Branding Agnosticism

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MPR Branding Agnosticism

Unit 3 Major Project Report Edgar hoffmann LCC SGD/MAGD 2008

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Index 1 1a 1b

Introduction Branding agnosticism My background in relationship to the project

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2 2a 2b 2c

Branding and Agnosticism what is Agnosticism? what is branding? so why brand Agnosticism?

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3

My aim as a graphic designer

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4

The research:

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5 5a 5b

The process Brand guide Logos and strategies

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6

Conclusion

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7

Bibliography

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Intro 1a Branding Agnosticism.

When it comes to theological questions, it seems that there are two available choices today; you can either be part of a religion, or be a firm non-believer: an atheist.

But really, there is a third way: Agnosticism.

There is no church, no organization and no message to forcefully get across, thus agnosticism is absolutely underrepresented as it is not clearly communicated and made available as a proper “choice” to the general public. Yet, once you start explaining the general concept to someone, you will often get a reaction such as, “hey, I guess I’m agnostic”.

Since Agnosticism is promoting tolerance as opposed to the extremism or other “-isms”, and a lot of people can relate with its ideology, I think it would be of great interest to distribute that way of life as a concept around the world and raise awareness.

Religion and political ideologies, such as; Christianity, Islam, Communism, National Socialism and many others, all have very strong visual identities that have supported them, promoted them and finally anchored them in history. A brand for agnosticism however does not exist, and it would allow for this Weltanschauung to be communicated and easier to access. This is why I have created a brand for agnosticism in the framework of my major project.

Branding and corporate identity are terms that are perceived as the tendency of capitalist brands, to homogenize and depersonalize the world for commercial purposes. Many voices such as Adbusters or Naomi Klein have risen to criticize branding in a negative way. Agnosticism being a philosophy that promotes the personal

belief of every individual, I asked myself if it might seem inappropriate, even opposed to branding at first. However, branding techniques can be used as a powerful tool to communicate ideas, services and products, from which agnosticism would strongly benefit.

Which is why, for my project, I have also intensely looked into branding techniques and corporate strategies to understand their mechanics, and use them to promote a noncommercial purpose.

This has resulted in the creation of a branding guide that utilizes the example of agnosticism to explain the branding process in a simplified way. I am confident that as a result of my research, my guide provides a good overview of branding and agnosticism.

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01 1b My background in relationship to the project

I chose the topic of branding agnosticism for a set of reasons. First of all, it is a personal interest as I consider myself agnostic.

But this does not justify a project in itself.

The reality is that today’s society sees an increasing front of fundamentalist religious activities, and very strong anti-religious responses. The fundamental struggle that opposes religious people to extreme atheists does not always leave room for an ideological middle. Agnosticism offers a third path, which operates on a different level than belief or non-belief, and might be more suitable for more today’s society. This is where I hope to intervene.

Upon studying art direction for advertising as a bachelor degree at the C.A.D. in Brussels, I learned to develop my creative instincts and visual sense at the detriment of research and organized working methods. This year’s course has offered me a framework to research communication methods and develop my graphic design knowledge, to be more aware of the mechanics I am employing in my work. My branding guide wants to communicate this research that I have done, so that I can use it as a future reference work in my career to give my work more depth.

< Movies that feature strong antireligious ideas: Jesus camp, 2005; R. Dawkins, 2007 the God delusion, R. Dawkins the root of all evil, P. Joseph, 2008 Zeitgeist

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02

A&B Agnosticism & Branding

2a Agnosticism

Agnosticism is a philosophical view, in which, claims regarding theology, are considered inherently unknowable - due to their subjective nature. More precisely it is a statement of independence from Gnosticism (which stands for spiritual or mystical knowledge) since its doctrines are based on tentative beliefs, beliefs that cannot be backed up by empirical evidence.

An Agnostic will assert that terms such as “god”, “eternal”, ”infinite” and “omnipotent” (which attempt to define theological ideas) are only underlining our inadequacy to understand such vast and elusive concepts.

Nonetheless an Agnostic can be a believer as he doesn’t exclude the existence of “God”. Simply put, he merely states that the ultimate reality of God is unknowable by reason of our natural inadequacy to verify the experience of a higher power. This is what differentiates an Agnostic from an Atheist.

non-existence of God cant be proven either.

A certain type of Agnostic does not even care about the issue of belief in God, since the irrelevance that he perceives in the attempt to define God makes belief useless.

The roads that lead you to these conclusions are all personal, don’t require any adherence to a club or any form of worship; that is what makes Agnosticism so open to individuals.

The commonality of agnostics is that they critically reflect on existing religious concepts and declare their independence from it.

< To further explain the evolution of my project I will now elaborate the two subject areas on which I have based my research.

Agnosticism is an alternative way of thinking, and more precisely, a way of questioning, which in my eyes makes it an even more relevant topic for a project that is aiming to question our preconception of branding and visual identity.

An agnostic takes his distance from religion because the concept of God is uncertain, and also moves away from Atheism because the

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“What is the meaning of life to the agnostic?

