Haft2Know

In the 1940s, the United States Navy commissioned from the Electric Machine and Equipment Company (Emeco) a chair that would be able to withstand the impact of torpedo blasts to the side of the battleship that carried it. The Emeco 1006 was born - the result of a 2-week, 77-step manufacturing process that gives the aluminum beauty a life expectancy of 150 years. After a few appearances on Sex and the City, as well as being featured inspiration for a line of Philippe Starck furniture, the 1006 has reestablished its footing as an ageless classic, which has led to its marriage to another American icon.

Emeco has teamed with Coca-Cola to create the 111 Navy Chair - a plastic reproduction of the original 1006, made from the plastic of 111 Coca-Cola bottles. Available for order online, Emeco and Coke expect the 111 Navy Chair project to keep an estimated 3 million plastic bottles out of landfills, which is the beginning of an ageless classic of its own.

And with colour names like Grass and Persimmon - and of course Coca-Cola Red - we couldn't ignore this beauty.

Click here before this link turns into a good looking chair.

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As a nod to The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish and company, Converse has just released a summer collection of sneaks that look as if they were drawn by Dr. Seuss. Sized for big kids or for real kids, (big kids will get more out of these, I think), the shoe maker has nailed the Seussian aesthetic with a sketcherly line and slap of the right colour. Available for order online here.

ps. We loved these so much that they inspired the Haft2 trend colour palette this week, found on Colourlovers.com as well as on our own homepage, haft2.com. (Did you know we change our homepage trend palette every week?)

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last year, French automaker Renault presented 'Zoe', their first zero-emission concept car (hence the name) slated for mass production. According to the company, the Renault Zoe is meant to revolutionize the day-to-day travels of Europeans skipping from home to work to the market. Treehuggers and design aficionados alike shouted "oui, oui" for the Zoe, but one dissenting voice failed to agree. That voice belongs to a woman named Zoe Renault. The 23-year-old student says she doesn't want to be associated with a car her whole life, and has hired a lawyer to write automaker Renault, insisting they find another name for the vehicle. The final verdict is still pending.

It isn't the first time a car manufacturer has run into challenges with a car name. A few years ago, GM ran into some difficulty in Spain with their car the 'Nova', which in Spanish actually means 'doesn't go'.

In recent car naming news, General Motors just released a statement to all of their employees that the name 'Chevy' should be discontinued from everyday use. The company wants to reintroduce the full use of 'Chevrolet' into the daily vernacular of North Americans.

Here's the link Ms. Zoe Renault doesn't want any part of.

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

11 11 Lincoln Road - intentionally spaced to ensure you pronounce it 'eleven eleven' - has risen in Miami and promises to offer a unique shopping, dining, residential and parking experience. Pritzker Prize winning architects Herzog and de Meuron - of Beijing Bird's Nest renown - took their inspiration from one of the more forgettable American icons - the parking garage - and rethought / reworked / re'wow'ed it into something imposing yet airy, and human yet otherworldly. With retail at grade, an event venue on the top platform (pictured below) and 2300-square-foot residences placed throughout the uh, garage, this new Miami treasure promises to make you think differently about where to leave your car.

This site is beautiful.

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Finally, what type are you? Brandmasters Pentagram created this little on-line quiz a few months ago - beautiful in its own right - to help you determine what font fits your personality best. The results can be fun, and telling, but the real takeaway is the test itself and how it was produced. I think we've heard that before: the benefit is the journey itself and not the outcome, but I digress. Take the test here. Then drop us a line and tell us what type you are.

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When it comes to naming colours for the marketplace research has shown that some names will be more likely to appeal to consumers than others. Professors Barbara E. Kahn of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth G. Miller of Boston College believe buyers are more likely to react positively to either unexpected or ambiguous names.

'Fire Engine Red' for example is no longer a surprise to anyone, so wouldn't make a successful name now - not unlike the use of cliche phrases, which after a while don't mean anything due to their overuse. Duly, if a colour is too off the mark without any sort of rationale at all - say Sassafrass Yellow - buyers are less likely to be intrigued by the joke. There's nothing to "get" - no right answer, hence no emotional investment.

