Sunday, January 25, 2009

Martha Stewart

I do not particularly like Martha Stewart, but she shares the same birthday with me. Aside from that, she has a decent coherent branding for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO). Her line of products include everything from kitchen utensils to garden tools. Specializing in subjects from weddings to cooking, to entertaining, Martha has been an inspiration to millions of housewives across the country. "My founding big idea was that the subject of living is indeed a limitless subject, one that can be expanded and expounded upon, and enlarged and extolled," Stewart states about her inspiration.

Profound deduction, Martha.

I am impressed, however, that the marketing can consistently be carried across all forms of her media- on the internet, television, home products... including the various subjects focused on. The design works and represents her company well. The brand identity was done by Doyle Partners with MSLO. It features bright colors and simple design, conveying a pure, clean, and practical look for consumers.

I thought the description in Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler describes it well:
"In every category the design is unified by a coherent expression of whiteness and brightness that allows the product itself to dominate. The packaging and environments are now designed exclusively in-house and encompass an intelligent yet whimsical feel."

Martha's product line, whatever it may be, stands out on the shelf automatically because of the bright and cheerful colors, done in a tasteful, organized way, giving a sense of class and organization, rather than tacky bright colors paired with a gaudy typeface. The website for Martha Stewart Living is adequately organized for all the information it supplies. Like her series of magazines, the website features wonderful photography that displays a featured item in an interesting, creative, and compelling way.

"Towey (Creative Director of MSLO), brought in a cadre of world-renowned photographers to glorify the beauty of everyday objects, an approach that became intrinsic to the soul of the brand... featured photographs of flowers, herbs, or vegetables held in a hand to give the consumer an immediate sense of scale," (Designing Brand Identity, p.231).

I think the photography is clever. It is simple and not too distracting, but engaging and warming. It's a great idea to glorify everyday objects- that's essentially what Martha Stewart does- glorifying methods in everyday life from cooking to gardening. It includes the everyday person and gives a new look to the mundane.


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