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2009/2010 TREND

REPORT:

THE VISUAL
LANGUAGE  *

OF BRAND.
DAVID ANSETT + TRULY DEEPLY
*BRAND IDENTITY, PACKAGING, ADVERTISING,
 RETAIL SPACE, WEB, LIVERY, SIGNAGE
Truly Deeply                                                                                                  1




  2009/2010 Trend Report;         Dedicated to all businesses who      © 2010 Truly Deeply.
  The Visual Language of Brand.   actively leverage their brands and   This work is licensed under a
                                  their brand visual language.         Creative Commons License. We’re
                                                                       delighted for you to share, blog or
                                                                       publish extracts of our articles, on
                                                                       the condition that Truly Deeply is
                                                                       properly credited (and linked to) as
                                                                       the source, and that you include our
                                                                       URL: trulydeeply.com.au
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




 A REPORT IN
 MAJOR VISUA
 LANGUAGE
 TRENDS IN
 BRAND IDENT
   Trends in the visual language of brand identity are
   driven by many factors from the ‘me-too-ism’ of
   designers and their clients mimicking the visual
   language of market leaders, to new and emerging
   trends such as ‘sustainability’ that draw a similar
   and en-mass visual response from designers all
   over the world
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TO
AL


TITY.
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




                                              When it comes to brands, the thing          When the design of visual language
HOWEVER THE                                   about visual language is that it not only   appears consistently and repeatedly
BIG QUESTION                                  communicates the essence of a brand
                                              and its (hopefully) unique proposition
                                                                                          across a number of brands we identify
                                                                                          that as a trend. When a trend is
ON TRENDS IN                                  to market, but also provides its audience   leveraged positively it offers brands
                                              with cues relative to the other brands      the opportunity to communicate an
BRAND VISUAL                                  in the marketplace. The more a brand        existing set of cues or meanings within
                                              is a leader in its market, the greater      a market to their advantage - whether
LANGUAGE IS                                   meaning it’s visual language has and        that be a local business wishing to
‘WHAT EXACTLY                                 the more influence it commands.              look global, or a global business
                                              The brand visual language of the            wishing to look local. Yet, when
DO WE DO WITH                                 Tiffany’s blue - especially when            misunderstood or misused, trends
                                              combined with their iconic ribbon           can create inappropriate or confusing
THEM?’                                        and box - is a powerful identifier. It       visual messaging to the detriment of
                                              clearly communicates a series of            the brand.
                                              well understood cues such as quality,       When the most popular trends become
                                              elegance, sophistication, femininity,       widely misused the original brand cues
                                              design and premium to a broad cross         become meaningless. The last decade
                                              section of its markets in every country     saw the popularity of the ‘all lowercase
                                              they do business.                           logotype’. Using all lowercase letters
                                                                                          was seen as a way for brands to show
                                                                                          their ‘friendly’, ‘down to earth’ and
                                                                                          ‘approachable’ side. As this aspect of
                                                                                          brand personality became increasingly
                                                                                          popular, more and more brands adopted
                                                                                          the trend for their
                                                                                          visual language,
                                                                                          culminating in the
                                                                                          re-branding of the
                                                                                          National Australia
                                                                                          Bank to ‘nab’.
                                                                                          In terms of trend
                                                                                          relevance, when a
                                                                                          big bank - any big
                                                                                          bank - adopts the
                                                                                          visual language of ‘friendly’, ‘down to
                                                                                          earth’ and ‘approachable’ the cues of
                                                                                          the trend have become compromised.
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                   The brand expressions we tracked        What is the value of a Trend Report into
  OVER THE PAST    included existing, new and refined       the code of brand visual language?
  12 MONTHS        brand identities, product packaging,
                   newspaper, magazine and billboard
                                                           All brands project an image through
                                                           their visual language. It is up to each
  WE HAVE          ads. The scale and breadth of these     brand to make conscious and informed
                   brand expressions allowed us to         decisions about exactly what they wish
  COLLECTED        identify the major brand visual         their visual language to communicate
                   language trends of a broad range of     relative to the competition and
  MORE THAN        market leaders for the last year.       to their market’s perceptions. An
  FIVE THOUSAND    Whilst the majority of the examples     understanding and mastery of the
                   presented in this report are recent,    trends in brand visual language will
  DIFFERENT        many trends are not in themselves       allow business to ‘tune’ their brand’s
                   new. It is our interpretation of the    image to ensure they’re consistently
  BRAND            groundswell of take-up of a trend       communicating the right messages to
  EXPRESSIONS      and the influence exerted within their
                   market by the brands involved, that
                                                           the right people.
                                                           For every organisation seeking to best
  SPANNING         leads us to define the most compelling   manage their brand identity, these
                   and influential trends.                  trends must be part of the consideration
  ALMOST EVERY                                             process. For each brand there will
                                                           be advantages and disadvantages
  MAJOR INDUSTRY                                           to leveraging the cues and meaning
  AND CATEGORY                                             inherent in these trends. The big
                                                           question you should be considering
  OF THE WESTERN                                           is this; ‘does the trend provide an
                                                           opportunity to leverage a set of visual
  WORLD.                                                   cues to communicate the perfect brand
                                                           messages to your market, or has the
                                                           trend become so widely adopted as
                                                           to compromise the uniqueness of the
                                                           brands who follow it?’
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




MAJOR TREND:

GLOBAL
BLANDING
 Global ‘Blanding’ is the single greatest trend we’ve
 seen in brand identity over the past two years, and
 in the last 12 months we’ve seen nothing to suggest
 the trend is losing steam.
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  Global ‘Blanding’ is the homogeniz-       Global ‘Blanding’ describes the
  ation of brand visual language that we    trading-in of unique and usually
                                                                                       GLOBAL
  have seen occurring in brand identity
  design. Like many trends, it was
                                            meaningful symbolism for a shared
                                            and meaningless visual language
                                                                                       BLANDING
  started by re-branding of some of the     of spheres, colour blends and              DESCRIBES
  largest global brands including; Xerox,   transparencies, and three dimensional
  British Telecom, Barack Obama’s           shapes. Whilst the visual style            THE TRADING-
  Presidential Campaign, AT&T, Apple,       achieved by combining these elements
  Barclaycard, HP & Mastercard,             provides a sense of ‘international
                                                                                       IN OF UNIQUE
  before being picked-up by the second      or globalization’ often combined           AND USUALLY
  and third tiers of medium and small       with a suggestion of ‘cutting-edge
  enterprises. This visual language trend   technology’, this is typically achieved    MEANINGFUL
  cuts across almost every conceivable      at the expense of individuality, brand
  category from telecommunications          differentiation and brand messaging.       SYMBOLISM FOR
  to airlines to petroleum, to sporting
  teams and fast food.
                                            There are so many examples of brand
                                            marks that fit this category, we can show
                                                                                       A SHARED AND
                                            you only a small selection. This is not    MEANINGLESS
                                            only the strongest trend identified, but
                                            also the one we believe to contain the     VISUAL
                                            greatest risk of compromise to brand
                                            differentiation and uniqueness. Due to     LANGUAGE
                                            over-use and mass misuse this trend
                                            has the potential for inappropriate or
                                            confusing visual messaging.
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




