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Part 1 – Why ‘looking good’ and ‘feeling right’ are so important

From the moment we wake up to the moment we sleep, we are surrounded by our favourite ‘brands’, the products we’ve selected to get us through our day, all of them represented by the brand identity that defines them. Why did we select them, and what has all this visual ‘power dressing’ got to do with it? Why isn’t everything just sold to us naked, in plain brown paper bags? Answer that question, and we understand not only why we need logos, but also why they need to look good.

Why Good Branding Design Matters For Brand Identity Why and how do certain brands become our 'favourites'? Discover the power of good branding design to elevate your brand identity in Singapore.

Going for Woke – Part 2 | When it’s bad for the brand, as well as the issues.

Back in 2020 we began our spotlight on the phenomenon of ‘Woke Capitalism’, and how it is impacting brands. Which is not all good. And we attempted to help brand owners navigate these potentially choppy waters in a way that would strengthen their brand, while building ‘a better world’. Sadly, it’s like nobody listened.

Going for Woke – Part 2 | When it’s bad for the brand, as well as the issues - Equus Blog Back in 2020 we began our spotlight on the phenomenon of ‘Woke Capitalism’, and how it is impacting brands. Which..

A bold brand refresh? If you’re going to refresh your brand in the consumer credit card space, you might as well push the boat out a bit, particularly a market leader like Visa. Instead they’ve simply delinked the colour bands from the logo, turning it into a separate brand asset, like the Nike swoosh. Time will tell if it becomes as recognisable as the swoosh. We think they really played it safe, and it's nothing to get excited about. What do you think?

https://www.creativebloq.com/news/visa-rebrand

Bold Visa rebrand aims to show it's more than a credit card Visa's new identity separates its brand symbol and wordmark.

Throughout its history, the Olympics has been marred by accusations of not being economically and environmentally sustainable, with many of its past venues laying abandoned and unused, and the host cities left with heavy bills to pay.

Well, this year's host country Japan is trying to change all that. From cardboard beds and electric vehicles to powering their venues with renewables and using recycled electronic waste for this year’s Olympics medals… we hope this becomes the blueprint for future Olympic games!

https://www.insider.com/tokyo-olympics-medals-recycled-cell-phones-2021-7

Tokyo's Olympic medals were made from 78,985 tons of recycled electronic devices, including cell phones The medals, made from recycled elements like old cell phones, are part of a larger sustainability effort at the Tokyo Olympics.

In five short years, The National Gallery Singapore has achieved an awful lot - creating a visual arts powerhouse in a historic Singapore landmark, and putting Southeast Asian Art on the global map. So we’re proud to have designed their 2020 Annual Report, and the two before that.

Check out the digital version in the link!

https://issuu.com/nationalgallerysingapore/docs/national_gallery_singapore_ar20_issuu

National Gallery Singapore Annual Report FY2020 Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu’s millions of monthly readers. Title: National Gallery Singapore Annual Report FY2020, Author: National Gall...

Happy birthday Singapore! It’s tough to be turning 56 during the Covid pandemic, but hey, at least this year we get to celebrate it twice, today and on the 21st. Enjoy the fireworks in 4K!

Annual reports probably rank very low in anybody’s reading list but for MailChimp’s Annual Report, going through it is like a (long) walk in the park.

Illustrated throughout with very clear and simple messaging, we aren’t surprised it won two pencils at this year’s D&AD Awards.

https://mailchimp.com/annual-report/

2020 Mailchimp Annual Report 2020 Mailchimp Annual Report

The BBC has refreshed its logo to use their own in-house font instead of Gill Sans, and the UK public is frothing at the mouth at the £50,000 price tag, egged on by the tabloid newspaper The Sun.

