Behind the Brand P10: Logo Update for the Broader Appeal

Natalie has another very critical role in this story. She helped me rethink the way my logo was drawn so that it would appeal to a broader audience. As you may have noticed, the first logo was very “skater bro.” Her point was simple, “If you want or ever envision women as a customer you need to have a logo that is cleaner, crisper and more neutral. It can still look amazing, but it needs to be more refined.”

I remember the day she told me this via phone I was really upset and irritated. My thought was, “Well what does she know? I envisioned this logo, and it’s my idea so whatever. She’s wrong.” Luckily though I has enough sense to say I would think about it. And when I was calmed down I really did think about it hard. Natalie was a friend, and experienced fashion-savvy friend who wanted to help. Based on all of her experience she felt very, very strongly that the logo should be changed. She had even researched possible alternatives, prioritized them, and showed them to me. 

I needed to stop being a nerd and realize this help for what it was – a way to make the brand more applicable to everyone. At the end of the day, successful brands should be dynamic, not pigeon-holed. As a data-driven person, I decided to mock up some different versions and test with friends with Google surveys. The final result is below, using a modified version of TW Cen MT (illustrator to change spacing and add the plane)