You'll know what we know.
For the thrilling conclusion of logo week, we’re tackling one of the strangest branding phenomenons we’ve ever encountered.
Somehow one of America’s foremost preppy outfitter ended up lifting their logo from an medieval chivalric order. The icon in question is the Brooks Brothers sheep. It turns out, noblemen have been wearing that lamb around their necks for upwards of half a millennium—and it sounds like the Duke of Burgundy has a pretty legitimate beef…
| ALL The Biz |
TAGS
|
The industry’s full of iconic logos, but you rarely hear where they came from. To that end, we’re taking a look at the stories behind three of our favorite logos. Later in the week, you’ll hear a little more about Rolls Royce and Brooks Brothers—but first, the story of the René Lacoste and the crocodile.
Branding can be a shifty enterprise. It deals in abstracts, and it can take decades to unravel whether something was a brilliant idea or just a brilliant pitch—and for the most part, no one can tell the difference.
All of which goes a long way towards explaining someone like Peter Arnell.
He’s been behind some of the more iconic images in recent memory—DKNY’s Houston St mural, ConEdison’s redesigned trucks, and the curvy new Pepsi logo—along with some of the biggest tantrums in the business, but after a disastrous Tropicana redesign, the sharks are circling. And suddenly, people are using the word “huckster” an awful lot…
Digitally swamped as we are, it’s easy to forget that all those images have to come from somewhere.
We’re a little unclear on the specifics, but ink is probably involved…
Mark Weaver specializes in a kind of light collage that’s overtaking the design world lately—with a little help from street art. Most of his print haven’t made it much farther than his flickr page, but they’re ripe for the picking in our opinion.
Anybody need a logo out there? Maybe something in a pirate tiger?
| ALL Art Threat |
TAGS
|
It’s been brought to our attention that Esquire’s best dressed man, Kenyatte Nelson, is in fact a brand manager for Proctor & Gamble, rather than a lowly PR rep.
We’ve got a few brand managers here at Kempt, so we’ve got no snarky quips in their direction, but if Nelson’s really holding the keys to the kingdom…can he do something about the logo?
Maybe something a little less freemason-y?
| ALL Dept. of Corrections |
TAGS
|
The award for most interesting market niche so far goes to Kibsgaard, a Danish company that specializes in the inch-long metal logos affixed to the bottom of most TVs…or at least most TVs made in the 90s. It’s not an aesthetic you see a lot in the age of the iPhone, but it’s nice to know where it comes from.
The Threadless culture has inspired a lot of innovation, but there’s also been a wash of half-baked and out-and-out lazy designs letting a square inch of embroidery substitute for an actual idea. The most recent offender? Attus Prep.
We Are the Market big-upped these polos, but they’re just standard issue catalog-wear with an “edgy” symbol—a mohawked punk, a 40 oz bottle, a stripper on a pole—stitched where the usual polo player or seagull would go.
There’s a press packet, a few choice anti-establishment quotes, and logos to spare. If they just had some clothes, they might have something.
| ALL Bad Idea |
TAGS
|
