Kulula, South Africa’s first no-frills commuter airline, makes up with humor what it lacks in global stature. Its two-plane fleet, which flies short-hops from Johannesburg to Cape Town and Durban, is painted a conspicuous lime green with callouts identifying each part of the aircraft, including the cockpit area where the “the big cheese” (captain) sits, and the “loo” (lavatory) “or the mile-high club initiation chamber.” This is a brand identity that you are not likely to forget. In fact, you may even look for Kulula planes on the runway to amuse yourself.
The inflight instructions are equally irreverent, with the flight attendant advising passengers to make sure they have all their belongings with them when leaving the plane, but if they have to leave anything behind “make sure it is something the cabin crew can use. Preferably not children.”
Or telling passengers before takeoff: “If you have a child with you, please be sure to fasten their seatbelt first. If you have more than one, please select your favorite now and fasten their seatbelt.”
In cafeterias and restaurants around the world, the coffeepot with a distinctive orange band around the neck is immediately recognized as the one containing decaf coffee. Today most people don’t know how that tradition began. Actually, it was once one of the world’s most effective branding campaigns, even though these days consumers don’t associate the color with the product that started it all.
The orange label premiered in 1923 when Sanka, the first commercial decaf coffee, appeared on grocery store shelves in America. In 1932, General Foods bought Sanka (a catchy contraction of “sans caffeine”) and set out to promote the brand to restaurants and diners by giving away free “Sanka-orange” coffeepots and a few samples of the product. Customers and waiters came to recognize that orange signified Sanka, and over time it became the generic color-code for any and all decaf coffee brands.
In January 2007, Sao Paolo, Brazil, did something that would send chills down the spine of most ad agencies. In an effort to rid the city of what the mayor called “visual pollution,” Sao Paolo enacted a Clean City law that banned all billboards and most other large outdoor advertising.
Known as one of the world’s worst billboard jungles, Sao Paolo was rife with illegal billboards and signs. Advertisers had bought up virtually all available street and wall space in the city to hang their gigantic marketing messages. To earn money, some poor residents even sold the front of their homes or space in their gardens to post ad signs. Unable to determine which were legal and which not, the city banned them all.
Since the law went into effect more than 15,000 billboards, 1,600 oversized signs and 1,300 metal ad panels have come down. Strict regulations mandated smaller storefront signage and limited them to hang only above the store entrance and not extend into the street. Even pamphleteering in public spaces was made illegal. Those who didn’t comply faced hefty fines.
In the mountainous village of Granados in central Guatemala, Peace Corps volunteer Laura Kutner came up with a way to solve several problems at once – the need for more classrooms, the shortage of building materials, and the abundance of plastic trash littering the ground.
Kutner rallied the community of roughly 860 people living in the village and surrounding area and together they collected more than 4,000 discarded plastic soda bottles. From there, students and volunteers used sticks and hands to cram the plastic bottles with more plastic — used bags, packaging and grocery sacks – to give the containers heft and form, then stacked them like bricks held in place by chicken wire, and “stuccoed” them with a cement-sand mixture.
Editor’s Note: In his inimitable style, Marty Neumeier, author, lecturer and director of transformation at Liquid Agency, makes complex marketing principles seem logical and easy to understand. Here from his book “Zag: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands,” Neumeier explains why in a world of “look-alike products and me-too services” it is important for brand marketers to zag when everyone else zigs.
It has been interesting to observe how typing text messages with two thumbs on a cell phone is transforming the written language. Acronyms have replaced full sentences – LOL, OMG, GTG. Everything that can be abbreviated is. The question is, will this lead to the evolution of spelling as we know it? It wouldn’t be the first time. Over the centuries, spelling has changed, syntax has changed, even the noun-verb-object order of typical English sentences has changed. I happened upon this fake news article sent to me years ago. At the time, I found it ludicrously funny; now I’m not so sure. Maybe it was onto something, albeit before its time. Copy editors beware; your troubles may have just begun.
From the Magazine Publishers Association and American Society of Magazine Editors comes this two-minute video “Covering the Decade in Magazine Covers.” This edited America-centric view of the Aughts glaringly omits world-altering stories such as the disputed “hanging chad” Presidential election that started the decade and the rise of social media and focus on climate change that ended it. Overall, however, the video is a fascinating glimpse at the visual devices that publishers use to grab consumer attention at the newsstand. Faces, especially of celebrities, dominate most covers. Pop culture and sensational headlines trump the promise of substantive, thoughtful reporting. Obviously, the magazine reading public is more interested in being entertained than informed.
