Logo of the month #7
Al Gore has donated $750,000 to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit advocacy group he founded to prevent further global warming. Brian Collins, New York, created the identity and overall design program. Read about Collins here.
The logo is the campaign centre-piece, and has been described as somewhat of a risk, as it’s neither the name, nor initials of the organisation, but a visual pun on the words ‘we’ and ‘me’.
I like it.
What do you think?
Related posts on this site
49 spot-on reader comments to “Logo of the month #7”
What are your thoughts?
Simply fill in the form below. All comments are moderated so you may experience a short delay before your comment appears. Comments should be respectful of other voices in the discussion. I reserve the right to edit or delete comments at my discretion.
I love it. I work in the energy assessment business and really like the concept. There is no reason for it not to be successful even though it doesn’t represent the initials etc.
It asks questions to me and this sits great within the climate protection idea/organisation. I hope you do well with it.
Yeah, I like it a lot. it that “if you look hard enough you see it” aspect yet I think a large majority of the general public will see it. It is also a nice representation of the message the organization is trying to promote……WE need to make a difference in preventing further global warming, and it takes ME to be a part of it. Simple, yet powerful message conveyed thru a simple design.
Also, i think it is fitting for Al Gore as a politician that the logo resembles a badge! He probably wanted to add “Gore 2012″ to it….hahaha
Brian Yerkes’s last blog post…PHP Redirect - 2 domains pointing to one website
As much as I’d like to, I can’t take credit for this one (as detailed in the blog post).
Brian,
It’s a clever one, and appropriate. It’d probably be a good move if Al Gore was to wear a logo badge too. :) I’ve yet to watch his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Have you seen it? I’m wondering if it’s any good.
Sorry - don’t like it. The W is confusing and for me, it doesn’t immediately read as ‘we’. And if you turn it upside down it actually reads ‘em’ (and then, only sort of, because the e is upside down).
What’s the intended audience for this? If its the general public then its trying to be too clever. I don’t think people will get it - if you have to “look hard to see it” then it ain’t working IMO. Generally, I don’t think people do look hard at things.
While I like the concept, i think it fails to communicate the “me turns to we” message. They dont ever play up on it in advertising. When I first saw it, I noticed. But my wife thought the logo was dumb, and asked me why they have such a lame logo. So I had to explain the W was an upside down M. Then she got. But it took too much thought.
Good of you to offer some difference of opinion, and interesting to note how the advertising doesn’t play on the idea. Being the in the UK I’m unlikely to see any ads, but perhaps I can find one online. I’ll post a link if I do.
i’m kinda on the fence with this logo. when i first saw some of the commercials, i liked them, but wasn’t sure who the organization was, or what the whole deal was with the funky “w”. i first guessed it may be something scientific, because i think the scientific symbol for “micro” is a u-shape like that. if I hadn’t read this blog post that the “w” was supposed to be an upside down “m” i never would have gotten it.
i definitely think the advertisements should play up this fact, maybe having the logo do a little flip type effect before stopping as “we”. It would help to explain the logo a bit more. Like Stuart said, the general populace isn’t that clever, and if they are, they won’t use that intelligence trying to decipher the hidden meaning of a logo whose meaning wasn’t meant to be hidden.
I like the idea of the logo and even the execution. It is certainly clever and simple. I even like the message of “me” and “we.”
But since it’s for the Alliance for Climate Protection, I fail to see how it ties in sufficiently. “We” is just a bit too vague and ambiguous - it doesn’t speak specifically enough to the organization’s name or its purpose.
Rob O.’s last blog post…Paris Hilton Shall NOT Be In Attendance
I think it’s pretty effective. I feel most people will see that the ‘w’ is an inverted ‘m’. It’s quite clever in the fact that it initially reads ‘we’ but your eye is drawn to the ‘w’ because, for want of a better phrase, it doesn’t look right. The viewer is invited to work it out and the two words then become one statement. Like most good graphic design, it’s a simple idea well executed.
I like it. There will be a few who don’t immediately get it, but the target certainly will. I think only a certain amount of conceptual hand holding must be done and ‘caring’ is a given with advocacy, so the wiggle room has been used.
Effectiveness probably depends on your camp. If you are with the unconverted or uninterested, this is logo overthink. If you are part of the choir, you are probably giddy.
Jay Ehret’s last blog post…Happy One Year to The Marketing Spot
It reminds me of http://www.wefashion.com/
I personally think this is a terrible. It doesn’t communicate to ‘the general viewers’, who, afterall, is who the logo is aimed at, not graphic designers. When I first saw the logo, I actually thought it spelt the initials IJJe (with ‘e’ in lowercase).
