Interview with Tom Geismar

An interview (of sorts) with Tom Geismar, the designer behind such logos as: Mobil, PBS, Chase, National Geographic, NYU... the list goes on and on.

http://www.logodesignlove.com/tom-geismar-interview

a sample:

Q. Can you share some advice or great stories on selling ideas to clients?

A. Logos are funny things. At first they are just designs on paper. Eventually they come to embody all the qualities of the organization they represent, and most people cannot separate the “design” from their full range of opinions about the organization. The hard task the designer faces is trying to help the client see how the logo might eventually be perceived, how it will work for them, not just whether they “like it”. We learned this lesson early on when we first presented the Chase symbol to the chief executives of the bank. The man who was then Chairman said he would go along the decision of the others, but personally he hated it and did not want to see it on his letterhead his business card, or anywhere in his office. Six months later we ran into him at the bank. He was wearing a pin with the symbol in his lapel, and a tie-tack with the symbol holding a tie that was itself a pattern of the symbol. To him, the mark was no longer just an abstract design, it had become the representation of his organization.