People don't like Apple, Google, etc. because they have cool, meaningful logos. I don't even know if the apple has a significant meaning beyond a fruit, and if it did it wouldn't make me want Apple products more than I do now.
This reminds me of when Pepsi paid several million dollars for a new logo, and this 27 page marketing doc leaked explaining how their new logo takes into account everything from the Mona Lisa to gravitational fields:
I think companies that are falling behind seem to be grasping at the straw. Someone suggested "well we seem to be losing market share, it is probably because we have an outdated logo, let's fix that"
HP is a big enough company that they will be able to take this and make it recognizable. As with any brand, it will take a lot of time, but I'm interested to see how this works for them.
It's likely the most abstract and simple logo I've seen a company of this size try using, so I admire this move on their part because it's risky and interesting. I do question the 13° thing, though. It may be crossing the line of simplicity and non-description if they intend to move on to just a forward-slash in a decade. I don't know if such a simple shape can do the job of a logo.
edit: Regardless, almost any logo can be a good logo if it's stamped on good products.
"The defining signature of the system is the 13° angle. 13° represents HP’s spirit as a company, driven forward by ingenuity and optimism about the future and a belief in human progress."
This reads to a non-designer like myself as pure BS, written merely to justify the likely exhorbitant cost of their work. All that seems missing is a few "paradigms" and "outside the boxes".
Could an experienced logo designer weigh in a let us "pure techies" know if this kind of stuff passes muster with you? Does a 13* angle really convey that much more than a 14* could?
For what it's worth, the new logo looks terrible. The old one had a classic tech look like IBM's.
The original logo from the 1940s is 13°, which is why it's not 12° or 14°.
Companies strive for the pure distillation of their brand. Over time, the identity of successful brands become simpler and simpler because the simpler it is, the easier and quicker it is to identify from afar. What's better than the Nike swoosh with the Nike text on top? Just the swoosh by itself because people know what the swoosh is without you telling them. Starbucks also recently simplified their logo. They dropped the text and emphasised the siren. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future, the Starbucks logo is nothing but a green circle.
Coca-Cola is a master at this. You don't need the cursive white text to know that a red can is probably Coca-Cola. They effectively own the red can. With the new Diet Coke branding, they're trying to do the same for a silver can.
The experiment is trying to establish something similar for HP. When you redesign something, you have to carry over something from previous designs--otherwise it's not something familiar but completely foreign. The agency that did this redesign decided to focus on the angle of the italicised text hoping that HP can eventually "own" anything that is slanted 13°
As a design student I can guarantee the 13° stuff is presentation BS. It's an attempt to make the HP board-members feel as if they really got their money's worth, like it's been meticulously designed and perfected to the degree.
I wish they had just referred to it as an italic, because that's what it is. But that wouldn't fly.
When you look at it, you see the 'h' and the 'p', but when you just glance at it, it's nothing. The effect is kinda neat, but I'm tempted to say that 'clever' is not what a logo should be (and I think clever here is being generous).
edit: at least not this kinda of clever, where the whole thing is hidden.
A little bit too simple for me. I guess it supposed to look cool and sleek, but I don't know, something is odd about just 4 lines. What do you guys think?
So you're the new CEO at HP, and you look out across the landscape. You see many problems. Lots of things need deliberate attention with a mindful approach to creating solutions that can be put in motion today and followed through for years to come....
And you come to the conclusion that what the company really needs is a corporate identity refresh.
Je ne sais quoi - An intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive.
I can say, with a high level of confidence, that the intangible quality that produces je ne said quoi surrounding brands like Apple. The current HP logo is sufficiently "designy" to surpass the general public's expectations.
[+] [-] tartuffe78|14 years ago|reply
This reminds me of when Pepsi paid several million dollars for a new logo, and this 27 page marketing doc leaked explaining how their new logo takes into account everything from the Mona Lisa to gravitational fields:
http://code.google.com/p/daxp/downloads/detail?name=pepsi%20...
I wonder if the Pepsi execs are still looking at this doc and wondering why they are second to Coke and Diet Coke?
[+] [-] rdtsc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rbanffy|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] EwanToo|14 years ago|reply
It's a nice concept, but falls down badly on actually being readable and recognisable as a company logo, not a random modern art installation.
[1] http://www.movingbrands.com/?category_name=hp-work
[+] [-] thereallurch|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] artursapek|14 years ago|reply
It's likely the most abstract and simple logo I've seen a company of this size try using, so I admire this move on their part because it's risky and interesting. I do question the 13° thing, though. It may be crossing the line of simplicity and non-description if they intend to move on to just a forward-slash in a decade. I don't know if such a simple shape can do the job of a logo.
edit: Regardless, almost any logo can be a good logo if it's stamped on good products.
[+] [-] bluedevil2k|14 years ago|reply
This reads to a non-designer like myself as pure BS, written merely to justify the likely exhorbitant cost of their work. All that seems missing is a few "paradigms" and "outside the boxes".
Could an experienced logo designer weigh in a let us "pure techies" know if this kind of stuff passes muster with you? Does a 13* angle really convey that much more than a 14* could?
For what it's worth, the new logo looks terrible. The old one had a classic tech look like IBM's.
[+] [-] jinushaun|14 years ago|reply
Companies strive for the pure distillation of their brand. Over time, the identity of successful brands become simpler and simpler because the simpler it is, the easier and quicker it is to identify from afar. What's better than the Nike swoosh with the Nike text on top? Just the swoosh by itself because people know what the swoosh is without you telling them. Starbucks also recently simplified their logo. They dropped the text and emphasised the siren. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future, the Starbucks logo is nothing but a green circle.
Coca-Cola is a master at this. You don't need the cursive white text to know that a red can is probably Coca-Cola. They effectively own the red can. With the new Diet Coke branding, they're trying to do the same for a silver can.
The experiment is trying to establish something similar for HP. When you redesign something, you have to carry over something from previous designs--otherwise it's not something familiar but completely foreign. The agency that did this redesign decided to focus on the angle of the italicised text hoping that HP can eventually "own" anything that is slanted 13°
[+] [-] artursapek|14 years ago|reply
I wish they had just referred to it as an italic, because that's what it is. But that wouldn't fly.
[+] [-] Jgrubb|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rbanffy|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] latch|14 years ago|reply
edit: at least not this kinda of clever, where the whole thing is hidden.
[+] [-] udp|14 years ago|reply
Seems to imply this is some kind of joke?
[+] [-] Raphael|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zyb09|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] listic|14 years ago|reply
I would say that the Cisco (old: http://www.it-building.ru/insertfiles/Image/cisco-270406.jpg new: http://www.theavco.com/sites/default/files/images/Cisco_logo...) and Russian Railways (http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1487/1111qa.jpg old: left, new: right) are too parts of this worrying pattern.
[+] [-] cawhitworth|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bradleyland|14 years ago|reply
And you come to the conclusion that what the company really needs is a corporate identity refresh.
Je ne sais quoi - An intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive.
-- http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/je_ne_sais_quoi
I can say, with a high level of confidence, that the intangible quality that produces je ne said quoi surrounding brands like Apple. The current HP logo is sufficiently "designy" to surpass the general public's expectations.
[+] [-] swombat|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] prawn|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] warmfuzzykitten|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josephkern|14 years ago|reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Press
[+] [-] jerrya|14 years ago|reply
http://cyberiancafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/illy1.png
[+] [-] astrodust|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gnu8|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rytis|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] antifuchs|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kondro|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] wtvanhest|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wtvanhest|14 years ago|reply