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TheDieline.com: Victoria’s Secret Pink Organics.

Pepsi’s New Branding

I can see why so many people dislike the new Pepsi logo. Yes, I too quivered when I first saw it. Yup they are famous for constantly changing their branding and all that but a lot of the argument I think needs to go deeper. Pepsico knew this backlash would happen. They knew the new design would not bode well with a wide swath of their drinkers but the “what” is not the question, it’s the why.

After taking a long hard look at the logo my guess for why they did it is this.

Yes there will be heavy online buzz (including this post) but this logo was not designed for the NOW, it was designed for the future. Current context is not it’s focus. This logo was designed for a future zeitgeist. A theme, a style, a mode of thinking…not yet popular. When a company of the size of Pepsico redesigns their branding as often as they do, they have come up with a design that is projected from their future to the now. it cannot be defined by not current tastes.

They do this not just for design longevity’s sake, but also packaging purposes. If this new branding is to carry them through the next 10, 15 or 20 years it allows them to project packaging costs much better. For a company the size of Pepsico these projections can make or break their bottom line.

Think about it.

If they design a logo that is more concurrent with today’s design language or thinking and it gets stale in 3 – 5 years, that is going to be millions of dollars lost for the company’s that produce their packaging, and in turn Pepsico, because it will represent a massive retooling for these guys because of the sheer volume of printing and production that goes into the packaging process. So for me, that is the why. The design will slowly grow on us and it will soon seem ahead of it’s time….. no I take that back. That’s probably what the Pepsico board is betting on.
via: Brand New: Pepsi, New Bottles.

The Can from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

This post all the way back from 2005 caught my eye…wow. This is why I do what I do……

- Yorkali

PowerPoint abuse in Japan: we can learn a lot from the Japanese bento

One of the greatest things about living in Japan (at least for me) is coming back from Tokyo on the Shinkansen (“bullet train”). Successful meetings in Tokyo behind me, I boarded the super-fast 6:03pm Nozomi bound for Osaka complete with my “Ekiben” (“bentos” sold at the station, or “eki”) and can of Asahi Super Dry (that’s beer). Sure, there are trains in many countries, but few things seem such a quintessential “Japan experience” as zipping trough the Japan countryside aboard cutting-edge technology while sampling Japanese delicacies, sipping Japanese beer and catching glimpses of temples, shrines, and even Mount Fuji out the spacious side window.

Badslides
While in the midst of eating the contents of my bento, I glanced to my right across the aisle to see a “salary man” reviewing a printed version of his PowerPoint slides. Two slides per page, one page after another filled with slide boxes crammed with Japanese text. No white space. No graphics. Just slide after slide of Japanese text. Were these slides used in a stand-up presentation? If so, I sympathize with the audience. Or, were they merely a document printed in PowerPoint? If so, I pity both the author and the reader: PowerPoint is not a tool for document creation.

What a contrast in the presentation of great content: the beautifully efficient, well designed “ekiben” which contains nothing superfluous, and the poorly designed, ugly, difficult-to-understand PowerPoint slides across the aisle. Hmmm, should the design of your slides be more like the Japanese bentos sold on the bullet train? Yes. An “ekiben” contains great content which is arranged in the most efficient, graceful manner. The bento is presented in a simple, beautiful, balanced way. Nothing lacking. Nothing superfluous. Not decorated, but wonderfully designed. A delicious, inspiring way to spend 20 minutes. When was the last time you could say the same about a presentation you saw?Bento_2

January 24, 2005 | Permalink

Presentation Zen: PowerPoint abuse in Japan: we can learn a lot from the Japanese bento

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Tags: bento, powerpoint, japan, bullet train