the mark and packaging is very, very important. However, even heri-tage brands need to stay relevant, so this has to be han-dled in a sophisticated way.

5 _ How challenging is it to tell a story through packag-ing design? Can you offer any tips or interesting experi-ences?

designing wine labels is very challenging. In rough-ly ten centimeters square you have to communicate a brand personality, the region, varietal and vintage, com-ply to legal standards and also attract the consumer. you also have to allow for the fact the label curves around

the bottle and this the hardest part. What looks great flat doesn’t necessarily work once it’s on the bottle.

as far as telling a story, words are invaluable. It doesn’t have to be a big block of copy: sometimes it’s just a mat-ter of adding a couple of words to the varietal descriptor. For example “hand picked” will tell the consumer that you are a small boutique producer: it’s the small touches that make the difference.

6 _ With so many wine brands already on the market, is it difficult to create a new, distinguished identity/pack-aging design? How important is it for wine packaging to really stand out?

I look at it in similar terms to designing a book cover: if you have a good original story to tell an original label usually follows.

as with books, when consumers buy wine they tend to browse a lot more and the label plays a huge role in their final choice. as far as shelf standout, buying wine is not like other products: it’s not the supermarket “grab and go” scenario at all. It’s a much more private transaction for consumers, a reflection of their lifestyle and aspira-tions. so I think it’s far more important that a wine label will intrigue or attract people: you want to entice them

Yabby Lake’s packaging by The Collective is also more than 10 years old, but it still manages to look fresh. The

wine brand’s US distributor rated their 40 brands in terms of packaging, and Yabby Lake was voted No.1 because of

its “sheer individualism and style.”

Now almost 12 years old, the design for Cassegrain still looks striking and contemporary.

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to pick it up rather than simply shout out from the shelf.7 _ How can a brand stay fresh and original with so many competitors?

use a good designer! really great labels can last a very long time without having to be tweaked or refreshed. For example two of our designs, yabby lake Vineyard and cassegrain, are more than ten years old and look just as striking and contemporary as when they were launched.

8 _ What do consumers look for in a wine brand?

It depends what sort of consumer you are aiming at. Those who have a really high level of knowledge in wine often like lots of technical information: vintage condi-tions, winemaking philosophy etc. lots of consumers are at the mid level: they’ll often be attracted to brands that look a bit different, maybe from smaller producers. They love a sense of discovery. and there are still loads of oth-

ers without the confidence to be adventurous: these are reassured by wines that look more traditional with lots of quality cues.

but on top of all that they have to like the wine! If they don’t like the product, they won’t buy it again.

9 _ When designing a wine brand, how important do you think the design is compared to the actual quality of the product?

both are equally as important. The label may get a con-sumer to buy the wine the first time, but the wine is key to whether they will buy it again. This is where a lot of wine brands can fall down because the quality of wine doesn’t match the label and vice versa.

10 _ Which of your wine packaging designs are you most proud of, and which was the most difficult and challenging? Why?

That’s a really hard question because I’m genuinely re-ally proud of all the work we do and I would find it really hard to single out any. However, of all the labels we have designed the one that gets the most comments from cli-ents has been yabby lake Vineyard. This was also chal-lenging as the client went through 21 stages of design work before finally deciding that what we were recom-mending at stage 1 was right after all!

The extraordinary Penfolds ampoule project was easily the most difficult in terms of logistics and organization.

11 _ Which one of your wine packaging projects turned out to be the most successful and why?

That too is a difficult question! The majority of our cli-ents give us feedback as to the positive impact their new label has had on their businesses.

However, to give you an example, we had a client whose vineyard in new zealand was called squealing Pig. They had traditionally sold their fruit to other winemakers and

“The Collective told the story of Richfield wines through a simple, minimalistic graphic:

Tenterfield is situated on the crossroads of the New England and Bruxner Highways in NSW, while the client stated that he had a

patch of vineyards that he described as a “pocket of gold”. The Collective mixed these information together and created an

aerial ‘view’ of the crossroads and a gold foil square representing the vineyard.”

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had never actually marketed any wines from the vine-yard. The label we designed featured a twist on a nursery rhyme which became an incredibly powerful brand iden-tity. our packaging, trade advertising and point of sale saw the brand grow from zero to $1 million + in just two years.

12 _ in the end, what does it take to make a successful wine brand, in terms of design and visual components?

I know it sounds simplistic but a label just has to have style in bucket loads. style is such a hard thing to break down into individual components. However, here are a couple:

I think clear information to the consumer about what makes the wine special is really important. lots of wine-makers resist it because they don’t think it’s necessary but consumers love the detail: how the wine was made, when it was bottled, etc: it adds a huge amount to the perceived level of effort and quality.

