Keep Calm, Join the Dark Side

Sometimes graphic designers are either lazy, stupid, or really, really devious.


Walmart redesigned their logo in 2008, and the shift was apparently pretty haphazard, if this report is correct. It is certainly a friendlier look. I remember when Wal-Mart stores (then hypenated) appeared in Canada, and its logo look barely less friendly than an outpost of the US Army:

The uppercase letters were monolithic, and the star was as American as... well, the US army:

The logo change in 2008 was softer.... the font was lowercase, rounder, and more "friendly". It's more "approachable", for sure. It was surely designed to embrace Walmart's (now un-hyphenated) growing global presence.

Nobody knew what the starburst was supposed to represent, but hey, it looked pretty. Like a flower, perhaps - or a flash from a far away galaxy.

Unfortunately, Walmart's global expansion has been viewed by many as a form of economic colonialism - taking over the world, one rollback at a time. This new logo was likely created in part to address this concern by appearing more friendly, and less American.

Which brings me to my point: was the designer lazy, or insidiously devious? Either way, you have to admit.... the new logo looks a hell of a lot like the logo of the Galactic Empire.

Party on, Darth.

Branding Beyond the Product Label - Managing for Success webinar

This video was presented on June 25th, 2012 as a part of Ontario's Managing for Success webinar series directed towards Ontario food and beverage processing companies.

While the audience was food & beverage processors, the general principles hold true for most small businesses.

The general point is this: as a leader in your company, you can spend hours building a convincing case for what sets your product apart from your competitors - but can you do it in 30 seconds?

A strong brand and concise message are the most successful marketing tools available to your business – but only if you build them well.

This is a long video, so you might want to top up your coffee first....