Question: What do “Supernova,” “Doodles,” and “Jawbreakers” have in common?
Answer: They’re all branding design trends.
So says brand expert Bill Gardner, president of Gardner Design, one of the nation’s top branding firms, with clients that include Fortune 500s such as Chrysler, Hallmark, Cessna Aircraft, and Kroger.
Gardner released his sixth annual report of logo trends in GD USA, a national design magazine. The report discusses 15 trends found all over the world and provides insights on how they may influence customers.
One trend, “Facets,” is composed of logos that remind the viewer of highly polished gems. Another is called “Animotion.” These moving logos are…
It’s always interesting to me how marketing and PR firms “do” their corporate identity. Forever telling their clients how it’s done, how do they fare when they choose to do what they do with their websites and collateral?
Case in point:
Bock Communications, the only U.S.-based PR/marketing firm focused on the global wireless telecom industry, changed their corporate identity, which was designed to mirror the agency’s three defining tenets:
1. Bock is a luxury brand
2. PR and marketing are art forms
3. Growth is organic
Will it blend in the brand blender? Let’s see…
I guess they mean it when they say they are a BOUTIQUE…
Putting politics aside and focusing on the analysis of Walmart’s new logo, wordmark, and tagline, I noticed that the latter echoed some other tagline, one that consists of two short sentences with a parallel structure, each starting with a verb and featuring one of the 25 reasons why people buy (save money).
Save money. Live better. (Walmart)
Expect more. Pay less. (Target)
It isn’t just the language that’s being copycatted. Walmart’s new starburst echoes competitor Target’s bull’s-eye, with its clean, bright look. Attempting to update its image beyond the logo arena, Walmart has also copycatted Target by changing its corporate uniform for store…
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the retail behemoth, Wal-Mart, has redesigned the faithful blue-and-white logo. Reportedly to “update its once-dowdy image.” The new logo is now orange and white, the hyphen is removed, and a silly starburst is added. I, personally, am not a fan of this radical brand change for the following reasons. First, when you are the largest retailer in the world and 80% (and growing) of the U.S. population visits you every month, you have some serious brand recognition. The brand may be boring and mundane but it seems to have worked all these years. Second, the new logo doesn’t fix…
I gathered some thoughts from the designer community on the visual identity for Chicago’s Candidate City status for the 2016 Olympics. The points made constituted a tidy list for marketers and designers to consider (read: argue about) when they formulate a logo. Brand and visual identity analysis of the Chicago Olympic logo:
Are the elements in the symbol gratuitous or do they mean something? Does it make direct reference to the subject’s established visual language? The new star is not gratuitous, as it is the shape of the stars that adorn the official flag of the city of Chicago.
Designers say a…
Last week, Chicago mayor Richard Daley unveiled the city’s new logo to go with its exciting new status as “Candidate City,” moving up the bidding ladder from “Applicant City” for the 2016 Olympics.
VSA Partners created this logo, which is actually the second one. The first one was a skyline torch unveiled last year. The story goes like this:
In the beginning was the torch. It was created in the image of the gods of the Olympics, in the spirit of the everlasting flame. It represented the blue of Lake Michigan, the green of Chicago parks, and the sun over the city…
A person is a brand too. Take a look inside the workings of Sender, LLC, the firm behind the Obama logo. Sender’s principal came from DesignKitchen, a top brand identity firm. Influenced by corporate branding projects, this project deserved a mark that could truly stand alone; this is important for a potential president.
The key to success with a logo for a presidential candidate is to create something that is not complicated. The logo has to be designed around the name. You find a lettering—a typeface for a logotype. You try to create unique elements around the name, which reinforces the…
Branding each of the shows on The Food Network is crucial to keeping us coming back and not just saying, “another cooking show?” Their branding is conscious and effective, from the logos right down to the atmosphere of each kitchen.
Starting with the powerhouse 30-minute meals with Rachel Ray, the angle here is fast meals, made by someone just like you–but better. Her logo’s font looks like a futuristic courier new, an efficient, get-the-job done workhorse. But there’s a serif on the “i” that extends backwards instead of the dot that should be there, tipping us off to the fact that this is…
