Wednesday 15 October 2014

Brief 1 (Roman Bakery) - Starting Points

For coming up for an actual name for my bakery I thought It'd be good to do some research into the Roman gods and relating that into the branding side of things. Mostly because there are so many Roman gods it didn't seem unlikely there wouldn't be one relating to bread or grain in some way. I found this god below, Annona:


Annona is the Roman Goddess of the corn supply (the European term for grain, in this case wheat, not the new world "corn" or "maize" that gives us popcorn, corn-on-the-cob, corn meal mush, corn dogs, polenta, corn muffins, and that hideous invention, creamed corn [or as one person I know used to call it, "cream of corn"]). She is the personification of the produce grown in the year: Her name, annona, was the name of the wheat allotment given to the people of Rome by the government to stave off famine. 
Annona is seen on the right holding a horn of plenty.

Originally annona could be any food grown or made over the year, for example fruit or wine as well as grain, but in time it came to mean provisions in general, especially wheat.

Annona is strongly linked through grain to the harbour from which the grain entered Rome, because of this she is often seen with not just a cornucopia but also a ship's prow, rudder or anchor to signify the link between Rome and it's imports. Along with other virtues Annona represents the restoration in faith and confidence for head of state.

As well as Annona there is also the goddess Abundantia who represented abundance and prosperity and was also the ensurer of the Golden Age conditions. Often featured in art with a cornucopia in the middle ages. However Annona I believe holds more significance over Abundantia. As well as that the name in it's self sounds fitting to me.


Abundantia. (Notice the cornucopia.)
There is also the goddess Ceres. (Actually where our word for cereal comes from) However, she represents more the harvest of the grain along with her helper gods. She's more about agriculture and not really about the giving of bread and wheat (or the end product, more the growing and harvest of grain/cereals.)

Both Ceres and Annona do relate to Demeter the Greek god of harvest and giver of food. - It's just not Greece I'm wanting to base this brief around.




http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/annona.html
http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/abundantia.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornucopia
http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/ceres.php



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