CASE STUDY

What does your company logo say about… well, your company? In advertising, we refer to a logo as a company’s corporate identity, and rightfully so. Your logo is the first indication of what kind of business you’re in. But, it goes further than that.

Any company's corporate identity must work in its most basic form: black. Here’s a test. Take your business card or letterhead, put it in a fax machine, and press copy. Look at what comes out. Did your logo “fax” well? Did it become a black blob? Can you still tell what it says?

The first step we take in corporate identity design is a study of shapes. In the top four examples on the left we see some the shapes that were presented to the BPG for the redesign of the group’s logo. From the onset, the client felt strongly about the relationship that existed between the elements on the top-right study.

The bottom set of images show some of the designs we presented to the client. Balance and relationships continued to be an important part of the discussion. In the end, we chose the design to the right. Interestingly enough, the group felt it represented the way members interact during the group's breakfast meetings—seated at a table.

Once we have settled on the shape of the logo’s icon, we look closer at fonts. The BPG liked “ITC Anna” for the acronym and “Optima” for the name. The next step is the most fun. Let the color begin! Here, we set out to colorize the shape we have designed for our client. Typically, we will present six or eight options. It sounds like a lot of choices, however, we always strive to provide our clients with an array of options; many expected, some unexpected.

In the BPG’s case, the two final contenders were purple and green, and blue and yellow. The purple and green won eight to two. And so the BPG got itself a new corporate identity! But, while the client leaves our office excited that they have a new logo, our work as an agency is far from done. The next steps in the design process involve setting standard guidelines that go in a manual we provide to our client along with the electronic files of their new corporate identity.

So, look at your current company logo. What does it say about your company? If you're not satisfied, give us a call.