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Transcript of Pinyin Magazine Summer 2012
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the logos of the future Raymond Loewy Simple ideas are always the best The MP 4/5 Plain Packaging
SUMMER NEWS MAGAZINE
PINYIN STUDIO
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With so many things to cele-
brate, we wish to share some of
our thoughts and interests with
you in the form of this news-
letter. In the pages below, you
will nd some short comments
about graphic-design related
topics, spotlights on brand-rel-
evant events and some other
digressions and opinions that
we cant help ourselves from
sharing.
Live long and prosper,
The Pinyin team
Pinyin Studio is approaching its
one-year anniversary. Creating a
new company is a challenging taskin any environment and especially
in one as competitive as the Chinese
graphic design market. Although
our frst ten months have been
marked by many challenges, the pos-
itive things far outweigh the nega-
tive and we are looking to the fu-
ture with both hope and confdence.
Apart the fact that we have a
solid and reliable team to rely
on; that we have managed to es-
tablish our WOFE after months
of tenacious work and persever-
ance; and that we have loyal and
valued clients who constantly
push us to excellence, our con-
dence also stems from the ex-
pansion of our ser vice offer.
We have already cemented our
capabilities within web devel-
opment, allowing us to handle
virtually any demand within the
area of web design irrespective
of the projects technical com-
plexity.
Similarly, we are now also able
to assist our clients within mar-
keting research and also offer
services from the technological
forefront of graphic design, such
as the generative logos de-
scribed in this newsletter.
Finally, we have already taken
our rst steps into the domain
of interior architecture and de-
sign and are looking forward to
strengthening our competence
within this area within the com-
ing months.
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Often referred to as the father of
industrial design, Raymond Loewy
truly deserves his place among
the most inuential and celebrateddesigners of all time. In his lifetime,
the French-born Daiquiri enthusiast
worked as a consultant for more
than 200 companies and designed
everything from cigarette packs
to cars and spacecrafts. As New
York Times reporter Susan Heller
remarked at the time of his death,
One can hardly open a beer ora soft drink, x breakfast, board a
plane, buy gas, mail a letter or shop
for an appliance without encounter-
ing a Loewy creation.
Born in Paris in 1893, Raymond
Loewy left France for America
in 1919 after having fought in
World War I. He found workas a window designer for de-
partment stores and worked as
a fashion illustrator for various
magazines before starting his
own design rm. His career as
an industrial designer took off
when he designed a duplicating
machine for Gestetner in 1929
and he then soon found himself
providing designs for a range of
products including cars, refrig-
erators and trains. Through useof a technique called streamlin-
ing, Loewy gave the objects he
designed modern and efcient
forms that suggest speed and
dynamism.
The attitude Loewy expressed
towards design was one root-
ed in an economic rationality.He described design as a means
to achieve better results rather
than an effort of art for arts
sake. Design was a way to in-
crease efciency and boost sales.
As Loewy put it: Between two
products equal in pr ice, function
and quality, the better looking
one will outsell the other.
It is thus little surprising that vi-
sual retention was Loewys focuswhen he designed a logo, which
he did on many occasions. Exx-
on, the US Postal Service, Stude-
baker, Greyhound, Nabisco and
Spar are just a few examples
of logos of his pen. Perhaps the
most famous logo of his cre-
ation remains that of Shell.
In the days before fax machines,
many logos included small, sub-
tle details. From the 1950s, the
icons became increasingly sim-
plied, improving recognition
and memorability. Loewy con-
tributed to this change. Having
originally featured a realistically
Designer spotlight:Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy gave the Shell logo its
modern appearance in 1971 and it has
remained virtually unchanged since.
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drawn shell, Loewy redesigned
Shells logo in 1971 in order to
make it more visible from a dis-
tance. One of the tests involved
hanging various prototype de-
signs on poles where drivers
passing on a nearby motorway
could view them. The driv-
ers were then asked for their
opinions on the prototypes.
The tests seem to have been
fruitful the logo has become
so recognizable that it oftenappears without the companys
name to identify it.
