At
the beginning of September Google launched its rebranding with its new logo.
With the company as big as it is, the new identity was sure to get a lot of
attention as well as criticism from the sea of google users. Before the
company’s rebranding, Google had used a thin serif typeface, making it look
more serious but at the same time could prove hard to read on a screen. The new
san serif logo has flat shapes and sharp colors. Those colors also make up the new
icon, which is simply the letter ‘G’ incorporating the colors in resemblance of
a color wheel. The company seems more playful through this redesign, keeping
the ‘e’ slanted for it’s character and seeming more childlike.
But it’s the childlike manner in which the company is perceived that has people stirring. There are many people who feel that the serifs and the double looped ‘g’ that gave the company its legitimacy and seriousness as an internet powerhouse. In the 90’s Google made the vastness of the internet into an organized and simple way to find information. The flatter and bolder shapes that make up the new google logo makes critics think of refrigerator magnets, which reduced the trust of their users. The question is will this effect the presence of its users?
There are a ton of
instances where rebranding can hurt its company. Tropicana came out a couple
years ago with an orange juice carton that was confusing to its customers. The
type was uncomfortable, with the logo for Tropicana running sideways up the
side of the carton. There was also a strange hierarchy in the information on
the box. The 100% overpowers both the logo as well as other more important
information such as the pulp. Despite trying a new design, customers were
attached to the old carton. They liked the straw in the orange. The glass of
orange juice with a big 100% didn’t seem as liable as the old box. The original
brand was immediately recognizable to their customers, whereas their new box
seemed to resemble a cheaper store brand product. The box was changed back
after the company’s sales dropped 20%.
I
found an article talking about how The New York Times sought out Ed
Benguiat to make alterations to their logo. Based on the article I read he got
rid of the
period at the end of the name, saving the newspaper company a ton of money on
ink every year. So I thought I’d research this smart man. Ed Benguiat is an
American typographer that also did work on companies such as Playboy, Sports
Illustrated, Tiffany’s, Ford, and a bunch of other logos. He designed a
whopping 23 typefaces. In the 1970s he started teaching at the school of visual
arts. Ed is an avid pilot and enjoys flying his personal plane. I hope we all
end up like Ed.
I
would have wrote more but Ed didn’t do too much else except for creating some
really famous stuff. But look at this website, it shows you his work!
http://www.houseind.com/fonts/edbenguiatfonts
Here’s
a good one, I found a video on the history of Comic Sans. A man named Vincent Connare
created the font. In 1995, Connare was shocked to see Times New Roman used in a
cartoon speech bubble. So he created his own to make a more appropriate font
for cartoons. The font spread everywhere in a matter of just 7 years. In 2002
Holly and David Combs created the website “Ban Comic Sans”. The website argued
that since the font was so easily available, it was misused in a number of
situations but the people who used them. They were pretty much saying they were
destroying typography. The problem designers have with Comic Sans is that a
good typeface should not call attention to itself unless it’s supposed to.
I
think that’s a great lesson to be learned. Thanks Comic Sans.
https://vimeo.com/1994310
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