Lets start with your image to the outside world:

• A poorly conceived/executed logo (1.) will not connect with your prospects; (2.) can deliver the wrong message about who-you-are and what-you-do; (3.) give the idea that you have poor quality standards; (4.) may be too generic to be memorable; (5.) is hard to read on business cards; (6.) will confuse people about what you do
• A logo that hasn’t been updated in years (1.) will tell your customers you are too cheap to keep your image fresh; (2.) may no-longer represent the company and its values; (3) will project a lack of interest in your own business and brand value; (4) looks boring and not fun to work with

Now, let’s consider, more importantly, the image to your employees:

An old logo that hasn’t been updated will tell employees  (1.) “We don’t care about the future of the company;” (2.) “We are cheap and don’t understand the intrinsic value of our Brand;” (3.) “We don’t understand what the current Brand represents or where it is headed;” (4.) “We fear or are against change or improvement.”

A poorly conceived/executed logo tells your employees (1.) we do not connect with our employees; (2.) delivers the wrong message on who-the-company-is and what-the-company-does; (3.) gives the idea that we have poor quality standards; (4.) steers potential applicants away from applying by having them think, “If they don’t invest in their image, they probably won’t invest in me either.”

Next Printing Cost:

I’ll have to preface this with some basic info – a professionally developed logo is successful in black and white, one color – possibly two color. When contrasted with some poorly planned logos that are full-color for no good reason:

• Printing cost for full-color, all of the time, will normally double or triple any printing job’s cost (Example: business cards for a two-color logo can run about $100, but the cost can easily jump to $200+ for full color on the same paper stock)

Imagine printing letterhead, envelopes, and business cards for an office of 10 people. If you have professional designed stationery with a two-color logo, your cost may be $2,000 depending on paper stock and quantities. For similar paper stock and quantities, using a logo that is full color, you will easily spend $5,000. So, you can see that anything you saved on the logo redesign is eaten away by poor planning and execution.

Another problem with an unprofessional logo, we have seen this more times than I like to admit, is when the logo is created in a non-scalable format. They had a friend put something together in a desktop publishing program and they only have one file format and it isn’t scalable. Each time the logo is used on different media such as on letterhead, then billboards or shirts, the company they contract with has to re-make the logo, OR turn it into a two or one color, OR (the worse) stretch the logo to fit the size so the final print/production is warped, fuzzy or pixelated.

We have encountered several poorly conceived, badly executed logos that are not helping the companies they are supposed to represent. So, if you are concerned about how much a good or great logo will cost you, it is nothing compared to what a BAD LOGO will cost you.

Think about what big prospects have walked away from your company because your brand looks old, confusing, or poor quality. How much did that logo really cost you now?

Current Logo Design

New Rebranded Look for 2010

The Holiday Inn rebrand shown below was genius and it went far beyond the company’s logo. Many times people confuse a new logo for a rebrand. A rebrand is a new look across the board and that is exactly what Holiday Inn did. Holiday Inn required all of their franchises to update their properties to the new look or leave the company. As the recession was really developing, Holiday Inn had little mercy for the franchise owners dragging their feet and the company cut ties. I have seen many former Holiday Inns and I see why the company cut ties. Holiday Inn upscaled their company image to be a preferred place for families to stay for vacations as well as frugal business travelers. The former Holiday Inns can mostly been summed up as “hell holes”. [I can not account for every one of them since I'm obviously not seen all of them, but the ones I've driven by or the few I've stayed at as a last resort where just horrid.]

Classic Holiday Inn logo

Revamped Holiday Inn Rebrand in 2007

Just remember a rebrand is not just a new logo, but a new company attitude, a position change in the market, or a rebirth of a very historic logo. Also, many small companies fail to inform their brand community that they made the change so they look like they were bought out or worse, a different company altogether. Obviously a small company is not going to international news like Gap, DoubleTree or Holiday Inn, but a simple email, letter, or small advertising campaign will go a long way.

Premium Parking’s logo reminds me of the London Underground logo and has a European feel to it which matches New Orleans’ European history and influence. The logo is clean, simple and to the point. We talk all the time that less is more and this is a good example of it and well needed.

When a potential customer is looking for parking, especially in the busy Central Business District (CBD) or New Orleans where much of the company’s lots are located, they need an easy to find, well recognized visual that quickly translates into available parking. The red color helps the logo stand out and draw attention toward the sign.

Oddly though, the logo reminds me of a No Parking sign, but in a good way. The Premium Parking “P” is recognizable as “parking” and without the slash through the letter, it looks like parking is available.

