Upper- VS lowercase brand names & brand perception.
When I began creating the new logo for the organic skincare brand in which my project revolves around, I instinctively started looking around for different typefaces and fonts to see which one would convey the essence of the brand most effectively and accurately. The brand currently has its name written in a Sans Serif typeface. Quite straight forward to say the least, much like the rest of their visual branding. However, I found the brandās philosophy to be quite fascinating, and I saw potential in how they could more effectively present themselves in the international market. Being a Scandinavian brand does justify their minimal approach to their visual branding to a certain extent, but I was certain that there were other, more inventive ways to convey their Scandinavian roots.
(The current brand logo. Image source)
With Scandinavian design and Swiss design in mind, I began searching for different fonts within the same typeface, in hope that a few of them would spark some inspiration for a specific alteration or type structure. I never wanted to just choose 1 font and stick with that, hence why I simultaneously worked on some form of symbol that had natural/organic connotations to it.
While conducting research into typefaces, logos, and brand perception, I discovered some interesting points regarding the natural associations of certain typefaces and what constituted to be a natural logo. I terms of logos; According to Henderson and Cote (1998) āOrganic designs are those that are made up of natural shapes such as irregular curves,ā and that natural logos of both representative and organic means improves affect and tends to be more meaningful to the consumer. Geometric shapes however, were more associated with synthetic-looking objects. Although this research paper was pointing towards logos specifically, I could not help but to reconsider the use of Sans Serif, as typefaces are technically based of off shapes as well.
Adding onto this, Henderson, Giese and Cote (2004) presented logos in script typefaces as eliciting a pleasing, reassuring and prominent response from the audience. However, as I already was aware of, script typefaces can result in an ineffective response due to the level of elaborateness, hence my decision in not using script.
I then realised how while experimenting with different typefaces- I had also created quite a few lowercase examples of the brand name. It got to the point where I began to favour the lower-case ones over the original uppercase brand name. This naturally made me question what effect this change possibly would have to the brand perception, and whether it was a path worth considering.
Through research into brand perceptions on upper-case and lowercase brand names, I stumbled upon a research paper by Wen and Lurie (2018) whereby they study the product attitudes and purchase intentions for upper versus lowercase brand names. The study found that lowercase brand names had feminine attributes, whereas uppercase brand names had masculine attributes.
I came to the conclusion that natural logos alike, also contain a certain level of feminine quality. This was slightly concerning to me as my aim was to create an overall neutral design that would appeal to both genders. However, upon considering the uppercase brand name, I came to the conclusion that for a brand like ELDE, a more approachable and creative presence would suit the brand better, hence the choice of using lowercase letters. Lowercase brand names also resemble a modern and fresh outlook, hence why it might appeal to a broad range of client demographics. (Designbeep, 2020)
HENDERSON, P. W. AND COTE, J. A. (1998), āGuidelines for Selecting or Modifying Logos.ā Ā Journal of Marketing. [Online] Vol. 62 (April) pp.14-3. Available from- https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/stable/1252158 [Accessed: 24th July 2020]
HENDERSON, P. W. AND GIESE, L. AND COTE, J. A. (2004), āImpression Management Using Typeface Design.ā Journal of Marketing. [Online] Vol. 68 (October) pp. 60-72. Available from- https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/stable/30162016 [Accessed: 24th July]
WEN N. AND LURIE N. H. (2018), āThe Case for Compatibility: Product Attitudes and Purchase Intentions for Upper versus Lowercase Brand Names.ā Journal of Retailing. [Online] Vol. 94 (December) pp. 393-407. Available from- https://doi-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/10.1016/j.jretai.2018.10.002 [Accessed: 8th August]
Designbleep. (2020). Uppercase vs. Lowercase: How to Send the Right Message Across When Choosing a Logo Font. [Online] Available at: http://designbeep.com/2017/08/03/uppercase-vs-lowercase-how-to-send-the-right-message-across-when-choosing-a-logo-font/ [Accessed: 8th August]
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