Kyoorius Magazine 6 by Kyoorius

Issue 6 Indian Studios

Umbrella . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Rainmakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Onio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Umbrella page 4

Feature Interviews

Artnlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Neil Kellerhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Dynamic Identities

Lava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . johnson banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wolff Olins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dixon Baxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . venturethree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

30 38 46 52 58

Typography

Dalton Maag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Indian Type Foundry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Case Studies

Adobe CS5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 COP 15 Copenhagen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Turner Duckworth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Education

MIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Fine Arts Baroda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Columnists

Arvind Agarwal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paul Hughes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ben Knapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Avik Chattopadyay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meena Kadri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Wolff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

106 108 110 111 112 116

स्वर कोककला, लत Wolff Olins page 46

दिल्ली की मुख्यमंत्ली शलीला िलीक्षित ने अब खेलों इंजलीननररों को लॉललीपॉप थमारा है कक अगर

मल्टीमटीड

Information & System Design नर्जदा घािी आंदोलन की सर्वेस Indian Type Foundry page 70

मुनाफे में गगरावट का एक मुख्य कारण है गरिटेन में बैंक अधिकारररों के बोनस पर लगा कर. बैंक को 55 करोड डॉल

Parking zone: cars £1.20, minibuses €2, motorcycles 50p, coaches इस कर की वजह से गोल्डमैन सैक्स को साठ करोड डॉलर का नुकसान हुआ है. इसके अलावा को 55 करोड डॉलर का

अमरलीकी नवत्लीर ननरामक ने बैंक के ख़िलाफ िोखािडली के जो आरोप लगाए थे,उस ससलससले में सबसे बडा जुमामाना है. ग

m úļŧıłïń

इस टिप्पणी पर अपनी शि

माइक्ोस

Basanti, Inn kutton ke samne mat nachna!

NAHIN! MEIN NAC Turner Duckworth page 84

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Foreword The other day I was reading a blog on the new rupee sign. So India finally has its own sign, its own brand ambassador that will be placed in league with the Yen, Euro and Dollar signs. A currency sign is probably the easiest association with a country. As the map of the world economy is changing — from two super powers (USA and EU) to four emerging super powers (Brazil, Russia, India and China — BRIC), the symbol is one of the first steps towards claiming our space in the global economic arena. Justifiably innumerable websites in India are discussing the importance of this tiny symbol. World over no brand or company can isolate themselves from the BRIC countries any longer. The DNA of the brand must capture the diversity and intricacies of the people living in these regions. As I have once mentioned before the design industry in India is developing and is poised to grow more than 3000% in the next three to five years. As great as this statistic looks, is the Indian design community really ready to claim their spot in the sun? Are studios in India producing design strategies that are beyond mere graphics? Do they firmly believe that their solutions can benefit a company’s topline and more importantly the bottom line? Do the Indian design studios focus on indepth learnings of the product or service and then fine tune a strategic solution which is designed to ensure the company’s growth. Are we challenging ourselves and the boundaries, that our limited education makes for

us? Do we actively look at the work produced by our foreign competitors and appraise it judiciously? There is no point in being unduly patriotic — if the work they’re producing is better we should have the courage to look at it analytically and have the humility to learn from them. So how can Indian designers work towards strengthening their forté and create a stronger recognition for the industry? Every person is unique and his work culture and style is different, so do we have a standard answer — No. But to co-create and co-exist should be the aim rather than competing and working in isolation. As Paul Hughes in his column on Design Ecology mentions that networking and establishing connections within the creative fraternity ensures the growth of the entire community without exception. I completely agree with Paul on this; we must work together if we want to grow in leaps and bounds. Healthy competition is another integral aspect of this ecology — it’s important to challenge and stimulate each other with good work. And here at Kyoorius, in our own little ways we are trying to facilitate this networking specifically with the relaunch of Kyoorius Magazine. So a big ‘welcome back’ for old readers, and for our first time readers a warm ‘welcome’ into the Kyoorius world.

Editorial

Support

Chief Editor + Publisher Rajesh Kejriwal rajeshkejriwal@kyoorius.com

Typography Fedra Sans Alt Std / Fedra Sans Display Heavy Fedra Hindi / Greta Text www.typotheque.com www.indiantypefoundry.com

Editor Swanil Choksi swanil@kyoorius.com Editorial Submissions editor@kyoorius.com Creative

Rajesh Kejriwal

Paper Naturalis Absolute White 120gsm and 250gsm Printer Silverpoint Press Ptd Ltd www.silverpointindia.com Publishing

Creative Director Kay H Khoo kkhoo@kyoorius.com Art Direction + Design Melissa S Y Chan www.kraftgrafik.com

Rajesh Kejriwal rajeshkejriwal@kyoorius.com Kyoorius Exchange

Chief co-ordinator Sameeya Murad sameeya@kyoorius.com Advertising + Marketing Kavita Nomulwar kavitanomulwar@kyoorius.com Phone +91 98 2036 1368

Kyoorius Magazine is published by Kyoorius Exchange 2nd floor, Kohinoor Estate 165,Tulsi Pipe Road, Lower Parel, Mumbai - 400 013. India. Phone +91 22 4236 3600 www.kyoorius.com The views and opinions expressed or implied in Kyoorius Magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Kyoorius Exchange. Unsolicited articles and transparencies are sent at owner’s risk and the publisher accepts no liability for loss or damage. Materials in this publication may not be reproduced, whether in part or in whole, without the consent of Kyoorius Exchange.

Indian Studios : Umbrella

UMBRELLA ADDRESS Umbrella House, Kamala City, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013 PHONE +91 22 6660 5962 FAX +91 22 6660 5963 EMAILÂ ask@umbrelladesign.in CONTACT PERSONS Bhupal Ramnathkar b.ramnathkar@umbrelladesign.in Farhad Elavia farhad.elavia@umbrelladesign.in Deven Sansare deven.sansare@umbrelladesign.in

Umbrella is one of the few specialty design houses in India. Six years old, Umbrella is ranked number 5 among all design agencies in India by The Economic Times Brand Equity. Operations at Umbrella are spearheaded by Bhupal Ramnathkar (Founder and Managing Director), Farhad Elavia (Chief Operating Officer) and Deven Sansare (Executive Creative Director & Copy Chief). Its portfolio consists of corporate identity, retail design, visual merchandising, signage, packaging, brochures, annual reports, magazines, web sites and the occasional advertising campaign. Umbrella’s client list includes Saraswat Bank, Indian Cancer Society, Bates 141, Mumbai Cricket Association, Kalyani Group, Marriott Group India, Marico Industries, American Express Credit Cards, Chemistry, JK Industries, The Times of India to name a few.

01 — 02 — 03 —

Set of business cards for Umbrella Envelope (front and back) and CD jacket for Umbrella Letterhead for Umbrella

Indian Studios : Umbrella 05

04 U magazine 3rd issue cover — 05 U magazine 3rd issue: Vodka — 06 U magazine 2nd issue: Cairo to Tel Aviv — 07 Chemistry advertisement spreads for Vogue and Marie Claire —

Miscellaneous logos for various clients across different sectors â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Studios::Umbrella Indian Studios Umbrella

08 The ‘pupils’ on one pair of ‘eyes ‘ on the cushion cover are encased in a hollow plastic cover and are free moving — 09 Bottle of eyedrops given with appointment letter,the label reads ‘Bates 141. Regular use improves vision’ — 10 Corporate literature for Bates 141 —

12 11 — 12 — 13 —

A–Z Change Dictionary for Bates 141. Capturing changing trends in consumers, markets, and businesses in a brochure Mr Ramnathkar at the Umbrella office entrance Umbrella office interior

Indian Studios : Rainmakers

RAINMAKERS 04

ADDRESS 17/2, Cunningham Road, Bangalore 560 052 PHONE + 91 080 3052 3371 + 91 0 98867 52732 FAX + 91 080 4114 8482 EMAIL mail@rainmakers.in WEBSITE www.rainmakers.in www.rainmakersinteractive.in CONTACT PERSON Oviachelven R

Our actions speak loud and clear Located in Bangalore, Rainmakers was established in 2003 in the pursuit of designing path-breaking and innovative communication solutions for brands. With our sheer creativity and off-the-beat thinking we have already impressed major brands like Apple Computers, Intel, Ganjam and many more. Today, Rainmakers has diversified further, with its own online division – Rainmakers Interactive – that takes complete care of the client’s need for online branding. Driven by the passion to explore creativity Creativity is an open sea and we dive into it, with pleasure. Be it creating a corporate identity, designing exhibition spaces, online branding

or print advertising, our forte is wide and extensive. Our diversity reflects in our list of clients that includes luxury jewellery, computers and technology, food and beverages, printer cartridge refilling, and many more. We don’t compromise on work At Rainmakers, we bring the same zest and fervour to every project, be it big or small. The accent is always on quality Our motto is to create original solutions, for brands, that break through the clutter and produce exceptional results for them. Our talented team brings on board, specialist expertise in diverse areas and loads of ‘enthu’, and is keen to face any challenge.

01 Anand old logo — 02 Logo redesign for Anand — 03 Packaging for Anand — 04 Advertisement for Anand — 05 Signage for Anand outlet — 06 Logo for Rainmakers —

Indian Studios: Rainmakers

07 Logo for Cartridge Café — 08 Stationery for Cartridge Café — 09 Cartridge Café kiosk — 10 Signage for Cartridge Café —

13 11 Cartridge Café website — 12 Posters for Cartridge Café — 13 Brochure for Chrysalis Silk —

Indian Studios: Rainmakers

14 Art mailer for Ganjam — 15 Ikat mailer for Ganjam — 16 Bandham mailer for Ganjam —

17 Flamenco mailer for Ganjam — 18 Dance mailer for Ganjam — 19 Product brochure for Ganjam —

Indian Studios : Onio

ONIO ADDRESS Onio Design Pvt. Ltd., Survey 1/3, Plot A-15, Next to Food Bazaar, Baner Road, Baner Pune 411 045 PHONE + 91 20 2729 2173 + 91 20 2729 2174 EMAILÂ Prakash Khanzode prakash@oniodesign.com CONTACT PERSON Girish Kamath + 91 992 329 1337

Onio Design is an innovation and design company, well known for Design Research, Product Design and Social Innovation initiatives in the domestic and international design space. Founded about 12 years ago by Manoj Kothari and Prakash Khanzode – both NID graduates – Onio Design provides services in research & design strategy, innovation support, new products and brands. The client list for Onio ranges from major multinationals to small, unknown SMEs; from Defence organisations to NGOs. Innovation for Real India...Realistic design solution for needs of the world Onio Design is a proud flag-bearer of ‘Indian’ design ethos. The team deeply believes that Innovative strategies, which work for the present situation of Indian users, do have high potential to acquire global proportions. With this thought leadership Onio has created many landmark products for its clientele. 03

Research Onio Design has been engaged in deciphering the ‘Indian Consumer Code’, with the help of its proprietary consumer segmentation theory and ‘Intentiability — a unit for quantifying the influences on

consumer preferences’. Onio has conducted several design research assignments for international brands in automotive and consumer appliances domains, covering Indian consumers’ design preferences, future trends, technology applications and directions for design development. Apart from working on projects, Onio organizes international workshops annually on this subject: Insight India (conducted at London, Copenhagen, Mumbai and Delhi.) Methodologies Onio Design has always been a pioneer in implementing novel ideas for its innovative methodology: Design research, Trend studies, Ethnography in design, Cross-pollination, Body-storming, Design-by-prototyping, etc depending on the complexity and innovation quotient for each case. Social Initiative through Innovation Along with designing, Onio also works on socially responsible design and innovation activities. Research for rural India, grassroots innovation support, social initiatives on massmobility, energy solutions and shelter design for masses, are few fronts where Onio has been striving in creating appropriate design solutions.

01 — 02 — 03 —

Defender Safes — World-class defence security product family for banks. Design research and Indus trial design and technology development with Godrej Security Solutions Tribal Italia — New Generation Home Inverters for Indian homes, created with the makers of Amaron Batteries Daksh — Remotely operated bomb disposal system, designed with DRDO, for Indian Defence

The Art of Blogging

From leather-bound diaries and books with little locks and keys… diary writing has come a long way ताला-चाबी वाली छमड़े के कवर वाली डायरियों अौर किताबों से शुरू होकर डायरी लेखन ने लंबा सफ़र तय किया है

Artnlight

http://artnlight.blogspot.com

Politicians, actors, sportsmen, businessmen and the common man… everyone’s blogging! And those who are not blogging are subscribing to blogs. Whether it is expressing one’s feelings or venting anger on someone else’s feelings, reviewing books, movies and restaurants or simply doodling with words, there are no boundaries in blogging. Design blogging is a great way to keep in touch with design innovations…a platform to share views and ideas with people in the design industry from around the world. Vineeta Nair is passionate about design, decor, poetry and looks for these everywhere…and this is exactly what came through during our conversation with her. Born into a family of ayurvedic doctors, Vineeta decided to buck the trend by deciding to study art. She completed her Diploma in Applied Art and started working as an art director in advertising. During her earlier years at Lowe, she discovered that there was a strong yearning to go back to college. Having always been drawn to writing she took up the evening journalism course at Xavier’s Institute of Communication in St. Xavier’s College and for one year it was a dashed madly between office and college, juggling assignments and work. Vineeta’s passion for art and writing came together with her design blog Artnlight. We caught up

with Vineeta to find out about her blog and her views on design. Kyoorius Design: Interesting name… why ‘Artnlight’? Vineeta Nair: The ‘Art’ bit is self explanatory, a descriptor — it is what the blog is about. The ‘Light’ is about the light that art brings with it. Light, like art, makes everything beautiful. So the word light in the name brings in the beauty, inspiration and all things of a higher order. I guess you could also look at ‘light’ to mean fun, nothing heavy or too serious which is what the tone of my blog is. KD: What made you start this blog? VN: I had just discovered the world of design and decor bloggers, and I was smitten and soon obsessed. I read blogs, commented, got responses back…the whole interaction, being able to participate as a reader and the fact that there was someone somewhere in the world whose sensibilities matched and fed my own was extremely intriguing. After a month of reading international blogs that wrote about the art and decor scene in their part of the world, I was really thirsting for a similar design blog experience from India. And I didn’t find any. A friend who knew how taken I was by this whole concept of design blogging, told me, “If you can’t find an Indian design blog, why don’t you start one?” And that

