THE PLATONIC POLICE

“This is totally crazy!” – that’s what we were told when we first presented our project to the Board of the Police Department of New York City, back in 2003. “How did you come out with this idea, for a start?” – they asked. We explained them our intention was to create a new Police Unit to help citizens in sorting out nonmaterial issues. Crime fighting – we told them – should focus on metaphysics, since people suffer more from spiritual loss rather than from material one. Traditional police, in a nutshell, defends just material property, both public and private, and punishes whoever try to steal or damage it for his or her illicit personal gain. But what about all those fundamental human needs that go beyond materialism? Shouldn’t we protect them, in order to promote another kind of value, namely all Traditional Values? The Integrity of the Soul, The Wealth of Love, The Treasure of Memories, The Richness of the Spirit: aren’t all these a metaphysical currency?  Our proposal to the big shots of the Police Department was to add a new division called the Platonic Police. The name – we said – was a tribute to Greek philosopher Plato, the first one who seriously investigated the nonmaterial essence of human beings and later taught to a young Aristotle the basic principles of modern metaphysics. Our project didn’t require big investments: its objective was to reintegrate retired police officers who, instead of rotting at home in front of a tv set, could go back to the thrill of action, adding also a little salary to their skinny pension. Their invaluable experience could serve a good cause. We proposed to use old, discarded police vehicles, properly restored by car enthusiasts supported by private micro-donations. Our idea, at heart, wanted to give a double social message to all citizens: make them understand and value the nonmaterial side of life, since existence shouldn’t be based only on money and success. The other input was to lessen the social burden of neglected old people, re-introducing them into the social tissue, making good use of their wisdom, selflessness and experience.

After a long debate, we were able to convince our audience. Our first meeting with the authorities was in 2003. Today, almost ten years later, the Platonic Police is a sound reality we are all proud of. It counts 6,000 active officers only in the U.S. and many affiliates are joining the cause in Canada, France, UK, Germany, Japan, Brasil, Chile, Russia, Iraq, India, Nepal, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and, of course, Greece. The Platonic Police is formed by an elite of volunteers from all over the world.

Opening picture (top): the Platonic Police Headquarters in Chicago. On top of the building, one of the most popular platonic mottos has been carved into stone: “THE GREATEST WEALTH IS TO LIVE CONTENT WITH LITTLE”.

Above: The Brandpowder Team has developed a full corporate identity: the double “P” mirrors into an ancient runic symbol that stands for a “journey through force”.  This ieratic image is adjoined by the Police’s emblem where the face of the Greek philosopher Plato is inscribed inside a circle with a bright sheriff’s star. The five-pointed star, quite popular into American Heraldry and iconography, was selected by the Brandpowder Team for the Pythagorean pentagrammatic perfection, an original manifestation of metaphysical force that is found also in ancient Bahà’ì faith.

Above: one of the pages from the Brandpowder’s Sketchbook. Pluto, in our view, is the corrupted symbol of dumb plutocracy promoted by mass media. Its apparent jolly, cheerful, carefree nature hides the poisonous message of a dog subjugated by the childish caprices of a capitalistic rat. Plato, on the other hand, represents the aristocracy of the soul. Aristocracy, in its original meaning, meant the power in the hands of the best people. The Greek philosopher was unanimously voted by the Brandpowder Team as the keystone of a philosophy for a new, ideal city. We added the greek word “polis” to Plato, and the Platonic Police was born.

Below: the Platonic Police’s rubber stamp is used to seal every solved case, at the end of a metaphysical enquiry. This is a very reassuring symbol for the people who are growing fond of this institution. The Platonic Cops are considered like guardian angels serving the Community.

Below: The Brandpowder Team was later asked to create a social campaign to raise public awareness, also explaining how the Platonic Police could really help people to find a solution to nonmaterial matters.

Below: a soul-searching ad promoting the activity of Platonic “bobbies” in UK.

Above: another ad run by the Platonic Police in Texas. “People are very much concerned by time, which is now considered the new currency,” – Sgt. Tom J. Forbes told a local paper – “It’s strange nobody ever thought to protect it, before. I’m proud to represent the Platonic Police and help people to get their time back. This is a bloody good way to serve my Country.”
Below: an ad that appeared in several High Schools throughout the Unied States. Love is a critical issue, among teenagers. The Platonic Police helps youngsters to deal with the soft turmoil of their feelings, teaching them sex, for instance, shouldn’t be separated from love. And viceversa.

Below: the French Gendarmerie offered a fleet of six vintage Citroen SM to the Platonic Polic. These cars are extremely fast and comfortable, which makes them the ideal vehicles for quick response and intervention. Jacques Milieu, Head of the Platonic Police in Paris, said materialism is ruining his Country. We are grateful to the Brandpowder Team for making this utopia come true.  We are all fighting for a better society. People should finally understand that life is much more than smelly cheese, champagne, trufles and parfumes.

