best/worst corporate logos

[Bouji]

Not so much of a corporate logo, but I like:

And:

This one is rubbish:

As is this (but then so is the place):

Weirdest reason for a logo (which country has a logo!?):

 

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Bouji

Weirdest reason for a logo (which country has a logo!?):

We do, and I like it.

A.

 

[Bouji]

Originally Posted by Aaron

We do, and I like it.

A.

I think England now needs a corporate logo.

 

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Bouji

I think England now needs a corporate logo.
I think they do, a while ago the English government mounted an international marketing campaign to spur tourism, I'm not sure if it worked.

A.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by whoopee

LK what are your thoughts on the classic Nikon rangefinders? I find the SP quite handsome, though not as simply elegant as a black paint M3.
I had an SP, wich beyond certain refinements and options that the Japanese tend to add to pre-fabricated designs, wasn't as well-made as their German counterparts, especially Leica. They were fairly lightweight. The SP also has a rather high pricetag compared to a Leica M although the black MP is very expensive, at almost $8,000 or so.

 

[matadorpoeta]

Originally Posted by Brian SD

Everyone has different opinions on corporate identities and it usually has more to do with brand loyalty and taste than it does with the design.
i like nike a lot but i dislike the swoosh. i hate cadillacs but i think they have a cool logo.

Originally Posted by Brian SD

Jon:
I think Honda logo is plenty imaginitive. Corporate identities aren't supposed to be cool or fancy looking, they're supposed to communicate the message of the company. Having just the first letter of your company is a pretty bold move, and very few companies can pull off something like that. Your logo has to be as iconic as your product, and vice versa.

Generally I think for most companies, the larger the company, the less complex the logo should be. Overdesigned logos don't have such an impact on your memory. Whoever the designers were for the [H] logo probably spent hours and days and weeks and months deliberating on how to execute it - I'm sure there were sketches of fancier, more stylized versions that were nixed because Honda isn't a fancy, stylized company. It's a company that makes their money off of selling practicality, simple cars, and no-bullshit quality.

brian, i think your absolutely wrong about the honda logo. your saying that it's a bland company so it deserves a bland logo, and therefore their bland logo is perfect? i'm sure they spent a lot of time designing it, but it doesn't matter if a song takes 5 minutes or 5 months to compose. if it's good it's good. the same applies to design.

i think design schools nowadays are going overboard on the oversimplified less-is-more aesthetic. if the porsche logo were designed today, design students would dismiss it as being 'over stylized', 'too many lines', etc...

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by matadorpoeta

i like nike a lot but i dislike the swoosh. i hate cadillacs but i think they have a cool logo.



brian, i think your absolutely wrong about the honda logo. your saying that it's a bland company so it deserves a bland logo, and therefore their bland logo is perfect? i'm sure they spent a lot of time designing it, but it doesn't matter if a song takes 5 minutes or 5 months to compose. if it's good it's good. the same applies to design.

i think design schools nowadays are going overboard on the oversimplified less-is-more aesthetic. if the porsche logo were designed today, design students would dismiss it as being 'over stylized', 'too many lines', etc...

Indeed a logo should be designed for the product, not the other way around. A Porsche without the Porsche badge is still a Porsche, and recognizable as such. Can you say the same thing about a Honda?

Jon.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Aaron

We do, and I like it.

A.

So do I.

Jon.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

Indeed a logo should be designed for the product, not the other way around. A Porsche without the Porsche badge is still a Porsche, and recognizable as such. Can you say the same thing about a Honda?

Jon.

Yeah, because it looks exactly like 38% of all the other cars around it, it is easily identifiable.

 

[faustian bargain]

has this one been mentioned yet?

here's another example of a good logo being swept under the rug:

note that paul rand was the designer of many of the great logos of our time (IBM, Westinghouse, UPS, ABC, etc.)

