Back on track
Reviewed by Thomas Barnett
One can imagine how The Clearing might have seemed a perfect fit for addressing Barnardo’s situation, with the agency’s stated focus on creating ‘Clear Defendable Territory’ for its clients. The inherently defensive conceptualisation of branding that this implies feels like a natural fit for brands that find themselves on the back foot, hampered by scandals or bad press.
But (if you subscribe to Oscar Wilde’s assertion that ‘there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about’), the predicament facing Barnardo’s was even bleaker than the rap sheet conveys. According to The Clearing, Barnardo’s own research found that 50% of children and young people ‘didn’t know Barnardo’s or how it could support them’, and that the perception of Barnardo’s among many adults was limited to children’s homes.
The challenge, therefore, was not only to shake off the noxious miasma of bad publicity, but also to cut through a thickening amnesiac fog of irrelevance and anonymity. The Clearing has grappled to reorient Barnardo’s brand to show how this 150-year-old organisation can be relevant and useful to the increasingly anxious, isolated and disenfranchised young people of our chaotic modern times.
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Zelman Meats
Sam Lachlan, 2018
Zelman Meats describes itself as being the best steak sharing restaurant in London. A bold claim, but the reviews have been rolling in supporting this. Matching these great reviews is a great logo, designed by Sam Lachlan. Sure, liberties are taken on the steak knife silhouette, but this is more than made up for by the discovery of the Z in the negative space. I’ve seen many logos like this ‘looking’ for a project, so when I find one that was born of a specific real-world context and a business name, beautifully resolved, it’s a joy.
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Mi qasa es su qasa
Reviewed by Emily Gosling
Now that the likes of ed-tech (education technology) and fin-tech (financial technology) have become a natural part of everyday parlance, it was surely only a matter of time before prop-tech (property technology) entered the equation, too.
Proptech largely refers to platforms and services that use tech to help people buy, sell, research, market, and manage a property – ranging from websites that link renters to agencies, to property price estimation tools or even smart doorbells. Airbnb and Zoopla are probably some of the best known proptech brands, but the portmanteau feels a lot younger than either of those online stalwarts (to me at least).
AirBnb has certainly had its fair share of fanfare over the years around its branding – surely few in the design industry can have forgotten the hoo-ha around the 2014 DesignStudio logo, (which was compared variously to all the genitals, a paperclip, a bear’s nose and various existing marks), but it has undeniably lasted the test of time. But for the most part, the world of proptech doesn’t sound especially exciting, nor ripe for particularly interesting design. But perhaps that’ll be changing in the wake of some lovely new work for Qasa by Bold Scandinavia.
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Now on Brand Archive:
Shell
Brand Archive is a research tool from the team behind BP&O. Discover a long history of corporate identity design, from the 1960s to present day. Using our custom built filter, discover individual assets from signage, to packaging to liveries, drawn from over 700 brands.
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Thank you for subscribing to the BP&O Newsletter. If you’re interested in other design-related resources and tools, also check out these from the same team:
Brand Basics – Automated Brand Guidelines maker.
Brand Archive – Research tool for brand designers.
LogoArchive Website – Searchable modernist logo archive & research tool.
Logo Histories – Stories behind great historical logos.
LogoArchive Shop – Vintage design books & LogoArchive Zines.