Feature Interview : Artnlight

was that, once I started there was no looking back. KD: Is that the reason why your blog mainly focuses on Indian designs? VN: My blog features some designers and artists from other parts of the world, but yes mainly my blog is about Indian aesthetics and design sensibilities. But, it is not conscious decision. I write about all things art, design, art, architecture, decor that I see in my world and in my travels across India. And these are by default Indian. This is what I’ve grown up with and learnt to love. KD: Where do you get the material and the ideas for your blog? VN: The beauty about blogging is that I can feature ‘anything’ that interests me. Be it something as generic as my favourite colour, yellow or something as specific as Jain temple architecture in Rajasthan. As long as it has to do with art and it makes me take a second look, it usually works. There is only one thumb rule I follow: I only feature things that I really like. As for the material, I get some of it off the internet, a lot of my travel and architecture posts are from my travels, with my photographs. Sometimes it is from art or creativity related websites or magazines and art related publications. KD: What is it about a design/designer/ artist that grabs you? That prompts you to feature it/him in your blog? VN: It is pure instinct really. I’m a bit of a net junkie & anything or anyone work that catches my fancy or is really interesting I feature. And if it is gorgeous and inspiring, that definitely gets my attention. For instance I really

love Munna on the run’s work. I think his work is from the heart, different and always inspirational. KD: In your opinion, what is the edge that Indian designers/artists have over their international counterparts? And what is the drawback? VN: I don’t know how much I can say this of urban designers, but the fact is that we come from a very strong artistic lineage. Whenever we go back to those genuine roots, we can’t really go wrong, but we need to know it and love it. The danger, like in all other fields, is the tendency to imitate any international trend without really feeling for it. KD: What is your favourite blog entry so far? VN: There is no one favourite entry as such. But I really like how my Indiaah Aha series is shaping up. It has a lot of Indian architecture, travel, art, street art, vehicle art and even an entry on Kathakali and a specialty restaurant. The beautiful homes section is close to my heart as well, simply because I’ve seen some beautiful homes I otherwise wouldn’t have. I, like so many people have an insatiable urge to look into a well put-together space. KD: Any idea where the traffic to your blog is coming from? In your opinion, what kind of audience does it receive? VN: The site has just crossed 450,000 page views and has approximately 1000 people reading it daily. The audience is primarily Asian (44%) with a substantial figure from the United states (32%). I have visitors from 22 countries, but the bulk of my audience is from India (38%), US, Australia, UK and UAE. For me, it is fascinating that

people from across the world, sitting in their homes and offices in places as far-flung as UAE, Botswana, Japan, Pakistan and even Norway are reading my design blog. My audience is predominantly fellow bloggers in the design and art community, people who are enabling a sharing of ideas and inspirations across cultures…the main reason why blogging is truly rewarding for me. However, some of my features like Beautiful Homes (where I put up pictures from inside peoples homes) get a much wider audience of nondesign people as well. Posts about Indian design, artists, architecture are of interest to both the Indian and international audience. KD: Any unusual reader’s comments, interaction etc? VN: What I’ve found most fascinating and rewarding in my blogging experience is how it puts me in direct touch with art lovers and artists from across the world. I’m currently in conversation with two artists from abroad on collaborating on creative projects, I can’t speak of it till we’ve started work, but I’d never have met or even come across these talented people from across the world hadn’t it been for my blog. I was recently commissioned to design a blog banner for someone in Canada. Its a small job, but it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for my blog. The most important thing blogging did for me is that it gave me an audience and a platform for my work, when I started making my own products (decor accessories). Hadn’t I blogged about it, I wouldn’t have gotten the many orders that I did and wouldn’t be selling out of the lifestyle stores I’m retailing at. And of late (since I quit advertising) I’ve been getting quite a few mails about my jump and questions around how did I went about it. Every other day I get a mail from readers who say how much they love what I am doing. I especially feel happy when readers tell me that they are inspired to start or refresh their own blogs because it was through inspiration from other design bloggers that I started. If there weren’t those brilliant beautiful blogs out there who did what they did with so much love, my blog wouldn’t exist. The most beautiful thing about being a blogger is how contagious it is. KM

Dynamic Identities : Lava

LAVA

The roles and responsibilities st of 21 century brand identities, design agencies and their client organizations I was delighted to be asked to contribute some thoughts on Lava’s approach to dynamic identities to this latest edition of Kyoorius, which is playing a key role in stimulating the discourse on design in India. This is a vital process, as the Indian design community and its audience continue to grow in scale, awareness and maturity. One of the great strengths of Dutch design is less to do with the designers themselves and the design objects, and more to do with the discourse between Dutch designers and the interconnection between them and their environment, which I’ve described as its design ecology. I believe that it is Holland’s unique and relatively mature design ecology that makes Dutch design great. A culture of design has developed in the Netherlands; we have an integrated network of people, organizations,

associations, awards, speeches, debates, publications and Internet platforms. It has come of age, as has Lava in 2010, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary. Design is not a result — it is a process. A mature design ecology is a living entity — it has moved from static entities to dynamic systems. Similarly, Lava’s approach to identities is that they too should be living entities. Identities are dead…

…or at least the vast majority of identities. Traditional identities have been created to remain static; to remain the same, unchanging and unlearning. It is only a number of years after they have been created that an organization realizes that their identity has become out of date, and they start thinking about restyling it.

Until then, the identity has not adapted to the changes of the organization, its customers and the world around it. It doesn’t, and shouldn’t, have to be this way. Identities should be alive and dynamic. The essence of dynamic identities is that they should live, learn, adapt and change, so that they reflect the dynamics of the organization and its environment. Fifty or sixty years ago, in a more static world, business developed the concept of strategic planning, and in those days the first projections looked five, ten or more years ahead. The conventional wisdom was that consistency was essential to an effective identity. It was argued that the more we experienced an identical identity, the more we would recognize and remember it. But today we live in a rapidly changing world. Today, organizations often plan their

strategies for just weeks or months ahead, particularly in fast-moving high-technology industries. And yet we are often still designing identities for organizations as if they were still operating in that more static world. Does every organization need a dynamic identity?

Yes they do, it’s only a matter of to what extent. Organizations dealing with fast-changing technologies need an identity that is very adaptive. An organization such as a legal firm needs less adaptive change, as the law tends to change slowly. Yet the legal firm’s identity should be dynamic to a degree, since it should reflect the fact that its clients and the world around it are changing fast. The identities I’m referring to here comprise all the elements – the logo identity, the visual identity, the corporate identity and the brand identity. They can be imagined as a whole, comprising four concentric circles, with the logo identity at its heart, extending out to the brand identity. This has nothing to do with level of importance; it concerns the field of effects of each element. A logo can represent an organization’s signature. It should be memorable, and is the essence of where an identity begins, but it should not communicate as such. Around it is the visual identity, in which the language, form, colour systems, typography and visuals are adapted

or created from the logo. The next biggest circle is the corporate identity, for which an identity manual would define the content and use of all the elements contained within the ‘body’ of the organization. The outermost circle is the brand identity, which is the ‘personality’ of that body. While the corporate identity might not communicate a personality – apart from by the way it is dressed – it is the brand identity that will interact with, involve and ‘speak to’ the organization’s audiences. As it represents the organization’s personality, mission and promise to its customers, it becomes much larger than any visual. It includes the thinking, feelings and expectations of the organization’s target audiences. It’s how the telephone is answered; it’s the feeling you get when you enter their offices. These concentric circles are inclusive, with the brand identity containing the other three elements. From the perspective of the organization’s customer or other audience, these four identities become increasingly dynamic, with the least dynamic being the logo identity and the most dynamic being the brand identity. The purpose of branding is to create belonging, involvement and interactivity, because as the brand identity is the most dynamic we feel the greatest connection and association with it. The maturity of the organization should be reflected

in the maturity of the identity as a whole. So far I’ve talked about some of the traditional roles of identities. Now I’d like to look at those roles in more detail and introduce what I call their responsibilities, together with the roles and responsibilities of the design agency and their client organization in the process of creating and using them. First of all, the essence of an identity should express the uniqueness; the unique moral story of the organization. Ensuring it contains and expresses that uniqueness is the first task of an agency, because it’s a strategic question. From there, the agency must give it form — that involves us in formalizing the strategy. Unfortunately, this is where most identities stop, because that is static; it’s fixed; it’s there. What we do at Lava is that we add a second component, which is change. So the first component that is formalized is consistency, and then we add change. Balancing consistency and change

By doing this, we create a dynamic system that balances consistency and change. But how much consistency and how much change do we need to include? That itself is a dynamic process, which will be defined by each situation on a case-by-case basis. As I’ve said, organizations in fast-moving industries such as technology may need more change in the mix than, say, a legal firm. But should the legal

7 Days of Inspiration In cooperation with professional lifehacker Martijn Aslander, Lava is involved in the prestigious networking event 7 days of inspiration. The 7 was chosen as a clear and recognizable symbol, that serves as a platform for the content of the event.

Dynamic Identities : Lava

firm be specializing in representing a just action, we’ve created trust along truthful and in parallel in order to technology clients, its identity would with that positive belief. create and maintain trust. Lastly, also need to be appropriately dynamic. we’ve introduced interaction, dialogue So we’ve created our dynamic Creating trust and giving and receiving feedback identity. It’s living, it’s learning, This is the purpose of any identity, into the dynamics of the system, so it’s adaptive. However, in order to whether it’s the logo, visual, corporate that positive beliefs and trust are continue to live, learn and adapt, or brand identity: we want to continually reinforced. it needs to have interaction. That establish trust in the mind of the interaction takes place when the customer. Trust is the foundation of all Celebrating 20 years of Lava customer is included in the system, the other emotions that identities can At the beginning of this article I and this is another responsibility stimulate. It creates belonging and noted that Lava is celebrating its 20th of identities. The customer’s connection. It can even turn anniversary this year. So 2010 is a environment is the space that we ‘brand users’ into ‘brand followers’ special year for us, made all the more work in, where the brand interacts or ‘brand fans’. The key role of our so by our being named European Design with the customer. The customer dynamic identity is to communicate Agency of the Year at the European receives two experiences from the effectively and truthfully, but if that Design Awards on May 30th. Some brand. The first experience is the action communication is not in parallel of the dynamic identities Lava had of the organization. The organization with just actions, the brand will recently created for our clients made does something, sells something, be damaged. The more mature a key contribution to our receiving offers something. As a result, a belief is relationship you can develop as a the Agency of the Year award, as did formed in the mind of the customer. design agency as you work with a recent project led by Reza Abedeni This could be as simple as “I like this”, your client, the more influence you that won a Gold Award in one of the “I don’t like this” or “I don’t care”. As can have on this dynamic process. categories. What we’ve been doing I’ve said earlier, it is the brand identity Your advice can extend beyond the with Reza and the Orientation Lab that interacts with, involves and organization’s communication, is exploring how the dynamics of ‘speaks to’ the organization’s helping them realize that their Eastern design and the sensitivities customers and other audiences. actions need to be just. In this way, of the East can be brought into the design of the West. Similarly, dynamic And here we come to another key you achieve your mutual objective identities need to be designed to be responsibility of the identity — the of creating trust by ensuring the adaptive and sensitive to the local action and the communication have communication is truthful. environments in which they interact to be in parallel; in agreement and in But the roles and responsibilities and work, which then enables them tune with each other. If they are not, of dynamic identities don’t stop to be inspired by and act on the global the belief formed in the mind of the there. So far we’ve only looked at scale. customer will be negative; they’ll the one-way communication from I also began by stressing the think, “We don’t believe”. the brand to the customer. A further importance of stimulating the responsibility we have is to open up ‘discourse on design’ in order to create Walking the talk our identity to allow for interaction — the conditions for a design ecology Providing the action and for the customer to come back to the to grow and mature. Stimulating communication match each other organization, give an opinion, give collaboration, debate and the and are in parallel, the customer will feedback, be involved and even coawareness of design will in turn believe the message of the identity. If create. It is only when that dynamic stimulate both the diversity of the the organization is communicating of two-way communication and design ecology and its unity. India can that it’s open and friendly for feedback loops is included in the benefit from the fact that its design example, but its actions are not open system that our dynamic identity ecology is not yet fully developed. Just and friendly, it won’t be believed can really become what it wants as has happened in many areas of by the customer. Simply put, the to be. We’ve incorporated the three technology in India, and in terms of organization should do what it says; it elements that distinguish dynamic should ‘walk the talk’. identities from their traditional, static its economic standing in the world, You have perhaps already counterparts. Firstly, we’ve introduced the Indian design industry has the ability to leapfrog towards a more realized that what we have here is the change to accompany the traditional mature design ecology. Just as we need ABC of branding – Action, Belief and requirement for consistency in to manage the paradox of balancing Communication. The action stimulates an appropriately balanced way. As consistency and change in the the belief, which is then reinforced the vast majority of the identities development of dynamic identities, by the communication. This brings being designed are still static, that is dynamic identities need to balance us to perhaps the most important already a huge step towards ensuring the local and the global and to create responsibilities of identities. Firstly, that we create identities that can unity in the diversity. Something that the actions need to be just. If you respond and interact with today’s India has demonstrated it knows how create a product, it needs to be a good dynamic organizations in today’s to do. product, for example. If you’re offering dynamic world. Secondly, within a service, it needs to be a good service. the dynamics of our consultancy Paul Hughes This ensures a positive belief is with the client, we’ve addressed the Partner & Strategy Director, created. Secondly, the communication interaction between the action and Lava Graphic Design needs to be truthful — because when the communication, convincing www.lava.nl this communication is in parallel with the client that these need to be just,

De Balie De Balie is a center for culture and politics, which hosts debates, seminars, theater and films, aimed at cultural, political and social issues. De Balie asked Lava to develop its identity, maintaining its existing logo. De Balie highlights important developments in society: Lava took this fact as a starting point and translated it to an identity where De Balie literally underlines what is important. The content of each message is guiding for the typography and the type of underlinement. An important identity carrier is the poster. De Balie constantly responds to current events, so communication on a current topic has to be designed at very short notice and often without budget for photographic material. The style has strong links to the history of the political pamflet. Lava uses the time and budget constraints to create a unique aspect of De Balieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visual communication.

Dynamic Identities : Lava

VUTURE The VU University Amsterdam asked Lava to develop a brand for their future campus at the southern axis of Amsterdam. The brand should inspire and engage people to develop a future vision on the campus specificly as well as on education in a broader sense. How do you develop a brand that does not exist yet? Lava came up with the name VUTURE and developed the campaign â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The VUTURE starts nowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, that immediately triggers the audience in the development of the future vision. From this startingpoint a dynamic identity was designed, allowing the brand to growalongside the growing campus. Events, placebranding, interactive applications and an interactive architecture were all connected to the VUTURE vision. In September 2009, VUTURE was launched at the start of the new academic year.

Dynamic Identities : Lava

Edge of Europe Although the outdoor and adventure industry is booming, much of its communication is based on traditional concepts like hiking, climbing, endurance and craftmanship. Edge of Europe asked Lava for a brand concept that looks beyond this dogmatic view. Noticing peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience of outdoor is very different, we decided the give the user a central role in the brand mentality. Secondly the creative strategy focused on the European heritage where the company comes from, and the diversity it offers. From that perspective we decided to create a simple, recognizable logo that works on clothing labels and products, and yet offers diversity and richness as well. A fashion brand logo should have strong characteristics, and at the same time be a playground for filmmakers, designers and fashion designers. As Edge of Europe says; adventure is around the corner.

