Many big name brands have recently tweaked their logos in a crowd-sourced craze to connect with their customers (think Gap and JCPenney). Seemingly brand owners have devalued the importance of their logos through their adoption of these online easy-do-it-yourself-generic-creativity-generating portals. As a result, web sites like HP’s Logoworks have become thriving businesses.
On the other hand…
Creating a logo that brings enduring value and differentiation to the business enterprise it represents requires deep insight and highly specialized talent and skill.
As our world gets smaller through the technology advances in how humans interact and communicate, logos that are instantly recognized and clearly understood are more important and more valuable than ever.
Comments
I keep reading about the shift in the perceived value of the logo-mark but really when I see Apple my heart beats a bit faster, surly that reaction to powerful brand design is unlikely to change and worth continued investment.
Most purchasing decisions are emotive rather than rational. Brand identity can make the difference between someone trying your brand or not. Packaging especially. If what you provide lives up to the branding and the initial decision of the consumer, then you may have won a long term connection with that consumer.
Branding isn’t a magic wand or a sticking plaster, it’s an integral part of your business. Good branding that is honest about your business and helps you connect with your audience is an investment, not just a cost.
Good branding can help to unify and maximise visibility of your brand across all it’s communications, PR and advertising (what’s the point in saying something if no one recognizes you or remembers who you are?).
You can’t buy that for a few dollars online.
Wow, just visited Logoworks by HP. What a slap in the face to designers. This takes design thinking back to the stone age. Shame on HP for. And shame on the designers that are representing themselves on the site as ‘top logo designers’ in the business.
To think that brand identity and brand experiences can be encapsulated in a
‘to go’ logo solution and a pick and choose identity system is ludicrous.
For many, many things in life, there is not an app.
I’d have to say that this article is right on the money. It is sad to see the power of a great logo icon being messed with. Good brand identity is worth more than the money you pay for it in the long term.
A good logo will take a while to conceptualize. It can take weeks next to months and years for it to be the finished. However, everything boils down to execution. Example: Imagine if Apple wasn’t very successful. Their brand identity would fail in the public’s eye regardless of how well thought of and put together the brand was built. Anyone can create a fantastic brand but if it doesn’t live up to it’s meaning, then it fails. The whole concept is to how it relates to the audience/customers. You’ll hear debates between Nikon and Canon all the time. It’s about brand loyalty. Both are very high caliber cameras. Execution is the key.