JCPenney “Flagged” by Mother New York

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CLIENT

A chain of Amer­i­can mid-range depart­ment stores based in Plano, TX. The com­pa­ny oper­ates over 1,100 depart­ment stores in all 50 U.S. states.

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BRIEF

To build strat­e­gy, cre­ate nam­ing, and design a new symbol/identity for Amer­i­can-made prod­ucts to be sold through­out the entire jcpen­ney depart­ment chain.

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APPROACH

For all the brands bring­ing man­u­fac­tur­ing back home, for all the new com­pa­nies build­ing their busi­ness­es right here, Amer­i­can prod­ucts are still too hard to find. Flagged is designed to pull Amer­i­can-made brands togeth­er, to give them a spe­cial home, to offer them a plat­form, to ele­vate their cat­e­go­ry, and to give them a sym­bol that unites them as one. Born direct­ly from the jcp mas­ter­brand logo, the Flagged logo cre­ates a heart, a check­mark, and an Amer­i­can flag simul­ta­ne­ous­ly. It’s a mod­ern, icon­ic, and instant­ly rec­og­niz­able sym­bol. Our Flagged logo is imme­di­ate and pow­er­ful in its abil­i­ty to project a mes­sage of Amer­i­can pride and, in time, a certification. 

Flagged was created to pull American-made brands together and provide a spotlight for them. I appreciated Mother’s development approach to arrive at a design mark and visual world for Flagged. The process was thoughtful and disciplined, building off the Flagged brand attributes: honest, collaborative, purposeful, and optimistic. The goal was to be distinctly American without telegraphing historic, distressed, or nostalgic. The design solution met these goals—bold but not loud, proud but not patriotic. Through a minimalist and clean design aesthetic, Flagged emerged a modern, fresh brand. — Emily Florio, Senior Director Strategic Marketing of jcpenney