::shakes head::

I'd love to know the story behind it. What combination of factors yielded that conclusion? I think the red smear symbolizes the mourning of the old logo's passing. This seems to be a logo reinvention along the same lines as Northwestern's; the desire for newness colliding horribly with the desire to not change anything, producing a parody of the original logo's logic.

Brian what makes you think that isn't more than a website abberation? More examples

It's like the McD/Amazon trend of putting a swash 'smile' in their logo. Except...well...this is a frown.

> Brian what makes you think that isn't
> more than a website abberation?

The new logo treatment appears in this recent conference presentation posted on the site:

Warning: 3.5MB PDF

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/63/63737/presentations/s_040909gs.pdf

When I first posted, the site had an intro explaining it. It's not there now, but I'll try to see what I can find elsewhere.

The Sears Grand logo also contains the dashy writing, as does Target Greatland.

Joe they are targeting the same audience. Why reinvent the wheel. Design wise it hurts to look at them but the companies only care about their investors and the bottom line. Its not about taste, its about the culture of these chains. Appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Actually the hippest of these companies (Target) started
a trend that places importance on Design ... it's pervasive.
The other companies are merely jumping on the Target wagon, which
is being driven by ... Design and Designers of all things.

Kristin Dooley of MegaCorp. can discuss this more.
But in my opinion, appealing to the LCD is not an
accurate description of what's happening in this particular
retailing arena.

btw,
Target > WalMart > KMart are mass-merchant
retailers, while Sears is in a class called Mid-Tier.

Sears also isn't typically a Big Box retailer ... it's more
tied to malls.

bj

I'm surprised no one here has gotten uppity about the typographic work � if you can even call it that. This new logo is absolutely terrible in its execution, the elements that once worked in the uppercase version are totally lost in the more complicated lowercase letters. The white line that splits each letter is extremely off balance in this new version, and what the •••• is wrong with the "r"?

The little charm that the Sears logo had is completely gone, replaced by an amateur execution. The red swash� whatever, it's silly and unnecessary and odd.

Regarding the market� yes, Target has set the tone in terms of excellent design and advertising and all these companies trying to reach their level will always fall short if they insist on imitating Target. Just the fact that half of Minneapolis' design community works for Target is an indication on how hard the rest of these retailers have to work to measure up.

Speaking of companies that should know better and be able to represent their products accordingly, does anyone remember this consumer-friendly subbranding fiasco?

Huh. I don't remember it, so perhaps it was before my time at Adobe. I do recognize Caflisch Script though.

When did it come out, and what was Adobe promoting with it?

Adobe used this logo on their consumer-focused products in the mid to late 90s. Software such as PhotoDeluxe, SuperPaint ,Type Twister, Art Explorer and HomePublisher. All of these titles, with the exception of PhotoDeluxe, wound up at Adobe via the acquisition of Aldus in 1994.

Here's a product catalog from the period in PDF format:

http://www.splorp.com/junk/APBltsum96.pdf

Ah, that explains it. I didn't pay much attention to the consumer stuff, and this would have been going away around the time I joined in mid-'97.

T

"None
of these brands are helped by more sameness. "

And that's clearly how/why Target took the move it did. Instead of competing with Wal-Mart (which, in many ways, is actually selling 'cheap' above anything else), Target decided to differentiate itself (by selling 'design' above anything else).

The problem with Kmart is that it got stuck in the middle and didn't know what to do. They brought in Martha, but left the rest of the store looking like an outdated Wal-Mart. They went with the incredibly cheasy 'big k' look for a while, and now their latest print ads are mirroring target again. They're just running in circles.

Armin, that's what I meant by "producing a parody of the original logo's logic". They ape the style without the structural finesse (or thought) of the original.

Target certainly differentiates, but I think it's only doing that because it needs to have a competition point with Walmart and is trying to strike at the people (like many of us) who point up their noses concerning Walmart, which is essentially eating middle-America alive. My parents used to live in a town that was/is utterly commercially dominated by the Walmart. Go to a rural town that's slightly flagging economically, and you'll probably find a Walmart nearby.

Kmart is, from what I gather, just winding itself down in preparation to become an investment company, which benefits the stockholders, who are calling the shots.

So, the image schizophrenia is probably partially a fast series of marketing gymnastics to drive the stock up as hard as they can before shifting over. Also, they probably don't have much in the way of a driving brand concept since they're on the way out anyway. Apparently, the Chairman of Kmart (Ed Lampert) is also spending time in the Sears offices as well...

Ah, where would a marketing department be without someone to copy? Marketing research has fallen to the level of the TV network executives who look at other peoples "numbers" and assume copying their stuff is also going to copy their market share numbers. The falacy of statistics lies in the quick jump to a conclusion and making leaps beyond what the numbers really show. Wallmart is making money because they moved the mountain to Mohamad. They brought big city volume discounts to small town America. Their logo did virtually nothing to ESTABLISH the brand, it only CARRIES the brand.
Sears did a similar thing years ago with catalogue sales but sat on their laurels and ignored customer service.

ChrisL

"New Sears Logo Fresher and Friendlier"

The Sears logo gets freshened up. Starting today you will notice a difference in the Sears logo. The logo takes on a fresher and friendlier appearance with brighter blue, lower case letters and a red arc that adds a colorful dimension. This look evokes a more modern stylish feel. As a focused retail and related services company, poised for profitable growth, the logo gives our retail landscape a more inviting look while still capturing the trust and reliability for which Sears is known.

Marketing research (involving feedback from 600 customers in ten markets) revealed that the existing Sears logo was consistently perceived as trustworthy and reliable. Because of this feedback, the decision was made not to deviate too far from our current logo.

This logo is available for internal use from the marketing intranet site. When using the Sears logo refer to the guidelines on this site. Internally the direction is to change the logo only on new orders and otherwise to use up existing products or paper.

The new Sears logo is only the fourth in the company's 118-year history, succeeding the Sears script name in a rectangle introduced in 1963 and used for more than 20 years and the circular design from the 1950s.