Twiggy goes out on a limb

Branding a Sixties pop icon for the world of 1999 may be some consultancies’ idea of a dream job. But deliberating over which of the classic Sixties associations to mix – flower power, peace and love, mini skirts and Carnaby street – is certainly no piece of cake. Which is why the final Springett Associates designs for the new high street brand Twiggy are, in the words of Springett creative director Roger Bannister, ‘timeless, simple and flexible’.

Twiggy & Co, set up by the eponymous model and actress, will apply the Twiggy tag to a number of products, in association with existing manufacturers and retailers. At this stage there is little hint as to exactly what will be launched first in the range, although Springett is working on the first packaging manifestation of the final identity seen here.

The general brief in creating the identity has centred around opportunities to market the brand in the fashion/ health/ cosmetics sector. Negotiations with a number of alliance organisations are still ongoing and the first product should be in stores by the end of the year.

The stage one designs of the identity were varied, with permutations ranging from the leafy and the flowery to the signature-inspired and simpler logotypes. Fonts spanned the modern and the classic, serif and sans serif, but all designs aimed to convey Twiggy’s personality.

‘Before we met Twiggy we had all sorts of preconceptions about what the Twiggy brand could involve. But the meeting focused our perception of her. What she does represent is health, vitality and beauty, plus a little bit of quirkiness,’ says Bannister. This was to be the final mix of qualities for the Twiggy identity.

Time was spent assessing how to use the name to create the brand, and combinations such as Twiggy London or Twiggy & Co seemed to become less and less necessary as work progressed. The person and the brand name began to overlap, says Bannister. ‘Sometimes when we were in meetings with Twiggy we would be discussing what Twiggy should or should not do. It became necessary to clarify that we meant the brand rather than the person.’

‘The real questions became how contemporary and how young do you go with the identity,’ says Springett director of marketing Kate Killeen. ‘The end solution reflects the qualities that people already perceive in Twiggy. She is not positioning herself as a high-end, exclusive brand. It was more appropriate that she has “every-woman” appeal.’

Design: Springett Associates

creative director: Roger Bannister

senior designer: Cathy Ogilvy

Client: Twiggy & Co