https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/a-design-studio-has-rebranded-carp-but-can-a-fish-be-a-brand
“A Design Studio “Rebranded” Carp. But Can a Fish Be a Brand?”
Words by John Kazior, Published on October 6th, 2022
After reading this article, I realized that marketing is much more than just strategy, design, and branding. This example shows how marketing can be guided by the government and can change our everyday lives.
The article describes the story of Copi fish and how the government tried to change the issue of “invasive carp” by rebranding it as Copi fish. The goal was to present this fish as environmentally friendly, locally sourced, wild-caught, and responsibly harvested. However, invasive carp is often perceived negatively and is commonly associated with being a nuisance species. By creating a new way of communicating the product to the public, the company Span studio aimed to highlight the benefits of purchasing this fish, while also helping the government reduce an environmental problem. The article also presents a similar story involving salmon. Norway had an overabundance of salmon in its waters and found a way to reduce it by introducing salmon to sushi restaurants. Through this campaign, they influenced global food culture and changed the way people consume salmon. As demand increased, Norway expanded salmon farming and began treating farmed fish with artificial pigments. Although many people consider this campaign a success from a marketing perspective, it was not necessarily successful from an industry or environmental standpoint.
Regarding the design of this blog webpage, it contains four images: two digital illustrations, one poster, and one photograph. The first illustration appeared very bright and colorful to me, which was one of the reasons I chose to read this article. The second illustration showed a rebranded mockup of the Copi fish. The poster had the appearance of a vintage advertisement, although it was clearly created digitally, likely using Photoshop. The final image was a photograph comparing differently colored salmon to demonstrate the variation in salmon coloration.
Overall, I liked the design of this webpage. It has a centered layout, which I find pretty logical for blogs and web articles. One interactive feature I found interesting was that when you leave the screen untouched, eye icons appear around the page, making the website more engaging and fun to explore. The typography also stood out to me because it used a serif typeface rather than the more common sans-serif fonts, such as Roboto.
The color palette provides strong contrast, with a light background and dark text that improves readability. Bright orange is used as an accent color for links and underlined elements, creating visual emphasis while remaining consistent with the website’s brand guidelines. Overall, the design feels cohesive, visually appealing, and well thought out.
To conclude this analysis, I would argue that communication is extremely influential. By focusing on advantages and changing the name of a product to something more marketable, companies can create products that consumers might not even recognize for what they originally were. While this can be a successful marketing strategy, it may not always have positive effects on other aspects of our lives. In the case of design of this web blog, I would say that design decisions in case of colors, typography, images and layout were successful.Â
