The lesson theme for this academic week is logos. First task we need to work on is understanding positioning in logos.
1. Look at the following logos and explain in your own words what you consider their positioning to be (do this for each one).
The first logo we need to discuss is the well known Instagram logo. The way I see it is that it is very simple on shapes, but a bit more generous with the colors. Instagram is a photo sharing platform, so having a colorful logo makes perfect sense. The orange, purple and red colors they use give the feeling of warmth and excitement.
The shapes form a Polaroid camera which also represents the app's purpose to capture moments in our lives and share them with the world.
Instagram is a rather new app, but they have already changed their logo once. They moved from the detailed Polaroid camera to a more simple shape that still has the same idea.
The next logo we will be talking about is the classy and sleek Mercedes logo. Mercedes is a company that is well known for producing luxury vehicles from far back in history to modern days. Throughout the years they have evolved their logo from being flashy and busy to more simple and unique. Mirroring the high class their logo is a simple half star shape within a ring and metallic shine.
The last logo for this task is the Mastercard logo.
Mastercard is an alliance of different banks originating in America, therefore giving it the name "Master card". I have personally never used mastercard, so I don't have much experience with it. But lets talk about the logo. The logo consists of two colored ovals, one red and one yellow that blend in to an orange on one side of each circle. To me that means change or transformation. The red color usually represents anger and worry, while the yellow is warmth and safety. So according to the logo the red oval transforms in to yellow, meaning they try to change the worry in people to safety and warmth in their environment. The logo itself is simple, but if my theory is right, it can say a lot without having to be too complicated.
2. Let’s work backwards! Look at the logo on the Apple iPhone and, by doing your own research, investigate the history of the product and the company that manufactures it. Give an outline, in your own words, of what you consider the following to be:
Describe the iPhone's brand identity – exactly as you see it
What do you think its positioning is currently?
What do you think the strategy for this specific product was?
What research do you think was done on this by the company who made it?
So now we are talking Apple, that same Apple that is the world's largest technology company by revenue and the one that has so many people's minds and pockets wrapped in it's hands. Apple is a company that designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. It is considered one of the Big Tech technology companies, alongside Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976. Wayne gave up his share within 12 days and Wozniak departed the company in 1985. Since then Steve Jobs has been the face of Apple until his passing in 2011. Even though the company went through a lot of struggles throughout the years, to this day they promise to deliver good quality products and innovation.
One of the most well known Apple products is the iPhone, a line of touchscreen-based smartphones that use Apple's iOS mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007 and they have released a new phone every year since then.
For the task questions.
1.Describe the iPhone's brand identity – exactly as you see it
Apple aims to be unique. They make and follow their own rules. They want to keep their loyal customers satisfied and feeling like the product is worth the price they pay. In order to achieve that they advertise the iPhone as modern and easy to use.
2.What do you think its positioning is currently?
Currently Apple has more than 1.5 billion products active and in use worldwide, most of which are iPhones, this shows that they have many loyal customers, who prefer using Apple products above any others. iPhone has a strong positioning on the phone market.
3.What do you think the strategy for this specific product was?
The first-generation iPhone was described as "revolutionary" and a "game-changer" and they have been credited for popularizing the smartphone. Their strategy for success is to be always on top of technology and be the first to introduce new phone features and updates.
4.What research do you think was done on this by the company who made it?
Steve Jobs started developing the iPhone as early as 2004, he started to gather a team of 1,000 employees, some of which already worked for the company, to work on the highly confidential "Project Purple". Apple created the device during a secretive collaboration with Cingular Wireless at an estimated development cost of US$150 million over thirty months. To me that means that Jobs wanted to be the first to introduce a completely new device and step up the global smartphone level. At this time the smartphones were mainly used for calls and texts, designed to have long battery life, without having to many other options. Meanwhile the iPhone iOS was designed with capabilities such as multitasking, graphics and had the unexpected benefit of allowing OS X developers to rapidly expand into iOS development.
3. Now take the same product as in question 2 and explain, in your own words, how the visual element (in this case, the logo) fits in with the brand identity.
The Apple logo consists of a simple shape of an apple with a peace bitten off on the side. The color scheme is mostly grey and white, representing modern technology. According to Steve Jobs, the company's name was inspired by his visit to an apple farm and he thought the name "Apple" was "fun, spirited and not intimidating". And of course the logo needed to mach that name.
Apple's first logo was designed by Ron Wayne and it depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. It was almost immediately replaced by Rob Janoff's "rainbow Apple" and now days it's even more simplistic and sophisticated. To me the missing peace also means that there will always be something that they need to discover and add to their products, but the apple will never be complete, which makes an infinite loop to keep them going and innovating in the future.
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