It’s true that this type of logo may create a buzz in the design realm - and get people talking about it (sort of like the Olympics 2012 logo), but overall, it’s too ‘out-there’ to be taken as a serious design.
Zach wrote: “if I hadn’t read this blog post that the “w” was supposed to be an upside down “m” i never would have gotten it.” - There you have it in one sentence from another point of view.
This is a great post David, and thanks for bringing up contentious issues about logo designs like this. Many people may like it, but it’s not for me.
Great post David.
The “general public ” will give this a 2-3 second look, and for the most part won’t be bothered to look at the minute details and if they do they may initially see it as a stylized w, but won’t go much beyond that. I haven’t see the advertising, but it would certainly be worth their while to have the “w” transition to the “m” to better get the point across all groups. The simple solution would be to actually spell it out “We & Me” and use it as a tagline, but then I feel it would detract from the Alliance brand. They should really use this as a secondary brand.
I like it too… I guess I like the play on M and W. I might to see the two green versions with a little merge or overlap but it looks good to me.
I agree completely that it will probably miss the general public. It is put too clever to draw anyone one, but works for the esoteric group that already ‘gets it’. You explained it, and it still doesn’t really click.
So maybe it isn’t clever enough, since I don’t think it will bridge to the general public.
I love it. I just saw it on TV Saturday and thought it was such a great play on ‘we’ and ‘me’. I immediately ‘got’ the idea, maybe I’m quicker than the general public (maybe…). It seems to do a good job of communicating the “individual and cooperative initiative”. I guess I should have asked my family what they think. If I get the opportunity, I’ll let you know what they say.
Dax Hansen’s last blog post…George
saw this on tv the other day, really disliked it to be honest, which is a shame as I do like gore and his mission generally.
Heavens, David, it’s the end of my day and you’re making me think!
I feel the logo is too obscure alone, there’s just a wrongness about it. To truly judge its effectiveness, I’d have to see it in context. It can’t convey the brand on its own.
I’m in the US and I’ll be looking out for it to appear. Thanks for the advance notice. And by the way, thanks for being so generous with all of us by way of this blog. Cheers!
I thought of a funky mu at first, and then I thought of the ABC logo. Generally it’s ok when one logo reminds us of another, but in this case I really don’t think it works. And if you have to think too hard to get it, or if “outsiders” wouldn’t understand (like me), it’s probably not a good idea, unless you are only trying to appeal to the ones in-the-know.
LaurenMarie - Creative Curio’s last blog post…Using Lines: Real World Examples
Thank you LaurenMarie. that was what I was talking about. apparently its not called a “scientific u-shape,” but rather an “Mu.” :)
@Zach, haha, I saw your comment earlier, but only skimmed and totally missed the “funky scientific symbol.” How weird that we used the same exact adjective to describe the w!! LOL
LaurenMarie - Creative Curio’s last blog post…Using Lines: Real World Examples
It is a cool looking logo unfortunately it doesn’t make me think of what the logo is supposed to represent.
Zach,
Great how you and Vivien had exactly the same thought. I’d love to see the logo animated, with a simple flip of the ‘m’, but it’s still interesting to read why so many of you aren’t keen on the design.
One of the reasons why I like it is because it makes me think / problem solve. No matter how basic or how clever a design, no logo is going to make the public change their attitude towards the environment. It takes the entire brand. Who would you prefer to appeal to? The general public who take one look at a logo and forget about it, or those people who want to think and problem solve?
I first thought how it’s the latter who can prompt more people to take part through different initiatives, but your comments have made me think twice, and now I’m not so sure.
Rob,
So do you feel it’s too much of a risk to create a logo that shows neither the company name, nor it’s initials, like others do? Or might it be okay with a different execution?
Steve, Bryan,
You’re both seeing it through similar eyes to my own, though Jay makes a good point about how it probably depends on what camp you’re in.
Jay,
Thanks for your opinion.
Arash,
I’d not seen that logo before. Cheers.
Andrew,
That’s an emphatic no. :) Are you sure it’s targetted at the general public? If yes, I see where you’re coming from, but if no, and if it’s directed towards problem solvers, the design works. Simple, effective, memorable, distinctive, scalable. It would be good to see more info on the design brief.
Umberto,
Interesting how you feel this should be used as a sub-brand. I found the following ‘we’ campaign ad on YouTube, which shows the emphasis is firmly on the ‘we’. However, I think it’d be nice to show a quick spin of the ‘m’ once the green logo appears at the end. It’d be subtle, yet help with the message.
Scott,
Thanks for your thoughts.
