Pulling together the elements of a logo is an art form, but without a specific strategy behind it, a logo is just another grouping of colors, text and icons. Maybe it looks pretty -- maybe not -- but it isn’t helping you connect with customers.
Angela Wysocki is an artist who understands business and branding. She is the owner of Radiant Marketing Company and was hired by MRBOXonline to create a new logo for the company and for its popular Lucky Dog(™) brand product line. After, she pulled together the branding and designed a website that customers love.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Before Angela even thought about color, font, or how she would draw the iconic cardboard box, she spent considerable time learning about the packaging and shipping business and what makes this family-owned business tick.
“You have to get to the core of who your client is and what makes them stand out before you can create a logo,” she says. “You can’t do that by reading a mission statement or reviewing a website. You have to learn what makes them get up each morning and do what they do and then come up with a creative way to express that with design.”
For MRBOXonline, she says, it was the innovative spirit of David Perlman, company founder and president, that stood out.
“He really listens to what his customers need and then comes up with solutions for them,” she says. “The Lucky Dog(™) Silent Tape is a perfect example. Home-based and small-sized business owners needed a packaging tape that didn’t make so much noise, so his Lucky Dog product line now includes a tape that’s whisper quiet.”
Check out MRBOXonline’s other innovative products and services.
Angela says the new MRBOXonline logo is a blueprint for the family-owned business that values customers, innovative solutions, and quality products. And let’s not forget the devoted dog that likes nothing more than a sound nap and a good scratch behind the ears.
Of course, she started with the box
The cardboard box is the heart of the business and the heart of the MRBOXonline logo. Angela chose to hand draw a box instead of using a computer-generated or stock graphic. The sketchy style, she says, gives the logo a folksy, honest, “MRBOXY,” hands-on feel. The font, called Gill Sans, adds a classic and simple element.
Did you know? Gill Sans is from the early 1900s, explains Angela, who has a penchant typography and all things related to printing, old and new. The font contained only uppercase letters until the early 1920s, when a complete font family was released. For the MRBOXonline logo, Angela gave the font a modern twist by rounding out the corners of the letters and adding space between them.
As tempting as it may be to splash color on a logo design or choose a color because it’s your favorite, Angela says that’s not the way to go. It is critical to make sure the logo looks good with just one color first before adding color it it. MRBOXonline uses a sleek,
deep brown rather than the typical cardboard brown. After trying a few color pairings, the team decided to use the color blue with bright yellow for an accent color. “Blue instills trust and MRBOX is all about honesty,” she explains. “Bright yellow is fun and playful and used for calls to action on the new website.”
Did you know? The Psychology o f Color and Branding
A fresh logo with a familiar face
The Lucky Dog brand is the most recognizable among customers, yet subtle changes were needed to keep it consistent with the new MRBOXonline branding.
“The dog is the Lucky Dog brand,” Angela says. “So it’s still a central element of the logo. I had to draw a few different versions before we got it just right!”
For continuity, she chose the Gill Sans font for the brand name and Gotham Bold font as the typeface for the eight Lucky Dog brand products.
Final thoughts
There are plenty of avenues business owners can take create their company or product logos, including crowdsourced logos, freelancers, or do-it-yourself websites. Angela suggests caution and good business sense. “Your logo is your brand; it’s who you are. Show people you believe in your business by investing in the quality of your business.”
Angela Wysocki is the owner of Radiant Marketing Company, which provides design and marketing strategy. Her goal is to communicate a business's authentic message in a way that is visually engaging and easy to understand. Call (312) 772-2814 or email her at hello@makeitradiant.com to learn more.