I feel inclined to answer by nother question: what is the meaning of ‘the meaning of life’?” (Bertrand Russel, What is an agnostic?)

Agnosticism is the philosophical view that convictions about the existence of God are inherently unverifiable. It is opposed to any spiritual or mystical knowledge (“gnosis” in Greek, hence “agnostic”). Such knowledgecannot be backed up by empiric evidence. > This is a screenshot taken from the facebook website.

This particular agnostic/ atheist group has reached the extraordinary number of 21,000 members. I wish to make my project avaiable to such an audience.

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02 Resume:

“Agnosticism simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that for which he has no grounds for professing to believe.”

(Classic definition given by Thomas Henry Huxley, a great ally of Darwin).

There is guideline for agnostic beliefs, but there are roughly three types of agnostics: >

Agnostic with the uncertainty of the existence of your culture’s main religion’s God, or any God.

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Principled agnostic who believes that the question of God’s existence is unanswerable, that proof either way is impossible.

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Practical agnostic with the belief that the question of God’s existence is irrelevant to the living of life.

“Many people who say they believe in God no longer mean a person, or a trinity of persons, but only a vague tendency or power or purpose immanent in evolution.

Others, going still further, mean by “Christianity” merely a system of ethics which, since they are ignorant of history, they imagine to be characteristic of Christians only.” (Bertrand Russel, What is an agnostic?)

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Thi picture was found on the website, that has been created to launch a fundraising, campaign for an atheist campaign.

The campaign does not exist yet.

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02 Social relevance of Agnosticism:

To argue that an interest in agnosticism might target a limited amount of people seems true at first, but a bit of Internet research has shown me that there exists a strong and verifiable interest for this subject area. Agnosticforums.com counts about 2000 members, which have contributed to around 35000 message in the discussion on Agnosticism. A debate that took place in London with the contribution of atheist Richard Dawkins was covered by the times (reimagineritual.wordpress.com, 2008).

‘Facebook.com’, a very popular social platform, counts over 500 groups related to Agnosticism, with up to 4000 members in each of them.

In January 2009 a campaign will be started (initiated originally in June 2008 by the writer Ariane Sherine) to put poster on London buses with the slogan: “There’s probably not God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”. This initiative is financially supported, amongst others by the Atheist R. Dawkins, and over a £100.000 have already been raised to support this campaign.

< Creationism Is a theory according to which the world literally has been created by God in seven days.

These numbers make me feel confident that there is a potential audience for a brand for agnosticism, within the community of agnostics, but also inform of people who don’t know about agnosticism yet, and might be interested.

A study shows that even though Christian church attendances in Britain have decreased by 31% from 1980 to 2005 (The Tomorrow Project, 2005), the interest for spirituality and theology has nonetheless not decreased. Surveys from the quality assessment and qualification alliance have reported a 21% increase in choice of theology for A-level studies in the UK (The Tomorrow Project, 2005).

This just to say that more and more people would get interested in Agnosticism as it is respectful of personal beliefs and does not require worship or organizations or killing (which is the case for sects or very intolerant and extremist religious groups).

Recent documentaries show the indoctrination and brainwashing of children in so-called ‘Jesus Camps’, banning evolutionist teaching for explaining life on Earth and replacing it with creationist theories as it is happening in schools of many states of the US.

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“The definition of a brand is perhaps elusive because of semantic generality, where a brand can be a particular product or a characteristic that identifies a particular producer (Collins English dictionary). It is accepted that a brand can be both the producer and the product that is produced.

The definition must respond to the general interpretation- as much because brand is an elusive concept, as to the fact that it is constantly developing and redefining its boundaries.” (Mono, branding, from brief to finished solution)

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“In It’s curious, direct way, branding is extraordinarily potent. It reaches beyond immediate commercial objectives and touches the soul – and don’t its practitioners know it!” (Wally Olins, -Corporate identityMaking business strategy visible through design)

“Branding is not marketing. Many people assume that branding is something that falls somewhere between the creative team and the marketing department. Our view (…) is that branding is actually a CEO-level initiative that drives the entire organization. (…) Branding has very little to do with the marketing department at all.” (Perry Chua & Dann Ililic, Logo Savvy - Top branddesign firms share their names and identity strategies, 2008)

02 2b What is branding?

Everything gets branded, one way or another- whether it’s a consumer product, a movie star, apolitical cause, a religion… even a nonprofit organization. Branding can’t be avoided, and in fact it should be embracedby all nonprofits. D.K. Holland, 2006.

Branding for non profits, developing identity with integrity, Allworth press, New York In my initial project proposal and design discourse submission I attempted to create a brand for agnosticism, but retrospectively I realize that my knowledge of branding was too limited to be effective. I confused the logo with the brand, which goes beyond just a visual identifier. As for many things in graphic design, it is crucial to know what you want to communicate, and then whom you want to say it to. A visual identifier is definitely a powerful element of a brand, but can only do so much. First has to be defined what a brand stands for before it can be visualized. To understand the branding process, I proceeded with extensive.

