Urbi et Orbi

by Sarah Ghlamallah

Meditation shop, Covent Garden, London, England.

This “meditation shop” located in an affluent part of central London is clearly quite different from some of the other venues where “meditation” may be offered (e.g. spiritual centres such as churches and temples, rehabilitation centres, more or less Eastern-based pursuits such as Yoga classes, etc). The shop’s name is made of two words, “inner” and “space”. The logo is a bright sun or star. The key words in the shop window read “practical” “positive” “management”. The word “management” is paired with an hourglass while “practical” teams with a masculine looking human figure. In turn, “positive” is displayed against the image of a wine glass. This connotes hedonism and enjoyment in the form of a socially valued taste in “good things”. The male human figure is located in the middle, surrounded by the hourglass and the glass of wine that also stand for the worlds of production and consumption. Together the symbols conveyed through the words and images compose the sub text of a success-driven social ideal in both these worlds. The male human figure is not only defined by leadership, productivity and efficiency (as suggested by the word “management” and the hourglass) but also by a form of personal success or so-called fulfillment (as suggested by the word “positive” and the glass of wine). This interestingly specific take on “inner” and “space” is an example of a much larger trend in affluent and work-driven societies. I was however puzzled and amused by the headless factor…

Tags: Branding+Marques, Consumer+Consommation, Identity+Identité, Street+Rue

This entry was posted on Vendredi, octobre 17th, 2008 at 00:04 and is filed under Carpe Diem. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.