 

[Brian SD]

Yes, I am pretty sure Paul Rand is still considered the best graphic designer of all times. I am also influenced by Saul Bass very much. He did a lot of the posters and logos for Hitchcock movies as well as some other important ones like West Side Story.

The new UPS logo makes me sad, but they have a very good reason for creating it. The company is no longer a packing and shipping company, they do all kinds of business services. If the company makes drastic changes, the logo should follow suit as well, even when it's as timeless as the original. I think the new font is a disaster compared to the old one, though. It's a beautiful font in itself, but I don't think it will stand the test of time like Paul Rand's design has.

brian, i think your absolutely wrong about the honda logo. your saying that it's a bland company so it deserves a bland logo, and therefore their bland logo is perfect? i'm sure they spent a lot of time designing it, but it doesn't matter if a song takes 5 minutes or 5 months to compose. if it's good it's good. the same applies to design.

i think design schools nowadays are going overboard on the oversimplified less-is-more aesthetic. if the porsche logo were designed today, design students would dismiss it as being 'over stylized', 'too many lines', etc...

I'm in design school right now and I can tell you that it's not going overboard. It's the same as it has always been - less-is-more has always been the general aesthetic with corporate logos. Most people don't understand it because they think pretty = better, but since logo marks tend to work at a more subconscious level, you may not be directly aware of its influence. The first and foremost goal of graphic design is to solve a problem and communicate a message.

Now I never did say that the Honda H logo is bland. I said it was simple, affective, to the point, and no bullshit. Spending time on it shows that it's not easy to make - that's all I was saying by that. Sure, every once in awhile you hit it on your first try with your first sketch - however you'd be a fool to stop there, since most of the time you'll be sketching 50+ ideas out and you'll find one that you like better.
To fit it to your analogy - making a quick flyer for some one is like writing a pop song that took you a couple minutes to think of a catchy tune and apply basic guitar and drums. Making a corporate identity for a company is like making the entire soundtrack to a movie. A lot of people are involved, a lot of ideas are involved and it takes a lot of time and money to settle on what everyone decides is the best.

Funny you bring up the Porsche logo, because its very impractical to use [the crest] as a logo. Quite simply, if it cannot be displayed in black and white with no greys in between, it's not a good logo. Period. However, the Porsche "PORSCHE" logotype by itself is excellent for the company. If the Porsche logo were designed today, already knowing what Porsche cars are like, I dont think the crest would exist, at least in the form it does now.

There is plenty of room in the world of design for fancy, stylized logos with beautiful illustration, etc. but they're better reserved for things like downtown coffee shops and fancy restaurants, wine bottles, and such. If you saw some of the stuff that we've been working on in my design department, you wouldnt think that anyone is subscribing to the "less is more" aesthetic. In fact, the opposite is usually true because all of the design students are trying to cram in as much detail as they can to every design so that when the portfolio review comes around it looks pretty.

 

[rdawson808]

This is not for a company, but it is easily recognizable to those who know. Let's see how many do. The overall design concept is said to have really influenced how many peopel think of this entity (for good or bad, accurately or inaccurately). The key was that if you knew, you could go to the store and pick it out and know exactly what it was. Others were in the dark.

bob

 

[LabelKing]

I don't think companies should revamp a logo or try to make it "hip." Aside from that, one of the best designers, I feel, was Adolphe Mouron Cassandre who did various typefaces, the iconic Normandie poster and designed the Yves Saint Laurent logo as well. However, he did commit suicide.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by rdawson808

This is not for a company, but it is easily recognizable to those who know. Let's see how many do. The overall design concept is said to have really influenced how many peopel think of this entity (for good or bad, accurately or inaccurately). The key was that if you knew, you could go to the store and pick it out and know exactly what it was. Others were in the dark.

bob
New Order?

 

[Horace]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I don't think companies should revamp a logo or try to make it "hip."


I agree. I like a certain continuity. Look at the labels for Coke or Budweiser. They only get worse. And they probably change because some new MBA or marketing kid needs to justify his employment.