A study by Mercer Management consulting shows that the number of products available for purchase has increased fivefold in the past 20 years. Every week, 600 new products vie for space on the shelves of German supermarkets. The average individual makes 100, 000 decisions daily, the majority of without conscious awareness. (R. Klanten, N. Bourquin, Tres logos, 2006, Gestalten Verlag, Berlin This proved helpful on one hand, but also terribly confusing on the other hand. Every brand guide seemed to focus on different aspects of branding, some focusing on strategies, some on the process of branding, and some on logo and visual identity. It seems there is no scientific method on how to brand.

To get a better understanding, and transform the major project into something that could be used after the course as well, I compiled the main points of my research into a simplified yet rich branding guide, including branding theory, strategies and the logo creation. This guide is the main element of my final submission. Here is a very brief overview of my findings, the entire branding process being so complex it requires an entire separate document, hence the branding guide: Branding theory states that brands need to determine how they want to communicate a specific product or service, which they do with strategies. These strategies are used to place a brand on the market and differentiate it from the competition. There are four main branding strategies that I could identity: cultural branding, mind-share branding, emotional branding and viral branding. These are all detailed in the brand guide in section I.4.

While determining a strategy, the designer and the client agree on a core value the brand will communicate and anchor in the mind of the consumer. The core values then have to be condensed into a brand name, which can then become a logo. A direct and generic description of the product is not beneficial to a product, as it does not differentiate it from its competition. A car brand should not be called ‘Car’.

Once the brand can be visually identified with a logo, it needs to communicate itself depending on the service or product it carries. Each of these points is explored in detail in the brand guide.

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> This is an initial diagram I devised, that visualizes the brandings process in three easy steps.

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02 Resume:

Branding determines what the product or service is, what it stands for, how it communicates, and what the brands goals are.

Branding determines how the brand wants to be perceived by others.

Branding creates an emotional bond between the customer and the brand.

These are all points I had to take into account if I wanted to create a brand for agnosticism.

“Branding can encapsulate both big and important and apparently superficial and trivial issues simultaneously.” (Wally Olins, the brand handbook) “Design is not an abstract theoretical discipline – it produces tangible artifacts, expresses social priorities and carries cultural values” (Andrew Howard, a new kind of dialogue, Adbusters design anarchy issue) “These organic thinkers (n.e. Designers) function, in turn, to educate others: the inform, explain, persuade, inspire, organize, promote, and instruct, engaging in a process of exchange and interaction through which publics are built.” (E. Lupton on A. Gramsci.

D.I.Y) “Voices such as those at ‘Adbusters’ magazine, ‘George ‘Monbiot’ (captive state) and ‘Naomi Klein’ (no logo), have raised awareness of branding’s proclivity to homogenize and depersonalize. …. We should not loose sight of the benefits of branding as a tool of unification, coherence and reassurance.” (mono, branding, from brief to finished solution)

“But this criticism has, however, its limits: Klein can only argue her case with regard to very big companies and their mighty brands.

The vast majority of brand owners are not indicted by Klein’s accusations.

It has also to be recognized that it is not brands themselves that Klein criticizes, but what their owners are doing with them.” (Tim Ambler: Are brands good for Britain? – British Brands Group Inaugural Lecture 2000)

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This is a still taken from the movie Jesus camp.

Children are indoctrinated by Evangelist groups in the united states, to create an army for jesus. I am utterly repulsed by this type of indoctrination and see potential in an agnostic brand to at least offer an alternative to extremism.

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02 2c So why brand Agnosticism?

Most, if not all, religions are branded. The Catholic Church has embraced branding such as the cross, the nuns’ habits, and priests’ vestments-.... The rituals, cathedrals, and pope himself are part of the brand. D.K. Holland, 2006. Branding for nonprofits, developing identity with integrity, Allworth press, New York.

In recent times enormous changes have taken place in the world of branding which have put it right in the spotlight. These changes include: … branding moving into countries, regions and cities, and also charities, the arts ad academia. (Wally Olins, the brand handbook) I wish to provide a better communication of Agnosticism, by creating a brand for it.

The target audience focuses on Agnostics, as I am creating a platform to center their discussion around, and giving it the shape of a tangible artifact, but also encompass graphic designers, from the branding point of view I described the social relevance of agnosticism in section 2a, and the branding outline I provided in 2b and my branding guide underlines the benefit agnosticism can draw from a brand. At the same time that agnosticism benefits from a brand, it represents a social critique of branding, relevant to graphic designers. If something non commercial can benefit from the branding process, it shows that branding itself is not necessarily a nasty side product of capitalism, but that it can serve other more positive purposes as well.

One source of inspiration for this project was J. Barnbrook’s work on North Korea.

His fake brand, featuring logos such as NKUE was at the borderline of bad taste, nonetheless provoked my interest in the subversion of branding. It did not have some explicit explanations, but in itself presented a critique. This was an aspect I wanted to incorporate into my project.

Other projects, such as ‘Metahaven’ also inspired me to question how something very open ended and non commercial can receive an identity. Agnosticism presents a similar problem, as it has several facets to it.

