Cityfix: A Fake Brand

August 6, 20090 Comments Tagged: Branding, design, fake, fix, motion graphics, Video

Cityfix® is a fake brand/campaign commisioned by MTV/OneDotZero and created by Studio Cymbols. The purpose of the campaign was to encourage industrial architecture in a post-industrial world.

"Cityfix highlights the beauty and heritage represented by industrial structures in comparison to contemporary 'quick-fix' housing solutions that make individual cities seem like clones of each other"

For something purely hypothetical and "fake", and also where the main feature was actually the overall presentation and motion graphics, the brand is remarkably well put together.

There is a fantastic Swiss modernist style to the whole piece - from the brand logo, to the fake "packaging" and throughout the motion graphics piece. The presentation of the "product" as some sort of medicinal item is a great metaphor for the "fix" they are pushing, and one that works well visually. The simplicity of the design fits perfectly with the simple, functional design we are used to seeing on pharmaceuticals.

As something of an aside, the map graphic used in the piece are fantastic, and I love the use of the "long photographs" depicting the buildings - a long static camera shot with cloud movement.

For a "fake" campaign and brand, this is certainly a fully fledged, and impressive effort.