New Work: @ Saks
Saks Fifth Avenue has long been a destination for sophisticated shoppers. The store’s new fall campaign, which launched last week, emphasizes Saks as the place to go for fashion, both at physical locations like its New York flagship, and online. Organized around the tagline “@ Saks”—the store’s Twitter handle—the campaign highlights messages directing shoppers to Saks’ website and social media platforms.
Working with Terron E. Schaefer, Saks’ group senior vice president for sales and marketing, Pentagram’s Michael Bierut and Katie Barcelona have created a stylish identity and series of shopping bags for the campaign. The team developed a signature “@” symbol that evokes the Saks brand identity previously developed by Pentagram—and uses the only piece of punctuation in MoMA’s permanent design collection.
For the campaign identity, the “@” symbol has been placed in a square and paired with the Saks logo. These elements are used to create highly graphic black-and-white patterns on the fall series of shopping bags. On one bag, the curves of the symbol have been extended into a whirling vertigo of black and white with the @ at its center.
Playful messages printed inside the bags direct shoppers to the Saks website and social media like Twitter and Facebook: “@ Saks, we hear the front-row buzz. Sometimes, we share: twitter.com/saks”; “@ Saks, friends find out about events first: facebook.com/saks”; “Our blog has makeup tips used @ Saks photo shoots: sakspov.com.” “Saks.com” appears at the bottom of each bag.
In print advertisements, the “@ Saks” motif appears in a rebus-like three-square arrangement that highlights specific brands and designers: “Chanel @ Saks,” “Theory @ Saks,” etc.
The designers are currently working on a catalogue tied to the campaign, and additional bags will be introduced for the holiday season. Bierut and his team previously collaborated with the store on its recent “I’m Going to Saks” and “Think About…” campaigns.
Additional coverage: WWD.
Project Team: Michael Bierut, partner-in-charge and designer; Katie Barcelona, designer.