In appreciation of the new issue of Creative Review and its homage to the teams favourite logo designs, I thought I would talk about the logo’s that I love while avoiding the usual suspects like nike, apple, FEDEX (Notice the arrow?  No, nobody else does either unless you work in marketing or have met me while standing in front of a FEDEX van)

 

I really liked the CR take on logos.  Its choice for number one was Woolmark, a brand that has been around for so long but still goes relatively unnoticed. Another of my favourite picks from the magazines was the British Rail logo.  Another so simple but so so clever and yet so overlooked. 

 

So here we go, my thoughts on some great logos... you may agree, you may not.  Hell, in a couple of weeks, I may not agree with myself but such is the nature of design...

 

In no particular order we have

 

VOGUE.  Is it the title of a magazine, a word or a logo?  Both and more. It is a dance sub-culture started in New York, a world-wide recognised pop song (I can’t remember who sang it... JLO is it...??) and a word which stands for everything cool and current.  It shows the strength of the logo that it is still used in its original format across so many different countries of the world including Russia and The US.  Put simply, if you’re not in Vogue (the magazine or the word), you’re nobody.  From the early hand drawn issues, the logo has adapted and changed with the times and issues but one thing still remains... if you work there, you are definitely getting in

 

The Cadbury’s Caramel Bunny.  Yes, you can argue that this isn’t a logo either but a brand icon and in fact, Cadbury is the logo but I am not a design graduate so I don’t care.  The pure sexiness of the bunny, which in my opinion has zero connection to the product has become the symbol of pure indulgence, making the product feel desirable, sexy and a little bit naughty.  It also has a lovely retro feel (since being re-launched in the UK in 2009) and reminds me of being a child.  In the Cadbury’s Caramel nibbles advert, the brand took it one step further with Giles Deacon being brought on board to design a dress for her... bizarre, yes.  Brilliant, maybe.  I just wish Vogue and Cadbury would team up.  The first ever bunny cover of VOGUE; now there is a PR idea...

 

Started by Blek Le Rat in Paris, and continued by Banksy in the UK, the rat became the symbol of popular street art culture.  Used in different guises and situations it soon became the calling card of the world’s most elusive millionaire artist Banksy.  Often copied, the humble rat image has gone from being one that caused revulsion to one that can add a cool £100k onto your house.  Not a bad career move

 

And speaking of calling cards, my fourth favourite is projected above the city of Gotham at night when trouble is afoot.  The Bat Symbol, used by Bruce Wayne (I know he doesn’t really exist... or does he) was designed to strike fear into his enemies hearts before he had even arrived.  In the real world, a man dressed as a bat running around the streets in a mask and morph suit is pretty scary so not sure you actually need the symbol in the first place.  The ideas however that I could project this on any wall in the world today and people would know what it was is pretty impressive to me

 

I tried to think of a Political party logo that I liked.  Green tree, red rose... the other one... all rubbish

 

My final logo choice is Penguin.  Every time I see the Penguin books logo, not only do I already know I will enjoy the book but it says so much more.  It screams ‘not too hard to read so don’t worry’ just as much as it says ‘probably don’t take this on a bus if you are looking to pull’ (unless you are one of those, I don’t try and look cool but look really cool types).  Incredibly simple, universally known and just quite cute to boot

 

As I mentioned, are these the world’s best? Probably not.  Are these all logos?  Probably not.  But Creative Review (http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/march/cr-april-logos-issue) inspired me to write this blog, so write it I did...

