Re-branding Coral

On Monday morning we were briefed about our new task called Logotype, which basically consists in rebranding a company in groups (Coral betting house is ours) by just changing the typography using one of the six favourite Massimo Vignelli's typography: Garamond, Bodoni, Century Expanded, Futura, Times Roman or Helvetica.  

Typography is the only limitation we have for the design, as I looked into the Gambling related legislation, especially in the Advertisement section: The Gambling Act 2005 (Advertising of Foreign Gambling) Regulations 2007 and The Gambling Act 2005 (Advertising of Foreign Gambling) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2008. Both laws were not restrictive at all for the task we have been asigned.

Original logotype

After reading some history about the company I could find out that the name of it came from the surname of the founder, Joe Coral, so I thought to add the first initial as a tribute. Also, I found out that Coral belongs to Gala Coral Group, a mother company that has a way more traditional and classic logotype. A company is also a casino and bingo operator. Using this last logotype style I thought we can achieve better results making both logotypes to work as a set or at least keeping the same spirit in both companies. Considering this then I decided to not include the three flags on the original logotype, which represent the colours they use in their betting system. I drew a mind map with the information and ideas I was able to gather. This mind map was later made on the big paper in the room so my colleagues in the group could be able to use it and add new ideas if necessary:

Mind Map

Gala Coral Group logotype

Despite we started with modern suggestions, such as using the coral colour and a more modern line for the typography, we questioned ourselves what would be our target audience. We were able to find that most of the betters are unskilled workers or unemployed (F2-D) that want to improve their lifestyle, have a treat or satiate a bad habit, as this study performed by The Guardian suggests. Also, a deeper look into Gala Coral Group's strategy and values, I could determine that they plan to be efficient offering the best technology through multi-channel resources (such as pc, smartphone, etc) and they also seem very passionate about being innovative, giving the customers the best results showing a reliable, adaptable and classic personality.

Once the audience was identified and the values, mission, vision and personality of the company were clear I suggested that the logo should look classic to make the company look reliable. Classic because it works better with the Gala Coral Group logotype and also as identity of an old succesful company, since it was originally founded in 1926, almost a century ago.

We decided to make a minimum of 3 drafts at home and come back tomorrow with something to work on. Although I wanted to make a drastic change with the original logotype, I thought using a navy blue would be positive so the audience could associate the new logo with the same company despite the new face. I decided to use Garamond Premier Pro Light Display as it is a classic typography but its lightness can also bring fresh air to the original appearance. On the left I added a little hand drawn underline in red, so I could have the 3 colours of the British flag to bring more confidence and to ease the audience to feel familiar with the new appearance. On the right and without the underline a logo in uppercase and the logo with the first initial. All of the titles were kerned not just in order to have a more solid layout, but also to convey that reliance and seriousness.

First Draft

Even though I liked the new appearance, I thought something was missing. During the group meeting we also spoke about making the audience feel like winners, about making the new logo look not just reliable but also exciting. A choice that betting equals a sure win. To be more exciting I had to get rid of some seriousness, so I thought removing the first initial could be a good start. It was not justified enough, anyway.

Helvetica Neue Lt Std 77 Bold Condensed was my new choice after some experimentation to find out something new. The logo took the transformation I was looking for, loosing a little bit of classiness and gaining some youth, but just in the middle point. Futura Std Light Condensed with a reduction of the x-height was also an interesting choice as it cleans a little bit of that boldness the previous one had. I also liked the way Futura Std Medium Condensed Oblique worked keeping the obliqueness from the original logo and giving back to it a little bit of a speed feeling, the excitement I was missing from the other two. This fresh update should make the logo work better in modern environments, such as Leeds United F.C. website, bus stop advertisement, etcetera.

Second Draft

Third draft

I also tried a new garnet background to bring some passion and enthusiasm to the design, as after a little research I realised many gambling related companies (such as casinos) use the red as protagonist in their logos. However, I did not want to go straight to red to avoid that obvious message and to keep the efficient and relieable look. I also changed the blue adding a little bit of green to it to avoid primary colours, as they are not as smooth as secondary are to achieve a more classy logotype. The underline colour shift is also done for that very reason.

I also included coloured text with white background to see how it works better: white text on colour or vice-versa. The silhouettes are just there in order to surround the ideas with a bit of context.

After that, I decided to do a little bit of extra research to see what else we could bring into the design, as I was not entirely happy with the results so far. I went to the library and deeply checked the books Branding Typography by Gingko Press, Typography: When Who How by Frierich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott and Bernard Stein and, the one I think helped me the most, Type idea index by Jim Krause. This last book has very good tips and examples of designs in a very accessible way. I focused over all in the section Order, as he exhibits many varied works in the style we are working on and with the typefaces we have been required to use. While I was trying to get some inspiration to get the drafts to the next level a peer brought to our attention something we were not aware of: Gala Coral Group merged with Ladbrokes in July of this year, 2015, and the resulting company was called Ladbrokes Coral. The website seems not to be updated with this information, so we thought this could be a good opportunity to add the name in the design. So then I thought it could be a good idea to put everything I had in my head on paper with the inspiration I got from the reading and the recent addition. Despite it was an useful process, while I drawing drafts for some reason I forgot that Landbrokes has an S at the end, but at that stage was not a problem as I was focusing on the shape of the logo as a whole.

