Preparing for the grand launch of Dee’s Shoe Repair in Dagenham Essex, Mr Dee needed to market the grand opening fast & furiously.  Fusing all graphic design with the pre-existing shopfront we created a selection of printed materials from flyers to business cards in time for teh launch.

Followed up by a second round of flyers during a street carnival Mr Dee’s shoe repair has set its place firmly in Dagenham.

Congratulations on the new shop Mr Dee.

Business pushes the lines of creativity, credibility and reputation to make full and powerful use of branding. It’s safe to say that brands and business coexist together hand in hand.

As global and powerful as a business brand may be it cannot comprehend with the power of a religious brand. It may be tacky to use the word “religion” in the same sentence as “brand” but let’s not be naive. Most religions throughout history have some link to the financial World if not a very big and powerful one. Religions are brands.

They represent values, guidelines and regulations on how you should lead your life according to the company director’s approval (the big man upstairs (or woman)).

Each religion has their managing directors way (popes, gurus, priests, Brahmans) which lead the and make decisions on what and how the brand should change or be represented.

Each religion has their corporate manual in the form of religious books, The Bible, Baghvahad Gita etc.

Each religion has their brand spokes person in the form of saints.

Lastly each religion has its own logo which are possibly the greatest logos of all time. Universally recognized and adoptive they rule the World holding more power than any business.

Here are some of my favourite religious logo designs (all pretty obvious ones)
(Don’t take my word on these facts, I’m not 10,000 years old and don’t actually know the truth, only what I’ve read.)

The Cross – Christianity
Maybe an obvious choice but how many have actually thought about the Christian Cross in terms of design. It’s not the most creative logo but its simplicity speaks a thousand words, in fact it sums up the whole story of Jesus and his last days with just two straight lines.
The icon has an instant connotation to Jesus showing great symbolism and probably one of the most famous icons of our time.

We all know what it represents but who actually designed it. Someone had to have put forth the idea to use it as the symbol of Christianity. (The bible has a thousand different symbolic themes to choose from, why this one?)

From what I’ve learnt “The Cross” actually existed long before Christianity and was used strongly in India, Syria, Persia and Egypt as religious symbols. It did not become a widespread Christian symbol until the third century of Christianity in which it was associated with and adopted in general as the symbol of Christianity. It was recognized that combining the greek numerals T (300) & IH (18 & First two letters of the name “Jesus” (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ) stood for the number 318 which was a foreshadow mentioned in Genesis 14:14 of the symbolic cross to be. (Yes, very complex stuff!)

In short, it’s a brilliant icon, symbolising the climatic ending chapter of the story which Christianity is built upon. In this case the power of the logo lies upon the branding behind it.

Aum – Hindusism

A more creative logo with many curves and components yet it’s one of the only designs to utilise sharp edges giving it a unique appearance. It’s the oldest logo of the three and therefore comes in several variances but all recognizable as one icon.

Spawning from the Hindu religion and the Sanskrit text it’s like most Hindu Symbols, an interpretation. It represents God, the truth, the universe, the ultimate sound (aum) and in some sense it represents everything, therefore it cannot be defined.

Each section of the symbol has a meaning so it’s a highly functional and communicative like a hieroglyphic (it’s more then a symbol, it’s a set of words). Visually, it’s incredibly artistic and a pleasure to draw. With so many curves and swooshes it literally gives your hand freedom on the paper. What’s more, like its definition the design is open to interpretation so when you draw it you can get carried away and come out with something different yet it’ll still be an aum symbol.

The origin of the symbol is in the Sanksrit text which dates back to 1500 BCE. How it came to be? I don’t know but its appearance and meaning is highly unique, attractive and complex as well as a timeless classic making it a universal favourite.

Taosim – YIN YANG

I think its pretty safe to say that the YingYang is the designers favourite because it’s pretty much a designers logo design. Composed with a dissected circle, two colours, two inner circles and a swooshy line, it has graphic design written all over it.

It represents all opposite forces which are perceived as independent being interconnected and dependant on each other in the natural world.

The Ying Yang symbol unlike others religious logos is not seen as a force but actually as a theory with a concise description of its characteristics.

Yin yang are opposing: light dark, male female, summer winter
Yin yang are rooted together: Despite being opposites they rely on each other to exist and survive

Yin yang transform each other: One provides an action whilst the other provides the reaction.

Yin-yang are balanced: They rise and fall together.

The Yin Yang is a common but personal favourite design not only due to it’s theoretical meaning but its style. Rarely is a religious logo design so contemporary, gothic and still cool!

Have you got a favourite?

Subliminal marketing is a technique which uses graphic design elements to communicate a message subconsciously. It uses deep connotations and stereotypes that exist in society to tap into the audiences mind and ultimately reinforce a sale.

Subliminal marketing is a common technique appearing in almost every piece of marketing we see and you’ve probably utilised it yourself (without knowing.)

- When you visit a business based website and see groups of people dressed in suits, smiling, that’s subliminal marketing.

- When you buy a magazine with a pretty airbrushed woman on the cover, that’s subliminal marketing.

- When you see a tv advert for a new car driving through countless empty roads, that’s subliminal marketing.

It comes in every form of media from print to web, packaging, logos and magazines to movies. You could say that it’s graphic design at its best.

It has an old successful history and used on a daily basis with good intentions. We don’t actually take the time to look and study every advert (like the ones above) because there so monotonous and obvious that they’ve become apart of our daily lives but subliminal marketing also has another subliminal level, one where the strategy quietly delves into a taboo subject and questions can be raised.

