Hello Mr Square

Dodgy industry mag, Design Week [designweek.co.uk] published a typically confused article on the freshly minted iniva logo [iniva.org] created by North [northdesign.co.uk] last week. Apparently it’s ‘brave’ and ‘controversial’ because it’s… well, it’s a circle.

If you follow the idea of creating identities as eloquently described by Base Design [basedesign.com] in the iDN Book ‘Visual Examination of Corporate ID’ [idnproshop.com] then the way to create a mark or identity that resonates with people is to give an entity the power to claim graphic ownership of something, ie Choose a colour (shape, typeface, whatever). Make it your own. Tell everyone it is yours.

North have been clever (clever North) not controversial. They have given iniva a common an easily identifiable shape and given them ownership of it. Maybe this seems simplistic to the marketing bods out there who think they are catering for the lower common denominators by over explaining every design element, slathering logos with tacky 3D effects and random bits of copy but this is in no way a new idea. If anything, it’s classic corporate identity work and a welcome relief from the over complicated arts based identities that are proliferating at the moment.

Below: The new iniva next to the former ‘State Bank Victoria’ logo unveiled back in the 80s and used throughout the decade until the bank taken over by the Commonwealth Bank. It was usually seen white reversed out of blue and previously seen perched uptop their Melbourne based skyscraper on the corner of Collins and Elizabeth street.