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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2012

If we look around, us logos havebecome the preferred language formost brands. They communicatemuch more than words. If your logodenotes either or all of these (style,stature, sophistication or substance),your brand has truly arrived.

VIPUL THAKKARExecutive Creative Director, South, DDB Mudra Group

BY ANKITA SHREERAM

Why is McDonald’s logo yellowand IBM’s logo blue?Wouldn’t any other colour do?

Probably not, because nothing stimu-lates the appetite like yellow and blueis the colour of choice for inspiring au-thority, success and security.Omnipresent and discreetly influential,different colours impact our psyche inuniquely different ways. And marketershave long since used this phenome-non to their advantage.

“The colours in logos are very con-sciously chosen. The colour that youselect would depend on the purposeof the logo and the kind of product youwould be marketing. For instance, cor-porate logos generally have staidcolours. Software companies go foryouthful and trendier colours.Exuberance is the key word for youth-oriented products as opposed to theconventionality of corporate logos,”says Adrian Mendonza, CreativeDirector, Rain 7. Microsoft has opted fora refreshingly colourful yet elegantlogo after 25 long years. “We havemodernised it, ensured it familiariseswell with our product logos and usedfour colours that represent our her-itage,” says Shafalika Saxena, CMO,Microsoft India. She goes on to explainthe rationale behind the logo, “Just asyour genetic code creates similar physi-

cal traits among your family members,Microsoft is the DNA that provides theconnection across our family of offer-ings. Although our products, pro-grammes and services may differ, theMicrosoft DNA ensures they work to-gether. The logo is a visual symbolismof that DNA.”

The repeating motifs of certaincolours in a particular brand category isactually quite noticeable. “Differentcolours come with different messages.Some of them are synonymous withbrand categories. For instance, warmcolours like orange, red and yellow aresynonymous with food brands. Fashionbrands use bolder colours in their lo-gos. Feminine brands would preferpastel. If you need your brand to have abold image, then red would help. Sodepending on the image you have inmind, you choose the colour,” advisesAmit Akali, National Creative Directorand Executive Vice President, GreyWorldwide.

The orange in Nickelodeon is de-signed to appeal to kids and the pink inBarbie denotes delicate feminity.“Colour psychology is well recognisedas a key marketing lever. Colours areimbued with rich connotation. Colourchanges can imply brand transforma-tion,” agrees Saxena. Logos would cer-tainly not be as effective or as evocativewithout their consciously chosencolours.

Colour me Pink!Logos wouldn’t be what they are without theirartfully chosen colours

Sujata Keshavan founded India’s first branddesign consultancy Ray+Keshavan in 1989.In a career marked by many firsts, she hashelped to create the country’s leading

brands, been part of eminent juries and served asadvisor to organisations across the commercial, ed-ucational and governmental sectors. She is a mem-ber of the Global Design Council of the WorldEconomic Forum. Excerpts from the interview...

You are widely recognised as the pioneer of brandidentity design in India. Which was the first logoyou designed for an Indian company?I returned to India after studying with Paul Rand,who was the first designer to link business to de-sign, proving that (good) design has an importantrole to play in making a business successful.

This role of design was unknown in India at thetime, and Ray+Keshavan was the first company todemonstrate it through the work we did. One ofthe first major brand identity programmes that Iworked on was for Rajan Nanda's Escorts Group inDelhi. Another important milestone was the re-design of the Infosys identity when the companywas scaling up its international presence in the ear-ly 90S. I have always been a strong proponent inthe fact that design is powerful and can be usedtransform brands as well as organisations.

Why do brand identity programmes need so muchinvestment? Why should logo design cost hundredsof thousands of dollars?A brand identity programme is much more thanthe drawing of a mark or a logo. In our practice, welook at ways in which brand strategy and designcan align across all touchpoints which range fromthe logo to employee behaviour. When brands areviewed through the lens of design thinking, creativesolutions emerge across the board. We help inte-grate all brand delivery channels around a clearidea and intent which provide the centre of gravityof the brand. Brands are constantly evolving, andthe programme takes heed of this, so that the pro-gramme stays relevant for several years.

Tell us about the process you follow.We have a proprietary trademarked process calledLIVE the brand which starts with a brand audit andends with large scale implementation.

The process integrates art and science, logic andmagic. We take a brand, shake it inside-out and seeif it holds tight without unravelling. We then makesure that the idea and vision we agree on in theboardroom is translated seamlessly to real-world

markets. We believe that a robust process actuallyfrees the team up to reflect, ideate and experiment.We use our years of experience to make sure thatundue time and energy is not spent on needless it-eration or panic-stricken crisis management.

We want the concerned teams to think with theirbrains as well as their hearts. In fact, I believe thatthe role of intuition is often underestimated. Webelieve in listening to gut-feel which often providesthe magic behind the logic.

What is unique about India when it comes to brandidentity design?India is unique in its diversity. It has a population of1.2 billion people (one sixth of humankind), hasseventeen languages, each with its own script,1600 dialects, all major religions, 330 million godsand goddesses, the world's richest and the world'spoorest people. It lives simultaneously in the 16thand 21st centuries. Finding common ground acrossall this diversity is a real challenge. Other anomalies

include an excessive reliance, on empirical evi-dence on the one hand, and strong belief in astrol-ogy and superstition on the other. Indian clientsfrom the larger companies, also tend to be morerisk averse than their western counterparts, seekingreassurance in safe solutions that are known tohave worked before. For example, a telecom clientwill take comfort from the fact that one has workedon another, similar, telecom project earlier. Wehave even had a prospective client ask us whichfront-loading washing machine we had brandedbefore!

Steve Jobs said that if Apple did consumer researchthere would be no iPod. What is your point of viewon design research?Research is useful in helping you understand peo-ple, why they do the things they do, how they useproducts, how they shape their environments,what they aspire to, what they dream about, and soon. However, people cannot tell you how they willreact to or use something that is new, untried –something they have not experienced before.Market research, especially through the use of fo-cus groups is not helpful as it invariably throws upthe safest, options, the lowest common denomina-tor. Unfortunately, there is an overwhelming re-liance on this sort of research as a crutch on whicha manager can base his decision making. So I total-ly agree with Steve Jobs on this matter.

If there is one thing you could change about the in-dustry, what would it be?As the brand consulting and design industry ma-tures, it needs to introspect and self-correct.Creative work done for a pitch is facile and under-values one's own philosophy.

“A brand identity programme is much morethan the drawing of a mark or a logo”

Research is useful in helping youunderstand people, why they dothe things they do, how they useproducts, how they shape theirenvironments, what they aspire to,what they dream about, and so on

SUJATA KESHAVANIN CONVERSATION

Sujata’ s five point test for a great logo1. Relevance:Does it do justice to the brand po-sitioning?2. Differentiation: Is it sufficiently differentiatedfrom competition?3. Memorability:Does it make an impressionand prompt recall?4. Integration:Does it lend itself to a compellingbrand identity?5. Endurance:Will it stand the test of time? Canit be easily implemented?

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