In terms of design, typography is the make or break of a great wine label as type so often lets an otherwise beautiful design down.

Finishes; label stock, embossing, textures and foiling all create a beautiful tactile label.

Penfolds commissioned The Collective to design their Ampoule Project: they designed twelve bespoke books to accompany the am-poule. The books were hand-bound with engraved silver covers, making them a true work of art.

It was hard to make a serious boutique wine with a name such as Squealing Pig, but The Collective man-aged to turn it into just that; by using an old nursery

rhyme and adding a clever twist to it, the brand name was successfully used for the entire brand language.

insightPacKagIng

marKeTIng trends


android: a story of success

by dorian cioban

it’s a no-brainer that technology advances very rapidly and during this decade we will be witnessing some of the major breakthroughs that will be beneficial to everyday aspect of our lives. Technology is not a destination, but it is a journey we all aspire to, a journey where we want to make our memories last and share all those special moments with our loved ones.

“If the mid-20th century was the period where humans mastered space exploration, the start of 21st century will be remembered as a time where we learned to more easily connect with each other through just a simple click of a button.”

To put things in perspective, just about 10 years ago it was really hard to grasp the concept of how powerful will smart-phones become in the future, let alone to associate powerful mobile devices with the word Android, which then had a completely different meaning.

Although, smartphones were around since mid 90’s, it was not until mid-to-late 00’s where the general availability really started to take off everywhere in the world, overtaking sales of regular phones at the beginning of 2013. so, in order to shed some light into how one of the biggest thing of the 00’s rose prominence, let’s take a short trip down the memory lane and delve deeper into Android.

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HoW it all Began

The story of android Inc. began 10 years ago in califor-nia’s silicon Valley, where four entrepreneurs andy ru-bin, nick sears, chris White and rich miner who shared a common goal of making the smartphones of that period more ‘smarter’. The team started their work in secrecy and after a few ups and downs the big surprise came in 2005 when android Inc. was acquired by none other than another world’s number one search engine: google.

This is when things started to change for both compa-nies. android, now a wholly owned subsidiary of google was the perfect choice for the giant’s venture into the mobile phone market. after two more years of rumors and speculations, in november 2007, google’s huge an-nouncement made headlines – the brand has created the The open Handset alliance, a group of 65 software and hardware brands all with the common goal of improv-ing development of open source products, and it has also presented its own mobile and completely free operating system called, you guessed it, android. nevertheless, it wasn’t until september 2008 until android os version 1.0 was released to the public, and through numerous tweaks and updates over the course of years it went on to become the world’s leading mobile phone platform.

uniQueness oF tHe BRand, deFined

android’s look was developed by the san Francisco-based character, a creative agency which clients include the likes of nike, dc, levi’s, national geographic and sephora. Having previously worked with the agency dur-ing WebTV and danger Inc. period, andy rubin returned to character and has given them the task to create a very unique and recognizable identity for android that will stick both consumer and business-wise.

The brand’s rather uncommon look came from rubin’s sense of humor and passion for robots, as well as his love for science fiction. While it may seem easy to tell an agency to come up with a ‘robot-look’ for a company named android, character has, in fact, put a lot of effort in pitching in various ideas until it has settled on a logo-type, color palette and typography which really works and feels like something truly remarkable.

The final product came in a form of a sleek and modern typography combined with the, now internationally rec-ognizable image of a little green robot, which, contrary to many arguments it doesn’t have an official name, it represents a personified mascot of the brand.

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With an identity well put together that can be easily translated from the digital world and with a robot that stands at the heart of it, android was not only a result of a good business strategy, but also a result of a success-ful branding.

tHe FutuRe

If the short history of digital companies has taught us one thing then it must be that all brands need to prog-ress, evolve and change. If they don’t, they risk being forgotten. It’s a general rule of thumb. android’s open source availability and interconnectivity with other devic-es makes the future of the brand very bright, but as long as google makes the right moves and has the right plan of how is android supposed to look and feel in the future.

While at times we take for granted the technology that we managed to master and develop so quickly only to dumb it down to pointless android vs ios arguments, it is of great importance to remember that we in fact, have the entire world available to us in our pockets – an in-credible achievement that our predecessors would be proud of.


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if Jack daniels Had a voice, He Would Be a great storyteller

Interview by Katrina radic

From the mid 19th century to today, when it’s the highest selling American whiskey in the world, Jack Daniel’s has not just been a brand enjoyed by many over the years, but a fantastic storyteller as well. With its distinct bottle and black label, Jack Daniel’s is somewhat of a contemporary cultural icon, with its heritage and history painting the picture of a genuine American whiskey brand.

