Find yourself totting around a new custom bag everyday? That's all right, because Tommy Hilfiger loves promotional tote bags too. The Whitney museum is gearing up for the 2010 Whitney Biennial that has a stellar exhibition list of over 60 artist.
       
Their web-site shares, "While Biennials are always affected by the cultural, political, and social moment, this exhibition "simply titled 2010" embodies a cross section of contemporary art production rather than a specific theme." To kick off the event an celebrate one of the artists work, Tommy Hilfiger has designed this custom imprinted tote bag. It can be purchased for $98, with $50 of that going right to the museum. It's a cute tote that shares many of the same qualities of ours. It features the work of artist, Ari Marcopoulos.
    

Museums are an awesome venue for promotional products. Gift shops are always stacked with imprinted items. Incorporating a showcased artist's work onto these items is an awesome way to promote existing exhibits, celebrate great artistry and boost sales.

   

Well, maybe it’s not the amount of re-branding that gives you the headache as much as when a company’s re-branding attempts seem misplaced. You would think that major corporations put plenty of time, effort and lest we forget money into the research and development of their new branding, but examples such as Blimpie’s recent logo change really make me scratch my head. It almost seems like logo change such as this one was done simply to just change it to something new. It reminds me of when I used to rearrange my bedroom when I was younger just because I felt like a change of scenery would be cool. There was no logical or purposeful reason to rearrange the furniture, but I suppose it added some kind of excitement to the room until it eventually wore off in a few days when I was used to it.

As far as an outdated appearance is concerned, I don’t even think that the original logo seems that old looking. Sure, it has been around and unchanged for quite some time so technically one could make the argument that it is outdated, but what they changed it to is no more modern looking than what they already had. Not to mention it gets zero style or originality points from me. When I saw this it near boggled my mind because it is very likely that Blimpie paid a decent amount of money to a reputable designer, only for them to simply choose a font. To be fair, the font that spells out the company name is often the main element in many effective and modern logos, but this one just screams downgrade to me.

The font used in the original logo had additional style applied to it and further interest was created by using a second color to dot the i’s. The font itself on the original logo also seems like more of a calculated decision, as the nature of each character is bubbly and sort of gentle, which goes very well with the most common feelings one gets from the word Blimpie. Aside from being the name of a well known sandwich shop, for many people the word Blimpie instinctively reminds them of an actual blimp, which is what you might describe as bubbly but certainly rounded and smooth looking. That being said, it seems like a curious decision to choose such a bold, firm and rigid font for the new logo design. Neither of them seem to have anything to do with sandwiches unless you consider the yellow dots atop the letter i’s in the old design to be conceptual representations of olives on toothpicks. Even if that wasn’t the intention, it is just hard for me to get behind a logo design that is nothing more than a common font that has no creative elements introduced to it.

Maybe their motivation was to rid their logo of two colors so that they didn’t have to think about how two different colors would look on various promotional products. Although if that were actually the case, they could’ve simply changed the dots above the i’s to green. So despite my best efforts to come up with an acceptable explanation for this logo change, I simply cannot do it. Maybe in time they’ll wind up pulling a Tropicana and restore the old logo, but in the mean time I can’t help but wonder if I have seen a more generic, unoriginal and purposeless logo change than this one.

If you have a logo for your business, you may be wondering whether your logo is “all that it can be,” whether your logo is putting your business in the best possible light.  In order to ensure that your logo is as suitable and as effective as possible for your business, you need to take the time to thoroughly analyze your current logo in order to ascertain whether the need exists for you to have your logo redesigned.

Analyze Color Scheme
When it comes to analyzing the color scheme, you initially need to consider whether the coloration and combination of hues is attractive.  Unfortunately, each and every day we all encounter businesses that are making use of logos that have color schemes that are unattractive. 
For example, assume for a moment you have a law firm.  You will want a logo for your firm that sends a powerful message.  Therefore, you will not want to be using a color combination or color scheme that suggests softness.  (A soft color scheme would be ideal for a business like a daycare center, for example.)

Consider the Selected Font
Beyond color, when you are analyzing your logo you will also want to pay attention to the font that is being used on your logo.  You actually have a wide selection of options when it comes to selecting a font for your logo.  However, no matter what font you end up using for your logo you need to make sure that it is a clean font that is easy to read. 

Scalability Matters
Scalability refers to the manner in which your logo effectively can be resized.  If you are like most business owners, you use your logo in a number of different ways.  As a consequence, you need to have a logo that effectively can be utilized in a variety of different sizes.
Unfortunately, not all logos are scalable in an appropriate manner.  Certain logos simply do not look good when they are shifted into different sizes for different purposes.  Therefore, if your logo is not effectively and readily scalable, you definitely will want to consider a logo redesign to resolve this issue.

