Every branding project teaches us something. But visual identity work has given me valuable perspective on to the power of image and the emotions that kick up during change.
A logo is called your “identity” for a reason.
You want it to build affiliation and connection. But organizations, design tastes, and the world we live in evolve over time, requiring us to change along with it. Sometimes that requires a shift in visual identity to re-align.
Letting go of what is known for something new is scary and uncomfortable. It can make people, upset, sad or angry. While that’s hard, most people can see the strategic value of proceeding.
Mascots are different — they make identity personal in a way logos usually don’t.
Every time I think we’ve dealt with the most challenging mascot design project, it turns out I’m wrong. School mascots are probably the most emotionally charged projects we navigate. I didn’t get that when we started but I sure do now.
Mascots bring your logo to life as a physical character with a name, a personality, and a costume. You can interact with it and wear its image on a t-shirt. Imagine your favorite team wanted to change their mascot and you had a vote. Chances are you’d have some strong thoughts to share.
Mascots don’t just represent an organization — they often touch personal identity. And when the change is driven by external shifts in society, emotions can escalate in unexpected ways.
Lately, many mascot change projects have been initiated by the desire — or requirement — to address issues of cultural appropriation around Native American heritage. Whether you agree or not, I’m sure you can imagine this surfaces strong feelings in a way that just doesn’t happen in most traditional logo design projects.
We’ve learned a lot about logo design from mascot projects.
The magic formula: community-informed and leadership-led.
- Not saying no is not the same as saying yes. While marketing may manage the project, leadership needs to lead — not follow. A new identity must be championed, not just permitted.
- It may feel good to let everyone have a say, but that creates chaos. Everyone may have opinions, but only people who are invested in organizational strategy get a vote. Gather a group of key stakeholders to represent audience voices throughout the process and listen well.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. Be transparent about what’s happening, how, and why. Provide updates along the way and a rationale for your choices at launch.
- Be prepared for negative feedback and stand behind your choices. You’ll never make everyone happy. Like an unusual baby name, eventually people let it go and adjust. Mostly.
- Commit to the process and the product. Well-informed choices take time to discover, create, and populate into the world. It’s costly in time, money, and audience attention to change so be patient in getting to a decision — then don’t waffle.
People are attached to logos. When we move a client through a rebranding, their community has strong opinions and feelings about letting go of an old icon and moving to something new. Finding out where, why, and how strong those attachments are is critical before considering any change.
The hardest projects tend to teach the most.
Working on mascots has helped me become a better facilitator of meaningful conversations around brand identity in all our projects. I have an even stronger appreciation for how powerful personal attachment to an image can be. I understand my role is guiding communities to good answers rather than firing out solutions.
I have yet to see anyone get a tattoo of one of our logos or mascots — but here’s to hoping. For now, I’m thrilled that a friend’s shy son became excited about going to a new middle school when he saw the iconic logo we created.
My wish for you all is to have an identity that builds that kind of confidence.
