Paul Rand is a well-known American art director and graphic designer, creating well-known logos such as IBM, UPS, Morningstar, Inc., Westinghouse, ABC, And the logo NeXT, Designed it For Steve Jobs.
This is an interesting story. Steve Jobs hired Paul Rand to design the NEXT computer logo Priced at $ 100,000. And he was very unhappy when Rand said he would only open one version of the logo. When Jobs asked him to prepare some options, Rand replied, "No, I'll solve your problem and pay me. If you do not want to, you can not use my version, but if you need options, look for other experts." Rand prepared a 100-page booklet that described the brand in detail, the features of the logo (even the exact angle of inclination of the elements in the logo is 28 °) and the company's new name: NeXT.
Thus, at the beginning of our logo evaluation test, Paul Rand's statement, which transformed the world of logo design:
The main task of the logo is to create an recognizable image, and simplicity is a means of solving this problem ... The effectiveness of the logo depends on how unique, noticeable, flexible, memorable, universal and relevant it is.
The essence of the logo test according to Paul Rand is that we evaluate the quality of the logo using steps of the above characteristics. The arrangement is as follows:
1. Is the logo unique?
2. Is it noticeable?
3. Flexible to use?
4. Unforgettable?
5. Universal?
6. Does it stand the test of time?
7. If you said yes in the previous sections, answer the last question: Is it simple?
For each question, except the last one, put a score from 1 to 10. According to the last criterion - simplicity - give a score from 1 to 15. Therefore, we define the quality criteria of the logo by weight. 75 points is the maximum score, and if the logo has accumulated less than 60, the test fails.
Let's look at a living example, how This test works. We took the former Bing logo, Microsoft's search engine:
In September 2013 the company abandoned this logo for obvious reasons in favor of an updated version. Let's look at Bing's old logo To see why.
1. Is the logo unique?
Unique - means identifiable, unlike anything else. Such a logo stands out, it will never mix with other logos. The Bing logo in our example is pretty standard blue - 80% of the logos are blue. Typography has a sense of openness and breadth, which is good for a search engine, but in general the logo is quite simple and flat: such an image is not in any competition with Google. Because the logo is only a name, which is not supported by any symbol, the entire semantic (significant) load falls on the words. But there is nothing unique in the caption Bing. Yes, wide letters take up more white space, but look flat, especially at the base of the letter "i" , The loop in "g" suddenly breaks - the signal becomes cold and unfinished.
2. Is the logo noticeable?
The logo takes up a lot of space so you can call it prominent. However, designers have this trick - start working on the logo in black and white to achieve a clear result, regardless of color. But if we display the Bing logo in black and white, the deep yellow color of the letter " i" disappears and the logo loses that special section. Always make sure the logo looks good in black and white.
3. Is the logo flexible to use?
It's good when you can use a logo in a variety of options: on T-shirts and mugs, on a website, on the car, on a road sign. Bing's logo has enough white space around it to be recognizable on almost any surface. The only downside is that such a logo is difficult to place squarely or harmoniously on a vertical object. The text has a horizontal alignment, so there is no way to adjust it, say, in a favicon (A small icon placed next to the site name caption at the top of the browser) or in the application icon. It may be possible to use only the first letter '' b '' For these purposes, however, it is (a letter) so simple that recognition of such a logo will be significantly reduced.
4. Do you remember the logo?
The mission of the logo is to be memorable, so that when a person needs the company's products or services, the logo immediately comes to mind. The memory of the logo can be checked through verbal associations. For example, what words come to mind when you see these logos?
I had such associations: drinking, chips and a car. Do these symbols have "drink", "chips" and "machine"? No and it's not necessary, because these logos are already recognizable. When I look at the Bing logo, the "search engine" does not occur to me. I wonder how the creators of the new logo solved this problem? We'll talk about that a little later. Bing's logo is flat and not emotional enough, which makes it difficult to remember.
5. Is the logo universal?
Universality means that the logo conveys the same idea to a wide variety of categories of people. Perhaps this is the most difficult part of developing a logo - after all, all people are different from each other. How do leading brands achieve universality?
Google through color:
The Apple logo is a world-famous fruit in a neutral color:
Note: The Apple logo does not even need words, which makes it very diverse.
The Bing logo is meant to reflect the power and complexity of the search engine, but at the same time ease of use (everyone should be comfortable working in the search engine). Simple design creates a sense of simplicity, but does not at all reflect the power of the system and the depth of knowledge.
6. Is the logo not subject to time changes?
If you want to create a timeless logo, forget about warm colors, vibrant fonts and cool styles. Fashion changes at lightning speed, but the sun shines every day, and the sky is always blue. Build a strong foundation in design and get rid of the excess of unimportant elements. Minimalism is an art of talking more with few elements. Bing's logo does not have unnecessary things and fashionable glitter, but due to roundness Excessive he looks old-fashioned.
7. The most important question of all the questions: Is the logo simple?
Paul Rand said that the logo should be the epitome of minimalism. "The logo should be as simple as possible - only then will it be sustainable"
During the first six steps of testing, we add certain design elements that make the logo unique, memorable, universal, and so on. In the last step, we cut out all the unnecessary details in order to finally obtain the purest and most accurate product. There are two practical things you can do to make sure your logo is simple:
1. Reduce the logo and then enlarge. A strong logo looks clear and pleasant regardless of size.
Draw a logo with a freehand pencil in 10 seconds. If you can do it easily, you have a simple logo.
Because simplicity is the most important of all the criteria, in the test it is assigned from 1 to 15 points. If the logo is interesting and creative, but simplicity suffers because of it, it will lose points in the last stage of the test. A good example of a simple logo is the Nike logo.
A small logo represents a company worth $ 15 billion. Logo as if to say: victory, sneakers, the Greek goddess. Many people think that Nike has the best logo of all time. At this point the Bing logo is a bit back to relevance. Yes, there is nothing unusual and complicated about it, but it is simple.
But be careful: a logo that is too simple may look blank and dull!
To find the point where the logo will be simple but not boring, you can build on the history of the brand. Who are your main characters? What are their strengths? What difficulties do they overcome? What will be the happy ending? Introduce the concept of the logo and pen by pen start cutting "" unnecessary "until you get a design with only key elements / key.
Summary
After summarizing all the Bing scores, we get:
Uniqueness 3
Visibility 6
Flexibility 5
Memory 2
Universality 4
Eternal Relevance 6
Simplicity (from 15 points) 10
Total: 36
36 is an acceptable score, but not enough for a strong and sustainable logo. It is now clear why Microsoft has used the logo for some time, but eventually replaced it with another.
New Bing logo
In September 2013, Microsoft introduced a new Bing logo that has changed significantly:
A few words about the strengths of the new logo:
1. The loop of the letter "g" looks like a smile (a letter understood by people from all cultures).
2. A light and thick icon appeared, thanks to which the text "breathes" and looks calmer.
3. There is a trick in the logo - according to the story, the cutting angle of the logo and the top element of the letter "b" mimic the spotlight.
The Paul Rand test can be performed for each logo. In the article we analyzed the Bing logo, now it's your turn! Check how strong your logo is?