This is guest post from Ben Johnson of Logoinn, custom logo design service provider based in UK.

Almost any baseball fan reading this right now can probably say that they watched most of, or at least part of this past Tuesday’s annual All-Star Game. I’m not going to get into the details of the game because I am a Mets fan and thus was not too thrilled with the outcome, but then again, not surprised. Speaking of being surprised, it wasn’t too far into the game that I became accustomed to seeing something else. No, it wasn’t seeing another misplaced throw from David Wright to the first baseman, it was seeing a Holiday Inn commercial at every commercial break! A few weeks back I had noticed that the Holiday Inn logo had changed from the old familiar script font. I wont say that this move was long overdue, but the new branding definitely gives the idea and perception that the Holiday Inn is a fresh, bright, even classy place to stay. Of course we all know that the Holiday Inn is not a 5-star resort, but a more modern logo definitely sheds the idea that the linens and wallpaper in each room is as old as the prior logo. Not only has there been a trend of new or updated branding recently, but this was not merely following a trend, it is a very effective marketing strategy because new branding in this case will very likely equate to a new inviting perception.

When watching this commercial over and over again, I thought about how I knew of the brand change, but didn’t remember exactly where I had seen the new logo. I just knew that it wasn’t in the form of traditional advertising, like said commercials, which got me to thinking that it was probably a promotional product! So I tried to think of the specific one, and when cycling through the usual suspects, I came to the conclusion that it was not a custom tote bag, and I didn’t see it on any promotional drinkware, finally leading me to the conclusion that I had seen it on a promotional pen. Imprinted Drinkware, Custom foil-wrapped chocolates, promotional notepads and promotional pens are staples in hotel promotional products. We see them every time we check into a room, but my experience with the new Holiday Inn logo just goes to show you how powerful promotional pens can be. I have not stayed in a Holiday Inn recently, nor do I know anyone who has. But the fact that I used an imprinted pen with the new branding on it, to sign for a credit card purchase at the Home Depot, means that someone took the pen from a room and it somehow got passed around until it reached a checkout counter in a random store. Exposure is one of the most important things that one should think about when running a promotion. Even if you are not a hotel, the custom printed pen has the potential to get the same mileage out of a pen from a hotel because it is a commonly used and shared item that often gets passed around unintentionally. For this reason, it might also be a good idea to consider a promotional bic lighter for your next promotion. It may very well be the single most commonly exchanged item that there is other than money.

But back to the point: I had originally thought that the new Holiday Inn branding campaign hadn’t had much effort or investment put into it, but after Tuesday it is pretty clear that they were just waiting for the timing to be right. Unless I have simply not seen any other typical advertising for the new branding, it appears that many of the Holiday Inn eggs have been put into the Major League Baseball basket at least for now. The commercial even revolves around baseball as the hotel room attendants are dressed as grounds crew members and make up the room in a similar fashion that you see a grounds crew tending to the field.

With so much talk about re-branding, this particular example is kind of refreshing because they actually turned back the clock for their ‘new’ logo design. With basketball season just over, this news didn’t make that many waves, but thanks to my buddy Bill and his ‘I’ll-give-this-thing-a-try’ personal twitter page, I found out that the Philadelphia 76ers recently decided to change their logo back to the traditional logo and color scheme that was established in 1963. In my opinion, this is the most useful benefit of twitter. It might be the quickest form of sharing information on a variety of topics and because he chose to share an article about the ‘new’ Sixers logo, I have today's blog material. Ahh, the power of social media. Anyway, many of you probably recognize the logo because it was used for quite sometime, from the 60’s to the 80’s and even made an appearance in the 1996-97 season.

With so much re-branding going on lately, this scenario branches off from the trend a bit. Sure, the concept is similar. It generates a buzz and a ‘fresh’ feel for the basketball court, the game jerseys and all of the promotional hats, promotional shirts, and promotional bags that will be given out and worn around the city of Philadelphia next basketball season. Of course ‘fresh’ is a relative term since it is actually an older design. But for the fans, especially the up and coming younger generation of fans, this is a new look. It deviates from the current branding and at the same time it sparks nostalgia for some of the older fans. Philadelphia Mayor, Michael Nutter said that "Seeing the return of the 76ers old logo with the red, white, and blue colors brings me back to the time of growing up watching Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Dr. J, and those great teams. I am excited now, as I was then, for Sixers basketball."

