Visual Identities

This chapter is especially relevant to my specific research on copycat logos and parodies. The article helped me understand that all semiotic elements or resources of a logo has its meaning and purpose. Designers use shape, placement, color, texture, and pattern with purpose to convey a certain concept about their product or company within just the logo. Every element is thought about and placed in the logo to further the intended meaning. I realize even more now how essential logos are to a company. They create the company's entire image and represent what the company stands for to the rest of the world.

Not only is this interesting pertaining to the Starbucks logo itself (what each semiotic resource is meant to convey) but it is even more interesting to see what the knockoff Starbucks's decided to include and exclude in their variating versions of the logo. Besides the obvious visual aspects (like the color green and the circular shape of the logos) some cafe's went even further than just looking like the Starbucks logo. Two examples are Mt. Rainier Espresso & Milk (of Japan) and Barista Coffee (of Taiwan). These cafe's are not only visually similar to the Starbucks logo but they clearly refer to Seattle itself (which, as we know, is closely associated with Starbucks). Mt. Rainier Espresso & Milk depicts Seattle's famous mountain as the image in the center circle. Similarly, Barista Coffee went so far as to steal Seattle's official state logo (a profile of whom I assume is Chief Sealth) and placed it as their center image. These blatant references to Seattle combined with the visually similar layouts of their logos is a clear indicator of their intent. As one blogger aptly put it:

“If Starbucks = Good Coffee
and
Seattle = Starbucks
and
Mt. Rainier = Seattle, Washington
then
Mt. Rainier = Good Coffee too, right?”

Researching the numerous parodies and knockoff logos of Starbucks really shows us the far reaching success of the company and it's instantly-recognizable logo. Like the author of Visual Identities, I am comparing logos and their semiotic resources, however, unlike comparing two competitors and their opposite meanings, I am comparing logos that wish to embody the same meanings as the original logo represents. Which semiotic resources they choose to use is the most telling of all.

Visual Identities Review

I thought this article was really interesting and I feel a little bit better and more knowledgably about forming some type of analysis of my findings. I was able to relate a lot of my findings to the article, for instance the mythogram. In the article it says that that a mythogram, “does not imply a linear narrative…it is composed of fragments from our cultural history which are themselves narratively derived.” The Starbucks logo definitely derives from our cultural history and people are able to “recall” that image from history. Finding a lot of history behind the logo and its inspiration, this part of the article will be helpful for me.

Also the talk on color and shape was interesting. With Starbucks changing it’s color from brown to green, there has to be some meaning behind that. I cannot recall why they changed the color but I do know they did for the company and for an appealing/ thought provoking factor which is pretty much what the article said about the Apple and IBM logos. Also the shape is important as well. Further more, I never really thought about the pattern of the logo and the whole color scheme. It is definitely something I can going to try and analyze since it was very interesting and beneficial to learn in the article.

I think I will draw a lot of ideas from “The ‘messages’ of the two logos” section since my task was to find history behind the logo and how it has evolved. Also with the message, I am going to explore how the image sends a message to the consumer. In the article they call it “signifiers” and “signified”—signifiers being the logo and signified being the consumer.

Visual Identities

This article was an excellent breakdown of many basic semiotic elements (made accessable and interesting by using logos from recent culture that the audience is familiar with). The author chooses to start with the basic elements of the logos, and delve deeper into them as he tries to locate meaning/what it represents and, as he mentions in this conclusion, what it does not represent. I feel that his best example in breaking this concept down is that of the 1984 Apple commercial.

Throughout the article I found many concepts that can be related back to the semiotic analysis of the Starbucks logo. The description of stripes and their meanings stood out to me the most, as the Starbucks lgo takes advantage of stripes in their logo. Second was the issue of color--although I feel the author focused mostly on the rainbow as he was analyzing the Apple logo-- color is still emphasized as important to the meaning (and the not-meaning) of a logo.

