Brandnew_________

Tue

Feb

My favourite 3 things

Posted by Christine Catterall

Right, here goes, from one of the Non-Creatives in the bunch (although I can be very creative when it comes to Supplier negotiations, as a lot of Logistik and BrandNew suppliers will lay testament to!).

Being of an older generation than most of my colleagues, it gives a wider scope than most of you as there are things that I can recall from my childhood and teenage years, that some of you may have only read about.

For example, there is Topo Gigio, from children's TV in the 60s:

This character, along with Muffin the Mule (probably not allowed these days), the Wooden Tops and Pinky & Perky were my childhood TV influences, designed when there were no electronic influences to distract 5 year olds. Great though these were, they are not in my top three fab stuff.

Neither is the BT Tower; an icon if it’s time and hailed as a great leaps forward in architecture, with it’s revolving restaurant.

Inevitably one design that did make it into my top three, is a car; but surprisingly it’s not

a 1962 Ferrari 250 Spyder (arguably the most beautiful car ever designed):

Nor is it the Austin Healy 3000 Mk11:

Or a Frog Eyed Sprite:

Or a Lancia Delta Integrale Evo:

But it is the humble Mini:

This car changed the way that we think about cars and became the symbol for not only the ‘swinging sixties’ but also for fun, youth, freedom and was the natural choice for any ‘Boy (or Girl)’ racer. I learnt to drive in one and that in itself was a feat! Massive grip and unsurpassed handling made up for a gear change that felt like stirring porridge, no heater, windscreen wipers that worked when they wanted to and spending all your money on tin foil to stuff behind the radiator, to protect the spark plugs from the elements....what absolute joy, and all wrapped up in a simple design that everyone instantly fell in love with – the motor car had developed a character and it was a cheeky little usurper with a determination that would never give up and always had the heart to get you home…..love it!

Staying on the car theme, one of the most recognisable Marques in automotive history is my second design choice. It needs no explanation other than it is the symbol of the very heart of Italian motor manufacture and world motorsport.

Perhaps what is not so widely known is that the evocative symbol of Ferrari was actually originally from a World War 1 Italian air force ace who became a hero (not many around, I know) in the skies, but died young. He painted the black prancing horse on his planes and Enzo Ferrari met the young pilot’s Mother, after winning a race, and she asked that he use the emblem on his racing cars….and the rest is history. The prancing horse, on a yellow background (the colour of Enzo’s home town of Modena) is recognisable over the world and makes my heart race whenever I see it, even after all these years. Those that know me well, know that if you break me in half I have Ferrari written right through me and this symbol binds together millions of tifosi around the world…

And so to my third design – perhaps not so recognisable and not so widely known, but to me is representative of the era – pushing the boundaries; hints at more but not too explicit; rebellious; edgy; sexual but leaves a lot to the imagination – this was instantly recognisable, to those in the know, as belonging to a band of almost cult following; it is the album cover of Free, by Free and bearing in mind it was released in 1969, you can see why parents up and down the land were going nuts: