What We Learn from Changing Logos
01 Sep 2009
Tropicana changed their branding and they got shot down.
The University of Waterloo changed their logo and they got shot down too.
IKEA changed their logo and their typeface from Futura to Verdana and they got shot down too.
What do we learn from this? People hate change. But we already knew that. What else do we learn? Two things:
- If you're making your logo for the first time for a business or company
that is not yet big or well known, STOP. Stop and think. Do not make a
mediocre logo now with the lazy mindset of "ahh, it doesn't matter, we can
always change it later." Problem is, you can't change it. If you do, you'll
be shot down. Just like Tropicana. Just like the University of
Waterloo. Just like IKEA. So if you're going to make a mediocre logo, you
should stop and instead put in more effort to make it awesome.
- If you're going to make a mediocre logo anyways, at least do it knowingly and acknowledgeably . Do it as a marketing gimmick. Don't make your initial logo merely mediocre, but instead, make it shitty. Because that way when you change it, it will obviously be better than what you had before and no one will complain. That's what I did with Fotavia. I designed the shittiest 5-min MS Paint logo and when people told me it was shitty, I was like "oh really?" The only catch to this is that your business may not pick up so well if you have too much of a shitty logo. So don't make it too shitty, just somewhat shitty. But definitely not anywhere as good as a mediocre logo.
More evidence that mediocrity is no longer an acceptable standard these days. Either strive to be at the top of the pile, or be at the very bottom. Don't strive for the middle, you'll be stuck there forever.
