Gently scrolling through my Instagram feed, eyes wide open, what do I see? You already know, my header said it.
The iconic O Logo used for Obama’s ’08 presidential campaign is the work of Sol Sender. The Logo is a simple spherical form but is it actually simple? Time, thought, creative rigor and the so many behind-the-scene effort that isn’t known to the public was what it took to make and have ownership of the logo. Let’s not even bother to talk about how much it cost. The Obama Logo continues to support the institutionalized brand-Obama as the Obama Foundation Logo.
The Modern Democratic Party, the political platform Banky W, a respected and revered award winning musical act intends to ride on towards his political ambition is using the adaptation of the Obama Logo. How does that sound? Music to your ears?
I am upset about it because it is an abashment of the professionalism of corporate identity. What you know as a Logo is a lot of hard work. Surely like any creative work for that matter. The continuous disregard – you know that typical expression “is it not just a logo” and the “bigmanism” tone to which it is expressed have greatly affected the growth of what should be a developing creative environment that a youthful generation can look up to as a means of promoting brand Nigeria. Also, the huge knowledge gap by the many individuals brandishing software proficiency as their credential to dabble into the making of a brand or business’s most vital visual asset leads to this kind of “inappropriateness” for sake of using a “softer” word. In the end, by my reckon, like attracts like.
The Modern Democratic Party, the political platform Banky W, a respected and revered award winning musical act intends to ride on towards his political ambition is using the adaptation of the Obama Logo. How does that sound? Music to your ears?
I am upset about it because it is an abashment of the professionalism of corporate identity. What you know as a Logo is a lot of hard work. Surely like any creative work for that matter. The continuous disregard – you know that typical expression “is it not just a logo” and the “bigmanism” tone to which it is expressed have greatly affected the growth of what should be a developing creative environment that a youthful generation can look up to as a means of promoting brand Nigeria. Also, the huge knowledge gap by the many individuals brandishing software proficiency as their credential to dabble into the making of a brand or business’s most vital visual asset leads to this kind of “inappropriateness” for sake of using a “softer” word. In the end, by my reckon, like attracts like.
Part of my role is to fix it. If you know me, I don’t talk or discuss or post anything apart from ALL matters regarding Logo and corporate identity. This is not a marketing flick.
A good Logo supports a brand story. It is the visual prompter that reflects the thinking, mindset, ideals or core values behind a brand or business which the brand or business acts upon daily to make an emotional connection with the public.
It feels beautiful to own and have exclusive use of a logo. When it is a registered trademark, a logo is even more enjoyable to own. So why would anyone want to use a logo belonging to another brand or business?.
According to Steve Babaeko in his tweet https://twitter.com/Steve_eko/status/1089244141740085249?s=19 It is bad enough already that the logos used by the political parties in Nigeria are not up-to-par at reflecting the creative ingenuity resident in Nigeria but it’s worse that a party’s logo be a plagiarized one. I HOPE the MDP party will act right. I respect their candidate. My daughter digs some of his songs. It is important to state that my article is not intended to discredit the candidacy of Banky W for office.
Written by Dayo Abiola – Chief Design Officer of Dayo Abiola – Nigeria’s foremost logo making company.