Lest we forget

This time each year we are given the text book sample of the emotive potential of brand symbolism, Remembrance Sunday.
Whilst the Poppy was never devised as a ‘brand’ idea it communicates in a evocative way that few commercial or good causes ‘brands’ ever replicate.
The simple reason is that the story behind the symbolism is true.

The indelible association of the blood red petal and the thousands of men, fallen whilst still in the first flush of youth is hauntingly poignant. That the poppy will only surface from disturbed ground, a further quirk of fate that has become the symbol of regeneration and hope, .
Lest we forget it was Major John McCrae, a Canadian Doctor who articulated the poppy as a symbol of hope and consolation, as he endured the desperate sense of loss amongst the carnage passing through his dressing station.
“If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.”

I trust we will never have cause to celebrate the futility of death so eloquontly. Yet as a reminder to the gravity of our art there is no equal.
Truth is the mirror that every identity should reflect upon. Be it a badge of honour or a personal signature, imagery and symbolism must stand for something. We are not in the business of frippery or style whim, expressing a recognisable meaning is the overriding objective in identity design.