HR,
Again, it’d be good to see the brief. Maybe it’s obvious how the advertising targets the general public, and I’m just being short-sighted.
Brian,
He’s on a good mission, that’s for sure, even if the logo effectiveness isn’t.
Garrick,
My apologies for spoiling the end-of-day relaxation. ;) You’re very welcome for the blog, and I’m curious if you feel there are other climate / environmental campaign logos that you prefer, or how you’d change this one.
Lauren,
Thanks for the ‘mu’ lesson. I’d forgotten what they were called. :) You hit it on the head when asking for more info about the target audience.
Michael,
the majority of logos don’t tell you what the company does. That’s not their main purpose. Think of the Shell logo for example. BMW, McDonalds etc. If they’re memorable, it’s certainly a great start.
Thanks very much for your time, everyone. I’ve enjoyed you making me think more.
Kinda like others have said, David, it is an simple & effective logo - but it’s simply too disconnected from what it’s supposed to represent. I’ll bet this works better on a TV ad where the logo can be animated, but I’m not so sure that a logo which only really works well outside of the static print medium is the sign of a truly effective design.
Rob O.’s last blog post…Paris Hilton Shall NOT Be In Attendance
Absolutely not. I agree with you there.
Off-topic, congrats on the recent ProBlogger guest article. Very well done!
Off-topic, thanks David!
Reviewing my comment from a few minutes ago, I’m prompted to wonder if my line of thinking isn’t kinda “old school.” To Gen-Y & Gen-Z folks, the notion of a logo that works best as a static image on a page probably seems old-fashioned. But I truly respect the designers who can breathe life & excitement into a design in spite of the fact that it will only live as a static image. In my layman’s view, that’s one mark of an accomplished designer.
Rob O.’s last blog post…Paris Hilton Shall NOT Be In Attendance
This is really an interesting discussion. In the end, isn’t it the company that makes the logo, and not the other way around?
Jay Ehret’s last blog post…Happy One Year to The Marketing Spot
I think its really a risk. It doesn’t match properly with the theme also ie. the global warming and climate protection. Even ‘ME’ is also not a straight but a mirrored type and i doubt people will not put extra effort on their mind for rotating the ‘WE’ to get the ‘ME’ .
Here I think a Capitol ‘W’ would have been an good option rather than using the upside down small ‘m’ to show as ‘w’ .
Thanks for the good post.
Ganpati’s last blog post…Hubble - Edge Of The Universe
Before I read your post, I thought the logo was trying to disprove the saying “there is no I in team” or “there’s no I in we”, that “I’s” make up “we”. The “I” in this case’ll be the first vertical bar in the ‘w’. I hope I’m making sense, and maybe my thought’s a stretch, but that was my first impression. Whatever the case may be, I like the fact that it made me think, it made me want to ‘get it’
@Jay Ehret - While the company may spawn the creation of the logo, the logo itself helps to create the identity of the company and the way people perceive the brand.
i really believe that the logo doesn’t necessarily need to have the company’s name or initials in it, but it does have to represent the company, the company’s mission, or something to explain what they intend to do. Being clever can, and should be involved, but more a an afterthought. Take the Amazon.com logo with the arrow that most take as a smiley face. The company’s name is there, but the hidden message of the logo, “we have everything from a to z” is also there. Or FedEx, again with the company name, but also the hidden arrow between the e and x.
Perhaps a better idea would have been to make something such as the globe out of the organizations name, or maybe a mascot, that could certainly appeal to the younger generation, if that was what they were after.
Even though the logo is being used in commercials here in the U.S., its not being animated, I don’t know why. All they’d have to do is flip the “w” to become an “m” and hold it for half a second and flip it again. It’s simple, I just wish they’d implement it, maybe with a tagline like, “We and Me. Can change the World.” or something like that.
@drew - I like that idea too. It also could be used in an animation, with the help of a tagline.
@Zach - I guess we will have to disagree on that point. As marketers I think we tend to put too much thinking into the logo. I wonder what the discussion of the Starbucks logo, the Wal-Mart logo, and the Golden Arches would have been like had they been introduced here?
Jay Ehret’s last blog post…Happy One Year to The Marketing Spot
@Jay Ehret - That’s a good point.I’m sure there would have been some interesting discussions about those logos here. :)
Building off of Jay’s comment (great point). The purpose of the logo is to brand, differentiate and become a symbol of their agenda. While it may have been easy to use many of the other “green” or “environment” symbols we see a million times (Leaf, light bulb, cloud, sun), they chose to stand alone a bit. I’m fine with that. I’m not going to confuse them with another outfit.