IMPAKT festivalstijl

Lava grafisch ontwerpers 2008

Impakt Festival 2008 Impakt contemporary media festival 2008 IMPAKT is an annual festival for experimental art and music. The theme of 2008 was ‘political and social boundaries in society 2.0’. Lava developed the identity. Instead of a conventional logo, Lava created a visual world of alter ego’s for the IMPAKT community itself. Every visitor and artist was given an unique IMPAKT avatar. For the movies, flyers and posters we used free images from the internet and put an IMPAKT-mask over it, hence showing the border between private and public. During the festival visitors could ‘rate’ each other with mobile phones, as a live community. The visitors were confronted with this data in a playful, interactive way.

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Dynamic Identities : johnson banks

JOHNSON BANKS ALL CHANGE ( REMIX ) It’s official. The age of the static brand is coming to an end. Organisations, companies, institutions, even charities are realizing that having identity schemes that ‘flex’ and adapt to circumstances are more appropriate in the multi-channel, multi-lingual world that brands now inhabit. Over-controlled brands are starting to look stiff and old-fashioned, but not all clients have yet woken up to this latest shift. It’s fair to say that there is some unwillingness to change. After all, all the identity and branding tomes used to start with the words ‘establish your logo, lock it, never change it, never move it’. The thought of treating a brand as a changeable, movable, flexible feast is quite disconcerting, to many. It’s not as though we didn’t have any warning. As long ago as the 70s, a design scheme for Boston’s WGBH TV

was developed, where the channel’s numeral kept modulating for different stings. This was developed further in the USA when MTV launched with many adaptations of their channel ‘bumpers’ and was developed again in the UK with the schemes for Channel 4 and BBC2. For what seemed like centuries clients, even when shown these fantastic examples of precedent, would say ‘well it’s easier on TV’ and retreat into their monolithic logo bunkers. Truly flexible corporates remained unseen in the printed domain until the rise of the web showed that identities could bend and twinkle with low-calorie versions of their older, broader brand-width cousins. It wasn’t until worldwide brands like Google started to regularly mess with its own logo that the dam was breached and the gate well and

truly opened. Yes, the way Google merrily transmogrifies its masthead for everything from St Patrick’s Day to Van Gogh’s birthday is sometimes clumsily done, but it’s doing it. And it’s Google. And people have noticed. Slowly cultural institutions have caught the bug — the venerable Victoria & Albert Museum in London (V&A) experimented with placing its logo into poster headlines in the nineties before committing more recently to a house-style that allows far more flexibility than before. Their previously dusty neighbour, the Natural History Museum now allows their designers to fill their ‘N’ monogram with pretty much whatever takes their fancy, and a couple of years ago the Walker Arts Centre in the US laid the groundwork for the new Southbank scheme with a truly innovative system that allowed the designer almost unlimited

freedom, and a system of background checks, patterns and stripes. Old retail brands are joining in and making merry — Saks recently unveiled a 21st century rubiks cube remix of their 70s logo which allows for endless permutations of their logo, cut up into little squares then merrily shuffled around by their designers. Even Target has loosened up and asked many designers to take their famous marque and extrapolate it in different ways. As advertising agencies lose their grip on the communications channels, the logos are starting to come out of the corner. Once pushed as far over to the bottom right as possible, they’re becoming central to communication, no longer content to just be the fullstop at the end of a piece of branded communication. The old ‘exclusion area’ rules are being regularly broken, logos are now part of headlines, even part of straplines (much to the dismay of advertising agencies, used to burying logos along one edge and doing pretty much whatever they wanted after that). Some logos now come in many forms, and many colours. Some, like the scheme for the BFI, come at whatever angle suits the designer’s layout the best. The straightjacket that was once ‘the brand manual’ is now more likely to be shorter, encouraging and have a lightness of touch rather than nine ring binders gathering dust on the shelf (the way they used to be). More rules are being gently unraveled, as brands like UK insurance

brand MORE TH>N allow what was once a treasonable offence, pulling the logo apart and incorporating it into headlines (made easier, admittedly, in MORE TH>N’s case, by the fact that the logo arrived as part of a typeface, making incorporation that much easier). The housing charity Shelter’s nmenonic device isn’t locked up in a safe — it can be used in any word the designers like (as long as it contains an h, of course). Our recent scheme for the design college, Ravensbourne, takes three of the 70,000 tiles off the side of their landmark new building and turns them into a series of spinning, twirling logos that intentionally never quite match up. The logos seem more like stills from an animation than traditional brand marques. Another recent project allows flexibility to solve a seemingly intractable strategic problem — an art centre in Philadelphia that wanted to demonstrate a more powerful core brand also wanted to allow its initiatives a degree of independence. So the core mark for the Pew Center shows just glimpses of its crosssection of work, then animates and spins into related marks for each initiative where the child takes precedence over the parent. How static identity schemes will react remains to be seen. It’s true that whilst nearly all of the above ideas reflect well on the organizations that have adopted them, they almost all need constant monitoring and amendments. It’s become quite

common to wait months, sometimes years, to issue a brand’s manual whilst all the possible permutations are worked out, sometimes in public. But the benefits of developing fluid, flexible systems to encompass everything from fonts, to colours, to words, to images, to logos are enormous — with a bit of hard work and a good idea an organization stops being about just a logo and gains a complete visual and verbal language. Can we see a return to locked, static brands? Well, yes, eventually — if flexibility becomes the new norm then of course inflexibility may become attractive again. And it’s interesting to see that the older, less nimble blue-chips are still slow to pick up on the idea of flexibility. Maybe they’re content to stay monomessage and hide behind a veneer of corporate consistency? We’re willing to bet it won’t be long before one of them sees the light.

Michael Johnson Creative Director, johnson banks

www.johnsonbanks.co.uk

Postscript:

johnson banks is a London-based branding consultancy that works for clients as far afield as Philadelphia, Tokyo and Hawaii. This is an adaptation of a piece that originally appeared on Michael’s Thought for the Week blog.

Dynamic Identities : johnson banks

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage approached Johnson Banks in 2008 to help them rebrand themselves under a new name, whilst finding a way to recognise the various initiatives that were brought together – dance, exhibitions, arts fellowships, theatre, management, heritage and music – all within Philadelphia. The brief requires unifying all programmes under “Pew Center” yet allowing flexibility for the individual initiatives to sometimes use their current names. The design solution adopts a flexible identity system where individual initiatives take centre stage within the core mark of Pew Center whenever necessary.

Dynamic Identities : johnson banks

Science Museum London The Science Museum London recently completed its visual rebranding exercise which draws on the distinctive typeforms constructed in collaboration with The Foundry UK. According to Michael, the abstracted letterforms were further used to create a visual style that extends beyond a logo â&#x20AC;&#x153;to plant the museum back in the minds of audiences who might have forgotten themâ&#x20AC;?.

Dynamic Identities : johnson banks

Ravensbourne College At the core of the identity programme is a flexible logo based on the college’s facade designed by Foreign Office Architects. The building’s design is dominated by tens of thousands of anodised aluminium tiles that tessellate across its skin, following a tiling pattern established by Roger Penrose. Johnson Banks utilised the three basic tile shapes at different angles, and incorporated the Ravensbourne name. The identity is extended by incorporating the tessellating pattern onto images and applying them on promotional literature, websites and wayfinding systems. Quoting Michael, “It seemed an apt educational analogy that from just a few basic shapes, anything was possible.”

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Dynamic Identities : Wolff Olins

WOLFF OLINS WHAT’S IN A LOGO? change brands is moving into the Branding is changing. Witness the hands of people. Brands are now recent proliferation of dynamic brands becoming platforms for action. such as London 2012, NYC, AOL, and They are places of exchange, spaces (RED). To some they herald the end to to come together, personalize and the convention of consistency, with allow constant change. And it is not the role of the brand manager as a logo just individual customers who use cop brandishing a fat rulebook of do’s these platforms. Organizations do and don’ts. too, and brands increasingly link It’s a truism that globalization organizations together. is making the world smaller but that does not mean that we have to Olympic chiefs under fire for think that one size fits all. We are ‘puerile’ logo all individuals. We don’t want the Of course, like anything new, the same things. We want things to fit launch of brands like London 2012 our lifestyle and reflect our mood. and NYC attracted criticism and We all want something relevant to controversy. They raised the debate us. Moreover the digital world and of the future of branding and of the world of Web 2.0 are changing course our profile. You cannot business practices; online brands can imagine the virulence of some of experiment with changes to their the attacks on London 2012 and NYC brand at little cost or delay. in the respective city and national It is not just individual brands newspapers. that need to keep up; branding as a But, for the Olympics, the real whole does too. A brand that plays a impact started to come through passive role risks becoming irrelevant. soon. Our strategy achieved instant People expect change. The power to fame. As Eric Pfanner, a New York End of the logo cop?

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Times columnist commented on 12 June 2007, “Has any marketer ever gotten more for its money than the London Olympic Organizers when they introduced a new logo for the 2012 Games?...The logo introduction was a textbook example of marketing in the Web 2.0 era, when gold medals are handed out for achieving maximum brand-building buzz at minimum cost. Why spend a lot of money advertising when media owners and Joe Public do the job for you, free of charge?” Within the first 18 weeks London 2012 reached a level of recognition not expected for 18 months. Sponsorship also exceeded expectations with partners spending more than £400 million in the first year. At Wolff Olins (part of the Omnicom Group) we believe that brands of the future need to be less controlling and more generous. We are not suggesting that this thinking applies equally to every organization. But if we are right, this is a scary

thought for some of our clients. Are they ready for it? Will they be able to give up some of their control? It might be tempting to write off this approach as a fad (like the over-use of deconstructive typography in the 90s) or is it something more significant? Same logo. Variable brand

If you take a closer look, some brands have embraced changed for a while now. In 2005, we helped re-launch Telenor, a Norwegian telecom group. In each market it uses the same logo but much of the identity varies to ensure local relevance. It even uses different brand names where the local brands have equity: Telenor in Norway, Sonofon in Denmark, Grameenphone in Bangladesh and now Uninor in India. The result? Today, Telenor is one of the world’s fastest growing mobile operators when measured in terms of subscriber numbers. It is only fair to point out that Telenor’s logo cops (and Group CEO, Fredrik Baksaas) were initially nervous about this different approach and felt the need to conduct a lot of market research in 2004 and 2005. Same brand. Variable product

Abandoning consistency is new for graphic designers. But product manufacturers have successfully addressed the challenge of allowing variation while still building brand awareness. Think BMW. Each year new models come out but a 1960’s BMW is

recognizably the same brand as the latest 7 series. Not because of the logo but the design of the car, the grille and the body profile. So is the changing new AOL logo really any different? Same brand. Different person

If variability has been a feature of product brands, the same is perhaps even truer for service brands. Each interaction with my bank is a different experience. The call centre operator is different and largely anonymous. Dealing with this kind of inconsistency is a much bigger challenge than managing the everchanging images of AOL. (This may explain why there are few banks or telecoms amongst the world’s top brands). But, is this another design fad?

I’ve already explained how the London 2012 brand was a commercial success. Similarly, (RED) contributions to fight AIDS in Africa reached over $100 million since the launch in 2006. Within the first five weeks of the US launch, the (RED) brand registered 30% unaided awareness. (RED) partners delivered $45 million to the Global Fund in one year, more than was received from the private sector in the past five years. That was enough to give 290,000 people life-saving drugs for a year. But is this another design fad? I don’t think so. Despite the best efforts of the logo cops, change has always been a part of branding. But there is a difference this time.

Consumers are invited not just to buy things but to be actively involved. People may not love eBay, but they love what it allows them to do. Likewise, the corporation of the new century is more like a constellation, and brand is becoming the link, the multiplier. A strong brand links different suppliers, buyers, customers and employees across the world. Amazon may seem like a bookselling corporation, but actually it is a constellation of retailers of electronics, home wares, toys and more — plus the wider constellation of people who review and recommend. The digital world makes the frequent changing of brands technically and financially feasible. Identity manuals and stacks of guidelines outlining rules on consistency will soon become obsolete. Brands will no longer be single neatly stuck in the same place. However these changing brands will need to have a recognizable form, recognizable communications, and recognizable behaviors. We are not like that only

Having grown up in Bombay I am aware that India is different. But having worked since then in New York, London and Dubai I am beginning to suspect that India is really not that different. The obvious question is will we see work like AOL in India? Maybe soon. But not yet, based on my experience. Wolff Olins’ first client in India

AOL — A brand for a 21st century media company The name ‘AOL’ is revealed through ever-changing images. The brand is fluid, flexible and changeable. Some of the world’s best creative artists, including Universal Everything, GHAVA and Dylan Griffin, have created art and animations for the brand.

Dynamic Identities : Wolff Olins

was the Tata Group in the late 1990’s. Since then we have worked for Unilever and Airtel. And you will all know our work with Tata DOCOMO; the changing identity is visible across the country. Perhaps it is not as bold as AOL but we can see the first step towards a ‘dynamic’ design. The 8th Indian mobile brand launched with a real benefit to customers: ‘one paisa per second’ and ‘one plan’ - shattering the per-minute billing and multiple tariff convention. The brand attempts to seek customer participation and stands out in clutterland through the use of simple and recognizable shapes. The impact? Tata DOCOMO reached its annual target in less than 90 days and in its first month acquired over 2 million subscribers. SIM cards were being sold at a premium in the grey market. Blogs and news articles highlighted that the brand has acquired a premium appeal while inducing wider mass adoption. So if branding is (at long last) becoming democratic, we should see more dynamic brands in this, the world’s largest democracy. From the recent briefs we are receiving from this region, we witness

Indian companies looking for new revenue streams — inside India or internationally. This could mean stretching the brand into a new, credible territory or getting the brand to partner with a credible player in the new territory. If the latter is the case, perhaps the first true ‘dynamic’ brands we might see in India could come from Indian service companies partnering with credible brands to give their customers new products and services? I am not talking about traditional co-branding. I am referring to a new business model and a brand platform allowing everyone to do more. But how will both brands open their brands to create an equal partnership of organizations pursing a shared goal? Based on our experience with (RED) or London 2012, the kind of change I am suggesting is achievable. Equally, based on our experience in India, this kind of change may be achievable but will be a challenge. It may require a change in the mind set of the leaders, the logo cops and their advertising partners. Branding will no longer be a subset of marketing, expressed chiefly through communications and identity.

