Michael Beruit at the Design Observer has some useful reminders (or maybe new perspectives for some people) about the importance of context and history to design. Prospective logo designs, in particular, are frequently evaluated as if they were acontextual. But most logos achieve their potential only over time and in the context of their use. The Nike swoosh, for example, means something much different today than it did initially. The swoosh today is one of the most recognized logos on the planet, but this is only when seen against its historical development and use, as part of Nike's aggressive branding campaign.
Give Nike founder Phil Knight credit: he had the vision to admit, “I don’t love it. But I think it’ll grow on me."
Maybe he believed it. Or maybe he was just tired of trying to decide. Either way, context did the rest.
[The Knight link above is to an interesting Stanford alumni magazine article about Knight and the Nike branding campaign.]
Notably, the Nike's branding efforts themselves have also taken place within a broader context that includes critiques of global capitalism (among other things), so the "meaning" of the swoosh is itself a localized, contested articulation: What the swoosh means is different depending on where you stand. Any specific individual or organization cannot simply make a logo (or any other design) mean a single, unified thing for all people in all places at all times.
Posted by johndanseven at June 30, 2006 11:20 AM