One Chabad Logo
Every other week, there’s an email from a new Shliach who’s just moved down on Shlichus in need of a logo for his new center. It’s odd to watch these financially strapped Shluchim reinvent the wheel that is the Chabad logo. With 3,500+ centers around the world, that problem must have been solved too many times.
What I want to ask them is “Why can’t you just use Chabad X’s logo for yourself”? The thing is, how would a Shliach actually go about doing that? He would first have to go to the other Shliach and get permission to do so, and then see if the original designer can customize it.
With this in mind, we have set about creating the open Chabad logo. A logo for Chabad centers worldwide that can be used and customized by any shliach. Generate the logo with your location here.
Should Chabad centers use a single logo?
In response to a Chabad women’s organization in Israel the Rebbe wrote “Regarding what was asked: about the organization’s symbol — since it’s appropriate that there should be a single (logo) for all the (organization) branches in our holy land “may it be speedily rebuilt” (and even better — also those branches in diaspora), it’s too early to make this decision….”
Now let’s consider the benefits:
- Brand awareness and authority. For example, if a person is in one town and saw the Chabad logo at an event or on a postcard in the mail, he’ll be more likely to join the event of another Shliach using the same logo.
- It will create an ecosystem of marketing materials around a unified brand. Printed materials, branded products, custom kippas etc. can all be customized with one unified logo and ordered in bulk, driving the cost down for everyone.
- When multiple Chabad centers make a joint event, one unified logo can represent them all. I once noticed a joint dinner which featured some 20 distinct Chabad logos, half of which were almost identical with slight differences. The logos occupied almost half of the invitation in 3 rows of tiny logos, some of which were totally illegible.
- It saves lots of money and energy for a Shliach at a critical time, when they are starting out.
Now let’s take a look at the possible downsides.
The first one you’ll hear is the need for a localized logo. A center in Cancun needs palm trees in their logo and a center in Manhattan needs skyscrapers.
To answer this, consider any organization with many branches around the globe. Take Starbucks, for example. Is the logo for Starbucks in New York City any different than the one in Montgomery, Alabama? No! Starbucks is not here to advertise NYC. If you’re seeing their logo you’re probably there already. Starbucks’ message is universal that when you see their branding you should think, “Here is a great place to grab a coffee.” Similarly with Chabad, the logo should be telling you “find out more about your yiddishkeit in a warm and accepting environment.”
This answer is true if a person can expect the same experience at each Chabad he visits. What about places like Mexico where the Chabad setting is somewhat more relaxed and spontaneous?
For those kinds of locations you can consider using a variant of the logo. This project was created with the the majority of Chabad centers in mind, where you can expect somewhat similar experiences. The Chabad centers that have weekly Minyanim, Adult Education programs, youth programs and the like.
Another concern you may hear for requiring a distinct logo is to differentiate from other nearby Chabad centers so a person doesn’t mistakenly attend the wrong event.
For the Shluchim in the same neighborhood, this will be an issue, and I suppose one of them will have to differentiate if he doesn’t want a person mistakenly showing up at another Shliach’s event.
Now that we’ve determined the need for a unified Chabad logo, what should it be?
First, I recommend watching this 5 min. clip on “What makes a truly great logo.”
Now let’s dig deeper, look at some of the most popular brands in the world, and see what they have in common.
- They all can work in black and white, this helps you use the logo in more situations, for instance as a silver sign you have in the lobby in your office. A logo’s value comes from repetition, repetition, repetition. The more times I see it, the more likely I am to remember it and start associating my thoughts and feelings about the organization with the logo. Therefore, the easier it is to use a logo, the more it will be used.
- Use only one font. Using only one font makes it easier to read and also makes the logo not be an eyesore on the different marketing materials. Some marketing ads might already be using two fonts of their own, and now you want to put a logo on there that won’t clash with the design. If it has two fonts, it is more likely to look out of place.
