ALDI
13/10/15
For this brief I have to produce a series of logotypes for a rebrand of your given company. 'Using only type, experiment with scale, stroke, spacing, contrast and alignment to interpret my company'. My chosen company is ALDI. The main reason that I chose ALDI is because of the fact that their current logo isn't at all pleasing to the eye, not only that but it feels dated and is definitely in need of a new, modern logo.
I started with some in depth research into ALDI and it's background.
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| 2015 Supermarket Rankings (Which?) |
Given that around 7/8 years ago, ALDI would struggle to compete with the likes of Sainsbury's and Asda, they now excel past them narrowly missing the top of the list by 1% to Waitrose. This just proves their success over the recent years, going from a discount store to a full fledged supermarket whilst still retaining their discounted prices, which is what makes ALDI stand out from the others. Below are a few quotes I've found from articles supporting my reasoning:
“Discount stores used to be places where people needed to shop,”... “Now people actually want to shop here.” (The Telegraph)
"The key to Aldi's success was its devotion to cost-cutting, allowing it to sell a limited assortment of goods at bargain prices with minimal advertising costs." (The Independent)
One main difference between ALDI and the other supermarkets and probably the biggest of them all, is that they stock a lot less lines of food. ALDI stock around 1,500 lines whereas other supermarkets tend to stock around 40,000. Not only that but 90% of the products stocked are ALDI's own brand, which means on average prices are a lot lower than other big name brands.The main reason behind wanting to rebrand ALDI is the fact that they're such a successful company, that I feel this needs to be put across within their branding as I don't quite feel that their current logo branding represents this. This is down to the fact that it feels very overcomplicated and doesn't feel very suitable, especially when you consider other supermarket logos that are, for the most part, purely typography.
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| Current Logo |
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| Current Colour Scheme |
The one thing I want to take from the original logo is the colours, purely because this is one thing that people would be able to make the link back to ALDI with, regardless of how the new logo would look. Aside from the colours I want to change ALDI's look to something more contemporary and distinct, much like some of the logos below.
To begin I took photographs of one of the ALDI stores within Leeds and also of some of their products, so that I would be able to get a feel for how they portray themselves within their product designs and also their stores.
With most supermarket logos these days, even if you just walk down a high street, you would be able to recognise most shops just out of the corner of your eye.
This is down to their simplistic logo, using typography with only roughly 2 colours, meaning people can instantly recognise it upon first glance. This is how I want ALDI's new logo to be like, modern and recognisable.
I believe that ALDI's current branding is one reason why so many people choose to shop elsewhere, as it comes across as a cheap and dated supermarket. Especially considering so many people care a lot about their image, what they look like, what they do, where they shop etc. I think that some people would rather shop somewhere that physically looks nicer, even though it could result in spending more money in there than they would do in ALDI.
In support of this I did a questionnaire of 30 people within my class. The question being, 'Disregarding how the company works and what their produce is like, based entirely upon aesthetics, which 3 supermarkets would you choose to shop at?'.
The main reason why I asked people of a young age rather than adults is that younger people tend to care more about their image and what they do compared to adults. This questionnaire I think proves my point exactly, as previously stated I said that compared to other logos, ALDI's feels cheap and not very appealing.
One of my first thoughts when designing the logo is to keep it either all upper case or all lower case, this is just because of how ALDI stands for Albrecht-Diskont and so wouldn't make sense to have with an upper case A.
16/10/15
One thing I always think helps when it comes to narrowing down logo designs to just a few, is making them black and white so that the only determining factor is their composition. This allows me to pick the better logos out of a selection and then make further adjustments to these.
The concept behind logo 1 is that the A & I encompass the L & D almost like the L & D are products within a bag or shopping trolley. I thought this would work well as it would create a unique logo in comparison to other supermarkets as it actually captures the idea of shopping within the typography.
In logo 2 I separated the AL and the DI because of how it stands for Albrecht-Diskont, I wanted to show this rather than have it all as one continuous word.
With logo 5 the idea behind it is that the 'I' doubles up as a pinpoint as if to suggest that ALDI is the place to shop. On the right are a few different types of pinpoints to see how different sizes and shapes would work with the rest of the type. In my opinion only the first and fourth style would work simply because of how bulky and obscure the middle two styles look.
I made further adjustments to one of my logos simply because the concept behind it wasn't immediately apparent upon first glance. The only problem I had with some of the outcomes is that it started to become more of a symbol than purely typographic like the brief originally asked for.
23/10/15
My final colours that I settled on, were chosen because I feel they work well in many different environments whether digital or out on the street on advertisements. Also they're the only colours out of ALDI's original colour scheme that aren't too harsh or misleading, as I wanted to use refreshing colours that would catch people's eye at a glance just like most other big supermarkets do with their colour of logo.
