Design and Brand Identity in the 2000s

RANT: When things had design & character

⭒ Something that has bothered me for a long time, since I could remember things getting more dull, more bland, more unoriginal.

⭒ I remember times when I was young somewhere between 2012-2016 where there was this gradual, but fast decrease in color, design and character in everything from the most mundane colored tiles that covered mall floors to sharp square edges lit by harsh light fixtures. I've looked back at the the 2010s a lot and specifically comparing 2010-2012 era to the rest of the 2010s. There was such a big switch in the way things were being made and how they were designed from the very beginning of the 10s and the middle/ends of the 10s. I've spent a lot of time looking for graphic designs and old packaging from the era and really seeing the shift that i noticed when i was younger thinking to myself in 2015 "why are clothes so ugly now. they look so cheap. 3 years ago it was like this:(." 

⭒ I don't know why i thought this. I was like 6-8 years old when i began to think this. To draw specifically to one brand I noticed this shift since at 8 i wasn't in the "clothing scene" yet. My mom only took me to one store because she was cheap and didn't want to spend much on clothes i'd grow out of fast which to be fair i agree with her now. 

Joe Fresh by Loblaws sold at Real Canadian Superstore was a staple in late 2000s-early 2010s canadian kids and mom clothes. This was the only brand my mom bought my clothes from for a long time. I was not allowed to buy anything else, but also i wasn't even interested in anything else because by that time i was a tween which was the mid 2010s, I thought the clothes kids my age bought from said brands was ugly and cheap. Anyways, Joe Fresh in its hayday which was 2006-2013, was really good quality and had a look to it. It wasn't super crazy considering it was literally a brand made for shoppers of a supermarket, but for what it was I remember the clothes being super nice back then. Snooping through my moms olds Joe Fresh items and the thrift, I've found silk tops, wool scarfs, 100% cotton tees and cute winter coats. Then Joe Fresh post-2013, its something... The logo changed to something far less interesting than the big J logo and its clothes got so basic. More Basic than it already was. The colors got sucked out of it like the rainbow factory. I swear to god i have not seen anything brighter than a pale muted yellow in modern day Joe Fresh. Any design they did have before was gone, any quality they had was gone, any brand identity they had was gone. 

⭒ I mourn old Joe Fresh and what it was. Nowadays it doesn't feel any different from any other brand in the mall that charges 3x more for the same shitty quality garment. I understand a lot of it was due to the mainstream rise of minimalism during the early 2010s, but at the same time I don't understand how it got that bad. I don't think a lot of people really realize how shitty stuff got in the latter half of the 2010s compared to the early half. Any clothes I had from that era has either disintegrated or tore a year after purchase when clothes i had since I was a toddler circa 2008-2010(before i donated them) were still standing strong and had zero flaws despite being 2x older than the pair of sweatpants i got from gap in 2015. 

⭒ I used Joe Fresh as an example since it's the only brand i can draw from personal experience watching it change and such. With other things I notice the shift a lot as well. I always find old things in my home like old packaging and items from pre 2012 and comparing them to their modern counterparts is shocking. Even small things like logo font, fun graphics, the colors got more dull and unoriginal. Packaging design today looks like the PowerPoint i made for my 6th grade book report. Its such a turn off for me when buying things because what happened to buying products and clothes stop being an experience. When you went to the mall everything was so curated with each store having a specific vibe and niche thing they focused on selling. Then when it came to the packaging it was always fun and showed the brands character in the printed paper they wrapped their items in or the paper bags with satin ribbon handles colored in baby blue. Things used to an experience when buying something. Even cheaper stuff still made the effort to give their product a little character with some fun designs or gimmicks. Theres no joy in shopping online when all websites look the same, offer the same trash clothes, have no brand identity an give you no reason to even shop there; you're only shopping there because it brand name or it has a sale. DEBORAH THERES ALWAYS A SALE! WHY DO YOU NEVER SEE IT OFFSALE? BECAUSE ITS A TRICK TO JUST GET YOU TO BUY THEIR TRASH CAUSE REALISTICALLY NO ONE WOULD PAY FOR SUCH GARBAGE AT THAT PRICE!!

⭒ Okay... calm down. The death of experiences will be the end of me. What I mean is the fact nothing is exciting enough to get me invested in anything anymore. Brands and companies aren't trying to stand out or offer something others don't to get people interested. They already did that part a decade ago and now with billions of dollars to their names, they don't need to put in any effort or try. They know as long its cheap enough and just palatable enough for people to buy no one will care. Most people aren't going to pay more for something better so they're gonna settle for what as accessible as possible and what is accessible is 9/10 trash. 

Now, I have seen in the past year a shift to bringing back the "funky" unique marketing and branding that once was into older brands revisiting past collections and new brands pioneering this movement. A lot of the new juicy couture, abercrombie, ed hardy or whatnot trying to sell their old clothes is just lame. They aren't even trying to bring something new to the table. They just shell out some cheaply made copies of the 2000s designs and mark them up then call it a day. For the new brands I've seen pop up that people my age are buying, they're... okay. Honestly a lot of it is extremely palatable and not super interesting. Some aspects i like and would wish they build on it, but its all very... commercial. Like "oooo a white t shirt with some weird ugly graphic print they took off pinterest for 80 bucks?!?!?! Yea no thanks." Especially all the instagram and tiktok brands...

And when I do see someone on my feed who seems to be making something ACTUALLY different or offering something cool and original that looks good, they'll have like less than 5k followers and get no recognition for their work. Its actually sad. 

⭒ Back to my original statement about post 2012 society being devoid of fun design and character, I stand clear on that fact. A lot of things outside of just design had a switch during 2012 like the rise of social media, teen isolation, the iphone taking over all celluar devices. I just really miss the way it was done back in the day. I'm not asking for that exact way of design to come back, but lots of aspects of it I'd love for to comeback. Something as simple as when websites used to have like a whole blog/forum for people to chat on if anyone remembers that or had a music section where u could download brand playlists?!? I don't know a lot of things were weird like that back in the day, but at least it was authentic to a degree and felt like an experience. 

My hands are tired so i'm gonna end it here. 


Thought I'd share an old pic I found on Flickr of my local mall in 2007. The warm lighting and Zellers 😭😭 It looks so cozy and warm. 
Credits to Jes Lu on Flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/davao8/2076783287/in/faves-202019751@N08/