FRONTEIRAS THEATRE - THE MEANING BEHIND THE STARBUCKS LOGO
THEATRE DESIGN FOR A FRINGE SHOW 2011
Fronteiras Theatre company creates theatre pieces that explore multiple cultures, languages and traditions and the points where they intersect in performance. The word Fronteiras means 'borders' in Portuguese and comes from the place where the company founder and director, Flavia d'Alvia grew up. At Edinburgh Fringe 2012 I came on board to help re-design a popular coffee logo for one of their plays, part of a three piece 'dinner course' called Theatre Tasters which made up the entire show.
The play was called Team Player and looked at the corporate values in large coffee company chains and capitalism. Set in a make believe coffee shop called Buckanero's (a combination of Starbucks and Cafe nero) we are introduced to three employees and their heartless boss:
Boss:
Are you a loyal person?
Applicant:
I am a very loyal person
Boss: Are you a hard-working person?
Applicant: I am a very hard-working person.
Boss: Are you a service-minded person?
Applicant: I am indeed a service-minded person.
Boss: Are you an easy-going, happy-clappy, spirited, cheery,
customer-friendly, lovely person?
Applicant:
I am a very, very easy-going, happy-clappy,
spirited, cheery, customer-friendly, lovely person.
Boss: Are you a real person?
Applicant: Yes, I would say that I am a rather real person.
Boss:
And are you passionately devoted to pigeon shit?
Applicant: I am passionately devoted to pigeon shit.
Boss:
All kinds of pigeon shit?
Applicant: All kinds of pigeon shit.
My starting point was to do some research on the origins of the
Starbucks Logo.
Present Official Version of the Starbucks Logo
In Greek Mythology sirens were beautiful sea nymphs - half woman half bird or fish - who lured sailors to their death with their bewitching and beautiful singing voices. Starbucks make out that she is their muse “always there inspiring and pushing ahead…She stands
unbound, sharing our stories, inviting us to explore, to find something new and
to connect with each other and as always she is urging us forward to the next
thing. After all, who can resist her?”
2nd Official Version of the Starbucks Logo
The First part of the name ‘Star’ insinuates that the siren or mermaid is royal and that Starbucks' coffee is good quality/the best/Luxury. The circle normally is a symbol for the sun/woman/egg/fertility. The sexual connotations suggests the things we want, not the things we need and the smile on her face suggests we trust her.
I always
thought that at the side of her were her hands but those are her tails.
Mermaids
can’t swim with two tails...
Some think
that she is spreading her legs sexually.
And some think
they look like the devil's hooves or that her hands are doing the Peace
Sign. The Peace sign comes from ancient Runes symbolizing death and the sign is also known as The Broken Cross, Crow’s Foot or The Witches
Foot and is used on Nazi Graves.
Nazis were
enthusiasts of the Master Race where everyone was the same...
-Starbucks has hundreds of identical shops all over the world.
This is a symbol of Satan - notice the stars.
The
original Logo back in 1971 looked like this.
Original Official Version of the Starbucks Logo
Upside down the siren looks like this...
...Satan
devouring a woman.
It also
used to be Brown. Now the Green is ironic to the second part of the name
‘Bucks’ - Green American Money.
I decided to incorporate an animal into my revision of the logo, such a a bird or a dog to tie in with references in the play. I also wanted to make clear what the woman is and represents.
dog latte art
At the end of the play the employee is likened
to a puppy dog.
pigeon latte art
Pigeon
Incorporating the pigeon shit
Incorporating the pigeon shit
Looking at incorporating Fronteiras
theatre comany's universal /cultural value
Looking at incorporating Fronteiras
theatre comany's universal /cultural value
Opting for the mermaid and pigeon shit
opting for the two tailed mermaid with pigeon shit
Transforming the mermaid into a pirate
Making the pirate more like the siren
Opting to just show her top half
Final Design
Creating a stencil of the logo to transfer onto the skin tight costumes for the show.
