Like a lot of people, I've had a bank account since childhood. My parents took me with my handful of savings to get a passbook to our town bank to help teach me about saving and the glories of positive cash flow when I was about 8 years of age.
Since then, I've entrusted my handfuls to a number of institutions, big and small, on the assumption that they'd take great and wonderful care of it, investing it in only the most laudable and friendly of places (see my tongue firmly embedded in cheek).
One such fiscal farmhouse was the ubiquitous North Fork Bank (at least ubiquitous enough to have a branch located near my old Brooklyn apartment), which wasgobbled up acquired by Capital One in 2006. I'd had a previous relationship with Capital One on the credit card side of their coin some years earlier, so the transition, I hoped, would be easy.
By easy, I mean painless. I hopedin vain that Capital One would improve our branch's service (it didn't).
Then... the signage was installed. Eek.
Why the red swoop/boomerang? Will my money come back to me? Tenfold? The swoop/boomerang has unfortunately adorned many a bad and listless logo for too many years. Search 'logo' and just count them. Go ahead... I'll wait. They are decorations with no purpose, and I was worried when I saw yet another one, big and back-lit hanging over my bank's doors.
Who did they use to design that cliche? I imagined the executive board asking the designer to make it appear 'more dynamic', and the designer (or cousin/sister/wife/teenaged son of the CEO) hesitantly complying. Maybe it was the last straw in a long series of board directed changes, and the exasperated designer threw it in last minute to hush the crowd.
However it went down, that swooshing boomerang is a meaningless artifact that should be removed at once. That brings to bear a redesign. Here are my suggestions for a successful brand-lift:
Since then, I've entrusted my handfuls to a number of institutions, big and small, on the assumption that they'd take great and wonderful care of it, investing it in only the most laudable and friendly of places (see my tongue firmly embedded in cheek).
One such fiscal farmhouse was the ubiquitous North Fork Bank (at least ubiquitous enough to have a branch located near my old Brooklyn apartment), which was
By easy, I mean painless. I hoped
Then... the signage was installed. Eek.
Why the red swoop/boomerang? Will my money come back to me? Tenfold? The swoop/boomerang has unfortunately adorned many a bad and listless logo for too many years. Search 'logo' and just count them. Go ahead... I'll wait. They are decorations with no purpose, and I was worried when I saw yet another one, big and back-lit hanging over my bank's doors.
Who did they use to design that cliche? I imagined the executive board asking the designer to make it appear 'more dynamic', and the designer (or cousin/sister/wife/teenaged son of the CEO) hesitantly complying. Maybe it was the last straw in a long series of board directed changes, and the exasperated designer threw it in last minute to hush the crowd.
However it went down, that swooshing boomerang is a meaningless artifact that should be removed at once. That brings to bear a redesign. Here are my suggestions for a successful brand-lift:
- Lose the red boomerang (in case you didn't hear me)
- Simplify (less is more)
- Make Big of Small (target a single element of your identity that can represent the essence of your brand)
- Play through (either get over the hurdles, or leave them behind)
- Hire competent/experienced staff (how many times can a bank client hear 'oops, sorry' before they worry?)
