Recession Hits Corporate Branding (#ilovethisstuff)

[a little swing over to my marketing side today...]

A bunch of random articles I've read today from wildly different sources confirm the same thing: ITE (In This Economy), corporate branding is taking drastic measures to make itself more comforting, friendly, and less "hi-I'm-a-retail-monolith-and-I've-come-to-take-all-your-money." According to this NYT article, ld-standby brands like Wal-Mart, Stop & Shop and Woolworths are all softening their logos by subbing in lowercase instead of uppercase, curves instead of corners, and a general feeling of cuteness.

“The economy is the No. 1 influence this year,” said John H. Bredenfoerder, a color expert and design director at Landor Associates, the brand-consulting company that produced the new Cheer detergent emblem. Amid all the gloom, he said, “people need a little joy in their lives.” ...Mr. Bredenfoerder said that blue was also gaining as a stand-in for the environment (think of earth’s blue orb as seen from space, or clear blue waters) as well as for fresh optimism. But please, make it a joyful sky blue — not dark, corporate-titan navy.

I'm not really a fan--come on, Sysco, don't you think the old logo had a bit more oomph behind it? And did you really have to get rid of the silly/awesome little cube symbol? Curved lines are overrated!--but it definitely is interesting. Starbucks is also adapting in its own way via logos, or lack thereof...more below.

[source: staple design's blog]

As for Starbucks, the logo that used to signify Seattle cool (I remember when my mom actually ORDERED a Starbucks coffee mug and some coffee from its Seattle outpost. I am THAT OLD, you guys.) now is a not-so-cool symbol of overpriced hegemony. This Mother Jones article reports that Starbucks cafes in Seattle are now actually experimenting with HIDING their logos entirely ("Stealth Starbucks"):

"Think of it as the Red Scare in reverse: Worrying whether the hipster at the cafe is secretly a communist is about to be replaced with worrying whether the hipster cafe is secretly a Starbucks. Yesterday, the chain revealed that it's dropping its name from a location in Seattle's trendy Capitol Hill neighborhood and replacing it with '15th Avenue Coffee and Tea.' That's right, the people's coffee provider is going underground."

interesting, non? what do y'all think of the logo waffling?

On The Prospect of Being a Hair Model

A few weeks ago--actually, while hanging out at that Esquivel Shoe event--a dapper guy approached me, introduced himself as one of Vidal Sassoon's head colorists, and asked me if I'd ever considered being a hair model. Uhhh, no, I'd have to say that particular thought had never occurred to me...but I gave him my card and promptly forgot about it.

Fast-forward to last week, when Mister Colorist Guy actually calls me, explains that he's hoping I'm still interested in being his permanent hair model (apparently, my "look" is "very Vidal Sassoon." And all the time I thought it was just "very giant Suri Cruise."), and that if I accept the role, I'll have free color and cuts at Vidal from here on out. Considering my current state of mild hair boredom and less-mild wallet emptiness, of course I said I'd come meet with him.

Rolled over to Vidal in Beverly Hills today for our consultation & was presented with a slightly daunting lookbook for the next season's looks. Suddenly I'm not so sure about this whole endeavor. I mean, I knew he would be looking at changing my color, but to this?


I mean, this girl rocks it, but I'm not sure I could pass a reflective surface and keep a straight face if I had this creation on my head. I'm much more in love with these next looks from the collection, but not too sure how they'd work out on my brunette head...

this is like what the color inverse of me might be, if my cheekbones were actually visible

paging gala darling!

Oy vey. This is a struggle, kids. It goes against every grain of my being to pass up a free ANYTHING, especially a free anything swanky in the BH...but this freebie is more of a commitment than your average sample of a molasses-carob-spirulina bar at Whole Foods. And let's keep in mind that I don't exactly look like an obvious choice for purple-hair vixenry (see below, in which I attempt to look as wholesome as my friend's ridiculously cute baby):


I AM, however, much more in love with looks from the current/previous season at VS. Maybe Mister Colorist will still deign to bring them out for me? We have a phone date, so I'll do my best. I mean, this look's color (below) is sort of subdued yet also utterly rainbowy, which is insane, and which I am very into. Cool, right? (I wouldn't mind her awesome top, either....)



I've also been toying w/ the idea of super pale silver white/grey. maybe a front chunk or like highlights or something. thoughts?!???

All-American Steez

"Top Gun" is on the TV in the background--god, Tom Cruise had kind of a chipmunk face then, huh?--and seeing Tom & co. run around doing military things in their dashing Ray-Ban shades made me think about how aviators a very American item, and about which other things seem to me particularly native to the U.S....

1. AVIATORS

a good moment for ray-ban: tom in top gun

2. JEANS

1993 calvin klein ad w/ kate & mark (buy it on ebay! or buy it for me on ebay!)

3. COWBOY BOOTS

a) traditionnnnn! (@ www.cowboyboots.us)

b) super nouveau: martin margiela degrade cowboy boots (jane's, from sea of shoes)

Funny, the first 2 are eternally versatile and have come in myriad versions, from low- to super-high-end, and can flatter almost anyone. Cowboy boots, on the other hand, not so much. I look absurd in them, and they require very certain physical and stylistic criteria to look OK. (For way more street-style examples of hipsters as well as cowboys sporting cowboy boots, check my friend Jody's blog, When You Awake).

On that note, time to go find my aviators, shove em in my jeans pocket, and hit the open road. It's all right that I don't have cowboy boots, because I ate charred meat, which certainly fulfills my wild west quotient for the day. Happy Fourth!