                                              The last few years has seen almost      As we’ve observed the trend of three-
THE AUTO BADGE                                every auto manufacturer refine their     dimensionality sweep across the
HERITAGE                                      brand mark to make it a shiny, three-
                                              dimensional representation of their
                                                                                      brand identity in so-many categories
                                                                                      we wonder whether these auto brands
                                              badge. This trend has been enabled      can be held responsible for starting
                                              by the evolution of graphic rendering   the trend, or at least giving it the
                                              software and print technology           momentum of credibility.
                                              which now allows complex brand
                                              mark rendering such as these to be
                                              reproduced faithfully.
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                                              The strongest of the global ‘blanding’   this trend to communicate a global
THE SPHERE OF                                 sub-trends is the Sphere of Influence.    positioning - which for many brands
INFLUENCE                                     With clear global symbolism, many
                                              brands with international reach or
                                                                                       is a legitimate play. Some brands
                                                                                       however seem to have ‘gone along
                                              aspirations have been attracted to a     for the ride’ and through lack of
                                              sphere-based brand mark.                 relevance, or poor execution don’t
                                              This category includes the many          fit in with the big boys. Brands
                                              brands from a wide range of categories   attracted to the gravitational pull of
                                              and geographical markets who have        the Sphere of Influence span property,
                                              evolved, refined or re-designed their     telecommunications, travel, finance,
                                              brand identity to include a sphere       hardware, retail, software. petroleum,
                                              element. Most brands have adopted        gaming, politics and fast food.
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                                              Whilst consciously or inadvertently      marks look similar to each other.
EVERY MAN                                     following a trend in brand visual        Some brand that follow this trend
AND HIS DOG’S                                 language does not on its own
                                              diminish the effectiveness or value
                                                                                       do so whilst maintaining relevance
                                                                                       and a uniqueness in their visual
BREAKFAST                                     of an organisation’s brand identity, a   language relative to their market. The
                                              trend that groups together a mass of     Woolworths brand identity below
                                              unrelated businesses and markets,        is a good example. However, other
                                              painting them with the same brush        brands such as UPS, Packard Bell,
                                              should be carefully considered before    Microsoft’s Silverlight, Kraft Foods,
                                              being adopted. A key requirement         and the Corowa RSL Club seem intent
                                              of an effective brand identity is to     on following the leader rather than
                                              provide the business with unique         striking-out in their own unique and
                                              and own-able visual properties.          relevant direction.
                                              The Global Blanding trend applies
                                              a templated approach of three
                                              dimensional shape and graduating
                                              colour to every imaginable brand
                                              and market. Whilst providing
                                              brand with a sense of currency,
                                              there can be no doubt this approach
                                              increases the extent to which brand
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                                              Another sub-trend gaining popularity
SHARING SHARDS                                is the translucent shard. First spotted
                                              in the IT space, this style of visual
                                              language has moved across the finance
                                              industry and business consulting
                                              to place branding for the City of
                                              Melbourne in Australia.
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                 As sporting clubs around the world       aren’t immune from the trend either.
  THE NEW FACE   clamor for the latest update to their    Here are three competitive sporting
  OF WHICH       brand’s visual language, many are
                 turning to three dimensional versions
                                                          organisations from Australia who’s
                                                          brand identities follow this trend.
  SPORT?         of their existing symbols and mascots.
                 New sporting clubs and organisations
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




                                              Key-lines have been used to create     effect. These examples span brand
THE FLYING GRID                               a three dimensional form in brand      identities from markets including
                                              marks for decades. Recent times        insurance, travel, telecommunications
                                              has seen this form of rendering gain   and a place brand for a city in Victoria,
                                              new momentum with the addition         Australia.
                                              of blended colour to accentuate the
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                  Was it Einstein who said “There is       representing businesses in the medical
  SAME-SAME BUT   nothing that is a more certain sign      equipment, electromechanical and
  DIFFERENT       of insanity than to do the same thing
                  over and over and expect the result to
                                                           new media markets.

                  be different.” It turns out Einstein’s
                  theory of relativity seems also to
                  hold for these three brand marks
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




                                              Ribbons have long been a symbol of        elegant flight of British Airways),
THE RIBBON                                    life and celebration. The current trend   and sometimes with little apparent
OF LIFE                                       of Global Blanding has seen the use of
                                              the ribbon element on brand identity
                                                                                        relevance (the stiff ribbon ‘V’ of Vic
                                                                                        Roads).
                                              increase noticeably - sometimes
                                              to good effect (the celebration of
                                              fresh food for Woolworths and the
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MAJOR TREND:

AUTH-
ENTICITY
 With markets flooded by abundant choice
 of similar products, and with a GFC induced
 return to more traditional values, consumers are
 being drawn towards brands they believe to be
 trustworthy and dependable.
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  A key driver of brand equity has           Over the past year we have seen
  always been authenticity. The word         a prevalence of authentic cues in
                                                                                      “AUTHENTICITY
  “Authentic” derives from the Greek
  authentikós, which means “original.”
                                             advertising, packaging and brand
                                             identity of many brands. These
                                                                                      IS THE
  As consumers in most of the western        authentic cues have come in the form     BENCHMARK
  world renew their affection for brands     of story-telling, product development
  that provide a sense of safety and         and of course, visual language.          AGAINST WHICH
  reliability, authenticity has become the
  new brand value of choice. Attributes
                                                                                      ALL BRANDS ARE
  such as genuine and true are the proof                                              NOW JUDGED,”
  points for these brands. Authenticity is
  all about practising what you preach;                                               NOTES JOHN
  being totally clear about who you are,
  what you stand for and how you must                                                 GRANT IN THE
  behave to demonstrate that.
                                                                                      NEW MARKETING
                                             Brands such as Levis and Harley          MANIFESTO.
                                             Davidson have long been regarded
                                             as brands steeped in authenticity. The
                                             visual language of their brand images
                                             are rich with cues of their heritage.
                                             Many brands are seeking to re-tell
                                             their stories, digging back into their
                                             past to unearth their own authentic
                                             visual language.
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




