Branding Irons

Guy Kawasaki posted images of the evolution of Apple's logo with the comment, 'Seems like there is a general trend towards simplicity' even though the most recent logo is full of 3D gradients and lighting effects.

I'm not sure exactly when the trend started with adding gradients and 3D effects to logos, but I noticed it first with UPS. Over time they slowly made the logo simpler and then added a bunch of 3D effects. My rule for logos is, 'Can you get a tattoo of it?' The Nike swoosh being the best example of this. Tattoos, single die cut of leather stitched to a shoe, stamped on the outside of a shipping box. As soon as you start adding fine shading and lighting effects, you end up having two logos -- the fancy one, and the one you use for everything else. You may argue, and you may argue successfully, that the age of the monochromatic, stamped, simple logo is over. Digital printing, HD Jumbotrons, and even computerized stitching makes almost any medium a rich, fully printable canvas for your 3D logo.

Almost.

I keep beating this drum. (If you lecture in the woods and no one is there to hear you, do you still bore the trees?) The speed that things have changed in the last 10-15 years is amazing, but we can't forget that just because some of us are living in the 21st century, not everyone is.

I'm not saying you have to create crap design to support the Luddites, but the Luddites are still part of the world. The tools they have might not have been built in the last 10-15 years, and if you want your brand to be everywhere you need it to be flexible enough to be branded onto the haunches of a steer.

Mmmm… Apple smoked beef….