The decision to make the change was so that BBC could stop paying hefty licensing fees every time they used the previous font, which ultimately will save them money. Must have been a slow news week at The Sun…

https://designtaxi.com/news/414624/BBC-Defends-Logo-Refresh-Reported-To-Cost-Tens-Of-Thousands-Of-Pounds/

BBC Defends Logo Refresh Reported To Cost ‘Tens Of Thousands Of Pounds’ - DesignTAXI.com All this Big, Brutal Contempt over a small change.

“Make it make sense!” Has been the rallying cry of hot dog lovers around the globe, when it comes to how buns and dogs are sold together at grocery stores. Basically, they never match - either there are too few buns in a pack vs the dogs, or vice versa.

Well Heinz has watched all the TikTok videos, and done something about it. They created a petition for bun and dog makers to make equal packs of 10 buns and dogs.

We don’t know if this petition is going to be successful but judging from the number of people who’ve signed it, Heinz just sold a lot more of its ketchup and mustards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMo6prUBqfU&t=10s

Heinz Hot Dog Pact

It’s 2021 and Victoria’s Secret is no longer the same brand it was, since the body positivity movement became part of the cultural mainstream. Their famed but out-of-touch annual Victoria’s Secret Show has been cancelled, and their Instagram page is peppered generously with models and influencers of different shapes and colours.

But despite still having the biggest market share, they have a runway-sized problem. Putting their Instagram page side by side with their competitors, they look like any other inclusive and diversity-forward brands. Their ‘VSCollective’ of celebrity role models/partners is an attempt to change their paradigm, but we’ve seen it before with Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign, and many others. Maybe the only way to solve this runway-sized problem is with a runway-shaped solution. Bring back the original yearly show, but instead of creating it mainly for the male gaze, do it in celebration of diversity. Oh, and choose models that at least make VS products look desirable to female customers, even if the models don’t fit conventional stereotypes of beauty.

https://www.luxuo.com/style/fashion/victorias-secret-is-ready-to-spread-its-wings-again.html

Victoria’s Secret Is Ready To Spread Its Wings Again The VS Collective is the company’s boldest move yet to reposition itself and regain consumer’s trust it has lost in the last few years.

With today’s social media savvy consumers, one bad customer experience can destroy a brand, literally overnight. So how can brands avoid this kind of risk, or recover from it when it happens? It all comes down to good ‘brand experience design’. In other words, designing the whole customer experience so that it builds your brand, in the right way.

Find out more in part 1 of our blog post on Brand Experience Design.

https://www.equus-design.com/blog/why-brand-experience-design-is-the-new-must-have-for-brands-part-1/

Why Brand Experience Design is the new ‘must have’ for brands…– Part 1 - Equus Blog With today’s social media savvy consumers, one bad customer experience can destroy a brand, literally overnight. So how can brands..

Finally ‘woke’ issues disrupt the esoteric world of typography. Type designer Marie Boulanger claims we need to ‘dis-gender’ fonts, with the rather misguided assertion that gender stereotypes in typefaces stifle creativity. In our view this says more about Boulanger’s stereotypes than any in typography. Eliminating obvious difference and the natural associations of descriptive language is what stifles creativity, and begs a rather colourless vision. Besides, as commercial designers we are not calling the shots - our creativity is in harness to the needs of our clients, not the needs of our own egos, or the dictates of the prevailing cultural ideology. We design according to the brief given to us, which means using typefaces that would appeal to the demographic our clients are targeting. If it’s exclusively women then it makes sense to ‘limit’ our choice of fonts to those that would attract them. Likewise for men, or children, or any other specific customer demographic.

http://ow.ly/oAk750F1Hbs

Why gender stereotypes in typefaces can stifle creativity | Design Week A new book from type designer Marie Boulanger explores stereotypes we apply to type, the impact it has, and why breaking away can create better design work.

