Post written by Emma Louise Woolley
Postcard Art No: #1 – Title: YST Symbolism Blast
Today’s brandscape is bombarded with symbolism everywhere you turn. Why is this? Why is symbolism so important in brand identity? To understand this first, we have to go back to the origins of ‘the mark’ and how it came about.
The symbol plays an important and emotive part of the brands appearance. Symbols that we know today draw upon centuries of visual language that have evolved over thousands of years. At this point we should also reference the inclusion of mythology (from the Greek mythos for story-of-the-people, and logos for word or speech, so the spoken story of a people). Mythology is the study and interpretation of customs, rituals and cultural morals. These myths often were told in the form visual concepts and illustrations.
If we go as far back as far as 70,000 BC and 7000 BC we can see the first sightings of graphic arts from primitive people from all over the world. Communities and cultures from Ancient Egypt communicated ethical, sociopolitical and religious information in the form of hieroglyphics and writing systems. Medieval Europe also played a part in developing cultural symbols, creating family crests and coats of arms. The original idea was to develop a symbolic visual that differentiated one from the other.
Moving forward in time, during the era of industrialisation comes the very early stages of advertising and early sightings of symbolic branding. Mass production and printing capabilities were developed such as the printing press, this allowed businesses of the era to have branded printed labels and advertisements. Societies evolved which lead to retail and urban centres being developed. This created an opportunity for businesses to tap into these new areas and sell their services and products. Consumerism was born.
At the turn of the 20th Century commercial logos became part of society in the US and Europe, big brand names were already on the scene such as Coca-Cola and Pierre de Coubertin’s, Olympic flag. What’s interesting about the Olympic flag is the symbolic meaning behind it, the circular rings link back to tribal identification and cultural communication. Symbolically it feels very universal, the interlaced rings represent the five parts of the world joined together. To enhance the visual symbol, the motto “Citius, altius, fortius,” was formed to help reinforce the idea. Latin Meaning: “Faster, higher, stronger,”
A great example of symbolic interpretation can be seen in Paul Rand’s pictorial logo for IBM in the 1950’s. The eye graphic represents the “I”. The bee represents the “B”. Businesses soon realised the power of symbolism within brands.
Today, symbolism is engrained in almost every brand. It is useful to understand that using symbolic reference allows us to understand what informs todays design concepts. When a new brand or rebrand is developed it is interesting to see that almost all references and symbolic meanings reflects our culture or past values. As a creative branding agency things like this excite us. For more details on our specialisms check this page out!
YST – in the form of symbolism…
Postcard Artwork #1 – Title: YST Symbolism Blast.
Pick up one of our groovy hand-curated postcards across Brum or pop over to the Custard Factory to collect yours! Look out for our YST triad symbolism stickers across the city! 😉
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