Monday 2 October 2017

Fearless Falcon

If you follow Cannes and Creative Awards, you won't have missed that a certain sculpture took a lot of the top prizes this year. But what you may have missed, if you don't live near Sheffield, is another sculpture which I think deserves just as many accolades is also really rather quite good.

IKEA have recently opened a store in Sheffield and part of the clever stuff dreamed up by their UK advertising agency, Mother, to accompany the opening was Allen the Peregrine Falcon, seen above. His creator is sculptor Jason Heppenstall,  a wonderfully talented chap whose forte is sculpture of furred, feathered and scaled creatures as well as marvellous mechanical devices, all made from scrap steel. So what could be more appropriate for Sheffield than the town's symbol, a Peregrine Falcon, made of steel?

But it's not just any old steel. The beautiful bird of prey is constructed from a total of 17, 126 IKEA Allen Keys - hence the connection, and the name. The connection with IKEA doesn't stop there, either. The vision of IKEA is to help create a better everyday life for the many people, and I should think that the sight of this beautiful bird brightened many an everyday in Sheffield over the last week.

This, to me, is the essence of a great brand idea: something that combines the smallest, everyday element of a brand with its long-term higher reason for being in a way that's totally relevant for the people it's communicating with.

Now, who can remember which brand or company is behind the Fearless Girl sculpture? Anyone?

5 comments:

WILLIE...! =(^..^)= said...

Wow! Goodness Me! That is summat else...
Never heard of this, or seen it of course...!
I see it's 7 metres wide..imagine that flying
over your town..It's unbelievable! Must say
it again...Wow! :).
Found this of interest to....

https://vimeo.com/234543775

Fearless Girl is a bronze sculpture by Kristen
Visbal, commissioned by State Street Global
Advisors via McCann New York, depicting a Latina
girl facing the Charging Bull (or "Wall Street bull")
statue....!
This also is worth reading up on.....

Barbara said...


I had no idea who was behind the Fearless Girl sculpture (to be honest I had no idea about the sculpture having not heard about it), but once again Google supplied the answer. I won’t include it in this comment as I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone else.

I adore Allen the Peregrine Falcon! I clicked on the picture to enlarge it and can plainly see the Allen keys what an inspired idea.

I’m so sorry I’ve not been over lately it’s taken me a while to catch up after my recent ups and downs.

I've just read Willie's comment and see his has already spilt the beans re the Fearless Girl, so I didn't need to be so circumspect. :-)

Sue Imgrund said...

Willie - I'd love to know how much 'Allen' weighs - I expect that might put limits on his airworthiness!

Hello Barbara - with all those thousands of Allen keys, it reminds me a little of those splendid matchstick sculptures that some patient and talented people manage to construct.

WILLIE...! =(^..^)= said...

I've been through ALL the links re it's
weight..unable to find anything..will
take another look later..!

Oh! One thing that was interesting....
Allen...is a female falcon...! :).

Sue Imgrund said...

Well, there's a surprise - I wouldn't have known, even though I was a member of the Young Ornithologists Club decades ago!