 

The April issue of Creative Review is out now

 

 

It may just be me but the new advertising concept from YELL is... erm... rubbish?  Of course, this is just my opinion but the campaign recently launched in the UK supported by the Day V Lately television spot confuses the hell out of me and not in a good way.  I am all for an advert that draws me in and gets me to ask questions but as the brand tries desperately hard to shake off its ‘yellow pages is a big yellow book’ image, I would have gone for something much more simple.  Or is it just not aimed at me?  Am I too old to get it?  Possibly.  I first noticed the advert (a plus point of any ad) in Greenwich and found myself staring at it for a good couple of seconds trying to work out what it said.  I did eventually get it but rather than an ‘oooooh, that’s clever’ I thought ‘Ooooh, that’s 30 seconds I’m never getting back’

 

I don’t envy the team behind the Yell brand.  Unless they come up with some major product innovation that beats the hell out of competition like 118118 and the iphone, they will always be playing catch up and it’s my belief that concepts like this, do more to alienate than change people’s opinion

 

I want to love the brand again, at the moment I don’t

After a 1.5 hour flight and a taxi journey that cost more than it probably should (when you speak barely any of the language, it is quite easy to suddenly find yourself in the most expensive taxi queue), we arrived at the Maison Moschino.  I have always been a big Moschino fan (pronounced moss-key-no, not moss-she-no for those of you who still don’t do it properly).  From little hearts to the peace symbols, fragrance to crazy Moschino jeans (which I rocked back in my Croydon days), the brand has stood the test of time and has struck a perfect balance between chic and street

 

So on to the hotel.  If I could sum it up in two words it would be fashion and boutique.  The rooms are small but perfectly formed.  Like any boutique on Bond Street everything feels incredibly personal and what is in the room, is delivered to the highest standard.  My room for example, the little red riding hood room (make of that what you will), had a perfectly stitched wolf laying on the bed, tucked into the covers (Ooh Grandma!) and the gold room made you feel like you if you lay still enough, you could be mistaken for an Oscar.  The meeting space and communal halls are again, quite tight but it’s what they do with them that is impressive.  Everything feels light and unlike most meeting spaces, windows are actually windows and guess what, they can be opened!!!  There are moments of schrager in the design but that could be said of most modern hotels and like most modern hotels, everything can be bought.  So that’s the boutique bit sorted, now let’s talk fashion

 

Do not go to this hotel if you haven’t worked in the fashion industry before and understand that food, is not the same as it is in the real world.  The mini-bar is stocked with a decent selection of nuts and berries but there is no chocolate in site and when it came to ordering breakfast, I had to go for toast and marmalade (seriously, seared beef cubes or omelette with capers just don’t cut it for me).  And when the toast with Jam came out, the butter was so foamed and thin that I could practically hear the staff giggling at the ‘fat boy’ in the corner.  Our lunch consisted of such treats as ‘bean sprouts with soya cheese’ and mini fish and egg ‘burgers’.  All of which was very lovely, and I am sure if my surname was either Campbell or Moss, I would have been full but it isn’t.

 

Service is incredibly laboured but I would expect the same from any fashion boutique in the world and when it does arrive, it is perfect, sweet and dressed impeccably.  When I couldn’t work my shower (ok, I tried once) the man from downstairs arrived in a perfectly tailored suit and got soaked trying to fix it (read, turn it on) but just smiled and dripped out of my room

 

I would 100% recommend this hotel, with all its hearts and keys dangling from every room and staircase but only for a weekend and only with someone you can stand to hand you the latest copy of Menswear from one side of the room to the other without a stretch

 

And as Zsa Zsa Gabor famously said, when you leave the hotel, ‘don’t get even, get everything’ – vanity set anyone?

Fast Company magazine, June 2010 announces the 100 most creative people in business at the moment.  It may come as little surprise that no.1 on the list is the oh-so-now Lady Gaga with one advertising exec enthusing ‘If she does something with your brand, it’s like bam!-A million eye-balls’.  Quite.  There are new and old faces aplenty including Ryan Murphy; the creator of Glee (natch) and Dr Luke, the producer behind Ke$ha’s ‘Tik Tok’ and Perry’s ‘I kissed a Girl’ as well as the usual faces from the likes of Apple, Facebook and Nokia

 

What did surprise me however is that the fashion industry – which I have always personally thought was the designer clutch bag of creativity – doesn’t make any impression at all.   Sure, Tom Ford is in there along with Phoebe Philo from Celine but in a list which includes Jamie Oliver but excludes the likes of Gautier, Westwood or Lagerfeld, the fashion industry seems to have been placed firmly on the sale shelf

 

I understand that compiling a list of this nature is hard and the results are only as good as the judges that judgerson (new word, I even spell creative) but I can’t help think that a trick was missed.  For me, the fashion industry has always been a great source of inspiration and creativity; whether that be a magazine that decided to launch with a smiley in 1980 (i-D) or the fact that Lagerfeld is followed by so many on twitter but chooses to follow no-one, the fashion industry and those that surround it have always wanted to take things to the next step.  Constantly reinventing and constantly challenging.  Would Gaga be Gaga and would the video be the most viewed online if she wasn’t wearing those McQueen shoes.  Debate.

