inside envision

advertising + branding blog

Words Not Needed

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I originally came across this fantastic ad while browsing Think Smart Designs. This just shows that, in advertising, simplicity can send a clear message. There's no mistaking the message that's trying to be sent. Too often, ads are brained to death…sometimes by the client and sometimes by the creatives. Words aren't always the driving force behind the message.

OK, so there are a few tiny words stuck in the bottom corner. :)

–Greg

Holiday Reflections - Happy Holidays from The Envision Group

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We had a little fun with our holiday greeting this year. Check it out ---> Get festive!

Happy holidays from all of us to all of you. Here's to an amazing 2011!

–Greg

True Stories Behind Car Company Logos

The following was emailed to me and I'm not sure of the source. So, apologies to the original author.

–Greg

True-stories-behind-car-company-logos

Did a wallpaper pattern in a Paris hotel room inspire the famous Chevrolet Bowtie emblem? Does the blue and white BMW roundel really symbolize a propeller and sky? And was the Porsche logo first sketched on a napkin in a New York City restaurant? In the world of automobile logos, truth can be stranger than fiction—though a good story can go a long way toward embellishing a brand’s corporate identity.

From Ferrari’s Prancing Horse to Cadillac’s crest, automobile logos appear on everything from steering wheel hubs to giant billboards, and even the lapel pins on the suits of company executives. This kind of flexibility is one of the design elements needed for an effective and strong logo, says Jack Gernsheimer, Creative Director of Partners Design Inc. and author of Designing Logos: The Process of Creating Symbols that Endure.

With over 40 years of advertising experience and more than 500 logos to his credit, Mr. Gernsheimer believes it’s essential to look long-term and to keep things simple when designing a logo. “Not getting too trendy with the type or color” is vital, he says. “When you design a logo, ideally it should endure for decades.” For many automakers, the roots of their logos stretch back over a century and contain enough symbolism and intrigue to fill a Dan Brown novel.

Automotive Pioneers

Tragedy plays a role in a popular myth surrounding the famous intertwined double-R logo of British luxury automaker Rolls-Royce. The company’s founders, Sir Henry Royce and Charles Stewart Rolls, originally used red lettering for the emblem that combined the first initial of their last names. Legend has it the color was changed, from red to black, in a mark of respect after the death of Sir Henry Royce in 1933. In reality, black lettering was simply considered more becoming of a prestigious luxury car. The timing of the color change was pure chance.

Rolls Royce’s second iconic emblem, the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament, is linked to a similarly tragic (but in this case, entirely true) tale. Designed by Charles Sykes in 1911, the model for the emblem was Miss Eleanor Thornton, the personal secretary of John Scott Montagu, the 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu and friend of company co-founder Charles Stewart Rolls. In 1915, Miss Thornton died at sea while traveling to India. Yet for almost 100 years her likeness has graced every Spirit of Ecstasy.

The origins of some automotive logos begin even before the dawn of the automobile. TheMercedes-Benz three-pointed star is commonly known to symbolize the use of the company’s engines on land, sea and air. But the star first appeared on a personal note written in 1872 from company founder, Gottlieb Daimler, to his wife. Mr. Daimler used a three-pointed star to mark the location of his family’s new home in the town of Deutz, Germany. His sons adapted the emblem as the Mercedes-Benz logo from 1910 onward.

One of the best known emblems of all time, Ferrari’s Prancing Horse first appeared on warplanes flown by Francesco Baracca, an aviator and hero of World War I. In 1923, Enzo Ferrari met Francesco’s parents after a race, where they suggested Ferrari use their son’s prancing horse badge on his race cars—both for good luck, and as an homage to Francesco, who died before the war ended. A yellow background was added (it’s the official color of Enzo Ferrari’s hometown of Modena, Italy) and the horse’s tail was redesigned to point upward.

In the case of BMW, myth (and savvy marketing) has fooled generations into linking the company’s logo with an aviation theme. “A German advertising agency in the 1920s produced an ad that showed the [BMW] roundel against the spinning propeller of an airplane to reflect the company’s origins as an aircraft engine manufacturer,” says Dave Buchko, company spokesman for BMW North America. “That, it seems now, turns out to be urban myth.” While it’s true that BMW manufactured airplane engines, the blue and white logo represented the colors of the Bavarian flag, not a stylized propeller and sky.

