From virtually the beginning of logos--when colophons were created in pre-literate times, logos have been sacrosanct. You didn't screw with them. They were emblems of a brand and a company and like the Star of David or the Cross, they were Holy, at least to the Gods of Commerce.
In the consumer-controlled era--the age we live in now--logos are more extemporaneous, mutable. I'm thinking of what Google and Yahoo do on special days, replace O's with pumpkins, or whatever. Or MasterCard morphing its red and yellow orbs from, say, baseballs into their logo.
For once, no judgment from me. Just an observation.
I'm amused when companies test their logos in market research. They spend all this money to find out that consumers are inundated with so many logos that they cannot tell one from another.
ReplyDeleteI think those few early ones are bascially what people remember.
well, as tibor kalman demonstrated, most companies want their logo to be distinctive but only in a way that picks up those elements that make it look like everyone elses'.
ReplyDeleteLike in the 60s, when everyone wore the same clothes to proclaim their individualism.