Once I had all the new ideas on paper it was time to go to the computer and do some digital drafts to present them to the other members of the group so we can make our final decision based on individual but collaborative work. So this is the result:

Before the analysis and justification of these designs I would like to mention common features. All of them are done in navy blue, as we agreed to stick to this colour in order to avoid misleading to the customers. Also, the kerning has been more precise this time (excepting by the number 7, 8 and 9) to convey not just the solidness previous mentioned, but also the unity between the two companies creating one. Also the hand underline in previous drafts was removed, as a colleague in the group rightly pointed: "It made the logo look like an insurance company". I totally agree now, so it is gone (for now at least). It is also important to keep in mind that I used Garamond Premier Pro Light Display for most of the drafts, excepting numbers 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

1. Despite this is not the idea I originally was following, I decided to add a big 'C' in Garamond regular above the text as the logotype, rather than just typing the name. I decided to place it above the text because I think the reading is smoother for the human eye, as we read from up and down and left to right (in western societies). This big 'C' gives character and elegance to the design, although I must add I am not sure if it can work for a betting company.
2. I kept this design from the previous draft. It has been previously explained.
3. The only change from number 1, apart from the removal of the big 'C', it has been the addition of Ladbrokes to Coral all in one line. The two words can be easily read as they are separated by an uppercase resulting in a clean and linear logo.
4. Not very sure about this one, but one of the colleagues tried a similar design and I think it was worth a try. The only difference from previous drafts has been the removal of the dot and the addition of the slash originally designed for number 11.
5. Using the big 'C' from number 1 and integrating it into the text, having a much bigger uppercase and the text of the size of the big letter terminal. The font used for the lowercase text is Garamond Premier Pro Caption, a bolder font to make it match with the big 'C'. I have got to say I found this one interesting in the way that two different letters from different sizes and fonts (but same typography) can work together this harmoniously.
6. It has the same approach as number 5 but keeping all letters in uppercase and giving to them obliqueness to keep a slight speed and excitement feeling mentioned in a previous draft. Garamond Premier Pro Semibold Italic Caption has been the chosen font. The big 'C' stayed as it was.
7. In this new idea both letters are in Garamond Regular. As Ladbrokes is the first name on the new merged company, Ladbrokes Coral, I think is correct the 'L' is the main visible letter and the 'C' is slightly less than the half. Not always two letters compliment easily each other, but in this case I think is easy to represent that merging, keeping it readable and with almost no modifications.
8. Same as number 7, but with the 'C' lying smoothly on the 'L'. It gives to the logo some informality and relaxed appearance, as it seems the two letters are two friends enjoying a good time together, a feeling the companies probably would like to express.
9. Almost the same idea as number 8, but I got rid of the 'C' terminal to make it merge even more, so both letters share the terminal (pointing up as something positive) as both companies share goals.
10. It is the same approach as number 3, but with the Coral text below the Ladbroke one. The 'l' from Coral and the 's' from Ladbrokes are linked. I chose the last letter as a message of "eventually" the two merged together. Accidentally, the 'r' of Ladbroke looks like it is smoothly levitating over the 'C' of coral, making it also very pleasant for the sight in my opinion.
11. This time the Coral text has been centered and there is no link. This time there is a thin golden line that separates the two texts. I took this idea from the Gala Coral Group original logo to keep the same style as the original mother company. It also brings a more classical and elegant aesthetic to the design.
12. This is almost the same design as number 10, but with the 'C' of Coral slightly bigger to make it cross the letters from Ladbroke. To make it readable I added a stroke to the Ladbroke text and it makes it look like despite they are not touching each other they are definitely together. Needless to say that Ladbroke text should be on the front as it is more important to read than a single part of the letter 'C'.

Tomorrow we will check each others work and we will decide which one deserves to be presented to the rest of the classroom and also who might have best chances to win the competition. To me it has been a short but useful task where we have learnt that small details alterations can result in huge differences of meaning, as we were limited using certain typefaces and we were required to speak through them asking ourselves the right questions to find the right way to explain without words.

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In order to be fair choosing a final design for the presentation, I proposed using a voting system of points. Very simple, in fact. Each one of us would give 3 points to the favourite, 2 points for the second favourite, and one point to the third. In this way more designs would have more chances to come up as the final decision. The system seemed to be very complicated, so it seems that unanimously they chose one partner's design.
 

Some changes were proposed by myself and the others to adapt it better to the results of our research. Eventually, the final logo had ideas from everyone of us. My modifications included kerning to guarantee a consistency, aligning for visual balance and adjustment of colour palette. There was a blue background and the text was white, but that was reversed with a much cleaner result. Another member in the group offered as volunteer to build the presentation on the computer. Even though he told me he did not need any help I wanted to facilitate his labour and also contribute, so I revised the brief and my notes, added a few extra points into the mind map and gave it to him, making sure he had all the info he needed in order to complete a detailed presentation with the relevant information.

Final version of the logotype

Finished mind map with extra notes