                                              Brands with tradition and craft at their   Application of this visual language has
THE VISUAL                                    heart have long communicated to the        been applied liberally to packaging,
LANGUAGE OF                                   market with visual language rich in
                                              authentic and traditional cues. The last
                                                                                         retail, advertising and on-line for
                                                                                         brands in a range of markets including
AUTHENTICITY                                  twelve months have seen all manner         travel, food, beverage, health, and
                                              of brands rediscover an authentic          fashion.
                                              brand story and seek the relevant
                                              visual language to communicate their
                                              old/new proposition.
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                                              A sub-set of the wider trend of           This visual language trend is well
THE SIGNATURE                                 authenticity the trend towards the use    suited to brands with claim to an artisan
                                              of a signature in brand visual language   or craftsman proposition, brands
                                              has regained popularity. Growing          wishing to take a boutique positioning
                                              from a base of established signature      relative to their competition, or brands
                                              brand marks, over the past twelve         wishing to link their current values to
                                              months we’ve seen an acceleration in      a historical or founding figurehead.
                                              this trend, possibly as a response to
                                              the GFC, which has seen consumers
                                              turn back to brands with trustworthy
                                              and traditional values.
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                                              One of the traits we often see in         We’ve spotted a trend that embraces
BACK TO THE                                   authentic brands is a link to the past.   the style, aesthetic and many of the
FUTURE                                        The thing about the past is we often
                                              associate it with a sense of trust, we
                                                                                        visual cues of the past. From NBA
                                                                                        team the 76ers, who recently ‘updated’
                                              feel safe choosing the fabric softener    their brand mark to look exactly like
                                              our grandma and our mother used on        their old one, through to ice cream
                                              our woolly jumpers when we were           brand Good Humour who have
                                              growing-up.                               cashed-in their heart symbol for an
                                                                                        old ice cream truck, the examples are
                                                                                        too numerous to count. We’re seeing
                                                                                        this trend across markets including
                                                                                        retail, travel, fashion, consumer
                                                                                        electronics, and motor cycles, but
                                                                                        with a particularly strong presence in
                                                                                        food and beverage.
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                                              ‘Greenwashing’ and ‘Farmwashing’           The Greenwashing trend is part of a
GREENWASHING                                  are two new terms coined to describe       larger trend which has seen brands
                                              the recent trend of brands creating a      overtly leveraging their pure, green,
                                              sense of environmental or farm-fresh       farm, fresh, and fair-trade credentials
                                              credibility to products with no rightful   - rightfully or otherwise.
                                              claim to those credentials.
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                                              Another variation on the ‘authentic’   The ‘Made with Love’ trend has been
MADE WITH LOVE                                brand theme is one we’ve called;       adopted by brands wishing to associate
                                              ‘Made with Love.’ These are brands     themselves with qualities of care and
                                              who have consciously adopted the       trust, community spirit, authentic
                                              visual language of hand-made, from     artisan, and hand-made goodness
                                              the heart messaging.                   through the use of hand made or hand
                                                                                     drawn elements, often combined with
                                                                                     photography or other visual cues of
                                                                                     human comfort.
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                                              When it comes to authenticity,          generated hand writing. The thing
FAKING IT                                     brands who are faking it stand a        about real hand writing is it’s written
                                              good chance of creating negative        by hand, and no matter how clever
                                              brand associations. In an attempt to    your typeface, there’s absolutely no
                                              look friendly, human and accessible,    substitute for the real McCoy.
                                              many brands have jumped onto the        This trend has spread like a visual
                                              trend of faking it with hand-written    cancer of lazy brand language across
                                              fonts. These are computer generated     many markets.
                                              typefaces intended to look like human
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OTHER TRENDS:

AFFORDABLE
LUXURY, CULT
PERSONALITY
URBAN ATTIT
 Beyond the major trends covered in the first two
 sections of the report there are many other smaller
 trends that remain equally as significant to the
 markets where they play out.
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T OF
Y&
TUDE
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




                                              The broader trend we are seeing of       Fewer people are going out and buying
AFFORDABLE                                    consumers toning-down their major        a $3000 Plasma, preferring to invest
LUXURY                                        purchases due to the weakening
                                              economy while staying at-home to
                                                                                       in a tub of gourmet ice cream, a nice
                                                                                       bottle of wine and a Saturday night
                                              re-connect and enjoy the finer things     with the ‘missus’ in a five-star hotel.
                                              in life is fueling the popularity of     As a result, many brands, especially
                                              affordable luxury items. These           in retail, FMCG and hospitality, are
                                              luxuries are often a seen as a pamper,   seeking to repackage themselves as
                                              or reward that wont break the bank.      affordable luxuries.
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                                              As businesses evolve the way they take     Often when we think of brands
CULT OF                                       their brand to market, increasingly        with a distinctive personality we
PERSONALITY                                   we are seeing clearly defined brand
                                              personalities being leveraged as
                                                                                         picture larger brands like Apple or
                                                                                         Coke. But businesses of all sizes
                                              a powerful dimension to creating           and in all markets can leverage the
                                              distinctive brand experiences.             differentiating advantages and create
                                              Brand personality is usually associated    brand charisma with a strategically
                                              with brands projecting a happy or          considered brand personality.
                                              zany persona, but within any market,       As well as the right visual language,
                                              relative to competitive brands, your       brand voice - the words the brand
                                              persona can be anything - stylish          chooses when it speaks - is a strong
                                              elegant, technically nerdy, quirky         driver of brand personality.
                                              and artistic, or obsessively driven - as
                                              long as it has relevance, appeal and
                                              authenticity to your market.
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                                              In the last decade we’ve seen an            As a result, there’s great motivation
URBAN ATTITUDE                                increased splintering of market             for many brands to claim a stake in
                                              demographics. One of the trends             the inner urban, but this kind of cred
                                              has been the growth of the ‘urban’          is not easy to claim. Where a brand’s
                                              audience, typically made-up of people       visual language reflects an urban
                                              in the before kids and after kids (or       status, authenticity resonates. When
                                              the no kids at all) stages of life. These   a brand has no urban credentials, the
                                              twenty / thirty / fifty year olds who        visual language will come-across as
                                              chooses to live in inner urban ares         try-hard, alienating the very market
                                              are driven by a different values and        they wish to connect with.
                                              mind-set to their contemporaries in         The visual language of ‘Urban
                                              the suburbs.                                Attitude’ has a edge that combines
                                              The brands that appeal to this market       what’s happening on the streets, youth
                                              are typically closer to the edge, new,      and fringe cultures.
                                              different and less traditional. The
                                              urban market is often where new ideas
                                              form and take hold before spreading
                                              to the mass market.
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OTHER TRENDS:

