Part 6.
a. Listen to the first part of a video about ‘debranding’.
- What is debranding?
b. Apart from the trend towards minimalist aesthetics, what could be other reasons to debrand?
c. Listen to the rest of the video. Which explanations does Ben Schott give for the debranding phenomenon?
d. Which look better to you: the simplified logos or the previously-used ones?
e. Debranding has been controversial, including among the younger generation. Why?
(For proof, try searching YouTube for “oversimplified logo”.)
Acknowledgements and Links
More on Minimalist Music
- A potted history of minimalism in music and a list of key characteristics that mark out a musical work as minimalistic: https://hellomusictheory.com/learn/minimalism/
- A compendium of performances of La Monte Young’s music, including alternative interpretations of Composition 1960 #7: https://www.wqxr.org/story/you-have-see-these-unsual-performances-la-monte-youngs-compositions-1960/
More on Minimalist Poetry
- An illustrated article with extensive discussion of Aram Saroyan and other poets: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/aram-saroyan-and-the-art-of-the-one-word-poem?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB
- Saroyan’s own article on the controversy surrounding lighght: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=teYDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA1&ots=uEisv39Sf1&dq=%22the+most+expensive+word+in+history%22&pg=PA36&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false
- A page with links to Saroyan’s poems and various reference materials: https://ubu-mirror.ch/historical/saroyan/index.html
More on Architecture and Interior Design
- A long-form article about a never-built London ‘masterwork’ by Mies van der Rohe, and the postmodern ‘masterwork’ that was built instead: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/feb/11/mies-van-der-rohe-mansion-house-square-best-building-london-never-had
- A short, rather brooding video of photos of minimalist architecture by Maik Lipp: https://youtube.com/shorts/93lr_gtS5wI
- A gallery of office photos showing all the wacky stages between minimalism and maximalism: https://www.incomediary.com/top-20-most-awesome-company-offices/
More on Marie Kondo and other minimalist influencers
- From the KonMari website, a stage-by-stage account of her eponymous method: https://konmari.com/about-the-konmari-method/
- In Part 4: More, we used a video by A to Zen Life. Their YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/c/atozenlife and there’s a website here: https://shop.atozenlife.com/.
- A mildly funny video of Marie Kondo trying to help Jimmy Kimmel tidy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3VCoY27fFI
More on Debranding and related topics
- An alternative explanation of debranding:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W34fdwYIT8
- The flat, colourful, minimal style of corporate art sometimes called ‘Alegria’ or ‘Corporate Memphis’ is the topic of various articles and videos, including this explainer article:
https://www.thegrandgeekgathering.com/its-not-just-you-why-people-hate-corporate-art-style/
Englishin3d 