Lucky Raimon, as he was al-
legedly nicknamed, also worked
as a packaging designer. His
arguably most famous contribu-
tion within this eld was to re-
design the Lucky Strike package.In 1940, the president of the
American Tobacco Company,
challenged him to improve the
existing green and red Lucky
Strike package with a $50,000
bet at stake. Loewys replaced
the green background with
white, sharpened up the typog-
raphy and reworked the logoby emphasizing its target-like
aspect. He also placed the logo
on both sides of the package,
increasing product visibility and
ultimately product sales. More-
over, the changes reduced print-
ing costs as the need for green
dye was eliminated. In a famous
advertising campaign that usedthe slogan Lucky Strike Green
has gone to war, the company
claimed the change was made
because the copper used in
the green color was needed for
World War II. In fact, however,
the white package was really
introduced to modernize the
label and to increase the appeal
of the package among female
smokers. The war effor t became
a convenient way to do so while
appearing patriotic at the same
time. Needless to say, the com-
pany president paid off the bet.
Raymond Loewy duly retired
in 1980 at the aged 87 and, like
most sensible people with taste
and money, moved to Mona-
co where he died in his Monte
Carlo residence six years later.
Having remained a legend and
immensely popular, neither his
exile nor his death prevented
him from becoming a Citizen of
Honor of Palm Springs in 2001.
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These logos have gone through
very few changes since they
were frst created
WHY?
Because the simplicity of their
shapes and concepts gives them
an iconic status.
Because, through the rigor of their
design, they manage to blend im-pact and versatility while also con-
veying a feeling of quality to the
consumer.
Because numerous and excessive
modernizations based on trends
and fads constitute a rejection of
the brand and of its history.
A simple logo is easy to recog-
nize, understand and memorize.
It is when a logo is simple and
possesses the immediate obvi-ousness of a given fact that it has
the potential of becoming iconic.
A logo doesnt have to tell what
products the brand offers. Instead
its key mission is to capture the
attention of the consumer and ef-
fectively communicate the identity
of the brand.
While in college in the mid-70s
an instructor introduced me to the
K.I.S.S. Principle of design; which
translates to: Keep It Simple, Stu-
pid. It does convey a very import-
ant design consideration. Simple
logos are often easily recognized,
incredibly memorable and the
most effective in conveying the re-
quirements of the client. A rened
and distilled identity will also catch
the attention of a viewer zippingby signage at 70 miles per hour,
on packaging on the crowded
shelves of a store, or in any other
vehicle used for advertising, mar-
keting and promotion. Remember,
the basis of the hugely effective
international branding for the
worlds largest shoe manufacturer
is a very simple graphic swoosh.~ Jeff Fisher
A logo needs to be well-con-
structed and functional in order
to remain pertinent 20 or 30
years after its creation. Focus
should thus be placed on sim-
plicity and versatility rather than
SIMPLE IDEAS ARE
ALWAYS THE BEST
visual effects and add-ons in-
tended to make it more appeal-
ing at a given and brief period
of time.
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A simple and well-designed logo can easily go through minor alter-
ations without losing its identity.
If a logo looks good in black and white then it will look good withany type of color and visual effects added to it (within the limits of
good taste of course).
I like to work rst in black and white to ensure that the logo will look
good in its simplest form. Color is very subjective and emotional. This can
distract from the overall design say if you saw your logo in all red, that
color may be the rst thing that you respond to and not the composition
of the design elements. I will not even consider submitting color sugges -
tions to a client for review until they have signed off on a nal black andwhite logo.
~ Patrick Wineld
It is highly unwise to replace or profoundly alter a logo according to
the latest trends if the ambition is to develop a brand that remains
strong through time. A good example is provided by Pepsi and
Coke.
Leave trends to the fashion industry Trends come and go,and when youre talking about changing a pair of jeans, or buying a new
dress, thats ne, but where your brand identity is concerned, longevity is
key. Dont follow the pack. Stand out.
~ David Airey
Logos must remain themselves and true to their history. It is a sign
of strength and of condence in the brand, and will be viewed by
such by the consumer.
The Nike logo, designed in 1971
by Carolyn Davison for the modest
sum of $35, is the perfect proof
that a simple logo can easily stay
relevant and modern after 40years of without changes to its
design.
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Less than half a year now
remains until when plain
cigarette packaging will
become compulsory in
Australia and the countrys
cigarette packages will be
forced to don the brownish-
green uniform decreed by law.
Plain packaging being seen as
a major industry threat, the
main tobacco companies have
done their best to stop or at
least slow its implementation
but are now preparing to facethe music.
The worlds rst move to plain
packaging which requires the
removal of all branding such as
colors, imagery, logos and trade-
marks will take effect on De-
cember 1st 2012. From then on,
Australian cigarette packs will
only feature the brand name in
a mandated size, font and place
on the pack in addition to the
compulsory health warnings.
