Brandmerk by Esther de Groot
Dutch Design Week ended in Eindhoven yesterday (Sunday) but here is another project from the Design Academy Eindhoven graduation show: Brandmerk, by Esther de Groot, is a series of amulets representing national identity based on brand logos from the wearer's home country.
De Groot exhibited amulets for the USA (top), France (above), Germany (below) and the Netherlands (bottom).
Here's an explanation from de Groot:
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Brandmerk.
An illusion on tour
Originally the amulet was an object with great individual value and personal meaning for its wearerer. Nowadays famous brands are a big factor in determining a persons identity.
National brands are also growing in popularity, because consumers seek warmth and security in brands of their own country. Representing famous national logos, these amulets symbolize the contradiction between the longing for security and nostalgia on the one hand and present-day Western commercialism on the other.
National symbols as: de Nederlandse leeuw, der Deutsche adler, le coq Francais & the American eagle are built out of the famous brands of each country. Travellers who leave home can wear these amulets as lucky charms.
Esther de Groot
