The Logo That Wasn’t

The Logo That Wasn’t

Recognize this logo? Probably not because it didn’t make the cut. Why?

It comes from the reject pile at the Obama campaign. I found it on a fabulous website I just discovered: http://www.logodesignlove.com/. 

Lots of thought-provoking insights on logos – what is right, what is wrong, how they evolve. Looking through the site I keep finding more and more valuable ideas. Check out “Talking About Logo Design.” Series #4 reviews 50 golden brands from the last 50 years. Series. #7 addresses using your logo (or not) on Twitter. I love the 15 Wonderfully Simple Logo Designs. I bet you can recognize this one:

I’m fascinated by the creative process and have spent the past year studying how great creative minds work. The composer John Adams identifies two paths of creativity: the ability to synthesize experience and the discipline to discard what isn’t absolutely right. So it was right up my alley to see this information about the evolution of what has become the iconic representation of the 2008 Obama campaign. In some ways it is more interesting to me to see what didn’t work as to see what does. For more go here: http://www.logodesignlove.com/obama-08-logo-design-options. Here’s another reject and the eventually winner (in case you have already forgotten!)

I also love the feature on “Ten Successful Logo Redesigns,”

http://www.logodesignlove.com/10-successful-logo-redesigns. Here you can see how and why Toys R Us, MSNBC, Business Week, among others, upgraded their designs. Clearly the trend is toward cleaner, bolder design. Logo re-designs often implement subtle changes to refresh the look whilst considering customer recognition It doesn’t have to mean a full scale redesign, which can be expensive and time consuming. 

Also noteworthy is the article on “The Reality of Logo Design Contests,” http://www.logodesignlove.com/logo-design-contests. Library staff often gravitates to this idea, particularly as a way to involve teens. At Columbus Metropolitan Library we no longer entertain this idea. First off, it dilutes our overall brand by creating multiple brands. It is hard enough to rise through the clutter of today’s marketplace if you have multiple logos that don’t connect to each other. Also, the contest originators put themselves in the middle of a very risky gamble. Designers get handed a logo that often is challenging to implement into the reality of graphic production. Color, orientation, reproduce-ability – most times these issues that professional designers hold in their life blood, are never fully considered.

I could spend all day on this site! Thanks to Tonya Taylor for directing me to it.