The color of the packs will also
be standardized as all packs will
be of a dark brown dye found
by research to be the least at-
tractive of all colors, particularly
among young people.
Naturally, the tobacco industry
has mobilized in opposition.
After having joined together
under the name of the Alliance
of Australian Retailers an or-
ganization working against plain
cigarette packaging by means
of multimillion dollar campaigns
Br itish American Tobacco, Im-
perial Tobacco and Philip Morr is
International have all done their
best to rally the public to their
cause and prevent the legislation
from being passed. But in vain,
as their fears materialized in No-
vember 2011.
The strong reluctance of the
tobacco industr y is understand-
able and goes well beyond the
considerable logistic hassle of
replacing the packaging of all
the brands on the market. Even
though the industry claims the
opposite, there is in fact research
conrming that plain packaging
increases the negative feelings
about the pack and about smok-
ing and ultimately is likely to lead
to reduced consumption. The
tobacco manufacturers are of
course well aware of the impact
packaging has on consumers,
and they have been so for a very
long time as shown by Raymond
Loewys female-oriented rede-
sign of the Lucky Strike pack in
the early 1940s.
Branding focus:
Australia leadsthe way to
plain packaging
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Moreover, there is a fear among
smaller producers that plain
packaging will benet big, well-
known brands at expense of
smaller ones, the underlying rea-
soning being that consumers will
choose to buy brands they recall
from their top of mind aware-ness when specic brands are
hard to identify.
Australia isnt one of the worlds
most interesting tobacco mar-
kets in terms of size or revenues
but should rather be seen as the
rst brick to fall in a potential
domino race leading the to-
bacco industry into a bleak and
uncertain future. This follows a
pattern often observed in the
past: once one country adopts
an anti-tobacconist piece of
regulation then others are like-
ly to follow suit, as exemplied
by the pictorial health warnings
or Low Ignition Propensity (LIP)
cigarettes. Simply put, the tobac-
co manufacturers need to take
the ght as far as they possibly
can since Australia is likely to set
a global precedent New Zea-
land and the UK are among thecountries already considering plain
packaging at this date.
From a purely brand-focused per-
spective, many designers probably
agree that the reform will bring a
certain regret. It is very possible
that we are currently witnessing
the beginning of the end of some
of the most iconic brands and
brand attributes in the history of
graphic design. Nevertheless, most
would probably also agree that
the ends justify the means.
Still, what is about to happen to
the cigarette brands is rather
unique. Indeed, cigarettes are
legal products, yet they have to
conform to special rules that
arent applied to any other con-
sumer goods. From a logical
point of view, it might actually
be considered hypocritical that
these dangerous products arentsimply banned altogether, but of
course that would mean missing
out on some very considerable
tax revenues (for instance, to-
bacco represents the 4th largest
tax income for the French state,
amounting to 13 billion euros).
The implications of plain packag-
ing for the industry will be sig-
nicant also from an operational
point of view. The tobacco com-
panies, which used to be (brand)
marketing driven organizations,
will now have to nd new sourc-
es of competitive advantage. For
instance, the implementation of
plain packaging in a dark market
such as France where the pro-
motion of cigarettes is already
very limited would make all
types of advertising impossible
and render 90% of trade mar-
keting initiatives ineffective. In-
terestingly, focus would thus belikely to shift from marketing and
sales to the back ofce as sup-
ply chain and stock management
will become the new order-win-
ners. Regardless of the aesthetic
considerations, things are about
to change on the tobacco mar-
ket and a very interesting time
lies ahead.
The Australian packs will be designed to repel
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Few things embody speed and direction as vehemently
as a Formula 1 car. More than objects of speed, they are
also objects of great design, and the McLaren MP4/5is a good example of this.
Design spotlight:the McLaren MP4/5
The McLaren MP4/5 at the hands of the great Ayrton Senna
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The McLaren MP4/5, which was
driven by Ayrton Senna and Alain
Prost during the 1989 Formula 1
season, is one of the most suc-
cessful racing cars ever built. It was
designed by Neil Oatley under
the supervision of Technical Direc-
tor Steve Nichols and allowed the
McLaren team to clinch both the
drivers and constructors world
titles with 6 wins for Senna and
4 for Prost. The MP4/5 also con-
quered 15 pole positions out of
a possible 16. 13 of these were
scored by Senna, who is widely
regarded as the greatest qualier
in the history of Formula 1.