- Type is separated from the icon. This allows the text to be centered on the bottom of the icon or put on the side when necessary, for example on the top of your website. Again, the more flexible a logo is, the more likely it is going to be used, and a logo’s value only comes from repetition, repetition.
- The logos can be drawn in under 10 seconds. By having this little detail it allows the logos to work in small sizes, makes it easier to remember, and when it’s simple, it has a bigger chance of not looking dated 10–30 years from now.
- It is not necessarily interesting or trying to tell a story. Is the apple logo creative or saying anything about the company itself? No, because that isn’t the point of a logo. The point of a logo is to anchor people's experiences with the organization.
Now let's do a quick Google search for “Chabad Logos” and see if there’s a pattern that we can use in our logo.
Do you see it? Most Chabad Logos make use of a flame or the triangled Menorah. And it makes sense; Chabad's success comes from the warmth of our Shluchim. So if you wanted to say “warm” you can use a flame. It also makes sense to use a Jewish symbol, and if you wanted to pick a warm Jewish symbol, what better way than the Menorah?
We also get some differentiation points for using the Rambam’s description of the Menorah being angled.
Ok, so now that we know all the above, let’s go make a logo. First let’s start with the icon:
Icon
Draft 1. A flame with a triangle that represents the Menorah.
The issue is that this ends up looking like a memorial lamp and looking sad, not what you want out of a Chabad logo.
Draft 2. I made the Menorah in as simple a way as I could with it still clearly being a Menorah. This Menorah is a model for Chabad, there are many branches but all come from the same base.
There we go, much better.
Color
For our primary colors let’s go with warm red and orange colors.
Wait! Isn’t that the same colors as Chabad in Israel? Yup, they are similar. That’s because they got it right; this warm combination is inviting (deep red) and energetic (bright orange). It’s not too feminine or masculine. It’s also distinct enough to be recognizable.
I considered many other colors, for example a navy and yellow combo, as it is easy to use, however it was missing a certain “classiness” feel, so I had to let it go.
Voila! One Chabad logo to rule them all.
Note: if the color is what threw you off using this logo, I think it’s ok to at least use the icon with your own colors. You will still retain many of the benefits of using a shared logo.
I followed this list by Tanner Christensen, author of The Creativity Challenge, for creating a good logo.
Let’s explore some examples of how this might work in the real world.
Making the logo work for you
When appropriate, change up the logo to make it match the experience. For your preschool have a kid make the logo with crayons. I made a few examples so you can get the idea.
Sometimes you will want to differentiate from other Chabad logos, and customize it to your location, for example, when creating your facebook profile picture.
Now that we have the logo, how do we get Shluchim to use it?
Step 1. Write a medium article on the importance of having a unified Chabad logo. Check!
Step 2. Give the logo and branded elements away for free. Check!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Meaning it’s free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Customize the logo with your location here.
Step 3. The more this logo is in use, the better it becomes. So share the website with fellow Shluchim, and get a conversation going. I did my part, now the rest is on you.
FAQs
If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to email me. l.sruly@gmail.com
This project is awesome, how do I get involved?
If you’re a Shliach who has high quality generic photos that can be used for Chabad in general (women lighting Shabbos candles, adult classes, Hebrew school etc.), please send them with a model release if there are any recognizable faces, so I can upload it to the website.
Have ideas for Chabad marketing campaigns? please share them with me.
Do you really expect all Shluchim to use this?
No. Logo adoption works with a tipping point. First, new Shluchim or Shluchim in desperate need for a rebrand will use it. Then, after some time, the value will begin to come through (through shared marketing materials), and after a bunch of Shluchim see others using the logo successfully, they may join in. I expect adoption to be slow at first and then sudden.
I think the tipping point of actual value will be around 100 Chabad centers.
There are only 7 branches, is that ok?
I’ve been told that Chabad of Illinois had a 7 branch Menorah on their stationery, and throughout all the times they sent letters to the Rebbe, they never got any feedback regarding the logo.
