OUGD504 - What Is Design For Print? (Studio Session 3)

For this session we were split into groups and had to discuss the breakdowns of the five logos/branding we brought in.
My 5:

Fairtrade

• For fairtrade products
• Green & blue - earth colours, grass & water. Ethical & organic.
• Similar to Ying & Yang sign
• Person waving - friendly
• Simple image - will be easy to recognise and see at different sizes & on different stocks
• Type is sans serif & bold - easy to read.
• Memorable image that will be recognisable without text

Common Man

• Identity for restaurant based in Melbourne
• Simple design - can be used on any kind of stock, easily printed & easily read
• Black - easily seen on any colour
• Sans serif typeface - approachable, common

Mexout

• Mexican restaurant in Singapore
• Hand drawn logo - implies a casual/young atmosphere
• Black on white - sophistication

Mind

• Identity for mental health charity
• Attempted visual representation of what someone's mind would be like living with a mental health issues
• Hand written style of type - approachable, contemporary and appeals to a wide audience
• Blue - calming colour

Woodblock Chocolate

• Chocolate brand based in America
• Simple typeface - different from usual chocolate brands
• Blue on white - stands out from other colours used for chocolate brands

Task: Take a logo/s that particularly interested you and do a full breakdown with research into why the logo/s have been created that way. Give initial thoughts, research & comparisons between the two.

Mind

Original identities

Rebranded identity

Mind is a charity to aid those with mental health issues. It was founded in 1946, originally as the National Association for Mental Health, and renamed as 'Mind' in 1972. The newest branding was designed by brand consultancy Glazer.

Initial research into Mind's branding shows that the local branches were adapting the existing logo to suit their own purposes, which in turn diluted the brand and the strong brand message of a united cause, ambition and cause against mental health. With areas of the business not using the same branding, it makes the business seem disjointed and not as one, which is a big problem when it comes to serious issues like mental health, where dependability and professionalism is key.

Glazer worked with the leadership team of Mind to identify the charities ambition, purpose, values and behaviours, and used that to create a new brand identity which reflected these.

In the original branding a dove is used, which is a symbol of many things, from love to hope and promise. Although this does work with the charity's aims, it is a widely used symbol and doesn't individualise the charity. If you saw the dove, you wouldn't instantly think of Mind, like seeing the M for McDonalds. To solve this problem a new logo was created which The new is a visual metaphor for essentially what a mind of a mental health patient would be, and gives the impression that working with the charity will solve the problems and confusions, that it will clear their mind.
The main difference between the two brand designs is that the new one is a lot more contemporary and approachable, whereas the original is very serious and could be off-putting to people who are reluctant to get help for their issues. In this sense the branding is successful and the message is quite clear in something which is hard to create a visual representation for. The logo fulfils its purpose.

 Rover

On first look it is unclear as to why a viking longboat is used as the logo for a car company identity. Initially thoughts are that they hold themselves in high stead and feel they are a superior brand. The use of gold, red and black also gives this impression as they are bold colours which when together seem majestic and important.

When researching into this, it becomes clear very quickly as to why the longboat is used. 'Rover' as a word, not a name, means a wanderer. Knowing this, it makes it very obvious what the logo is representing. The company are saying that they are wanderers or explorers in their field, implying that they have a certain greatness over other 'boring' car companies.

If someone does not have this knowledge then the logo really doesn't give across the message it's trying to. When the knowledge is known it is successful and the concept is good, but it is unsuccessful branding because memorable logos with a good concept need to be seen immediately.

Starbucks

On first look, it is clear that the image is of a mermaid, however the relevance to a coffee shop is a little puzzling. The original logo was is brown, like coffee, however because this is a generic colour for coffee, it has been changed to green. This is unclear at first but further research into this shows that coffee beans are green before they are roasted and turned brown. Losing the text around the image is also something they have done, and this is successful because the logo is so widely recognised all over the world. When you see it, you know it is Starbucks, so in that sense the logo is successful because it is memorable. They haven't changed the logo a huge amount since 1987, rather just modified it, keeping the same image and zooming in on it, keeping it clear exactly what the image is of.

Research into the reason for use of a mermaid becomes very clear quickly. In order to capture the history of coffee involving seaports and sea travel, the designers looked into old marine books, including Moby Dick, where there is a shipmate called Starbuck. The image is not of a mermaid, but of a two tailed siren, which features all throughout Greek Mythology. It is a sea creature which is dangerous and beautiful creatures who lured sailors with their voices and songs to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. In relevance to a brand, using the image is them pretty much saying that their coffee is irresistible and draws you in.

Knowing this, it becomes clear the message that the brand is trying to put across, and exactly what they think of their brand and products. They hold themselves as a superior coffee maker to others, and using the image of a siren puts across that they think their coffee is more addictive and better quality than others. As a whole, I do think that the branding is successful, because even if you don't know the exact history behind the image, you do know it is a sea creature and you do recognise it easily, even without the brand name, which is something that is quite hard to achieve.

Virgin

Virgin Group is a multinational brand created by Richard Branson in 1970, and operates in multiple areas of business, most recognised for travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Overall there are 400 different businesses worldwide underneath the Virgin name. The logo was designed by Trevor Kay and Ray Kyte. Branson has described the 'V' as an expressive tick, representing the Virgin seal of approval. This V on it's own is widely recognised.

Initials thoughts when looking at the logo is that the hand written style type is a lot more approachable than a straight-laced typeface used by other corporate companies. It also almost humanises the brand as a whole and makes it seem a lot more relaxed, fun and open, which is also reflected in the colour choice of red. This colour indicates a sense of boldness and playfulness and implies that there is a sense of exploration and ambition to the company. Red represents many things including action, exciting, powerful, passionate and determination, which I think are all things that a brand does want to put across to assert itself as superior and above other brands in a similar field.

There isn't necessarily a huge amount of a concept put into the making of this brand other than wanting to put across what red & hand written work defines, so I think that the branding is successful. It is a logo where just looking at it, the meaning behind each decision is clear and not too hard to understand the reason behind it.