Imagine a scenario where a company’s brand does not merely reflect its success but drives it. In this case brand would have to work hand in hand with the business strategy and operations. Brand will need to sit in the centre and become the glue that links various departments of the organizations such as human resource, sales teams, product managers and innovation teams. So on one hand while the design aesthetic in India is a little conservative by western standards, the ambition of Indian companies on the other hand is both admirable and bold. Therefore, I suspect we will see experiments as courageous as AOL, London 2012 and NYC within as little as three years. India will leap frog the west, I have no doubt. Let’s bet on who will lead the charge (and not play copy cat). Email me zia.patel@wolffolins.com to keep the debate going. Zia Patel Strategist, Wolff Olins

www.wolffolins.com

(RED) — The Power (RED) The brand was invented to exist in between other brands and on its own. Partners including Apple, GAP, Starbucks, etc. produced special (RED) branded products. A (RED) product — often sold at a premium price — provides (RED) with revenue. (RED) in turn helps its partners attract younger, more socially conscious customers.

Telenor Telenor, a Norwegian telecom group uses the same logo but much of the identity varies across its eleven markets.

Dynamic Identities : Wolff Olins

Tata DOCOMO — Enough talking. DO. The Tata DOCOMO brand changed the rules of the game as the 8th mobile operator in India, apart from providing unconventional services to customers. The mark is playful, colorful and simple. It stands out from the competition and cuts through the crowded brandscape.

London 2012 — Everyone’s Olympics The London 2012 identity is spiky and open. Anyone can own it. It can be populated with an infinite number of infills and images, so that everyone around the world — athletes, the public, and sponsors — could feel and be a part of the games.

NYC â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No One New York City The brand mark is ever changing. It can be populated with the rich tapestry of people, places and experiences that exist in and across the five boroughs. It fits with the idea that New York can never be summed up as one thing.

Dynamic Identities : Dixon Baxi

DIXON BAXI MOVING BRANDS Television brands taken on face value have very dynamic identities. They bounce, twist and sparkle across our screens created in endlessly exciting ways. We can hear them; they talk to us and fill our screens with a steady stream of branded content. However how an identity moves is not what makes a good television brand. How it speaks does and more importantly that the audience feels there is an editorial standpoint. A lot of energy is spent on the colour, form, and execution of moving identities but the audience demands more, requiring a guide to the channel. So a brand that moves emotionally rather than physically has an edge as they create a sense of destination and a shared viewer experience. There is also a technical reality to the development of onscreen brands. Identities are chopped and

packaged by the sequencing of a channel’s programing schedules and the need to create clear channel signposting around advertising breaks. Often an identity floats like a monolith within the channel’s landscape. These brand stings serve the purpose of being a backplate for a channel announcer to cajole the viewer into staying a little longer. The bulk of the channel’s brand budget is swallowed on these brand icons but unfortunately intense repetition and a disconnect between the visuals and the channel voice blunts their power. It requires a deeper understanding of how the blend of channel elements sit in sequence and where in this highly systemised world the emotion, character and editorial direction shines through.

It’s standard across all industries that a successful brand is rooted in the truth of the product or service they deliver. The closer this relationship is the stronger the bond with the audience or consumer. Often in channel branding there is a huge disconnect between the channels programming team and the brand teams vision. The programmers are driven by ratings chasing the right blend of programs. This is hard to manage as rights change, properties are lost or gained, areas of the schedule are weaker than others and constantly a challenge to judge what a audience will watch. This creates a tension within the brand as it can rapidly become reactive to these changes and losing focus. A strong TV brand needs to firmly implant its identity across the range of programming but be flexible

enough to grow with the ever churning nature of program acquisition. A clear sense of direction should underpin the brands tone of voice, design execution and promotional strategies. It is even more relevant as the traditional linear viewing experience is swiftly being replaced with a more cross platform approach. This is a deep concern for TV brands as the control of the viewing experience is being wrested from their hands and into the audiences. Viewers chase the programming; an episode of Lost or a rerun of Sex and The City and they are more than happy to swap brand loyalty to do this. They can find this content on TV, online and on mobile applications and the result is a vastly more fragmented audience. TV brands are adapting their approach to brand building to a move into these new spaces. The clearest

leader in this revolution is the BBC iPlayer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a dynamic delivery of content and is based on an audience lifestyle. As an extension of the BBC brand it is incredibly powerful tool to extend and grow relevance of a traditional company in the rapidly changing media landscape. It focuses on the content taking it from the TV screen to a users laptop, into their hand and at any time it want it. It delivers on the BBC promise of high quality content but repositions it for a more dynamic and interactive viewer. The transfer from a fixed linear TV platform to mobile and online interaction is the most dynamic change to moving brands in generations. The better TV brands are equipped for change and the stronger their voice, editorial stance and the clarity of their offering the better theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be in the next phase of how content is delivered to audiences.

A bit more about DixonBaxi

We are an independent creative agency working with some of the worlds most interesting companies across TV, advertising, print, digital and the ways they overlap. Our approach is driven by strategic insights by capturing potential, and by looking for the spark that inspires and engages diverse audiences internationally. What we do is common, how we do it is not. Getting under the skin of a project, challenging the ordinary, our combination of energy and intelligence, the range of our execution and the depth of its effect.

Dixon Baxi Strategy, Identity, Motion, Digital and Print www.dixonbaxi.com

Dynamic Identities : Dixon Baxi

Five USA A USA centric entertainment channel whose air brand identity sought to put the viewer at the heart of the actionâ&#x20AC;&#x161; that they might feel the heat, vibrancy and spontaneity of American city life.

Dynamic Identities : Dixon Baxi

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Studio Universal An international Movie Channel relaunch that had to work as a global property and reflect the international strength and global relevance of NBC Universal as an entertainment brand to any national audience.

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Dynamic Identities : venturethree

VENTURETHREE MOVE ME WOW ME THRILL ME There’s a new movement in branding, and it’s here to stay. How do you get people excited about your products, your ideas and your company? Bring your brand to life, make it move. And give it all the personality and attitude it needs to grab people’s attention, and make them smile. In a world where the passions and interests of the consumer make or break the fortunes of the world’s biggest companies, dynamic brands involve customers in a completely

new way. They animate and change, to reflect the products they sell, the ideas they represent and the dreams and ambitions of every person they’d like to reach. From MTV to Google, some of the most respected and loved branding giants are doing it. As well as some of the most challenging young upstarts. Dynamic brands are the future, and the future feels great. There are a million different ways to make your brand dynamic. First,

you need one strong idea. Everything should start from there, to plant that one idea, let it grow and put movement into your brand. Here are a few dynamic brands we created or reinvented, at venturethree. Watch this space — venturethree is now working for Star TV. Verity Evans Creative Strategist, venturethree www.venturethree.com

Sky — Believe in better Sky is Britain’s fastest-moving entertainment brand, bringing the best TV, phone and broadband to nearly 10 million families across the UK. The Sky brand is alive with content. It’s made of glass, which allows the brand to go centre stage, and let the films, sports, news and TV shows you love, shine through. Reflecting, refracting, always changing, never the same. It’s the colour of entertainment.

Dynamic Identities : venturethree

Waterstone’s — Feel every word Waterstone’s is the UK’s national bookseller. They’re on every High Street, with 320 shops. They’re online, and soon, they’ll be on mobile too. We are transforming the Waterstone’s brand, with an exciting new invitation to customers to ‘feel every word’, and a new symbol that takes on the characteristics of different genres, and locations. Crime, horror, literary fiction… our new Waterstone’s brand has a hundred different expressions to match the creativity of the authors who inspire us every day.

Dynamic Identities : venturethree

upc â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Simply for everyone Formerly a telecommunications company, upc brings TV, broadband and phone services to 10 million people in 10 European countries. We created a new brand symbol for upc, to help it make the shift from corporate utility company, to the brand that brings the fun into every home. Our symbol is a beautiful flower. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s animated, with a personality and life of its own. We call it the Bloom. The Bloom flies onto your screen and opens, to reveal the, shows, people and TV you love. From action superhero to science fiction explorer, the Bloom takes on different moods and characteristics, to reflect the content you love.

Manchester United TV — As world-class as the football Manchester United is the world’s favourite football club, with 333 million fans. We created a dynamic brand for the club’s official TV channel, MUTV. At the heart of the brand identity, is the club’s crest. Remastered in epic scale. A world-class brand for a world class club, with entertainment at its heart. And running throughout the channel and its communications, are the hopes of every fan, expressed in the passion, drama, and spirit of the channel.

Dynamic Identities : venturethree

hmv â&#x20AC;&#x201D; No one gets you closer hmv sells music, film and games. The stuff that makes you laugh, cry and shout at the TV. We helped them reinvent their brand, around a big, brave promise to their customers: no one gets you closer to the music, film and games you love. We reinvented their symbol: Nipper the dog. Nipper changes to reflect different iconic characters. The hmv logo changes to reflect different musical genres. And the whole brand changes every year, coming to life on-screen in a new Christmas TV ad campaign that resonates with the mood of the season. 64

MySpace Music â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Everyone living on MySpace Since the beginning, MySpace has always been about music: discovering new artists and sharing them with friends. We created a campaign for MySpace Music, around the creativity of the artists. And the fans. MySpace brings the two together as equals. No barriers or boundaries. The campaign reflects the unique fingerprint of every personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s MySpace page. It celebrates the incredible connections MySpace helps everyone to make.

Typography : Dalton Maag

It’s all about quality In Japanese calligraphy, the ability to create the perfect circle can only be achieved by mastering the power of mind over body. A master may practice his entire life and still not achieve the perfection the circle requires. But while the circle is the ultimate goal, every shape, every character, is approached with the same diligence — to create perfection. In this respect the Japanese calligrapher is no different to the master craftsman whose skill and talent achieves beautiful and functional objects or shapes. This skill comes from long study and practice. People sometimes ask me what my favourite character is. I haven’t got one, they are all my favourites, as long as they are crafted to the best possible quality. Of course, I have some characters I am particularly fond of. I like the lowercase ‘e’ in Bembo; the simplicity of the ‘Q’ on the Trajan column, and the frigid tension of the ‘a’ in Univers, but it doesn’t even begin to reflect how I feel about type. There is an inherent beauty in the abstract shapes that make type, be that in Latin, Arabic, Devanagari - in any script system. This beauty is achieved by the distribution of black and white proportions, how thick and thin lines contrast with each other, or how characters are spaced against each other. Every character, when placed in text on a page, creates a texture that must be harmonious and even to enable the typeface’s ultimate purpose; it must be read. This cannot be achieved with your first attempt at designing type; practice and collaboration with experienced

colleagues are needed to allow the designer to recognize the subtle differences of stroke modulations, and even more practice is required to actually be able to achieve them. In this respect type designers must not think of themselves as artists or creatives, but as a craftspeople whose only goal is to serve shapes and functionality. This may be a blinkered view but, as with the Japanese calligraphy master who devotes his life to attain the circle, I believe that I would rather do one thing close to perfectly than flit between different disciplines to satisfy personal pretensions. I think it is important to remember that as designers we are not artists, but we must be artistic. We have a clear job description: analyse information, organize information, and present information in a comprehensible and aesthetically pleasing fashion. This statement goes deeper than it sounds as it embraces all design disciplines from architecture, to product design, to type design. As a type designer my job is to create a typeface that meets a brief. The brief may come from a client who has a particular need, or it may be self-set, but it still must be met. At Dalton Maag we approach a typeface project by first analysing what the usage of the typeface will be — text or display. The answer to this simple question absolutely determines how elaborate or how subtle the design is. If the type is primarily to be used at larger sizes I am able to add more detail and subtlety; if the type is to

be used primarily at small text sizes, it’s all about functionality. We also need to understand how large the font family will be as this determines width and weight relations. And finally which languages, and therefore script systems, are needed. The type designer needs to understand that all the characters must work harmoniously together. Using a basic English character set of uppercase, lowercase, numerals, punctuation, and some incidental sorts, we can create countless possible character combinations. This necessitates a very organized approach to the design of the font by first establishing the basic design parameters of key characters. Only when they have passed muster and answered the brief is it reasonable to proceed with expanding the design to a full character set. In Latin, these key characters are H O n o to define the basic proportions and features, plus e h p v for more detailed information. With this set of characters we test how the font will behave at different sizes and in different print environments, and determine the necessary changes to satisfy the brief. As we expand on the character set we ensure that every curve and every stroke is correct within itself and against its neighbours. Often, this requires an attention to detail that is measured in fractions of a millimetre. Technology plays a large part in font design; with OpenType it is possible to create fonts with large character sets that can contain different script systems and, of course, typographic variations of characters,

Typography : Dalton Maag

such as ligatures and conjuncts. As a business we have identified a need for typedesign in markets with complex script systems, such as Arabic and Devanagari. Compared to Latin, very few fonts are available and many are of low quality. We are preparing to start a dialogue with designers who are native to complex scripts to help us understand calligraphic history, culture, and reading habits. In collaboration with colleagues from other cultures we believe that Dalton Maag is able to contribute greatly to type design for these markets. Recently, we designed a typeface for Dubaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rail and Transport Authority, in both Arabic and Latin. Under the guidance of Arabic-speaking designer and typographer Rayan Abdullah, we worked on both scripts in parallel. This parallel working allowed us to continuously update and harmonize the two scripts during the development process. The result was a typeface that is respectful to, and in harmony with, both cultures. We also designed a Devanagari font for Vodafone that sits well with its existing Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic cousins, ensuring that the typographic brand message is carried across into the Indic market. Although both Arabic and Devanagari were alien to us at the beginning, with the assistance of specialists we gained the necessary design understanding. Most of all, however, I am proud of these fonts as they display the same high standard of craftsmanship that I expect from our Latin fonts.

More about Dalton Maag and how to buy their fonts: www.daltonmaag.com

Dalton Maag has been designing fonts and logos since 1991. In that time we have had steady organic growth, increasing our skills and knowledge, increasing the size of projects that we handle, and expanding our staff to, today, ten professionals in three offices across the world. Dalton Maag in London is our primary office; it is where we first started assisting design agencies to provide high quality logo designs and font solutions to their clients. Today, most design and all production work is undertaken by our London office by our team of designers and engineers. Dalton Maag Brazil opened in 2008, where we believe we can contribute greatly to emerging high quality branding and design in South America. Besides day-to-day client liaison the office in Brazil also carries out font design to the same high standards as our London office, allowing us to respond quickly to any project arising in this exciting market. Dalton Maag Cairo was opened in the autumn of 2009 to respond to the increasing demand for high quality Arabic fonts. The office is responsible to assist our clients in the Arabic speaking market and is actively involved in designing fonts, both custom and for our Exclusives library.

Typography : Indian Type Foundry

What is good typography? Why Typography? Typography surrounds us, yet we’re unaware of it. We’re at the receiving end of thousands of messages every single day and yet we fail to realise its importance. What can a good type do for your message? Type influences the way one interprets the content of a message and can add emotional overtones to it. That means that content creators — editors, writers, designers and artists, anyone who channels textual information to public should be aware of the role of typography. What is good typography and why it’s important? Satya Rajpurohit, of Indian Type Foundry (ITF) tells us: “Good typography is generally invisible to one’s eyes. The whole idea of good typography is to make the reading experience as comfortable as possible. If you are not able to read something effortlessly or if the content is not able to communicate the message at first sight, then to me it’s a failure.” Good typography doesn’t just reside in the form of letters, but in how these forms relate to the place and time we live in. There are some typefaces which were considered legible and beautiful a century ago, but now are rejected. It also works the other way around, some types which were rejected all those years ago, are now back in vogue. Typography is the meeting ground for several disciplines: art, craft, technology and linguistics. Good typography tries to balance all of them.

