logo

What's all this about having a logo? Why the effort?

Going out on a limb to challenge my marketing inclined friends now - John, Hugh, waddyasay:

Every new start-up's first focus; create a cool and outstanding logo. Then of course fill a raft of C-level positions (but that's for another post, you know my views there).

Just spent a few days in San Francisco at the office 2.0 conference which had a whole range of new and cool companies showcasing and demoing their cutting edge products.

I still remember most of the products from the demo, obviously the basic functionality, and even the layout.

I still remember some of the names, but only a few.

But I really cannot remember any of the new logos...

OK, when revisiting the 57 logos on the Office 2.0 conference site I did recognise about two, and of course the Apple, IBM and HPs of this world.

But test yourself:

- What colours are used in the WebEx logo?
- Ditto for IBM, what colour. Sure "big blue", that's an obvious one. Ah, but not, at SAP TechEd IBM's logo (at their booth) was the usual one but in black and white!
- Coca Cola - what do their current logo look like? Honestly, I do not know! I said current BTW, not last year's or the one before that, or... Their classic bottle, now that's another issue, that one I recognise!
- What about Colgate Palmolive? Could you quickly draw their logo? I have no clue. Unilever, their logo please, quickly! But I can pick a Colgate toothpaste tube out in any supermarket with no trouble.
- Microsoft now - is it the word, is it some other logo I cannot recollect, or is it that flag thing? What colours and how are they placed in that flag thing? Or is that one for Windows only?

But do I recognise a Windows screen! Or a Gnome screen. Or an OS X screen.

And I would recognise an Alessi product, or a Marimekko fabric (Finnish textile/fabric design), or some Hartman luggage, or a Grohe faucet, or a USM Haller bookshelf (Swiss office furniture) - but I have no clue as to any of their logos!

I did not even remember all those names off hand, but I had a vivid recollection of what their products look like and even in what shop I saw them last!

The product is the logo. Unless the logo is an intricate part of the product it has little or no value, it can even be counterproductive. My humble view.
Diego, what would you say coming from the product design side?

Now I can hear the protests - we need something that can be easily recognised! To that I say; write the word Microsoft or Coca Cola or Pepsi in any font, in any colour, even penned by a five year old - recognition is immediate. Or walk past a shop window with any of the products mentioned above and you know immediately what you see with no help from name nor logo. That Italian design company, that German bathroom fixture thingie... you know precisely what even if logo nor name comes to mind.

Then I ask, why do all those huge firms redesign their logo so often? How many S.O./Esso/Exxon and Coca Cola and IBM logos have you seen? Is it some sort of evil plan to strengthen the brand through retraining and hard work on the onlooker's hand?

The product is the logo. Make a damned good product that stands out - do not mess with people's mind, let them focus on one thing, the product.

Focus on the ball I say.

Comments

[Sheamus]

You write "...I still remember some of the names, but only a few.

But I really cannot remember any of the new logos...

OK, when revisiting the 57 logos on the Office 2.0 conference site I did recognise about two, and of course the Apple, IBM and HPs of this world."

Sig, [1] you are a smart and technologically hip guy sooo... if the vast majority of those logos didn't make a lasting impression, how much less so for ordinary users, and [2] Although a cool logo for thingamy might be cool it sure as hell will NOT be the cause for exponentially increasing sales for thingamy!

BTW the like the blue thingamy.com existing graphic. The phrase ought to be changed to something like "Here's 30 Megs, now go run the world (or you could do it for each country)!"

[Ric]

Ditch the logo by all means Sig, but don't forget the t-shirt!

[sig]

Sheamus, thanks for implying I'm hip... hehe, but I'm pretty absentminded at times too, that could explain some :D

Ric, T-shirt... hmm... why not something more practical... a sou'wester perhaps? Gleaming yellow? With "A good day for building business models" on the flap? :)

[John Dodds]

As it happens, I have a related anecdote ready to publish in my blog and, since you challenged so nicely, I'll add to that a link to a great resource I spotted over a year ago. I think you'll find it amusing and insightful.

[Ric]

Sig - you are obviously heading into winter! Here in OZ, summer is beckoning, so a t-shirt is more on my mind than a sou`wester (although I`d happily wear a sou`wester if it meant the end of the drought).

[Sheamus]

Hi Sig;

Worked throughout the night last evening and got to bed about 4:30 am... Next thing I know is can't get to sleep because I was thinking about your "Logo" post.

Waited until now to post another comment as I wanted to feel some sense of sanity before footing my foot in ye old bouche.

First, a reference to Tom Peter's little (damn good) book, "The Brand you 50", total 5 little pages, Chapter 24 (Design Matters!)& Chapter 26,(You Are your "BIG Ideas").

NOT "logo"!

Rather your BIG (and disruptive to status quo thinking) IDEA put to work, millions of users benefiting, Sig and his team feeling kick-*ss great. Design matters!

I remember watching (twice) the little demo you put together and clearly you were onto something (possibly VERY BIG!) and at the same time I was thinking "thingamy user interface s*cks, way too much left brain and virtually no respect for the right brain needs. And, this can be easily fixed by Sig and his team!"

Go out and buy an iMac (thingamy user interface research expense), look and feel the interface, the bits, the pieces, the impetus to create useful stuff in a fun way, prepare to smile and get happy... Then... Think thingamy and say out loud "Hey we can do some real cool left-brain/right-brain user interface stuff with thingamy. Design matters!"

