It was in May 2010 that UK’s largest bookseller Waterstones redesigned its brand identity. It was created by UK creative agency venturethree. The philosophy behind the revamp was to transform the traditional design into a more contemporary one. The proposed identity displayed a “W” that stood resemblance to McDonald’s Golden Arches logo. It was designed using the lower case FS Albert Pro type font and was transferred onto only 25 of the bookstore’s 310 stores.

• New (Old) Logo – Back to the Future:

Two years later, the firm decided on reverting back to its old logo design. But this time around when the new logo was unveiled on 11th January 2012, it dropped the ‘apostrophe’ sign as well. The new logo redesign also restores the beloved Baskerville serif font along with ‘W’ in upper case. UK leading bookstore’s new boss, James Daunt, gave the following explanation for the startling move:

• Criticism against the New Logo:

This strange relapse to the old logo design reminded me of the Gap logo redesign saga, where Gap logo was similarly reinstated back to its old state. James Daunt was of the opinion that Waterstones is an iconic brand which deserves a capital W and an authoritative typeface like Baskerville. Even though there was not much criticism over the reinstatement of fonts and upper case, language experts were infuriated on the disposal of apostrophe sign.

Chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, John Richards criticized the move saying,

What is Your Opinion?

Do you think that the removal of apostrophe was a wise move by Waterstones, considering the examples of famous logo design like McDonald’s and Sainsbury’s?

Ever wondered how famous brands conceal their true identity under the cloak of their logo design? Even though companies portray themselves as being extremely beneficial and useful entities, sometimes you wonder if that is their real purpose. For instance, social networking site Twitter consumes so much of our daily time that frankly speaking it should have been name ‘Time Pass’. Similarly, Facebook is another addictive obsession that causes much distraction for logo designers. I’d say ‘Procrastination’ would be a better name for this social networking site.

Apart from my own suggestions for truthful brand names, artist Viktor Hertz has conjured up his own versions of candid brand identities called ‘Honest Logos’. The project reveals what the logos for famous brands should actually be. This project was originally done for the purpose of humor, but if you watch these funny logo parodies some of them are extremely apposite.

So have a look and decide yourself if these 15 ‘honest logos’ truly expose the company’s true purpose.

1. Dunkin Donuts Buildin’ Bodyfat

2. MySpace Noplace

3. Nokia Nokids

4. Olympics Money Rings

5. Walt Disney Pictures Very Cheesy Pictures

6. Harley Davidson Adult toys

7. Starbucks Sugarbomb combos

8. Hollywood Hollywood Recycle

9. Budweiser Bellyexpander

10. IMDB Nerd info

11. Nintendo Procrastination

12. Marlboro Money waster

Inspired by Viktor’s work, I created a few of my own versions of honest logos. Hope you enjoy them.

13. eBay Upay

14. Google Doodle

15. Twitter Timepass

Issues and dilemmas are part and parcel of the professional life. Being a professional logo designer, you must learn to deal with all kinds of predicaments that you may come across in your career. For those who think that being a logo designer is all fun and no worries, they might want to reconsider. This is because, similar to any other professional, logo designers also face the music in their vocation.

While there are several issues related to different genres in logo designing, some are extremely serious and essential to consider. Right from coping with finicky clients to the miniscule details of the logo design project, designers face a multitude of problems. And it is essential for them to be prepared to tackle all these quandaries. Being a UK logo designer for quite some time now, I have learnt how UK logo designers have to tackle serious and grave concerns in logo designing. So here are some of the most essential issues that must be dealt with

1. Logo Plagiarism:

This issue is rampant in all spheres of the world, let alone in the UK logo designing. The last thing that a logo designer wants to do is getting caught in a logo plagiarism episode. Two years ago, the UK retail chain WoolWorth’s launched a logo design that was an outrageously identical logo to the famous apple logo. Although the attempt of the designer of Woolworth’s logo was to make a stylized ‘W’ in the form of an apple, it turned out to be copyright violation. The company was forced to change its logo design.

2. Improper Audience Research:

Another grave mistake that some UK logo designers are guilty of is lack of market research. In order to save time, most logo designers end up making a logo that is not appealing to the intended audience. An existing example of this in the UK logo design market is the London 2012 Olympics logo. The logo was unsuccessful in front of the people of UK because the work was done with improper research of the values and traditions of London or UK.

3. Overlooking Elements:

As the saying goes, “Too many cooks spoil the broth”. Similar is the case when you employ too excessive elements in a logo design. What is even more frustrating is when the logo designer overlooks the placement of elements. A very popular example of this issue in the UK logo design market is The Office of Government Commerce (OGC). This identity suffered a major blunder of overlooking design elements. The font of the logo was arranged in such a fashion that it gave out an obscene and offensive meaning.

4. Dilemma of Complex Logos:

It is a proven fact that the human brain accepts simple visual images easier than compound ones. This is the hallmark of all the top brands as they have simple yet unforgettable logo designs. Overdoing a logo design is extremely dangerous in logo designing. You can pick up the example of a UK logo design that was made for the city of Burnley. It was so intricate and complex that it became a complete disaster.

For any brand, the country of origin plays a vital role in setting up its brand equity around the world. For example, in electronics, Japanese brands are the most preferred due to the advanced state of technology in the South-Asian Island. Likewise, French wines are considered the best because of their country of origin. Similarly UK brands are also backed by their rich cultural heritage of the country they belong to.

But what would happen if logos of famous UK brands are switched between their foreign rivals? How would that affect their status as a loyal and faithful UK brand? For instance, let’s say if British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) swapped its logo with its rival American news channel CNN, would it influence their ratings? How would their loyal customers in UK react?

In order to check the outcomes of logo swapping of UK brands, I have taken 10 famous UK brand and switched their logo design with US Brand Logos (however, few of the logos belong to rival counterparts from other countries). Let us see how the viewers react to this change:

1. American Airlines and British Airways Logo Swapping

2. Bank Of America and Barclays Logo Swapping

3. CNN and BBC Logo Swapping

4. BP and Shell Logo Swapping

5. Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin Logo Swapping

6. Marlboro and Dunhill Logo Swapping

7. Reebok and Nike Logo Swapping

8. Tesco and Walmart Logo Swapping

9. At&t and Vodafone Logo Swapping

10. Wimpy and Burger KingLogo Swapping