The intriguing evolution of a brand through time and space
This week we were surprised to read an article in the digital edition of the newspaper 'El País'. The article in question is entitled "Así da de comer Amancio Ortega a los empleados de Zara" and talks about innovative facilities located at Inditex's main headquarters in Arteixo which are pioneering in Europe.
It is a 360-degree canteen concept, which relies on kilometre zero suppliers, takes care of environmental impact, controls food waste and is capable of serving more than 1,600 meals a day.
So far, the news is quite interesting, for it is an example of a future in which it is increasingly necessary to invest in concepts such as ecology and sustainable development.
But what has caught our attention and made us smile, is the last of the images that illustrate the report: the photograph of a sign that apparently is inside the dining room and in which you can see a series of icons along with phrases listing the characteristics of the products served to workers.
The first icon of the image represents the products of Km 0, in other words, produced in a radius of less than 100 km, and is a design which was made by eclectick some years ago for the initiative "Km 0 Local Product", promoted by the Consortium of municipalities of Castellón and that tries to boost the agro-food production of the area.
The icon, inspired by the ancient landmarks of Spanish roads, is slightly changed. The original was in Valencian and the one we see in the image is translated and the word "producte" has been removed from the design, but otherwise it is identical.
We loved to see how a design can come alive, evolve and serve purposes that sometimes have nothing to do with its initial function. This is something normal in a fully globalised world, however, it still feels rather surprising when you discover it reading the newspaper on a Sunday morning.
If you're curious to see what the original design looks like, just click on this link.
We hope you like it!
Next post
We are used to reading news about how machines are going to revolutionize many sectors, especially industrial ones. It is estimated that between 400 and 800 million people will be displaced from their jobs until 2030, figures that cause concern, especially in those working in jobs that can be automated, such as assembly line operators. Fortunately, all this automation leads to the creation of other types of jobs, and the arrival of robots will increase the productivity and investment capacity of companies, which will make them more competitive, so not everything is so bad in this scenario that many call apocalyptic.
But in this article we're going to focus on something that hasn't been talked about much so far: How can this automation affect artistic work? And more specifically, what will happen to us designers when Skynet dominates the world?
At first glance, many of you will think that a computer will never be able to design a poster, paint a picture or even compose a song. But I'm sorry to tell you that all those things have already happened.
Aiva is a music composer generated by an AI capable of composing different genres of music.
Click on the image to watch the video.