Art of Logo Design

I recently subscribed to OFF BOOK by PBS. It is a great station to check into science, technology, art, and design. Today's clip was very satisfying. Enjoy!

JCP Goes Bold

You may have noticed JCPenny's new logo and their new approach to retail, beginning February 1. I think this is a wise new direction for this American brand. The logo definitely to speaks to American roots, but in a more modern way. (Clearly an improvement from the last logo redo).  This time was a complete brand transformation for JCPenny, and took more time to plot this brand out.

The look is clean and simple and so is their price strategy. Which is what I appreciate. Everyday low price with monthly specials. You don't have to worry about waiting for a sale. Just buy it if you like it. This new look has been classified as the "apple" look, and we will have to see if this works out as well as it has for Apple. At first I was taken back from this bold look (it literally all seemed set in bold or heavy type and strokes), but when the different brand elements are used with the photography I find myself falling in love with this new brand. It feels right and approachable. A brand is well done when all the pieces correlate in harmony like this.

It will be exciting to see how consumers respond to this new method of retail shopping. 

A Brand Tribute

A very interesting devotion to brands. Then the fun part of organizing and decorating with different branding attributes. The signs are my favorite. Hey it's what we designers love best! I wish I could do something like this to my office...


W&Cie - Lion d'argent from W & CIE on Vimeo.

Emotional Wine

While looking at Lippincott Branding Agency I found this fun brand: wine that loves. I do not drink wine, but I enjoy the concept of this brand. It has simple wine pairings for each wine, and a fun graphic to guide you to the best pairing choices. The illustrations are simple, yet clearly define what your wine choice should be for your meal. Each illustration is limited to two colors (one of the being the bottle) and the red color is the brands identifying heart. The third color is the part of the branding color that helps define that type of wine, so whether you want to use the illustration or color you can quickly pick the right one. The organic shape of the thought bubble is a modern and whimsical approach, that fits the user-friendly feel of this brand. I have not visited this wine in a store, yet, but if I were ever in need of hosting a dinner party I would reach for this first. Wine pairings have always been a challenge (from what I understand from tv and friends), and this just simplifies the whole ordeal.

Self Promotion

The Wichita had an interesting article this morning, about branding yourself in order to help you land that desired job. http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/31/1786918/selling-yourself-tips-on-developing.html

Brands are not just for products and companies any more. They are about making the employers feel a certain way about you. You cannot make up a person’s mind for him or her, but you can help guide their attention in the right direction. This article can help you initiate a plan for your brand and some online marketing tips for yourself. With 8-10% of the public without a job, branding could be crucial get the leg-up and land that job. You can do most of what is necessary for free, which is great if you have been out of a job for awhile. Utilizing tools that you probably already use: facebook, blogs, twitter, linkedIn (similar to facebook but more professional).

If you are going to start using social media to market yourself, make sure you clean up your act. Get rid of questionable photos or posts that might make you unpalatable to a new employer. You should do that anyway, because whether or not you are prepared for it future employers are looking at social media to find out more about you.

New Selections

Walking through the freezer section of my local Kroger store I noticed a new brand sitting on the shelves. Private Selection has changed the look of their brand for a more sophisticated look. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to be able to show you the new look. But I enjoy the minimalism and sophisticated of the simply elegant type and black label. Really makes generic look upscale. They seemed to have new flavors to go with this new branding. I think it looks wonderful and has the promise of increased sales for the brand.

Refreshing

Logo re-freshing has been on my mind quite a bit lately since I am working on a project to do just that. There are some definite benefits to refreshing your companies logo, but some disadvantages too.

A new logo always you to modernize and relate to need services or features your company offers, but you may loose the brand recognition that you had already acquired with your current logo. A new logo could relate to your customer demographic better, you may have never had quite the right logo for your needs to begin with, or really want to emphasize a brand beyond just an icon.

I have done some looking around and some things I find to be good in considering a new logo is:

Make is memorable, get the customer to connect with you and your business. A logo does not do as well if it is in no way connected to the types of services you provide, but a logo works better when it has more than one level. Where you can look at it and it makes sense, but where you can get the to know the company better and you can see that the way the colors or type is shows you that they caring and sympathetic, and the counters or negative shape shows you something else that company offers.

Scale: The logo needs to work really small or it needs to be able to be blown up really big (like on a billboard)

Reproduce: You are able to recreate the logo onto many different objects/mediums printed out, stickers, screen printed, and on company apparel.

Consistency: Keep the logo and type treatments regimented so that the identity is easily associated from different pieces from stationary to annual reports to packaging tags it all needs to work as a brand.


I will continue my thoughts in logo refreshments another day. Maybe take an old logo and recreate it in a way that YOU would want to interact with that brand or company.