In this month’s Fresh Picks, we’ve noticed some really brilliant branding, memorable merch and clever collabs. Read on to find out more!
Matt’s Pick
Fast-food and fashion, two things that you don’t usually see together. Suffice to say, the internet was pretty shocked when Burger King took small steps towards the runway with the launch of its first ever clothing collection, a collab between the burger brand and British designer Katie Eary.
Katie, who has previously worked with brands such as Yeezy, IKEA, NICCE and Champion, designed the silk shirts with an overlapping array of bacon rashers, tomatoes, lettuce leaves and sauces to disguise messy burger-related spills and drips. A condiment camouflage, if you will.
The campaign, created by BBH London, brought BK into the brand collaboration craze, following examples such as Greggs x PlayStation, McDonalds x BTS and Lego x Adidas. This has been a huge trend in recent years, and doesn’t look to be going anywhere soon, with big name brand collabs expected to be huge in 2022. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next!
Gemma’s Pick
Something that I never expected to see pop up on my Facebook news feed this week was… Netflix Merch! Yes, you read that right – Netflix have released a collection of branded clothing, taking ‘Netflix and Chill’ to the next level. You can get everything from shorts to socks, tracksuits to t-shirts and even… wait for it… a neck pillow! However, unless Netflix have turned into a high-end fashion brand overnight, you may agree with me that many of the items they’re selling are a little on the pricey side. Nevertheless, I just had to share this as it’s just the right mixture of hilarious, insane and amazing.
Henry’s Pick
This month, I love this fun project by Keith Fleck. He’s taken the most recognisable brand from each state and hacked their identity to create “The Corporate States of America”.
It goes to shows iconic and memorable these brands are, and the power of a strong identity!
Dan’s Pick
This past month, FIFA have unveiled the branding for the much-anticipated 2023 Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand. Created by artists from each home nation, the branding brings elements of the host nation’s heritage and culture to the global stage.
The design work was produced as a collaboration by two North American agencies Works Collective and Public Address, who both recently worked together on the branding for the LA2028 Olympics. I love the integration of the patterns which are unique to each nation. There is great rationale behind the design, the emblem encompasses 32 squares, representing each competing nation, and the radial motif references a design element seen across many indigenous Australian and New Zealand cultures.
Jai’s Pick
October saw the release of the first new global brand platform for Coca-Cola in five years. “Real Magic” includes a new design identity for the Coke Trademark and is rooted in the belief that magic lives in unexpected moments of connection between people. This feels more relevant than ever given the connected yet divided world we live in today. The new “Hug” logo is inspired by the iconic wraparound positioning of the existing logo on Coca-Cola cans and bottles.
Wieden+Kennedy London are the creators of the campaign along with KnownUnknown, which are a global network of independent talent. They collaborated on all the photography, illustrations and animations. The upbeat nature of the print campaign together with the simple but distinctive new posters definitely makes the project as a whole stand out.