Evaluation
We had a final critique on the last day of this brief and I received plenty of constructive criticism that will help with evaluating this entire brief.
Had I done several mockups on shop fronts, trucks and advertisement windows, people would have been able to get a feel for how the logos would have looked in context to see which, if any, would be most appropriate.
This was one thing I was worried that this design decision may have been perceived as. Although I was aiming for a soft, friendly look with the roundness I think had I done it again I would have strayed away from it being too rounded and childlike and instead gone for the neutral ground by having something in between.
As far as powerful logos go, out of all of my designs, I would agree upon this one, but as previously stated I did want a softer look to it, not too industrial looking. Maybe a combination of this and one of the more rounded logos would be more appropriate.
Although, myself I don't personally see this, I could see it being a problem with customers as it's not entirely obvious what the underlying concept is within that design. I did try to amend this in one of my previous, unused logos by creating a more obvious trolley shape but felt this took away from the typographic element that the whole design is based around, by changing more into a mark.
This is one thing I did consider but almost immediately dismissed because the colours were the one thing I wanted to keep from ALDI's original branding. I wanted to retain the equity of the company rather than completely scrapping and redesigning their original logo.
To some extent, I agree, simply because of the likes of Sainsburys and ASDA who have thick, bold colours unlike my not so forceful blue and yellow. But I feel that the chosen colours do stand out well, although they may not be powerful, they are still striking and eye catching which is key when it comes to a supermarket logo.
I could see this maybe being a problem if people are unaware of who ALDI are, but maybe to solve this a slightly darker shade of these colours may have worked better in not giving the impression of a toy company.
I think that overall, my final resolutions were appropriate and in reference to the brief, were successful designs. This is because of how I undertook this brief, by manipulating type in such a way that makes for a much more refreshed and more suited branding to an already successful company, that I feels only place of weakness is it's branding. I feel I responded appropriately to feedback given in both feedback sessions, by responding and adjusting my logos accordingly to the formative feedback I received in the interim critique session but also by taking into on board the summative feedback I received in the last critique session. Most importantly of all, I think that in terms of my original aims, I stuck to them and created designs that coincide with the aims I set out to achieve.
Mockups
To put my work into context as a few comments from feedback said was missing, here are a few mockups of, what I believe to be, the strongest logo out of the selected 5.
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| Competing Supermarket Logos |
ALDI's current logo is much different to other supermarket logos and in my opinion it is probably the least appealing out of the group, due to it's complex mix of contrasting colours and obscure composition. Especially when you consider the other logos, which are predominantly type with 2/3 colours rather than ALDI's current 5 colours. This is one thing I will aim for when redesigning the logo, limiting the colours and shapes used within the logo, so that it doesn't become overwhelming.
15/10/15
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This is down to their simplistic logo, using typography with only roughly 2 colours, meaning people can instantly recognise it upon first glance. This is how I want ALDI's new logo to be like, modern and recognisable.
I believe that ALDI's current branding is one reason why so many people choose to shop elsewhere, as it comes across as a cheap and dated supermarket. Especially considering so many people care a lot about their image, what they look like, what they do, where they shop etc. I think that some people would rather shop somewhere that physically looks nicer, even though it could result in spending more money in there than they would do in ALDI.
In support of this I did a questionnaire of 30 people within my class. The question being, 'Disregarding how the company works and what their produce is like, based entirely upon aesthetics, which 3 supermarkets would you choose to shop at?'.
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| Questionnaire Results |
The main reason why I asked people of a young age rather than adults is that younger people tend to care more about their image and what they do compared to adults. This questionnaire I think proves my point exactly, as previously stated I said that compared to other logos, ALDI's feels cheap and not very appealing.
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| Mixture of Initial Research & Sketches |
One of my first thoughts when designing the logo is to keep it either all upper case or all lower case, this is just because of how ALDI stands for Albrecht-Diskont and so wouldn't make sense to have with an upper case A.
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| Some Initial Font Choices |
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| Selection of Initial Ideas |
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| First (Somewhat) Finalised Logo |
The two logos above are ones I felt confident with, in that they could serve as a replacement to the current ALDI logo. This is because of how simple and legible they are, I feel they would be versatile enough to work on any products and also would stand prominent if placed on the font of ALDI stores.
The concept behind this logo is that the 'I' doubles up as a very simplified person, almost like a stickman figure, as if to suggest that it's a supermarket for everyone, not any particular class of people or race. I feel that the roundness and softness of the type creates a welcoming feeling as opposed to a big uppercase type that could be seen as too blocky and in your face.
We had an interim critique in small groups, in the hope that it would help people with their designs as we would get several peoples opinions on what we had done so far.
Feedback from Critique Session:
-Completely redesigning the logo has been effective, keep trying at it.