Above: The Platonic Police is proposing also “early tools” for helping parents to raise their children with real values. The PP Handbook is a learn-through-fun publication translated, so far, into 17 languages. The Brandpowder Team is currently at work on a new book. People asked us why not a digital version for iPad or an app with a geo-locator that tracks emergency calls on the map? The reason is we don’t like digital tech. We think the Platonic Police should stick to old fashion relationship with their fellow citizen, instead. You can’t hug a person through an iphone, can you?

Above: an old Platonic Police cruiser in Canada. Days can be very quiet, here. When there are not emergency calls, the Platonic Cops just hang around patrolling the streets, stopping sometimes for a cup of tea. People love them to bits and invite them into their homes to have a chat.

Below: The Platonic Police of Germany couldn’t resist to give their vehicles the usual “panzer” look. This old Volkswagen T1 has been transformed into a snow cat. Metaphysical dilemmas, according to local statistics, are more frequent during the winter season because snow, with its white blanket, can induce gloomy thoughts promoting metaphors of death.

Above: this yacht may seem a blatant oxymoron. How come the Platonic Police, who is supposed to fight materialism, is indulging with such a loud symbol of it? The answer is quite simple: the fancy boat was a donation from a Greek millionaire to the Platonic Police serving in the Aegean Sea. Metaphysical emergencies are more frequent than you may think among the filthy rich. This floating dreamhouse is the most convenient way to approach such people, making them feel comfortable during their existential crisis.

Above: A nice cup of coffee is always waiting anyone who happens to stop by any Platonic Police office. The California District also serves delicious star-shaped cookies called Plato’s Chocolate Fudge.

Above: Leon Panetta, former US Secretary of Defense, awards Liut. George Ruanan, Platonic Police’s coordinator on behalf of the Brandpowder Team, the Medal of Honor for distinguished service and the spiritual improvement of Society.

Please support the Platonic Police by spreading this message. A big thank you from the Brandpowder Team.

SUPER ULTRA NICHE MARKETING

If you think this is a common typewriter, we invite you to look closely. You’ll soon find out this is one like no other. It’s called Modestype, and part of a series of unique typewriters produced by SUN, a New Zealand Company specialized in Super-Ultra-Niche Marketing products. With the Modestype you can type a single sentence only: I’LL NEVER BE A WRITER LIKE ERNEST HEMINGWAY, which is great, because by typing this line, again and again, you’ll teach yourself a lesson on modesty. SUN is not targeting only wannabe-writers. More than a hundred models are on catalogue, at the moment. The founder of SUN, Bruce Ameilcool, initially contacted the Brandpowder Team asking for a logo. The chemistry between us (no drugs, this time) was so good that we ended up making every single piece of communication for his Company, from corporate identity to advertising.

Above: Bruce asked us for something different. We proposed him type ribbon ink-scented business cards. Each one comes with an envelope that preserves the fragrance of those vintage offices people miss so badly, today. Also a silver typing button is given as a gift to customers. Bruce loved the idea so much that he wanted real type buttons also on the catalogue’s cover (below).

SUN is, for sure, the most extreme example of niche marketing applied to a business. Bruce is convinced there is a market for everything out there. He said 7 billion people on this planet make for a fucking huge crowd. Super Ultra Niche Marketing concentrates, to say the least, on very peculiar products aimed to very narrow targets. “Today you can find clients with laser-focus precision, thanks to Google,” he told us. “You advertise the most stupid product and – Bang! – there’s a moron who’s ready to buy it!”. Bruce, so far, has produced a hundred different typewriters, recycled from old, discarded models. “Everybody is now typing on computers,” he says. “People use tablets and those dumb smartphones. Nobody likes typewriters anymore, so I can find them for cheap.” Every SUN typewriter is superbly handcrafted and modified to meet the most extravagant customer who, it must be said, must be ready to pay for it. The price range goes from U$2,000  for an Analfatype (a simple model devoted to analfabets, whose buttons write just a long line of “x”) to U$ 5,000 for a Romantic Type – pictured below – and addressed to touchy lovers.  There’s also the highly sophisticated Suitype (bottom) reserved to posh customers who don’t mind spending a hefty U$12,500 to write their very last letter.

Above: the Psychotype. Bruce told us this incredible product was bought for 10,000 dollars by a US Maximum Security Prison which prefered to stay anonimous to respect the client’s privacy.

Below: the first ad campaign, introducing SUN and its brilliant concept of Super Ultra Niche Marketing. The ad ran on a local newspaper for a week only, but Bruce received more than seven hundred phone calls (he’s got no email).

Above and below: successful ads taken from the “IF” campaign made by the Brandpowder Team. Bruce was gobsmacked by the end result: he sold an average of seven typewriters per day! A big hit, considering the super ultra niche marketing factor. “Ten typewriters” he said “are mass market for my standards.”

Above: one page from the 2013 SUN Trade Catalogue. Bruce wanted also this piece with a vintage flavor, so we printed the 5,000 copies with an old Bullock rotary printing machine.

Bruce Ameilcool is now a hippie millionaire but he can’t separate from his 1967 rusty Holden, yet. “Babes must be young, cars must be old,” that’s his philosophy. And we didn’t argue on that.

