research

Abstract 03

Personal drive 04

Introduction 05

The history: How did logos come about?

Case 1: The beginning of logos 06

The history of the swoosh logo 07

Case 2: Marketing strategy 08

Copycatting: Why are logos and prints copied?

Copycatting in fashion 09-11

Logo mania : What impact do logos have on today’s streetscape?

case 1: Mouslam Rabat 12

case 2: Rushemy Botter 13-14

My design approach 17-18

New perspectives in design approach fashion 19

Conclusion 20

Annex 1: Literature & bibliography list 22

What impact do logos have on today's streetscape?

Figure 1 Own source “ collage of composite surfaces and elements’’
5 May 2020

In today’s streetscape logos have taken a key role, becoming indispensable for brands. Logos
visualise the ‘brand identity’. I will investigate how this ‘logo culture’ is woven into our daily
lives and which impact this create in various ways.

Logos are a part of a successful marketing strategy, which is focused on selling the ‘image
of the brand’ instead of the product itself. Creating a ‘need’ by the emotional connection
that people have with the brand. By taking the ‘brand identity’ as a core, this has been improved in the times of social media. Community building is an added value of this success
formula. By embodying a brand you stand for, this by wearing out a logo of ‘Daily Paper’ for
example on your clothes, you feel part of a clan.

As a graduating fashion student i felt a lot of pressure to find my own vision and be original
whitin my work. I decided to take this struggle as an metaphor, by literally ‘borrowing’ the
logos of multinational brands within my expressions. This by assembling parts of logos
and prints of all kind of fashion professionals in my collages and prints. I try to develop a
togetherness of different brand identities of things that already exist. By bringing all kind
of fashion elements together, this by layering and creating a clash.

Abstract
LOGO CULTURE

During my time at the academy, I often experienced a “creative block’’. I struggled a
lot with wanting to be original in my work but felt like everything was already done
before. This often resulted in procrastination. I didn’t want to copy another artist’s
techniques or work and was still searching for my own identity at the same time.

To find my own vision, my voice, as a designer I used the struggle I often had as my
starting point. My inspiration comes from and through expressing myself in collages
and prints. For this project I integrated recognizable logos and prints of multinational
fashion brands into my work. Challenging myself to literally ‘’use or borrow’’
their work and translate this into new prints, a print of my own.

My research is focused on the ‘logo culture’ within the fashion industry. Logo culture is a non verbal language, a visual expression, by wearing and representing the
brand(s) you stand for. Logo’s have become indispensable in today’s streetscape.
By assembling scraps of current designs and parts of logos from multinational
fashion brands, I tried to create a clash. Making a new togetherness from these recognisable identities, something that was, destructing them and mold them into my
own vision as a designer.

This project will investigate the history of logos and how brands use them as a
means of communication. I will dive into topics such as: the market strategy behind
logos and copying behaviour of prints and logos in the industry. What the meaning
is of wearing a logo on your clothes and what message do you want to express.
Understanding this non verbal language and relevance of the portrayal of logos is
the main goal of this project. Figuring out the position labels have or where they
strive to be and how this is integrated in their brand identity.

To understand the impact logos have in today’s industry we have to start at the beginning. How did logos come about and why are they so important?

It all started with: the radio, phonograph, the car, light bulb and so on. With these new inventions also came the mass marketing campaigns, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Nobody at that time was aware of a company’s brand identity. Advertising had purely a role inform people about the existence of products. 1.

With the development of factories the first attempt to mark articles came. The market became flooded with a uniform mass of products, which were almost indistinguishable from each other. Competing brands created their own imaging and gave advertising the task of building an image as well as providing information. One of the first ‘market’ products was Campbell soup, which still exists today. This now legendary logo is known. Andy Warhol even made a dress with the logo as an all-over print of it.

How did logos come about?
The beginning of logos

Figure 2 Warhol, Andy ‘’ The Souper Dress’’ 1966-67. Web. 8 May 2020

The silhouet of the swoosh is a visual representation of motion and speed, suggesting an athlete’s movement. The name, Nike, descended from the greek goddess of victory. Both have been patented since 1971. The swoosh is the most recognizable trusted mark in any industry and has stayed nearly the same over fifty years.

The history of the swoosh logo

Figure 3 ‘’ Nike’s Famous Swoosh Logo’’ 2018. Web. 24 May 2018.
Figure 4 “ Nike Court Vintage’’ 2020.

From this I conclude that the strong and popular appearance of the logo was a success from the start. People have such strong associations with Nike, they feel connected and a certain need to be part of the brand. Variations of the swoosh made a come back over the years, like the recently released sneaker: Nike Court Vintage. This shoe shows the first version of the swoosh but with a trendy and stylish new twist.

