Corporate Brands Dcsij monitors graphic qualit %0 IH 12 The work of the Corporate Brands Design department is based on the corporate philosophy that Heineken heer should not only taste the same all over the world, but should also look the same. Simply claiming that 'Heineken beer is the best' and then sticking a poor-quality label on the bottle would he a crime in the eyes of this depart ment, which is headed by Mr. Cees VV. Oos- trum. Mr. C.W Oostrum is an expert on graphic design. That expertise is invaluable, as specialist know-how is essential if you have to judge whether a label (or a carton or can) meets Heineken's stringent quality requirements. When a new design has to be de veloped for corporate products (Heine ken, Amstel, Murphy's, Green Sands, Buckler, Hoppe, Bokma and Coebergh) and sometimes also for national brands (for instance Aguila or Dreher) Corpo rate Brands Design is called in. 'The graphic designers may have created a very beautiful new label design, but it's our task to study whether that beauti, label can also be reproduced words: whether millions and them can be printed witho problems. Does the relevant have the graphic know-how hi print a beautiful but complex laS the right grades of paper and ink: able in that country? Those are the ques tions we have to answer. Besides that, the designer's intentions have to be 'translated' into a clear production as signment for the printer of the pack. Essentially, therefore, we act as inter mediaries between creativity and graphic techniques.' Implementation But Corporate Brands Design does much more. Guidelines are drawn up to ensure consistency in the image of Heineken products, whether this in volves a label or an outer box, or a pro motional article which has to carry the corporate logo. Eighty per cent of the department's work is devoted to packaging, as the pack is in fact the company's visiting card with an immediate visual impact on the consumer. But the department's work goes beyond advising and draw ing up guidelines. Corporate Brands De sign is also involved in implementation. The department has to provide the printers with the right materials and instructions so that they can print a pack which complies in full with the Heineken guidelines. Those guidelines are strict, very strict indeed. For example, if a change in local legislation means that one of our partners has to alter just one single figure on the label, they will have to let Corporate Brands Design handle that for them. It may seem a roundabout and expensive method, but it is absolutely necessary to maintain a consistent Mmi laches |ose statutory regulations in each country sometimes cause Mr. and his colleagues quite some hes. As the brewery is obliged to fivide an increasing amount of infor mation on the label, the need arises for 'creativity within the confines of a square millimetre because we want to include such information in the label without spoiling the label's overall image.' And, specifically because that list of statutory product information is becoming longer and longer, the brew cries are increasingly starting to use a label on the back of the bottle. In this way the legal regulations can be met without this impairing the visual quality of the body label. What would happen if Heineken wanted to introduce Heineken beer in a hypothetical country where the local THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN

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World of Heineken | 1989 | | pagina 12