But what does it take to express everything that Jack Daniel’s has to offer? As time goes by, trends and consumer needs do the same, always changing and always demanding more. JD, however, remained true to itself—the strong and original brand that it is—throughout the years, offering not only whiskey and beautiful design, but a genuine story to tell as well.

“If Jack daniel’s is any measure, creating a successful whiskey brand starts with authenticity, integrity and a commitment to quality.”


Perhaps it is this story alone that accounts for the love the brand experiences to this day. regardless, the story (as any other story) needs a storyteller, so we spoke to Minneapolis-based design agency, Cue. cue has been in charge of telling the brand’s story through its iconic label and packaging for years now.

starting off with the question about how relevant Jack daniel’s history really is, cue explained that finding ways to reveal the brand’s timeless values keeps the history feeling fresh instead of dusty, and makes it something consumers can embrace in their own lives. Furthermore, and unlike many brands, Jack daniel’s has a real history and a genuine story:

Told well, the real story is better than marketing fiction. Digging into and revealing the real story differ-entiates Jack Daniel’s. Creating some imaginary tale would make Jack Daniel’s more like other brands, and it’s something this brand wouldn’t do.

but let us dig deeper. What is the Jack daniel’s brand really about? In today’s market, a rich history simply is not enough, but cue explained that The Jack daniel’s brand is about independence and being true to oneself:

The world rewards conformity. Independence is a choice, available to all, but not everyone chooses their own path. Jack Daniel’s celebrates those who listen to their own voice and are true to themselves.

cue then added that great whiskey is a highly crafted product, so authenticity is near the top of the list when it comes to consumers’ criteria. as with many products, the brand a person chooses is a reflection of the indi-vidual’s taste or character. Whiskey brands are no excep-tion, and this is one reason as to why Jack daniel’s is so earnest in being true to its authentic roots.

cue was tasked with the bottle and label’s redesign, which was not an easy feat considering that Jack dan-iel’s has an extremely loyal userbase – some who believe that the packaging should always remain untouched. cue mentioned that, consequently, it was more difficult than with many other brands to modify the aesthetic in a way that would both respect loyal users and invited new consumers to the franchise.

It required a great deal of respect for the equity that has been earned over the years. and, it called for pa-tience and discipline to understand which elements of the expression were meaningful and which had lost their significance.

It’s a unique combination of elements that gives the label its distinctive look. Although changes have been made over time, the familiarity of those ele-ments has been retained. As Jack Daniel’s offers new products, it will be important to respect the icon, creating new expressions that bring to mind that pro-prietary look.

Jack daniel’s is the most recognizable whiskey icon in the world - cue stated - and it has a compelling voice, so bringing it to life through the packaging is both challeng-ing and rewarding. The package is the brand, especially in this category, so it pertinent that the packaging truly reflects the Jd image, along with its values and mission.

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Remaining distinctive over time is another chal-lenge, especially as lesser brands try to imitate Jack Daniel’s look and feel. Every brand needs to pay attention to what the package communicates and evolve it over time to ensure it’s staying true to its values.

even though the original bottle is the most recogniz-able and loved one, Jack daniel’s has a vast portfolio of different whiskeys, all accompanied by different pack-aging designs, that, although different, stay true to the original. cue explains their thoughts on the brand lan-guage used in designing Jack daniel’s Tennessee Honey and sinatra select:

In creating products that could stand beside the black label icon package, it was important that they share a visual language that immediately offers con-sumers assurance that they are authentic Jack Dan-iel’s products.

In the case of Tennessee Honey, the agency explained that it was also important to promise the new flavor pro-file through color and iconography. capturing the es-sence of the flavor in the look and feel of the package helped Tennessee Honey stand on its own while giving Jack daniel’s credit.

as for sinatra select, the package had the added chal-lenge of being true to both Jack daniel and Frank sina-tra:

Frank was the consummate entertainer, and his inimitable style and confidence set a new standard. Jack Daniel shared many traits, and his brand offered a rich visual language from which to draw. While the two never met, they are kindred spirits, and the pack-age needed to show that.

We also asked cue what they think about the future of Jack daniel’s, visually and as a brand, since the brand language has not changed much in the past decades:

Jack Daniel’s will continue to express its core val-ues in a way that respects its heritage and remains relevant to consumers. Independence – being true to oneself – is an enduring idea, one that the brand will continue to host as it has for 150 years.

We were also curious as to what they thought it takes to make a successful whiskey brand. Their response?

If Jack Daniel’s is any measure, creating a suc-cessful whiskey brand starts with authenticity, integ-rity and a commitment to quality. Being true to the values and revealing them through a genuine story seems like a good start.

