BREATHTAKING Design Strategy, The Pepsi Universe

naa

Pepsi Logo Redesign PDF located here.PePsIcAnpixeled
pepsi reinvention.JPG

In October 2008, Pepsi announced it would be redesigning its logo and re-branding many of its products by mid-2009. The New York-based brand consultancy agency Arnell Group, led by Peter Arnell, was hired on a $1 million contract to perform the brand update, leading to a 27-page design proposal titled BREATHTAKING Design Strategy. The document was subsequently leaked online by a user claiming to be an industry freelancer. The estimated time to remake this icon was about 5 months. The CEO of Pepsi, Indra Nooyi, called for a "quantum leap" forward in reconstructing the soft drink business and for Pepsi to be recognized as a cultural leader. In this thread, we will be examining the document that led to Pepsi's current logo, known as "The Pepsi Globe."

pepsi gravitational pull.jpg


"When I did the Pepsi logo, I told Pepsi that I wanted to go to Asia, to China and Japan, for a month and tuck myself away and just design it and study it and create it ... There was a lot of research, a lot of consumer data points ... and dialogue that I had with the folks at Pepsi, consumers and retailers. We knew what we were doing." -Peter Arnell, AdAge interview, 2009
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The Pepsi ethos has evolved over time. The vocabulary of truth and simplicity is a reoccurring phenomena in the brand's history. It communicates the brand in a timeless manner and with an expression of clarity. Pepsi BREATHTAKING builds on this knowledge. True innovation always begins by investigating the historic path. Going back-to-the-roots moves the brand forward as it changes the trajectory of the future. BREATHTAKING is a strategy based on the evolution of 5000+ years of shared ideas in design philosophy creating an authentic Constitution of Design. This chart documents the origin and evolution of intellectual property.

the pepsi ratio.png
Artists and architects have proportioned their works to approximate the Golden Ratio, especially in the form of the Golden Rectangle, in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter is the Golden Ratio. They believe this proportion to be universally and aesthetically pleasing. The Golden Ratio plays an essential role in human perception of beauty.

Height and width of the Parthenon is proportioned to yield a Golden Rectangle. Leonardo Da Vinci studied the proportion of the human face and applied his findings in the Mona Lisa painting. The diameter of the Nautilus Shell increases proportionally with the Golden Ratio.

The Golden Ratio establishes a proportion of one part relative to another. Playing by these rules produces an aesteticism that is universally accepted to be in balance and harmony. The Pepsi aesthetic respects these rules: The brand identity can be derived from two circles, that have a set relation to each other.

The Pepsi Ratio starts with a circle. Find its center and draw two same size circles with diameter d=0.5a. Rotate the centerline 45°. Copy one of the smaller circles. Place its center on the intersection of the larger circle and the rotated centerline. Draw a circle that lies within the larger one. Its diameter is such that it touches all three circles in exactly and only in one point. Rotate the centerline by 56°. Place the smallest circle with its center on the intersection of the largest circle and the rotated centerline.

pepsi faces.JPG

Creation of Identity: The Face of A New Generation. The white area of the logo became a series of "smiles," with the central white band arcing at different angles depending on the product until mid 2010. Regular Pepsi had a medium-sized "smile", while Diet Pepsi had a small "grin". Pepsi Max's variant was the most different, using a large "laugh" and also used black in the bottom third of the globe as opposed to the more standard royal blue. One Identity, Multiple Emotions.

The new Pepsi design was unveiled in Canada in 2009. It was then released in other countries outside the US in 2010 such as France and the UK, meaning the 2003 design was phased out completely. In the UK, the current "smile" logo features the globe in the center, and the "Pepsi" text below it, as opposed to the tilted text in the US. In July 2010, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, and all other Pepsi variants began using the regular "smile" logo as it was redesigned to match the global branding. As of 2014, the only Pepsi product not using the redesigned Pepsi Globe is Pepsi Throwback.

pepsi universe.JPG
 
Thank you for posting this. Aside from laughing at the idea of Pepsi being a cultural leader, I had to read up on Peter Arnell and discovered some gems:


  • February 2010: Arnell took a trip to Thailand with Martha Stewart -- he's an occasional guest on her show, which must baffle her TV audience -- and pitched the Thai government tourism business. "I think I can make this place famous for what it's famous for, instead of what we think it's famous for," was his line. Arnell Group does not currently list Thailand as a client.
  • May 2007: Gawker crowns Arnell one of New York's worst bosses, "a crude bully, a terrible coward and famously insincere." It alleged "he made one assistant lean over while he played her behind like bongo drums."

  • March 2009: Arnell is humiliated in a Newsweek profile that portrays him as an insecure egomaniac who namedrops Jay Leno. In the same piece, he is quoted calling his own work for client PepsiCo (PEP) "bullshit."
 
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naa

Thank you for posting this. Aside from laughing at the idea of Pepsi being a cultural leader, I had to read up on Peter Arnell and discovered some gems:


  • February 2010: Arnell took a trip to Thailand with Martha Stewart -- he's an occasional guest on her show, which must baffle her TV audience -- and pitched the Thai government tourism business. "I think I can make this place famous for what it's famous for, instead of what we think it's famous for," was his line. Arnell Group does not currently list Thailand as a client.
  • May 2007: Gawker crowns Arnell one of New York's worst bosses, "a crude bully, a terrible coward and famously insincere." It alleged "he made one assistant lean over while he played her behind like bongo drums."

  • March 2009: Arnell is humiliated in a Newsweek profile that portrays him as an insecure egomaniac who namedrops Jay Leno. In the same piece, he is quoted calling his own work for client PepsiCo (PEP) "bullshit."
That's so fucking funny, thank you for this
 

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Thank you for posting this. Aside from laughing at the idea of Pepsi being a cultural leader, I had to read up on Peter Arnell and discovered some gems:


  • February 2010: Arnell took a trip to Thailand with Martha Stewart -- he's an occasional guest on her show, which must baffle her TV audience -- and pitched the Thai government tourism business. "I think I can make this place famous for what it's famous for, instead of what we think it's famous for," was his line. Arnell Group does not currently list Thailand as a client.
  • May 2007: Gawker crowns Arnell one of New York's worst bosses, "a crude bully, a terrible coward and famously insincere." It alleged "he made one assistant lean over while he played her behind like bongo drums."

  • March 2009: Arnell is humiliated in a Newsweek profile that portrays him as an insecure egomaniac who namedrops Jay Leno. In the same piece, he is quoted calling his own work for client PepsiCo (PEP) "bullshit."
Sounds like a great guy to work with costanzayeahrightsmirk
 
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