A bit of the history… Peter Bil’ak of Typotheque says, “Every country has its distinct history of typography. Type design in India has been conditioned by several aspects, most importantly the multitude of languages that exist in India. There is no other place which accommodates so many writing scripts and languages.” Because of several historical reasons, there has been a strong Western influence on the development of Indic fonts. Western type manufacturers Monotype and Linotype brought their printing machines to India, but struggled with the complexity of the varied languages. Europeans made the first Hindi types for books and newspapers in 18th century. In the 20th century there have been numerous local type founders as well, but it is unknown how many typefaces they produced in pre-digital era. Today, Monotype and Linotype fonts still dominate the digital and traditional publishing in India. One of the biggest setbacks of type design in India today is, that most fonts made in India are made to support specific software applications, and are meant to work only within certain applications. ITF is trying to emancipate the type design profession by making fonts that follow international standards, and can be used in various media and applications. The ITF story… In 2006, Peter Bil’ak was invited to speak at Kyoorius DesignYatra, an

annual design conference. This was when Satya found out about Bil’ak’s interest in Indian scripts and wrote him an email. Bil’ak asked Satya to help him with research on several Indian scripts. Satya continues, “Later, while I was doing an internship at Linotype, Germany, he invited me to visit his studio in The Hague. It was on this trip that he offered the opportunity to work with him on Fedra Hindi. Two years later, after having completed work on Fedra Hindi we realized that releasing a Hindi font via Typotheque (Peter’s existing company) was not a viable option.” And ITF was born. “We decided to start a new company that could meet the specific needs of Indian scripts. It was clear to us that developing one or two scripts for a country like India, where dozens of scripts are used and several more languages are spoken, made very little sense. This is the reason we decided that all our in house fonts would support all the 9 major Indian scripts along with Latin. An ideal typeface family for India would be one that supports all the scripts.” One of ITF’s major goals, says Satya, is to create awareness about typography: “Our intention of starting ITF was to increase people’s awareness and to develop high quality fonts for the Indian market. We also see it as our duty to educate people whether it’s clients or students of design about typography, fonts, font licensing etc. To do this we plan on conducting workshops, organizing lectures and publishing relevant articles on the web, in books and magazines.

स्वर कोककला, लता मंगेशकर

दिल्ली की मुख्यमंत्ली शलीला िलीक्षित ने अब खेलों से जुडे ननमामाण कारमा में लगे इंजलीननररों को लॉललीपॉप थमारा है कक अगर समर से काम पूरा हो जाए

பணிகள

ப�ோரினோல் துன்புறுத்தல்்களுக்கு ஆளோகி, இட

ஆகிவருகின்்ற வட மோ்கோண மக்்கள் �ல்பவறு

मल्टीमटीडिया விவக

ச்பாஷ்! சரியா

नर्जदा घािी आंदोलन की सर्वेसर्ा्ज रेधा पािकर

मुनाफे में गगरावट का एक मुख्य कारण है गरिटेन में बैंक अधिकारररों के बोनस पर लगा कर. बैंक को 55 करोड डॉलर िेने पडे. ननवेशकों को ग़लत जानकारली िेने के आरोप में गोल्डमैन सैक्स इस कर की वजह से गोल्डमैन सैक्स को साठ करोड डॉलर का नुकसान हुआ है. इसके अलावा को 55 करोड डॉलर का जुमामाना िेना था.िुननरा भर में ककसली भली बैंक पर अब तक लगारा गरा रह अमरलीकी नवत्लीर ननरामक ने बैंक के ख़िलाफ िोखािडली के जो आरोप लगाए थे,उस ससलससले में सबसे बडा जुमामाना है. गोल्डमैन सैक्स का कहना है कक उसकी व्ापाररक गगतनवधिरों से भली कम

வன்னியில் ராணுவத்தினரு இலங்கையின் ப�ோர் முடிந்த வன்னிப�குதிக்கு விஜயம் செய்த ஜனோதி�தி

इस टिप्पणी पर अपनी शिकायत दर्ज करें

ப�ோர் நடநது முடிந்த இடததுக்கு சென்று ப�ோரில் உயிர்நீத்த இலங்கை ரோணு

திறைநது்வததிருக்கிறைோர். இது்தவிர அவர் வவுனியோ அருபகை மனிக் �ோர்மில்

்தடுதது்வக்கைப�ட்டிருக்கும் முகைோம்கை்ளயும் �ோர்்வயிட்டோர். இலங்கை ஜ

நிராயுதபாணி

माइक्ोसॉफ़ट துருபபி DRÜCKEN This is dummy text. It is intended to be read but have no meaning. As a simulation of

திரைப்படத்துரையில் உலகின் மிக உயரிய விருதாக வர்ணிக

ப்பற்றுத்தநத, ஸலம்டாக மில்லியனர் ்படத்தில் இடம்ப்பற்ை ஒ

நிராயுதபாணிக நிராயுதபாணிக Welcome to the Boston University நிராயுதபாணிக நிராயுதபாணிகை நிராயுதபாணிகள BIN NUR EIN KLEINER BLINDTEXT நிரோயு்த�ோணிகைள themselves! Simultext may நிரோயு்த�ோணி்கள நிைாயுத்பாணிக WENN ICH GROSS BIN, WILL நிராயுதபாணிக நிராயுதபாணிக Dummy settings which use other languages or even gibberish to text have the inherent disadvantage that they

distract attention towards themselves! Simultext may be provided in any typeface, at whatever size and format

The increasingly unified campus fostered the development of student activities. Religious, literary, and musical

groups proliferated. The University’s Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company became famous for its elaborate productions, and Gordon “Mickey” Cochrane, one of our athletic heroes, attracted crowds to games and was lat

Kohinoor Devanagari + Kohinoor Latin + Kohinoor Tamil » Designed and Published by: The Indian Type foundry, 2010

www.indiantypefoundry.com

Typography : Indian Type Foundry

We want people to understand and appreciate the effort that goes into designing typefaces. This would be the first step in getting them to buy fonts and use them legally.” Piracy and typography… Traditionally typography and printing have been known as the ‘black arts’. This is not only because of the commonly used ink was black and the atmosphere of the printing workshops, but also because of the secrecy with which the printers protected their knowledge. Type design today is more open – there are yearly conferences, several publications, online forums, but type remains a specialised profession – but like other forms of art it faces a severe problem of piracy. Satya says he has seen designers and design studios using pirated fonts in their projects. “It’s a shame that designers use someone’s work illegally and make money using it. In India, people share commercial fonts on internet which is of course illegal but there are no laws to stop them. At ITF we even hesitate to put a PDF of our fonts online as it’s possible to extract fonts from a pdf to be used illegally. I think educating designers, clients and the general public about fonts and font licensing is the only way to put an end to font piracy.”

The ITF team and their current endeavours… “I generally take care of the design part at ITF. Since Peter has his own studio based in the Netherlands (called Typotheque), he can’t contribute much time in type development; however, he helps me with other important activities such as ITF promotion, website development, conducting workshops, lectures, publishing articles etc. There are times when he helps me with the design as well.” Currently ITF is working on a number of typeface families including a massive project called Kohinoor Multiscript. “Kohinoor Multiscript is going to be the biggest typeface family ever made in India or abroad to support all the 9 Indian scripts along with Latin. Other families which are in progress are: Fedra Tamil, Rajdhani Hindi, ITF Classics and two stand alone Devanagari typefaces.” says Satya. With their hands full with these ambitious projects, ITF has only begun its long journey.

To find out more about ITF and to buy their fonts, please visit: www.indiantypefoundry.com

Peter Biľak is a Slovakian graphic and typeface designer, based in The Hague, The Netherlands. He is the head of Typotheque and co-founder of Indian Type Foundry. Biľak also teaches typeface design at the postgraduate course Type&Media at the KABK, Royal Academy of Art (The Hague), and lectures widely on graphic design and typography. He also contributes regularly to international publications and books, including Print (magazine), Emigre (magazine), Items, tipoGrafica, Idea (magazine), and is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale.

Satya Rajpurohit is co-founder of The Indian Type Foundry (ITF) in Ahmedabad, India. He studied Graphic Design at the National Institute of Design (NID) in India and interned with Linotype in Germany. He has also worked at Dalton Maag in London and L2M3 in Stuttgart, Germany. He now works full time at ITF, creating original fonts in all the major Indian scripts along with their Latin companions.

Case Studies : Adobe CS5

Adobe CS5 rebrand

Adobe launched the much awaited CS5 this April. We had a chat with lead designer for CS5, Shawn Cheris about the rebranding and we have extracts of the conversation. With the merger of Macromedia and Adobe, 2005 witnessed the birth of the creative suite that united print, web and portable documents. But this necessitated the creation of a visual system that was systematic as well as extensible to accommodate future additions to the Adobe family. The then head designer Ryan Hicks created a new system for CS3 and CS4 suites moving away from the metaphoric symbols feathers and stars. Hicks gave Adobe the current simplified system using colours as a primary reference point, with all the components identified by abbreviations (Ps, Ai, Dw). The herculean task involved the designing and producing of 20,000 plus assets, as well as handling most of the staggering communication that is required to collaborate with dozens of engineering and business teams, from all over the world, that are involved in the process. Fast forward to CS5 — the Brand Strategy team felt that the CS5 rebranding would need to represent ‘a shift’ from the older suites. This version needed to feel distinct and new — a version ‘not to be missed’. With this in mind the XD Team came up with the assets for CS5. Before we go into what the outcome of the rebranding process was, what is the role the XD Team plays? Shawn explains, “First, XD stands for eXperience Design. The XD Team is made up of about 100 designers, researchers, and technologists who work with product teams to improve the experience (and the consistency of that experience) in our products. My team, the XD Brand team, is a subset of that organization and handles the branding aspect of Adobe’s product experiences. We create the system that defines how all of that should look and we also execute all of the actual work. We manage an identity system that encompasses around 100 unique properties.” “Additionally, we work in a larger advisement role both inside and outside the XD organization. We create almost all of the marks for Adobe and work closely with the teams that

manage the creation of all of the print work (including the packaging), the web teams, and the Brand Strategy team that handles naming and general issues of brand direction.” The XD team had specific experiential and business goals for the CS5 assets. They wanted the assets to be:

time per asset was a tall order. Shawn tells us that they “looked at other large-scale design problems that had been solved systematically, and in doing so found particular inspiration in the work of Otl Aicher for the 1972 Munich Olympics.” Aicher’s assets were built on an isometric grid and they were “all unique and beautiful in their own right yet maintained a rigid Professional consistency across the entire set.” Accomplished, skillful, sophisticated The other sources of inspiration were traditional drawing tools, machined Expressive metal surfaces, Swiss design, lithoAlluring, delightful, engaging graphic posters of the early 1900s and more. The components of the visual Refined system ultimately included the isoCultured, polished, discerning, elegant metric grid, specific colours and a custom typography. We have, as a result, Intentional the sleek and vibrant assets. Calculated, systematic, purposeful When asked about the feedback they received, Shawn said, “For better Unified or worse, people have reacted to it, Systematic, integrated, uniform, and we take that to mean we’re at consistent least doing something interesting and different. Generally the response Unique has been really positive, especially Inventive, timeless, own-able, among the creative community. We’ve surprising spent a lot of time reading blogs and comments and enjoying the reactions As well as: both positive and negative.” Martin Vanezky, Shawn’s former Visually distinguishable professor and someone whose work Maintain distinction across multiple influenced Shawn, said, concurrent vintages of a product “Congratulations on a beautiful presentation of really wonderful Easily recognized work. I am so impressed with the way At small icon sizes, on file icons, and you have been able to pursue pure in docks and toolbars abstraction that is still delightful and meaningful. It is nice to see a Flexible company (and its designers) treat its Structured to accommodate variations audience as adults who can navigate across the product line and file types through a simple, powerful, abstract system. The presentation is great Accessible since it shows that these shapes don’t For the colour-blind. Identities to just come from a ‘random coolness’ incorporate shape letterforms, or tone factory, but are thoughtful and rigorous. We need more of that.” Systematic Whats next? Shawn says, “Hard Each identity expresses a clear to say, but I can tell you that my team relationship and is the sum of a and I will be pursuing the answer to systematic kit of parts that question through the end of this year, most likely.” Credible Integrity of core design principals; concept, color, typography, layout Shawn Cheris is lead designer for Adobe’s Desktop Brand team. His Leverage the recent past team is responsible for strategy, Build on strengths of last two design, and execution of the Adobe iterations of the mnemonic system brand across the desktop, web, and beyond. Shawn has two bikes, But to achieve all these goals without two cats, four Macs, and was once having to spend weeks of production rescued by helicopter.

Case Studies : Adobe CS5

CS3

CS4

CS5

Icon evolution: CS3, CS4, and CS5

CS5 icons

CS5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new splash screens: Flash Professional, Premiere Pro, SoundBooth, Dreamweaver and Illustrator

Flash 4 to Flash 5 Flash 4 splash screen, Flash 5 splash screen and assets for Flash Professional: From splash screen to file icons optimized at various sizes with varying transparency support.

Packaging Tolleson Design took the splash screens as a point of inspiration and created the packaging.

Case Studies : COP 15

COP 15 Copenhagen

In 2012, the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty signed and ratified by 188 nations to prevent climate changes and global warming, runs out. In order to determine Kyoto’s successor, environment ministers and officials of 192 countries met in Copenhagen for the United Nations climate conference. This was the fifteenth conference of its kind and was known as COP15. Search for a logo identity An open logo competition was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark to find the conference a visual identity. Of the 268 submitted proposals, the logo created by NR2154 was deemed most apt an identity for the conference. A bit about the creators NR2154 at the first glance seems like a tag number on a parcel or even random letters and numbers. In reality it is the name of the multidisciplinary design network

established by Troels Faber and Jacob Wildschiødtz. NR2154 incidentally is a project number, highlighting the firm’s aim to always put the project first. Today Jacob and Troels are based in New York and Copenhagen respectively. They work independently and together on various projects in the framework of NR2154. They have been involved with projects such as creating a visual identity for the Danish Royal Theatre in Turbinehallerne; redesigning the classic polar bear logo of Nordisk Film in 2005 and designing the artwork for the feature films like Dogville and Manderlay for director Lars von Trier. One of their latest achievements is winning the first place for the logo and visual identity they created for COP15 climate change conference. Simple yet complex… The COP15 identity has been considered as one of the best visual

identities created in 2009. It is a network of 192 lines — one for each member nation of the UN that makes up this complex structure. It could be heading towards unrest or balance, posing the open ended question to the leaders at this world summit: will they take the necessary steps to restore balance? According to Shiftcontrol Studios (NR2154’s motion logo partner) they jointly ‘conceived the concept of “a world in continuous dynamic chaos unifying to the ideal constellation — a state of perfect balance — in which the COP15 Climate Conference can happen.”’ Yet the execution of the design is simple — a mesh of 192 blue lines. NR2154 have also created a line of stamps using the thin blue line to depict green energy, making the identity dynamic. Elegant and sleek this identity comes complete with a motion logo and soothing soundtrack. Great branding for a disastrous conference!

