Even Wonder Woman, the iconic character invented 69 years ago, underwent a makeover. DC Comics, also the creators of Batman and Superman, thought it best that the legendary super heroine kicked out her red saucy boots and slipped into a pair of sensible navy shoes to celebrate the 600th edition of her character.
Whatever happened to our understanding of iconic?
Joe Duffy ought to know.
The much sought-after creative director and chairman of Duffy & Partners, a US-based branding and design firm, understands how design affects consumer attitudes. He pioneered the collaboration of branding and design with advertising, and has since worked in brand and corporate identity and design development for leading companies such as BMW, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Nikon, Sony, McDonald's, Whirlpool and Starbucks.
The AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts), the professional association for design, and the oldest and largest membership organisation (non-profit) for design in the US, conferred Duffy with a medal, the most distinguished in the field. Since 1920, these medals have been bestowed on individuals who have set standards of excellence over a lifetime in design and visual communication.
So yes, Duffy ought to know.
Popular culture, he says, dictates how we think about iconic images. "Impressions change over time. If a product, service or company is to remain in touch with the world, it must make sure that the way it is represented or branded is in touch with people's lives to be considered relevant."
In the case of Wonder Woman, American writer and TV producer J Michael Straczynski can take the plaudits for her image update. He was quoted in The New York Times: "If you're going to make a statement about bringing Wonder Woman into the 21st century, you need to be bold and you need to make it visual."
Duffy won't disagree with Straczynski. In an email interview, he too reasons on similar principles. He says, "Something that was ‘cool' and appropriate years ago can seem contrived and inappropriate today."
Of course, Duffy knows. He knows branding can play the same game as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, eliciting extreme responses from one product to the next. Take the exclusive Guggenheim. It is spreading its curatorial might - from New York to Spain and soon Abu Dhabi - as ferociously as a fast food chain.
"Yes," Duffy admits, "the word [brand] itself has become a somewhat dirty one in our culture."
Branding suffers brickbats because everything is being marketed as a brand, even people. Duffy says, "People are put off by the marketing of everything, including themselves. They associate ‘that' marketing with brands. I think of brands as unique ideas that can help improve our everyday lives, but only if they're marketed honestly, and if we are intelligent about how we evaluate them.The best brands are like people and the best people are brands. Each expresses itself in an honest, unique way. It is then we decide whether we want to associate with them to make our lives better in small and large ways."
Branding is ubiquitous and has such a pervasive, prodigious presence that Duffy - with his expertise - dedicated his first book, Brand Apart, to the very subject. In the book, released in 2005, he offered case studies of well-known brands and how they were built.
He says, "The best brands can be introductions to other cultures and help us understand how people in other parts of the world think. That's a good thing."
As part of his work, dealing with clients from different parts of the world is the norm. "One hour we may be immersed in trying to understand what a teenage girl in Korea thinks about making her face look pretty and the next we could be trying to create the ultimate expression for a beverage."
It's been almost four decades that Duffy has worked passionately in branding and design, first setting up a small illustration and design studio; then in the 1980s starting Duffy Design in association with creative advertising agency Fallon Worldwide; and years later founding Duffy & Partners, an independent company that partners with clients and other agencies in all communications disciplines. (He studied fine art and painting and graduated from the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota School of Art.)
Yet, despite the familiarity of the nature of his work, he says there isn't a typical day for him at his office. "Fortunately every day brings unique opportunities and challenges. The constants are the people and the atmosphere. We keep it open… there's always music and chatter. It is the kind of collaborative environment in which people are free to do their best work and that work gets better through collaboration with other smart, creative people."
Technology though wasn't always a constant. Yet, contrary to popular opinion, Duffy believes that it hasn't taken the magic out of creating. It is a wonderful tool, he says.
"It helps us create better. Some people think technology can replace creativity. It cannot. Creativity is the same today as it was in Michelangelo's day. You have to come up with a unique idea and then render it in the best way you know how. If Michelangelo was alive today, he'd be a technological wizard. I think it's very important to draw initial ideas on paper before jumping on a computer. I may be old-fashioned that way but I think brain-to-hand is the best way for an artist to think."
The desire to create has been his main driving force. He says, "I want to create in the best way I know how, and to do work that I'm proud of. The wonderful thing about design or art in general, is that there is recorded visual evidence of what we create. That's both a gift and a burden. I think about that every time we consider taking on a design project. It governs much of the way I conduct business.
"I want to be able to hang every piece of our work on the wall or put it on a retail shelf so I can see these every day and feel good about it."
While Duffy thinks of art as consciously as one does of breathing, his ancestors didn't have any interest in the field. His lineage includes generations of Irish saloonkeepers.
"My mother learnt she was artistic late in life, shortly before she died. I guess that's where I got my artistic talents. I knew I was going to be an artist when I was five. It was the one thing I could do better than my classmates.
"I passed on my love for art to my children; they have really taken to it. They both work with me - a dream come true. We, quite literally, design our lives together, approaching things like family vacations and ourhomes in the same way that we approach design assignments for our clients," he says.
And so, Duffy finds it ever so easy to illustrate six personal philosophies shaped by design…
1 Collect
As you begin to create your own designed life, the first step is to find inspiration. Collecting labels, pieces of fabric, greeting cards or wrapping paper, ticket stubs, photographs and magazine clippings is a good way to fuel your vision. Curiosity is key to creativity.
2 Key elements
At times, you may want or need to design around key elements. This is good. It can provide a compass to help direct you. When I began the design of a new studio, these objects [in the photo] were a few of the elements from the first building that served as threads that would integrate into the final design.
3 Collage
Visualise your plan. I do this by creating a collage. This allows me to see patterns and identify gaps. It helps in planning to ensure you're considering all the important elements to your project - whatever it may be.
4 Pen to paper
The art of putting pen to paper is a critical part of the process. This step may take different paths depending on how you best express yourself. It might be a list of ideas or priorities. It may include inspirational thoughts. It may take the form of doodles or sketches. As an illustrator, I tend to use fewer words in this part of the process.
5 Finished product
In this case, the finished product is an example of how a traditional log cabin meets an industrial style loft. For me, work-in-process involves various aspects, including collage and sketching as well as a focus on key elements and form, typography, iconography and more.
My team and I have developed a kind of innovative pattern, working with clients around the world in the creation of various corporate identity, packaging and environmental design projects.
6 Self-portrait: be true to yourself
Here I am putting the finishing touches on a self-portrait. Once in a dream, I had a vision of myself looking up into the bubbles of my own breath under water.
I try not to think about how people would describe me. If I did, I'd probably have trouble being true to myself. I know that I'm a unique individual and the people who know me well know that I'm unlike anyone else. To live what I call a ‘one-off' existence is what makes us special, our lives special.
Extra helpings
Did you know?
Duffy has served as chairperson of the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Environmental Committee. The AIGA is the oldest and largest membership organisation (non-profit) for design in the US.
He has also served on the boards of AIGA, the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, MN, and the Minnesota State Arts Council
BTW
In 2006, Duffy was recognised as one of the ‘fast 50' most influential people in the future of business by Fast Company magazine, a US-based business magazine that reports on topics including leadership, design, innovation and digital media.
