Imagination makes a date with standardization
Date : 31 January 2011
What has a series of striking photos and graphics of wildlife got to do with ISO standards? The illustrations, used by ISO in its series of “animal ads” to promote standards and related publications, have just been compiled by the organization as a calendar for 2011.
ISO comments in the introduction to the calendar, under the headline “Imagination and standardization”, “The calendar you’re looking at is a good example of imagination and standardization working in partnership. A couple of years ago, the Communication department at ISO Central Secretariat was looking for a new theme which could be adapted to provide a family of advertisements for ISO products. On the face of it, the wildlife theme that came up was as far removed as you could get from the world of ISO standards – but as you can judge for yourself, this framework has time and again stimulated the creative juices of the Communication team into marrying a wildlife photo or design with an ISO standard or other product.”
ISO’s “animal ads” have had such good reactions that in 2009 the Communication team was encouraged enough to try a benchmarking exercise by entering them in the corporate advertising category of the European Excellence Awards – and saw them achieve a place in the shortlist for a prize.
On the link between imagination and standardization, ISO comments, “Stop someone in the street and ask whether imagination and standardization are opposites and the answer is likely to be ‘yes’. This is because of the idea that imagining is a free activity, while standardization, which is often expressed in measurements and rules, is constricting. But the answer is still wrong.
