Kick it out

The charity celebrates its 30th anniversary next year, with the organisation expanding its focus over the last three decades from racism in football through to all forms of discrimination in sport. It’s currently partnering with Sky Sports, and as part of the collaboration has developed new programmes for schools, editorial initiatives and MBA in football scholarships to tackle underrepresentation.

Sky Creative has replaced the previous sans serif wordmark with an energetic new football-shaped logo, which renders the name of the charity in what looks like duct tape.

According to the in-house studio, the aim was to express Kick It Out’s grassroots beginnings and also bring in a bit more attitude, and the new look undoubtedly has a lot more personality and vigour than Kick It Out’s previous branding.

It also seems much more adaptable, able to change colour to appear alongside the logos of football clubs, many of which are more intricate crest-style symbols. In these instances, the Kick It Out branding holds its own without undermining the club.

Its tape-style type also feels right at home in some of Kick It Out’s creative executions – for example, ‘If you see it or hear it report it’ pasted on the walls of the men’s toilet, or even at a larger size in the centre of the pitch.

Burger King’s minmal ad campaign

The creative centres on the fast food brand’s trademark flame grill lines, which are emphasised in a series of minimal graphic images that continue the vintage flavour of Burger King’s 2021 rebrand.

A series of accompanying taglines – woven into the stripy grill marks of the burgers – mock fast food competitors, with outdoor ads strategically placed near Mcdonald’s, KFC and Subway restaurants. The campaign’s echoed in limited edition Whopper wrappers, also emblazoned with grill lines, and BK employees at London’s Leicester Square restaurant will be decked out in stripy shirts.

While it might seem that Burger King is following where McDonald’s has led, it’s all part of a wider trend of simplified branding, with businesses in all areas adopting more stripped back approaches, in part to make imagery and logos work better in digital. It’s yet to be seen if the pendulum will, at some point, swing back towards maximalism.

Credits:
Ad Agency: BBH
CCO: Alex Grieve
ECD: Helen Rhodes
Deputy ECD: Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes
Copywriter: Marcy Rayson
Art Director: Callum Prior
Designer: Christian Kolodziejski

McDonald’s continues its minimalist mission in new print ads

Created by Leo Burnett London, the latest UK campaign for McDonald’s features the fast food brand’s distinctive products – including the Big Mac, a gherkin, a strawberry milkshake, and fries – in a stripped-back illustrative style.

It is a look that we’ve come to expect from the brand, and which follows campaigns including its previous work for McDelivery and also its packaging redesign, introduced last year.

In this new campaign, the posters feature subtle location pins to emphasise the home delivery service, accompanied with copy simply stating ‘we deliver’.

The continued use of bold, elegant illustration certainly stands out in a sea of fast food brands showing close-up images of burgers etc, and unsurprisingly is appealing to the creative teams working on the brand, according to ECD Mark Elwood.

Apple channels its classic iPod ads

Credits:
Agency: TBWA\Media Arts Lab
Directors: Gal Muggia, Vania Heymann
Production Companies: Iconoclast, Versatile

Plum Guide’s new ad campaign

Plum Guide is a travel brand which proclaims to curate stays in the “world’s most remarkable homes”. Its new campaign, by Stink Studios, doesn’t waste time trying to seduce audiences with visuals of these destinations though, and instead points out just how many holidays you are likely to have left, depending on your age.

The campaign is rounded off by the tagline ‘No time for average stays’. It’s a different approach for the holiday industry, which can often feel awash with identical campaigns showing palm trees and immaculate beaches. Though it might also make you feel like time is running out, a point brought home by Ali Lowry, chief brand officer at Plum Guide.

PayPal puts people first

Online payments platform PayPal has unveiled a new brand strategy and visual identity, developed by it’s in-house brand team in collaboration with New York-based design studio Gretel.

Starting with brand strategy, Madeddu explains that the team focused on PayPal’s role as the “empowerer” and “enabler” of opportunity for people. “The new brand strategy puts the stories of PayPal customers — millions of individuals and businesses who trust, rely on and use PayPal every day — front and centre, championing their needs and wants.”

The new visual identity is inspired by one of the brand’s most recognisable assets, the payment button, which has become synonymous with PayPal itself over the years. “For many people, it is the confirmation of a transaction in a digital commerce environment. It connects function with emotion — linking PayPal with the success of a secure transaction on both merchant and consumer sides. We decided to leverage this powerful equity,” says Madeddu.

Historically part of the PayPal checkout experience, gold is now included in the brand’s primary palette along with blue. The brand’s existing monogram, featuring two overlapping Ps that are locked together, is now also used as a framing device – “turning individual users, small business owners, or CFOs of large corporations into the protagonists of their story,” says Madeddu.

Skincare Yepoda focuses on clean rebrand

Kepoda’s skincare packaging, designed by OWLSOME STUDIO, introduces consumers to the ingredients inspired by accessible skincare. The packaging is simple, focusing on a clean and sophisticated design, highlighting a vertical logo that brings the user’s eye from top to bottom. Additionally, the color palette across the line is refreshing yet playful.

Over Easy

Over Easy is launching into the breakfast category with a line of simple, nutritious, and better-for-you breakfast bars in four morning-inspired flavors – Apple Cinnamon, Banana Nut, Peanut Butter, and Vanilla Matcha – with a bold, colorful look and message to match.

B&Q poster campaign

Shot by photographer James Day, who is known for his work for the New York Times, New Yorker and Wallpaper, the new B&Q ads are simple yet beautiful.

Each features a mobile phone with a B&Q product bursting from it, including paint, a roll of wallpaper and a bloom of flowers. The only text accompanying this is the brand’s web address, which alongside the image of the phone is enough to send home the message that you can order all these products digitally.

McDonalds BIN IT

This campaign is Belgium’s take on the theme, created by TBWA, which puts bins centre stage. “We want to make trash bins as popular as the burgers,” says Jeremie Goldwasser, creative director at TBWA.

The campaign, which will run on posters, social and in McDonald’s restaurants across Belgium, puts the spotlight on rubbish bins, bathing them in light and pairing them with witty copy.

“We asked Studio Wauters – McDonald’s’ permanent food photographer – to photograph the trash bins,” continues Goldwasser. “The challenge? Making bins look just as attractive and tempting as their burgers. We then applied the typical copywriting and design expertise to the bins, resulting in appetising design and quirky names such as the Big Bin, the Bin Deluxe and the Bin Royal.”