Contrast this with S&P ratings’ website. Just feels so much more human. Here’s their careers page.
Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
181–190 of 195 posts
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
It can be, and generally is, both (if by "arthouse wankery" you mean design theory).
I wouldn't tar all of design theory with the brush of being Kabbalistic medieval-metaphysics-like random intuitive associations. Only some of it is like that.
Not quite sure what you're trying to say: that applies in similar ways to basically every academic speciality. And what the parent quoted: it's just an observation based on theory, similar historical trends, and his own practice. It might be _wrong_, but it's not metaphysics or random association. It's not even really an academic point at all, it's a technical point: specific art styles are commonly used to communicate certain messages to the viewer. The utilitatarian reasons for "why this style" are all correct, but they provide only half an explanation
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
There used to be true artistry and celebration of beauty in corporate advertising. Look at the works of Toulouse-Lautrec or Alphonse Mucha. But no college kid is going to be putting up posters of these misshapen flat people in their college dorm.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/a1/24/fea1247eb6d9d47c6997... I... guess "celebration of beauty" is a good description, but let's be honest: it's insulting and artistically lazy.
In the gay community you’ll still see these kind of ads in 2021. And I don’t think anyone particularly cares...
Yes, it’s a cheap trick and tacky. But it’s also a recognition that sexual desire and beauty are real things and a part of our shared human experience.
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#184The name refers to how it resembles the work of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Group
For visual reference, Evan Collin's Are.na block is the most cohesive collection of this aesthetic I've found online https://www.are.na/evan-collins-1522646491/memphis-general-g... . The Memphis-esque style is definitely having a moment. You'll notice that the Chillwave aesthetic borrowed a ton of visual cues as well.
That aesthetic screams 1986 to me. Not sure why I pick that year as it could apply to any number of years around that period; Nikelodeon shows well into the 90s used that aesthetic for sure.
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#185What I miss a bit in the article is the acknowledgement that me might have found a simple, efficient and effective communication medium that could be used in several contexts.
Although it might be far from perfect and have several drawbacks, I like that we don't need to reinvent the wheel from scratch every single time we have to craft a visual message.
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
Racialization - making everything about racial characteristics and pitting races against each other - is what has been 'on trend' recently and the world is a poorer place for it. Anti racism has been around forever and always should be, because drawing attention to and excluding people due to their race is completely unacceptable in liberal democracy merit based societies.
That’s actually not what racialization means. Racialization is the creation of race as a social construct. “Racial characteristics” aren’t fixed; the Nazis considered Jewish people a “race” despite what they looked like. Race isn’t a real thing. It’s something we made up because it was a justification for why it was ok to oppress people with the characteristics we dislike (we tried enslaving people with lighter skin;…
@wayoutthere In sociology racialization/ethnicization is ascribing ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such.
You will find lots of groups of people who aren't happy about being categorized then defended or attacked by people who are 'speaking for them'.
The obvious current example is the overwhelmingly white US #BLM movement. If you go to a California black neighborhood and talk to people they are v suspicious of BLM's motives. Another new one is the latest acronym #AANHPI (Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander).
I don't enjoy being categorized, pigeon holed and criticized like any other sane person but we appear to be in the midst of a mania for people speaking on behalf of others to push their own agendas.
I heard Tulsi Gabbard (an'#AANHPI POC') use the term racialization of everything recently and think she is sensible and spot on with her one love messaging and pointing out the endless divisions currently being created in societies.
Regarding slavery, I'm sure you're aware there are more slaves in Africa now than there were in the brief era when european and US maritime merchants bought slaves off slavers along with other 'products'? The current specious rewriting of history to imply slavery was invented by colonial white people is so far off base it is a huge danger to society and ignores today's realities. It is also a powerful tool for feeding racialization paranoias.
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
Only if you think that "diversity" is somehow abnormal. Why is it a calculated move for companies like Google, whose CEO has brown skin, to have some of their advertisements include brown skinned people? The real cynical move would be to make them all white to appease middle America. Why do you feel the rest of us have to hide our existence to appease you?
I too use my identity as a cudgel, except I am a philosopher. > Only if you think that "diversity" is somehow abnormal. I don't, and you chose the value-laden term "abnormal" instead of "demographically atypical". Convenient that you chose the term that I would never use and that makes your argument look less preposterous. > Why is it a calculated move for companies like Google, whose CEO has brown skin, to have some…
> This implies that brown skin is an indicator of diversity. To use your method of reductio: ...only if you think that diversity is determined by superficial attributes like skin color.