Kahn and Miller also believe a specific but unexpected name will be more successful. The name Michelin Guide Green would give a buyer pause, but speak to a specific consumer. Once that consumer gets the tie, there's a very good chance he or she feels invested enough to become a customer.

--

Crayola wants to see how well you know this generation's colour names. Try it here.

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One more bit of interest for anyone who wishes to try his or her hand at naming. The City of Toronto and online magazine Torontoist.com have just announced a competition to name a new park currently under construction. Sherbourne Park is currently and temporarily named after the street that runs along beside it. Due to open this summer, the park will become an integral part of the city's new waterfront and will signify a new dawn for an area long in need of some colour and some love.

We're pushing for 'Haft2Know Gardens'.

Here's the link and the chance to put your mark on the city of Toronto.

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After months of hard work and colourful dedication, we're very happy to introduce the redesigned Haft2.com, your online source for colour news and interaction.

Haft2 provides colour strategy and consultation to some of the world's top brands. See how colour can differentiate your brand.

Visit our new site and navigate our portfolio of selected work with the interactive DNA colour-strands. Bookmark us and come back often to see our latest selected trend palette, as well as Haft2Know and Twitter updates on colour and branding, identity and logos.

Haft2.com

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mickey Mouse is perfect. He's polite and he's happy all the time and rarely gets riled. At one time, he was a cultural powerhouse in the United States, representing everything good and loving. A visit to Disney.com however proves that Mickey's light has been fading in favour of those of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas brothers, and whichever other new characters are appearing in Disney DVDs. Mickey Mouse has become irrelevant.

And so, like he does every other decade or so, America's icon is getting a makeover. To better connect with kids, Disney will update MIckey's look and breathe into him new characteristics that are less squeaky clean, and more cunning. Mickey will think and question and doubt. Above all, he'll become more realistically heroic; and heroes don't always do the right thing. Look for new Mickey in 2011.

Mickey's bio page

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

T's aside, nothing says summer like a cold can of Coke. The next time you pick one up though, you may notice something's changed about it. The 'Classic' part of 'Coca-Cola Classic' is finally being dropped.

After almost 25 years, Coca-Cola is finally (almost) finished apologizing for ever having introduced to the world, New Coke. On April 23, 1985 the company announced it was changing its famous recipe and to the dismay of many, 'New Coke' was released. You may remember that within a very short time, 'Coca-Cola Classic' was brought out as an apology to loyal fans of the original. The two brands remained on shelves beside each other for years, before New Coke became Coke II in 1992. It has since been pulled from shelves everywhere, except for U.S. Territory American Samoa and Yap, one of the four Federated States of Micronesia, where it still sells well. (I know - really?)

Just as Pepsi has undergone a makeover taking it closer to its graphic roots, cola wars are heating up, and it's almost as if it's 1985 all over again. Just no more Max Headroom please.

http://www.coca-cola.com

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Identity designer Tanner Woodford presents his Brand Clock. One day in 2008, Woodford documented all the brands he interacted with in a 24-hour period, from which he then made a clock. Woodford insists his list would be even more comprehensive, if he'd been able to write faster. As it was, he was able to document 1,035 brand interactions in one day. Imagine all the ones that come into play in your day. Quite the role they play, no?

Check out Woodford's Brand Clock in full.

Posted by Haft2 at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lexington, Kentucky is Horse Country, and next year it becomes the first American city to host the World Equestrian Games. In anticipation of the equine influx, Lexington approached branding powerhouse Pentagram to develop a visual identity for the city.

The result is an iconographic horse that finds its design influence in an 1868 equestrian portrait of racing champion 'Lexington', by Kentucky artist Edward Troye. The designers at Pentagram treated the image with University of Kentucky blue and 'Big Lex' was born, complete with his own mythology of how he became blue, (by eating Kentucky Blue Grass, of course).

Giant oil paintings of Big Lex will soon appear throughout the city, as will a massive sculpture of the blue beast. Move over, 'I Heart New York'.

Read the Pentagram page about this very cool identity.