AND
MORE
 Further significant trends in brand visual
 language that don’t cluster together as part
 of greater trends.
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                                              The fracturing of markets has driven      One trend in brand visual language to
SHAPE SHIFTING                                significant change in the way brands       be driven by these changes is what we
                                              communicate. A single concept, above      call ‘shape-shifting’.
                                              the line, one size fits all approach no-   Gone are the days of strictly policed
                                              longer works. Social media and the        universal consistency of brand identity.
                                              web, street media and new forms of        This new era of brand visual language
                                              direct have introduced a plethora of      sees brands who are comfortable with
                                              new channels through which brands         varying everything from packaging to
                                              can split and customise their messages.   point of sale, from brand colours right
                                              As a result, brands need to be far more   through to brand mark in order to
                                              flexible and comfortable in varying        make sure their customers everywhere
                                              their messaging, including their visual   are noticing and remembering them.
                                              language in-order to be relevant and
                                              to make emotional connections.
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                                              The QR code was created by Japanese     QR Codes can be used by brands
THE SECRET OF                                 corporation Denso-Wave in 1994, but     to provide a link to URLs, product
QR CODES                                      more recently has switched into the
                                              mainstream as brands have begun to
                                                                                      information, competitions, etc. The
                                                                                      codes are usually included on ads
                                              adopt the technology.                   in magazines, outdoor advertising,
                                              ‘QR stands for ‘Quick Response’,        bus ads, business cards, or any other
                                              as the codes allow information to be    object that may act as a catalyst for
                                              ‘decoded’ at high speed.                customers to seek information about
                                              People with a camera phone and          the brand.
                                              the correct reader software can scan    QR technology provides the
                                              the QR Code causing the phone’s         potential for a range of new brand
                                              browser to launch and redirect to the   interactions, especially around
                                              programmed URL.
                                                                                      consumer retail experiences.
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OTHER TRENDS:

TRENDS IN
TYPE
 Whether it’s logotype, headline font, or body
 copy, type has always played a lead role in
 the visual language of brands. These are the
 key trends we’ve seen playing-out in brand
 type design.
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                                              As the vast majority of brands strive     Without exception, every market from
TO SERIF OR NOT                               to remain up-to-date, contemporary        finance to food is dominated by brand
TO SERIF?                                     san serif fonts continue to be the most
                                              popular. Of the thousands of brand
                                                                                        visual language designed with san
                                                                                        serif fonts.
                                              identities we researched, more than
                                              80% were designed with san serif
                                              fonts. Whilst serif fonts are typically
                                              associated with more traditional
                                              brands, this heavy bias creates unique
                                              opportunities for brand prepared to
                                              buck the trend.
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                                              The trend of all lower-case type for       The last couple of years has seen more
WHATEVER THE                                  brand marks has been around for more       mainstream brands adopt this trend.
CASE                                          than a decade. To begin it was the
                                              domain of small, boutique, friendly
                                                                                         As many as 40% of the brand marks
                                                                                         we researched were designed with all
                                              brands, but as the trend gained            lowercase logotype. At the same time,
                                              momentum, brands of all shapes and         forward thinking brands have been
                                              sizes sought to adopt the style in order   reverting back to a traditional capital
                                              to connect themselves with some of         and lower-case format. Confused?
                                              those values they aspired-to.              We’re not surprised.
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                                              There have always been brands who        This style of brand visual language is
THE HERO TYPE                                 build their identity around type. The    well suited to brands who have alot to
                                              trend of ‘logotype’ which is a word      say, and often adopted by brands who
                                              mark without an accompanying visual      wish to tell their brand story through
                                              symbol is not a new one.                 packaging or advertising.
                                              However, the sheer number of brands      Customized type, hand-crafted type,
                                              who continue to build their visual       three-dimensional type, type created
                                              language from a typographical starting   from soft drink - we’ve collected
                                              point is significant enough that it       a range of some of the best recent
                                              requires inclusion in this report.       examples of brand utilizing this style
                                                                                       of visual language.
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OTHER TRENDS:

BRAND
COLOUR
TRENDS
 Colour continues to play an important role in
 the visual communication of social and cultural
 messaging. Since the beginning of brand identity,
 designers have leveraged the meanings of colour to
 create brand messages.
Truly Deeply                                                                                  141




  In many western cultures there is       However, the additional - and often
  a broad understanding that certain      confusing - dimension to the use of
                                                                                THE USE OF
  shades of green represent ‘fresh’ and
  ‘environmentally sustainable’, whilst
                                          colour is fashion. As colours move
                                          through fashionable phases, their
                                                                                COLOUR IS SO
  navy blue represents ‘conservative’     popularity encourages brands to       WIDE-SPREAD
  and ‘traditional’- pink is for girls,   adopt them for reasons other than
  blue is for boys, black is expensive,   their established meanings, often     THERE ARE FEW
  yet yellow and black means              creating mixed messages.
  ‘discount’ - the list goes on-and-on.
                                                                                IF ANY BROAD
  These are examples of social and                                              TRENDS. HERE
  cultural colour associations.
                                                                                ARE SOME OF
                                                                                THE INTERESTING
                                                                                THINGS WE SEE
                                                                                HAPPENING IN
                                                                                THE WORLD OF
                                                                                BRAND COLOUR.
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




                                              A trend that we’ve seen building for the    As the trend spreads, brands are
WHO’S THE                                     last several years is the use of a bright   turning towards brighter and even
BRIGHT SPARK?                                 colour palette by brands wishing to
                                              position themselves as vibrant, fresh
                                                                                          more vibrant colour tones in order to
                                                                                          stand out. The thing about very vibrant
                                              and friendly in their marketplace.          colour palettes is that fewer brands
                                              This trend appears across virtually         can stake a legitimate claim to them.
                                              all markets from finance to food, and        Only brands with a genuine freshness
                                              from travel to telecommunications.          and energy to them, not just relative to
                                                                                          their market, but relative to all other
                                                                                          brands can wrap themselves in these
                                                                                          extremely vibrant colours and remain
                                                                                          relevant and believable.
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                                              Whilst the world of colour in brand   For some time now leading brands
I SEE RED                                     design is far too complex to make     have understood the value of ‘owning’
                                              sweeping statements about a trend     a colour in their marketplace.
                                              towards one colour or another,        That-is being the brand customers
                                              there’s no doubt we’re seeing a       associate with a certain colour in
                                              disproportionate number of brands     their advertising, store presentation
                                              featuring red and orange as their     or packaging. As we’ll illustrate here,
                                              primary colour.                       choosing a brand colour (especially
                                                                                    a more popular colour like red) and
                                                                                    featuring it prominently in your
                                                                                    brand communications alone will not
                                                                                    provide you differentiation. Often,
                                                                                    unless you’re careful, it’ll provide for
                                                                                    the very opposite
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                                              The search by brands for individuality   The ability to blend different colours
A BLEND OF                                    has coincided with the improvement       or tones of the same colour adds a
COLOUR                                        in printing and production techniques.
                                              These two influences have created a
                                                                                       new level of sophistication, elegance
                                                                                       and softness to the visual language of
                                              new wave of brand design we call the     brand design.
                                              ‘Colour Blend’.                          The world has very few flat colours,
                                              Advances in production capabilities      even colours that are printed flat
                                              have created an opportunity for brands   appear to graduate from dark to light
                                              to have complex blends of colour         (even if only slightly) due the angles
                                              in their identity system reproduced      of light and perspective. There’s
                                              faithfully and cost effectively across   something appealing to the eye about
                                              print, signage, packaging, web, even     the application of blended colours,
                                              uniform embroidery.                      perhaps because of the way they
                                                                                       reflect the natural world as we see it.
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OTHER TRENDS:

THE FINAL
WORD
 As we researched this report a couple of quirks
 in the brand continuum caught our eye...
Truly Deeply                                                                                     171