I think that the strongest concept/idea I took out of the article, though, was in his conclusion. The idea that a symbol/sign "is not primarily what it represents but what is transforms...what it chooses not to represent," that a symbol/sign "denies as much as it affirms," is an idea that can be expanded into the social semiotic study we are in the middle of. These larger scale concepts have larger scale implications, and although I would have liked to have seen a more complex and complete breakdown of the "meaning" conclusions the author comes up with in terms of the Apple and IBM logo elements, I still think that these conclusions are important and fit into this larger spectrum. And that they can definitely be used when thinking about the Starbucks logo.

Application of Visual Identities

The chapter on Visual Identities showed me multiple insights on two prominent logos in computer development. Although our specific study does not involve comparing two distinct logos within the same market, I believe that the analysis tools of semiotics will aid us greatly in our study on the Starbucks logo. Thus, at a closer look at we can apply the analysis of the Starbucks visual invariants of how the green portrays an earthly tone and mindset to all consumers. The running stream of consciousness, similar to the Levi Strauss example, can be our best way to start analyzing, and through these conscious thoughts we can build on further to establish a more meaningful analysis. I think that this method of initial analyzing will work well specifically for my part of the project in analyzing objects from the company. In addition, the current green logo contains stripes within the image of the siren, portraying an image of fluidity between the siren and concentric circles; which is also present in the Apple and IBM logos mentioned. And lastly I believe the most important part that I can specifically take away from this reading is that to analyze logos you almost have to always put them back within their context. Thus, my analysis of the artifacts with or without the logo's presence are a key piece of evidence towards the analysis of the Starbucks logo as a whole.

Progress Update

For this project I have been collecting a lot of information about the Starbucks' logo and the history behind it. Also I have been collecting information on the design of the logo (shape, color, image) and how the design of the logo has an affect on the consumer. 

Right now I have 15 different sources and looking for more, and I am organizing them by topic and then looking for common trends in the articles. The articles consist of blogs, op-eds, academic journals, news stories, and corporate information. 

Progress is moving steady and I am almost ready to start my analysis of my findings.

Progress Update

1. Artifact Collection:

For our research I have been in charge of collecting data artifacts. So far I have collected 7 (free) physical artifacts while also taking several photos of displays inside of a Starbucks store. Each artifact was then placed into a spreadsheet to clearly display common and different traits of each artifact.

Categories:

Color (Brown, Green), Logo (Present or Not?), Siren (Old or New)

2. Online Artifact Collection

Online I have found several photos on Flickr displaying various physical artifacts that people have captured in their photos. I have begun research to see if I can determine each year when the napkins have changed but it is proving to be much more difficult with inaccurate dates added by Flickr users, so a detailed timeline is not yet available.

In addition I have found a site promoting “Starbucks Invasions”, as a way to defer Starbucks from popping up everywhere in the United States.

http://www.areyougeneric.org/action_sbucksinvasion.php

In opposition of the above site, I recently found a Facebook group requesting that Italy receive Starbucks.

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/23089?fp=6d544&h=ifc&recruiter_id=8201554&t=1211656377

3. Lastly, I have contributed to reviewing various articles regarding the logo at hand, possible individuals involved with the Starbucks Corporation.

Starbucks Logo & Rat City Roller Girls

This has been brought up in a couple of the Seattle blogs that I read for a past couple days. I thought it was really relevant to Karin's data collection on similar logos and how Starbucks sues... well, everyone.

Starbucks is warning Rat City Roller Girls to change their logo or they are suing. Apparently they feel it is far too similar to theirs and The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the Starbucks an extension--giving them until July to file a complaint against RCRGs.


(from the Seattle PI)

The RCRGs ran into this whole problem when they were asked to trademark their logo (used since '04) before a video game about them is released.

"The issue is with the shape of the logo, including what they're calling concentric circles," she said. "[Starbucks]' saying that the dimensions of the circles are too close to their own," said RCRGs' lawyer.

She also said, "The Starbucks lawyer said that the girls on the roller derby team look scary, and she didn't think, in her own personal opinion, (that) Starbucks would want to associate themselves with the scary characters of Rat City Rollergirls," Heraty said.

The article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/364425_sbuxlogo24.html