4 ms·

This design is Orwellian in nature. In the current age of global wars, international terrorism, financial turmoil, outsourced labor, awakening behemoths (China

This design is Orwellian in nature. In the current age of global wars, international terrorism, financial turmoil, outsourced labor, awakening behemoths (China), increasing corruption, people fear the future. Look at Apple, classic 1960's space age retro. Look at Instagram. Cozy and nostalgic polaroid filters. If I designed for the future, I'd take hints from the past. A key difference is that in the past, different social groups had something to look forward to (emancipation and liberation), despite the looming threat of thermonuclear warfare. Nowadays? In the western hemisphere? It's all gloom and doom. In western markets - Your brand should function as an opiate, it should reassure and placate people. In emerging markets - Sell the American dream of old. Of course there's a third way, show us a way out of here. But for that advertisement alone is not enough. You'd have to change how your business runs and make a lasting impact on society. Forget shareholder value and start thinking about society.

jsnk 14y ago
I think Andrew's take on Microsoft delivers the right kind of futurism for consumers. It is sleek and simple. Straight lines, and angular corners seems to convey speediness, responsiveness, practicality and productivity. I think I can relate to you when you way the design is Orwellian in one aspect. The slate design is so stripped down from its original logo that it doesn't really convey Microsoft anymore. It is so simple that the feeling that conveys what Microsoft really is, isn't found in the logo. But perhaps, that is how Andrew hopes Microsoft would be seen to the public. Sure Microsoft has a huge division doing enterprise stuff, but to consumers, that isn't always the ideal way to present your company. Maybe this is a step in the right direction.
- kitsune_ 14y ago
  With poetic licence, the argument that the design is Orwellian in nature, can easily be made :) The "slate", the brand's corner stone, is inspired by the emptiness you feel when you stare into the abyss of the myriad of windows that tower above you from faceless, anonymous skyscrapers. Welcome to the future, where you are one of many.
potatolicious 14y ago
You're right, but I think that's exactly what MSFT needs. > "Look at Instagram. Cozy and nostalgic polaroid filters." Microsoft is an enterprise and productivity tools company, first and foremost. They build platforms, and their chief value proposition is still "getting shit done for people and businesses", which is a far cry from the "share personal moments" of Instagram or "stylish, sexy" of Apple. Whatever brand they take needs to reflect this. Right now their brand reflects "corporate, staid, boring, completely uninnovative", but perhaps that uber-sleek, coldly professional look is exactly what they need. After all, we know Microsoft doesn't stand a chance going toe to toe with Apple, playing by Apple's rules (cute, emotional, nostalgic, soft). Changing the rules is pretty much all they've got going for them.
olalonde 14y ago
Wow, that's quite cynical! I don't think your pessimistic "gloom and doom" view is shared by that many people in the Western world (perhaps a loud minority? perhaps it is a US thing?). Also, why are "outsourced labor" and "awakening behemoths (China)" listed as negative things?
roguecoder 14y ago
"A key difference is that in the past, different social groups had something to look forward to (emancipation and liberation), despite the looming threat of thermonuclear warfare. Nowadays? In the western hemisphere? It's all gloom and doom." It was so awesome to be disempowered and enslaved. That's why gay people are so much happier than straight people today. More seriously, though, there's as much optimism in activist circles today in America as there has been in the past. Especially if you hang out with the FOSS crowd, or in hacker spaces. 3D printing offers at least as many possibilities for liberation as any prior innovations. As for your rosy view of the past, I recommend reading about the split between feminists and abolitionists over the 14th amendment. Or the British suffragette movement. Certainly no advertising appealed to such groups until they were already successful: for the most part they didn't have purchasing power, and those members that did had derived it from buying into their own oppression (by, for example, being housewives). Advertisers have almost always, with few niche exceptions, sold a safe view of an ever-so-slightly better world.
tammer 14y ago
As much as I love the mockup, in the end I probably agree. Microsoft's core branding strength in the consumer market is its "genericness". Look at the new homepage - very standard US families using MS products. While Apple's aesthetic appeals to millions and millions, to some it comes off as elitist and/or flashy. As unusual as it seems to say this, MS may be doing well by pushing their bland mostly-business-but-you-can-go-on-facebook-on-it-too branding - many americans could assimilate the mockup's intended message and react negatively. People want cheap crap that doesn't make them think too hard. Microsoft's current branding is unexciting (read: safe, reassuring) for very specific reasons.
- krrrh 14y ago
  I think you're right on the money. Your comment reminds me of Neal Stephenson's characterization of Windows as the station wagon of operating systems. http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html
  - tammer 14y ago
    Thanks a lot for this, it was a great read. I think the following phrases things far better than I did: >The answer, for people who don't like Damoclean questions, is that since Microsoft has won the hearts and minds of the silent majority--the bourgeoisie--they don't give a damn about having a slick image, any more then Dick Nixon did.
zaptheimpaler 14y ago
Thats a great point, but I don't think you can quite capture the full breadth of current emotion under the term 'future'. The issues you mentioned about the current age are primarily focused on society/civilization, and I'd say people certainly fear the depersonalization of society and the break down of current civilization. The branding on the other hand isn't really focused on the human aspect of the future, its an idealized vision of new possibilities that future scientific progress holds. IMO, Scientific progress as a whole has positive connotations with the public and is still seen as the "way out of here" that you mentioned. I like your idea about selling the American dream though. That seems like an easier strategy for Microsoft to transition to compared to this futuristic idea, and I think it would capture the non tech-savvy consumer market (which is the huge majority) more effectively than current marketing techniques.