< Metahaven A website that tries to capture the spirit of multi-nationality for an island/country

These questions pushed me into seriously reconsidering the goal of creating a brand for agnosticism in itself. Analyzing branding strategies and using agnosticism as an example and a critique at the same time seemed like a route that is more appropriate for a MA project, but also more enriching for my graphic design knowledge.

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Goals 3 My aim as a graphic designer

In the framework of the MA course, I came up with the following research question that captures the initial intentions of my project; Can corporate branding and visual identity strategies be applied to concepts of noncommercial nature such as Agnosticism?

At first this question was intended to support a project aimed at building a strong brand identity for agnosticism. My initial lack of knowledge in the area of branding, and the resulting research led me to change my understanding of the question. To be able to answer this question I decided to gather as much information on visual identity strategies and corporate branding as possible within the project time frame. The inconsistencies in the literature then guided me towards a collection of branding theory in the form of a brand guide, which I have then applied to the example of agnosticism.

Stating a list of possible strategies, and then applying them to an example in their full extent seemed like an appropriate research method.

This means that I did not create one strategy on my own, but that I methodically applied, in this case 3 branding strategies to my example to be able to gauge them against each other. This is featured in my branding guide.

As a graphic designer coming from an advertising background I felt I had been relying on my gut feelings too much, and I wanted to proceed methodically. Thus the step-by-step procedure. I wanted to expand my understanding of branding, and communication mechanics, so that it can be applied to future professional projects as well as my major project. I wanted to be aware of what I am doing, how I am doing it, and who I am doing it for.

I am confident that the resulting branding guide gives an accurate transcription of the branding process. There is no absolute right way for branding to happen, and this is an issue I tried to depict by developing three strategies next to each other.

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Research

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The research:

This part of the report is a summary of the visual research I did over the summer.

It contains: Religious imagery; Atheistic visuals; Existing material on agnosticism; Research into branding; The logos; Brand guidelines.

Parts of the projected secondary research could not be undertaken such as “submit project proposal for interview to designers of non-profit branding projects” (Barnbrook, Metahaven) as well as “collection of religious communication pamphlets and investigation of religious communication” could not be executed within the given period of time.

In fact, the analysis of the literature on branding and its complexity cost more time than scheduled. The elaboration of a genuine “branding guide” not foreseen as such in the initial work project was unexpectedly time consuming.

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Christian marketing:

> Screenshot left: This is taken from the chrisitan website gotube, that works just like the ver popular youtube. It puts an emphasis on a religious commmunity aspectt. This is an example on how christianity has updated its communication to target a younger audience.

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04 Agnostic marketing

< screenshot right: This is a commercial website, that sells the only agnostic merchandising, and communication material that i was able to find. It is limited to poorly designed bumper stickers and badges.

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Atheistic visuals:

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04 Christian imagery

The left page features som still taken from P.Josephâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Zeitgeist. They show a sequence of demonstrations that deconstruct the christian religion and its symbols. The oeral consequence is that the major christian references are stolen and adapted from all previous religions and from astrology.

The cross is a simplified version of the zodiac suncross, that was also used by the egyptians. Jesus Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s specificities are also directly imported from egyptian mythology. Even his latin name, INRI, which translates into fish, is representative of the the zodiac cycle that started at his supposed birth date. Jesus seems to be an adaption

of the egyptian sungod horus. I reccomend the viewing of Zeitgeist for a full information on the subject, as this subject deserves an entire own dissertation.

The image featured on the right hand side, can be considered as the unofficial atheist logo. It is the Jesus fish, that has been added legs; symbolizing the evolution rather then the creation of men.

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> Agnostic visuals As previously stated i was unable to find a real agnostic visual database, or imagery. I did however come across crude examples of diagrams on agnostic forums, that attempt to visualize the position of agnosticism in relationship to atheism and religion.

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04 Agnostic imagery

< Agnostic jokes The only real other source f images i found in relationship to agnosticism, are little cartoons that are spread on the internet. They are mostly making fun of agnosticism.

This has very much conforted me in the idea to create an brand for agnosticism. More of these can be found in my research book.

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04 Political branding

These images are taken from S. Hellers â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iron Fistsâ&#x20AC;?, a book about 20 century political brands. It mostly concerns itself with succesful dictatorial poilitical brands, such as national socialism, and maoist and stalinist communism. The main ideas that one can filter from their branding strategies, is that they have associated a strong symbol with powerfull colors, and a poilitical face that serves as leader to the cause.

The strong imagery that supports these elements has resulted in a massive succes.

Using such an iconic figure is however not appropriate to an agnostic brand.

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Logo Types

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Abstracts

As stated in the branding guide, logos can be separated into four categories. One of these categories comprises logos that include an abstract image element in them. These abstract elements often represent a mood or style that can be associated with the brand. In cases of famous and succesful brands, these symbols can gaine nough strength to stand on themselves and identify the brand without its name wirtten next to it.