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Hudson's Bay Company recently unveiled their new corporate logo and thankfully, what's old is new again. The Bay blanket colours have become a handsome stripe, the corporate Coat of Arms has been reinstated (and simplified), and a smart and clear font has been chosen for the re-de-abridged name, all part of the visual attempt to reclaim (rightfully) their reputation as the company that "played a vital role in building Canada as a nation." Who knew it would take American ownership to exhibit such home-grown pride?

Hudson's Bay Company Website

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The link below will take you to a group of photos that features the Arabic versions of some very Western brands. The really fascinating thing here is to see how some of these fonts have translated into a very different visual language from our own Latin-based alphabet. And yet, even without a knowledge of Arabic, it's not hard to read the perceived status of some of the Arabic fonts, (i.e. MAC's smooth sans serif, Pizza Hut's 'on-the-go' approach and the techno-touched extended letters of the Bose mark). Very cool.

http://www.graphicology.com/blog/2009/1/4/225-arabic-versions-of-global-brand-identities.html

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

While this image may look new to you, the name will not be. This is actually a McDonald's restaurant in Tokyo that's been reworked. The store sells two items - a Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, and a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, and nothing else. And according to American bloggers who've visited the clownless counter, they are indeed Quarter Pounders; they just get served to you in a black and red nightclubbish sort of room. Apparently, this little experiment has become a huge success, and it's the first time we've seen a global brand strip (or rather, de-Americanize) itself of the expected trappings, while keeping the core product intact. Even the website for the store has been left devoid of everything arch-y.

http://www.quarter-pounder.net

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This image comes to us as part of the collective visual identity for the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Throughout it all, athletic power and human might are shown ornamented with water and vegetation motifs to represent humanity within nature's forces - and done so quite appealingly. The result is a set of dynamic images that will adorn the various Olympic sites throughout British Columbia when the world's fastest and strongest convene, just over a year from now.

http://www.vancouver2010.com

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With Halloween's approach, we were curious to see what modification Google made to their logo this year, which got us thinking. You know you've established an extremely successful brand when you can play with / fiddle with / completely change the presentation of your logo on a near-weekly basis, not to mention attract people to your site just to see what it looks like now.

Google's line of holiday logos began in 1999 with the addition of a goofy little turkey for Thanksgiving. Since then, the company has been displaying different versions of their identity for a number of special occasions including the Persian New Year, Louis Braille's birthday and the 50th anniversary of understanding DNA. Almost all are the product of one young man, Korean American Dennis Hwang. Bravo, Dennis. A google bravoes.

http://www.google.com/holidaylogos.html

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

And it continues. Pepsi becomes the latest titanic brand to remake their identity into something more approachable and humane. Following in the footsteps of Walmart, the soft drink deputy underwent a five month long rebrand and just released to the world how the new logo, (and can) will look shortly.

The new graphic is meant to recall a smile, and in varying forms will dress the major Pepsi sub-brands across the world including Mountain Dew, (soon to be called 'Mtn Dew'). A grin will be used for Diet Pepsi and a laugh will be used for Pepsi Max. Like the other logos we're watching get remade, the company has opted for a lower-case typeface. Who will be next?

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I guess when you're as good-looking as Apple is, you get a little defensive when others try to emulate. And so it was recently, when the computer giant reached from California to Victoria, BC to pluck from the branding tree another apple-based logo, used by the Victoria School of Business and Technology. Apple thinks the small school is trying to capitalize on the success of the MacBook maker and wants VSBT to cease usage of their logo immediately. The school has told Apple they'd be happy to move the leaf from the right side to the left, but apparently haven't heard back if this'll be satisfactory or not. I imagine Apple will say this town's not big enough.

Strangely, we've seen this happen before. In April, Apple told a New York City environmental initiative, GreeNYC that their logo was also too similar to theirs to use. This could get out of hand.

http://www.schoolvictoria.com/ApplesandOranges

http://www.palluxo.com/2008/04/05/apple-threatens-lawsuit-over-greenyc-logo/

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yahoo's latest offering to the world is a site by the name of startwearingpurple.com. It's a promotional attempt on the company's behalf to convince the world how youthful and cool they are -- in short, by trying to own this 'zany' colour. UK's Cadbury does a much better job at laying claim by leveraging purple's royal characteristics, as opposed to its mystical, sorcerer-lady / town outcast appeal. Unfortunately, the whole thing is a little like watching your high-school math teacher perform an algebraic rap to better connect with the kids.