We’ve detected a growing trend for 'brandjacking' recently, especially in the F&B industry. This latest campaign involving Pepsi is one of the smartest we've seen by far, with a cheeky claim that Pepsi pairs better with burgers than Coke does, scrunching up Burger King and MacDonald’s packaging to ‘prove’ their claim. The trouble is, neither brand serves Pepsi! So which customer is going to get a burger and then head over to the nearest convenience store to buy a Pepsi… instead of the Coke they can get as part of a meal-deal on the spot? Good luck with that! Just goes to show how challenger brands can sometimes get really desperate. But at least it gets their name out there. Anyway, what do you think? Let us know in the comments.

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/05/27/ad-the-day-pepsi-s-hidden-logos-proof-it-goes-better-with-burgers-coke
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/05/27/ad-the-day-pepsi-s-hidden-logos-proof-it-goes-better-with-burgers-coke

Ad of the Day: Pepsi’s hidden logos ‘proof’ it goes better with burgers than Coke Pepsi has been making itself very clear lately as it claims its fizzy drink goes better with burgers than rival Coca-Cola. And much like Burger King, the challenger brand has shown it knows how to have more fun.

Back in the day, ‘shopping’ meant going to a shop, looking at the branded options on the shelf, selecting the product that had promoted itself best in the media, pop it in the basket, and buy it with cash. End of story. Today, we check out a myriad of options on our phones, select the brand recommended by friends or others on web forums, buy it online without moving from our seats, and either promote it or trash it on social media afterwards. What does this mean for brand owners today – is traditional retail and branding dead, or has it just changed focus?
Read more on our blog!

https://www.equus-design.com/blog/the-evolution-of-the-buying-process-and-what-it-means-for-brands/

The evolution of the buying process - Equus Blog And what it means for brands Back in the day, ‘shopping’ meant going to a shop, looking at the branded..

The Equus team had a mini-debate about this packaging, which overall we thought was a fresh and welcome direction for over-the-counter pharma packaging. However, some thought it too juvenile looking, and wondered if children might mistake it for candy, because of the colourful packaging. What do you think? Let us know your take in the comments!

http://ow.ly/MvQf50EoY7h

https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/29-march-4-april-2021/betr-jkr/?cmpid=dwnews_19597053&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=dw_daily&adg=10FF3042-2ACB-4A37-B23E-C3CCD734665F

This medicine company resists “cold, cluttered and confusing” branding JKR has devised the branding and strategy for “socially conscious” medication provider Betr, which seeks to “challenge established codes” in the medicine market.

Meet the newest member of the team, our content developer Janessa!

Janessa has a background in experiential marketing (events), with over 7 years experience in creating and bringing brand experiences to life. Her interest in content creation and thirst for knowledge led her to pivot into digital content marketing, honing and developing a mixed-bag of skills including copywriting, creative ideation, organization skills and keeping the pulse of what’s current in the marketing landscape.

In her free time you’ll find her painting watercolours and cultivating her inner nerd by playing table top games involving tactics, co-operation, a little bit of subterfuge and the throw of a dice to keep things unpredictable. Her favourite games are Zombiecide: Black Plague, Betrayal at House on the Hill and Dungeons & Dragons.

We question the wisdom of this move by Coca-Cola. While it may seem like a good idea to focus their spending on countries that are recovering faster, like China and Japan, they may not necessarily be the regions that offer the most long-term growth, for example, all the countries worst affected by the Covid crisis. It’s also giving their competitors like Pepsi a huge opportunity to expand their market share in the vacuum Coca Cola leave behind, especially since they've publicly revealed their plans to the world. We can say with certainty this is going to affect their brand once the world recovers. Read our post, "Keeping Brands Afloat During Times of Crisis" on our blog to find out why: https://www.equus-design.com/blog/keeping-brands-afloat-during-times-of-crisis/

https://www.marketing-interactive.com/coca-cola-to-hold-marketing-spend-for-regions-slow-to-recover

Coca-Cola to hold marketing spend for regions slow to recover For the first quarter of 2021, Asia Pacific brought in a net revenue of US$1.4 billion, a 24% increase compared to the same period in 2020.