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Logo Types

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Symbols

The second logo category i have identifyed consists of logos that are accompanied by a symbol, or more generally speaking, an image that clearly representes something. This can be used when the brand name benefits from the company of an image or symbol, to represent the content of the brand and its values. This is the case of the new BP logo, that is complemented by a sunfolower, to represent the enviromentally friendly stance the brand has decided to take.

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Logo Types

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Word

The third category of logos I have identitfyed, includes logos that simply consist of a typographic treatment of the brad name. This obviously puts an emphasis on the name of the brand and can help to anchor it in the mind of the consumer.

This reuires a very distinct typographic treatment, to ensure that the brand has a distinct feature to it.

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Logo Types

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Word and Image

The fourth and last category of logos I have identified, includes features of the the other categories. These logos consist of a strong typographic treatment, but with an alteration to one or several letters of the brand name, to form an image or representation of the brand and its values.

It is sometimes very tempting to produce a visual allegory and repeat visualy wht the brand name already says, but this technique should mostly be used when the visual element adds something specific to the logo, and when it can work as visual identifier for the brand.

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04

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> Mono - From brief to finished solution These pictures are taken from a guide that claimed to detail the branding process, but really only focussed on showing the graphic developpement that has been done for those specific projects. It nonetheless proved to be helpfull for the developpement of m logos. For my information on branding strategies i had to rely on different sources.

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04 Brand guidelines

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> Sketchbook This is a page from my sketchbook. To begin designing my logos, I tarted by looking at a huge quantity of existing logos and tried to redraw them, to gain a better understanding of their structure.

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Process

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5 The Process

I spent the summer researching agnosticism and its social context as well as, branding, for religion, politics, NGOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and commercial products.

Each of these areas deserves entire projects dedicated to them, so I had to leave my research at a relatively superficial level, to gain a global overview of the branding phenomenon. To this end I elaborated an outline for a â&#x20AC;&#x153;branding guideâ&#x20AC;?. In its part 1 I lay down general principles and in its part 2 I applied those principles to the practical case of Agnosticism. This is the major outcome of my project. Its general part I can, with all due modesty, be used as a guideline for other graphic designers who work on branding for other subjects, or graphic design students who are interested in the subject area. Part II works as an illustration of how to go about it.

To write such a branding guide may look ambitious, but it seemed to me the only way to orientate myself in the ocean of diverging opinions and advices on branding which I had to navigate in. To say that such guide may also be useful to other graphic designers is nothing else than a proposition to share my experience and research. Of course it does not pretend to replace years of experience in branding.

This branding guide is not incorporated in full length in the present report, as in itself it counts roughly 8000 words. It is submitted as a separate outcome. It is here briefly summarized by presenting its structure. I will also introduce the three strategies that I selected in the logo section of the report.

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> The branding guide This pciure shows one of the many print outs of the banding guide, before it reached the 8000 words and was designed.

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05 Branding Guide

Table of content I.

Part one: General outline of branding issues

II.

Part two: The guide applied to “Agnosticism”

I.1 I.1.1.

I.1.2.

I.1.3.

I.1.4.

I.1.5.

The brand personality Subject matter Societal environment Core values, profits for consumer, consumer profile Focus - selection points of personality features Architecture

II.1

Design Brief

I.2 I.2.1.

I.2.2.

I.2.3.

I.2.4.

The brand face Generalities Name Logo Color

II.2

II.2.1.

II.2.2.

II.2.3.

II.2.3.1.

II.2.3.2.

II.2.3.3.

The personality of the brand for “Agnosticism” More about “Agnosticism” Target audiences Focus points for “Agnosticism” Focus points cultural brand Focus points mind share brand Focus points viral/emotional brand

I.3 I.3.1.

I.3.2.

I.3.3.

I.3.4.

The brand language Putting into context The tone of voice Audience Materials

II.3

II.3.1.

II.3.1.1.

II.3.1.2.

II.3.1.3.

II.3.2.

The face of the brand for “Agnosticism” Finding a name Possible names in cultural branding Possible names in mind share branding Possible names in emotional/viral branding Creating a logo

I.4 I.4.1.

I.4.2.

I.4.3.

I.4.4.

Branding strategies Cultural branding Mind share branding Emotional branding Viral branding

II.4

The language of the brand “agnosticism”

II.5

Conclusion

III.

Bibliography

Appendix A: How to structure a Design Brief Appendix B: A Design Brief example - The Design Brief for an “agnostic brand”

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> Sketchbook Once I had established some brand names for each strategy, I browsed my logo books, and tried to

imagine a serious number of logos for each name.

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05 Process:

The following pages give an overview of the different logo ideas I produced for the branding guide. They are separated into three parts, every part elaborating the three strategies at the same time. It starts with some ideas that were meant as a formal exploration of logo possibilities, followed by more refined logo ideas based on the selected names for each brand strategy. The name selection is featured in the branding guide. The third part shows the final logo ideas I developed. A brief summary of the brand strategies taken from he brand guide is also included in this section, to support the logo choices I have made.

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The challenge for this logo lay in the fact that I had to highlight the iea of an identity kit, which is a very abstract concept, but keep the integrity of the word agnostik intact.

