My daughter Claudia said the other day that her favourite shoes were the ones that run best. She probably meant that they were the most comfortable shoes for her, the ones that fit her tiny feet best, the ones that make her feel safest.
However, these aren’t the shoes that run best but the ones she can walk best in, depending on the speed in every case, at every moment, for every need, and on her force of propulsion.
“Dad, I want the red ones that run best!” A legitimate request, because in her innocence she thinks that with that pair of shoes, not the best ones in her wardrobe maybe, she’ll get farther and faster than anyone else. And apart from that she’ll look good.
Some compulsive shoppers think the same about their brand. They want the shoes that run most, but what they don’t realise is that graphic solutions based only on aesthetics are often ephemeral, even if they are perfectly well executed.
It’s the same feeling Claudia has when she puts her shoes on. But are these the best shoes for spending the whole day in the zoo or going for a walk on a rainy day? Even if they’re the nicest-looking ones?
Trademarks or logos with a brand vocation must have something more than excellent graphic technique. They must fulfil the customer’s requirements, it’s true; but there’s a more important point: they must also respond to the requirements of the actual product, service, or abstract concept that they they’re designed to support.
I have nothing to say when it comes to trademark owners who want to make executive decisions about typographies, treatments, shapes and colours. At the end of the day, they pay for a design service and there’s no limit to the directions that can be given in a briefing.
But I have plenty to say when clients don’t know what they want (which is not the same as not knowing how to explain it), especially when they want what others have, or what they’ve seen on one of their trips round South-East Asia, or that music label logo they’ve clipped from a fashion magazine.
How much respect will a project get from the designer when even the customer doesn’t seem to give it any?
I also have plenty to say when they suggest that I use an ellipsis, triangle or square without any particular reason, or when they ask me for colours with more movement, or when they want to symbolise, embody and explain their whole Big Group Philosophy in a single 5mm point.
I don’t think a logo can explain the whole background of any company, business or activity. That’s a job for the brand, and it’s not the work of a single day.
DAD, I WANT THE RED ONES THAT RUN BEST!
