Don’t Screw with The Logo!

Let’s begin with the understanding that this is NOT a rant. I admit that this topic does get me a wee bit hot under the collar, but I raise this issue first and foremost for educational purposes.

Most people will agree that their logo is a rather important piece of their brand identity.
I think we can even go as far as saying that the logo is the lead singer of the “brand band.” It’s Mick Jagger, it’s Bono, it’s Bruuuce. It’s working and it sells tickets – Why would you mess with it?

Recently, at a customer’s request, I reviewed his company website, which was being refurbished. The website “designer” (programmer) felt that the logo would fit better into the web layout if it were different. So, he changed it. He didn’t change it a little, he changed it a lot – changing its layout and color to better match the page design.

My client asked me what I thought of the liberties taken with his logo. I asked, “Is this web-guy crazy? Would he recommend to the Rolling Stones that Mick play drums during the next tour because he envisions it being better?” My client is launching a business and spent five weeks tweaking a logo design before landing on one that beautifully represents the essence of his company. The winning logo beat out competing logos in a five week contest that included long bouts of contemplation, discussions, changes and second-guessing. This logo was declared the winner by the management team…and their friends, relatives and neighbors.

Where does this guy come off thinking that it’s okay to change a logo to fit the website design? He was hired to incorporate the logo into a website design!

If this was a one-time occurrence, I could live with it. But, the problem appears to be chronic. Another recent incidence of logo-abuse I witnessed involves a newly designed logo that showcases a hand-illustrated historic house, with the company name underneath in script. The customer hired a vendor to provide custom-designed product labels and sent along the logo.

The vendor decided to place the company name in type above the illustration, thinking that it better accommodated the shape of the label. In reviewing the design, I explained to my customer that script does not work on an arch and that’s one of the reasons that we placed it where we did when we designed it.

The bottom line is, that once a logo is designed and approved, it should be understood that the details of the logo – the shape, colors, type, tag line, etc. – were given serious thought and consideration.

Let’s agree on these common – sense principals – no cell phone use in theatres, no returns on underwear and no screwing with the logo!