 

For any creative in any business, the challenge of challenging is the ultimate challenge.

 

And don’t even get me started on the lack of artists!

 

The full list can be seen at http://www.fastcompany.com/100/

As someone who has recently been appointed to the role of ‘Creative’ within an agency, it will no doubt surprise you that I too believe the value add can be instrumental in the growth of the business.  Having worked in PR for a number of years and under two previous Creative Directors, both myself and the agencies I have worked at have learnt to adapt the role so it isn’t similar to advertising.  We as PRO’s are different people, have different ideas so we need different approaches to creativity.  I would still consider myself a PR person first, and a creative second -  a nice to have.  The role of a Creative Director in PR is to offer the people within the agency the very best techniques to answering the client question.  Yes, on occasion I have a good idea but I am under no illusion that the majority of the best ideas will come from the people I work with.  I am happy to be a part of that.  Also, at 28, I would question whether I was approaching the Creative knackers yard just yet.  I believe that someone who is recognized as being a creative thinker or facilitator has a passion for new experiences which when combined with the knowledge and insight of younger colleagues, can create something truly amazing

 

Read the opinion piece from Graham Goodkind from Frank on the PR moments website

http://www.prmoment.com/298/dont-expect-a-creative-director-to-come-up-with-the-best-ideas-says-graham-goodkind-founder-of-pr-consultancy-frank-pr.aspx

It is a rare occasion that a brand (and agency) can get a ‘moment in time’ advert right, especially when it is communicating around such a cluttered subject like the World Cup.  It takes an incredibly simple idea with simple and bold execution to deliver stand-out and the example from Purina above has both those ingredients in spades. Not since the Veet advert in the US, where the brand promised to ‘helps get rid of bush’ around the presidential election did a piece of above the line make me smile as much.  Very simple, very effective and compared to the Yahoo! unveil adverts of David Beckham, much more memorable…

 

I don’t have a cat but I think if I did and was a football fan, I would be changing their diet to Felix

For those who work in the creative industry or have had to lead a brainstorm before, there is a technique which basically involves either adding, changing or subtracting an element from the creative question at hand.  For example, if you were to take the question, ‘How do you get mothers who care only about fashion to buy pledge’ and changed it to ‘how do you get mothers who only care about fashion to buy a shotgun’, you would have both a very different and very similar response at the same time.  Another example which has been mentioned in more books than I want to credit is that of a restaurant where waiters were removed which brought about the whole idea of self service.

Admittedly, the first wasn’t a great example but having worked this technique in a number of brainstorms, it does throw out some really interesting thoughts and at the very least, helps the group to truly think laterally… 

When I was little (around 7) my staple holiday sun lounger reading between cola-floats and diving practice was the Garfield books.  I still love them today.  Whether it was simply his take on Mondays or his love of lasagna, I have a deep place in my heart for that fat cat

Searching online, I came across the above image and the website below.  ‘Garfield minus Garfield’ shows what all those funny little strips would look like if our favourite character were removed.  Rather than being boring, the shorts actually take on an entirely new meaning and in some cases, can be both entertaining and dark in equal measure.  It got me thinking… How many other brands could diversify their offering by simply taking away the product that they are known for.  In the same way Which? Magazine became a Bastian for true reviews, could they actually develop products.  Or if you took away the cars from Ford, could they develop products for home safety or perhaps even new medical equipment (Toyota do it well!)

I love the cartoon and I love the technique.  More of the above!

www. garfieldminusgarfield.net/