                 The ‘Swish’ is quite possibly the most    Brands from almost every market
  DEATH OF THE   noxious brand visual language trend       in every corner of the globe became
  SWISH          of the last twenty years.
                 Inspired by the success of the Nike
                                                           infected, trading relevance and
                                                           individuality for the glittering allures
                 ‘swoosh’ and given momentum by            of the ‘swish’.
                 the visual attributes of technology and   Finally after far too long this trend
                 momentum, the ‘swish’ spread like a       seems to have lost its steam. If your
                 virus for more than a decade.             brand still has a swish for a brand-
                                                           mark, it’s long overdue for an update.
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




                                              As brands continue to go global,
INSINCERE                                     some businesses in emerging markets
FLATTERY                                      are quick to understand the equity
                                              that resides within the brand identity
                                              of market leaders.
                                              As a result, ‘branderfeit’ stores are
                                              popping-up throughout the newer
                                              economies. Here are some examples
                                              of these misplaced gestures of flattery
                                              - amusing unless the brand they’re
                                              leveraging happens to be yours.
Truly Deeply                                                             173




   THE 10         01. Which visual language trends carry the
                      greatest relevance for you market and
   QUESTIONS          how are you leveraging them?
   YOU SHOULD
   BE ASKING      02. Does your brand identity consciously or
                      unconsciously follow any of these trends?
   YOURSELF           and if-so, is there a good reason for that?
   ABOUT YOUR
   BRAND’S VISUAL 03. Have you consciously considered
                      the messages your brand identity is
   LANGUAGE:          communicating?

                         04. Have you compared your brand identity to
                             those of your competitors and the leaders
                             in your market?

                         05. Does your brand have a distinctive voice
                             when it speaks?

                         06. What unique brand identity properties
                             does your brand you own in your market?

                         07. Where does the strongest authenticity
                             reside for your brand and how is your
                             visual language reflecting it?

                         08. What unique story does your brand tell
                             and what visual cues do you have which
                             assist with that story telling?

                         09. Is your brand identity being consistently
                             leveraged across every one of your
                             customer touch points?

                         10. If your brand’s visual language needs
                             enhancement, do you have a brand design
                             specialist capable of assisting you?
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand




2009/2010 Trend Report;                       © 2010 Truly Deeply.                     Truly Deeply
The Visual Language of Brand.                 This work is licensed under a Creative
                                                                                       18 Market Street
                                              Commons License. We’re delighted for
                                                                                       South Melbourne
                                              you to share, blog or publish extracts
                                                                                       Victoria 3205
                                              of our articles, on the condition that
                                                                                       Australia
                                              Truly Deeply is properly credited (and
                                              linked to) as the source, and that you   +61396930000
                                              include our URL: trulydeeply.com.au      david@trulydeeply.com.au
                                                                                       http://www.trulydeeply.com.au

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2009/2010 VISUAL LANGUAGE TRENDS

