Identity Crisis

If you've been following us for a while, you may have noticed that our logo game is crazy. Sticking to a logo has been tough. I know they always say designing for yourself is the hardest. We just can't seem to hit on something that works for all applications. We need logos on retail tags for stores. Stamps for the backs of our prints. Our current website needs a horizontal header and the footer needs to be stacked vertically. Catalogs, press kits, mailers, business cards. Oversize show signage. Left aligned, right aligned, centered, stacked, tiny, HUGE. Not to mention all the social media outlets that shrink things down and makes circular anything you design. Sometimes we just use the word BRAINSTORM. Sometimes we think having a mark (the bolt) is overkill and sometimes we think it's completely necessary for people to recognize us. Our logo changes with the wind. I have no idea if this has hurt us in the long run, and I certainly don't have time to analyze it with actual numbers and data.

I think each logo is a reflection of our state of mind at the time we created it. We've lived in so many places over the last eight years and our business goals have changed dramatically every time we've shifted gears. Heck, we evern changed the tagline behind our name. It was "Print & Design", then went to "Art Prints & Illustration" and finally to "Prints & Goods". We started out as a design firm. I had hopes of being a client-based operation after I graduated, where we would design for other people. Slowly over the years we transitioned into full time illustrators and poster designers selling our own work. I'm SO much happier than I was in the beginning. I mostly dislike working for other people, so why did I think freelance design wasn't going to give me the same anxiety. Today, we make something we love and hope people buy it. A much simpler model. Challenging in it's own way, but when things are going well the satisfaction is immediate. 

So here's our visual logo history. My next post will be about our website history, which is just as colorful as our logo story. 

 

Maybe we're just too damn close to the business to see what we really need. If you have any suggestions, we're all ears.