Below: the Zainatype, a typewriter specially designed by Bruce for one of our Brandpowder fans, Zaina (from Virginia) who just happens to love typewriters and whatever begins with the letter “Z”. This model might also help people to fall asleep while at their desk zzzzzzz……

WORLD FLAG

Globalization has been so fast and out of control that, in the end, no one thought of a global flag, an emblem for all of us, representing the planet as a whole. To be honest, a world flag already exists. It is called  the One World Flag (pictured below). It was designed by David Bartholomew in 2006. In his blog, you read that “the One World Flag is an international symbol of diversity, Honoring the Talents, Abilities and Uniqueness in Each of Us, as Strengths that can Benefit All of Us” for whatever that means.

This flag is very inspiring, and perfect for a summer campsite but, in our humble opinion, it has got three little problems: first, being the output from a single person, and not from a congregation of people representing different countries, it is perhaps a bit solipsistic;  second, it has been conceived as a free gift to the world, but then the project had to find a way to make a profit in order to finance its ideals. We have nothing against it, of course, we’d like to think it as free for everybody to use. Last but not least…the yin-yiang. What does that mean for an Aboriginal, an Inuit or a Maori? This is in fact a symbol based on a local culture which doesn’t represent everybody’s values. It’s revealing more of the creator’s beliefs than of a worldwide sentiment. Our considerations are limited, of course, to constructive criticism. Following emblems’ etiquette, we highly respect this flag as any other flag of the world.

Nevertheless, the Brandpowder Team, one year ago, started to focus on the subject with a more structured approach, trying to find a universal code that could work for everyone, independently from race, language, culture or religion. After sending a letter to several Governments and other worldwide organizations, asking their point of view (and getting no answer) we rolled up our sleeves. The first step for the worldwide flag project was to put together a worldwide team. Here below we list only those who signed their work, even if many others, due to political reasons, participated anonymously to the task. We wish to thank them all for their effort and sometimes colorful considerations on the subject. Their contribution and ideas have been priceless, and we all had a great time together.

In our office a considerable amount of data on existing flags has been collected. We went through the story of each flag, trying to work out which colors are more present, in order to get a proportion that could represent all Countries. We found out a lot had already been done on this topic. For sorting out color quantities and distribution, for instance, we found particularly helpful the crwflags database. Also wolfram‘s blog has been valuable for extra insight on color statistics, based on Mathematica software. We then shared all the collected information with every contributor to the World Flag project, letting everyone run wild with his or her proposals.

Below: the first chart shows worldwide color’s presence on a flag; the second shows what would it look like if flags were ranked according to population’s density. It’s evident, in this case, the impact of China.

Red has always been the favorite color, representing – also today – more than 30% of total flags’ surface. The rank has gone through minor changes in the past. One hundred years ago, for example, yellow gold was more popular than green, and light blue was more widespread than ultramarine. For our case study, we obviously concentrated only on contemporary flags.

Above: we have been intrigued by an interesting essay by Diane Guyot, who created an algorythm to get the average color from each of the 248 world’s flags. Below: the Union Jack, as it would appear after her mathematical blender.

The challenge was to come out, in the end, with a flag that could represent, in the most accurate manner, the average values, taste and mood of 6 billion people. The first evidence of colors’ proportion on worldwide flags, and their meaning, is pictured here below:

It is worth to mention this interpretation is simply based on an average from all contributors’ point of view, with 39 different countries representing 85% of the total population. Red, the most popular of all colors, represents not only blood, of course, but also courage, love, aggressivity, heat and pride. Blue, likewise, bears with it several symbols: freedom, independence, democracy, aspirations, moral values, ideals and peace. White stands for spiritual values, pureness, neutrality, excellence and abstraction. Green is a symbol of land and hope, but it’s worth to consider that for some countries land is expressed by yellow or black. Black, in some cultures, is linked to roots, tradition and a sense of belonging. In others it is a warning to maintain a distance from borders. In our resarch we discovered that, if all flags of the world could be re-designed from scratch, blue would be the dominant color, followed by red, white and green.

The World  Flag, according to a set of agreements voted by all contributors, must not represent a symbol, a figure, an existent or familiar shape, neither had to bear a link to dogma, language, race or political statement. The Flag of the World, which we are happy to introduce here for the first time, is a 10-color emblem based on flags of the world’ color quantity. It represents the five continents plus the five main bodies of water. The black, as tenth color, and always in proportion to worldwide’s colors, is connecting together every field in a pathway which helps readability also in very small sizes. It was not easy to choose among hundreds proposals; in the end the top flag, voted by the vast majority of participants, won by a good length. The design is by a Chinese refugee who didn’t want to reveal his identity. The anonymity of the artist, he wrote us in letter accompanying his work, is the best prerequisite for a world’s creation. For whatever that means.

The World Flag is the result of a worldwide project that involved 39 countries. There is no copyright. Click on the flag to download it. It’s free and can be used for any purpose.

Above: The Brandpowder Team hoisted the World Flag in front of their office.