  • 1. 2009/2010 TREND REPORT: THE VISUAL LANGUAGE * OF BRAND. DAVID ANSETT + TRULY DEEPLY *BRAND IDENTITY, PACKAGING, ADVERTISING, RETAIL SPACE, WEB, LIVERY, SIGNAGE
  • 2.
  • 3. Truly Deeply 1 2009/2010 Trend Report; Dedicated to all businesses who © 2010 Truly Deeply. The Visual Language of Brand. actively leverage their brands and This work is licensed under a their brand visual language. Creative Commons License. We’re delighted for you to share, blog or publish extracts of our articles, on the condition that Truly Deeply is properly credited (and linked to) as the source, and that you include our URL: trulydeeply.com.au
  • 4. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand A REPORT IN MAJOR VISUA LANGUAGE TRENDS IN BRAND IDENT Trends in the visual language of brand identity are driven by many factors from the ‘me-too-ism’ of designers and their clients mimicking the visual language of market leaders, to new and emerging trends such as ‘sustainability’ that draw a similar and en-mass visual response from designers all over the world
  • 5. Truly Deeply 3 TO AL TITY.
  • 6. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand When it comes to brands, the thing When the design of visual language HOWEVER THE about visual language is that it not only appears consistently and repeatedly BIG QUESTION communicates the essence of a brand and its (hopefully) unique proposition across a number of brands we identify that as a trend. When a trend is ON TRENDS IN to market, but also provides its audience leveraged positively it offers brands with cues relative to the other brands the opportunity to communicate an BRAND VISUAL in the marketplace. The more a brand existing set of cues or meanings within is a leader in its market, the greater a market to their advantage - whether LANGUAGE IS meaning it’s visual language has and that be a local business wishing to ‘WHAT EXACTLY the more influence it commands. look global, or a global business The brand visual language of the wishing to look local. Yet, when DO WE DO WITH Tiffany’s blue - especially when misunderstood or misused, trends combined with their iconic ribbon can create inappropriate or confusing THEM?’ and box - is a powerful identifier. It visual messaging to the detriment of clearly communicates a series of the brand. well understood cues such as quality, When the most popular trends become elegance, sophistication, femininity, widely misused the original brand cues design and premium to a broad cross become meaningless. The last decade section of its markets in every country saw the popularity of the ‘all lowercase they do business. logotype’. Using all lowercase letters was seen as a way for brands to show their ‘friendly’, ‘down to earth’ and ‘approachable’ side. As this aspect of brand personality became increasingly popular, more and more brands adopted the trend for their visual language, culminating in the re-branding of the National Australia Bank to ‘nab’. In terms of trend relevance, when a big bank - any big bank - adopts the visual language of ‘friendly’, ‘down to earth’ and ‘approachable’ the cues of the trend have become compromised.
  • 7. Truly Deeply 5 The brand expressions we tracked What is the value of a Trend Report into OVER THE PAST included existing, new and refined the code of brand visual language? 12 MONTHS brand identities, product packaging, newspaper, magazine and billboard All brands project an image through their visual language. It is up to each WE HAVE ads. The scale and breadth of these brand to make conscious and informed brand expressions allowed us to decisions about exactly what they wish COLLECTED identify the major brand visual their visual language to communicate language trends of a broad range of relative to the competition and MORE THAN market leaders for the last year. to their market’s perceptions. An FIVE THOUSAND Whilst the majority of the examples understanding and mastery of the presented in this report are recent, trends in brand visual language will DIFFERENT many trends are not in themselves allow business to ‘tune’ their brand’s new. It is our interpretation of the image to ensure they’re consistently BRAND groundswell of take-up of a trend communicating the right messages to EXPRESSIONS and the influence exerted within their market by the brands involved, that the right people. For every organisation seeking to best SPANNING leads us to define the most compelling manage their brand identity, these and influential trends. trends must be part of the consideration ALMOST EVERY process. For each brand there will be advantages and disadvantages MAJOR INDUSTRY to leveraging the cues and meaning AND CATEGORY inherent in these trends. The big question you should be considering OF THE WESTERN is this; ‘does the trend provide an opportunity to leverage a set of visual WORLD. cues to communicate the perfect brand messages to your market, or has the trend become so widely adopted as to compromise the uniqueness of the brands who follow it?’
  • 8. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand MAJOR TREND: GLOBAL BLANDING Global ‘Blanding’ is the single greatest trend we’ve seen in brand identity over the past two years, and in the last 12 months we’ve seen nothing to suggest the trend is losing steam.
  • 9. Truly Deeply 7 Global ‘Blanding’ is the homogeniz- Global ‘Blanding’ describes the ation of brand visual language that we trading-in of unique and usually GLOBAL have seen occurring in brand identity design. Like many trends, it was meaningful symbolism for a shared and meaningless visual language BLANDING started by re-branding of some of the of spheres, colour blends and DESCRIBES largest global brands including; Xerox, transparencies, and three dimensional British Telecom, Barack Obama’s shapes. Whilst the visual style THE TRADING- Presidential Campaign, AT&T, Apple, achieved by combining these elements Barclaycard, HP & Mastercard, provides a sense of ‘international IN OF UNIQUE before being picked-up by the second or globalization’ often combined AND USUALLY and third tiers of medium and small with a suggestion of ‘cutting-edge enterprises. This visual language trend technology’, this is typically achieved MEANINGFUL cuts across almost every conceivable at the expense of individuality, brand category from telecommunications differentiation and brand messaging. SYMBOLISM FOR to airlines to petroleum, to sporting teams and fast food. There are so many examples of brand marks that fit this category, we can show A SHARED AND you only a small selection. This is not MEANINGLESS only the strongest trend identified, but also the one we believe to contain the VISUAL greatest risk of compromise to brand differentiation and uniqueness. Due to LANGUAGE over-use and mass misuse this trend has the potential for inappropriate or confusing visual messaging.
  • 10. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand The last few years has seen almost As we’ve observed the trend of three- THE AUTO BADGE every auto manufacturer refine their dimensionality sweep across the HERITAGE brand mark to make it a shiny, three- dimensional representation of their brand identity in so-many categories we wonder whether these auto brands badge. This trend has been enabled can be held responsible for starting by the evolution of graphic rendering the trend, or at least giving it the software and print technology momentum of credibility. which now allows complex brand mark rendering such as these to be reproduced faithfully.
  • 12. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand The strongest of the global ‘blanding’ this trend to communicate a global THE SPHERE OF sub-trends is the Sphere of Influence. positioning - which for many brands INFLUENCE With clear global symbolism, many brands with international reach or is a legitimate play. Some brands however seem to have ‘gone along aspirations have been attracted to a for the ride’ and through lack of sphere-based brand mark. relevance, or poor execution don’t This category includes the many fit in with the big boys. Brands brands from a wide range of categories attracted to the gravitational pull of and geographical markets who have the Sphere of Influence span property, evolved, refined or re-designed their telecommunications, travel, finance, brand identity to include a sphere hardware, retail, software. petroleum, element. Most brands have adopted gaming, politics and fast food.
  • 14. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 16. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand Whilst consciously or inadvertently marks look similar to each other. EVERY MAN following a trend in brand visual Some brand that follow this trend AND HIS DOG’S language does not on its own diminish the effectiveness or value do so whilst maintaining relevance and a uniqueness in their visual BREAKFAST of an organisation’s brand identity, a language relative to their market. The trend that groups together a mass of Woolworths brand identity below unrelated businesses and markets, is a good example. However, other painting them with the same brush brands such as UPS, Packard Bell, should be carefully considered before Microsoft’s Silverlight, Kraft Foods, being adopted. A key requirement and the Corowa RSL Club seem intent of an effective brand identity is to on following the leader rather than provide the business with unique striking-out in their own unique and and own-able visual properties. relevant direction. The Global Blanding trend applies a templated approach of three dimensional shape and graduating colour to every imaginable brand and market. Whilst providing brand with a sense of currency, there can be no doubt this approach increases the extent to which brand
  • 18. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 20. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand Another sub-trend gaining popularity SHARING SHARDS is the translucent shard. First spotted in the IT space, this style of visual language has moved across the finance industry and business consulting to place branding for the City of Melbourne in Australia.
  • 21. Truly Deeply 19 As sporting clubs around the world aren’t immune from the trend either. THE NEW FACE clamor for the latest update to their Here are three competitive sporting OF WHICH brand’s visual language, many are turning to three dimensional versions organisations from Australia who’s brand identities follow this trend. SPORT? of their existing symbols and mascots. New sporting clubs and organisations
  • 22. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand Key-lines have been used to create effect. These examples span brand THE FLYING GRID a three dimensional form in brand identities from markets including marks for decades. Recent times insurance, travel, telecommunications has seen this form of rendering gain and a place brand for a city in Victoria, new momentum with the addition Australia. of blended colour to accentuate the