We recently ran across this post by Alissa Walker for Good.Is about an artist/motorist named Richard Ankrom who got fed-up with the dangerously confusing wayfinding signs splitting the 5 North onramp from the 110 Freeway to Pasadena. The lack of a 5 North overhead sign often caused drivers to wave their hand frantically to be allowed to switch lanes at the last minute and motorists who were cut off to wave their finger in an upward motion to express their annoyance.
In a bit of public service performance art, Ankrom used his hands more constructively and crafted his own freeway directions. The altered signage, which Ankrom put up in broad daylight in 2001, was appreciated by commuters like Alissa, but was not recognized as phony until Ankrom leaked his prank to local newspapers. That’s how it came to the attention of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which is in charge of freeway signs. Despite Ankrom’s confession, he wasn’t charged with defacing public property because, afterall, how is making something better and safer a crime? For the past eight years, Caltrans let Ankrom’s doctored sign stand. Then recently it removed it, and replaced it with an official sign that looks like Ankrom’s.
Tell your green story on Utopia environmentally-friendly coated papers. Drive Your Green Story Home brings together great design, photography, and best practices to help move your process along. click here for more
The “designer’s printer” of high-end corporate marketing materials and advertising. Consistent winner of the most prestigious printing and design awards.
After 23 years as a partner of Pentagram Design, Kit Hinrichs announces that he has left the international consultancy to establish an independent design firm in San Francisco.
Illustrator and designer of books, brochures, packaging, ads and trademarks. click here for more
Typographic Conundrums
Pentagram London partner and typophile Harry Pearce launches his new book, Typographic Conundrums, filled with pages and pages of thought-provoking wordplay.
Fashion Designer’s Logo
San Francisco-based Rob Duncan Design created a simple and elegant signature for fashion designer Rebecca Beeson by using warm gray, black and white to carve the “r” letterform out of the letterform “b.”
Gifts of the Street
Sam Smidt, legendary San Francisco Bay Area designer and teacher just released a book, Gifts of the Street, showing some of the thousands of vernacular images collected from the highway.
Lip Gloss from P.S. Aeropostale
This flavored lip gloss in a tin is part of Aeropostale’s new P.S. line for girls aged 7 to 12. Michael Braley Design in New York created the graphic identity, naming system and packaging for P.S.
Growing Mold
After six years of experimenting, a Chinese farmer trained pears to grow in a mold to produce baby-shaped fruit. The novelty pears are selling faster than they can be plucked from the tree.
The FEED Bag
A fashion statement that says you care, the FEED tote - from Feed Projects and the UN World Food Program – is sold to help feed the world’s 400 million starving children. Proceeds from one bag will feed one child in school for a year.
Disney buys Marvel
Disney buys Marvel Entertainment creating a powerhouse of pop icons.
PACT Underwear
A fuseproject-venture that blends design and sustainability to support social and environmental causes.
Revitalized Logo
Designed by Lippincott, the updated logo for Meredith interlaces “m’s”, signifying the media and marketing giant’s multi-platform distribution capabilities.
New SparkChina Awards
With CitiExpo, Spark Design and Architecture Awards will extend its role in the booming China design industry through SparkChina.
Kid-Size Saarinen Chair
Knoll has introduced a line of furniture for kids, including a scaled-down version of Eero Saarinen’s 1948 Womb Chair.
The Obsessive Images of Seymour Chwast
A book that shows how Seymour Chwast, illustrator and co-founder of Push Pin Studios, transformed the American visual language.
Jock's Cuba Portraits
When photographer Jock McDonald isn't shooting faces on assignment, he is doing it for pleasure in places like Russia and Cuba. Collectible as art, his Cuba portraits are packaged in "cigar" boxes.
Lego Architecture
Lego collaborated with architectural artist Adam Reed Tucker to create the Lego Architecture Series for several iconic landmarks.
iPhone Games for Designers
From Jason Franzen of FORMation Alliance in Dallas, three app games for designers: Press Check, Eye vs. Eye, and Kern: Space, the Final Font Tier.
Salt&Pepper Cell
D size battery Salt & Pepper shaker by Antrepo. Made from steel and glass, the power indicators on the side shows the amount of spice inside.
Y Water
Yves Béhar of Fuseproject has created a boldly-colored water bottle that is also a children's toy.
Method Hand Wash
Another bright idea from designer Karim Rashid – Method’s lightbulb-shaped packaging for an eco-friendly hand wash.
Signs of the Times
Photographers Randal Ford and Michael O’Brien teamed with writer/musician Joe Ely to focus on the homeless in America, the subject of Pentagram Papers 39.
