Every day, Monday through Fridays (sometimes Saturday) I drive up to the Boston Store at Mayfair mall. I see this logo on the side of the building and I know that I've reached my destination for the next nine hours.
In addition to seeing this visual on the side of the building, I see this logo on my business cards, stationary and just about every official piece of company property or web link. I see it so frequently that I don't even see it anymore and certainly don't take the time to observe or analyze any part of the artistic design.
Now, finally taking the time to observe the design, I notice the simplicity of the font and color choices and that the artist who created this logo did not see white space as an enemy.
Because of this distinct font and highly contrasted coloring of black, white and red, this logo is easily recognizable across all of the nameplates of the BON TON umbrella.
Brian Kennedy made the point that visuals are a universal language. I suppose I already knew that, but as the things that we see but don't "SEE," I knew but never really thought about it.
Thinking about it now, this logo is known over many state lines under different names. Other logos and visuals are known globally across multiple language and cultural lines.
Even if you remove the "ESTEE LAUDER" name, just the symbol is recognizable to women worldwide.
Everyone knows what this is, right?
Proof that images are a universal language.
I agree that as Brian Kennedy mentioned, visual literacies need to be reintegrated and added as part of literacy as a whole.
I'd be curious to find out where the next generation would land if standardized testing included "Visual Literacy" in the assessments.
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ReplyDeleteVery engaging post, Heather! I enjoyed how you incorporated the pictures within the text, it captured my attention and controlled my eye movement across the blog post. To add to that, you also began with a little info about yourself, which is an inviting introduction to the post. I agree with the simplicity and use of white space within the Boston Store logo. I think that this type of simplicity evokes an elegance and high-quality. Whether or not my interpretation is true, the logo nonetheless creates that feeling to for me. This is most likely due to the fact that I love going to the fragrance/perfume section, so that I can feel classy myself! -Katelyn H
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree Heather! Images are a universal language. I definitely recognized the Boston logo, and Disney logo! It is funny how we know so many logos and don't even realize it. Because it is visual and it is so powerful for advertising and marketing. I remember the first time I saw a Carson store and I knew the symbol before I knew the store name. So, of course, I went with familiarity. I shopped at Carson's since the symbol told me it was connected to Boston store. And of course Boston store is known for its perfumes, make-up and quality.-Christy
ReplyDeleteWhat a great example of how the color and styling of this logo makes it easy to recognize, even if you are in another state and the store has a different name. I also agree that there is a good use of what is literally white space. I think this is a good reminder that sometimes sticking with simplicity is what is most effective. -Chris A
ReplyDeleteVery interesting examples. I find it interesting Boston Store who owns Bon Ton, Yonkers, and Carson Pirie was able to keep the logos very similar with color but still established individual brands for themselves. Nice work - Kelly L
ReplyDeleteHi Heather, I am unsure if your blog is about the Boston Logo and corresponding Boston store logos or if it is just about logos altogether. I think that if you take this even further to analyze the design you would have to question why the flower looking shape that has 6 pieces, why they chose to put the design before the words, why they chose to have different fonts for different stores even though they essentially are all the same company? Upon asking those questions specifically about the Boston Store logo you would then be able to further interpret and construct meaning from it. The whole design may have a deeper meaning then just being easy to recognize. Maybe they chose the flower like shape(sorry I don't know what it's called, if you do feel free to educate me) with six petals because it represents the six different stores it encompasses, maybe it has an even more personal reason like the owner of the corporation has 6 kids. These kinds of answers could make one feel more connected to the brand if we actually took the time to look, see, describe and analyze what we see. You are very correct that the logo itself traverses cultural lines and is something recognized by so many different individuals that come from so many different walks of life. It is a simple design which makes it easy to remember and I personally am a fan of Boston Store!!!
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ReplyDeleteYes! I don't even look at my companies logo much less appreciate the work put into it.
ReplyDeleteWhen you pointed out the simplicity of this logo, I started to really see how very simple it is. The red, white, and black color palette is very simple, yes, but it's also interesting that the company would choose those colors, because red, black, and white are the three colors most easily seen by the human eye. (Babies can distinguish red, white, and black pretty much from birth.) They are using very simple visualizations in a way that is much more complex than any of us probably realize.
ReplyDelete-Stephanie W.
I learned something new by reading Stephanie's post. I didn't know about the red, white, and black being the most easily seen colors by the human eye. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. It's amazing that I see similar signs and don't realize that they are there. BonTon is smart though. It's all about branding.
-Kayla Owens.
Yeah, this was cool! I hadn't even thought of company or brand logos as art, or meaning something, but when I saw your pic of Boston Store, I thought it was a unique item to analyze. Talk about something you see every day but never really look closely at. Seriously, great job. Jen P
ReplyDeleteMost of the people who have responded so far seem to have a fairly positive relationship with the BON TON logos, which made me start thinking about logos that I see and have a bad reaction toward. Old Country Buffet came to mind. I don't like the way it looks, I don't like the way it makes me feel, and I certainly don't want to try their food!There is just something about the color and font of their logo that completely turns me off.
ReplyDeleteJenna
If you put any make up brand logo in front of me, I would have no idea what company it belongs too. But I definitely know Boston Store. That black, white and red coloring with the red star, I become acutely aware that I am a poor college student, which really stinks because Boston Store has some of the best stuff.
ReplyDelete- Leah Stikel
The Boston Store brand logo is very simplistic in it's design. It is also very classic and could remain the same or similar throughout the decades and the life of the brand. I was curious what the six sided red flower symbolizes so I did some research but could not pinpoint what it represents. I did find that the same logo has been used since 1978 and the Boston Store was establish in 1897. Lots of history.
ReplyDelete-Michelle
-Michelle
Interesting thread! I appreciate your observations, Heather, about the logo for your workplace. Is it just my computer or are there three different shades of red--one for Boston Store, one for Younkers, one for Carsin Pirie Scott, and one for BonTon? There may be subtle differences but the commonalities among them far outweight the differences--which lends itself to unified branding, at least in terms of the color palette. By the way, stationery is spelled with an "e" (not an "a"). The way I remember it: lEtters are written on stationEry. Hope this helps. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Dawn
ReplyDeleteI'm not originally from here, but after living here 10 years, I recognize the Boston Store logo. In fact, as we were driving down to NC a few years back, I noticed a Bon Ton on the freeway!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that because you see it everyday, you tend to not see it anymore. It does become a universal language.
Melinda