In 2008 the Chinese will officially have their chance to mix a little of their culture with the traditions of the Olympics.
For example, on the official Olympics website for 2008, one can quickly find in the Torch Relay section at the top, a banner full of red waves and, you guessed it, a red dragon. In China, a red dragon symbolizes both happiness and power and it is a red dragon that will symbolize the lighting of the flame!
In creating his vision of how China would be portrayed on the Olympic website Zhifeng mingled traditional colors with a color not represented in Feng Shui; a color not a part of Chinese culture.
The main color theme of the Olympic website for 2008 is the modern and beautiful blending of blue and green to produce teal. Teal represents a new age of modernity; a color, which right now in China represents an increased awareness of globalization. The Chinese have embraced this color and display it proudly.
Although red will never be pushed aside at the heart of Chinese culture, it will, for a while, have to share the stage with teal.
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Tags: gold, silver
Authored by Kate Smith
How many times have you seen motivational posters hung within the walls of a company whose leadership is anything but motivating?
Well Loyalis has come up with some perfect replacement posters in his Demotivational series. Check them out here…
I bet without me telling you would have figured out my favorite. Color and duct tape…my kind of humor. 
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From today’s New York Times– MADISON AVENUE is making like Little Jack Horner, pulling out plum after plum for the presumed delectation of consumers.
Examples of how plum may become the new black for advertisers and media companies include a new Plum Card from American Express, coupon inserts in Sunday newspapers under the RedPlum name and plum-colored labels for products like Penta water.
There is also Plum TV, a channel available in resort communities; PlumChoice Online, a PC services company; and even books by Janet Evanovich featuring a character called Stephanie Plum. The titles include “Plum Lovin’ ” and “Plum Lucky” and, coming in January, according to Dori Weintraub of St. Martin’s Press, which publishes Ms. Evanovich, “Plum Spooky.”
Trend watchers suggest several reasons so many marketers seem to be going plum loco. One recurring thought is that the success of technology brands like Apple and BlackBerry is giving fruit a good name, hence the proliferation of plums as well as brands like Pinkberry and Red Mango, which are both frozen yogurts.
Plum and purple colors also “evoke royalty, sophistication,” said Tom Julian, president at the Tom Julian Group in New York, a brand consultancy.
Those shades can appeal to “the emotional side of one’s passions and interests,” he added, “the individual desire for zest and to be distinct.”
Mr. Julian traces the growing appeal of plum to fall 2005, when “the ‘luxe’ factor emerged in the designer market” and richer hues came into favor.
Continue reading on the NYTimes.com
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Chinese use icons to show Olympic support
Chinese Web users, stung by international criticism of China ahead of the Beijing Olympics, have splashed red across the Internet by adding hearts and “CHINA” to their names when chatting online in a show of support.
Several Reuters reporters’ contact lists for online chat programs, such as Microsoft Corp.’s MSN, steadily filled up with red hearts during the day, though opinions differed as to what, exactly, the symbol signified.
Continue reading at globeandmail.com
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How Starbucks is using a special brown logo to evoke the chain’s beginnings and restore some goodwill for the brand
The new old logo: Starbucks is temporarily using a sanitized version of its original branding on new packaging.
Brown is certainly a color that communicates coffee. So, when you order a cup of the new Pike Place coffee at Starbucks this week, it doesn’t seem out of place to see a special brown logo on the cup and paper sleeve. Except that, as everyone knows, Starbucks’ iconic logo is green. So why change such a successful corporate symbol?
The image of the twin-tailed mermaid inside the brown medallion harkens back to the chain’s 1971 beginnings. The logo has evolved over the years, going from brown to green in 1987.
This is the second time in three years Starbucks has trotted out the brown mermaid, inspired by a Norse woodcut. Back in 2006, she was resurrected to mark the chain’s 35th anniversary. This time, she is a messenger…Read the whole story on BusinessWeek.com
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