Like many that came before them, Goodwrench has decided that it was time to update their logo. Sure, many logos are actually in need of a makeover to fit in with modern branding trends, but is it just me or does anyone else feel like this wave of re-branding is a just a combination of a recent trend and a general decrease in our society’s attention span? Not to get too deep or anything, I don’t really see the re-branding trend as a problem just yet, but at this rate it feels like some of the companies that are re-branding now are just doing it because other places are, and will end up re-branding again sometime in the near future. Branding doesn’t necessarily define permanent, but the idea is to create a long lasting symbol that embodies your company or business model. Despite the fact that many companies feel that revamping or even redesigning their logo helps them by keeping up with the times, there is something to be said for your original branding lasting the test of time. Sometimes even an older look can be beneficial because it proves that your company has remained successful over the course of many years and even decades. In some cases it can even spark up some nostalgia. In my near three decades on this earth, there has always been the world famous golden arches and I don’t imagine that will change anytime soon.

But on to Goodwrench, below you can see their branding over the course of the 32 years that they have existed. In 1977, their logo was merely text that was designed to look like someone’s signature and even includes the title ‘Mr.’ The original idea was to brand this division of GM’s automotive repair program with something that was personable and relatable. Remember, in the 70’s humans were more hands-on when it came to fixing cars whereas now it seems like the good old fashion handyman has been slowly replaced by technicians who can operate the sophisticated computers and machinery that diagnose and even repair many of our cars. In that sense, this original logo was a good concept. Simple, yet effective as it gave the company a more personable feel.

In 1996 they changed their branding to drop the ‘Mr.’ and adopted a bolder, blocky font-type. Dropping the ‘Mr.’ makes sense, thereby justifying the change in font. But again, this is another simple design and when they changed their branding to reflect the times, they could’ve done a better job of representing that in their logo. At least work a wrench into the design somehow! This logo was also often seen with the GM logo next to it, but that didn’t make it any more creative.

The new design is not what I would call an ideal branding solution as there are a few minor hang ups I have with it, but it finally strays from simply a font and is certainly a better representation of the modernization of the auto repair industry.

Most people will notice that the new logo looks like the indicator that accompanies the power button on a majority of our electronics, only it has been slightly rotated towards the right. If you see an animation of it on a commercial or website, the logo starts upright as if it were a power indicator and then gets rotated. With this turning motion (especially when coupled with the sound of a ratchet), the Goodwrench logo finally incorporates the implication of a wrench. Not that logos have to be literal, but it seems like the Goodwrench brand was dying for it ever since they moved away from the signature logotype. However, this concept is lost when you are simply looking at the non-animated logo. It is still recognizable as a power indicator, which is clever because the slightly rotated positioning also resembles a letter G. Unfortunately it also resembles the Quicktime logo a little too much if you ask me.

This can put a serious damper on the excitement of a new branding, but I will give them credit for moving away from simply a font to represent their branding. Not to mention, this logo would be a breeze to print on any of our promotional key chains.

In a recent conversation I was having in regard to new brandings, it was brought to my attention that the Tropicana brand change was so unsuccessful that they are opting to go back to the good old traditional design. Oops! Granted, as mentioned, art and design can go over really well or very poorly based on the viewer, but when it comes to re-branding it is more than just a logo design. In many cases it is everything from packaging to advertising and commercial design. A lot of thought should go into such a move and should not be changed simply for the sake of changing it. Some of the reasons that we have discussed before have been, to update an outdated logo, to adjust an existing logo to reflect a merger, or even to create a new logo to go along with a new ad campaign or business model. These are all valid reasons, but in many cases re-branding inherently brings risk. Especially for companies that have been around for a very long time. There is a very fine line between becoming stale or outdated, and ruining decades of branding efforts (a.k.a. brainwashing). However, there is certainly no formula to follow and the circumstances and risk factor varies from one company to the next.

Take Walmart for example, they have recently redesigned their branding, which will not only change the way the name looks on the storefront, but will also change the look of their packaging, ads, commercials, website(s) and promotional products. An expensive endeavor no doubt, but like it or hate it, Walmart shoppers are not likely to switch stores or have a hard time locating it because of this branding change. Therefore it is likely to stick regardless of how unfavorably it is looked upon in the public eye. So clearly, this particular re-branding investment carries less risk than companies that rely on their branding to get noticed on shelves, such as Tropicana.

Tropicana has received several complaints about the fact that they gave up on the comforting image of the fresh orange with the straw coming out of it, as well as an overwhelming negative response to its now ‘generic look’. It has been compared to Publix (a small convenience / grocery store) brand orange juice and a South Tampa resident has been quoted as saying, "They couldn't have done a better job of trying to emulate a generic package." I actually stumbled upon a blogger who claimed that the carton’s design change caused him to miss it in the grocery store because he didn’t recognize the new branding and led him to buy another brand. Talk about brainwashing! (err...I mean branding) In addition to monetary losses like these, Tropicana spent an estimated thrity-five million dollars for the redesign and accompanying ad campaign. That ‘oops’ from the opening of this post, just turned into an uber-expensive oops after learning of all the actual and potential money that was lost. So why did Tropicana change its branding? Well it just so happens that Tropicana is an affiliate of PepsiCo. Shocking.

