BY Armin

A + L = Infinity

In April of 2006 Paris-based Alcatel announced that it would merge with New Jersey-based Lucent Technologies, creating one of the world’s biggest telecommunications companies. This past December 1st, the merger was official and a new identity for the siamesed company was unveiled.

The identity was designed by EURO RSCG Worldwide — yes, I know: “Huh?” — and the resulting icon for the identity is dubbed “The Infinity Symbol” formed by the literal unity between Alcatel’s “A” and Lucent’s “L” in what the press release describes as an icon that “looks as if it were drawn by hand” and, more importantly, “portraying the combination of two great companies creating a better future for its employees, its customers and its customers’ customers.” If that is not enough meaning for you, the new identity also symbolizes “endless possibilities for the future of the combined company, and its commitment to being a strong, stable and enduring ally for our customers around the world.” As glaring as the new identity is, it is the selected color that surprised me the most, as purple — a rare choice in corporate and brand identity, and perhaps Alcatel-Lucent’s boldest move in establishing a recognizable brand — is a very hard color to pull off unless you are Barney. And so as not to disappoint, there is plenty of rhetoric around the hue: a) “[Purple] combines the stability of blue with the energy of red” and b) “[purple] has traditionally symbolized power and ambition and is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence and creativity.” On the trying-to-not-be-generic typography they offer that it “is designed to aid readability and comprehension with upper and lowercase letters.” No word, however, on what the generous shading means.

There isn’t enough positive reinforcement I can offer to this criteria and the resulting icon: A too-soon throwback to the generally curvaceous persona of numerous start-ups during the dot com era. Instead of a company that could literally be poised for world domination through telecommunication and 88,000 employees. The only admirable trait in this new identity is the color, even if a slightly more colorful purple could have pumped up the volume to the next level: A 4 out of 10 in my imaginary rating scale. And, of course, this new “Infinity Symbol” does not even have the fifteenth of impact, innovation or daringness of the one and only, Lucent’s late 90s-defining “Ring of Innovation”.

Also known as “The Big Red Zero,” “The Flaming Goose Egg,” “The Coffee Stain,” and, my favorite, “The Devil’s Asshole,” Lucent’s swooping, red brush stroke was (in)famously designed by Landor in 1996 to much of the industry’s (the telecommunications’, not the design’s) mocking chagrin. While not as long-standing as the UPS or AT&T logos, Lucent’s ring has become one of the most identifiable symbols and is regularly lumped along with Nike’s swoosh, Target’s target and Apple’s apple by businesses and organizations when alluding to the type of identity and recognizability they would like to achieve with their own. The ring also defied (and defined) a design era plagued by the ancestors of this new Alcatel-Lucent type of logos: heavy on curves and shading, lacking execution or longevity, mired in their own spin of meaning. It’s time has come too soon and put to rest by an inferior mark… a sad trend in brand and corporate identity these past five years that, like this new icon indicates, may last to infinity. And beyond.

\n\nIn April of 2006 Paris-based Alcatel announced that it would merge with New Jersey-based Lucent Technologies, creating one of the world's biggest telecommunications companies. This past December 1st, the merger was official and a new identity for the siamesed company was unveiled.

Many thanks to our ADV @ UnderConsideration Partners