Case Studies : COP 15

Case Studies : Turner Duckworth

A lasting partnership between design and retailing excellence

Founded in 1992 by close friends and co-designers Bruce Duckworth and David Turner, Turner Duckworth is an award-winning consultancy spanning the Atlantic with offices in London and San Francisco, and a broad client base including worldwide brands such as Coca Cola, Levis, Kraft Foods, and Virgin Atlantic. Over the years, they’ve carried off more than 200 international design awards including the coveted D&AD pencil, 16 Clios, the first ever Cannes Lions Grand Prix for their work on Coca Cola and even a Grammy. But one of the things they possibly cherish most is the fact that the UK’s favourite quality food retailer, Waitrose – one of the first clients to walk through their newly opened doors – is still with them nearly 20 years and over 200 projects later. Comments Bruce, “I think the reason our working relationship has sustained the test of time is the fact that the Waitrose team have always shared our passion for good design, seeing it as fundamental to their mission to provide a quality experience for their customers. At the time we first started to work with them, putting design right at the top of the agenda made them unique amongst British food retailers.” While other own-brand retailers went down the route of creating

‘clones’ of other brands’ packs that only served to confuse consumers, Waitrose chose to approach each new design project strategically, to communicate directly with the consumer and provide a clear choice between brand and own brand. Waitrose commitment to design is demonstrated by the way it manages the process internally, with regular involvement at senior level. Fortnightly ‘design meetings’ are held, attended by both Waitrose’ Buying Directors and Head of Graphic Design, Maggie Hodgetts, their respective teams and the designers. These provide a forum where the business case and creative concepts for any project can be presented, freely discussed by all involved, and agreed. By keeping a ‘watching eye’ on all design projects, they also ensure that the distinctive aesthetic and style developed over the years continue to work across all the many different product categories and quality tiers. Waitrose also creates continuity by granting designers ‘ownership’ of particular product sectors. Once an agency has started to work in a particular aisle of the store then they are more than likely to work across that entire sector. Maggie Hodgetts sees clear advantages in maintaining a close and longstanding relationship with

an agency such as Turner Duckworth, both in terms of creativity and efficiency. Time and experience has allowed them to build up a real and deep understanding of Waitrose’ brand values which they can bring to any project. She says, “They know us so well they instinctively get to the root of the problem — and then deliver design solutions that delight both us and our customers.” Turner Duckworth’s design solutions are always genuinely insightful, perfectly executed and often use wit and charm to reach out to the consumer — as the following examples will demonstrate. Over the last seventeen years, they have created concepts for hundreds of Waitrose products, from sausages to soup and smoked salmon, from pasta to pet food. Here is just a small selection of some of their favourites.

Bruce Duckworth and David Turner will be delivering the keynote speech — Iconic Design focusing on their work with some of the world’s best known brands including Coca Cola, Virgin Atlantic and Homebase at DesignYatra 2010 in Mumbai on Saturday 4 September. www.turnerduckworth.com

Case Studies : Turner Duckworth

Dunking Cookies, 2005 The cookie design needed a premium edge to differentiate it from the everyday biscuits such as custard creams and digestives â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but without making consumers feel that they were only for special occasions. The introduction of a colour co-ordinated mug and rich dark tones in the background instantly communicated a premium feel and the sheer pleasure to be had from a good biscuit!

Biscuits for Cheese, 2008 The agency came up with a combination of clear product images and quirky typography, using letterforms and colours that subtly reflect the physical characteristics of the biscuits to reinforce ‘mouth appeal’.

Breadsticks, 2006 When sales of breadsticks were somewhat less than snappy due to lack of visibility of the packs in part due to their position on the lowest shelf, Turner Duckworth created a solution using rustic colours and a style reminiscent of 1940’s Italian design with clearly visible, large type to highlight the range and educate consumers about the difference between the two products: Grissini (plain, for everyday, kids love them) and Torinesi (with added ingredients, perfect for pre-dinner party nibbles, for grown-ups!).

Case Studies : Turner Duckworth

Premium Cat Food, 2006 When redesigning Waitrose range of premium cat food, Turner Duckworth knew that the packs had to be as irresistible to people as the contents are to their pets. Every cat owner knows and loves the ‘birds eye view’ they see of their cat’s face, as it sits looking adorably upwards pleading “feed me”. So this was the image the designers used to capture customers’ hearts and tempt them to choose Waitrose every time. 88

Cat Litter, 2006 Whilst cleaning out the used tray might not bring a smile to most owners’ faces, the pack design Turner Duckworth produced for Waitrose cat litter may well do. Inspired by the way most cat lovers treat their feline friends as human beings; the front of the pack became a door complete with a plaque showing the cat drawn in the style of male/female icons seen on toilet doors in public places.

Pet Food, 2006 Turner Duckworth were briefed to redesign the Waitrose pet food range after a buying review that highlighted recent developments in the category, including innovation from the big brands, meant Waitrose pet food aisles had become a cat’s cradle tangle of products and needed good design to unravel it. Dog or cat, age, recipe and any special dietary needs all had to be clearly communicated — as well as where the product sat within the Good, Better and Best tiers. The design also had to roll out on cans, pouches, bags, shrink-wraps and cartons – more than a hundred individual applications in total. Turner Duckworth use simple colour codes to distinguish between dog and cat foods, while silver pet-collar tags indicate age-related recipes. The pack contents are bracketed down to the animal imagery, which is fun and friendly, illustrating the product’s ultimate benefit — a happy, healthy pet.

Case Studies : Turner Duckworth

Honey, 2007 As part of the redesign of the entire Waitrose honey range, Turner Duckworth produced a simple yet memorable typographic device using the stripes on the bee to create the ‘E’ in HONEY. As an extra layer of meaning, the body shape also cleverly references a traditional wooden honey twizzler.

Dried Fruits, 2004 Turner Duckworth’s take on Waitrose’ traditional dried vine fruit range came from their realisation that these products were true store cupboard staples. The design uses a simple line illustration of a glass kilner jar, framing a clear area on the pack so that the fruit appears to be inside.

High Fruit Jams, 2007 When Waitrose reformulated their High Fruit Jams, creating a product that actually had the highest level of fruit content within the reduced sugar sector of the market, they wanted a new pack design that expressed just how deliciously fruity the jams were. Everything about the new design produced by Turner Duckworth did just that — from the tall, elegantly shaped jar to the simple label dominated by the image of a single, large fruit, placed high up just to emphasise the point.

Case Studies : Turner Duckworth

Sausages and Bacon, 2007 Waitrose product ranges operate a system of quality tiers, from Good to Better and Best. When they introduced new, improved recipes for their Better tier Sausages and Bacon, it was time for new improved packs that conveyed the three key messages; superior taste, natural ingredients and outdoor bred pork.

Indian Sauces, 2006 For Waitroseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; new range of authentic Indian cooking sauces, Turner Duckworth took inspiration from the continentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous spice markets, where ingredients are piled high in temptingly fragrant, colourful mounds.

Case Studies : Turner Duckworth

Fresh Pasta, 2009 Pasta has become a popular choice for both everyday eating and special occasions, with ‘posh pasta’ such as handmade raviolis. Add to that all the different sauces and a selection of oils for drizzling, and you have a large range in need of clear design to co-ordinate the look while differentiating between the Waitrose Good, Better and Best tiers and helping customers make the right choice. Turner Duckworth used simple colourways and textured backgrounds to communicate good quality recipes for everyday use. A photographic route for the Better tier products highlights the use of fresh ingredients and more adventurous flavours, while a large windowed pack was used for the handmade Best range to let the ‘restaurant’ quality of the pasta speak for itself.

Case Studies : Turner Duckworth

Canned Vegetables & Pastas, 2006 Turner Duckworthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very visual solution focused on using the contents of the cans graphically shot against different complementary backgrounds, with typography kept very clear and simple. Customers could now not only instantly recognise and stock up on their favourites, but also discover new ingredients.

Education : MIT

Redesigning the Study of Design: MIT, Pune

MIT Institute of Design

http://www.mitid.edu.in

“ Design is not an art or a branch of technology, it is an attitude and an activity concerned with making improvements within a changing environment.” — H. K. Vyas, Chairman, Academic Council, MIT Institute of Design डिज़ाइन कोई कला या टेक्नोलाॅजी की शाखा नहीं है. यह एक बदलते परिवेश में सुधार करने से सम्बंधित एटिट्यूड अौर गतिविधि है. — एच. के. व्यास; चेयरमेन, एकेडेमिक काउंसिल, एमअाईटी इंस्टिट्यूट अाॅफ डिज़ाइन

Set on the outskirts of Pune — just off the Pune — Solapur National Highway, is a design institute that believes design by its very nature defies definition. The reason for this lies in the inbuilt contradiction about design. This contradiction emerges from the fact that design as we know it today, is at once one of the oldest human activities and one of the youngest of modern professions. The MIT Institute of Design is a part of the Maharashtra Academy of Engineering Education and Research (Maeer). Maeer was established as a society and trust with the sole aim of creating education facilities to train the aspiring young generation and to turn out dedicated, ambitious and skilled professionals. The educational programmes offered cover a wide spectrum of subjects in the fields of engineering and technology. The faculty is now planning to expand the number of disciplines taught at MIT, making available all subjects that fall under the umbrella of arts and design, under one roof. This will facilitate the mingling of students from different backgrounds, to give them a well rounded and wider education. It is an endeavour to create a space where creative instincts are honed, a space

which they have christened Design Habitat. It is in this stimulating environment that mentors from various designs related disciplines will be invited to interact with the students. Students from MIT have participated in various socially responsible projects one of which was the National Knowledge Commission project initiated by the State of Rajasthan. The students worked on redesigning three basic implements used by the road workers: the pickaxe, shovel and metal ‘basket’ (Tagada) which is used to carry earth and bricks on their heads. They particularly had to keep in mind the ergonomic aspect in their design of the implements used by women workers. MIT is making an attempt to revolutionise the way design is thought of and taught in India. They invite professionals from relevant industries to discuss the need of the time and modify their curriculum and courses accordingly. MIT is truly committed to bringing about a change in the kind of graduates India is producing, giving them not only a broad and flexible education but also inculcating a sense of social responsibility. KM

Education : MIT

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Education : Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Baroda

Fine Arts Baroda

The Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayaji Rao University of Baroda, or quite simply Fine Arts Baroda is tucked away in the cultural capital of Gujarat, Vadodara. The abode of the banyans, Vadodara is an ideal setting for the institute. Maharaja Sri Sayaji Rao envisaged the value of higher education and chalked out the blueprint of this premier University. 50 years old, Fine Arts Baroda may be young compared to stalwarts like Sir J.J. School of Arts and Shantiniketan, but there is no mistaking its dynamism. The University was instituted by an act of the government in 1949. Only a few colleges, including the faculty of Fine Arts were a part of the University then. Today, the University has 13 full-fledged colleges, but the faculty of Fine Arts continues to be amongst the most popular. Its artistic heritage, core values and strong foundations are what keep Fine Arts Baroda afloat in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s competitive scenario. Being an art institute predominantly, the graphic design and applied art students at Fine Arts Baroda are able to cultivate an all round sensibility. The Foundation course introduces newcomers to nuances of painting, sculpture, graphic design, print making and pottery, etc. The study of Indian as well as world art history, architecture and aesthetics is supported by a large archive and well equipped library. The emphasis is on strengthening the academics by constantly updating the course structure. Most staff members are practicing artists of repute with national and international exposure. They are aware of changing requirements with changing scenarios and are quick to imbibe, interpret and communicate the same to the students. Many of the teachers

Maharaja Sayaji Rao University of Baroda

http://www.msubaroda.ac.in/

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are ex-students of the faculty which helps preserve and carry forward the cultural legacy of this great institute. Co-curricular activities play an important role in nurturing the cultural values of the University students. A Fine Arts Fair is held once every 2-3 years in an endeavour to bring art closer to ordinary people. Teachers and students of different departments come together for this fair. The 9-day Navratri festival is a popular annual draw for all members of the University. Traditional musical instruments, drums, singers and musicians render traditional garba music. Dressed in traditional costumes, students, teachers and alumni from all over the country converge to match steps with the beating of the drums. Maharaja Sayaji Rao University is a modern institute steeped in culture and history. And, every member, student, teacher, support staff and alumni, carries a sense of responsibility to carry forward and preserve this legacy of the founders and mentors. KM

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Columnists : Arvind Agrawal

Corporate Reporting: The undiscovered goldmine for the design industry

$% When John Sculley quit Apple in 1993, he held on to one share to ensure he would receive the annual report every year. Warren Buffett’s letter in the Annual Report of Berkshire Hathaway is a much-awaited phenomenon. A relatively lesser known company Marquard and Bahls AG (my personal favourite), invests significantly in commissioning artists for their annual report illustrations every year. One could carry on for at least the next financial year to list out some of the best and most well done annual reports across the globe. In essence, however, the attempt is to highlight the large role that the annual report plays as part of any listed entity’s communication strategy. In India, however, the annual report has been historically seen as a regulatory menace, done more to remain on the right side of the law and less to impress stakeholders or create an allencompassing corporate credentials document. This philosophy applies not just to the annual report, but also to other interim communication directed at communicating financial performance. The reason I am writing this here, is that the field of corporate reporting represents a significant

