Take my brand, please.
Posted Oct. 1, 2009 by Steve Laughlin
Filed under: Agency Life, Digital / Interactive
But first, take a look at Ogilvy’s and Crispin’s new web-sites.
These are new designs that position both agencies as leading edge by using aggregated media stories about them and their clients as an opening screen.
I love the urgency and energy. In both cases, the clutter that I’ve been fighting professionally all these years has become the organizing concept. In a weird twist on Marshall Mcluhan’s insight of the medium becoming the message, we’ve seen the Bauhaus movement toward white space and simplicity yield to a supernova of design. These sites are like trying to read the Congressional Record on acid. Yet they work.
There’s a wonderful irony at work here. Agencies are using clutter to demonstrate their ability to cut through it. These sites serve as a vivid demonstration that the loss of control a lot of marketers are experiencing puts an even greater emphasis on ideas that elbow their way into our consciousness.
Maybe what we’re seeing is the transitional period from white space to white noise as a design maxim.
2 Responses to “Take my brand, please.”
Posted on Oct 1, 2009 by James Saleska
I think Ogilvy handles it much better.
I still think that there needs to be hierarchy in design and Crispin does a horrible job of portraying what information they value. Who would really use their site to its full potential? I think it is a great idea in theory but I predict it will not last very long. Are perspective clients going to spend time swimming through that information? And if it’s not for clients then what is it for?
Posted on Feb 14, 2011 by Rachel Howe
@James I think you hit the nail on the head.
I personally, think that simplicity is key. Busy, flashy designs are too distracting, not too mention flash is horrible for SEO. What todays consumer wants is information and they want it right away. I think if you can find the right balance, you’re golden.