Why We (Shouldn’t) Care About Logos
On their own, logos don’t actually have much to say, but we have plenty to say when they change.
Back in my art director days—when I was attempting to build a brand for myself on Instagram—I would often come across posts comparing two logos, side-by-side, prompting the community to comment on which was better: Version 1 or version 2.
Sometimes these head-to-head battles consisted of rebrands or refreshes of trademarks that had decades of history, and large fan bases, behind them. For example, an 80s-era Pepsi logo versus the 2008 “new” Pepsi Globe, or the early 2000s Golden State Warriors logo versus the 2010 rebrand. But more often than not, they were unsolicited redesigns of existing brand marks with no context given to the purpose of the redesign. Yet they solicited thousands of likes and comments from the community on which version was superior.
As an educator, I continued to notice this desire to create and discuss cosmetic touchups of brands no matter how well-known, or successful, the logo was. Every semester that I teach a branding class, it never fails that one student proposes a redesign of…