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design challenge and a potentially gargantuan opportunity. The logic is simply this. All companies are desirous of achieving their optimal valuation on the capital markets, to improve their access to funds and deliver consistently high returns to shareholders. Corporate reporting is, therefore, the most important firstparty communication that informs shareholders and the market opinion makers of the performance, strategy and outlook. So why hasn’t it happened yet? To be honest, there are already almost eight consultants in India who deliver corporate reporting solutions as a dominant service offering. Their coverage, however, doesn’t extend beyond 200 companies at best. When you consider that there are more than 8,000 corporates listed, one gets a sense of the magnitude of the gap. The reasons are broadly three. Firstly, the annual report’s brandbuilding potential isn’t recognised by companies themselves, though that perception is rapidly changing. Therefore, the report is typically the baby of the secretarial department, or at best, the CFO’s office, and not the communications team within the company. As a result, it doesn’t get the

kind of focus or the attention that it deserves from a design and creativity standpoint. Secondly, it is an expensive proposition for those with a large shareholder base — say, in excess of 10,000. Because, corporate structures are complex, and a lot of companies have subsidiaries, the number of financial pages tends to be too many. Add to this the other statutory disclosures, and what you get is a bulky document. Companies fear that if more design, creativity and communication are added, then the costs increase on all fronts — design, paper, printing and dispatch. They would rather pay a little extra dividend to ensure a better return to shareholders. Third, designers themselves haven’t pursued the opportunity too seriously. More often than not, in larger companies it is the Agency on Record, invariably an ad-agency, which is asked to create a few ‘corporate-pages’, almost as a necessary chore. In the smaller ones, it’s the neighbourhood printer who does the honours, sometimes with the added garnishing of ‘free-design’. Then again, designers feel that the volume of information to be handled isn’t commensurate with the possible fee, and, therefore, this is a territory best avoided. In my view, though these arguments have merits, these merits are limited. If the corporate reporting business wasn’t so lucrative, there wouldn’t be over 200 consultants in the UK (and I can list them all), servicing half the number of companies that we have here. A good annual report doesn’t have to be an expensive annual report. Just as the BEST form of advertising is often not the 45 second spot on primetime national TV. There are ways of managing costs, so that the entire annual report project doesn’t become unviable. To draw a comparison, the entire incremental cost of a good annual report, wouldn’t even be as

much as a quarter page advertisement in India’s leading financial daily.Third, the sheer volumes and the penetration potential that a corporate report has, is sometimes undermined by design agencies. The annual report is a critical weapon in any corporate communications armoury. For one, it is the only document that captures the entire corporate entity at one place. For another, it contains pretty much all the information that a company might want to publish in the public domain in relation to itself. And lastly, it is compulsorily updated at the end of each business year. The opportunity of specialised design consultants helping companies to deliver their message more effectively to all stakeholders is therefore, obvious. It is important to remember, that corporate reporting is a communication opportunity, as opposed to a pure-play design one. Therefore, agencies have to have sufficient bandwidth to ensure editorial intervention, backed by a solid understanding of investor aspirations and industry knowledge. This, when supplemented with design and typography, can have an impact that goes a long way in preserving top-of-the-mind shareholder and investor recall. I remember the Chairman of one of our client banks once telling me that a large private equity investor called him up and requested for a meeting, only because he found the annual report fascinating. Therefore, to address this veritable goldmine, agencies must fortify themselves with the requisite skills. The scope for value addition in an annual report is quite akin to a rebranding assignment — where the entire historical practices can be turned on their head, while retaining the essence of the client’s basic corporate ethos and philosophy. Therefore, right from a distinct narrative and photographic language, involvement of the agency might lie in selecting a theme, creating visual differentiation, ensuring a cohesive structure and even supervising the ultimate execution. The annual report today is a paper tiger. And, quite aptly, an endangered species in the ecosystem of corporate reporting. Globally, it is making the digital transition. Improving broadband speeds, increasing computer literacy and a greater internet penetration will ensure that shareholders in India are comfortable with accessing the report online. At the same time, the unbridled use of virgin paper is likely to come under the scanner, with some companies having to print reports in excess of a few hundred thousands. Add to that the cost of logistics and dispatch, and what you get is an unavoidable shift of legislation towards not making

Corporate reporting is, therefore, the most important first-party communication that informs shareholders and the market opinion makers of the performance, strategy and outlook काॅर्पोरेट रिपोर्टिंग यानी सर्वािधक महत्वपूर्ण फर्स्टपार्टी संवाद जो शेयरधारकों, बाज़ार राय निर्णायकों को प्रदर्शन, रणनीति अौर दृिष्टकोण की सूचना देती ह

the posting of an annual report mandatory. Instead, the annual report will be more visible online. My own prediction is that it is five years away, but happen it will. Companies listed on FTSE and NASDAQ already benefit hugely from this option, and it allows greater quality and design focus on the annual report, both in the print and online versions, because of far lower conversion and dissemination costs. Therefore, those with a strong online publishing backbone can look forward to a windfall when this inflection point arrives. Like most products and services, design too is at the cusp of a consumption explosion. Nowhere will this be more visible than in the field of corporate self-expression. Corporate reporting will be at the forefront of this revolution, and therefore, design firms in India will do well to adopt this as a possible business avenue. It is about time that the curriculum in our design schools began focusing on editorial design practices, information graphics, characteristics and requirements of Indian companies and an overall conditioning of the young designer’s mind towards text-heavy publications, such as annual reports. The Indian capital markets are the darling of the global fund managers. Valuations are skyrocketing to unheard of levels. More and more companies are taking the IPO route to capital raising. As a proxy of the growth in size and stature of the Indian economy, our design industry needs to benefit more directly from this phenomenon. And the perfect vehicle to ensure that benefit is, quite frankly, a no-brainer!

Arvind Agrawal

Arvind Agrawal runs Atherstone Investor Communications Ltd, India’s leading corporate reporting consultancy. He is a passionate advocate of transparency and governance through reporting, and advises some of India’s largest corporates on shareholder reporting strategies. He is always available on arvind. agrawal@aicl.in

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Columnists : Paul Hughes

Steps towards Design Ecology Dutch design is highly regarded by designers across the globe. But what makes Dutch design great? Come to that, as a foreigner in the Netherlands, who am I to suggest an answer? It is true that as an Irish guy who has been working in the Dutch graphic design industry since the mid-90s, my Dutch colleagues do not necessarily share my perspective on Dutch design. Many of them, and Dutch design organizations, magazines and books, tend to celebrate Dutch design by celebrating individuals or their work. I would like to suggest another interpretation of what has made Dutch design great and what helps to ensure it stays that way. It involves shifting our focus from individuals to relationships, and shifting our focus from design objects to the process of design. Instead of focusing on individual designers, we can focus on the interconnections between them, and between them and their environment. I would like to suggest the concept of ‘design ecology’ as a model to help us understand and positively influence our profession.

It is true that Dutch design has been built through the work of a number of key visionaries in Holland. People like Wim Crouwel, Anton Beeke and Gert Dumbar, for example, can well be considered to be the godfathers of what we now know as Dutch graphic design. But the time for individual greatness is now being challenged. Dutch design’s history was built on individuals, but its future will be built on the relationships between them and their environment. This focus has shifted from the individual designers to the collective and their design environment, or what I prefer to describe as the design ecology.

Thomas Friedman in his book The World is Flat highlights that technology is ‘flattening out’ today’s world. Our competitors used to be in

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our own city, maybe a neighbouring city, but certainly within our country. These days our competitors may be from anywhere in the world. Borders have opened up for any work that can be done across the Internet. Dutch design cannot hope to compete with these global dynamics by saying it alone has the best designers. Soon we will have hundreds of world-class graphic designers from most countries in the world, including India. However for now many countries, including India, have an infant design ecology. The connections between designers in many countries have yet to be fully established and strengthened. The business world in these countries and often society in general, does not yet fully understand design. So the goal would be to have an integrated network of people, organizations, associations, prizes, speeches, debates, publications and Internet platforms to create a culture of design. This creates a unique selling point for an integrated, interconnected system — a mature design ecology. To support, nurture and protect a design ecology, we can acknowledge our collective responsibility as well as our individual responsibility. Ultimately, our own success depends on the success of our neighbours. We have a responsibility towards our colleagues and our professional working environment, not only to support ourselves, but also to support each other. Hence if an individual was to publicly insult another within the system it creates a cancer in the design ecology. We can encourage and stimulate constructive criticism, and welcome debates about what is good design and what is not.

However if these debates were to descend into one design agency publicly denigrating another, the greater design environment would be corroded. We could also damage the public’s understanding of what design is, and their trust in, and respect for, our profession.

The key to taking any country’s design to the next level is to learn how to develop, stimulate and nurture a rich design ecology. In India, the activities of Kyoorius Design are an instrumental force to achieve this goal and they should be applauded for doing so. For when there is a mature design ecology the profession of design is often more mature on a number of

levels. This means that the quality of the design output is often better, the understanding of what value design can bring is wider spread, and the internal individual education and development is more advanced. So the maturity of the design profession as a whole derives from and depends on the maturity of the design ecology. And many countries have hubs of creativity where a design ecology is flourishing, and more barren areas where it is not. So every country has a design ecology, only to varying degrees of maturity. But can you create a design ecology? I believe we cannot create a design ecology, we can only create the conditions for a design ecology to grow. You can plant the seeds, and you have to plant enough of the right seeds to be sure that enough of them grow. You can put your energies and efforts into the principles on which an ecology is based and it is important to remember that you cannot necessarily predict what is going to happen, because an ecology by its nature has a life of its own. So what can we do to sustain and propagate a design ecology? We should certainly stimulate connections and discourage separations. As I pointed out earlier, we can stimulate collaboration, debate and the awareness of design. In turn, this stimulates both the diversity of the design ecology and its unity. Similarly, we should discourage backbiting, because this leads to separations — discord, disharmony and disunity.

The unity in the diverse creative community in a design ecology is made apparent from the boundaries that contain it. And one of the key principles of an ecology is that its boundaries must be permeable, which means information, people and ideas can easily flow in and out. In this flow

The term ‘ecology’ itself is derived from the Greek oikos, which refers to ‘household’ and logos, for ‘knowledge’ शब्द इकोलाॅजी ग्रीक “अाइकोस” से लिया गया है, जिसका अर्थ है “हाउसहोल्ड” अौर लोगोज़, “नाॅलेज” के लिए

information and energy are transferred, sustaining, enriching and providing essential nutrients for the ecology. So diversity within the boundaries of a design ecology is a vital ecological principle. It is essential for creativity and design to flourish. Diversity needs to work with the metaphor of a mosaic, rather than a melting pot. America used to be called ‘a melting pot’, where everything is thrown in and boiled down until it becomes a grey mixture. A more helpful ‘cultural mosaic’ metaphor means that tiles of many colours are placed next to each other in harmony to make up the whole picture. So the tiles are the diversity and their unity is the whole picture. And probably one of the most essential principles is the way a design ecology develops — not by evolution, but by co-evolution. I evolve when you evolve — we are intra-dependant. The term ‘ecology’ itself is derived from the Greek oikos, which refers to ‘household’, and logos, for ‘knowledge’. It is about the relationship we have with our environment. It helps us to focus on our relationships rather than individuals. A design ecology gets its creativity from the diversity of its members, and its strength from their interaction. We need to stimulate individual diversity while seeking collective unity. Collective design means that ‘we is smarter than me’. Talking about a design ecology echoes back to nature, and reverberates forward to co-creation and consumergenerated content, in developments like Web 2.0. I hope it resonates with my colleagues around the world. As designers, after all, when we talk about our design ecology, we are talking about our shared ‘household knowledge’.

Paul Hughes

Born in Ireland, Paul Hughes received his degree in Visual Communication from The National College of Art & Design, Dublin, Ireland. Thereafter he moved to Amsterdam to work as a part of the creative industry there. Currently he is the partner at Lava Graphic Design, Amsterdam and principal Creative Director, New York — Amsterdam at Design Machine, New York.

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Columnists : Ben Knapp

Image courtesy of Meena Kadri

Multi-sensory Branding

The notion that a brand exists only visually is Taste is another coveted sense — the entire food mistaken and outdated. The mistake comes from and drinks industry is out to convince us that their the fact that most people you ask will tell you that product tastes the best or refreshes us the most. The a brand is a logo. Arguably however, a brand is formula for Coca Cola is famously secret — because much more than a logo on the side of a delivery van only Coke tastes like The Real Thing, right? We rely or on a baseball cap. A brand is the total expression on the fact that one Mars bar will taste like the next of what an organisation is about. And humans and that our favourite red wine will always taste just have more than just eyes. Therefore, successful right. That’s branding by taste — we buy a product brand expression should be multi sensory. When because it tastes a certain way that we perceive to be a brand owns a smell, or a sound, or a specific different and superior to all the other products out taste or texture it becomes much more easily there. That’s what makes it unique — at least to us. recognizable (and valuable) to its stakeholders. It is hardly surprising that for a long time brand savvy organizations have tried to engage more than just our eyes with their brands. We all know what We all know what to expect to expect when we see the golden arches beside a when we see the golden arches highway. Our eyes ‘recognise’ the logo and trigger a brand association. But our ears are equally adept beside a highway at telling what brand of phone that annoying person in the cinema forgot to switch off. Nokia and Motorola have done a good job at creating what we हाइवे के पास सुनहरे मेहरान को देखकर ही call a ‘sonic brand’ in industry jargon. BMW employs हम समझ जाते है कि मैक डानल्ड् करीब ह an engineer whose only job is to ensure that the sound of a closing door on a 7 series car has just the right kind of plush thud to it. No kidding. That’s a real job. That sound is part of BMW’s brand. As for touch — this is a road slightly less Equally, it is hardly coincidental that high price travelled, though not entirely unexplored. The supermarkets put their bread baking machines texture and ‘feel’ of furniture is carefully designed right there in the store instead of off-site. Who — as are the materials used to design the interior of doesn’t like the smell of fresh baked bread? It adds cars, airplane cabins and shop interiors. The paper to our esteem of that brand. Electronics giants industry is partly based on the fact of how one paper like Samsung and Sony have begun scenting their ‘feels’ compared to another. products, their stores and even their brochures with The point is this: the more senses a brand a smell that is supposed to be unique and suggest can credibly engage the more interesting and all that is ‘new and exciting’. The oldest example of memorable it will be to us. Successful brands will factory brands are perfumes of course. Before the big continue to ‘own’ visuals, sounds, smells, tastes and luxury brands came along perfumes really did sell textures that we find pleasing and will ensure that on smell alone — it was their brand. we associate these with them and nobody else.

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Ben Knapp

Ben started early, launching a design consultancy even before beginning university. He led his company to work for large advertising networks such as Publicis, Ogilvy and TBWA. Clients included The Coca-Cola Company, DaimlerChrysler, Nestle, P&G, MTV Europe, Red Bull, Renault, Siemens and Unilever. In early 2008, Ben was asked to head up Saffron’s new office in Mumbai, India. He consequently divides his time between Mumbai and London. Ben was born in Vienna, Austria and lives with his partner in London.