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marKeTIng trends


star Quality: Film Branding with the great gatsby

by Flavia barbat

Whether you have seen the movie or not, The Great Gatsby is a brand that you will always recognize. The film surpassed theater openings and red carpets, recreating an iconic style by seamlessly linking typography, fash-ion, decor and etiquette. While other movies follow the rules of marketing and merchandising, utilizing proven formulas to garner extra dollars and focusing on quota delivery schedules, the creators of The Great Gatsby fabricated an essence that altered modern cultural perceptions of an earlier time. it created lust, fascination and wonder for all audience members, regardless of the score they later gifted the film itself (imDB shows it as 7.5 out of 10).

The opulence of art deco was cohesive-ly rendered through the majestic talent of australian film director baz luhrmann. However, there were various other ac-tors with prominent roles in the overall production of the piece. For example, the visual lettering of The great gatsby was a project given to like minded stu-dio. The group ended up architecting a streamlined typography that threaded the film’s logo, movie posters and fashion merchandising together. The characters themselves included solid and pinstriped letters, inspired by the deco alphabet de-signed by K.H. schaefer. The typographic branding process was released by the studio and gave admirers a peek into the multiple sketches and possibilities that went into the decision-making process.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/THE-GREAT-GATSBY/8550121



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The color scheme itself speaks to the transitional times depicted in the film. The regal golds and sparkles are placed against the industrial greys, a contrast that speaks to the overall themes of the film. The great gatsby is a symbol (one might say a brand) for the transformational times that were the 1920’s, a time when the impossible seemed to become possible and progress was occurring at an almost imperceptible rate. It is truly interesting to see that the simple matching of the typography (at mo-ments circular and others angular) and color palette can add important pieces to the brand image puzzle.

In addition to the letters and colors of its identity, The great gatsby was also branded by its locations and sets. Production designer catherine martin (known for win-ning two oscars for the production design and costume design of moulin rouge) sought to portray that nouveau riche atmosphere that simply indulges the senses, an at-traction amplified by magnificent rugs and overpowering floral arrangements. drawing from long Island man-sions (where the novel takes place), Italian villas, French art and chinese motifs, the film’s “look” was developed to match the glamorous brand pre-instated by the typog-raphy and color scheme. Parallel to the concepts of inte-grated marketing, each and every decoration is aligned with the film’s image, whether it be the glamourous rugs with phoenix designs or numerous orchids flooding the frames.

“The Great Gatsby is a symbol (one might say a brand) for the transformational times that were the 1920’s, a time when the im-

possible seemed to become possible and progress was occurring at an almost imperceptible rate.”

marKeTIng trends


and, of course, we cannot speak of decor without men-tioning those pieces which adorned the characters’ bod-ies. The fashion throughout The great gatsby is a fantas-tic example of merchandising done right, of a brand that transgresses the screen and its script and continues to live on past the closing credit sequence. naturally,one of the brands that partnered with the film was brooks brothers, who (not coincidentally) is also mentioned in the novel itself. an attention to detail in men’s suits, along with the contemporary fascination with men in ties, made brooks brothers a natural complement for the gatsby brand.

as for the ladies, martin decided to go with a classic ode to opulence: Prada. miuccia Prada collaborated with the film on over forty different costume designs, mostly seen during the exquisite parties. coincidentally enough (this time), the pieces were created by altering older Pra-da and miu miu works, rummaging through the fashion brand’s archives and transforming various designs into ambassadors for the roaring Twenties--and the gatsby brand, itself. speaking to the brand and its alliance with Prada, martin states in an interview with The Telegraph,

“Both Baz and I felt very strongly that Prada, as a brand and as a design force, looks to the past for a lot of its inspiration, but it’s always done in a way that looks completely towards the future.”

This dichotomy between past and future stands at the core of the gatsby brand; not only was it occurring during the times represented in the novel, but it is also some-thing weaved throughout the brand strategy of the film. From the aesthetic clash of the typeface to the old-com-bined-with-new style of interior and fashion design, the architecture of The great gatsby and its brand showcas-es a meticulous attention to detail and an enviable knack for storytelling. at the end of the day, F. scott Fitzgerald was an incredible storyteller, baz luhrmann and Prada are both amazing storytellers, and a brand must always be a great storyteller.

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/videos/TMG10053372/The-Great-Gatsby-Prada-costume-preview.html

Cover image:

Ogilvy & mather - Czech republic

other images:

http://www.europeandesign.org/ed-festival/previous-events/2010-rotterdam/ed-conference/bleed/

http://bleed.no/

https://modavanti.com/

http://www.thecollective.com.au/

http://designcue.com/case/jack-daniels/

http://www.charactersf.com/clients/android-brand-idenity

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q02DPa0f77A/UYMKeuXu-yI/AAAAAAAAAlc/cbRsSAVKeJM/s640/GreatGatsby1.jpg


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