Creating an identity for an entire city or region is a tough undertaking.
You are trying to please many different stakeholders. You’re trying to communicate many different messages, but with limited real estate to do so. And you are creating something that is sure to be scrutinized very closely by many, because they have a stake in their city’s brand, and often some concern about how much public money is being spent on marketing activities.
With all these challenges, it is very tempting to do something safe and easy, which is exactly the trap that Philadelphia fell into. In fact, this new logo serves up a lot of place branding “don’ts” in a single creative execution. We’ll discuss them below.
1. DON’T rely on an icon.
Trying to select a single icon to represent a city or region is fraught with risk. For example, a mountain community that chooses a mountain icon has effectively done two things with that choice: 1) ensured that its logo looks like every other community that has mountains (because I’ll guarantee 90% of them also used a mountain icon), and 2) immediately created an image of the place that is pretty inflexible. If they want to promote themselves as a bustling mecca for technology, well… they’re screwed. Their reliance on that icon is sending the singular message that they’re a peaceful mountain community with streams and bunnies.
This is the problem with the bell icon here. Yes, Philadelphia is most known for the Libery Bell. But this icon, because it is so plain and literal, immediately makes a decision that this city is about its history and its famous landmarks. From an economic development perspective, that’s a big lost opportunity. Although font choice, colour and abstracted images also create a “feeling” about a place, they are much more open to interpretation, and can be more flexible in their application. If they wanted to leverage the recognition that comes from the Liberty Bell, the city should have at least employed a more abstract interpretation that perhaps “hints” at the bell, but also shows some creativity and interesting design.
2. DON’T phone in your tagline.
Life, liberty… and you? This tagline feels like an afterthought. Like the bell, it is safe, predictable and really says very little about the City of Philadelphia. In fact, I’m not really sure what it’s saying.
Writing a tagline for a city is a difficult task indeed. How do you sum it up in a single phrase? The answer lies in rejecting that ambition outright. There is no way to sum up everything a city stands for in a single phrase. You can focus on a primary goal or image you want to project and take a stand with a bold statement that reflects it. You can opt for multiple taglines that suit different situations. You can even forgo a tagline altogether and let the icon come alive in different applications where you can use more words, images and context to communicate what the city stands for.
But when you try to sum it all up in a single phrase, you are left with a tagline like “Life – Liberty – And You”. Almost as riveting as “Live, Work, Play”. A tagline counts. If you can’t find one that says something, it’s better not to say anything at all.
3. DON’T design by committee.
This logo was the result of consensus among 65 people. SIXTY FIVE members on this committee. No wonder it’s safe and doesn’t say anything. It’s unlikely that you’d be able to get 65 people to agree to anything else.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s critical to get input into a city logo, not only for the insight that comes from different perspectives but to encourage the buy-in that you will inevitably need to seek when it’s all said and done. But that input should not be in the form of “red vs. blue” or “lighthouse vs. seagull”. Trying to get a large committee to agree at this level of detail is a surefire way to ensure that everything different, creative and strong gets thrown out, because someone is bound to object. What is left on the table is the easy, wishy-washy stuff that nobody can find any real objection to. And then you choose from that pool.
Instead, get input at the “business challenge” level. What kind of message do we want to send out about our city? How do we want people to “feel” when they see our logo? What are our ambitions for this city’s future? Hand that info off to a professional creative agency and let them handle the colour choices and fonts in a way that best responds to the input your group has given.
4. DON’T believe that your logo IS your brand.
Most importantly, don’t get trapped by the idea that a single logo is your city’s brand. It’s not, and no logo can ever live up to this expectation. A brand is so much more than a mountain or a swoosh or a set of golden arches.
The Nike swoosh stands for commitment, sportsmanship and quality because of how they use it in their marketing efforts, and because of the experience they offer customers who buy their products. That little squiqqle is pretty meaningless without the full Nike context.
A logo is just a logo. Your brand is every piece of marketing, every media story, every facebook comment, every interaction that someone has with you. It is cumulative, and unlike colour or font, you cannot control it. You can only influence it by being true to your city’s goals and values and ensuring that you conduct your day-to-day business in a way that matches up with the promise of your logo and your marketing materials.
Once you relieve the pressure of trying to be all things to all people with a single image and tagline, you are on track to create something really interesting and memorable. Hopefully Philadelphia will get the message and give it another shot.
- Found via Brand New.