Subliminal marketing its also:

- A way of targeting someone you wouldn’t normally advertise to.

- A way of surpassing obvious immoral associations whilst your are actually making those associations with the brand

You may not notice the controversial implications made because they were far too subtle or they weren’t targeted at you but more often then not, they are there. In these cases it can create conspiracy theories, controversy and intrigue. The clever design and strategy can be a form of subliminal marketing itself, making viewers seek out the advert and actually ask themselves “Is the subliminal element actually there?”

Maybe the human mind works too hard, maybe it was a just a coincidence, or maybe not.
Judge for yourself with the advert below.

Example:

Captain Morgan Rum – Print Advert in the 1990’s

First Glance:

This is an advert I found pretty much at random (American music magazine) because it looked like it had room for discussion and it does have much more impact in reality, printed on a glossy A4 sheet. At first glance it seems like a great photo of your typical bar scene with great graphical design. It was placed in magazine with over 100 pages and at least 50 of them were adverts so the idea is that the reader will casually skip from page to page taking a quick glance at the advert before moving on. All the elements suggest that Captain Morgan means “Good Times”.

On a subliminal level -

Is it just me or is the whole advert just a little sinister!
If your were to specifically take out Captain Morgan and his hat, the advert would have a different (happier and casual) feel but the branded elements themselves bring in an eerie approach.

Captain Morgan – Clearly drawn and positioned to look devious:

- Smothered in Red
- Devilish goatee, moustache and eyebrows.
- Peering downwards from the top
- Hiding behind the page
- Ripping down the page
- Devilish grin
- Voyeuristic
- Entering the real world and temptingly holding the bottle in an almost pouring gesture
- Looks like Hook
- Wearing a pirate bandanna (criminal)

Red hat

- Placed on the lady not the men (Targeting ladies, or is it?)
- Not drawn in, its real but not in the original photo, it has been superficially placed there afterwards (no shadow round the
back of her head, no affect of the hat on the ladies hair)
- She wore the hat on her own accord (its her hand on top of the hat)
- Her hand has been composited in (superficially) like the hat itself

The scene

- 2 guys, one girl (usually and typically it would be even numbers)
- The photo has been saturated (not to black and white but almost)
- The only vivid colours are those of the brand

Although at first glance it’s a relaxed setting with smiles all around, on closer inspection, the girl seems to have a tensed smile whilst looking down at the drink maybe suggesting some hesitation and falsity.

The common image of a curtain with bricks in the scenery is a popular setting for nightclub/bar’s giving that retro/stylish, modern bar scene, yet the perspective of the brick wall is wrong. It has been superficially placed in and gives the idea of an outside alley with the shadowy background immerging into the curtain.

Lastly an out of focus glass appears at the bottom suggesting that you, the viewer is also there watching everything; (even Captain Morgan) which no one else sees.

Text – The Captain was here.

Written in red with a calligraphy relaxed style, it appears friendly and fun but also connotes the type of font you would use to create horror. Like wise the phrase in conjunction with the elements brings something a little creepier to the ad. “The Captain was here”, almost like its out of a horror movie. Short, simple but highly interpretable in several ways.

Conclusion
This could all mean nothing except that Captain Morgan is the bringer of good times but upon inspection you cannot deny the alternative messages and mood that’s been created.

Almost like Captain Morgan is the devil with an ulterior sinister motive, creating temptations with his two helpers.

It also asks the question who is the advert actually targeted at?

THE END

There is a long list of subliminal marketing materials which cause intrigue whether it be good or bad. Walt Disney has been famed for it (in a negative light), Apple done it and my favourite modern example is the Territorial Army adverts which is smothered with subliminal messages.

Next time you see an advert, packaging, a magazine or even a movie, look for the subliminal messages.

Colour
Type
Layout
Persona
Language
Images
Composition
Icons
Narrative
Mood

The term graphic designer is quite vague. Most people don’t know what it means or what role they play. I think business owners have a better idea then the general public as they will come into contact with one at some point or another but people still don’t have a great idea about what one does.

The term graphic designer has its history embedded in print design but as time went on sub-genres were created and the role of a graphic designer was expanded and specific roles were used instead of the term graphic designer.

- Graphic designer
- Illustrator
- Package designer
- Photo editor
- Magazine Layout designer
- Typographer
- Artworker

New technology, disciplines and terms came into play such as CGI, web designer, multimedia designer and 3D artist which clouded the term graphic designer as design went beyond print. In some cases the same concepts, methods and ideology are used as a graphic designer except it wasn’t for print, so is it graphic design or not?

In some cases it is and creates a new sub-genre of its own (eg. web design (not web developer) and in some cases its not (were it defines its own industry (3D animation)).

“Ol Skool” designers will still say that a graphic designer does not include web designers, multimedia designers and 3D artists and to a certain extent I would agree. They are different disciplines and I like the role of the old graphic designer being diligent and true to professional design for print, (its very important to a designers skill level) but as times change so has graphic design.

I use my professional graphic design skills for print but I also utilize them in web design.

What is a graphic designer? A true expert in communication.:)

Conceptstore has created its very own first full font and we’re giving it away for free. It’s a sans font and I’ve named it Tectro. I designed it with the intention of being a modern, warm but slightly techy character and I hope it shows through. It’s quite a nice font and a designer will probably make more use of it then anyone else but nether the less please feel free to download and use it whoever you are.

Tectro.ttf