For what it is, there are some very cool features on the site, including the GPS mapping of a small army of Yahoo branded bikes around the world, each fashioned with a camera. As the bike owner rides through his or her life, the camera takes a pic every 60 seconds and immediately posts the images to the site.

In any case when it comes to owning a colour, purple may be 'cuh-raaaazy' to many, but Yahoo is no UPS.

http://www.startwearingpurple.com

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Fresh off the Olympics, it's a good time to look ahead, not to 2012, but to 2016. Four candidate cities are currently in the running to take on the responsibility of hosting the sporting world for two weeks, eight summers from now. Each of them released their Olympic logos last year, but not all cleared the International Olympic Committee's strict standards of representation. Chicago's original logo for their candidacy was absolutely beautiful. That's it on the left. A stylized skyline, with the Hancock Tower at the centre, burns brightly over its own image, reflected in Lake Michigan. The problem the IOC is strict in its visual representation of the Olympic torch; only officially licensed users are allowed to use the torch, and as a mere candidate city, Chicago doesn't yet qualify. And so, they had to redesign the logo and released the image of the 6-pointed star in its stead. There's something very World Exhibition about the font and star choice. It's a little nostalgic, a little Brave New World and all the time, very human. I do hope that eventually, we get to see more of the original torch though.

While you're at it, check out the logos of the other candidate cities. Whichever one is chosen, there will be some intriguing design avenues explored.

http://www.chicago2016.org
http://www.tokyo2016.or.jp
http://www.rio2016.org.br
http://www.madrid2016.es

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Everyone knows the pleasure of discovering that someone else loves something you do. Be it Family Guy, or NPR, or a Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks, there's a hint of serendipity that occurs when a common fave is voiced. The people that invented Brand-Mates.com know this and they developed a dating website based on the fantastic idea that people who love the same brands probably have a lot in common. This goes way past merely matching up people that buy the same brand of moisturizer. It's introducing to each other single folks who believe in the same philosophy a brand expresses. This makes so much sense to me that I feel it should have existed already. But it didn't. Until now. Pay a visit to the site and check it out. It's currently in its Beta phase, but should prove watch worthy for some time to come.

http://brand-mates.com

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Every day in Japan, students across the country eat lunches prepared by the school they attend, following a tradition that began in 1890. These meals, called 'kyushoku' are now proving popular in fast-food restaurants and taverns, not because the food is so delicious, but rather because they give Japanese citizens a chance to reflect upon their youths in the public school system. One tavern by the name of "Gakko ni Iko!" or "Let's Go Back To School", in the Shizuoka Prefecture features desks, chairs and a blackboard from a defunct elementary school. The difference in this classroom though, is that alcohol is served with the noodles. It makes me want to visit my old alma mater with a glass in hand.

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Walmart recently unveiled their new word mark and logo, to somewhat mixed reviews. The update comes on the heels of a two-year, customer focused makeover that will remake the image of the world's largest retailer into a more approachable, less titanic entity. The colour of the word mark itself recalls Sam Walton's earliest logo from 1962 and the new sun / star / "whispered wow" graphic looks to a simpler and more inclusive expression than Mr. Smily and the patriot star ever did. Call it plain. Call it uninspired or underwhelming or even 'fine enough'. I might call it a harbinger of what's to come as companies everywhere try to renovate their corporate befores into people-oriented afters. Check out the evolution of Walmart's identity in the timeline provided by the company.

http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/8412.aspx

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When Canada's Hudson's Bay Company revealed their Olympic apparel collection earlier this year, you could barely hear yourself think over the noise of the complaints en masse. Design critics (and those purporting to be) hated it. It didn't help matters that the pieces are made in China, as opposed to homegrown, homemade patriabelia. HBC stands by where the pieces are made though because the collection is manufactured from eco-friendly fabrics derived from bamboo and coconut and constructed to keep our athletes cool throughout a humid Beijing August. Whatever they're made from, consumers are loving it and designer Tu Ly is getting the last laugh as HBC can't keep their shelves stocked with the stuff.

http://www.hbc.com

Posted by Haft2 at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)