Telia is not a brand recognized in the U.S. but parent company Deutsche Telekom parent company of T-mobile is and many of you might recall that in the past that they have taken steps to keep competitors from using magenta in their branding.

This time however they weren’t successful in their action and I just posted a short article about the outcome of this legal action…

To promote their colorful spring and summer collections, Gap enlisted Chris Do and the Blind team to create a video for Danish post-punk duo Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo, better known as The Raveonettes. With only three weeks to conceive and complete the project, the team executed an edgy and elegant exploration of the contradictory forces that black and white represent.

See the storyboards and read more on BL:ND

Click here to view the embedded video.

After five years and millions of dollars in legal fees the Federal Court ruled that Cadbury does not own the color and is not entitled to the exclusive use of dark purple.

Cadbury maintains its position and is likely to appeal.

Hear the ABC News interview here…

What do you think? Should Cadbury be able to protect their brand color?

It’s all about what that splash of colour reminds us of. Whether it says quality, style, value, exclusivity or something else, the tiny splash of colour speaks to us.

When someone sees your splash of colour – be it on your logo, your corporate branding, your uniform, your office walls, your signage, your business card – what does it signify to them? What does it remind them to remember about your company, your business, your brand?

Read the article…

Americans have been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day since the 1850’s. But if you’re knowledge of Irish history only goes as deep as a mug of green beer you might be surprised to learn that in Ireland this holiday is not celebrated as wildly as in the U.S. and that there is not a historic connection between green and St. Patrick.

It is only in modern times that green has become associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Blue, not green, is the color long associated with St. Patrick.

A green shamrock was a symbol that St. Patrick had used to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish and ‘the wearing of the green’ meant to wear a shamrock to display your faith.

It is widely believed that beginning in the mid-1700’s people mistook the phrase to mean wearing green garments and we all know the rest of the story…the wearing of green has become ubiquitous with St. Patrick’s Day.

In fact green has become so strongly attached not just to this holiday but to Ireland many believe that it is the ‘official’ color of the country. While there is no official color two hues of blue, St. Patrick’s Blue and Presidential Blue are widely used by the Government of Ireland.

Presidential Blue is darker than St. Patrick’s Blue and both can be seen the football (soccer) uniforms of Dublin County and the liveries of Aer Lingus. Presidential Blue appears in the Irish Crest and St. Patrick’s Blue can be seen behind the gold bardic harp on on the ancient Irish flag.

So while I’ll still be ‘wearing the green’ today my heart will be ‘true blue’ all the way down to my Irish roots.

PS- I can’t help but wonder if the green really came about when the first creative pub owner tried to make blue beer. Blue food color + yellow beer…oops! Hmm, how can we spin this? Can’t let all that good beer go to waste! ☺

Happy St. Paddy’s Day

While most consumers have agreed for some time that care and renewal of our natural environment is an issue that needs to be addressed until recently only a small number of individuals proactively took responsibility for making changes in the way they lived and worked.

This attitude has changed and currently many people now feel that simply voicing a concern isn’t enough and that each and every one of us must actively make changes in our homes and workplaces in order to ‘do no harm’.

Government leaders too have become more engaged in sustainability issues with politicians talking ‘green’. New legislation requiring businesses to operate with environmental consciousness has companies scrambling to keep up.

Companies that are ahead of the curve are touting their environmental savvy as a way to attract like-minded customers and stand above their competitors. In the near future however business operating in a way that supports sustainability will become a given in the minds of consumers and business leaders will need to add environmental best practices to an already long list of customer expectations.

For many companies this means implementing new processes but for others it will be more challenging and require developing new technologies, rethinking operations and reformulating products. All of this while keeping the end product or service priced competitively. This is one tall order to fill and unless tackled with keen insight an organization could put themselves out of business trying.

But try they will because this business eco ego is being fueled more by customers and their own eco ego than by legislation. Consumers taking positive action want to proudly shows off their environmental responsibility and their ability to reduce their carbon footprint through the products and services they chose.

While the environmental movement has spurred us to take a less self-centered and broader view of the long-term impact each of us has on the world we haven’t left behind our need for recognition. The paradox is that often the same people that feel most driven to make a significant difference also the same ones that want to be recognized for how brightly their halo glows.

It seems that keeping up with the Jones has become keeping up with the ‘Greens.’

Below are two of 15 cartoons. See the slide show here…

It’s a great time to get a feel for the community, visit a cozy cafe, browse a flea market and make some fun color discoveries.

This weekend while in Crystal City I came upon this colorful crosswalk and simply had to know more.

I learned that artist Anne Marchand was responsible and had added the “racing stripes” at the request of the Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID).

The “racing stripes” were added as a colorful and fun way to greet the 30,000 Marine Corps marathoners with vivid patterns of color just waiting to be crossed as they made their way through the Crystal City section of the 26.2-mile course on Sunday, Oct. 28.

The magical strip reinforces the city’s brand message of being vibrant, fun and not just “smart but brilliant” as seen on the many banners hung along the streets.

What an unexpected pleasure for the marathoners and a wonderful example of an usual application of brand colors.

Even I might be convinced not to jaywalk if all crosswalks were this fun!

Share the Love: What Design & Conscious Color Mean for the Contemporary Global Marketplace

In a market economy characterized by commoditized products and global competition, how do companies gain deep and lasting loyalty from their customers?

The answer is by creating meaningful experiences through a love of design and color.

Darrel is a wonderful speaker and it was fun for all of us to hear about his experiences as a young designer who was himself a member of Color Marketing Group.

He shared how each of us could create meaning for ourselves and our clients. He really walks the talk because he connected his ideas to the audience in a way that was meaningful by being tailored to our group and by suggesting specific actions each of us could take to create value and meaning.

Darrell recommended keeping open to learning and new ideas…

• Do the homework
• Travel
• Read

…and develop your own point of view…

• Share it!
• Blog
• Speak or lecture
• Write

This really hit home with me and if you haven’t read his book Making Meaning I recommend it.

Also there is an excellent resources on the Cheskin website that supports what he discussed– An Ethnography Primer

This was especially helpful as I prepared for the design workshop I’m facilitating tomorrow on the influences of ethnography on color and design.

A bit more about Darrel Rhea:

Currently CEO of Cheskin, Darrel has spent the last 25 years working on the front lines of innovation with the world’s top corporations helping them understand their customers, their needs and their experiences — and marrying the best of design, strategy, and market research into a solid business proposition.

Rhea is one of America’s top strategic design consultants, with extensive experience leading industrial design, product development and innovation, graphic design, and brand identity creation initiatives.

In the most recent BrandFlash video Martin Lindstrom points out that while today we all recognize carrots as being orange few people know or remember the place where it was created. The video titled “Color Branding the Carrot: A Netherlands’ ‘How Not to’ Story” is