Multinational brands in fashion have built their marketing strategy from the fact that they sell an ‘image’ , instead of the products itself. This strategy was introduced in the ’80. Nike, among others, came up with this new formula. Their large and continuing to grow empire proves that their formula has been successful. A ‘’marketing formula’’ was at that time a new relevant way of advertising and has now become a strategy that is part of every brand’s core.

‘’ Nike, for example, is leveraging the deep emotional connection that people have with sports and fitness. With Starbucks, we see how coffee has woven itself into the fabric of people’s lives, and that’s our opportunity for emotional leverage.’’ 2

The formula is still relevant and has been improved over the years. With social media, a direct way of marketing and communicating with your audience, it is even easier to sell the image of the brand. Brands can have more interaction with their audience, have more brand visibility, which improves their sales.

Brand identity in the form of community building is here key, which is also showcased when we look at streetwear brands. Fashion has entered a new era where we see streetwear influencing high fashion brands and logos can no longer be missed in today’s streetscape.

Streetwear labels have created a movement where most of the owners are the embodiment of their brand. They openly share the same values: they live the lifestyle they sell and have translated this into merchandising. As can be seen by the many logos put on their clothing, which also has been taken up by the bigger fashion houses.Taking the term street credibility with it’s core values: belonging to a movement, a clan, portraying respect, to stand up and evolving it to a convincing display of style. 3

Marketing strategy behind giant fashion companies

Since the ‘image of a brand’ has become key, logos have taken a predominant role in the industry. This ‘role’ hasn’t gone unnoticed by other brands. They try to piggyback on each other’s success in the form of copying or re-framing a successful image. This has been seen happening on a big scale.

A major fashion critic exposing brands on their copying behavior is Instagram account Diet Prada. The founders of this account are two youthful fashion fanatics who have a lot of knowledge about the history of fashion. Not sparing anyone and giving their unfiltered opinion. Diving into archives and exhibits, giving their ‘dieters’ new juicy ‘replicas’ of the original designs, supporting their statements by facts. They even expose big fashion names like Valentino and Dior. 4

Here we see a post with two photos next to each other: on the left the original design, Christian Dior bag, and on the right the ‘’copycat’’, Calvin Klein ss20.

Copycatting: Why are logos and prints copied?

Figure 6 “ original design, Christian Dior bag, and the copycat, Calvin Klein ’’ 30 January 2020.

‘’In an industry where advertisers are still in control of what a fashion writer might publish, Diet Prada throws his accusations around as hand grenades’’ 5 Big names in fashion have noticed the impact that the articles had in the industry. This has resulted in a more alerter design process and a more original approach for some companies.

I experienced the ‘’copycatting process’’ up close during my internship last year at WE Fashion, a large Dutch retail company. By looking closely at current trends, of other (main street) brands or new techniques they tried to fill up their own fashion direction. Mimicking the graphics or sometimes creating their own variation, but changing as least as possible.

The reason behind ‘’copying or borrowing’’ is a brand strategy to promote sales. Companies have special departments where they investigate, by looking at their competitors among others, exactly what does and doesn’t sell. Taking the ‘’success numbers’’ of others, adding minimal changes to fit their own brand style and sell it again as their own.

The use of logos is visible everywhere, by spreading a message in various ways. Those two artists express themselves through the ‘imaging’ of logos.

Mouslam Rabat, a Moroccan-Belgian photographer, master of hybridity. His work portrays stereotypical images of his own Moroccan heritage and the western culture, where he grew up in. Trying to build a bridge between different cultures, emphasizing a normalization, his appreciation and emotion for both. In his work he creates images with typical Moroccan aesthetics mixing and twisting it with typical western elements, sometimes even clashing them. Making him a master of hybridity. Using elements that everyone has an association with, recognizable motifs, like Mcdonalds yellow arched M.

His motivation of using these logos of big multinationals is to create more inclusivity into the fashion industry. For example stitching the Nike swoosh on a djellaba as seen on the photo. His mission is to provoke global brands to be more diverse in their campaigns and brand identity. Showing that these cultures can belong together. 6

By bringing these different elements together you create an unpredictable setting that attracts attention, promoting more inclusivity in today’s brands. Calling them out to involve their brand identity. Representing in their campaigns an inclusive image that includes all communities evolving their strategy as a whole.

What impact do logos have on today’s streetscape?

Figure 9 ‘’ Please God, let the milkshake machine be fixed!!’’ ’ 2019. 4 June 2020.
Figure 10 “Nothing Makes Sense Anymore’’ 2020. 4 April 2020.

Figure 11 Botter, Rushemy “ Botter Crash’’ 2020. 2 June 2020.
Figure 12 “BOTTER Spring Summer 18 Men’s Campaign ‘FISH OR FIGHT’’ 2018. 3 May 2020.

