Corporate ID
Norge forge is the alpha and the omega. It is the
suit you wear to the world. It represents what you stand for. It is the
feel and the look you want your target market to respond to . It is something
on the verge of a lifestyle. It is readily accessible and forever remembered.
It is your personal flag shoved into the sand or on top of the mountain
of your life declaring all to hear this is your mark on society, economy,
and the Industry. It is the competence and courage to stand forth with that
mark. It goes beyond mere words and works on the primitive drives and instincts
deep buried in the brain and the marrow in the bone. A symbol goes deeper
than words spoken or written. It is far more accessible world wide. When
it is finely tuned it strikes the right chord to become compulsive.
Like a dog on the street signs and fireplugs of its
neighborhood, your corporate ID should be on everything. More something
is repeated with the right psychological mark up, deeper does it take roots
into your target market. We will create lifestyles for you to reign in your
own sub culture. We will create a corporate ID
Norgeforge is a full service design company
that serves Salem and the North shore of Boston along with the Ocean County
region of NJ.
LOGO DESIGN HISTORy
The history of logo design and logos dates back to Greece in ancient times.
The word "logo" means a name, symbol or trademark designed for easy
recognition. Logo design history had it's humble beginnings as a cipher consisting
of a single letter, and later a design or mark consisting of two or more letters
intertwined. The cipher may be either all the letters of a name, the initial
letters, or the surname of a person for use on stationery, business cards,
or elsewhere.
Many early Greek and Roman coins bear the monograms or logos of rulers or
towns. The most famous of these early logos is the sacred monogram, which
is formed by the conjunction of the first two Greek letters of XR, S, T, O,
and S; (Christ), usually with the A (alpha) and O; (omega) of the Apocalypse
on each side of the coin. The Middle Ages were extremely prolific in inventing
ciphers for ecclesiastical, artistic, and commercial use.
In the thirteenth century, logo design evolved from simple ciphers to trademarks
for traders and merchants. These early examples of logo design includes masons
marks, goldsmith's marks, paper maker's watermarks and watermarks for the
nobility. Other related logo devices are the colophons used for identification
by publishers and printers.
The emergence of the information age changed the face of logos and logo design.
Today, the general public has become increasingly aware of visual symbols,
especially those used as trademarks. It is important that the company logo
look professional. Company logos are the face of the business, not only to
the public, but to its employees and the company itself. Logos have become
the front line of the company, the corporate identity.
The mark of a good logo is legibility and good brand recognition. Because
of the diversity of products and services sold by many businesses today, the
need for new, unique logos is even stronger. Since logos are the foundation
of a company's visual image, first-rate logo design is vital. A professionally
designed logo is a must for anyone who has a business or product that they
want to promote via any medium.
The
history of logo design and Corporate Identity
Enduring trade names such as Coca-Cola, Kodak and Heinz appeared around this
time. However many of the logo designs from this era were cluttered with allegorical
mottos, since few were actually designed from the hand of professional artists
or logo designers.
A well known story of a logo design in our recent times began in the 1800's.
Marcus Samuel, a curio dealer in London started selling shell-covered boxes
to children and tourists. As his Shell Shop prospered he took on new merchandise
of various kinds, adding jewels, kerosene and later oil. Eventually his company
went world-wide by 1830, and consolidated as the Shell Transport and Trading
Company in 1897. Because of his early specialty, the company adopted the simple
drawing of a seashell as its trademark. It has since become the world's best
known logo design.
One of the most enduring logos from this era is the Rock of Gibraltar. The
rock achieved fame as impregnable to sieges when in 1779 1783 the Spaniards
failed and failed again to recapture it from the British. To position the
company as a great financial institution with this known strength, in 1896,
Prudential adopted the Rock of Gibraltar as the company logo design. As the
symbol tells the story better than words, it remain as one of the most effective
trademark ever conceived.
Another enduring logo design from this era is the original script "GE".
It was appeared sometime in the 1890s, possibly as a decorative element for
the merchandise of General Electric Company. Though not without much scrutiny,
it was adopted and evolved as a general trademark and corporate identity name
survived to this day.
It has been said that World War III has already started. The war is fighting
it out in business competitions. In the free enterprise society, instead of
national flags, logos and trademarks are seen everywhere. You are likely able
to find hundreds of logos and trademarks in the privacy of your home, and
be exposed to ten of thousands of these signs and symbols on your way to work
if you live in a cosmopolitan city. One can consider that logo designs and
trademarks are the shields and banners of warring sectors, or the guideposts
of the business-oriented society, which embody the commercial reputation of
products and services, encourage the production of quality products and enable
consumers to facilitate purchasing decisions.
The competition in the marketplace is fierce. There are nearly two million
of registered trademarks in the United States alone, and over a hundred thousand
new trademarks being registered every year. With a deluge of new trademarks
annually pouring into the existing vast pool of registered trademarks in use,
virtually every form of business needs to be well identified. Developing a
clear and positive visual identity is essentially the cornerstone for a new
company to establish itself in the market place against well entrenched competitors.
Equally true is that when an established company evolves and business solutions
change along with new demands of the time, the need for a revamped distinctive
identity that can continue to reflect and communicate with the audience is
a vital part of the company's business strategy.
The two most common constituents of business identity are a name and a mark.
First and foremost, a company's name is the key factor in creating a corporate
identity. After the content of the name, the most crucial aspect in an identity
development is the form of the company's visual identifier--be it a literal
signature, typography, or wholly based on the graphic symbol alone, or combining
logotype, graphic symbol together for greater recognizability. The symbol-only
logo is generally an ultimate choice in design, but it is generally more difficult
to associates successfully to a company's identity; it also requires extensive
time and money to promote. Combination logos designs are cost effective because
they can increase psycho-emotional value and appeals to a wide variety of
audience more effectively. Our own observation reveals that contemporary corporate
identity design is exceedingly leaning toward this trend.