MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL STANDARDS
THE BEAUTY OF THE PROCESS
“TO BE A TRULY CONSCIENTIOUS ARTIST, YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT WHAT'S NOT WORKING AND CHALLENGE IT. YOU RIFF ON THINGS.” —KARA WALKER
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
LOGO Phase
RESEARCH
1.1
Old Motown logos
P12
1.2 References
P14
2.1 Brainstorming
P22
2.2
P24
LOGO Phase
DEVELOPMENT
Concept development
2.3 Refinement
P30
2.4
P36
Birth of the new logo
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
1
LOGO RESEARCH We do judge a company by its logo
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 1.1
OLD MOTOWN LOGOS
SOMETHING NOSTALGIC » The Motor City » The music industry » The “M”
Berry Gordy named his record company after
Compared with the two earlier logos, the third
the Motor City—Detroit, where he called “my
logo had a clean and modern look. However it
town”—thus, Motown.
still maintained the industrial kind of heaviness.
During the earlier years, Motown's logo had a significant auto industry style. Its first logo during 1959-1962 went straightly to the direction of car symb0lization. The second
Most importantly, the logo got rid of its birth mark—Motown was no longer a Detroit record company. It had become the sound of young America, a music industry legend.
logo during 1962-1965 also had a heavy
Motown's third logo had been used since 1965
industrial feeling. With the “motown” type
until 2016, when Motown had its rebirth and
tilting forward, we could easily tell Gordy's
it could no longer represent Motown's mission
desire and ambitious for success.
and values.
Motown achieved a huge success and started to gain national recognition around the year 1965, when he changed Motown's logo for the second time.
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
1959–1962
1962–1965
1965–2016
Original version
Updated word mark in the 90s'
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 1.2
REFERENCES
OLD COMPETITORS » The vinyl circle » Logotype » Black and red
Most of Motown's old competitors have a logo with a circle that represents the shape of a vinyl or music record. And their logotypes play the essential part of the logo mark. Most of them are in black color, with a few go with red.
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 1.2
REFERENCES
FUTURE ALIKE » The Motor City » The music industry » The “M”
There is no company that is really doing what
The logo of Startup Creative is very simple,
new Motown is doing in the future. However,
clean and contemporary.
here are some that have their mission overlap with Motown's. BET is Black Entertainment Networks. Its logo has a star, as Motown sometime had on the music records. TED Talk's logo is clean,with a positive warm red color. Black Lives Matter's label is powerful and straight forward, with a tint of anger on it. The other three logos of museums that related to African American community have the color palettes and graphic patterns that significantly represent African culture.
While doing logo research, I kept asking myself a couple questions. Do I want the new logo to emphasize its ethnicity and traditional culture? Do I need it to look like an entertainment company as Motown used to be? Do I want the logo to carry any political messages and look powerful?
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 1.2
REFERENCES
THE INITIAL M » Wings » Minimalism » Gestalt
I also did some research on the initial M logo design and found many of them. Some of them also have the idea of combining the M with wings, or other objects that represent the service of those companies. Some of the design go minimalism and play with Gestalt. These research is inspiring and is helpful to the process of logo design developing.
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 1.1
20
RESEARCH
2
LOGO DEVELOPMENT You never know where the process will lead you to.
PHASE 2.1
BRAINSTORMING
KEY WORDS » Rising star » Flying wing » Spotlight
This long journey of process started with
Here are some of the key words from the
brainstorming on sketch book. While key
brainstorming process.
words pumped out and the pencil went with the flow while more key words pop up in mind, the sketch book started to be filled with doodles. Some ideas might not be work, however they lead to other ideas.
Flying wings
Sustainable & Organic
Spotlight
Ladder
Opportunity
Connection
Support
Platform
Rising star
Growing seeds
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE2.2
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
Flying wing + Initial M The flying wing stands for pursuing, fighting for dreams and freedom
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE2.2
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
Rising star + Initial M The rising star stands for transforming, being supported and receiving opportunity.
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE2.2
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
CONCEPT CHOSEN » A star rising from a square » Initial M created by the negative space » Tilting initial
A star rising from a square, representing
“I have this ability to find this hidden talent
a place, cut out the initial M by its negative
in people that sometimes even they didn't
space. This is the concept that was chosen
know they had.”
for further developing and it represents Berry Gordy's most famous quote— “Create a place where a kid off the street could walk in one door, an unknown, go through a process, and come out another door, a star” While working with this logo, another hidden concept shown—A diamond was also cut out by the negative shape of the start. This hidden diamond represents another wellknown quote of Berry Gordy—
With all these concepts, the new logo delivers the message of Motown's mission: To motivate, inspire young African American people, to help them to discover their talents, and to nurture them, to polish and transform them, to help them to pursuit their dreams and achieve success .
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
A hidden diamond appears when the star cutting out the square
The square as a place, that represents Motown
A star rising through Motown, cutting out the initial M
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE2.3
REFINEMENT
Working on the refinement
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE2.3
REFINEMENT
Things that are not working When I almost had my Motown logo finished, I found myself not very fond of it. The big tilting M looks like a neon signature that one would often see in the Las Vegas Strip—too dramatic and entertaining, which might stands for Motown in its past, but not for the future. So I decided to rip it off and start a new one.
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
15°C
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE2.3
REFINEMENT
Start over again With the same concepts—a star rising from the initial M and a hidden diamond appears from the negative star shape, I straighten the whole logo. Right after the logo was straightened, it looks more contemporary, clean and reliable. Meanwhile, I don't need to worry about the placement of the logotype. The logotype will have the initial M be part of it. At the same time, I made some adjustment to the diamond. Now the it look more like a diamond rather than a spike.
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE2.4
BIRTH OF THE NEW LOGO
MEET THE NEW LOGO » A diamond that still need polished » The initial M for Motown » A rising star for a platform & opportunity
The M monogram
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
The Motown logotype
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
PHASE2.4
BIRTH OF THE NEW LOGO
Logo with colors
Motown Black Panton Process Black R:0 G:0 B:0 #000000
MOTOWN RE-BRANDING
Motivating Red Panton 172 M R:252 G:93 B:63 #FC5D3F
Nurturing Aqua Panton 344 M R:161 G:222 B:184 #A1DEB8
Inspiring Yellow Panton 114 M R:252 G:223 B:73 #FCDF48
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
Copyright Š 2016 Wuhang Lin All rights reserved Printed and bound in United States of America Designed & concept // Wuhang Lin Copy & Editing // Wuhang Lin Typefaces: All Right Sans/ Chaparral Pro This book was created as part of a project for Academy of Art University 79 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA School of Graphic Design Nature of Identity // Spring 2016 Instructor // Hunter Wimmer