A business logo is always a difficult one for designers. Trying to get the right balance of type, images and colour can make a huge difference to your customers perception of you and your business. Brand identity costs mega bucks to really put together well. Below are some of the thought processes that could be involved in part of a re-branding exercise for some company logos.
Case Studies
I've taken real sites from OLSB that I found while answering feedback requests or as part of general browsing on the OLSB community site.
My approach to logo design is usually:
try to keep it simple (so you can print it easily...)
know your customer base / market (no good using "grunge" backgrounds for senior citizens)
make sure your colour scheme is consistent or complimentary across all of your brand elements
be prepared to change it... some brands work for a while... then they go out of fashion
check out your competitor logos and see what works
go for as many different approaches as possible and then start to narrow down your choices
run a selection of logos past a focus group (customers, general public, friends etc.)
CASE STUDY - SHIRTS FOR CASH
This concept design for an alternative logo makes use of the T-shirt outline with a slighty "out there" font (to appeal to the younger generation) and uses the web address (url of the site) as part of the design.
This version makes the observer spend more time looking at the words because of the vertical and horizontal alignment. Use of a familiar "scrabble" layout begins to partially resolve any initial confusion The site url is then then shown as a sort of strap line underneath. Moving the whole text "off center" may again appeal to a younger generation.
CASE STUDY - SOUTHERN LIGHTS
CURRENT Southern Lights LOGO
The design shows an old time street lamp with the company name positioned off the two bars underneath the lamp. Personally, I was confused about the position of the text in relation to the overall design and whether or not this had any particular meaning. I took "one blink of an eye" at the logo and my first thought was it's a lighting company... selling the kind of outside lights you put into a garden.
SOUTHERN LIGHTS 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 1)
This version is almost a complete opposite of the traditional style of the current logo. Ultra simplistic with basic shapes to give an 'impression' of light. The background colour was chosen to strengthen the impact of the flame and is also associated with luxury.
Potential issues with this logo - looking at it again, one could almost use it in a religious context or with some "creative imagination" it could almost be the hull of a boat with a mast and a sail - maybe its just my imagination.... :-)
CASE STUDY - AVS
CURRENT AVS LOGO
A classic use of gradients and 'spotlights' beamed on to the company logo. If you check out the rest of the site the logo compliments the "about us" photos of this well established family firm.
AVS 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 1)
For this attempt I took a spot colour match from the original logo (the light blue in the middle of the text) and used this as my main colour for the large letters. Various trials of type face and size gave me an idea for using elements of lettering to create a contemporary shape and be a mechanism to partially 'frame' the company name.
I stuck the dark grey border around the whole logo to make the eye focus more onto the text. Perhaps the colours are a bit dull? What do you think?
AVS 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 2)
This version shifts the large lettering just a little and capitalizes the company name with the font increased slightly so that it stretches across the two main lettering elements to form an invisible join.
Personally I like this one better than Version 1 - it has a bit more "edge" to it. I've used a darker grey for this background. I did try "pure black" but it made the lettering a bit too bright for my eyes on this monitor.
The positioning of the A and V elements pulls the eye down to the bottom of the V and then back up to the top of the V - you end up reading the company name at least twice! I also found that my eyes kept wanting to form a shape from the text - like a "reversed tick", or some kind of "Praying Mantis" - Try it!!!
Review time ....
Ok so the logo has gone to the designer and some different approaches have been put forward.
Great... but... you need to ask yourself:
"Does the new logo really make a difference"? Perhaps it is just not the right "style" for your company - this company does Residential and Equipment valuations and brokerage.
What "messages" is it giving out to the customer - cutting edge design? - confusion? - OK so what does your company actually do? ...
Perhaps a classic feel might do the trick? Lets have a go with a more traditional style
AVS 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 3)
Going back to a "classic" feel for the large letter elements. The font used was "Imprint shadow" one of the great 'Roman' looking fonts (all I need now is a lump of rock and a chisel...) perfect for larger lettering. The colour choice [hex #7F0000] is close to colours used in legal profession web sites.
As the company is partially aligned with that market sector it seemed a reasonable choice. Another font "Karitika" was used for lettering in the block underneath.
Once again the rectangle has been "Phi" calculated to give balance and a 2 pixel border, in the same colour, added to frame the letters. One of the bi products of a rectangular logo is that it could be revised to be a "business card" making the 'brand identity' consistent across both mediums - web and print.
AVS 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 4)
Another version using just 2 colours and 1 font (in varying sizes) plus a couple of photos from the site which have been put through a "Duotone" effect to compliment the block colours. Company lettering and name has been right aligned and pushed into the right hand side of the logo to focus attention on the intersection of the various boxes. Photos were chosen to give a serious "upmarket" feel to prospective clients. (we don't just do trucks ... we do 'monster' trucks... ) This can be beneficial and detrimental at the same time.
Some potential customers may be "put off" by the upmarket pitch that is being portrayed - while the upmarket customers will be expecting nothing less than this sort of feel!
AVS 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 7)
Versions 5 and 6 didn't make it beyond the drawing board! This minimalist version uses the lettering to shape the remainder of an 'imaginary' house and placement was put and the far right and just above the 'horizon' line so the the viewer has to put the tops of the letters on for themselves! Stare at it for long enough and your eyes will start to play tricks...
AVS 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 8)
Version 8 - ultra minimalist.
CASE STUDY - NORTH WEST RCI
CURRENT NORTHWEST LOGO
The original logo appears quite large on the home page. The particular colour scheme for the second word "WEST" is, in my opinion, a bit to 'washed out' when set against a strong black.
NORTH WEST 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 1)
My first interpretation of this logo was to associate North West with the points of a compass - so I put in a very small representation of a 4 point compass between the main lettering elements and reduced the size of the RCI word to give emphasis to the NORTHWEST elelment.
The font was changed to "Impact" and italic slant removed. Strap line was put directly underneath the company name.
The branding issue with this particular version of the logo is ... "if you remove the strapline text do you know what the company does"?
NORTH WEST 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 2)
This version attempts to capture some of the strap line "full spectrum" by using a multicolour gradient fill aligned in a North West - South East direction to maintain some of the 'compass' ideas from the first version. The use of a drop shadow in the base green colour tries to show the layering of a 'coating' on a base surface.
In this version if you take away the strap line there is a "possibility" that the viewer may form an association with paint colours and layers - does it work?
CASE STUDY - GARDENIAS
CURRENT GARDENIAS LOGO
GARDENIAS 'CONCEPT' LOGO
(Version 1)
The current site has a number of pictures of Gardenia flowers so I took the concept of a common gardenia and used that to dot the i over the company name. Simplified the strap line so that is quicker to read. Made the logo as clean as possible - as it is a cleaning company. "Blues" are used alot in cleaning products (bleach etc). Font used was a light sans serif font - again to maintain the feeling of light, clean, airy etc.