Figure 13 “FISH OR FIGHT’’ 2019. 15 May 2020.

What impact do logos have on today’s streetscape?

High end streetwear brand Rushemy Botter, started in 2017 after Rushemy graduated from Antwerp’s royal academy. Expressing himself through activist statements his work is innovative and progressive.

LOGOS TELL A STORY

In his work he approaches logos by re-phrasing them into a new statement piece. In his Fish or Fight collection ss18, he taps into a painful subject; namely the pollution of the ocean (specifically around the Caribbean island of Curacao, where he is originally from). For the collection he used the well known Shell logo, melting it from SHELL into HELL. This visual way of communicating by using direct visual references to the source, in this case by using their logo, is very much his style. Creating strong visuals that speaks for themselves and building awareness for a topic that is understandable for everyone. 7

With these two examples, it is clear that logos can create impact in various ways. A logo is a universal bond, a universal visual language, the wearer has a feeling of being part of something. A clan or a expressing a bigger nonverbal message they stand for.

Figure 14 Joost van, Celeste. “Wearing My Bed To Work Today’’ 2020. 30 May 2020.
Figure 15 Joost van, Celeste. “Matchin Deets’’ 2020. 30 May 2020.

Bentgablentits is a small design studio, their designs are one of a kind pieces made out of old Nike sweaters ‘80s & 90s. They call their re-design approach ‘reworking vintage’. By using and designing the swoosh in the form of a rope, new fabrics and lace details.

Figure 18 “ Meet the Bespoke DIY Brand That Customizes Vintage Nike’’2019. 1 June
2020.

In the journey of finding my voice as a designer, i struggled a lot with creating my own style. As an artist it is almost impossible to make truly original work, everything has already ‘’been done’’ before. Like Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director of Valentino, said: “I don’t think that you can really do anything new today. But you can create new harmonies—new points of view and perspectives.’’ For me this was a
motivational statement, to start the project with.

I express myself through collages, this is the point where all my projects start. By creating a togetherness of different kinds of elements that came together ‘by accident’. I gathered different clips of logos, ‘copied and borrowed’ pieces of fashion multinational brands, fusing their identities. I call these collages and prints ‘’a collaboration between rivals’’. I use them as a source of inspiration, from which I get the a theme, shape, prints an the use of color.

I translate this into prints, as you can see in the photo. Here you see all-over prints which conclude multinational brand logos. I created a more added value by putting a ‘raster’ embroidery on top of it. This playful way of creating newless, by re- framing the logo.

Figure 19 Own source “Prints Made Of Collages, Layering Embroidery On Top’’ 2020.
2 June 2020.

In this way of collaborating you can be creative but, like Piccioli is saying, through a new perspective. By putting something together that does not belong together, maybe even has nothing in common. By crossing lines and thinking outside ‘the box’ you create a kind of newness.

New perspectives on the design approach in fashion

Figure 16 & 17 “Daily Paper x Van Gogh Museum’’ 2019. 1 June 2020.

The collaboration between Daily Paper and the van Gogh museum is a good example of a new approach of creating new harmonies in the way of rebranding an honored artist his work.They respectfully honored the work in the way of a collab, incorporating van Gogh masterpieces into all-over prints on garments. Portraying his daily life ‘het alledaagse’ and rebranding it into their street vision.

This research has brought me new insides about this ‘logo culture’ and the role that it takes in the industry and - society. The process of the project learned me a lot on a theoretic but also on a personal level, about who I am as a designer.

First i dived into the beginning and the history of logos. By caming a cross the interesting formula were they introduced the importance of the brand identity by the interesting term of: selling the ‘image of the brand’ instead of the products itself. This brought me much more understanding about the amount of logos we see. People almost get ‘brainwashed’ by this brand strategy. They create a ‘bonding’ a deeper connection between the brand and the costumer, by becoming part of a community. Also the strong connection people have with Nike, was really an i eye opener for me, this strategy is so ‘deeply rooted’ in people their lives and habits.

As introduced in my intro, i struggled a lot with creating a original approach and searching my own vision, to reach authenticity. I connected this in a way of using copycatting in fashion as a metaphor. By connecting multinational brands in my collages, i tried to push boundaries in the form of literally copying the ‘giants’ in fashion their logos. For me this was the most challenging way of incorporate logos into my creative process.

The project created its impact by different harmonies and expressions of logos. I hope that in the nearby future there will become more acceptance about assembling elements and that we will see a ‘,melting pot’ of different identities, coming together. This by creating a newness, so not a literally copy. My approach and belief as a designer is that we can mix up things more. But still keep in mind that it is really important to still include your own authenticity.

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