Swedish designer Sixten Sason was the man responsible for creating the aesthetics of of the Hasselblad camera in the late 1940's, a design so compelling that today it defines not just a product but an entire brand:
A remarkably prolific and flexible designer, Sason also drove the aesthetic design of Saab automobiles up through the 1960's. The unique design language he coined lived on into the early 90's before GM bought Saab and lost the trace. He started it all off with this iconic piece of work, the 1949 Saab 92001, which pretty much says all you need to know about what Saab-ness is:
Where do brands come from? What we call "brand" is the sum of all the decisions you make to shape a user's experience of your offerings. Brands are designed and built layer by layer over time. As I've written before, your brand does not define the character of your offerings. Instead, your offerings (and the layers of sales, service, support, and meaning creation surrounding them) define your brand.
Want a strong, vibrant brand? Make “brand building” the job of your product development group and your brand team. If you still need convincing, just think about the incredible amount of brand equity created by Sixten Sason over the course of his career at Hasselblad and Saab, and how quickly Saab lost it once his influence was gone.
Hello,
I am producing an fact broschure about Swedish Design and would very much like to get hold of the picture of the first Saab, included in the article about Sixten Sason. Can You help me?
Best Regards
Mats Hedman
+46 70 593 65 00
till@hedman.se
Posted by: Mats Hedman | 04 June 2005 at 09:12 AM