I love words. Surround me with words, words and more words.
Basically I became fascinated with words and wording in the early 90s when I first fell in love with the books 'The Hidden Persuaders' by Vance Packard and 'A Connoisseur's Collection of Old and New, Weird and Wonderful, Useful and Outlandish Words' (phew) by Paul Dickson.
If you've never read them, you really should.
Words are that great we can even make
into
What the Hidden Persuaders taught me was about the power of words (and colours) and how we as people are easily manipulated through subconscious advertising.
For example, one of my favourite ever logos is the FedEx logo. An absolute gem of a logo! How many of you have actually ever noticed the white arrow hidden amongst the E and the X? Once you see it, you can't unsee it. FedEx is a parcel delivery company so the white arrow plays on our subconscious and tells us that they 'deliver', they're 'moving', they're 'going forwards' - pretty much everything an arrow symbolises.
Similarly, Radion Automatic also played on the public's subconscious through their use of words and colours. Although I don't think this was deliberate. I don't have a pretty image to put on here but if you Google 'Radion Automatic' you will remember it as being the laundry detergent from the late 80s and early 90s that used fluorescent orange on all of its packaging whilst everyone else was packaging up their soap powders in clean looking white and blue boxes. The vibrant, brash orange colouring encouraged some consumers to believe that the detergent ruined their clothes when they came out of the washing machine.
And if you take a really close look, you'll see that Radion Automatic is an anagram of...
The combination of harsh, brashy orange and the threat of atom raids is not what the British public wanted to wash their clothes with.
I would like to point out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the colour orange. I love it and use it all of the time (evidenced on this website). But when designing it is crucial to think about the use of words the colours used. Where Radion Automatic was concerned their life as a detergent on our supermarket shelves ended after only a couple of years.
Gone, kaput, zilcho, no more to be seen!
Gone, kaput, zilcho, no more to be seen!
This is what the Hidden Persuaders taught me. The power of colour and how it can persuade our decision making. Way back in the 50s consumers were given three samples of soap powder. All of the soap powder was exactly the same yet it was packaged in three different boxes, a yellow box, blue box, and another box which was yellow and blue combined. Those trying out the samples were under the impression that the soap powders were completely different brands and after testing each one the feedback was as follows: The soap powder in the yellow packaging was deemed too strong and allegedly ruined their clothes in some cases, the soap powder in the blue packaging was too weak and left the clothes looking dirty, but the soap powder in the yellow and blue packaging received favourable responses such as 'perfect' and 'wonderful'.
If only the makers of Radion Automatic had read 'The Hidden Persuaders' beforehand!
If only the makers of Radion Automatic had read 'The Hidden Persuaders' beforehand!
A Connoisseur's Collection of Old and New, Weird and Wonderful, Useful and Outlandish Words is such a wonderful book that takes us on an almost compulsive journey of some of the words we have loved and lost through time. My favourite section is 'Burgessisms' where the book captures a range of elaborately defined words manufactured by Gelett Burgess.
Of these words there are two that really stand out.
AGOWILT.
You know that fear you feel when you shut the front door that locks itself and then you realise you have left your keys inside. Or when you panic on the way to the airport because you have left the heating on. Or when you climb the stairs in the dark and your foot reaches for that extra step that isn't there. That feeling according to Burgess is known as agowilt.
AGOWILT should exist as a word. There is no word in the world to describe that stomach churning, heart sinking, panicky fearful feeling.
FIDGELTICK.
Fidgeltick is the other word that should exist where there is currently no word to describe what it actually refers to. Fidgeltick was formed to describe a food that is a bore to eat because it requires a painstaking ill-requited effort to get to it. Think about a pomegranate and all that fuss and mess to get to those pink seeds lay deep inside - absolute fidgeltick indeed!
The wonderful world of words.
The reason I design.