Page 17 - Sphere No.7 (Oct 2002)

S PHERE
15
3G
“By the time we’ve finished, the measure
of our success will simply be how many
people can’t imagine life without 3.”
— Canning Fok
The logo introduces a new dimen-
sion to a common symbol; it is recog-
nisable but also new. Everyone under-
stands the numeral, but the brand brings
fresh meaning.
“It doesn’t say what the technology
can do,” says Hamilton, “but gives some
indication of how it will be for the cus-
tomer, useful and enjoyable at the same
time. People see different things in it:
ferns, flowers, birds, jungles, waves,
Japanese graphics…mostly living grow-
ing things.”
Because the brand is being built
globally, it has to be simple and strong
and should transcend local language and
cultural barriers.
Across the cultural kaleidoscope,
colours are metaphors for our moods
and a reference to our world, yet colours
can mean different things in different
countries. In China, red is lucky.
Elsewhere it means fire, passion, or
Manchester United. In the UK, purple
is royal, spiritual and magical, but in Italy
it is associated with death. Green can
mean prosperity, or even a political phi-
losophy. In the emotional prism, blue
signifies peace or sorrow, orange is
warmth, yellow is joy, and so on.
In uses where the logo cannot be
animated, the brilliant, ever-changing
shades are captured at six points in the
cycle – red, orange, yellow, green, blue
and violet. Six colours, one logo.There’s
also a monochrome version for black
and white applications.
This is an unconventional approach
compared with many brands that rely
on a dominant single signal colour.
The design lexicon is extended with
the Tristar symbol, a dynamic represen-
tation of 3.
You’ll see it on a key on your hand-
set that takes you to content, on the
website and also in a repeating pattern
developed to be used subtly.
“The pattern is like the lining of a
suit,” says Kirby, “you wouldn’t wear it
on the outside, but come across it almost
unexpectedly. So, for example, you’ll
find it in packaging but not on the out-
side of the box – it’ll be inside. Cool on
the outside, hot on the inside, just like
the logo.”