Minding Your Own Brand

After all, isn’t it just
a piece of toast?

By Dave Lubelczyk

If you have been on eBay lately you may have discovered the large number of pieces of toast for sale that "miraculously" bear the image of everyone from Jesus to Michael Jackson. This phenomenon is not new. Over the years, late night comedians have had guests with presidential potato chip portraits and vegetables shaped like Buddha. If you think about it, haven’t we all seen a little bit more than the obvious in our food or in the clouds? I grew up with wood paneling in my bedroom and I had a number of faces and animals that hid within the wood grain. But when all is said and done, should we really get that excited when Mother Teresa appears in a cinnamon bun? After all, aren’t people reading a little too much into things by declaring this a miracle and encouraging people to make a pilgrimage to see it?

Much like these over exaggerated interpretations, corporate logos are often designed to represent much more than their surface appearance. Throughout my career, I have been involved in a number of logo design projects. During the process, the company’s leaders give a list of attributes they wish the logo to convey. The design team then spends long hours trying to find the right iconic imagery, type treatment, and colors which send the proper message. Every detail is scrutinized and in the end the perfect logo is unveiled to the public with much fanfare.

Recently the "New" AT&T unveiled its logo and the press release described the re-branding like this:

"The revitalized mark symbolizes these attributes — innovation, integrity, quality, reliability and unsurpassed customer care."

" The new logo reinvigorates the AT&T globe — one of the most recognized corporate symbols in the world. The new globe is three-dimensional, representing the expanding breadth and depth of services that the new AT&T family of companies provides to customers, as well as its global presence."

" Transparency was added to the globe to represent clarity and vision. Lowercase type is now used for the "AT&T" characters because it projects a more welcoming and accessible image."

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