Branding

Adobe's logo is based on a design created by the wife of Adobe co-founder John Warnock, way back in 1982. Do you really think the firm has any intention of changing that "iconic" A? No, of course not. And yet it recently tasked a number of talented designers to rethink the logo, for no apparent reason. It would seem the designers were only to happy to play ball, knowing that their efforts would come to naught but that they would nevertheless benefit from Adobe's extensive reach.

As a "weekend project" Brian Chan recently decided to push the capabilities of CSS into the domain of recreating well-known corporate logos. The result is quite impressive although from a practical perspective such an approach isn't viable — the increasing adoption of SVG vector graphics makes this little more than a virtuoso display of counter-intuitive coding. But as Samuel Johnson, of dictionary fame, once said of a dog walking on its hind legs, "It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." The images below show the CSS-created and original versions of the old Apple logo, with the superimposition demonstrating just how close you can get. Count me surprised.

Logo redesign as performance art? Design firm Sagmeister and Walsh will redesign the logo of Adobe MAX 2013: The Creativity Conference live during a 24-hour period using "a single design material, such as strings or pencil." You can tune in at 9 AM ET via Adobe's Create Now Facebook app to witness this design highwire act. A brief interview with Jessica Walsh provides some background on what to expect. Related is something called the Adobe MAX Speaker Challenge Sweepstakes. To participate in this you need to tweet which of two MAX sessions you'd rather attend, for a shot at winning not only a full conference pass and the Creative Cloud subscription that goes with it but also VIP seating at the MAX Bash. You can guess what that is. If you'll be attending this year's Adobe MAX, you can use the promo code MXSM13 when you register and save $300. Note to Art D. Rector: I was not paid by Adobe to post this.

If Coke has stuck doggedly to the use of red and its classic script logo, Pepsi has inexplicably clung to its banal bottle design. But no more. The sixteen-year-old bottle is now out and a rather lumpy replacement is in, which looks somehow more like a weapon of mass destruction than a soft drink container. Angelique Krembs, Vice President, Pepsi Marketing, tells us that "Our single serve bottle is the most visible and tangible connection point we have with our consumers, and we love how the new bottle expresses our brand DNA." Not convinced? There's more.

That's title of an upcoming free webcast in the AIGA Voices series, in which designers explore a wide range of topics. This iteration will be led by Christopher Liechty, an AIGA Fellow and partner at Culture3, which focuses on the challenges of working effectively in global teams. In the Global Zoom talk Liechty will provide practical tips for managing global brands and creating global campaigns, encouraging you to imagine that you have a “zoom lens” that allows you to change your focus from global to local. The event is schedule for February 19, 2 pm ET, with more information and registration available on the AIGA site. You can also view a recording of his earlier webcast, Out of Your Skin: Understanding Culture and Difference.

Why not? After all, few bother reading traditional paper-based annual reports. So if you're a branding and design firm, creating a ssummary of your 2012 achievements that's expressed in graphical form makes perfect sense. At least, it worked out prettty well for St. Louis-based TOKY, which included such nuggets as a graphic demonstration of its new printer being the size of an adult rhinoceros. Thought: how would you go about expressing your own 2012 high points as an infographic?

Von Glitschka is a talented illustrator, with more more than a few well-known names amongst his clients. But times are tough all over. Hence the launch of his recent initiative, 5ive Minute Logo. What’s it all about? In his words: “Why shouldn’t logo design be instantly gratifying? It should be! Life’s too short to waste time on complex and costly logo design projects. I’ve solved this problem while making the whole process fast and easy!” Well, thank goodness for that. Given the bleak economic climate, I guess we should anticipate more initiatives like this in 2013.

Launched in London in 2004, Contagious describes itself as "Operating at the intersection of marketing communications, new technology and consumer behaviour." It's perhaps best known for its flagship magazine, app and online resource but also produces related events and its annual Most Contagious report.

We have to thank a Canadian firm, buyral, for taking online promotion to its logical conclusion. After seeing this video, you may never click on an elevator button again.

Still think of Adobe as just the developer of Creative Suite? If so, you're missing its increasing emphasis on tying those tools to a data-driven marketing solution. Kevin Lynch spelled out this shift in a recent post: "We are moving to the cloud with our software, and are in fact building two at the same time. One is a re-imagining of our software for creativity, and the second is creating a new place for marketers to do their work. Part of the magic of these two clouds is how we can connect them, as creative work is an integral part of marketing, and as insights from marketing can drive new creative work. There is no good solution in the world today for this, and we’re very excited to be bringing these worlds together."