Your Opinion on Logo Implication

Graphic Design
#1

Hi everyone! The business the logo is for is just a one-person, freelance operation performing mentalism/magic for only adults. The target markets are usually corporate markets like sales meetings, executive retreats, convention breakout sessions, team building sessions, all hands meetings, etc. but never a kids’ birthday party, elementary school show, etc…

I read (on a HubSpot blog) that a logo should represent the company story; more specifically, it should represent the “why” for starting/having the company. The “why” behind this company (one-person freelance operation) started when I saw my brother perform and it flooded me with intense wonder (so much emotion I could hardly handle it). I wanted to recreate the awe that I experienced, for other people.

Another marketing perspective on selecting a logo is to think about the target market and what benefits they get out of the product/service that justify them buying it. It just so happens that the “intense wonder” I described in the last paragraph is exactly what makes sense from this alternate marketing view as well.

The main color I decided on is blue because (by chance again) it is corporate (think about the LinkedIn logo or Facebook) and the color interpretations I read about convinced me it best matches the mood behind the company service offered.

The best pictorial representation for a logo to represent shock and intense wonder (that I know of), is a face that shows a jaw drop / shock. Combining these concepts (color and pictorial representation), I came up with the idea of using a blue 2D shock emoticon (but with something original enough to differentiate it from other emoticons). Not only is this graphic idea (blue 2D shock emoticon) perfect for illustrating the “intense wonder” emotion, I don’t see any other entertainers who use it for their logos. (Many entertainers use a question mark in a logo and I aspire to have something unique.)

Here is the potential concern I ran into. I truly love kids but this entertainment is absolutely not for kids and I don’t know whether or not a blue 2D emoticon has a “childish” feel (i.e. almost like a kids’ cartoon vibe). What do you think? Does a blue 2D emoticon have a bit of a “kiddie” feel or is it fine for the corporate market? Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

#2

I think we’d need to see it to offer an opinion. It seems a bit childlike, but if done the right way, perhaps not.

#3

Hi. Thanks for the reply. The exact logo doesn’t exist yet. I’m just the entertainer and don’t plan to create the logo myself, but for the sake of understanding it would be helpful to know what your view is on this one (with regards to whether or not it has a childish implication): https://cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/emoji-14/64/surprise_shock-512.png

#4

In much the same way, if I decided I wanted to put on a performance of La Traviata, I would first go and find some good singers, rather than try and belt out the overture myself. As an entertainer, can I respectfully suggest you are not best placed to be able to visually interpret a relatively complex set of requirements. Perhaps best, you find a good designer, explain to them what you want to say and wish to achieve and let them do what they do best.

To be honest, your approach to achieving the required emotional response altough understandable is, if I am honest, a little obvious, perhaps naive. The emotions you wish to evoke would be better achieved subliminally, through use of type, colour – almost certainly not blue if you want shock value – and an over-arching idea. Your instincts about the emoticon being the wrong way to go are correct. Your thinking is fine, but the point at which you visualise it is first idea sketch. It needs to be a bit more sophisticated if you don’t want to alienate your audience.

Humour is all about the subtle and unsaid. If you try and say it in blatant, obvious terms with a logo, what are your audience going to assume about the act on offer before they’ve seen the show? I wouldn’t go if I were looking for edgy adult humour. It will come across as more slapstick than edgy.

A logo is never going to tell the whole story. At best, it is going to set up the emotional response and expectation for your potential audience. After that, it is a flag for you to stand behind, which eventually, through marketing, through the service you offer, the way you treat customers, etc, etc. will itself come to represent the values of the company or service.

The logo for Virgin, for example, means nothing in itself. It just has a flavour. When it started out in the music industry, it was a disruptor. The lettering is a little anarchic and was very much counter to the smooth corporate brands of the industry big boys at the time. It worked. Over time, this became imbued with the ethos Branson employed to run his operations. It now evokes all the things Virgin have carefully crafted over the years that they want you on the outside looking in, to feel. In addition, it is the flag that employees stand behind proudly (in the best case brand scenario) that gives them the sense of belonging and purpose.

That is just an example and a little larger scale than your needs right now, but large, or small, the requirements of a brand identity are the same – to become a visual mnemonic for the ethos and values of a company or organisation. After all Branson started off in a phone box on Oxford Street.

Hope this helps.

#5