In light of all the hilarious 'best practices' talk after the github/rails incident, the best practice in this situation is to hire a graphic designer to do even this early stage mascot research.
Why you ask? Much like API design, a logo/mascot/etc, once you commit to it, is very hard to change. People talk about software that scales, but keep in mind, identities need to scale too. The standard logo/identity course in any design program goes into this and forces you to think about identity not only as a mascot, but as a system.
This isn't to say that any of the submissions proffered wouldn't be valuable, they might be! But the whole thing that happens when you pick up a designer is that you also are implicitly asking them to research how your brand/logo appears on a shirt, on a business card, in press clippings, on sponsorship banners, and so forth.
These are all things that are incredibly easy to ignore because, unless you've done this before, it's really hard to get an identity right the first time.
Also, why's it gotta be an animal? What ever happened to those insanely geometric but disturbingly sinister-looking corporate logos from back in the day? ;)
15 comments
[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 40.2 ms ] threadWhy you ask? Much like API design, a logo/mascot/etc, once you commit to it, is very hard to change. People talk about software that scales, but keep in mind, identities need to scale too. The standard logo/identity course in any design program goes into this and forces you to think about identity not only as a mascot, but as a system.
This isn't to say that any of the submissions proffered wouldn't be valuable, they might be! But the whole thing that happens when you pick up a designer is that you also are implicitly asking them to research how your brand/logo appears on a shirt, on a business card, in press clippings, on sponsorship banners, and so forth.
These are all things that are incredibly easy to ignore because, unless you've done this before, it's really hard to get an identity right the first time.
Also, why's it gotta be an animal? What ever happened to those insanely geometric but disturbingly sinister-looking corporate logos from back in the day? ;)