Check out the Premium Parking website at http://www.premiumparkingservice.com.

Good ol' Hubig's pies. A New Orleans delight.

Not many things bring me back to my youth in New Orleans as a Hubig’s pie. It is a simple pleasure that one has to indulge on a few times a year. Regardless of your favorite flavor (mine is banana), a Hubig’s pie is a timeless treat and a part of New Orleans’ culture. You can see artwork using the Hubig’s logo in galleries in New Orleans and in households across the country. The iconic character is simple yet tells so much about the wholesome goodness inside. One of my favorite treats for friends visiting New Orleans is to have pick up a pie when at a convenience store or poboy shop. Each time, they remark how inviting the character is and it must be a good treat if it’s been around all this time with an almost unchanged look. In this case, I think changing the look of the packaging would be detrimental.

What do you think of the Hubig’s pie character and packaging? What is your favorite flavor?

Tipitina's logo features the banana.

This is another legendary household name in New Orleans – Tiptina’s. Many locals just call it “Tips”. Tiptina’s is an Uptown New Orleans concert hall and music haven.

I’m not sure where the banana comes from and the importance of it. A friend thinks the banana is a sign of luck or happiness. Regardless the background, Tipitina’s uses the banana consistently throughout their other brands. You can see the hand and banana rising out of the water in their Foundation’s logo in the picture on the right. Their workshop logo also incorporates the banana.

If you love this music mecca and the logo, you can purchase shirts and merchandise from their website. Let us know if you know the history behind the banana. We’re curious.

Audubon Institute includes the Zoo, Aquarium, Insectarium & Parks

Audubon Institute’s logo is one of my all-time favorite logos and I do not think the designer of the logo gets enough credit for it. (I’m not even sure who designed it.)

This logo is one of the reasons I become a graphic designer. The logo captivates the spirit of the animals and the interaction that Audubon gives to its guest. My favorite part about each park is the interaction where the animals are not behind glass or in an enclosure, but right out in front of you so you can touch them. I love seeing a volunteer walk a tortoise and the keepers walking around with owls and hawks on their left hands as part of an impromptu “rapture parade”. The logo projects the animals coming out of their enclosures and the interaction they have with visitors.

The logo also works perfectly for each park as a separate logo with the tiger as the representative for the zoo, the shark for the aquarium and the butterfly for the new insectarium. What do you think about Audubon Institute’s logo?

You’re invited to join in too! If you see a logo that you like, just comment on one of our posts the name of the company & why you like it and we’ll create a post for it with a picture of the logo.

Enjoy!

New Logo for Recovery.gov

One of the all-time great political brands, Barrack Obama, adds another logo to its belt. Whether or not you agree with Obama or his spending plans, the decision to show results and bring more transparency to the government is noble and timely. Spending billions of dollars is scary, but seeing progress helps stomach that large sum a bit.

This new logo for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was developed in 4 days by  Chicago-based Mode Project‘s creative director, Steve Juras, who collaborated on the Obama campaign’s “O” logo; and designers Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co. and Chris Glass of the design collective Wire & Twine.

In a recent article on The Moment, the author cites that this is far from the first government sponsored logo from the White House. Art Director Charles Coiner designed the blue eagle for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) logo in 1935.

The new logo for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) can be seen at Recovery.gov. Do you think the logo design hits the mark?

Further Reading:

Two Logos for the Road to Recovery (via Brand New)

We develop the logo with the client’s initial input about their company history, services/products, brand position and competition. We then research their industry, markets and competition to make sure we make them stand apart while staying relative to the industry. After the research, we sketch concepts for the logo or website and refine the better comps via computer. After multiple internal samples and reviews with the design team, we show the client the first proof of the logo and website.

We show the client the proof and ask for their suggestions because they are the experts in their field and know their business best. And they will know subtle things that may work or backfire in their industry. The reason we like to show them the designs is because they have to see or use the design on a daily basis. The client is the one handing out the logo on their business cards, attracting clients and prospects with their website, and standing in front of their tradeshow display. Design, like art, is subjective. We can present a solid design and have a great reason for its usage, but in the end, the client has to like it.

Design is the balance of art & science as well as business & personality. Very few times in the design world does A+B=C, it’s just not that easy, but that’s what motivates us as designers. We want the design to capture the client’s grandest vision and have them literally say “Wow” when they see our work for the first time. The client needs to be excited about their logo, their website & all of their marketing materials. Without that excitement, the brand has no life and therefore the company becomes stagnant. A stagnant company is boring to their clients and uninteresting to prospective customers. That is why the client gets a say in the design process.