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Welcome to a unique Branding workshop called The Monogo Method

by: Willian Mazza

Have you ever heard of the word Logo? What about a Monogram, Logotype, Symbol, Trademark, Corporate Identity, Glyph, Insignia, Crest, Seal, etc.? It can be extremely confusing to grasp the essence and meaning of these terms if you’re not well versed in communication and design. The logo must represent the company, leaving a lot of responsibility on the logo. The most important question to answer when you’re looking for a new logo is: If you could describe your company with one word, what would that be? Many times, that word is how I have started many programs. It may seem simplistic to describe a company in a word. but for the designer it is fundamental to create an image that communicates the company. This is a starting point that helps the business owner to try to be as concise as possible. This also helps the owner understand his business dynamics as well

For example there are other considerations, a company that makes air conditioners might consider using cool colors, cold aesthetics, etc. as the foundation of the logo design. This makes sense, but after the designer learns that the company also makes heating systems, water purifiers, humidifiers, that once cool theme is only partially true. During the summer months, people seek cool spaces, where in the winter months, warmth is desired. So what does the designer do? What should the client say and how can someone that isn’t savvy in communication judge what direction is right? 

The best way to visually plan is what I call Corporate Imaging. This leaves all the bases open to illustrate sensations throughout the year. In a case like the company that produces air conditioners and heating systems etc., the starting point would be to find one common denominator or the one word that describes the company. This enables one to embellish off of the key word. By illustrating a common denominator, we can keep the door open for all occasions and find something that works well all year round.

Another logo exploration I led was for a Law firm in Boston, Shoffner Associates. The company wanted to transmit strength and power, emblematic of what you need when you are involved in legal matters. The Lawyer’s first name is Freya, so we decided to use “Freya,” a Nordic Goddess as an image. What does a Nordic Goddess have to do with law? First, we were able to link the lawyer’s name to the image, and second, we were able to illustrate what the Goddess preaches – power and strength. This type of imaging allows The Nordic Goddess to illustrate and animate the gamut of legal services. It also allows us to talk in another tone and voice. The difference here would be similar to using traditional iconic associations, such as a gavel to illustrate law, or the scale, or Greek temple, but these stereotype icons do not capture character and personality.

Concreate is an initiative that creates and develops educational training programs and tools for corporate training and higher education. The action here is teaching, learning how to make something concrete. There are different backgrounds, which I used to characterize the business cards, i.e. a solid blue background and an energetic mosaic pattern – depicting the respective card owners’ character. The bkg plus the action of the 2 hands like gears = corporate imaging.
I also teach a course in Branding. My branding method is called “Monogo”.  Monogo is a combination of a monogram and a logo.My methodology depicts characteristics of the company and transposes those characteristics into colors, shapes, textures, patterns, and other variables. For more information regarding my branding workshop contact me in my contact area. If you are beginning a Logo for your company or service this workshop will give you a perfect vision on how to visually communicate a brand or company.