I tried inverting the letter k to allow a double reading direction, or a little handle on top of the word kit, to insinuate the idea of a kit. I mostly worked with word and symbol logos for this particular strategy.

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My logos

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Cultural brand

In the world of today, which is becoming more and more radical, it is harder to find middle ground philosophies to which to adhere to build your own thoughts, ideals, and ultimately your own personality. As stated before, there is a growing interest in the young public for philosophy and religion. This is where the cultural brand for agnosticism kicks in. It enables the customer to get in touch with a moderate philosophy but it most of all enables him to develop his personality, without being dictated “who to be” by any religious group, or political organization. It full-fills a need for identity, but at the same time a need of independence.

For his strategy, I finally settled on the name agnostik, but with a special emphasis on the last three letters.

The intetention was to have the word kit included in the word agnostik.

The underlying idea in the concept of “individuality” also responds to a more and more popular tendency to personalize things, see ‘pimp my ride, MTV production’, custom made ‘Nike’ shoes, etc.. According to research, using popular myths allows for an effective branding strategy. The challenge in this strategy resides in making sure that this popular aspect is applied on a new category of product/service, which seems to be feasible through the idea of personalizable philosophy/Weltanschauung. This may ensure that the popular idea remains new and creative.

The main strength of this strategy is that it allows for a strong involvement of the consumer in the brand, as it enables him to use a popular social myth in combination with a new philosophy to build his own identity.

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05

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05 Mind share brand

A mind share brand for ‘agnosticism’ will focus on giving a clear perception of the brands’ qualities, and allow for constant association with the core values of the brand. In this case, the brand will emphasize the alternative aspect of agnosticism.

This means highlighting the difference there is between agnosticism and religion/ atheism, but it will also allow exploiting the alternative culture that can be found in political, musical environments. The coherence between ideological and visual environment should allow good repetition, and help anchor the brand and its values in the mind of the consumer. This will require only a low involvement on his part, which is also coherent with the low spiritual involvement that agnosticism requires.

This type of strategy can be adopted in particular where a product/service is technically complex and gives the consumer

a clear notion of what he will receive.

Agnosticism, because of its multi facetted aspects and possibilities, is not an easy product or service to deal with, which is why this strategy could work.

The challenge resides in maintaining the consumers attention, because of his lower involvement with the brand. Making the product/service easier to handle, even though it is still complex may also lessen its quality. The other problem faced with in this strategy is that agnosticism is not a product and thus has no direct product benefit, except the alternative character in its nature.

By simplifying the product/service, it will force the brand to strongly focus on some aspects, and thus making it easier to visualize and give a strong identity.

For this strategy I have decided to choose an abbreviation as brand name.

IDKAYDE stand for I don’t know and you don’t either. This is my catch phrase, that represents the idea of the mid share strategy. The challenge reisdes and giving the logo the idea of a word flow, but letting each letter live on it’s own.

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I present this particular logo as the final one for the mind share strategy, as i find that it gives the abbreviation a nice typographic touch. The striping effect represents the absence of black and white contrast, the moderation. The color blue s also often associated with calm. The general look and feel is also inspired by new / alternative graphics.

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05 Emotional/viral brand.

The emotional/viral strategy exploits new technology and fashion as a means to create a high involvement of the user. In this case, presenting the brand as an achievement will strengthen the connection of the user with the product and service, and give him a sense of privilege and pride of being part in the brand, as he has to discover it and deserve it. The sense of achievement can be created by a test that is required for membership, or a system of ranking within the brand. The viral/emotional brand will not be advertised itself through the traditional means, but rely on members to promote and spread it, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;selected fewâ&#x20AC;? who create a hype around the brand.

This type of strategy may seem appropriate for agnosticism, in the sense that agnosticism is not something innate, or promoted by famous institutions such as the church. There is no activism and representatives. The viral nature of this strategy also to reflects the process with which a person comes in touch with this Weltanschauung, as it has to be acquired through personal exploration and thinking.

For the emotional/ viral brand, that is based on the idea of achievement, I settled on the name of VAP. This stand for very agnostic person.

This type of strategy seems attractive for agnosticism since its concept is not innate or self-evident; it carries the image of modernistic progress and promises inspiration and a new identity. It also requires some intellectual effort on the part of the consumer, strengthening the emotional bond between the customer and the brand. He owns the brand, rather then letting the brand own him.

The interaction and achievement aspect of this strategy will easily make the brand into a new hype. This may however lessen its credibility, as hypes can be associated with a lack of content.

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For the purpose of the branding guide, I developped a series of symbol that can be used for an agnostic brand, even thouh thy are not my favourites.

Two of them are composed of 3 questions marks. I also used a symbol for distillation and opposition as they seemed to eb related to the brand.

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05 This particular logo uses the intertwined square and circle that stand for duality and evolution.

Values that are easily connectable with Agnosticism.

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The most effective logo for the Emotional/ Viral brand is this one.

It includes the question mark in an elegant way into the logo. Questioning which is the essence of agnosticism.

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> Grid structure To ensure that I was going to be able to show all the neccesary information in my guide and report, I analyzed the grid structures of many guides and image collection books, and devised my own grid, that allowed for a maximum of flexibility.

