Worldfest Logo
So I recently had a little spare time, and figured I’d do a little “pro bono” work to help a local organization get a facelift. Worldfest is a international film festival that happens once a year here in Houston. The last couple years, their turnout hasn’t been as good as it probably should be, and needs a little rebranding in my opinion. Their current materials are not branded very consistently, or even at all, and I thought I might help. I met the President/Founder of this organization, Hunter Todd, at a recent media reception they had, and got his card. I was trying to be proactive, so I went ahead with a logo redesign to present to Hunter and see what he thought. This was his response:
“Our Lone Star Clapslate with shooting stars was designed by Norm Kohn, the chief designer for Coca-Cola… it won four Addy Awards, both National and Regional… and like Coke and Nike… we see no reason to change… the WorldFest logo is known around the world and is displayed on several thousand winners Websites… It is even used on Remi Winners DVD cases – all over the world… SO … we are not really interested in a change, now or ever… a great logo is an integral part on a business and continuity is strategically important…”
But the question is: Is this a great logo? Really? Comparing it to the likes of Coke or Nike might be a little much. Those brands are giants, whom have force-fed their logo to us through years of branding and advertising. Is their current logo really as good as the likes of these?
Maybe Hunter should check into what some of the “other” brand giants are doing. Anyone notice the recent Pepsi logo facelift? Or maybe Walmart was just a bit off-kilter when they recently updated their look. Times are tough, and their only getting tougher. Companies and organizations are getting to be more and more competitive in order for you to spend your all-mighty buck. You have to either keep up with the times, or you’ll be lost in them.
I’ll get off my soapbox now. I by no means mean for this post to be negative or harsh towards Hunter or the Worldfest organization. I think they’re doing a wonderful job for a wonderful event, and look forward to enjoying it myself. Just some of the words in his response struck a chord with me—it’s something I hear quite often. “When it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, these days that may be up for debate.
3 Comments
hell yeah that logo is need of a serious update. “now or evar!” is the key phrase there, until of course that dude is replaced with somehow who knows when a brand needs a refresh.
You know, the original logo isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen or anything, it’s just UBER-outdated. It SCREAMS 1980’s, and this is 2009. If your logo is timeless, like Coca-Cola or Nike then that’s one thing… they never look outdated. But this logo is DEFINITELY outdated by 20 years and in need of a facelift.
i liked that you were proactive. Can’t win them all I guess.
but yeah they really do need a new logo.