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What is the story behind the Get Satisfaction Logo?
I think the logo works, and there's nothing wrong with it, per say, but it's always seemed quite bland to me. Basic black and white...very simplistic. I think what you guys are doing is revolutionary in some ways, but your logo doesn't express it. Where's the enthusiasm, the transparency, the passion? I think my first impression is just of an old slip of paper from the 17th century. Help me out, I'd love to hear more about the thought process
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Inappropriate?Hi Sam,
Thanks for your feedback and for asking about this. I believe you're the first one to do so. :)
We were trying to capture something of a bygone era where people took pride in customer service -- you went to your general store and everyone knew each other. Thus the hand-drawn look in black and white.
We were also exploring the idea of an old fashioned "seal of approval". We went through several design comps with the designer we were working with -- some more embellished with lots of flourishes and what not but finally decided on the more simple "ribbon" look of our current logo.
Maybe that helps you understand it better? I do find your feedback really interesting. We looked back for the logo, but I can certainly see a case for being more futuristic with it to better portray the idea of being revolutionary.
I’m dusting the cobwebs out of my memory.
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Inappropriate?Ah, well that explains the history bit. That definitely comes through, so in that way it's quite successful. The company - customer pact certainly helps contribute to that. I think what confuses me is the layout of your site, which is much more modern, but combined with the logo...I'm not sure exactly. I guess it leaves me feeling as if I'm in some sort of historical limbo. When I see the logo, I expect the background of the website (the light blue bit) to be more like wood, or a barrel. It's not very constructive though, I know, because having a wood texture on here could just make it look like a gimmicky blog, which is not what you'd want to keep your legitimacy with companies and customers. Maybe just more of an neutral/earthy tone to the background/some of border layout?
I’m perplexed
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Inappropriate?Well, I guess we're giving a nod to the past with logo but then looking forward to the future (including the future of customer service :) with the rest of the site design.
I’m projecting since I'm not a designer
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Inappropriate?I give it a thumbs-up. Maybe a bit more style and consistency with the rest of GS's logo / bug elements could be nicer. But clean and simple? Enthusiastic YES!!! I think swoops, spheres Photoshop filter effects, etc., etc, are overused to the extreme - and amateur-hour. Clean designs are reemerging; and in my opinion will set the standard for truly professional graphic designs.
IMHO,
Jim / Yellotools1 Comment
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Thanks for that opinion, Texas-Jim. We always enjoy hearing from you. :) -
Inappropriate?Thanks, Amy, for giving us all a bit of history around the Get Satisfaction logo. Since I wasn't here when it was designed, it's helpful to hear more about what its intention is and what it is trying to communicate. I do think that it does a pretty good job at trying to represent something that looks like an old-fashioned seal of approval. And even though the company is a couple years older than when it was designed, this intention (or communication goal) is still applicable to what our brand is about today.
That said, I can definitely see where Sam is coming from when he talks the fact that the logo would family well with page elements that have more of a retro feel to them. My friend Tim has a photography site which uses a lot of elements that look aged (http://www.gasperak.com/). It's easy for me to imagine our logo succeeding more in an environment that had that kind of overall approach. Of course that's not right in terms of what we are trying to do with our product. But from a purely aesthetic standpoint, it would work well.
Even though I think a logo's main job is to communicate clearly, my big beef with the logo is that it is very hard to work with and doesn't really read so clearly when it is a smaller size. It also looks best when it overlays two separate spaces or colors which is a bit restricting. But that's the day to day designer talking in me. Not me acting as the creative director.
Someday (perhaps as early as the end of this year) we will redesign the logo. So I'm curious to know what you think it should be communicating. I always start a logo exercise by defining the brand elements -- or words that express the feelings and ideas -- that a logo should convey. Then you can measure whether it (and the surrounding page elements) are succeeding in their communication goals. So in your mind, what are the concepts Get Satisfaction embodies or should be designing to?
Thanks so much for this interesting discussion.
I’m thankful
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Inappropriate?I would say the most important concepts for me are:
transparency
innovation
inviting/friendly atmosphere
supportive
exchange (in the form of a discussion, not the usual customer service one-way answer)
creative participation (in that people can become psuedo-employees by adding input and helping to define the direction of a company)
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I also agree with Texas-Jim, that the clean design of GS is one of the things that makes it so refreshing. So the site itself I would hesitate to change, for the most part.
I’m thoughtful
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Inappropriate?Thanks for the input, Sam. I love the list of words that you suggest and will bring them to rest of the team once we begin that process.
I also wanted to say thanks to Texas Jim for his comments. I love clean designs and agree that Photoshop filters are often overused.
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