• VSA Partners has created Design for Better, a creative zone for designers to autonomously re-imagine branding that could use some new thinking. The definition on the website reads, “An ever-evolving sketchpad for ambitious concepts that push design and organizations forward. From bold ideas to new interactions, we create with curiosity and purpose.”
Logo redesigns for Dick’s Sporting Goods, NASA, Ford, and Delta have already been posted.
• As public funding evaporates and consumers become increasingly media-absorbent, brands have emerged as patrons that fund art exhibitions, launch podcasts, sponsor publications, form clubs, and curate experiences. Is that a good thing? A bad thing?
A recent PRINT article, titled, “If Brands are Today’s Patrons, Whose Culture are we Funding?” explores this phenomenon. “The rise of the brand patron isn’t temporary. It’s structural. As long as culture remains underfunded and overexposed, brands will continue to step in. Sometimes that’s useful. Sometimes it’s exploitative. Usually, it’s both…. But the bigger question isn’t just whether brands should act as patrons. It’s what kind of culture their patronage enables.”