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05 Outcome

For the design of the brand guide, that was initially intended as the project report, I looked at various books, which explain processes, be it in typography, branding, or that work as collection of images. I tried to analyze their structure to imagine what my outcome could be like. I then devised a grid that allows for enough flexibility to include pictures, but also to have parts of the book, that compare the three strategies on a page - to emphasize the comparative aspect of the book. I chose to produce it in a4 size, as this allows for images to be shown in a big enough scale, but it also reduced the printing cost compared to an a3 publication.

> Next page The spreads of the next pages show some samples of the books i based my grid on. I tried to understand how they hierarchised their information, and how they built their grids to make them flexible yet exciting.

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Conclusion

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Critical reflection

As a first step for the critical reflection on my project, I want to provide an overview of my initial objectives and evaluate if I have fulfilled them. I will then proceed with an evaluation of my research question and a general conclusion on my experiences within the project.

< Design Rethorics These are a coupple of spreads from my unit 2 hand in. For my critical reflection I have gauged my initial intentions against my final resolution.

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06 Initial Objectives:

Understanding brand culture, and strategies Understanding non conforming branding projects Understanding agnostic debates today, in its context Creating a brand for Agnosticism Testing the brand In one of my first presentations, and also in my project proposal, I came up with this list of objectives.

In response to the first objective, I am confident that I have gained an accurate understanding of branding, and its strategies. This is one of the reasons I have produced a branding guide.

I can also say that I have taken into consideration projects, and branding projects that are not necessarily focused on profit, by looking at D.K. Holand’s how to brand for non profits, and at J. Barnbrook’s work on North Korea, and reading Naomi Klein’s No Logo. What I have drawn as conclusion form them, is that projects do not need to state the subversion and anticonformism they aim to communicate and carry it as a flagship, but that the nature of their content itself expresses their oddity.

It is in the eye of the audience that the subversion becomes visible.

I am also confident in claiming that my research on agnosticism has gone into enough depth to understand, and communicate its essential messages. I have successfully introduced many friends to the idea of agnosticism, and raised their interest in the subject. The soon to come atheist campaign, even more reassures me in believing that today’s social context is ready for such a brand, and that agnosticism deserves to be communicated with the help

of graphic design.

The process of creating the brand has proven to be more difficult then anticipated to me. My research into branding has turned out to require a massive effort on my part, especially has it evolved into a branding guide. I put a lot of effort into progressing as many branding strategies as possible at the same time, to clarify the branding process. This has taken out some time that I could invest into perfecting either of those strategies, but I feel confident that this way I offer a richer insight into branding, then with one fully developed brand. Strong brands, even though not for agnosticism, already exist, and have been produced by graphic designers with years of experience. I consider them more suited as finished examples of branding identities, for someone who needs to produce a commercial brand.

The development of my branding guide also took away the time that I wanted to use for testing my brand, and making it available to agnostics. Nevertheless, this remains as one of my intentions I wish to pursue after the project. I will continue to develop the brand, and hopefully make it available to agnostics soon. I am also attempting to enter in contact with the atheist campaign instigator, and the British humanist associations, to see if they have interest in the brand for agnosticism.

Even though I could not complete all my initial objectives for this project, I am very satisfied with the information I have gathered, and the process I went through to communicate it.

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> Website One of the ways in which I intend to progress my project after the hand-in, is to make my brands avaible for criticism on the wespace I have acquired : www.agnostic.org.uk This adress will be posted on agnostic forums and facebook groups, and if the feedback is positive, i will continue to develop the brand.

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06 Research question:

General Conclusion:

Can corporate branding and visual identity strategies be applied to concepts of noncommercial nature such as agnosticism?

Although I am very satisfied with my branding guide, as its structure, tone of voice and content have been thoroughly thought out and reworked many times, I am aware that the last step of the branding process has been slightly neglected. This is due to a lack of time. My brand products should have been tested. This shift of priorities is nonetheless a choice that I have made, as the products will not necessarily be useful to me in the future, but a solid branding guide is something that I will be able to get back to many times.

I am confident that the logos and strategies I have developed within the branding guide, all have viability as brands for agnosticism.

This however has raised the question in me, whether branding is at all appropriate for non-commercial projects. I find that branding can be applied to agnosticism, by â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cheatingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in a certain sense. The brand product itself is not agnosticism. I have had to imagine products or services that are related to agnosticism, or work for it, to be able to develop a strategy and finally brand them. These products or services can nevertheless perform the role of branding, as in communication its essence to a broader public, then if agnosticism is not branded at all.

