graphicPUSH: The Golf Ball Logo Test

The Golf Ball Logo Test

I once worked for a creative director who came from the old school. His father was a creative director before him, and he firmly believed the position warranted the same level of respect as any marketing executive. He commanded much influence through the company, managed both design and copywriters, and taught me countless things about design, business and management.

One of the key lessons that has stuck with me through the years concerned logo design. It’s not a fancy or even novel idea, but it boils down everything about the technical drafting of logos I’ll ever need to remember:

A logo should be able to look good on a golf ball.

Think about it. A mark should be unique and simple enough to be stamped on a tiny plastic white ball and still make an impression on people whacking it several hundred yards with a nine iron.

One of the more interesting things I’ve noticed about branding in general is that the larger the company, the simpler the logo. Microsoft. IBM. FedEx. CDW. The new Sprint logo. All of these brands can be reproduced perfectly on a golf ball. Common traits:

Works just as well in plain black as it does in full color.
Works well in dramatically reduced sizes, like a half inch.
Simple design. Printing on a golf ball is not easy, and those little bumps are going to cause subtle distortions and possible ink runs. (One could almost replace the word “simple” with “forgiving.”)

For designers, marketers and brand managers, golf balls are just the beginning. Think about all the places logos appear. Newspapers. Blimps. Embroidered shirts. Pens, mugs, mouse pads, t-shirts, websites and business cards. A logo without 400 colors, gradients, weird text and tiny embellishments will create far fewer headaches.

In this day of gratuitous use of technology to create needlessly complex marks (UPS, DC Comics), it’s nice to know that some companies — even the largest ones in the world — understand the value of simplicity in their logo.

Comments.

The Co-worker: wrote the following on Thursday July 21, 2005

I couldn’t agree with you more. The challenge for us designers is to come up with something that is distinguishable, yet simple enough for the morons who run these giveaway companies not to mess it up.

Jimmy: wrote the following on Friday July 22, 2005

Good points. I also make sure that the logos I design can be cut in 1-color-vinyl for use as stickers on cars… so the one color thing is definitely a plus.

Also, here at disney we recently redid our online park maps. We tried to use the ride logos on the maps but it turns out that the actual text of most of the logos was much smaller than the design as a whole. This made it impossible to read at such a small size.

We released the maps yesterday with plain text boxes instead of logos.

I love seeing little pointers like this, btw. (c:

Alberto: wrote the following on Wednesday July 27, 2005

Quite a challenge, pack a whole concept and communicate it via a simple graphic – or logo. It becomes an image that just screams the name of the company behind it wherever the eye perceives it.

As Jimmy says, this kind of “lessons” are, whitout a doubt, the most valuable ones. Direct wisdom, I’d call them.

Keep them coming!

Edroos: wrote the following on Thursday August 18, 2005

I couldn’t agree more. Best advice one could ever get.

I am currently working on a logo for a golf association thus I have to admit, the pointer really made damn good sense.

Yup. Wisdom. That’s what it is.

Chad: wrote the following on Friday August 26, 2005

I find it interesting that you say ”...the larger the company, the simpler the logo.” By that do you mean that you think more smaller companies should use simpler logos, maybe the abstract “meaningless” (until it becomes associated with the company) type or do you need to be a big company to pull that type of logo off?

Kevin: wrote the following on Friday August 26, 2005

I think every company should strive for as simple a logo as their brand will allow. I think the large companies have more simple logos for two reasons:

1. They can afford to throw massive amounts of cash behind their brand. Look at H&R Block. Not many companies could pull off a green square.

2. Their logo is going to be used in everything from middle management PowerPoint slides to well … golf balls. Keeping it simple keeps it easier.

Daniel Scrivner: wrote the following on Monday December 12, 2005

Great pointers! The ‘one-color test’ is true test for purity in a logo design.

And there’s more than one reason that simplicity is essential in logo design. One HUGE reason is that simple logo allow for ‘extrapolation.’ You can use in them in different colors, on different materials, using different printing techniques or graphic elements and still get the same powerful effect.

And a true designer can’t help but love the fact that simplicity – reducing a complex idea or identity into a single mark – is where true beauty lies.

Greg Haxton: wrote the following on Tuesday February 14, 2006

Exactly! After doing thousands of company logos on golf balls over the last decade, the ones that stand out and make an impression are the simple ones. You can make as much hay as you like with the packaging though letting your company contact info and slogan as well as other graphic uses on the packaging then keep the ball print simple.

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The Golf Ball Logo Test

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