Behind the Scenes of April Fools 2010

“I know this doesn’t fit the mold for your site,” wrote Matt Stevens to me on March 12, “but thought you might be interested. A little rebrand I did for fun.” I was amused by the exercise but, to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t in any enthusiastic rush to post it on Brand New so, like dozens of other e-mails we receive for the site, I left it unanswered. As April Fools approached, I panicked that I didn’t have anything prepared — this just goes to show you how tight an operation we run around here. After debating some lame ideas, I remembered Matt’s Dunkin’ Donuts post and realized it had all the ingredients of a convincing April Fools: A well-known brand, an established visual system, and the potential that it could indeed change a