American Ingenuity

 Had it not been for a talkative spouse, the Chevy Bowtie emblem could have claimed one the strangest design origins. Louis Chevrolet said the famous emblem was inspired by a wallpaper pattern in his hotel room during a visit to Paris in 1908. The story would have been considered fact, had it not been for Mr. Chevrolet’s wife. She later said her husband had seen an advertisement featuring a similarly shaped logo in a Sunday supplement. Eye-catching design—and careful evolution—is a theme found in many American car company logos.

The Cadillac crest is the coat of arms of French military commander and explorer, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701. Simplified and streamlined over the years, the basic style remains intact. “It’s so distinctive, you don’t want to give that away,” says Anne Marie Webb, Design Manager for GM’s Global Brand Identity. When updating one of GM’s brand logos, Webb says she always considers elements “that made it recognizable and strong.” Even then, cultural differences must be considered. The Buick Tri-Shield emblem is monochromatic in every country except China, where the logo maintains red, blue and grey coloring. “They felt [color] had a more premium feel,” explains Webb.

Changing times can also bring big changes in a logo. For more than 80 years, Chrysler has used a wide range of badges featuring ribbon seals, or ribbon seals with wings. But in 1962, Chrysler Chairman Lynn Townsend wanted a more modern and less fussy corporate logo. According to Chrysler’s archives, out of approximately 700 designs, Townsend selected the Pentastar. Many assumed the design symbolized the five divisions of the company (circa the early 1960s). It didn’t; the design simply looked good.

Lawyers, Latin and Luck

Some car company logos owe their existence to legalities and economies of scale. In 1909, having left the company bearing his name, August Horch established a second automobile company in Zwickau, Germany. But with his name already in use, Horch had a serious problem. He couldn’t legally name his new company after himself. However, when translated into Latin, "Horch"—which means "hark"—became the lawyer-friendly "Audi." The four interlinked Audi rings came about in 1932, when four struggling automakers joined together under the corporate banner of Auto Union. These companies included Audi, DKW, Wanderer and, ironically, the original Horch.

Volvo also has Latin roots. Meaning “I roll,” the name was taken from a brand of ball bearings before it was applied to the Swedish automaker in 1924. The Volvo logo is the Roman symbol for iron—symbolizing a warrior’s shield and spear. The diagonal streak across the grille was originally only a mounting point for the badge, but is now “almost as much a brand ID as our iron symbol,” says Daniel Johnston, Product Communications Manager at Volvo Cars North America.

Good luck—and an easier to pronounce name—played a role in the creation of the Toyotanameplate in 1936. In the book Toyota: A History of the First 50 Years, company founder Kiichiro Toyoda “ran a contest for suggestions for a new Toyoda logo. There were over 20,000 entries. The winning entry consisted of katakana characters in a design that imparted a sense of speed… “Toyoda” became “Toyota” because as a design it was esthetically superior and because the number of strokes needed to write it was eight, which in Japan is a felicitous number, suggestive of increasing prosperity.”

Statues, Stars, and Smart Cars

Inspiration for a name and logo can come from careful consumer research, legal loopholes or, in some cases, by looking at the surrounding environment. The Maserati brothers took inspiration for their company’s trident logo from the statue of Neptune in the central square of Bologna, Italy, where Maserati was originally headquartered. The trident with Maserati script below was sketched by Mario, an artist, who also happened to be the only Maserati brother never actively involved in the design or engineering of cars.

Inspiration for the Subaru name literally came from the heavens—or more precisely, the Japanese name of a star cluster in the Taurus constellation. Six of the stars are visible to the naked eye and—in keeping with corporate identity—this matches the six companies which combined to form Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru’s parent company. The Hyundai name has an even simpler explanation. In Korean it means “modern,” while the company’s logo is a stylized “H” that also represents two people, the company and customer, shaking hands.

The Smart name seems to speak for itself, no translation needed. It actually happens to be an acronym of Swatch (the Swiss watch company that was a partner during the early stages of the company), Mercedes (the brand’s current custodian), and “Art.” The company’s logo signifies compact, with a “C,” and forward thinking with an arrow emblem.

Plot Twists

When it comes to the origin of an iconic logo, the same car company can sometimes have two variations of the same story. That holds true with Porsche, and the truth behind the German sports car manufacturer’s eye-catching emblem. According to a spokesperson with Porsche Cars North America, an extremely influential automobile distributor, Max Hoffman, met with Ferry Porsche in a New York City restaurant in 1951. The discussion moved on to Hoffman’s belief that Porsche needed a powerful logo, something distinctive and elegant. A rough sketch was made then and there, on a dinner napkin.