-To make the whole logo match with the roundedness, try slightly rounding off every letter.
-Consider different concepts for the logos
-Make sure every letter is aligned with the next, e.g. the stem of the 'l' and 'd' to match the height of the 'i'.
For the most part, the critique session was helpful as people pointed out certain aspects of the logo that I would never have considered altering and also gave me some ideas as to how to approach creating other logos.
16/10/15
One thing I always think helps when it comes to narrowing down logo designs to just a few, is making them black and white so that the only determining factor is their composition. This allows me to pick the better logos out of a selection and then make further adjustments to these.
The concept behind logo 1 is that the A & I encompass the L & D almost like the L & D are products within a bag or shopping trolley. I thought this would work well as it would create a unique logo in comparison to other supermarkets as it actually captures the idea of shopping within the typography.
In logo 2 I separated the AL and the DI because of how it stands for Albrecht-Diskont, I wanted to show this rather than have it all as one continuous word.
With logo 5 the idea behind it is that the 'I' doubles up as a pinpoint as if to suggest that ALDI is the place to shop. On the right are a few different types of pinpoints to see how different sizes and shapes would work with the rest of the type. In my opinion only the first and fourth style would work simply because of how bulky and obscure the middle two styles look.
19/10/15
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| Further Development of Logo 1 & Outcomes |
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| Unused Logos |
These logos went unused simply because of the fact that I felt that they weren't as strong as my chosen 5 final logos. For the two logos on the left I thought that it was too rigid and evoke a welcoming feeling like the others did. As for the remaining other three logos, I thought that I had maybe over stepped the mark with these as they started to become more of a mark as opposed to a purely typographic logo.
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| Final Resolutions |
My final colours that I settled on, were chosen because I feel they work well in many different environments whether digital or out on the street on advertisements. Also they're the only colours out of ALDI's original colour scheme that aren't too harsh or misleading, as I wanted to use refreshing colours that would catch people's eye at a glance just like most other big supermarkets do with their colour of logo.
Evaluation
We had a final critique on the last day of this brief and I received plenty of constructive criticism that will help with evaluating this entire brief.
"I see potential in the bottom right, but needs context"
Had I done several mockups on shop fronts, trucks and advertisement windows, people would have been able to get a feel for how the logos would have looked in context to see which, if any, would be most appropriate.
"The rounded edges seem a bit childish"
This was one thing I was worried that this design decision may have been perceived as. Although I was aiming for a soft, friendly look with the roundness I think had I done it again I would have strayed away from it being too rounded and childlike and instead gone for the neutral ground by having something in between.
"I think this typeface is the most appropriate, it looks stable, reliable and powerful"
As far as powerful logos go, out of all of my designs, I would agree upon this one, but as previously stated I did want a softer look to it, not too industrial looking. Maybe a combination of this and one of the more rounded logos would be more appropriate.
"The design with the trolley may be a bit confusing"
Although, myself I don't personally see this, I could see it being a problem with customers as it's not entirely obvious what the underlying concept is within that design. I did try to amend this in one of my previous, unused logos by creating a more obvious trolley shape but felt this took away from the typographic element that the whole design is based around, by changing more into a mark.
"Colours appear too youthful for the target audience. So brighter, stronger colours may have worked better"
This is one thing I did consider but almost immediately dismissed because the colours were the one thing I wanted to keep from ALDI's original branding. I wanted to retain the equity of the company rather than completely scrapping and redesigning their original logo.
"I think your colours don't work entirely well. Supermarkets generally are powerful colours so they can be recognised from a distance"
To some extent, I agree, simply because of the likes of Sainsburys and ASDA who have thick, bold colours unlike my not so forceful blue and yellow. But I feel that the chosen colours do stand out well, although they may not be powerful, they are still striking and eye catching which is key when it comes to a supermarket logo.
"Looks like a child's toy company due to the colours"
I could see this maybe being a problem if people are unaware of who ALDI are, but maybe to solve this a slightly darker shade of these colours may have worked better in not giving the impression of a toy company.
I think that overall, my final resolutions were appropriate and in reference to the brief, were successful designs. This is because of how I undertook this brief, by manipulating type in such a way that makes for a much more refreshed and more suited branding to an already successful company, that I feels only place of weakness is it's branding. I feel I responded appropriately to feedback given in both feedback sessions, by responding and adjusting my logos accordingly to the formative feedback I received in the interim critique session but also by taking into on board the summative feedback I received in the last critique session. Most importantly of all, I think that in terms of my original aims, I stuck to them and created designs that coincide with the aims I set out to achieve.
Mockups
To put my work into context as a few comments from feedback said was missing, here are a few mockups of, what I believe to be, the strongest logo out of the selected 5.
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