Full Description
Chronicling the emergence of brand consultancy, this book explores how the development and proliferation of brand identity systems transformed the working methods and ideals of practicing graphic designers working in post-war Britain.
Practitioners in Britain were at the forefront of efforts to transform corporate identity design into a recognised practice with its own codified methods. Focussing particularly on the British experience, the book also draws on the influences and developments in this formative era in other countries, including the US and Germany. During this period designers were struggling with two conflicting paradigms - the socially motivated, free spirited artist-designer and the design entrepreneur as corporate agent.
David Preston uses three key design agencies as the springboard to explore this foundational period in the history of graphic design labour practices - the practical rationality of Hans Schleger & Associates, the systematic methods of Henrion Design Associates and the Design Research Unit and their design manual as an instrument of control. These design agencies created some of the most striking and successful brand identities of the era - the KLM logo, the British Rail double arrow, the John Lewis branding of the 1960s, Glenfiddich's iconic triangular bottle, the Post Office's house style, the National Theatre logo and many more. The case studies look at the power at play, how branding became systematic, the struggle between motives and standards, and draws on first-hand interviews with key actors and archival material.
A valuable contribution to our understanding of British post-war graphic design and the history of branding.
Contents
1. Preface/Introduction
2. A macro history of corporate branding
— Overarching tropes in the treatment of corporate branding
— The history of corporate branding as a programmatic endeavor
3. An introduction to corporate brand systems in Britain
— The 'end of the ideas poster' and the emergence of corporate brand systems
— Locating corporate brand systems in the post-war socio-economic context
4. The developing discourse of corporate branding in Britain
5. The coordinated brand: The practical rationality of Hans Schleger & Associates
—The development of Hans Schleger & Associates
—Defining the role of the trademark
—Control systems at Hans Schleger and Associates
6. Reconfiguring brand practice: The systematic methods of Henrion Design Associates
— The development of Henrion Design Associates
—'Systematic methods in design co-ordination'
—The 'collective enabling enterprise' of design coordination as mapping
7. Setting brand standards: Design Research Unit and the design manual as an instrument of control
— The development of the Design Research Unit
—Evolving instruments of control: from recommendations to standards
