The Art of Brand Subtlety ✨

Plus a really bad Ozempic T-Shirt

GM everyone. Hope you’re all having a great morning. Who Do You Know? is on the cusp on a major subscriber goal, and I’ll be announcing something special to celebrate as we get close. So if you want that sooner, share this newsletter with a tasteful friend who might appreciate it.

After today’s news, I’m going to break down some tangible brand tips + inspiration for how to convey more with less. Stay tuned.

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In Today’s Newsletter—

• Is the Stan Smith Back?

• Ozempic Fashion

• Louis Vuitton’s Workwear Collection

• Nike’s Exec Shakeup

• The Art of Brand Subtlety: How to Convey More with Less

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NEWS

• Brain Dead is Collaborating with Adidas on a Freaky Stan Smith. Kyle Ng’s playful streetwear brand has become known for their off the wall collaborations, adding their signature motif to beloved styles. Now the brand is releasing their unstructured take on the classic Adidas Stan Smith.

  wearebraindead

  

  A post shared by @wearebraindead

  This drop as well as

  Erika Veurink
  ’s recent newsletter breaking down her favorite Samba alternatives, has me thinking: is the Stan Smith prime for a comeback? Fashion typically moves in 10 year cycles, and it we are nearing the 10 year anniversary of when Raf Simons Stan Smith’s had a chokehold on fashion.

  

  I remember shelling out hundreds of dollars in high school on a pair of these and feeling significantly cooler than everyone else just because my shoe had an ‘R’ on the side. The colors were monochromatic and fun. Idk… I think these could go hard in 2024.

• Ozempic has entered the runway chat. The provocative ‘club wear’ brand, Namilia, debuted an ‘I Love Ozempic’ tee shirt at Berlin Fashion Week.

  _namilia_

  

  A post shared by @_namilia_

  There are several incredibly skinny Bushwick girls foaming at the mouth to pick this up. The reaction was pretty viscerally negative, and I have no doubt this was made just to illicit a strong reaction online. I don’t care as much about Ozempic, but I do think meme-wear like this is incredibly painful to look at. It seems as if the culturally aware aesthetic Demna Gvasalia created with Vetements nearly 10 years ago is still heavily represented on moodboards.

• Louis Vuitton’s workwear collection drops this month. Pharrell’s stint at Louis Vuitton has been mixed to say the least. One glimmer of excellence is the Western-inspired he collection he previewed last fall, reinterpreting the classic luxury house’s aesthetic into functional workwear pieces. That collection is releasing online next week and in-store in August, and features the highly meme-d LV x Timberland 6” boots.

• Nike is bringing back a senior exec to correct its retail slump. Tom Peddie, a 30 year vet, is being brought out of retirement to help fix the brand’s relationships with wholesale retailers. I’ve written extensively on Nike’s DTC pivot and its diminishing returns, as well as their historic stock slump last week. I think this is a smart move, but they’re going to need to do more on the product side to right the ship. I have confidence, I’m going to buy some stock. (NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE)

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The Art of Brand Subtlety

Every single day I see so many brands post bland product photos and logo heavy content and every single day I wonder: Where is the subtlety?

While I understand the motive to make your offer and product clear in paid ads and direct response campaigns, I do think larger art of conveying brand through subtlety is often lost.

How many brand designers have received this exact client feedback: Can you make the logo bigger?

But oftentimes, laying off the gas, and finding unique ways to convey your product or brand can actually create a more lasting impression on your target audience. Here are some examples—

Jacquemus

Stussy

Burberry

Playstation

All three of these examples find clever ways to incorporate their logo or product into a natural environment, subtly conveying their ethos in the creative.

I’d challenge designers and brand strategists to constrain yourself, finding innovative ways to subtly convey your brand through an impression, a feeling, or mixing your logo/branding into a photo.

Branding can be like a strong seasoning, too much will overstimulate the palette, but the right dash will enhance the intended effect and leave a memorable impression.

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Jake Bell is a content marketing, creative strategist, and designer based in NYC. He specializes in brand building, content creation, branding, art direction, creative strategy, and making things cool.

Want to chat? Email me: jake@jb.studio