The MP4/5 hasnt earned its place
in history only due to its results
but also due to its looks, and often
appears at the top of lists ranking
the most beautiful Formula 1 cars
of all time. A remarkable blend of
robustness and elegance, the de-
sign combines angular shapes and
somewhat bulky, almost rudimen-
tary appendices with elongated,
graceful lines.
As opposed to the F1 cars of to-
day, the smooth-owing design of
the MP4/5 is clear of ticks, twitches
and protuberances and has aged
well thanks to its simplicity and pu-
rity: 23 years after its conception,
the car still exudes power and
elegance and has also acquired a
retro-futuristic quality. The iconic
livery, with its simple yet forceful
red and white paint scheme also
contributes to the impacting ap-
pearance.
Just like the trains of Raymond
Loewy and the Concorde aircraft,
the McLaren MP4/5 is a great ex-
ample of how beauty and efcien-
cy often go hand in hand.
COMINGSOON
TOYOU
R
LOCAL
PINYIN
STUDIO
:
INTERIO
RARCH
ITECTUR
E
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12
In his paper What is Genera-
tive Art?, American artist Phil-
ip Galanter offers the following
denition as an answer to the
question asked by the papers
title:
Generative art refers to any ar tpractice where the artist uses a
system, such as a set of natural
language rules, a computer pro-
gram, a machine, or other pro-
cedural invention, which is set
into motion with some degree
of autonomy contributing to or
resulting in a completed work of
art
By applying the techniques of gen-
erative art to the visual toolkit of the
corporate world, it is now possible
to create a new generation of visual
identity elements. One example of
this is what is sometimes referred to
as generative logos.
A generative logo is an assem-
bly of shapes, colors and move-
ments which evolve in a seem-
ingly random manner while in
fact following a specic mathe-
matical or geometrical scheme.
Simply put, generative logos are
animated logos and constitutea shift from static design to dy-
namic design.
Apart from the obvious advantag-
es of a more attention-grabbing
and mesmerizing look, the gener-
ative logos offer a range of other
benets and allow for various new
uses. Through generative design,the link between the logo and
the entity it represents can be
strengthened or made more
explicit and the logo gains the
means of being not only a sym-
bol but also an efcient com -
munication tool.
A good example is the logo
created for the COP 15 Copen-
hagen conference. The dynamic
design alludes to the turbulenc-
es of climate change while also
illustrating the complexity of
cooperation and international
coordination:
http://www.my-os.net/blog/in-
dex.php?2009/12/21/1418-lo-
go-generatif
Another example is given by the
Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de
Lausanne (EFPL), an engineeringschool whose students end up
working all over the world after
their studies:
h t t p : / / w w w . r s l n m a g . f r /
post/2012/06/05/Les-logos-gen-
eratifs-vous-connaissez-.aspx
THE LOGOS
OF THE FUTURE
The school is placed at the cen-
ter of the design and each line
represents the movement of a
student. Over 100 000 unique
yet similar logos have been gen-
erated in this way, coming to-
gether in a design that stands for
diversity and movement.
The development and the use of
generative logos are still at their
very beginning and in Beijing
they can be described as inex-
istent. Yet, given the fast pace of
technological development and
the ever-growing impor tance of
IT in corporate communication,we believe they represent a nat-
ural next step in VI design.
Luckily for those who are im-
patient, Pinyin Studio offers this
service since July 2012, so there
is no need to wait to get a taste
of the future.
1. Galanter, P., What is Generative Art? Complexity Theory as a Context for Art Theory,
in International Conference on Generative Art. 2003: Milan, Italy.
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Incredible!!!Pinyin Studionow also creates
generative logos!
14
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JEAN GIRAUDa.k.a
MOBIEUSDrawing by Maxence van Robais from Pinyin Studio
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Four months after his death, Pinyin Studio wishes to pay a tribute
to a man whos brush has left a mark on an entire generation of
graphic designers and illustrators.
The poetry found in his illustrations, the precision of his drawing
skills and the imaginativeness of the universe he created have all
combined to make him one of the major artists of the 20th centuryas well as an ever owing source of inspiration for creators of comic
books, mangas, bande dessines and even sci- movies.
We hope that these few lines will trigger you to discover or redis-
cover Jean Giraud and his work, which stands out as much due to its
quality as to its boldness.
For more information, you may visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Giraud