Ultimately it will be the marketing, the message and the community around it that build the true symbolism and power of it’s reach. We’ll see what happens.
wow, mixed opinions all over the place! look what you have created David!
by the way, I emailed the company that printed your business card for an estimate and haven’t heard back from them. Im looking for someone that has a die cut of two rounder corners already made…to get it custom made, a company over here has quoted me $110 just for the cut.
Do you have an email for your contact there that you might share with me? Thanks
Brian Yerkes’s last blog post…PHP Redirect - 2 domains pointing to one website
@Aaron Weiche - I wish I would have said what you did!
Jay Ehret’s last blog post…Happy One Year to The Marketing Spot
Your comment isn’t old school at all. The less effects a logo needs, the more effective it is, without doubt. I spend a fair amount of time educating clients against adding reflections, outlines, and other additions that I believe cheapen the design.
Jay,
I agree. A logo is nothing without the entire brand package to back it up. You could have the most creative logo ever, but if your customer service (for example) is poor, it’s to no avail.
Ganpati,
You’re very welcome.
Drew,
That’s an interesting thought. Thanks for offering it.
Zach,
I’m with Jay on that point. I don’t believe a logo must explain what a company does. You only have to look at the world’s major brands to realise how many don’t. Thanks though, for adding to the discussion.
Aaron,
We shall indeed. You mentioned how the purpose of a logo is to differentiate. For sure. I’m not going to forget this one in a hurry, yet show me a familiar ‘green’ symbol and I will.
Brian,
It’s made for an interesting read. :)
The email address I have for Splash Printing is info@splashprint.co.uk, and my contact’s name is Ian. I hope they get back to you soon. It’s been some time since I spoke to them, as I placed a large order for my cards and the run is still going strong.
I just found your comment in my spam folder. Sorry about that, and thanks for commenting.
That’s very true, that many brand’s logos don’t have anything to do with what the company does, but they then have something to do with the company’s name like the UPS shiled, or Apple’s once-bitten apple, WaWa’s goose, and Hyundai’s creative version of an “h,” the list goes on. I think one of the problems I have with the logo is that the organization isn’t doing enough with the idea behind the logo to help support it(eg. animating it, adding a tag line, ect.) maybe that will change.
Clever. Cute. But it also runs the risk of being unoriginal. The we/me thing has been done.
My thing - I read “me” both ways, perhaps because being sensitive to typography, the stem identifies the letter as an “m” no matter how it’s turned. And “me” doesn’t resonate for environmental concerns. So for me, it’s a thumbs down.
i dont mean to be rude to mr gore, but that logo bites it
Yes I think this could be another case of the designer being too smart for his own boots…
Cleaver indeed but majority will NOT get it, also does not have any resemblance to the company which is indeed risky. I wonder how many companies would want something not looking like their corporate identity??
Jermayn Parker’s last blog post…Smart People
Like you said in your opening bit David, they have certainly taken a risk with this. I’m abit on the fence with it, I don’t think its instantly understandable what its trying to do, but a love its ambition.
I’m sure that when Landor Associates put forward the current FEDEX logo they would have scratched their heads and said “what if people can’t see the arrow or understand what we’ve done?”. BUT they put it forward and it works and will do for a very long time based on the fact that it requires some thought but is simple at the same time.
This logo I think belongs in the same camp, its thought provoking and is asking questions like its subject should. Like some people have said I think it will work best when animated to show its double meaning and once people know they will see it everytime (like FEDEX etc)
I have a feeling that this could become a minor classic.
Thank you for showing it to us.
Gareth
simple yet nice; i just wonder how much the iteration to have this kind of design, i’m sure telling this will greatly differ from “just luck” nice or “full effort” nice. thx for the article david.
Nugroho Pratama’s last blog post…UU Information and Electronic Transaction
I like it — it’s clean & simple : ] and it’s something different!
Jenna’s last blog post…In Search of the Truth
Seeing this logo made we realise the conceptual meaning behind the Nintendo Wii. When you read it, it sounds like ‘WE’ but its actually spelt with two i’s…
all things considered, I think the public is more than capable of handing such a concept. The progressive nature of what Gore is trying to do is so clearly captured in this logo.
It’s amazing how simplicity truly is more effective than complexity when it comes to logos. This logo leaves an incredible impact, as it’s still stuck in my head as I’m typing this!
Beyond the logo, I’d like to compliment you on your blog. I found this blog by doing a google search for “dofollow blogs”. I design cartoon logos myself so I found your blog to be very interesting.
Keep up the good work!
I really like this logo. Very simple but i think it is really…. mmm…. efficient?
Sebastien’s last blog post…The iPhone As A Recording Studio