Saturday, February 13, 1999

Logo Design


   When one thinks of how a creative logo and packaged item can lure the customer, it must first be established  what type of customer that the product is marketed for.  Visiting a grocery store should only be done when one is not hungry, however it is a great way to evaluate how different colorful logo-  packaged items and the store's layout can visually target or influence a specific type or a general type of consumer to a particular product.  This excursion was fun and visually informative; however for myself, I did take along a grocery list for my own purposes.
     One big trend on logos that I observed on products while navigating down the supermarket aisles, is an  ecological, health and wellness theme.  One example of a food logo item  promoting  a 'wellness'  and 'ecological' theme can be found on an establish brand's logo Campbell's soup.  Additional to the brand logo, the label also contains  a smaller green heart-shape badge with yellow colored annotationhealthy requestprinted  on it.  For the ecology conscious consumer Campbell's soup stamps in red100% recyclable” on the can's lid.  Other company products also use similar slogans or banners in addition to its logo in order to draw attention.  The healthy-conscience consumer that may be attracted to a particular food item can also be informed that the product contains “No Fat” or “No Cholesterol” or “Low Sodium  or is “Organic” or “Natural”. 
       Another trend observed that many of the food items that are enclose in the packaging have Logos that contain a picture either of an important ingredient, such as fruit or chocolate as well as an image of the food product that one can incorporate into an appetizing dish.   All of these logos spark the 'taste-bud' of the consumer.  Depending on how delicious the food image is, the logo may entice the consumer to choose one particular product over another.
     Most importantly, the 'power of color' as a visual communicator, entices the consumer's perception of a particular product and directs their eyes to an particular logo.  Remembering Lester's visual cues : color, form, depth, and movement; “. . . are  the major concern of any visual communicator designing an image to be remembered by the viewer  because they are noticed before a person even realizes what they are.”   It is the brain that makes connection and forms opinions before the conscience mind even knows what one is looking at.  The logo and color used in the logo is important because it acts as a symbol to the company's brand.  Marketers and technology now can produce logos that are informative, functional, and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  For me colors such as gold or purple may represent richness or quality, greens, browns and orange may represent earthiness, usage of reds attracts attention, yellow may represent cheerfulness or curiosity and the blue color may represent trustworthiness.  We are different in what color means to us and what color may catch our eyes first.(Lester, P.M., pg.16, 2011) 
     With that said, logos that invokes the consumer's attention must  balances between three ethical approaches.  With an utilitarianism approach, the logo design has to be “readable, legible, and useful”. Another approach is where the logo  needs to express an appropriate tone for the company's merchandise; this example would be an Aristotle’s golden mean approach.  Hedonism approach has to be subdued  since it may signify  “satisfying commercial interests, . . .  or expressing a personal statement”.  (Lester P.M., pg.183-184, 2011)
     For myself, I am a 'brand-type' of consumer, because I do not 'trust' the taste of the generic type brands when it comes to food.  Because of our economics, a lot of times I stock up in non-perishable brand items that I like when they are on sale.  In the supermarket that I commonly visit, large visual, readable hanging signs in the grocery store marked every aisle making  navigation easier to find the right section for the item. Brand logos helps my eyes mark the spot in the shelf where I can obtain the item.  Lastly, I might be considered  a 'health-conscience' consumer since I do read the labels for nutritional stats. As a consumer, it is possible to see another brand's logo that stands out among another food items, enticing me  to check out its product's ingredients and give it a try. 


References


Lester, P.M. (2011) Chapter 2 - Visual Cues
(pg. 16), Visual communication, images with messages, 5th edition, Wadsworth Cengage,   printed in United States.

Lester, P.M. (2011) Chapter 7 - Graphic Design
             (pp. 183-184), Visual communication, images with messages, 5th edition, Wadsworth Cengage,   printed in United States

 

 


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