Creative round-up October 2024
October has been another interesting month for design and branding news. Here’s our latest creative round-up with Ingenious Design’s pick of happenings that have caught the eyes of the design team over the last few weeks…
Kleenex rebrand and UK campaign
To mark its centenary, Kleenex has a new global brand identity created by Turner Duckworth, together with a UK campaign to welcome in winter by FCB London, all geared to reinforce the brand’s comforting presence in life’s everyday moments.
In a move to create a unified and updated look and feel for the brand globally, the Kleenex script wordmark has been tweaked but retained and enclosed in a redrawn crown shape which had previously featured in several but not all markets. The undulating crown logo both evokes the product and signifies its leadership in the category.
A contemporary and uniform colour palette has also been introduced with the core colour, Kleenex Blue, reinforcing brand recognition and a supporting palette providing depth and flexibility. The new bespoke typeface, Kleenex Serif, developed with type designers Alec Tear and Lewis Macdonald, ties in with the soft curves of the wider identity and embodies the strength and softness of the tissues.
The UK outdoor campaign, in collaboration with artist Alma Haser, features portraits resembling scrunched tissues, reflecting the way the new range of tissues release aromas when scrunched.
The Excel spreadsheet turns 40
Microsoft Excel may not be the most thrilling computer programme ever released but it is certainly one of the most enduring! Development began in November 1984, it was launched the following September and is now the go-to spreadsheet for an estimated 1.1 billion people!
Evolving from a clunky black and white system for totting up tables to a colourful, AI-enhanced mathematical juggernaut, the original version included many of the same recognisable features it has today. Although Excel is one of Microsoft’s flagship products, it actually started life as an exclusive for Apple Mac. It was not until 1986 that Microsoft launched the software on its Windows operating system to rival the main competition of the time, Lotus 1-2-3. By the early 90’s it had taken over as the world’s most popular spreadsheet programme - and there it remains!
Heinz ads furore
Heinz has been under scrutiny during the last month following two controversial ads. The company recently had to pull a Halloween-themed ad amid accusations of racist overtones, after previously being forced to issue a public apology over a wedding-themed advert condemned for perpetuating negative racial stereotypes.
The ‘It Ha Ha has to be Heinz’ campaign was initially launched as a Halloween-themed nod to the Joker film. Each of the three actors shown enjoying chips, burgers or hot dogs had their lips lined with ketchup, representing the Joker’s iconic smile.
Focusing on the ad which starred a Black actor, critics of the campaign said it had blackface connotations and was reminiscent of minstrel shows.
Hai by RWS head of marketing Krissie Petfield commented ‘The incident with the Halloween ad highlights a critical lesson for marketers: visuals are not neutral; they carry significant cultural meanings. What may seem playful or harmless in one context can easily evoke harmful stereotypes in another.’
Take note - there are important lessons to be learned here around cultural sensitivity.
RA ‘Art is s serious subject’ campaign
‘Art is s serious subject’, a new campaign by We All Need Words for the Royal Academy, is running on billboards across London in October and November 2024
Over time both primary and secondary school curriculums have been restructured to focus on core subjects. Schools are measured and judged on what’s tested and teachers focus time and energy on those subjects at the expense of others.
Campaigns that speak up for art often focus on how much it contributes to our ‘creative industries’ – people are forever trying to put a price tag on it, to justify its ‘value’ but the RA didn’t want that. They know art offers much more – even if you never become an artist. Making and studying art means children question, experiment, play, and use their brains in new and inventive ways. It builds confidence, encourages children to see the world differently and to make their mark.
These are all valuable skills which can help in other areas - but are not easy to measure in a league table.
Unusually for the RA, the campaign isn’t linked to a specific exhibition but is about showing their independence (they don’t get any government funding) and standing up for art education. Using the RA’s research and responses from their academicians (all artists), We All Need Words came up with the ‘Art is a serious subject’ campaign, encouraging everyone to think about the value of art education.
New covers for Bond hardbacks
Look out for a re-release of hardbacks by Ian Fleming Publications featuring artworks by San Francisco-based illustrator, Michael Gillette, who also created the covers of Penguin’s 2008 James Bond collection.
Taking inspiration from Saul Bass to ‘symbolise and summarise’, each artwork in the series embraces the enduring visual symbols of the Bond novels rendered in a contemporary way, which the artist describes as a ‘miminal, graphic approach with bold colours’. The new covers will eventually also be available as art prints.