Logo Genderfication?
Is your logo “female” or “male?” If it’s got a little starburst-style element to it, and seems lighter and “happier,” feminine brain traits may have been involved. And, right now, that could be an especially good thing.
A recent article in the New York Times covered a few big brand logo updates that have occurred in the past year or so. As a passionate fan of most things design-related, it was fun for me to notice the softening of colors, and the lighter weight or more rounded-ness of fonts, for instance. But, a follow-up letter to the editor in yesterday’s Times made me realize I’d missed something about how those decisions for change may have been made (and by whom).
In his letter, Rick Barrack, Chief Creative Officer of CBX Strategic Branding, pointed out that brand logos may well represent the personality of the chief executive who ultimately approves the new look. He noticed the following about the such changes for Walmart, Kraft and SuperFresh, among others:
“The underlying theme with many of these new logos is that they came from companies with female chief executives.” He went on to say: “Female chief executives, with their cooperative, collaborative management styles, have brought a new point of view to their organizations and their logos.”
As writer Bill Marsh laid out in the original NYT article: the newer logos all have toned-down type, friendly flourishes and happier colors. His particular point, which I think is as worthy as the CEO gender consideration, was that those details may have something to do with wanting to counter the gravity of the recession. As in: No more harsh dark blue, let’s lively that up! (I’m so there.)
To me, this discussion represents a larger cultural shift I’ve been seeing lately, which reflects a different level of gender integration (for lack of a better way to put it at the moment). Big, traditional, linearly (i.e. male) corporate brands are getting an infusion of fresh perspective. The typically “feminine” style of thinking in cooperative and collaborative ways is now more heavily influencing corporate culture, leadership training, HR policies… on down to brand logo re-designs.
Whether it is due to the recession, or due to a few more women serving as executive decision-makers, this change has been a long time coming. But, to me it can’t be just women alone who ponder logos and manage with more collaborative and cooperative viewpoints. Rather, the more we spread the word about how companies are making such wise moves based on those “feminine” brain traits, the better for everyone.
It’s a whole new, extra-tough business climate these days, and brands and consumers alike deserve the extra friendly flourish a little feminine thinking might bring to their day – shopping or otherwise.