I started my comment by mentioning skin tone. It's you and the comments I quoted who decided to label this "diversity" with scare quotes, and now you're arguing about the definition of a term you brought into the argument.
> I don't, and you chose the value-laden term "abnormal" instead of "demographically atypical".
That's not a counterargument, you're just nitpicking word choice here. Regardless of what you call it the skin tone distribution matches that of the people who make these graphics. It's also not far off from the national average.
According to Wikipedia 60% of the US Population is non-hispanic white[0]. I imagine the number of Hispanic and Asian people with light skin is around the same as white people with darker skin so this is a good proxy for skin color distribution. If I count one of the first Google Image results for "corporate memphis" about 54/71 = 76% of them have light skin and look white to me. So no, it's only statistically abnormal in that there are probably not enough cartoon brown people.
> I too use my identity as a cudgel, except I am a philosopher.
You either have a poor understanding of philosophy or an inflated ego if you think the semantic games you're playing counts as philosophy.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_Un...
[1] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e662715857fa5...
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s actually not what racialization means. Racialization is the creation of race as a social construct. “Racial characteristics” aren’t fixed; the Nazis considered Jewish people a “race” despite what they looked like. Race isn’t a real thing. It’s something we made up because it was a justification for why it was ok to oppress people with the characteristics we dislike (we tried enslaving people with lighter skin;…
@wayoutthere In sociology racialization/ethnicization is ascribing ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such. You will find lots of groups of people who aren't happy about being categorized then defended or attacked by people who are 'speaking for them'. The obvious current example is the overwhelmingly white US #BLM movement. If you go to a Californ…
> If you go to a California black neighborhood and talk to people they are v suspicious of BLM's motives.
Have you done this? I live in a majority black neighborhood but not in California and I talk to my neighbors. I have heard a lot of skepticism and hostility towards _the organization calling itself by that name_. But not towards the movement itself or the phrase it uses to represent itself.
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
@wayoutthere In sociology racialization/ethnicization is ascribing ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such. You will find lots of groups of people who aren't happy about being categorized then defended or attacked by people who are 'speaking for them'. The obvious current example is the overwhelmingly white US #BLM movement. If you go to a Californ…
> If you go to a California black neighborhood and talk to people they are v suspicious of BLM's motives. Have you done this? I live in a majority black neighborhood but not in California and I talk to my neighbors. I have heard a lot of skepticism and hostility towards _the organization calling itself by that name_. But not towards the movement itself or the phrase it uses to represent itself.
It’s a talking point from the right I’ve been hearing recently, along with “there were more slaves in Africa than the US”. It’s just more whataboutisms to distract from the utter lack of coherent policy from that side of the US political spectrum.
Re: Why does every advert look the same? Corporate Memphis
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
This document is insane. It feels like everyone involved in the production of it is so utterly disconnected from reality. That first page “Trajectory of innovation” with the pseudograph is an utterly hilarious distillation of the madness yet to come. The deeper I read into the document the worse it got. Golden ratio, Patterns being found where there were none to begin with (“perimeter oscillations”), Pepsi Energy fie…
>What learning can be taken from this? Is it a case of the train of thought being very poorly explained? My first question would be if the rebranding was a success? I generally think people are too dismissive of seemingly insane approaches to work. If this guy or girl needed to channel ancient Indian traditions, golden ratios and numerology to get inspired and make the best pepsi logo they could make, who are we to j…
In my own art form (theater), there's a fair bit of effort spent being deliberately stupid in order to get us out of our existing patterns. A lot of famously idiotic acting exercises aren't really about the work you're doing, but about breaking your habits and being un-self-conscious about it.
The whole theory is that you can't think your way into a natural performance, unless what you want is exactly the same as the actor's own habits. There are things that make you instantly recognizeable even at a distance: how you walk, how much of a gap you place at the end of a sentence, how high you pitch your voice. A 3D model has the kind of control they need to walk in character, stand in character, raise their eyebrows in character, etc., but you don't. You have to first break your existing habits, then start from blank.
It's not the only way to act; you can get great performances without that. But it's a valid tool that works for some people.
I don't particularly like that new Pepsi logo, but it's still in use. They use it all over the place. So it sounds like it was moderately successful. It didn't become truly iconic (the way the Coca-Cola or Disney logos are), but that kind of success is rare.