Is Your Logo Doing Enough for Your Business?
Logos. Every business has them. They’re a quick and easy way to get across your name and message in one single image, that can be transplanted anywhere and everywhere. So is your logo getting your message across, is it quick, easy and memorable to consume as a viewer, and most importantly, does it look good? Well, let’s have a look at some good and bad examples to gauge whether your corporate logo is in need of an upgrade.
Hattricks and Own Goals
Some of the most historic institutions in the UK are football clubs, many of whom are over 100 years old. And it seems that almost every club in the top four flights of English football have changed their badge at some point. Some really hit the mark and provide a fresh, updated look to the club, but some trash history to produce absolute clangers. Last year Leeds United revealed they were going to introduce a new logo to replace the one they’ve had since 1998. However, the design - which did away with the Yorkshire white rose and replaced it with someone’s torso doing a ‘Leeds salute’ - received a huge amount of backlash from the Leeds fans, and was ultimately scrapped. Here’s a few views on what the Leeds faithful thought.
Meanwhile, one club that managed to successfully launch a new logo were Stevenage FC, who ditched their coat of arms to replace it with a sleek, modern badge. But they were faithful to previous incarnations, so opted for evolution over revolution in keeping the Hertfordshire hart and background stripes. The club also said that it’s been updated to make it easier to embroider on the shirts and replicate digitally.
Party Policial Palaver
The Brexit issue has recently seen the formation of two new political parties: The Brexit Party, and Change UK: The Independent Group, who have recently applied to have their name changed to ‘The Independent Group for Change’ thanks to a dispute with Change.org. That there alone is a branding nightmare, three new names in the space of a few months is not great for brand consistency. It also seems like their message is somewhat muddled, as ‘change’ is an abstract concept that could apply to any form of change, whereas Brexit means Brexit (remember when they said that?). So is this confusion rectified in the logo? Not at all.
The formation of a new breakaway party is a rare opportunity to escape from the shackles of the existing party branding of the Conservatives (blue, a tree) and Labour (red, a rose) to create something that is truly fit for the modern, digital age. So what did Change UK plump for? Black stripes. The reason for that? Well apparently, they look like tiger stripes and MPs who were part of The Independent Group (TIG) were known as TIGgers. Get it? Yeah, it’s tenuous. Meanwhile, the Brexit Party had a ‘strong and stable’ message. With their name is no room for confusion, and their logo is strong and bright, utilising three contrasting colours (black, white and sky blue) to create a logo that looks like a house on its side. This gets across their message that the house (of commons) is falling apart so change is needed, all whilst having the tip of the arrow, when on a ballot paper, pointing towards the candidates ‘x’ box. Of the battle of the logos, you have to concede, whatever your political persuasion, the Brexit Party has won this one.