The Essence of a City Uncovered
In a passage from one of my favorite books, Eat Pray Love, the characters have a discussion of a city's "word". How do we sum up a city's look, feel, smell, vibe in one word? How do we capture its essence?
We already associate certain brands with cities, sometimes even down to being "more L.A. than New York or Miami" or "more Nashville than Chicago". These brands have extracted the aura of a city and made it tangible, given it a face. People will say, "Well, I'm a New Yorker" like that is supposed to mean something...and it does. Why not harness all the energy and personality into some form of expression that residents can identify with and be proud of and others can aspire to experience as well?
Trendwatching.com has predicted the trend of "Urbanomics" and "Citysumers" in 2011. With rapid urbanization, there is increasing interest in city lifestyles and opportunity to capitalize on the personification of urban cultures. This year, we've already seen a few examples emerge from this idea.
Scent of Departure
No other sense triggers a memory as well as the sense of smell. Scent of Departure embodies cities such as Vienna with a fragrance "reminiscent of a walk from the peaceful Danube" to "an outdoor breakfast in the Palace garden of Belveder."
Live the Language Films
The luscious sound of native words. Classic views exuding a day in the life. These "Live the Language" films like the Paris video below translate this sensory combination through typography.
EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.
Likewise, beyond the city limits, we're even seeing this trend used to realize the core of an entire country's culture.
[via Behance]
Peru's country brand [via UNDERCONSIDERATION]