  • 23. Truly Deeply 21 Was it Einstein who said “There is representing businesses in the medical SAME-SAME BUT nothing that is a more certain sign equipment, electromechanical and DIFFERENT of insanity than to do the same thing over and over and expect the result to new media markets. be different.” It turns out Einstein’s theory of relativity seems also to hold for these three brand marks
  • 24. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand Ribbons have long been a symbol of elegant flight of British Airways), THE RIBBON life and celebration. The current trend and sometimes with little apparent OF LIFE of Global Blanding has seen the use of the ribbon element on brand identity relevance (the stiff ribbon ‘V’ of Vic Roads). increase noticeably - sometimes to good effect (the celebration of fresh food for Woolworths and the
  • 26. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand MAJOR TREND: AUTH- ENTICITY With markets flooded by abundant choice of similar products, and with a GFC induced return to more traditional values, consumers are being drawn towards brands they believe to be trustworthy and dependable.
  • 27. Truly Deeply 25 A key driver of brand equity has Over the past year we have seen always been authenticity. The word a prevalence of authentic cues in “AUTHENTICITY “Authentic” derives from the Greek authentikós, which means “original.” advertising, packaging and brand identity of many brands. These IS THE As consumers in most of the western authentic cues have come in the form BENCHMARK world renew their affection for brands of story-telling, product development that provide a sense of safety and and of course, visual language. AGAINST WHICH reliability, authenticity has become the new brand value of choice. Attributes ALL BRANDS ARE such as genuine and true are the proof NOW JUDGED,” points for these brands. Authenticity is all about practising what you preach; NOTES JOHN being totally clear about who you are, what you stand for and how you must GRANT IN THE behave to demonstrate that. NEW MARKETING Brands such as Levis and Harley MANIFESTO. Davidson have long been regarded as brands steeped in authenticity. The visual language of their brand images are rich with cues of their heritage. Many brands are seeking to re-tell their stories, digging back into their past to unearth their own authentic visual language.
  • 28. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand Brands with tradition and craft at their Application of this visual language has THE VISUAL heart have long communicated to the been applied liberally to packaging, LANGUAGE OF market with visual language rich in authentic and traditional cues. The last retail, advertising and on-line for brands in a range of markets including AUTHENTICITY twelve months have seen all manner travel, food, beverage, health, and of brands rediscover an authentic fashion. brand story and seek the relevant visual language to communicate their old/new proposition.
  • 30. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 32. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 34. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand A sub-set of the wider trend of This visual language trend is well THE SIGNATURE authenticity the trend towards the use suited to brands with claim to an artisan of a signature in brand visual language or craftsman proposition, brands has regained popularity. Growing wishing to take a boutique positioning from a base of established signature relative to their competition, or brands brand marks, over the past twelve wishing to link their current values to months we’ve seen an acceleration in a historical or founding figurehead. this trend, possibly as a response to the GFC, which has seen consumers turn back to brands with trustworthy and traditional values.
  • 36. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand One of the traits we often see in We’ve spotted a trend that embraces BACK TO THE authentic brands is a link to the past. the style, aesthetic and many of the FUTURE The thing about the past is we often associate it with a sense of trust, we visual cues of the past. From NBA team the 76ers, who recently ‘updated’ feel safe choosing the fabric softener their brand mark to look exactly like our grandma and our mother used on their old one, through to ice cream our woolly jumpers when we were brand Good Humour who have growing-up. cashed-in their heart symbol for an old ice cream truck, the examples are too numerous to count. We’re seeing this trend across markets including retail, travel, fashion, consumer electronics, and motor cycles, but with a particularly strong presence in food and beverage.
  • 38. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 40. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand ‘Greenwashing’ and ‘Farmwashing’ The Greenwashing trend is part of a GREENWASHING are two new terms coined to describe larger trend which has seen brands the recent trend of brands creating a overtly leveraging their pure, green, sense of environmental or farm-fresh farm, fresh, and fair-trade credentials credibility to products with no rightful - rightfully or otherwise. claim to those credentials.
  • 42. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 44. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 46. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 48. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
  • 50. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand Another variation on the ‘authentic’ The ‘Made with Love’ trend has been MADE WITH LOVE brand theme is one we’ve called; adopted by brands wishing to associate ‘Made with Love.’ These are brands themselves with qualities of care and who have consciously adopted the trust, community spirit, authentic visual language of hand-made, from artisan, and hand-made goodness the heart messaging. through the use of hand made or hand drawn elements, often combined with photography or other visual cues of human comfort.
  • 52. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
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  • 60. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand When it comes to authenticity, generated hand writing. The thing FAKING IT brands who are faking it stand a about real hand writing is it’s written good chance of creating negative by hand, and no matter how clever brand associations. In an attempt to your typeface, there’s absolutely no look friendly, human and accessible, substitute for the real McCoy. many brands have jumped onto the This trend has spread like a visual trend of faking it with hand-written cancer of lazy brand language across fonts. These are computer generated many markets. typefaces intended to look like human
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  • 64. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand OTHER TRENDS: AFFORDABLE LUXURY, CULT PERSONALITY URBAN ATTIT Beyond the major trends covered in the first two sections of the report there are many other smaller trends that remain equally as significant to the markets where they play out.
  • 65. Truly Deeply 63 T OF Y& TUDE
  • 66. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand The broader trend we are seeing of Fewer people are going out and buying AFFORDABLE consumers toning-down their major a $3000 Plasma, preferring to invest LUXURY purchases due to the weakening economy while staying at-home to in a tub of gourmet ice cream, a nice bottle of wine and a Saturday night re-connect and enjoy the finer things with the ‘missus’ in a five-star hotel. in life is fueling the popularity of As a result, many brands, especially affordable luxury items. These in retail, FMCG and hospitality, are luxuries are often a seen as a pamper, seeking to repackage themselves as or reward that wont break the bank. affordable luxuries.
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  • 80. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand As businesses evolve the way they take Often when we think of brands CULT OF their brand to market, increasingly with a distinctive personality we PERSONALITY we are seeing clearly defined brand personalities being leveraged as picture larger brands like Apple or Coke. But businesses of all sizes a powerful dimension to creating and in all markets can leverage the distinctive brand experiences. differentiating advantages and create Brand personality is usually associated brand charisma with a strategically with brands projecting a happy or considered brand personality. zany persona, but within any market, As well as the right visual language, relative to competitive brands, your brand voice - the words the brand persona can be anything - stylish chooses when it speaks - is a strong elegant, technically nerdy, quirky driver of brand personality. and artistic, or obsessively driven - as long as it has relevance, appeal and authenticity to your market.
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  • 96. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand In the last decade we’ve seen an As a result, there’s great motivation URBAN ATTITUDE increased splintering of market for many brands to claim a stake in demographics. One of the trends the inner urban, but this kind of cred has been the growth of the ‘urban’ is not easy to claim. Where a brand’s audience, typically made-up of people visual language reflects an urban in the before kids and after kids (or status, authenticity resonates. When the no kids at all) stages of life. These a brand has no urban credentials, the twenty / thirty / fifty year olds who visual language will come-across as chooses to live in inner urban ares try-hard, alienating the very market are driven by a different values and they wish to connect with. mind-set to their contemporaries in The visual language of ‘Urban the suburbs. Attitude’ has a edge that combines The brands that appeal to this market what’s happening on the streets, youth are typically closer to the edge, new, and fringe cultures. different and less traditional. The urban market is often where new ideas form and take hold before spreading to the mass market.
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  • 108. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand OTHER TRENDS: AND MORE Further significant trends in brand visual language that don’t cluster together as part of greater trends.
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  • 110. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand The fracturing of markets has driven One trend in brand visual language to SHAPE SHIFTING significant change in the way brands be driven by these changes is what we communicate. A single concept, above call ‘shape-shifting’. the line, one size fits all approach no- Gone are the days of strictly policed longer works. Social media and the universal consistency of brand identity. web, street media and new forms of This new era of brand visual language direct have introduced a plethora of sees brands who are comfortable with new channels through which brands varying everything from packaging to can split and customise their messages. point of sale, from brand colours right As a result, brands need to be far more through to brand mark in order to flexible and comfortable in varying make sure their customers everywhere their messaging, including their visual are noticing and remembering them. language in-order to be relevant and to make emotional connections.
