Never forget that utterly ridiculous Pepsi logo design document (2023)
creativebloq.com
creativebloq.com
Reportedly, they paid Arnell $35M for the Tropicana rebrand. It made their product look like a generic store brand. Upon rollout, they reportedly lost as much as $20M a month. They reverted it soon after.[1]
Arnell's explanation for the failure was similarly whacky.[2]
Two years later, Arnell Group's parent company, Omnicom, fired Peter Arnell. Though that might have been for misconduct that had Newsweek comparing him to Harvey Weinstein way back in 2009.[3]
[1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20090226235602/http://industry.b...
[2]: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arnells-explanation-of-failed-t...
[3]: https://web.archive.org/web/20120113061332/http://www.thedai...
There is a significant problem in the design of performative work that provides little to no value. So much time is spent on "process" and "workshops" that yield nothing, yet design management rewards it. I've informally polled peers of designers, and the common view is that, depending on the designer, only 20-60% of what they do is of any actual value. I think the state of the design market reflects this. Designers need to engage in serious introspection and figure out which parts of their work are valuable and which are not. The industry has been discussing "proving our value" and "getting a seat at the table" for years. If we've been working on this for 15+ years but haven't achieved it, I think that shows something about the actual value design provides.
Source: I've worked as a product designer for 10+ years.
The number of times I have had this conversation:
1) "What do you think about name/logo X for Y?"
2) "You know I'm terrible with names/logos but yeah whatever I really don't care very much"
3) <Pause from days to weeks>
4) "Lawyers tell us that there is a trademark dispute/some other sort of problem with the name/logo"
5) "Huh, ok"
6) <Pause from days to weeks>
7) Go to step 1.
Then every now and again instead of step 1 you have the a branding workshop/brainstorming session/pitch from an agency, which is just step 1 on steroids.
[1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20120113061332/http://www.thedai...
[2]: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-the-firing-of-weird-design-...
“ Arnell has been compared to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, meaning you could fill a book with horror stories about his cruel behavior—screaming at people, even hitting them. "He has this remarkable capacity to be both the most intoxicating character—lovable, brilliant, seductively intellectual—and then turn on a dime and be staggeringly cruel," says a former business associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of alienating Arnell. This person recalls Arnell humiliating employees by making them get down and do push-ups in front of clients. "He is unencumbered with any sense of morality. Until you experience it firsthand, it's just completely and utterly unfathomable."”
[0] - https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-arnell...
"The best logos are those that have truly stood the test of time. As well as being distinct and memorable, often with hidden meanings and messages ..."
The pepsi universe and energy fields stuff is obviously wack, but most people are blissfully unaware of the depth of meaning, connotations, references, messaging, etc, in many logos, emblems, and even design 'dna', all around them.
please give an example of bs
One of the worst logo's in a long time, the font is also garbage.
The man ought to be inducted into the Dunning-Kruger Hall of Fame.
The problem is the huge amount of people educated or nepo babied into positions with no actual foundation of "work", only fluffy business PDF's, design docs, leadership philosophy and endless workshop with no connection to the actual product, the actual user or the market, instead they float around in high society and write talk in endless streams of consciousness and do performance arts and rituals essentially.
puts on The Matrix sunglasses
The content is the ad