Though this change did not come as recently as some of the latest examples we’ve seen, Walmart joins several other major corporations who have ‘revamped’ their logo in the past year. I use the term ‘revamped’ loosely however, because normally when I think of something that has been revamped, I picture it being better or at least fresher / more modern. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and as I have mentioned before, art is a matter of opinion. While this new Walmart logo is not off-putting or ugly, I certainly wouldn’t consider it an upgrade. With that being said, sometimes it is not completely about the aesthetics or visual appeal. After all, it is not as if their old logo was outdated or reminded us of another decade, but in some cases a company will re-brand in an effort to ‘start fresh’ or promote a new business model and it looks like that’s exactly what’s going on here. My initial reactions were probably similar to what many others thought; the star that once separated the ‘Wal’ and the ‘Mart’ has now found its way to the end of the word and changed its appearance to look more like an asterisks. Instead of all capital letters, only the first letter of what now seems more like a single word is capitalized.

“The new logo's debut coincides with CEO H. Lee Scott's goal of transforming Wal-Mart -- most recently under fire for losing a Minnesota court case over breaking labor laws -- into a more environmentally friendly corporation.” – BusinessWeek (MSN Money) 

“(The new sunburst) looks organic. My sense is they are trying to say, 'we're an eco-aware company,’ ” says Marty Neumeier, president of Neutron, a branding firm in San Francisco. 

To be honest, I am not sure I see the environmentally friendly representation in the logo. I could almost make a better argument for it being eco-aware if you really stretch the definition and consider the asterisks to be a representative of the sun, which may somehow equate to eco-friendliness. Yeah, I don’t know about that one either, but a sunburst can be representative of a new start, and the lowercase letters can be construed as less intimidating as opposed to the bold, dominant feeling that the letters of the old logo expressed. In that sense, I suppose it helps in their efforts to extinguish any damage that the labor case did to their image or reputation.  At the same time, they get a 2 color logo as opposed to one, though as we can see it is easily converted to one color with little or no consequence to the ‘concept’ of the design, especially with no indication that this is actually meant to represent a sun or sun rays. If anything, ones mind might immediately think star (if not asterisks) since that was a crucial element of their old logo design. Either way, Walmart’s logo has always been simple, and they have maintained that, making at least one part of their re-branding the same as it always was: easy to print on promotional products! Walmart will definitely need to print this logo on at least a few promotional products, but this new logo will be printed more times than we can count on all of their packaging, circulars, and even banners and signs inside the store. Re-branding is a large undertaking, so I am sure it is comforting to be switching to something that is no more complicated to print than it ever was.

Almost undoubtedly, everyone has seen or at least heard of the new Pepsi branding. We have talked about it more than once in the company blog, and by now I would bet that most people have seen an example of the new branding in their local supermarkets and / or on television commercials. But I have noticed that these examples of new brandings and logos seem to be a trend. We have discussed Stop & Shop, Pepsi, Tropicana, and Best Buy among the companies that felt a need for a change in their appearance, but the more I look around, the more I notice that soft drink companies appear to be the movers and shakers these days when it comes to re-branding. I would’ve expected the Coca-Cola company to come up with a new renovated style or logo to compete with their rivals, but right now it looks like the Pepsi company has decided to give most of their sister soft drinks new looks. As you can see in the picture below, Sierra Mist and Mountain Dew have both gotten new looks, and I included the new look of all three Pepsi bottles once again because upon further inspection of the logos, you’ll find that not only did Pepsi give their logo a makeover, but they have actually slightly altered the design depending on the type of drink. Notice how the Diet Pepsi logo has the smallest white space of all three logos, and the Pepsi Max has the largest white space out of all the logos. So this logo is not only newer and more modern, but it’s also more conceptual, as I am sure the small white space on the diet logo stands as a metaphor for a slimmer healthier body, with the larger white space representing the interpretation of the word ‘max’.

In other soda logo news, Sprite recently updated their branding as well, (which is a Coca-Cola company) however they don’t seem to be making any noise via advertising or promotions. This new look may have even been released before Pepsi did their huge overhaul of their image, but it doesnt seem like most people knew about it. To think they could’ve easily ordered themselves several thousand custom printed koozies or lemon and lime stressballs with their new branding on it. Shame on them. Even Sunkist got into the mix with their new logo / design. Pictured below are examples of the Sunkist logo evolution as well. In my opinion, the newest Sunkist look appears to be more seasonal or event related. I thought it was either a limited edition design or even what was left over from the cans used in the summer time. Apparently, this is their new logo and design for any time of year. With all of this recent change in the soft drink world, I wonder which soda company will re-design their brand or logo next?