Quark, makers of QuarkXpress just unveiled a new identity which is a really fresh departure from their old dusty 1980’s Quark logo.
Unfortunately, It seems that their new brand is almost identical to that of The Scottish Arts Council.
It seems almost inconceivable that any company as big as Quark (Designed by Sicola Martin) could miss the incredibly important step of checking if another firm had the same mark before spending thousands of dollars creating a brand, updating their website, devising a standards manual, and incorporating it into their packaging.
bq. “Our new logo is one of the most articulate symbols of the new Quark, and I feel proud to have led the team that worked on it,” said Susan Friedman, senior vice president of strategic relations at Quark. “It’s a positive sign of change that has re-energized our staff and caught the attention of our customers and partners, who understand that Quark is dedicated to relationships built on trust and mutual goals. There’s a positive energy with our customers right now, and they’re shaping where this company is going, and how we’ll get there.” (press release)
I wonder who spent more on their identity, Quark, The Scottish Arts Council, Designer’s Network, or Artworkers?
Hey! Where did they come from?
One reply on “Doing Your Identity Homework”
Are you picking up on that little pimple next to the Q in the new Quark logo?
It may a R – which would meean that they have been able to register their trademark – their new Q – which could mean the Scottish Arts guys might be out of luck in terms of putting dibs on their mark in the US.
Or it could be the pimple is a TM which anyone can use on bit of interstate commerce in which case the Scottish guys should sit up and take notice – the same as the Nebraska ETV Neetwork guys did when NBC designed their short lived, ill fated N in the mid 70s:
On New Year’s Day 1976, NBC proudly unveiled a new, modern “N” logo that had been developed and unveiled at a staggering cost of more than $600,000.
“The problem was that many viewers in Nebraska – including NETV program director Ron Hull, watching the Tournament of Roses parade – thought the logo looked just a tad familiar. As it turned out, NBC’s big-budget graphics team had come up with a design identical to the logo used by Nebraska’s ETV Network. Oddly, not only had NETV paid only $100 to the designer of their logo, but they weren’t even particularly happy with it.
They settled this by NBC giving them about $1 million worth of TV equipment. An expensive logo, eh?” source: http://www.tommcmahon.net
DKTM Holland