[sig]

Sheamus, you're a good man!
Agree totally, of course, and a kick in the butt is very timely!

It's not that the current build of thingamy is badly designed - it has no design!

First of all I still believe in the well-worn phrase of form follows function. And with software I even go deeper and say that even programming language and technology have to match the ultimate goal as it all seeps through eventually.

So far we're very happy with the match between Common Lisp and the basic ideas - they live nicely together and the influence is the right kind.

Thus we are just now moving onto the next level: 1) (re)building design and usability functions into the core (read XML etc). Then we will 2) concentrate on the actual touch and look and usability interfaces.

The 1) there I think is most important, the core and the interfaces must communicate seamlessly - for performance reasons of course, but also because the underlying technology will always seep through.
I do not want a Delorean (nice looking, hopeless function), rather a Ferarri or Porsche where function is visible, and obvious!

Ah, "research budget" - now that is an excuse I will use in family budget situations!
So far I've given up a long time ago using left brain excuses for me changing mobile phones every three months (Love the look and feel of Motorola, but the software sucks, love the software of Nokia but the look and feel leaves me cold), new laptop (Mac for sure) every six months (have three kids who supports that bad habit vigorously) and a garage full of carbon bike frames, carbon wheels and titanium parts (now bike stuff has a very close relationship between form and function indeed) :)

Suspect a post on this is brewing!

[Sheamus]

Sig,

I am NOT talking about the WONDERFUL BIG IDEA inherent in thingamy... It is off-the-scale AWESOME.

I am NOT talking about the AWESOME logic that has been WONDERFULLY designed into thingamy... It is useful, powerful, and may I say, beautifully designed.

I am NOT talking about the GREAT thingamy architecture.

I am NOT talking about the programming platform used for thingamy as you guys know your stuff.

I AM talking about the thingamy USER INTERFACE... Design Matters!

Call Steve Jobs and/or Tom Peters (i.e., great resources), get an appointment, get on a plane and go and meet with them for a few hours to talk about thingamy user interface design. They will inspire you and your team, and they will hook you up with very cool and very competent people.

Then per my previous comment... Think thingamy and say out loud "Hey we can do some real cool left-brain/right-brain user interface stuff with thingamy. Design matters!"

p.s. Glad you liked my "Mac as research expense idea", it actually came from my eight (now grown) children way back in the eighties when there were quite young. ;)

p.p.s. Not bad eh for a guy who turns 60 in Janaury!

[Tomi Itkonen]

Hi Sig.

About this logo thing. Your resources are understandably allocated to solving more important issues now, but the need for a logo will come - sooner or later. You'll find it very useful as an icon on your desktop or Start Menu, on the thingamy DVD-ROM, on this website, at the beginning of your tutorial videos, etc.

As people like things which flow and change, they also like that something stays still and static - like a bed rock. If you know what I mean...

[sig]

Hi Tomi, hehe, I know what you mean :)

Actually, you raise a very good point - something still and static is important for the customer - to which I agree.

Only question, does it have to be a logo? Why not the name, the product? A Coke bottle have lasted a long time, many packages are only slightly upgraded over generations as the producer knows the consumers find it comforting.

So why do the big guys change their logos all the time? Some even change their names!

That and the amazing focus by new startups is what puzzles me.

Seems that the clever advertising folks (hey guys, don't throw eggs yet!) have convinced somebody that the "brand" magically lies in the logo and colour scheme and layout and van decoration. Then if sales are dipping, what is not easier than to re-brand, again, and again, and...

It's the product I say, that should be the bedrock if it's any good, that is the "brand". Rest is after all just fluff is it not?

Which does not preclude a logo of some sort, something that gels over time to reflect the product and not the other way. (And a startup does not really have the long-term-essential product for years to come.)

Now a task for you: Give me one example of a logo of any really big brand that has remained the same for the whole life of the company. I'll buy you a beer if you can ;)

[Tomi Itkonen]

Hmm, Sony comes very close - logos since the year 1957 look very similar:
http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/1-35/h2.html

I think General Electric's current logo is also very close to its original version from the end of 19th century.

What about Google logo, then? Although it is occasionally decorated with something (Olympic rings, ...), it is essentially the same. And if you take Olympic rings as a logo - they haven't changed that much also.

So, thanks Sig, I think you own me a beer. ;)

[sig]

Ouch, owe you a beer! (keep an eye on the blog and you'll know where I'm travelling ;)

But, Sony did change a lot from 55 to 57, OK stable after that so...

GE I should have thought of, bugger me...

But Google, nah, too young, does not count that one... yet.

All in all, a beer it'll be!

[Tomi Itkonen]

Ok Sig,

I'll keep that in mind.

[Logo Design]

Getting a good logo designed is of utmost importance. Its great you’ve covered so many aspects of it. We have been into logo designing, but the way you’ve covered it here, I must say is amazing.

[sig]

LOL, walked straight into the trap Mr Logo Design did.

Normally I instantly delete such feeble efforts to spam blogs - but this time it makes a perfect example.

If he'd bothered reading the post he would have seen that it suggest creating a logo is waste of time.

Good going Mr Logo Design, now you'll hang around here as a grand example of "social marketing" gone awry. Or shall we say, caught redhanded in being stupid?

If this is the work of some idiot PR firm, do two things: 1) Fire them immediately and get your money back, I'll witness to their stupidity, and 2) comment here that it's done - and your standing will have been resurrected. :)