It’s barely three weeks into the new year and already I think we’re seeing what will surely be one of the best brand redesigns of 2012. I’m unfamiliar with Hörst Dusseldorf, as I dress like a rich hobo, but if I know anything about upscale men’s clothing, I think they’ve hit the mark perfectly.
Armin Vit:
The old logo was a joke of triple-extended proportions. Why anyone would design such a thing or any client accept it is almost inconceivable. So anything new would be an improvement. And, boy, is this new identity an improvement.
I have read that Chipotle uses—as much as possible—local vegetables and “naturally raised” pork in its burritos. When I, however, think of Chipotle I think of “too much food” and “fake Mexican cuisine” and something far less flattering (think South Park satire).
Okay, so Knoxville only got a location about a year ago and I’ve not eaten there yet. My judgements are probably unfounded.
However, over the past few years the company has tried to fight that image and promote their “locally grown” take on fast-casual dining.
To that end, they have produced an awesome two-minute spot complete with Willie Nelson soundtrack and stop motion splendor. Willie Nelson + Stop Motion = I will post on my site.
Stop motion has been popping up everywhere in recent years, but this commercial stands out because the message is great (if not a bit hokey), the story-telling is compelling and the production is awesome. I am of course going to complain that Nelson is singing a cover of a Coldplay song, but that’s not what’s important.
As it turns out, online Oreo-obsessives have spent as much time decoding the design as they have speculating on the identity of the designer. The circle topped with a two-bar cross in which the word “OREO” resides is a variant of the Nabisco logo, and is either “an early European symbol for quality” (according to Nabisco’s promotional materials) or a Cross of Lorraine, as carried by the Knights Templar into the Crusades. Continuing the Da Vinci Code-theme, the Oreo’s geometric pattern of a dot with four triangles radiating outward is either a schematic drawing of a four-leaf clover or — cue the cliffhanger music from Jaws — the cross pattée, also associated with the Knights Templar, as well as with the German military and today’s Freemasons.
