MenuLike an Elvis on black velvet
September 16, 2014Two brand identities were launched within a couple of weeks of each other this past summer. The reason to mention this is that both brand identities are wordmarks that feature stacked words, both were executed by the same firm and yet, the end results could not be more different.
The first was the brand identity for the merged Penguin and Random House, with publishing giants Bertelsmann owning 53% of the joint venture and Pearson owning 47%. Penguin Random House describes itself as the first truly global publishing company with operations in the US, Canada, UK, India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Chile. It publishes more than 15,000 new titles every year across 250 imprints. It also publishes many of the world’s bestselling authors, including more than 70 Nobel Prize Laureates.
The font used for the Penguin Random House wordmark evokes the Courier typeface used on typewriters, yet it is much more elegant and sophisticated. It has also been used with great care and a deft hand. Note in the detail above how the “g” from Penguin and the “d” from Random come close but do not touch. This is not random (no pun intended), but the result of deliberate letter spacing and spacing between the lines. This is brand identity at its finest.
The other brand that was launched was Cooper Hewitt, the design museum that is part of the Smithsonian Museum, rebranded this summer. The museum previously used a logo that was part of the Smithsonian Institution identity system. (The Smithsonian Institution, “the world’s largest museum and research complex” includes 19 museums and galleries as well as the Washington DC’s National Zoo.) Founded in 1897, and located on New York City’s Museum Mile, Cooper Hewitt claims to be the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. It states its collection ranges from Egypt’s Late Period (1100 B.C.) to the present day, and totals more than 200,000 objects.
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The design is heavy handed and without any sophistication. It seems to be almost anti-design, which is odd for a museum whose mission is to “educate, inspire and empower people through design.” This branding effort would be akin to an Elvis Presley portrait on black velvet being used to represent New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Sure, not every brand identity will be more spectacular than the preceding, regardless of the care and effort brought to the branding engagement. Different individuals often work on separate client engagements (that is especially true in large firms). At the end of the day, however, the final results are the work of the firm. That would somehow suggest that certain standards are required to be met before any work is presented to a client and ultimately becomes final. In the case of Penguin Random House, the standard was exceeded, but was not met by the work for Cooper Hewitt.
