For a fresh perspective on modern branding and honesty, and as a parallel to Next Nature's own vision of the honest egg, have a look at the work of Viktor Hertz. A designer from Uppsala in Sweden, Hertz decided to follow the idea of brand honesty to its logical conclusion by visualizing a complete range of outcomes.
Companies routinely spend thousands to hundreds of thousands on logos and branding aimed at putting a positive gloss over their products. What if the downsides couldn’t be hidden in the small print or conveniently omitted, and had to be up front in the branding? Viktor calls his set "Honest Logos".
The full set of designs after the jump...
See how many brands you can spot. Click to enlarge.
[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="rand"]
Josh V
So the deep and honest truth about Porsches is that they're penis extensions? Give me a break. Porsches have some the best engineering in the automotive industry. Maybe douchebags buy them as status symbols, but is that Porsche's fault? Is the full potential and reality of youtube cat videos? No. There are lots of them, no doubt, but I can't remember the last time I watched one. I spend most of my time on youtube watching lectures, tutorials, and artist videos. It's a wealth of learning that's being cynically criticized here. I might buy this argument if at least some of these were geared towards positive perspectives on some products. All of them are negatively critical. I might accept the argument if they were at all clever, subtle, or witty, but no. I roll my eyes at this shit. The Hollywood one is the only remotely clever one of the bunch, but even then, it looks like something a college freshman might wear on a t-shirt.
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Allison Guy
I agree with Sue. These logos are a hint of one possible future where consumer products are completely transparent - for instance, eggs that change color based on whether the hen was actually happy rather than "free range" on a concrete yard. Yes, on one level this project is tired ground that Adbusters has covered before, but on a deeper one, its just one manifestation of a way we might cut through "image consumption".
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Sue Johnson
@Josh V its someones perspective on design branding, taking the eventual (or potential) byproducts and communicating them through the brand itself. Deep-down the branding is designed to detract from the truths that come from their products. We all know there are calories in coke, and that Apple computers costs money on their brands etc. This is an exploration of a potential new nature where the brands are fully honest. It will obviously never happen. But pushing the boundaries and reflecting on the honesty of brands creates an interesting debate nonetheless. You see cynical and bitchy, i guess others see a deeper meaning.
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Josh V
I might like this if it was clever. Instead it just comes off as cynical and bitchy, not honest. I mean, criticism of major corporation advertising? Isn't this site supposed to be about progressive ideas? Artists have been doing this kind of thing more effectively for decades now.
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