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  • 116. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand The QR code was created by Japanese QR Codes can be used by brands THE SECRET OF corporation Denso-Wave in 1994, but to provide a link to URLs, product QR CODES more recently has switched into the mainstream as brands have begun to information, competitions, etc. The codes are usually included on ads adopt the technology. in magazines, outdoor advertising, ‘QR stands for ‘Quick Response’, bus ads, business cards, or any other as the codes allow information to be object that may act as a catalyst for ‘decoded’ at high speed. customers to seek information about People with a camera phone and the brand. the correct reader software can scan QR technology provides the the QR Code causing the phone’s potential for a range of new brand browser to launch and redirect to the interactions, especially around programmed URL. consumer retail experiences.
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  • 120. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand OTHER TRENDS: TRENDS IN TYPE Whether it’s logotype, headline font, or body copy, type has always played a lead role in the visual language of brands. These are the key trends we’ve seen playing-out in brand type design.
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  • 122. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand As the vast majority of brands strive Without exception, every market from TO SERIF OR NOT to remain up-to-date, contemporary finance to food is dominated by brand TO SERIF? san serif fonts continue to be the most popular. Of the thousands of brand visual language designed with san serif fonts. identities we researched, more than 80% were designed with san serif fonts. Whilst serif fonts are typically associated with more traditional brands, this heavy bias creates unique opportunities for brand prepared to buck the trend.
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  • 124. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand The trend of all lower-case type for The last couple of years has seen more WHATEVER THE brand marks has been around for more mainstream brands adopt this trend. CASE than a decade. To begin it was the domain of small, boutique, friendly As many as 40% of the brand marks we researched were designed with all brands, but as the trend gained lowercase logotype. At the same time, momentum, brands of all shapes and forward thinking brands have been sizes sought to adopt the style in order reverting back to a traditional capital to connect themselves with some of and lower-case format. Confused? those values they aspired-to. We’re not surprised.
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  • 126. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand There have always been brands who This style of brand visual language is THE HERO TYPE build their identity around type. The well suited to brands who have alot to trend of ‘logotype’ which is a word say, and often adopted by brands who mark without an accompanying visual wish to tell their brand story through symbol is not a new one. packaging or advertising. However, the sheer number of brands Customized type, hand-crafted type, who continue to build their visual three-dimensional type, type created language from a typographical starting from soft drink - we’ve collected point is significant enough that it a range of some of the best recent requires inclusion in this report. examples of brand utilizing this style of visual language.
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  • 142. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand OTHER TRENDS: BRAND COLOUR TRENDS Colour continues to play an important role in the visual communication of social and cultural messaging. Since the beginning of brand identity, designers have leveraged the meanings of colour to create brand messages.
  • 143. Truly Deeply 141 In many western cultures there is However, the additional - and often a broad understanding that certain confusing - dimension to the use of THE USE OF shades of green represent ‘fresh’ and ‘environmentally sustainable’, whilst colour is fashion. As colours move through fashionable phases, their COLOUR IS SO navy blue represents ‘conservative’ popularity encourages brands to WIDE-SPREAD and ‘traditional’- pink is for girls, adopt them for reasons other than blue is for boys, black is expensive, their established meanings, often THERE ARE FEW yet yellow and black means creating mixed messages. ‘discount’ - the list goes on-and-on. IF ANY BROAD These are examples of social and TRENDS. HERE cultural colour associations. ARE SOME OF THE INTERESTING THINGS WE SEE HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF BRAND COLOUR.
  • 144. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand A trend that we’ve seen building for the As the trend spreads, brands are WHO’S THE last several years is the use of a bright turning towards brighter and even BRIGHT SPARK? colour palette by brands wishing to position themselves as vibrant, fresh more vibrant colour tones in order to stand out. The thing about very vibrant and friendly in their marketplace. colour palettes is that fewer brands This trend appears across virtually can stake a legitimate claim to them. all markets from finance to food, and Only brands with a genuine freshness from travel to telecommunications. and energy to them, not just relative to their market, but relative to all other brands can wrap themselves in these extremely vibrant colours and remain relevant and believable.
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  • 158. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand Whilst the world of colour in brand For some time now leading brands I SEE RED design is far too complex to make have understood the value of ‘owning’ sweeping statements about a trend a colour in their marketplace. towards one colour or another, That-is being the brand customers there’s no doubt we’re seeing a associate with a certain colour in disproportionate number of brands their advertising, store presentation featuring red and orange as their or packaging. As we’ll illustrate here, primary colour. choosing a brand colour (especially a more popular colour like red) and featuring it prominently in your brand communications alone will not provide you differentiation. Often, unless you’re careful, it’ll provide for the very opposite
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  • 166. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand The search by brands for individuality The ability to blend different colours A BLEND OF has coincided with the improvement or tones of the same colour adds a COLOUR in printing and production techniques. These two influences have created a new level of sophistication, elegance and softness to the visual language of new wave of brand design we call the brand design. ‘Colour Blend’. The world has very few flat colours, Advances in production capabilities even colours that are printed flat have created an opportunity for brands appear to graduate from dark to light to have complex blends of colour (even if only slightly) due the angles in their identity system reproduced of light and perspective. There’s faithfully and cost effectively across something appealing to the eye about print, signage, packaging, web, even the application of blended colours, uniform embroidery. perhaps because of the way they reflect the natural world as we see it.
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  • 172. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand OTHER TRENDS: THE FINAL WORD As we researched this report a couple of quirks in the brand continuum caught our eye...
  • 173. Truly Deeply 171 The ‘Swish’ is quite possibly the most Brands from almost every market DEATH OF THE noxious brand visual language trend in every corner of the globe became SWISH of the last twenty years. Inspired by the success of the Nike infected, trading relevance and individuality for the glittering allures ‘swoosh’ and given momentum by of the ‘swish’. the visual attributes of technology and Finally after far too long this trend momentum, the ‘swish’ spread like a seems to have lost its steam. If your virus for more than a decade. brand still has a swish for a brand- mark, it’s long overdue for an update.
  • 174. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand As brands continue to go global, INSINCERE some businesses in emerging markets FLATTERY are quick to understand the equity that resides within the brand identity of market leaders. As a result, ‘branderfeit’ stores are popping-up throughout the newer economies. Here are some examples of these misplaced gestures of flattery - amusing unless the brand they’re leveraging happens to be yours.
  • 175. Truly Deeply 173 THE 10 01. Which visual language trends carry the greatest relevance for you market and QUESTIONS how are you leveraging them? YOU SHOULD BE ASKING 02. Does your brand identity consciously or unconsciously follow any of these trends? YOURSELF and if-so, is there a good reason for that? ABOUT YOUR BRAND’S VISUAL 03. Have you consciously considered the messages your brand identity is LANGUAGE: communicating? 04. Have you compared your brand identity to those of your competitors and the leaders in your market? 05. Does your brand have a distinctive voice when it speaks? 06. What unique brand identity properties does your brand you own in your market? 07. Where does the strongest authenticity reside for your brand and how is your visual language reflecting it? 08. What unique story does your brand tell and what visual cues do you have which assist with that story telling? 09. Is your brand identity being consistently leveraged across every one of your customer touch points? 10. If your brand’s visual language needs enhancement, do you have a brand design specialist capable of assisting you?
  • 176. 2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand 2009/2010 Trend Report; © 2010 Truly Deeply. Truly Deeply The Visual Language of Brand. This work is licensed under a Creative 18 Market Street Commons License. We’re delighted for South Melbourne you to share, blog or publish extracts Victoria 3205 of our articles, on the condition that Australia Truly Deeply is properly credited (and linked to) as the source, and that you +61396930000 include our URL: trulydeeply.com.au david@trulydeeply.com.au http://www.trulydeeply.com.au