Nostalgia marketing is rearing its head once again with a spate of brand comebacks and collabs that are channeling the Y2K aesthetic. But what role should brands be playing in the trend, if any?...
Nike launches futuristic AR experience in China
Nike has unveiled Trove, a stylish digital experience geared towards its customers in China, which celebrates the brand’s collaborations with Matthew M Williams, who helms the Maison Givenchy fashion house, and music artist and producer G-Dragon. Optimised for use on smartphones, the experience uses AR tech to allow users to pan around the unique worlds built for each collaborator according...
Capri Sun releases an animated content series for kids
Best known for turning up in kids’ packed lunches and at picnics, Capri Sun’s latest launch comes not in the form of a new juice range but, more surpisingly, an irreverent animated series on YouTube. Created in collaboration with agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners and animation studio Blinkink, Break Free TV is a five-part mini-show designed to provide a sip-sized...
ITV’s Britain Get Talking campaign continues with new ad about teen anxiety
Since its original launch in 2019, ITV’s Britain Get Talking campaign has taken various forms. It launched as a pause in the live broadcast of Britain’s Got Talent, when presenters Ant and Dec asked viewers to take a moment to talk to their loved ones, and later continued with messages of support and encouragement during the Covid-19 lockdowns. This new...
Ladybird updates its branding – but don’t worry, it’s kept the spotty beetle
Brands often talk about ‘iconic’ logos, but generations of children that grew up reading Ladybird books are likely to agree that the publisher’s red and black beetle symbol really does belong in that category. The imprint, which is now part of Penguin Random House, published its first titles in 1914, and since then the company has always used a ladybird...
Examining Virgil Abloh’s legacy
Following the opening of Figures of Speech, a retrospective of Virgil Abloh’s work at the Brooklyn Museum, curator and collaborator Antwaun Sargent talks about Abloh’s wide-ranging influence on culture...
New Droga5 Amazon campaign celebrates books’ “invisible magic”
Creative agency Droga5 London has worked with Amazon Books to launch its new global campaign, That Reading Feeling Awaits, which aims to “celebrate the place of books at the foundation of culture”. The campaign includes six different videos which combine animation with footage of different readers to denote different book genres, which come together to demonstrate the magic of reading…...
Cuckoo rebrands to usher in a new era of broadband
Set up in 2020 by Alexander Fitzgerald, Tommy Toner and Daniel McClure, broadband company Cuckoo offers rolling contracts as well as 12-month plans, promises to get customers online within 24 hours, and invests a percentage of each bill in improving internet access around the world. The provider has just unveiled a new identity, designed by Studio Output, to help Cuckoo...
Designing for our obsession with sleep
From bed-in-a-box businesses to CBD supplements, the sleep wellness market has exploded in recent years. We explore how creativity is setting brands apart...
Are drinks brands taking minimalism too far?
With San Pellegrino, Lilt and Sprite embracing stripped back looks, we discuss what’s going on in drinks branding, and the dangers and joys of minimalism...
Pei-Hsin Cho’s detailed, deeply personal practice
“At some point, I started to feel that words failed me in expressing feelings,” explains London-based illustrator and animator Pei-Hsin Cho. Visuals opened up another channel, creating drawings “to fill the hole in the language of emotions”. She uses typically muted, dimmed palettes and there are at times mournful or weary expressions on her characters’ faces, yet there’s a softness...
Nooci’s identity subverts expectations of traditional Chinese medicine
The market for health and wellness supplements has exploded in recent years. Despite this, one of the oldest forms of alternative medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, remains little known about in the US in particular. Founded by Stephanie Tan, new supplement brand Nooci is hoping to bridge this gap for western audiences. The Hong Kong-born, US-educated entrepreneur is hoping to make…...