Pentagram’s new logo for the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art [SECCA] in North Carolina uses multimedia to provide a literally moving experience. The logo is animated with the initials of the organisation - an art gallery with a constantly changing collection – floating laterally and sometimes overlapping before moving in opposite directions. Conceptually it’s a neat solution which does beg the question: is multimedia changing branding?
The idea of non-static logos isn’t new, TV identities such as MTV and Nickelodeon have used motion for a ages, but the acceptance that the most important presentation of a brand will be on screen, challenges the designer’s priorities. That’s not to say printed graphics are redundant and in this instance the brand works on printed items such as stationery with randomly captured versions of the logo.
Branding is inevitably affected by the constantly evolving digital world and Companies naturally want to appear forward-thinking by taking advantage of new technologies and new techniques so animated graphics are an innovative way to achieve it. However, it does throw up some technical issues, for example Pentagram’s SECCA logo uses Flash technology which looks great on the website, but Flash isn’t supported on ipads or ipods proving that you do need to consider all the angles.
http://pentagram.com/en/new/2010/08/new-work-southeastern-center-f.php