How to Design Theatre - Creating a Model Box for a Play
Blackout by Davey Anderson is a play about a boy called James who goes off the rails when his grandfather dies. James is
bullied and confused about his identity, struggling to grasp
any control over his life in Glasgow. He turns to violence as an outlet and as
he gets more and more lost the more and more dangerous he becomes. -“When People upset me I draw pictures of them on buses going to Hell Disaster or OHIO” (Warren, 2006). -“This drawing means love. Mum and Tim. I’m there. Dad and Harriet over there in their house. When I draw I get to make things up. Sometimes though I wish it were real, like that my mum and dad and Harriet and me were all still together in our old house” (Elliot). Without writing the play up I'll simplify it down to its units here: Wake Up Confused Broken family Life Happy Days with Grand-dad Observing the outside world from your bubble Lonely Creating your Identity Punished for not knowing who you are Delaying with loneliness by horror All free will taken away Taking control the Painful way A new Identity Your Own Rules Not Scared Anymore Feeling Pain to feel alive Belonging Raining the storm has arrived Stakes Rising Time Running Out Dead Inside. Thirst for Control Adult View of yourself Escape to a Fantasy World The fantasy world turns scary Hollow Rules save him Mummy What now? The World of the Play: Looking in detail at the script I found the world of the play...
I
wanted to create two worlds – one that was James’s mind and one that
was the reality around him. I chose to show his mind through a video game and his
reality by what is on stage around him. By looking closely at the
text I wrote down all the things that existed in the world of the play
and sectioned them according to the two different ones I wanted to
create: Things that belong in the Room (Reality) Things that belong on Screen (His Mind) “White Walls, Bright Lights, metal door, small room” Under the Surface - lost Conform to society ‘Famous Doctor’. School No School Jigsaws, cards, tea Alcohol and Drugs Black Combats and long Hair Skinhead Death Jekyll and Hyde Belts and Laces No rules or constraints Time runs out Serial Killing Words Screaming Law No Laws Storm and Rain Storm and Rain Looking at the list you can see that the two different worlds start to merge together and become the same place. From the above table the ‘world
on stage’ looks most like a mental institution and the ‘world on
screen’ looks like a lost world (mutants in a remote place). After reading the script there were several things I considered before creating my design, including the theatre venue. Looking at the Theatre Space - The Arches in Glasgow: (The Arches is an old venue underneath Glasgow Train Station -http://www.thearches.co.uk/about-us) Trains – Travelling and Control History Thunder of the trains running over-head Things that lies beneath
How do we connect with the character?
Through family: The protagonist, James, is sitting on his Grandfather's knee at the beginning of the play. His Grandfather is telling the protagonist a story whilst they both play a Play Station game. As his Grandads story gets more and more sinister so does the game. The game itself starts to come ‘alive’ and begins to control itself without the aid of a human being. As the play goes on James’s hair falls out in reference to when he shaves his head in the play.
The TV: The video game being played resembles the set up of an older version of Super Mario, where Super Mario can only go forwards or backwards and going forwards is the only way to finish the game.
Instead of Super Mario, James is controlling an avator of himself. As he progresses through the game he and his avator start to get distracted. This leads to his avator dying at the mercy of another avator which looks a lot like his father. He starts again and his avator starts to lose its hair. It starts to rain and the avator gets lost in the game, no longer going the one way allowed in a normal video game - the space on screen become four dimensional. Land of the Game: I wanted the world of the game to feel like a horror movie so I started looking at the game Silent Hill, the movie The Hills Have Eyes and Play Station’s ‘Horror Special’ magazine for images. I also bought some graphic novels to see what I could do with contrasting real life depictions of human beings with cartoon ones. “I make up fantasy stories because my real life SUCKS...And now my fantasy life is starting to suck too” (Warren,2006).
Thinking about what things are scary: Learning that what you were told isn’t true. The Set:
On stage are two dead trees each with an old television abandoned in the branches. At centre stage there is James sat playing the video game. There are four TV's hanging from the rigging above the audience and four more which are on stage. The only lighting in the whole play is the light that comes from the television screens which are positioned on stage. The floor design is a canvas of the outline of the box TV's.
THE RESULT
A boy in a hooded jumper is on stage shaving his hair with real clippers.
He is playing a Play Station horror game where in the game he is the main character. The image he is watching is reciprocated around the theatre on the other televisions.
On the screens we see his journey through the game which is interjected with flashing images of his hair falling out, and trees growing and dying.
As James gets closer to all his hair being gone he gives up on the clippers and pulls out his hair with his hands. He starts to bleed.
The game he is in control of turns on him and an enemy in the form of a masked man makes it ‘game over’
James begins to make up his own rules which excites him.
It starts to rain on all the TV screens and his character gets lost and no longer follows the linear route allowed in a game.
He gets frustrated and throws the controls at the screen breaking the connection between the box and the controller.
On screen he is given a life line.
He feels his bald scalp His mother comes in and massages his scalp A flower grows on one of the dead trees.
The play was called Team Player and looked at the corporate values in large coffee company chains and capitalism. Set in a make believe coffee shop called Buckanero's (a combination of Starbucks and Cafe nero) we are introduced to three employees and their heartless boss:
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