Marks of Excellence by Per Mollerup

The book “Marks of excellence” by Per Mollerup begins by explaining the original motivations for making the “forerunners” of the modern trademark. It says that the three original reasons for making this kind of mark were for either social identity, ownership or origin.

The book then goes on to explain the marks of heraldry that were marks on the protective suits of knights that were competing in jousting matches. These marks were used to help the herald identify the knights so that he could then announce them to the crowd and for knights fighting in the crusades to identify each other. This was necessary because the knight’s entire bodies including their faces would be covered in armor while in these situations. There was a specific system developed with rules for making these marks.

The next section in the book talks about monograms that were developed and used as signatures due to the fact that many people, including nobility, were unable to read or write.

Branding and earmarks were the next two topics in the book. Branding was used to establish ownership of animals that often grazed together because of the absence of fences. The Farmers and herders needed to either burn a brand into their animals or cut unique shaped chunks out of the animal’s ears in order for them to tell which animal was theirs.

The next few sections describes the marks that tradesmen such as potters, masons, printers and papermakers used to establish the origin of the product.

The “design programme” is the next to be described in the book. The design programme involves all of the choices made to develop a companies visual identity. This

Is intended to establish what, who or how a company is. The design programme should be “a dynamic statement of aspirations that inspires employees, helping to improve of employee motivation and customer satisfaction” (Mollerup, 2009). It should also be used to establish external identification of the company.

The next sections describe corporate identity structures. The Monastic, Endorsed and Pluralistic identity structures are described in detail over the next few sections.

Manufacturing Logos

The logo for lockheed martin is simple and easily recognizable. The contrast between the solid, bold, sans serif typeface and the light lines that suggest a star gives me a good idea what this corporation is about. Not only does the star make one think of the sky it also is used in our culture to represent something that is great. Also the way that the star is re

ndered to contrast the typeface, makes one think of speed or movement. Since this corporation is highly involved in the flight industry, all of these symbolic meanings work to tell what the corporation does. The best thing is that it does it in such a simple and inconspicuous way.

The logo for H & S manufacturing tells me nothing about what the company does or represents. The simple bold typeface combined with the drop-shadow is a look that is cliche as well as dated. It looks like someone literally just types the characters into adobe illustrator or photoshop and added a layer style. No thought must have gone into this piece other than possibly the color which is something that doesn't tell me anything about the company either. When I see this type of logo (and they are everywhere) I get the feeling that the company hasn't a care about their public image, so why would they care about a quality product?

Services Logos

I think that this is a well designed logo. The red "e" contrasts with the three "C's" to create a visual hierarchy that makes me look at the letters in the correct order for the name of the company. Also the simple illustrations that create the letterforms, tell me that they are a cable company without me needing to read the name of the company. This logo is simple, to the point, and sends the message intended by the company.

This logo actually made me laugh. It is so ridiculously simple, but it is simple without intelligence. It makes me wonder if this company could not afford a designer so they got some clip art of the great lakes and placed there type over it using their favorite word processing program. There is no visual connection between the lakes in the background and the text. I am also lost as to why the word "The" and the characters "CO." are set horizontally while the other characters are set at an angle. This design makes so little sense to me in so many ways that it is hard for me to write about because I feel like I could just show it to anyone who had any sense and they would just look at me with a look of understanding and smile most of the explanation of that would be ineffable.

Not for Profit Logos

I think that this logo is smart as well as memorable. Its simple design is memorable on first glance and has a message about the organization. It's design is also smart because on second glance the audience can see that not only represents a puzzle piece, it also represents a child. Both conceptions of the image fit the purpose of the organization that wants to help the quality of life of autistic children. Even more brilliantly it represents playfulness, as in a child's game.

This logo for the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network has several problems that I see. First of all it is so cliche to have circle with the line through it that I highly doubt that it would get much notice from the passing crowd of visual consumers. It may get an initial reaction from some audiences, but that reaction may very well be confusion because the word Aspartame is not blocked out by the red bar and I have no idea what the name of the non-profit group is. Because of the cheap cliche used in the background my memory would not distinguish this organization from a no smoking sign.

Retail Logos

This logo works for me for several different reasons. First of all the treatment of the letterforms is fun and young looking which sends what I think would be the intended message that would invite the target audience. It is not overly complex or flashy so I feel that the place looks like a discount store without looking "Cheap".
Neither "Teen" nor "Discount" are overly prominent in the design, I think this is one of the elements that make it look Affordable but not Cheap. I like that the almost hand drawn "TDZ" is used in the design so that after the company has gained enough exposure, just this part of the logo could be used to cause a recall of this message in the audience.

This logo looks confusing and the illustration looks like it was forced into the design. It's readability is questionable at best, due to the cliche (and poorly illustrated) steering wheel that is used as the O in motor sport and put in a black box. On first glance I see MOTORSP Auto. This problem is created by the black box that is behind the steering wheel-O. The alignments of the letters make the design seem even more confusing. Or should I say the lack of alignment. The message I receive from this logo could have been sent more professionally and understandably by using just the word and an old fashion type writer. There is no cohesive flow through the design which might say "We sell vehicles that might not run to smoothly".

Professional Logos

This Logo for a graphics company is simple shows that the company not only understands typography but also is able to use that knowledge to convey the fun feeling of the organization using nothing more than type and its size and position. since this logo is black and does not rely on flashy illustration, there would be no problem using it in many different applications. With a simple variation in the single color of the design it could be used on any color background and the printing cost would be lower for some applications such as on packaging than a fancy multicolor Logo would cost

This Logo is for a graphics company. It is readable(Somewhat) and tells me of the many simple little tricks it can do with textures and printing or displaying on a white background. The problem I see with this Logo is that it is to complex to be quickly read and remembered by a passing audience that is going about there busy day. I Think that it's applications are limited without extensive alterations and special printing considerations. I don't think that this logo tells me much about the company other than the fact that they are a bit confused about the direction that they want to go with their public image. Upon careful consideration of their logo I can see the connection between varieties of letterforms and the name liquid, but for me I have to have a quick sell or it is no sale.