Columnists : Avik Chattopadhyay

Through the ages, ‘presenting’ oneself before others has always been one of man’s (and woman’s) biggest indulgences. The urge to be seen as better than others, smarter than others and more desirable than others has engulfed our very existence. Pundits say that the ‘brand’ is more than just a logo or a set of colours. It is a promise delivered. Only if the promise is delivered with credibility, consistency and confidence does the man or woman on the street embrace the brand. Otherwise, he or she expels the same. An integral part of the delivery is how the brand presents itself in the external world, on the streets. And shop signs are a crucial element in this delivery process. There are shop signs all over the place. In various shapes and sizes. Using various display media. Made out of different materials of varying proportions. The shop sign is probably one of the most visible aspects of most brands, especially in a fiercely competitive market space and limited mind-space of the target customer. But do brands really care about the shop sign as part of the brand delivery? Do they invest enough in them? Do they understand their role? Look at the quality of the store signs around you. Most of them are faded. The backlit systems do not work. The vinyl is peeling off from various places. They have 2mm of dust and grime on them. Such signs actually do greater damage to a brand than if a brand were not to put up a sign in the first place! So, what really ails this simple yet powerful brand tool? Someone else’s job! The shop sign is an untapped valuable piece of advertising for any brand. In fact, if used strategically, it can outsmart typically conventional communication media like print and television advertising. Unfortunately, most brand planners relegate the sign to a position far below the newspaper ad and the television spot. For that is the way the advertising and media agencies have taught the advertisers. The agencies get their places in the sun and billings from the print and television media, while visual signage is ‘someone else’s job’. Brand owners and planners have to come out of this vicious grip and take their own independent media decisions. They need to explore the intrinsic power of the sign.

Image courtesy of Meena Kadri

The sign on the wall!

Visual science? What the hell is that? Most of us treat the shop sign as a sign and nothing more. It is much more than that — it is the expression of not just the brand name but also its promise and personality through the way one uses the sign space to visually depict the brand. Why do vehicle showroom signs have to be so dull and drab? Why do they have to say just Maruti Suzuki, Chevrolet, Mahindra or Tata Motors? Or for that matter even just BMW or Mercedes-Benz? These are all great brands, with their own personalities and promises, but if you place one sign next to the other and take out the logos, you would think they are all from one company! Let your sign talk and not just state. Let it describe and not just depict. This will happen only when the brand owner and planner recognise the sign as a piece of communication and not an announcement. Lets cut a few corners This is a perennial problem with signage — the tendency to scale down specifications at final implementation; bad quality of the material, bad quality lighting, substrates and graphics of lower life and so on. Most of the signs are very ill designed, as sign-making has been treated as a cottage industry. Only now are the professionals in the business and they are definitely taking up the cause of high-quality signage systems. But as they definitely cost more than the traditional tin and flex boxes, most brand planners (with their agencies in tow) tend to play the ‘cost per square foot’ card within their organisations.

What do you mean by ‘local conditions’? We are Indians and we know our local operating conditions, yet when it comes to making the signs, we seem to be transported into a utopian world — free of dust and dirt, free of power shortage, free of birds, free of any replacement/repair. Signage needs to be ‘designed-in’ with factors of cleaning, replacement of internal parts, repair and visibility at night. Proper prototyping and visual checks are a must before a signage system is finalised. Shops in transport areas are given backlit signs knowing fully well they either close at sunset or will never be switched on to save on electricity. Having a little strip of metal spikes fixed on the top of a sign ensures no birds sit and litter, but it is rarely done. Signage is a complex science and it needs to be studied, appreciated and applied accordingly.

Avik Chattopadhyay

Old hand at Maruti Suzuki, Exxon Mobil and Apollo Tyres. Greenhorn at Saffron Brand Consultants. Email Avik at avik@saffronconsultants.com or avikchatto@hotmail.com

Old is gold! Frankly, many signs around us can qualify for heritage status. While that is an encouraging thought for an art deco structure, it does not bode well for a 6 month old sign. We do not focus on maintaining and preserving the assets that we have. It may be a cultural issue, looking at the way we treat our historical monuments, but it just pains to see the way signs are left to the vagaries of nature, neglected mostly beyond repair. It arises out of the importance given to the sign in the brand delivery process. The simple sign one puts up to announce the availability of a product or service is a very powerful brand tool. It needs to be given its pride of place in the branding process and invested in. And it will pay rich dividend in helping creating a memorable brand.

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Columnists : Meena Kadri

Shipping Talent: Win-win internship scenarios for studios and students

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When thinking about internships we often bypass the part of the word that elevates its meaning. Membership, companionship, citizenship are all supplemented with the common suffix and as with internship it conveys trust, mutual intention and reciprocal benefits. Both students and studios are able to create opportunities in this exchange, which at best focuses on relationships alongside projects. In dealing out insights for both sides I’ve also called on DesignYatra speakers, both past and upcoming, via Amsterdam-based strategic director and wallpaper-doodler Paul Hughes and London-based managing director and typophile Bruno Maag.

Network — not merely working the net! Students — get out there to exhibitions and events (DesignYatra would be a good start) and don’t be scared to approach people in industry. They were all students once and usually enjoy the exposure to fresh, young minds. Designers — be open to upcoming talent: visit graduate shows, host studio talks and if you’re at exhibitions and events make an honest writer out of me by engaging in discussion with fresh young minds! Expecting top talent to just find you because you have a great website seems arrogant — acknowledge your place within a design community which nurtures its newcomers.

Harvest what you sow Not wanting to sound like a self-help book but for both the recruiter and the recruited it goes without saying that a good internship won’t just happen without some effort. We’ll get into more specifics for both sides but let us agree from the start that some consideration is required — so merely sending and answering a couple of emails is unlikely to ensure an ideal outcome.

Studios: Step up Choose not by the eye alone While a student’s portfolio is often the initial peek you have into their abilities, its advisable to delve beyond it in making your decision. Paul notes “Its not just about the students work but also about how they will connect to people in your studio.” You could say that this isn’t easy to figure out before they commence but its about

asking the right questions and getting a feel for the person over the portfolio. If they can’t come by to talk then a Skype meeting could be relevant. Shift perspective: liability to resource A self-defeating prophesy is guaranteed if you view your interns as an inconvenience rather than an asset. It helps to acknowledge that where students may lack confidence and experience they usually bring fresh perspectives and can often work flexibly across multiple and emerging mediums. Studios should reflect on how they can best draw out creative input while keeping in mind that working in an office environment is new to most interns. If they are viewed as just another pair of hands to fill a gap in your team of experienced designers you may all end up disappointed. Design the internship Given that design is a combination of strategy as well as creativity, it seems relevant to put some effort into the planning of an internship. You might ask the student to make a 15 minute presentation to your team at

the start and finish of their time with you. Clearly communicate responsibilities and work hours, assign a mentor, schedule review sessions and don’t make interns beg for references once they’re done. Some decisions may be best made as things proceed but be proactive rather than reactive to avoid putting out fires. Cross-pollinate creativity A great way to allow new approaches to seep into your studio is to have your intern pursue a self driven, non-client project while under your roof. This way you are likely to get exposed to the full extent of their creativity while they gain from your professional feedback. And you might be surprised — insights gained may enrich the way you work on future client projects. Adapt your approach Each intern will be different and its up to you to figure out how and when to empower them by introducing new responsibilities. Some may have something to offer and gain from client contact while others may need more encouragement in group brainstorming. Avoid putting that intern you had three years ago up on a pedestal that no one can match — instead take on the challenge of inspiring confidence and accomplishment in all interns that come through your door. Students: Proactive Pointers Research and prioritise Its worth reminding you that research can include networking which as we pointed out is not just about working the net. Don’t just go for the big names and the road well travelled. Try and find out about the work culture, breadth of current skills and values of potential studios. Make a prioritised list of avenues to ensure you direct most of your energy appropriately — but be prepared to re-prioritise as you gain more information. Know your value. Reflect on what you have to offer. Paul advises that rather than the passive ‘I think I could learn a lot form your studio,’ reframe yourself with a proactive approach ‘These are the skills that I can provide your studio...’ To do this you’ll need to realistically evaluate your strengths. Apply with punch Correspondence peppered with spelling and grammatical mistakes won’t cut it. “Clearly,” said Bruno, “it’s not a good way to start off a potentially life defining relationship.” Try and convey something of your personality and values while you’re at it. By all means design your portfolio,

People-skills will take you places. It’s not all about your design skills लोगों का कौशल अापके काम अाएगा. यह केवल अापके डिज़ाइन कौशल के बारे में नहीं है

attachments and mail-outs but remember that people are busy so keep things sharp and to the point. People-skills will take you places It’s not all about your design skills. Be a flexible yet dependable team member. Leave the hangover, complaining and drama at home. Paul adds “Focus on people alongside projects — internships aren’t only about getting a real project in your portfolio but also about meeting people that can help guide you in your career.” Compensation Concerns Payment can be a sticky issue in regards to internships. We recommend that compensation always be made but advise that studios avoid directly equating their intern’s hours with billable hours as this could lead to frustrations on both sides. Wages, tax and payment methods should all be conveyed in advance. If for some reason payment is not being offered then benefits such as travel costs, accommodation and studio lunches should be discussed. Bruno points out that he loathes the exploitation of students as cheap labour and its seems that multinational design and innovation consulting firm IDEO, soon to open in Mumbai, would agree. The internship section of their website declares: “Our interns work alongside senior staff within the mainstream of IDEO projects. Your time will likely include participation in brainstorms, prototyping, in-context observations, and other aspects of humancentered design. It may include client meetings, presentations, and travel. It will not involve sharpening pencils or pouring coffee (unless, you know, you want to.)” One can’t reduce the internship process to a formula but these are some vital ingredients you can consider adding to the mix. How you combine them with your own contexts and creativity is up to you. Just bear in mind that ever relevant -ship suffix as you climb on board for the journey.

Meena Kadri

Meena Kadri explores the intersection of communication, culture and creativity via her New Zealandbased consultancy Random Specific. With a background in both design and anthropology she has lectured globally, including two years at the National Institute of Design. Web www.randomspecific.com Mobile +64 21 445 884 Twitter @meanestindian

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Columnists : Michael Wolff

A letter from Michael Wolff Dear Reader,

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It’s mid May – I’m in Shanghai – and Shanghai is now in me. Yesterday I went to their art museum and connected with the breathtaking skill and artistry that Chinese people still produce and were producing four thousand years ago. I marveled at the abilities of human beings and their extraordinary expressiveness — just as I did in Mumbai when I was there a few months ago. In Shanghai’s museum I was in the presence of priceless treasures. To say these things are inspiring seems trite, but I don’t know how else to tell you how moved, excited and astonished I was and how impressive it was to see queues of thousands of Chinese people, waiting to see and enjoy these things too. People can produce such beauty that, although it never equals the beauty of nature, it can still stop me in my tracks and evoke emotions beyond my control. The inventiveness of human beings and their capacity for comprehension and communication is wonderful. It always has been. That science and art are now seen as one makes life itself a cause for perpetual curiosity and celebration — a celebration that, for me, contains a terrifying mystery. At the same time, as I enjoy the work of such creative designers as Thomas Heatherwick and his design for the British Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, and many other nation’s expressions of human achievement and artistry, I can’t help thinking of the mysterious and threatening plight of the bees. Bees with whom we share this planet are dying all around the world. They pollinate our plants and without their collaboration, our very existence could be at risk. When I think of the bees, I start thinking of the extent to which we seem so stuck in believing in the values of our nations, our cultures, our religions and even our sexes without realising how they imprison us in habits of thinking and being. Many of these assumptions and points of view are bringing all of us, and our planet, into situations, which now threaten the future of our existence. It’s our inability to see ourselves as a species, among other species, that I think of as a terrifying mystery. Why don’t we see ourselves as human beings, all together on a fragile planet, before we enjoy all the other aspects of what we think of as us? Why don’t we see what we

all share and have in common more clearly than we see all the things that we allow to separate us? Why, as Buckminster Fuller expressed it so poignantly, do we still live in a ‘you or me’ world and fear the idea of a ‘you and me?’ What is it we feel instinctively that we will lose if we let go of enough of our individuality to embrace the rest of humanity and all the other species on earth in our consciousness? Is it because we don’t have or share a common vision of what the planet should expect from a successful species? Is it because we’re distracted by our own apparent selfinterest and blinded by the idea of a common interest in success or even survival? I don’t think it’s our capacity for distraction or the rate of change or the speed at which technology and science offer us new ways of seeing our selves and our world and our own effectiveness. These don’t blind us to our common interest. Some people are single-minded others relish a huge breadth of influences and distractions to fuel their creativity. We can complement each other to get the most fruitful results to leave for future generations. Yet we seem to still be trapped with all our insights in the subdivisions of our identities that prevent us from achieving what Desmond Tutu calls “one community” — the human species. Trapped into competing with others instead of competing with our own past performance. I know that I myself am a basket full of contradictory thoughts and desires. My school report used to say “too easily distracted.” For example, right now, as I write this, while I’m thinking that more of us starve to death than did in the 1970’s I’m also thinking that I love my Apple iPad. The oceans are choking with the results of our plastic progress and pollution and I still love the beauty of a Camper Nicholson yacht. I can watch the moods of the sea for hours and the dancing flight of seagulls for days. How can they be so clean? At the same time, I’m horrified that thousands of magnificent albatrosses’ lives have been compromised by dangerous sea-born bits of our plastic debris. For me, the flight of an albatross, the beauty of a Chinese stroke of calligraphy, the grace of an Indian woman’s walk in a sari, the power of a volcanic eruption and the stillness of a beautiful Koi in the purest of Japanese ponds each express the glorious beauty of our planet. These wonders and the gift of noticing what doesn’t

I know that I myself am a basket full of contradictory thoughts and desires मैं जानता हूं कि मैं विरोधाभासी विचारों अौर इच्छाअों से भरा हुअा हूं work about us has led me to become a designer. A ‘becoming’ which is still progressing, and which I hope will never end. I need to finish this article and I’m distracted by my thoughts about a beautiful young woman who lives in Kolkata. I would be lost without distraction. For me it’s both a source of inspiration and, for better and for worse, integral to how I choose to enjoy my life. Next week I’ll be in Oslo persuading designers that in thinking about how difficult ordinary things in life can be for people who see less well, hear less well, move less well and deal with all sorts of impairments, they will be able to design more effectively for all of us. Inclusive design – that’s design that embraces the needs of all sorts of people including the ‘differentlyabled’ and the old or even the dying – is better design, than design just aimed at financial profit for a minority. At the same time, I will breath the clean air of Norway and see again the mirror like quality of the fjords reflecting the mountains that contain them, reminding me of the astonishing beauty of water. So how do I, and any other designer, reconcile the appreciation of beauty and delight with the obvious dysfunctional ways of living and being that seem to be inherent in humanity? How can we be useful instead of being willing or inadvertent collaborators with what clearly doesn’t work or serve the world? That question, I think, is one that each of us has to answer for themselves. From time to time I think I know the answer for me, but often I lose it. Writing this short piece for a new magazine that hopefully other designers will read is an opportunity for me to ask you the question and to tell you that living in this question continues to be both my biggest frustration and the inspiration that drives what I do. With my best wishes to you, Michael

Michael Wolff

Recognised as one of the world’s most experienced practitioners in establishing corporate identities, Michael’s body of work has spanned more than 30 years. He enjoys encountering situations where he doesn’t know what to do or think. That’s when he finds that he needs and, so far, can count on, his creativity. Most of all, he enjoys old friends and new ideas.