And he was strapped to that chair in front of sandbags, when guns were directed to him; They asked for his last words; he said: Let’s do it!
“Let’s do it” was Gary Gilmore’s last sentence before his execution. It manifested the courage and preparedness of Gary to be shot in the heart. Anyone who knows loss does not fear anything. You may lose your family, your battle, your language, your name, your identity but, you get one thing in return; how badly you want to be in control!
And you might be thinking what this execution has to do with logo design? Well, there’s always a story that makes a brand and its logo meaningful. Reading history allowed Nike to introduce a simple yet effective tagline for its brand; yes, we’re talking about JUST DO IT! Dan Wieden, the head of ad-agency Wieden & Kennedy, came up with the world’s most remembered and motivating slogan for Nike’s 1988 commercial. Wieden noted that the “do it” part was the part he liked the most as he was looking for a slogan to inspire people to take their first steps; This can be encouraging women who just started walking to get in shape, or a little boy who is scared of water but wants to learn swimming.
Success is not overnight!
Undoubtedly, Nike became very successful with this brand identity and the swoosh logo mark topping that moving slogan; however, all of this was not made overnight. I told this story to push you into a phase of contemplation. Think about your brand; what makes your brand special like Nike? If you felt any hesitations, I advise you to follow this article to get to know more about Nike’s logo evolution and how this might be your sign to look for your distinctive logo.
Nike’s logo evolution
In 1971, Carolyn Davidson designed the popular Nike Swoosh for $35. The swoosh represented the wing of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike as a brand name was particularly chosen to associate the brand products with movement, completion, and triumph. The lettering is in parallel of the logo mark and syncs with it in style.
The line-drawn swoosh symbol was changed to a solid black checkmark in 1978. As a result, the logo became more eye-catching and geometric with an all-caps type.
In 1985, the black combination logo was redesigned into a white logo on a red background. Shortly after, the widespread recognition of the brand logo allowed the brand to confidently use the swoosh alone.
Another brilliant strategy that brought about Nike’s success was the decision to use the mark separately. According to neurological studies, humans respond to images more quickly than text. This decision established a deep psychological connection with the audience and made the swoosh a universal identifier of the brand. Thereafter, the audience clicked with the swoosh profoundly as the marker of completion and positivity.
All in All, Nike’s perfect logo and slogan were achieved through a long period of trial and error with brilliant ideas meeting excellent practical design skills. Now you’ve heard the story to make a decision. There are millions of brands out there that to some extent owe their success to logo design. If you want to be the next “NIKE,” consider benefitting from top-notch logo design services.
who needs logo design services?
Any business, even the smallest one, deserves a unique brand identity with a characteristic logo. A logo is the company face which represent you, your brand, and what you do. It is the first thing that your audience connect with and therefore vital to your business success. Logo design services are offered at our agency with an innovative and updated approach to logo design. Our logo design services include logo analysis, logo design, and logo redesign.
Logo design process
In our studio, we provide two distinct types of logo design services for two types of logo design projects: Logo design for a start-up or logo redesign for a company looking for brand refreshment or overhaul. When a client contacts us for such inquiries, there is a process we follow to ensure maximum understanding of the project and achieve top results.
The First Stage
This process usually initiates with a branding questionnaire we request the client to fill in. This questionnaire involves questions like:
- What is your company tagline or slogan?
- What product(s) or service(s) does your business provide?
- Who are your competitors?
- What differentiates you from your competitors?
- Are there any inspiring visuals associated with your business?
- What does your audience want?
- Why should your audience choose you over the competition?
- Which words do you want your audience to associate with your company?
- What is your favorite color mode and palette?
The Next Stages
Usually, these are enough for us to transition to the next stage of preparing three concepts as a proposal. Still, at times, we might find it kind of confusing or have some other questions depending on the provided answers.
To prepare logo concepts, we run a discovery phase to understand what the brand stands for and help the clients refine their vision of what they want to see in a logo. This is usually done through a discovery video call, where we sit to develop a brand strategy or implement it in designing a new logo. We follow this call with comprehensive research to know the industry and competitors. After gathering substantial information, we run brainstorming sessions to seek out a new style, decide between ideas, and search for the visual representation of the most important keywords. Through the way, we look up related visuals and designs to give us a solid art direction.
Once we have designed enough good options, we cut them down to at most three designs and start doing mockups. We want to show the client how each concept will exist if chosen. We get down to work usually through a sketching phase because sketching encourages the immediacy of artistic expression. After refining these sketches, we execute the best ones digitally using Adobe Illustrator. We color the logo based on brand colors, choose the best font (serif or sans serif) for the typeface, and ensure its scalability for various purposes.
Examples of Successful Logos
Iran Air
Central Success Factor: Relevance
Let’s initiate our review of logo inspiring logos of all times with Iran Air, a delicate case to analyze. In essence, Iran Air has created a strong brand identity, touching upon ancient Persian mythology. With this intention, Edward Zohrabian, a 22-year-old who won Iran Air’s logo design contest, designed the original logo. The logo mark was inspired by the Persian griffin Huma, which was a later version of Simurgh, a magnificent creature. As a cultural signifier of Persia, Huma stands for elevation and enlightenment. It’s an ever-flying bird whose shadow is considered to bless the one underneath. With this strong brand alignment, Iran Air’s logo was sure to successfully identify it.
Walt Disney
Central Success Factor: Memorability
Walt Disney made its first appearance with a mascot logo in 1929. This mascot was Walt’s new creation Mickey Mouse. Throughout years and to this day, Disney had seven logo redesigns in line with its creative productions and company changes. Markedly, The logo’s unique stylized font is because of Walt’s interest in calligraphy. This cursive, entertaining logotype takes you to the magical Disney’s fantasy land. The castle makes the logo an instant identifier of Disney and its connotations. This expressive combination represents what the brand is all about: entertainment in a wonderland.
Lacoste
Central Success Factor: Storytelling
An enriching story can revive a brand when failure seems unavoidable. Exactly on the verge of bankruptcy, Lacoste made a complete brand overhaul switching from a sleek, detailed logomark with intricate gradients to a modern minimal combination mark. This new logo underlined Lacoste’s inclination to align with design trends of the time and manifested its commitment to modern simplicity. Additionally, a new typeface was introduced to accompany the crocodile for a newly impressive sporty look. But what did this logo idea have to do with Lacoste? In fact, the choice of a crocodile was associated with the brand founder, Rene Lacoste’s tenacity on the tennis court for which he was nicknamed ” the crocodile.”
So, Are You with Us?
Nowadays you can either get an AI-generated logo for free or a designer customized logo for as cheap as 5 bucks. So, you might be thinking why you should spend more on a logo and get it designed by an agency. Are taking logo design services really worth the investment? You’ll find out if you go down the way, hiring websites that recommend quick logo design tools. These websites offer great options for a fair and even cheap price. However, if it is for expanding your business and introducing yourself to the industry, these logos might not work for you.
Professional companies never risk presenting themselves with a cheap replicable logo design. On the contrary, they work with a professional team to get the most unique logo. For the same reason, you should reach out to us or any other agency whose design work attracts you. If you are with us, send us a message at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to make you the NIKE of the era.
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