Pixar must have been off their holy rockers
Indeed, they must have been a little crazy to have made that deep a plunge into animation, and yet if you look at the neon filled urban lights around you, you would see just how far the animation culture has come into the corporate cycle. So let us all take some time and congratulate upon the flexibility and creativity of the individuals in Pixar who managed to create pieces of art that were so unique and relatable all at the same time.
Does that sound familiar? You bet it does. That is every marketer and designers magnum opus. To make the business they serve into a recognized, household brand. And you do that by making it unique and relatable. So those two words are not just catchy instances, they are be and all of a designers existence, the religion (for lack of a better term) for a marketer. It is those things that Pixar caught on so well to, and hence cartoons and animations did not just become accepted, they became the rage of corporate culture on their own.
Cartoons and business? It sounds..unorthodox?
It certainly is, except that brands do adopt it to achieve success. But first ask yourself if you need a cartoon logo or a mascot hanging around your ads or your billboards. And you must also understand that the answer is twofold. Cartoons and animated logos brought a feel of informality and spontaneity within the brands associated with them. KFC and McDonalds became so hyped and popular because they catered to all kinds of diners with their advertised image. Now when the brand wants to give off the impression of universality or informality within their business, then they are more liable to use cartoons as the primal material in their logos.
This brings us to the next part of our answer. When it comes to cartoons you must first decide if you need it as the main eye catcher about your business. If it is so then you must first re-examine the aesthetic you want to be delivered to those who are brought into contact with your brand. Does the type of your service or product allow you to venture into that territory without compromising on your business credibility? And does it appeal reason or coherence with what your business ideal? These are some of the top level, management driven but idealistic questions that you must ask before you do decide to take the cartoons plunge.
Now take a look at the logo above you for an example. Is it the example of a perfect logo from the companys perspective? We can debate that. The entire purpose behind designing a character( a cartoon) behind a logo is to make that characters design synonymous with your business message, with what you do, without the adding of any additional text. The can with the spam diet is arguably the most noticeable thing in this design after which the character became identifiable as a crumpled envelope. And so we could get the message about spam free and secure mailboxes. Good design? I would call it reasonable and say that it could have been better.
These are the kinds of metrics you have to put your design against though. And do not mistake the potential; a catchy character can become the driver for all future business prospects whereas an unidentifiable cartoon would leave your business as another fish in the corporate sea.
What do you stand to gain by jumping on to this?
Well as I stated above; identification and attention. Despite its rather more commercial nature, not many businesses can completely execute the aesthetic of a cartoon as their logo. However, this is probably where budding designers should take it up as a challenge and go for creating a character or a look which is informal, cartoonish and yet translates a business need completely. After all, the ultimate test of innovation is to reinvent a set standard. So, mapping a formal aesthetic of a company positively across a more spontaneous and animated image would not be unheard of but would certainly give you renewed attention and interest from your audience. It may even earn you new customers or clients, that is how unpredictable and exciting this jump is. Our advice? Go for it if you have the zest for creativity.