So all the GiFreak work has me paying even more attention to
brands and marketing. There’s an up and coming brand—Inverted Gear—whose logo
smacked me in the face as soon as I saw it on a gi sleeve. It’s a cuddly, achromatic,
deliberate, Chinese break from the aggressive, industrial, Nippo-Brazilian logos that most companies and schools present to the public.
The logo? An upside down panda.
 |
| The logo |
Apparently, he was working on a lagartixa (gecko) sweep,
which he was originally introduced to by a friend as being done from “panda
guard”. After working it a few successful times in competition, his students
started calling him “Panda”. Later, at purple belt level, when his students
started asking him to make a patch that incorporated the panda, he decided to
veer off the angry-animal path. The logo was used on a few shirts and after
seeing the shirts at tournaments, people started asking if they could buy them
(that’s the power of a good logo right there).
 |
| The Patch |
Nelson tells me that the panda even acts as some sort of
furry, inverted Rorschach, with some people seeing an animal interpretation of
the Taijitu,
some seeing the panda as the simultaneous beginner and expert and others seeing
pandas embodying the constant and endless evolution of BJJ. The truth? The
panda survived into Nelson’s entrepreneurial endeavors because they invert
themselves and are gentle, sometimes technical creatures despite their weight
and strength.
Thanks to Nelson at Inverted
Gear for taking the time to talk.
6 comments:
That is super cool. Now I need to figure out what panda guard is :)
Not sure about the guard, but the sweeps look interesting. Start at 10:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo2Kl2vnrzU
Speaking of branding....You may have already explored this idea, but in case you have not...
Have you examined how design can evoke a certain mood to solidify a brand? we are thinking of having dinner at French Laundry for our 5 year wedding anniversary in the fall.
Their website has links to Per Se and Ad Hoc. They are all designed to be calming, slightly muted in color, and they have a "quietness" that makes you feel like this is a product that is expensive and rare.
I have been drooling over FL for years, but someone who knew nothing about it and just stumbled on the website would be drawn into their hypnotic marketing of a high end product.
Food for thought. pun totally intended.
Dag
You HAVE to tell me what you order. Each one of their dishes is just captivating. I really wish Florida had the food culture of Cali...I really don't get why it doesn't with all the farms and international influence here.
But yeah...what you mentioned is what drew me in to Inverted Gear's logo. I can only think of one other brand (pony grappling) that breaks away from the typical "feel" of jiu jtisu brands that either hit on aggression, Japan, Brazil or industrial. Nothing's wrong with that, but it takes a lot to stand out in a crowd like that.
Hey I was wandering when you were going to post this! Thank you for the awesome post.
YW Nelson!
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