On my way through the O’Hare airport last week, I found myself taking more than a few curious double-takes at what seems to be a stunning rebranding of IBM. The campaign is called A Smarter Planet and is the company’s current effort to contribute to green business. The campaign is being applied through 21 corporate avenues, including Banking, Cities, Education, Energy, Food, Government, Healthcare, Public Safety… and each department receives its own custom ‘smarter icon’ so to speak. The collection overall is very compelling; bold, colorful, minimal, charming.

The iconic imagery has influenced the user experience on IBM’s website, reshaping the navigation and providing a really refreshing overall facelift. There’s been skeptical talk about IBM’s efforts as a whole, and what this campaign really stands for, but I’m keeping myself removed from all that. As far as I’m concerned, I think the move is a great one for IBM, and above all I admire the efforts made to maintain the bold, iconic symbolism that Paul Rand set in place for the company, fifty years ago!




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