jsnk 14y ago

I think Andrew's take on Microsoft delivers the right kind of futurism for consumers. It is sleek and simple. Straight lines, and angular corners seems to convey speediness, responsiveness, practicality and productivity. I think I can relate to you when you way the design is Orwellian in one aspect. The slate design is so stripped down from its original logo that it doesn't really convey Microsoft anymore. It is so simple that the feeling that conveys what Microsoft really is, isn't found in the logo. But perhaps, that is how Andrew hopes Microsoft would be seen to the public. Sure Microsoft has a huge division doing enterprise stuff, but to consumers, that isn't always the ideal way to present your company. Maybe this is a step in the right direction.

kitsune_ 14y ago
With poetic licence, the argument that the design is Orwellian in nature, can easily be made :) The "slate", the brand's corner stone, is inspired by the emptiness you feel when you stare into the abyss of the myriad of windows that tower above you from faceless, anonymous skyscrapers. Welcome to the future, where you are one of many.

potatolicious 14y ago

You're right, but I think that's exactly what MSFT needs. > "Look at Instagram. Cozy and nostalgic polaroid filters." Microsoft is an enterprise and productivity tools company, first and foremost. They build platforms, and their chief value proposition is still "getting shit done for people and businesses", which is a far cry from the "share personal moments" of Instagram or "stylish, sexy" of Apple. Whatever brand they take needs to reflect this. Right now their brand reflects "corporate, staid, boring, completely uninnovative", but perhaps that uber-sleek, coldly professional look is exactly what they need. After all, we know Microsoft doesn't stand a chance going toe to toe with Apple, playing by Apple's rules (cute, emotional, nostalgic, soft). Changing the rules is pretty much all they've got going for them.

olalonde 14y ago

Wow, that's quite cynical! I don't think your pessimistic "gloom and doom" view is shared by that many people in the Western world (perhaps a loud minority? perhaps it is a US thing?). Also, why are "outsourced labor" and "awakening behemoths (China)" listed as negative things?

roguecoder 14y ago

"A key difference is that in the past, different social groups had something to look forward to (emancipation and liberation), despite the looming threat of thermonuclear warfare. Nowadays? In the western hemisphere? It's all gloom and doom." It was so awesome to be disempowered and enslaved. That's why gay people are so much happier than straight people today. More seriously, though, there's as much optimism in activist circles today in America as there has been in the past. Especially if you hang out with the FOSS crowd, or in hacker spaces. 3D printing offers at least as many possibilities for liberation as any prior innovations. As for your rosy view of the past, I recommend reading about the split between feminists and abolitionists over the 14th amendment. Or the British suffragette movement. Certainly no advertising appealed to such groups until they were already successful: for the most part they didn't have purchasing power, and those members that did had derived it from buying into their own oppression (by, for example, being housewives). Advertisers have almost always, with few niche exceptions, sold a safe view of an ever-so-slightly better world.

tammer 14y ago

As much as I love the mockup, in the end I probably agree. Microsoft's core branding strength in the consumer market is its "genericness". Look at the new homepage - very standard US families using MS products. While Apple's aesthetic appeals to millions and millions, to some it comes off as elitist and/or flashy. As unusual as it seems to say this, MS may be doing well by pushing their bland mostly-business-but-you-can-go-on-facebook-on-it-too branding - many americans could assimilate the mockup's intended message and react negatively. People want cheap crap that doesn't make them think too hard. Microsoft's current branding is unexciting (read: safe, reassuring) for very specific reasons.

krrrh 14y ago
I think you're right on the money. Your comment reminds me of Neal Stephenson's characterization of Windows as the station wagon of operating systems. http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html
- tammer 14y ago
  Thanks a lot for this, it was a great read. I think the following phrases things far better than I did: >The answer, for people who don't like Damoclean questions, is that since Microsoft has won the hearts and minds of the silent majority--the bourgeoisie--they don't give a damn about having a slick image, any more then Dick Nixon did.

zaptheimpaler 14y ago

Thats a great point, but I don't think you can quite capture the full breadth of current emotion under the term 'future'. The issues you mentioned about the current age are primarily focused on society/civilization, and I'd say people certainly fear the depersonalization of society and the break down of current civilization. The branding on the other hand isn't really focused on the human aspect of the future, its an idealized vision of new possibilities that future scientific progress holds. IMO, Scientific progress as a whole has positive connotations with the public and is still seen as the "way out of here" that you mentioned. I like your idea about selling the American dream though. That seems like an easier strategy for Microsoft to transition to compared to this futuristic idea, and I think it would capture the non tech-savvy consumer market (which is the huge majority) more effectively than current marketing techniques.