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How Important Are Logos For Brand Identity?

By Jenny on 22 December 2015

Last month Google updated its logo design from serif typeface to a colourful animated Product Sans. Accessorised with red, orange, blue and green dots, the animated logo undulates like water and will most probably react in lots of different ways over time as new devices appear. The change was greeted with mixed reviews and a few tongue-in-cheek comments:

"I would change the name to Goo. It's immediately recognizable and fits the technical criteria of taking up less space and reducing the bandwidth needed. Also: subhead: Goo / Holds the World together." — Milton Glaser, graphic designer

The rationale behind the change is that, according to Google’s official blog Inside AdWords in May of this year, “…more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan.” Google wants a logo that stands out not only on a computer screen or pad but also on other devices such as mobile. The logo is bolder, cleaner and makes the G pop out more on our phones. It’s not clear how much the change in logo cost but brand logos in the past have ranged from Coca Cola’s $0 to BP's mere $211,000,000.

Was it worth it?

Probably.

Patrick Hanlon, CEO of Thinktopia (a global brand and strategic innovation company), believes that branding is about creating a community - a collective identity that becomes culture inside and outside the organisation. An icon is just one part of a brand narrative that includes group language, rituals, values and leaders to create a culture.

"Google is one of the world's most innovative companies, so the previous serif wordmark was never really the right fit, particularly considering the young age of the business. Serif typefaces are generally more suited to traditional companies with a lot of history and heritage. It makes sense for Google to be identified by a more contemporary mark." - graphic designer David Airey, author of Logo Design Love

The McDonalds golden arches, Nike’s swoosh, the royal crest - these all make an immediate visual impact on our imagination and our understanding of what the brand stands for. Changing an icon can be a tricky business because it makes us question what we think the brand stands for. For instance, in 2009 Tropicana overhauled its packaging and brand; the backlash was so big that sales dropped by 20% and unsurprisingly the company reverted back to the original brand identity in a matter of weeks.

By contrast, Seth Godin in this article believes that ‘spending $800,000 for a logo is ridiculous.’ He believes that a great logo doesn’t mean anything until the brand makes it worth something - in essence the visualisation of the brand is not as important as the message and values the company is sending across. Indeed often brand logos have little to do with the brand itself - for instance, Starbuck’s mermaid logo or Nike’s tick.

Was Google’s logo change worth it or an unnecessary change - what do you think?

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