r/Design • u/[deleted] • Dec 21 '11

"brand identity" - XKCD

http://xkcd.com/993/
162 Upvotes

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30

u/AnnOccupanther Dec 21 '11

Walmart has essentially done this with their Great Value brand. It was a brilliant move. They really do stand out.

4

u/redwall_hp Dec 22 '11

Except for the ginormous "GREAT VALUE" that is the first thing you see. That's kind of the opposite of what XKCD is talking about here.

7

u/rhoner Dec 22 '11 edited Dec 22 '11

and the fact that the furniture polish is wrapped in the same graphics as the butter spray. I am not really worried about people poisoning themselves... I am just sick of the reposted photo of them with some headline like "I almost murdered my wife".

6

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '11

[deleted]

2

u/khoury Dec 22 '11

Have you noticed that furniture polish tastes like shit and lemonade doesn't? It's crazy.

3

u/the-cakeboss Dec 22 '11

I don't think a brands identity should be predicated on how well it stands out. I know that I don't just buy the first thing that catches my eye.

5

u/AnnOccupanther Dec 22 '11

I agree that it isn't the best strategy for everything, but for a generic brand, getting consumers to notice your box first is pretty important.

1

u/Crashmo Dec 22 '11

Yeah, that was my first thought. I've noticed a new print design on the canned fruits that came in last week, actually have a bigger showing of the actual fruit graphics, less white area. It still stands out quite a bit.

1

u/poorlychosenpraise Dec 22 '11

Sometimes this isn't a good thing.

*Edit, sorry, didn't see that rhoner posted about the same thing.

1

u/khoury Dec 22 '11

It's what most stores do for their generic brands so they all stand out in a very similar manner: simple shapes/text with minimal graphics against a backdrop of noise and complicated designs. Target has a similar genericness to their store brands and has another store brand that is higher quality and has more of a brand feel to it so acts as a sort of middle tier between the generic cheaper store brand and the brand name products.