Quirky logo grabs the attention – for all the wrong reasons.
Went to pick up my eagerly anticipated Work for Money, Design for Love book by David Airey, my favourite design author of all time. He speaks a lot of practical sense. He understands the value of design and knows how to price it accordingly. He is a successful brand designer based in Northern Ireland, who engages with his audience personally. His design blog is totally professional and customer-centred, and engages over 200,000 readers around the world.
So there I was. Queuing to pick up my book delivery, leaning against the wall, facing the double glazed door that had been wedged open for the sunshine – when something on the door caught my eye. A logo. Quirky somehow.
Upside down sticker advising that only registered assistance dogs allowed. Looked like a stop-hand with a mouse attached to the palm.
What the…?
- A hand in the ‘stop’ position?
- A mouse sniffing the lower left corner?
- A mouse with its eye in a very low down position.
- And attached to the palm of the hand.
- Maybe it was a digital mouse, judging by the curved shape – but then, what was the ear protrusion all about?
Alright game is up. Time to give in, and read the words.
- Why is the writing upside down?
- What does it say?
Curiouser and curiouser. “REGISTERED ASSISTANCE DOGS ONLY”.
“I see,” said the blind man. So, that was meant to be a dog’s ear. And a dog’s nose. And its eye. Someone’s made a dog’s ear of using this badge.
rotated view of RAD logo, as it should read.
Registered Assistance Dogs logo, the right way up!
Got it. Whew. All that effort to get to that acknowledgement. I wonder if everyone has to work that hard to understand this sign when they come in to the post office? I wonder how hard it might be for someone with impaired vision* to understand it? Some might argue: “Oh, but they are the people who would definitely understand it, because they already know it exists and would recognise it whatever way around it faced!”
Hmm. After I got home, I had to look them up of course!
I wonder what this voluntary coalition of assistance dog organisations would make of the mis-use of this older version of their updated logo?
I say ‘older’ because their website displays a fool-proof logo now.
Latest RAD sign-sticker available on request. Now framed by a box.
This sticker can no longer be mistakenly turned on its head. The original circular mousy-dog logo is now framed in a rectangle with a tick list alongside it that makes it absolutely clear what the image mark is trying to say.
[Helping] hand + [golden retriever] dog’s head. Dogs that assist.
This is a prime example of why branding guidelines are so important. No matter how big or small your organisation, you won’t want your brand identity ridiculed inadvertently. Good design is useless when logo use guidelines are not explained to the end-user.
“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
— Luke 6:39-40, New International Version
* Other types of impairments may be available.
