LOGO DESIGN BLOG   LOGO DESIGN REVIEW

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, we have to ask the pointed question…has Helvetica jumped the Shark? With an Indie Film to its name, and apparently every billboard in Germany on its resume, and the preferred font for nearly half of all websites, is there anything this old font can’t do?

This Inquirer article, goes into more depth on the history and origin of the font…and the new development of this Indie video produced by Gary Hustwit.

But how can you argue a font with a 50 year staying power?  All experienced designers grow to loathe certain fonts, i.e. Papyrus, Comic Sans, Times New Roman etc.  But it is tough to argue that Helvetica will suffer a similar demise as these others.  When you really look at the font, it is classy, clean, timeless, and to the point.  Those 4 adjectives are what all good design should be categorized under.  It was created by a Swissman (precision), and to this day still reflects these same attributes.

Is it ever going away?  Doubtful (see the new iPhone), as well as the logos for American Airlines, American Apparel, Energizer batteries, Greyhound Lines, Jeep, Lufthansa, Marks & Spencer, Microsoft, Karlsberger, National Car Rental, Panasonic, and Target Corporation to name a few.  But no doubt the debate as to the fate of the half-century old Swiss-Made font will continue to rage on, until something better comes along…maybe in another 50 years.

Given Photoshop’s reputation as a graphics industry favorite, it’s surprising that their new logo design has missed the broad side of the barn. It’s been met with a range of reactions spanning from disgust, to general dislike, to complete impartiality. Read the comments at John Nack on Adobe since Photoshop announced its new logo: To represent this rich family of products, Adobe is introducing the Photoshop visual logo. This logo will soon appear in all Photoshop-related marketing, so keep an eye out for it.

The Photoshop logo on a product, service, or technology, represents the rich legacy, technical quality, and attention to detail that has made Photoshop the gold standard in digital imaging. The message of this new image is baffling people. It’s not that the logo’s meaning isn’t blatantly obvious. It’s a textbook web 2.0 speech bubble, abstractly a letter ‘P’. The question is what does that have to do with Photoshop’s brand and products? This logo fails to reinforce the brand’s quality and position. It’s a departure from the Photoshop logos of the past; which were never that consistent, anyway. The eye was the most recognizable image of the brand. Sticking with that would have made a seamless continuation. Perhaps the new logo is meant to be an interpretation of the eye, but it’s not made clear. Negative responses to the change are prevalent. It’s generally perceived as a speech bubble meshed with the letter P. The mark has been compared to such things as: the PBS Logo, a widget, a startup web 2.0 company trying to look big,ET’s head, something from the aqua iMac era, and the Microsoft Silverlight Logo.

Some would argue that as long as it is easily visible and fits into the tray, it’s working. This is not an overwhelmingly positive stance, but it’s the best point made in the icon’s favor. It does have to be recognizable as a 16 x 16 pixel favicon, but that should not be so limiting as to produce this ill result. It’s unbelievable that this unoriginal logo and tagline are being slapped onto such a well respected product. The new logo is made to encompass the full line of Adobe Photoshop software: Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Photoshop Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop Album Starter Edition. Therefore, they’ll be spanning a broad consumer base- not just industry designers. But maybe the various products didn’t need a unified brand, if it meant cheapening their staple program. It will be interesting to see how the branding carries through and whether the new mark will appeal to the non-commercial Photoshop users.

The logo does not make the brand. But, when it comes to customer relations, it is no use having one without the other. Logo is Brands wingman. Logo makes the first impression, makes the introductions, and moves aside. Then Brand proves itself out; makes a connection, creates a relationship of trust.

See, Logo’s good looking and outgoing where Brand has a really genuine, great personality. You can count on Brand. Brand comes through. And every time you see Logo on the street somewhere, it reminds you of everything you like about Brand.

Metaphors aside, it’s a misconception that a logo is a brand or that a brand is based on a logo. In actuality, the brand should be fully developed before a logo is designed. The brand tells the story; the logo refers to it. Don’t expect a logo to speak for an entire company. Changing the way a business is represented will not change the way its brand is perceived.

Before hiring a logo designer, one should already have defined goals, standards and values. Remember a brand encompasses quality product, promise of value, value perception, public reputation, and company culture. (source) A quality brand is vital to the success of a logo.

Here are some things to consider when integrating a logo with your brand:

• Establish values and goals when you first conceptualize your business. Write a mission statement and a brand strategy.

• Prepare a brand promise and create your brand’s personality. Choose actual personality traits to define it. (source)

• Keep your brand’s image consistent with its actions and level of quality. Otherwise, the logo and marketing may actually weaken your brand strategy. (source)

• Both your brand and logo should reflect professionalism and growth, despite the business’ size.

• The logo should be enduring: classic or flexible. The design needs to accurately communicate the message.

• With regard to design, consider customers and competitors. Know what your customer responds to, and use colors that stand out from your competitors’.

In short, no Brand is complete without a Logo, and a Logo with no Brand is just a piece of art. Through quality product/service/interaction with your customers, you then create Brand fanatics that associate you with your Logo. Perpetually, your Logo then helps evangelize your Brand. So in this circular pattern of Brand domination, remember that neither is complete without the other, both must be up to par or the other will falter.

If you need a Logo, we recommend the Hewlett-Packard company, Logoworks. You can see their logo process here.

If you need a Brand identity, check out this resource for some pointers.