Yet the story from Porsche Germany differs from this colorful explanation. Max Hoffman did ask Ferry Porsche for a logo, but the emblem was designed by Porsche engineer Franz Xaver Reimspiess—and most definitely not sketched on a napkin somewhere in Manhattan. Does it matter who is right or wrong? Probably not.

A tall tale never hurts, especially when it involves two companies known for building some of the most exotic cars in the world. Car enthusiasts love to stoke the rivalry between Lamborghini and Ferrari, even down to the minutiae of the Lamborghini logo. The design of the gold and black emblem was led by company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, and the bull located in the center stands for his astrological sign (Taurus). Legend has it that Mr. Lamborghini purposefully copied the Ferrari shield, then reversed that company’s yellow and black color scheme to prod the ego of Enzo Ferrari.

With the key protagonists having passed away, there is probably no way to know for certain how much of this is true. “To our knowledge, this is just a rumor,” said a spokesperson for Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. “The only way to confirm would have been to ask Mr. Lamborghini himself.”

 

Plants, Produce, People…and a Peacock

I'm loving these photos by Cecelia Webber. Fantastic! (These were emailed to me with no credit to who the photographer was. Thanks to Jacob Pritchard for tipping me off to who took them.)

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–Greg

P.S. – If these photos just look like normal shots, look closer. They're people, people!

Amazing Pencil Art

When I was a kid, I remember seeing photos of very intricate paintings that someone had done on pieces of rice. The artist had used brushes that were made from a single strand of camel hair. This fascinated me. Well, call me impressed again. I may have to get myself a box of No. 2 pencils and some very small tools and give this a try.

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–Greg

 

Vintage Insurance Advertisements

It's always fun to check out vintage ads to see how products were positioned decades ago. (Guinness is medicinal? Really?) Check out some of these insurance ads from the wayback machine! The original blog post can be found here.

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-Greg

 

Diamond Quotes

Those of you who are not rabidly following the world cup, or obsessively and morosely watching reruns of the 2009 season on the NFL Network (I’m talking about you, Mr. Hillmer-Poole) have probably noticed that the baseball season is in full swing. Some of us who work by Coors Field have noticed more than others…particularly during rush hour after an afternoon game.

Baseball, unlike more exciting sports, allows for a great deal of standing about and chatting, and is therefore a rich resource for snappy one-liners. Here are a few gems collected by Project Muse® for the 16th volume of their publication, NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture.

Diamond Quotes

“The human hand is made complete by the addition of a baseball.”
Paul Dickson

“The only way to prove you’re a good sport is to lose.”
Ernie Banks

“With those who don’t give a damn about baseball, I can only sympathize. I do not resent them. I am even willing to concede that many of them are physically clean, good to their mothers and in favor of world peace. But while the game is on, I can’t think of anything to say to them.”
Art Hill

“Catching a fly ball is a pleasure, but knowing what to do with it after you catch it is a business.”
Tommy Henrich

“Most ball games are lost, not won.”
Casey Stengel

“When you are ten, you know more about your team than you ever will know again.”
Dan Shaughnessy

“There are three things the average man thinks he can do better than anyone else: build a fire, run a hotel, and manage a baseball team.”
Rocky Bridges

“They used to say, ‘If we find a good black player, we’ll sign him.’ They was lying.”
Cool Papa Bell

“These are uncertain times. We cannot be content to rest on yesterday’s laurels. These are times when we must strengthen rather than let down those standards which have stood in such good stead in crises that are past. Baseball cannot be selfish, or irresponsible, or lax. Neither can the men who operate it.”
Branch Rickey

“There isn’t enough mustard in the world to cover Reggie Jackson.”
Darold Knowles

“I don’t want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it.”
Rogers Hornsby

“For someone whose roots in America were strong but only inches deep, and who had no experience, such as a Catholic child might, of an awesome hierarchy that was real and felt, baseball was a kind of secular church that reached into every class and region of the nation and bound millions upon millions of us together in common concerns, loyalties, rituals, enthusiasms, and antagonisms. Baseball made me understand what patriotism was about, at its best.”
Philip Roth

“Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand.”
Leo Durocher

“The purpose of baseball in life is not to teach us how to win; but rather to show us that even though we are going to eventually lose to successfully delay the last loss of our season.”
Bill Kirwin

 

—Lisa