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Bibliography

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R. Klanten, N. Bourquin, Tres logos, 2006, Gestalten Verlag, Berlin N. Klein, 2000, No logo, Clays Ltd, UK Rick Poynor, 2000, ‘first things first’ Mono, 2004, branding, from brief to finished solution, Roto vision; Switzerland W. Olins, 2008, The brand handbook, Thames & Hudson, London S. Heller, 2008, iron fists, branding he 20th-century totalitarian state, Phaidon; London A. Shaughnessy, 2005, How to be a graphic designer, without losing your soul, Princeton architectural press, New york Adbusters 1/2007; J. Barnbrook, 2007, Barnbrook bible, the graphic design of Jonathan Barnbrook, Booth-Clibbron editions, UK E. Lupton, 2006, D.I.Y, design it yourself, Princeton architectural press, New York S. Sagmeister, 2008, Things I have learned, Abrams books E. Luption, A. Miller, 2006, Design writing research, writing on graphic design, Phaidon, New york I. Noble, R. Bestley, 2005, Visual Researchm an introduction to research methodologies in graphic design, Ava Publishing Sa, Switzerand D.B. Holt, 2004,How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding, Harvard business school press, D.K. Holland, 2006. Branding for Nonprofits, Allworth Press,U.S. A. Ries, L. Ries, 1998The 22 Immutable Laws of branding, Harper Collins, UK Dr. D.M. Brooks , 1933 , The Necessity of Atheism, Freethought press association, new york L. T. Cole, 1898, The basis of early christian theism, project gutenberg F. B. Jevons 1913, The Idea of God in Early Religions, Cambridge university press T. Payne, 1976, The age of reason, Gutenberg project W. R. Washington Sullivan, 1898, morality as a religion, project gutenberg H. Yahya, 2004, The Struggle Against “The Religion of Irreligion”, ABUL-QASIM PUBLISHING HOUSE, Saoudi arabia The Tomorrow Project, 2005 Bertrand Russel, What is an agnostic?

A. De Botton, 2000, The conoslations of Philosophy, Penguin books, London

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http://www.metahaven.com 2008 http://reimagineritual.wordpress.com 2008 Agnostic debate http://www.channel4.co.uk/culture 2008 faith and belief, Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next army http://www.channel4.co.uk/culture 2008 faith and belief, Make me a muslim http://www.channel4.co.uk/culture 2008 faith and belief, Talking point Atheism http://www.channel4.co.uk/culture 2008 faith and belief, The hidden story of jesus http://www.agnosticforum.com 2008 definition of agnostic http://www.agnosticforum.com 2008 Many agnostics seem to be mislead about belief in God http://www.agnosticforum.com 2008 what turned you atheist/agnostic ? http://www.agnosticforum.com 2008 Withholding belief v. denying knowledge http://scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts 2006 Atheism and Agnosticism... again http://Atheism.about.com 2008 What is Agnosticism? http://agnosticuniverse.com 2008 Why am I agnostic? R. Ingersoll http://www.buildingbrands.com 2008 Marketing definitions, Brand http://www.wolffolins.com 2008 case studies, 2012 http://www.wolffolins.com 2008 case studies, beeline http://www.wolffolins.com 2008 case studies, Macmillan http://www.wolffolins.com 2008 case studies, Red http://www.wolffolins.com 2008 case studies, Sony ericsson http://www.wolffolins.com 2008 case studies, Tate modern http://www.wolffolins.com 2008 case studies, unilever http://www.lambie-nairn.com 2008 portfolio

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07 Webography:

http://www.wikipedia.org 2008 Brand http://www.wikipedia.org 2008 Corporate identity http://www.wikipedia.org 2008 Logo http://www.wikipedia.org 2008 Agnosticism http://www.wikipedia.org 2008 Ignostic http://www.wikipedia.org 2008 Atheism http://www.wikipedia.org 2008 Nihilism http://www.wikipedia.org 2008 Open source http://www.facebook.com 2008 A question for agnostics http://www.facebook.com 2008 AAA (agnostic association of America) http://www.facebook.com 2008 Agnostic http://www.facebook.com 2008 Agnostic =_= Atheist http://www.facebook.com 2008 AGNOSTIC DOES NOT MEAN YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD http://www.facebook.com 2008 Agnostic is just Atheist, Spelled by a Retard http://www.facebook.com 2008 Anti-Brainwashing_ Be an atheist or Agnostic http://www.facebook.com 2008 Atheist_ Agnostic and Proud! http://www.facebook.com 2008 Atheist, Agnostic, and Non-Religious http://www.facebook.com 2008 Exactly how ignorant are you? http://www.facebook.com 2008 Thank God I’m Athiest_Agnostic http://www.facebook.com 2008 The Agnostic Movement http://www.disbeliefnet.com 2008 http://www.tomorrowproject.net 2005 The story so far http://www.religiousidentities.com/branding 2006 Let people call it branding

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> Dogma This is a stil taken from the movie dogma. It’s cynical approach to religion, in particular the christian re=brand with it’s “Buddy Jesus” have also inspired me to this project.

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07 Movies

2006, Jesus camp R. Dawkins, 2007 the God delusion R. Dawkins, 2007 the root of all Evil 1999 End of days 1973 Jesus Christ superstar 2007,The hidden story of Jesus P. Joseph, 2008 Zeitgeist 1999 Dogma Brainwashing - Gods of the New Age - Religion Exposed as a Fraud P. Joseph, 2008 Zeitgeist II addendum

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