You’d have thought Andy Warhol did them—and why not? In the end, the work was nearly as iconic. Perennially at work on new ways to brand Apple’s products, TBWA\Media Arts Lab took the wraps off of “Silhouettes” in 2003. It didn’t just brand the iPod—it immortalized it. Eschewing a workaday product shot, “Silhouettes” shows the frenetic happiness caused by the product—in a series of literal silhouettes, freeze-frame shots of people dancing with their iPods in hand. The stark contrast of black figures and bright-colored backgrounds set off the presence of the iPod’s sleek white body and signature earbuds. The treatment (which racked up a shelf full of industry honors including a Grand Effie in 2005) not only made the digital music player instantly recognizable in any language and culture, but it also achieved what in branding is the nearly impossible: defining a product without showing what it even looked like up close. —Eleftheria Parpis
