The client ultimately went another way with their logo, but I'm posting this concept because I just like it so much.
The Brief
Needmore Trailers is a new company offering a unique modular trailering system for outdoor and motorcycling gear that can be heavily customized both at the build level and by post-purchase consumers. The company needs a logo and landing page or single-page website.
Objectives
The logo should…
- Be easy to stencil or apply in vinyl to trailers
- Be mostly horizontal for application on trailer edges
- Look unique and appropriate next to other high-end gear logos
- Be easy to read at various sizes and distances
- Reverse and change color well
- Look good on a t-shirt
- Be easy to stencil or apply in vinyl to trailers
- Be mostly horizontal for application on trailer edges
- Look unique and appropriate next to other high-end gear logos
- Be easy to read at various sizes and distances
- Reverse and change color well
- Look good on a t-shirt
Research Summary (largely paraphrased from source, don't @me)
- All outdoor consumers use technology to shop, but not in the same ways.
- Only 12% of outdoor consumers shop exclusively online. Most research brands, read reviews, and compare prices online but most will want to go to a store or dealer at some point during the purchasing process.
- Purchases have emotional and functional drivers. The primary functional driver for outdoor consumers (46%) is durability. The primary emotional driver (38%) is brand trust.
- Social proof is very important for outdoor consumers. Brand name recognition among peers and reviews by trusted sources across multiple channels are key to outdoor consumers’ pre-purchase research.
- Younger or wealthier shoppers are more likely to follow experts’ advice or go to review sites.
- Older or lower income shoppers will use independent sites and may prefer them.
- Only 12% of outdoor consumers shop exclusively online. Most research brands, read reviews, and compare prices online but most will want to go to a store or dealer at some point during the purchasing process.
- Purchases have emotional and functional drivers. The primary functional driver for outdoor consumers (46%) is durability. The primary emotional driver (38%) is brand trust.
- Social proof is very important for outdoor consumers. Brand name recognition among peers and reviews by trusted sources across multiple channels are key to outdoor consumers’ pre-purchase research.
- Younger or wealthier shoppers are more likely to follow experts’ advice or go to review sites.
- Older or lower income shoppers will use independent sites and may prefer them.
Targeting outdoor consumer segments
Outdoor consumer segments that are most likely to spend or spend the most on gear are goal-oriented, ambitious people who spend a lot of time pursuing outdoor achievements and are highly connected to like-minded peers.
They can find new brands via Google, but presence on multiple channels is the best way to reinforce brand trust and get these buyers to checkout.
Needmore will need a trustworthy look and website, but should also look to other marketing avenues including influencer reviews and local promotion.
The Logo
Features
- Easy to read
- Single-color
- Custom type
About this logo
This logo uses a fully custom typeface with a hand-hewn, modern-vintage sensibility that stands out. The underlined O is an established typographic device for indicating a shortened word (No. and Co. are often seen with the O underlined in design of yesteryear, so it has some vintage-inspired cachet) but is used conceptually in this case to represent all the configurations possible with a Needmore trailer. “More” gear, “more” destinations, “more” goals accomplished. It also looks literally like something being hauled or carried. The type is unicase, with a mixture of uppercase and lowercase characters that reinforce the mix-and-match, modular product.
I proposed dropping the word "Trailers" from the logo for a couple of reasons. One, it's largely going to be seen and searched in the context of trailers, so it's not necessary to double up on a word that people are going to be searching with anyway. Two, it's unnecessarily limiting. If you'll allow me to dabble in marketer-speak, Needmore isn't offering an object as a product, but a modular cargo system. Making this distinction helps differentiate Needmore from traditional trailer manufacturers, retailers, and dealers.
