Steff Geissbuhler is a graduate of the Basel School of Design in Switzerland. At Basel, under the tutelage of Emil Ruder, Donald Brun and Armin Hoffman, Geissbuhler developed a predilection for illustration, as well as typography. His logotypes are familiar in households across the United States and include the NBC peacock and the TimeWarner conflation of an eye and ear, as well as enduring symbols for National Public Radio, Telemundo, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and MercyCorps.
Geissbuhler is an unabashed modernist. “I totally embrace the good old Bauhaus rules of reduction and clarification,” he says. At the same time, he’s still an illustrator and believes that “actual symbols mean more today than abstractions. My NBC peacock still works today because people relate to something they can understand right away.” Driven by a need to make things that are meaningful and appropriate, Geissbuhler always strives to answer the question, to resolve the problem at hand.
Interview with Steff Geissbuhler by Parsons Paris student Taylor Lagerloef
How does the logo creation process normally begin and is it any different with a merger logo?
It is certainly different with a merger logo because you are dealing with two companies, which involves more research and the “talking to” happens on two different levels. This complicates things because you are essentially marrying two cultures, which is quite difficult. We always start by studying what the firm had done: its history, its competition – we talk to the competition, find out how the company thinks they are perceived and then ask people how they perceive the company. We are not doing this for the way the company is now, but rather to develop the identity of who they want to be. If the client(s) buy into observations, the report, etc., then they move forward which leads to a series of ideas that are bounced off the client. The research presentation occurs during the first meeting, in which we also present sketches. When we present the sketches we also discuss why we have pursued different things, what we have discarded and why we have discarded certain things, in order to get an overall sense from the client, as well as their input and reactions. We also have to deal with certain “no-no’s”, for instance, if the chairman’s wife doesn’t like the color purple, then we cannot use that color in a logo. There are also bigger instances which could potentially involve lawsuits, so of course, those are big “no-no’s”. Making a client part of the solution is fun, but very dangerous, but at least you can confront it and get reactions.You are holding up a mirror to a client and putting them in a new suit that you picked out yourself. The toughest part is convincing them to buy in and understand your train of thought.
Does sketching still play a role now that computers dominate?
Both sketching and computers play equal roles – in our office, younger people jump to computers, while older people tend to prefer hand drawing. Hand sketching, however, is irreplaceable because there is something that comes out with sketching, something that is not quite as rigid. Drawing on the computer is not as open and computer sketches are hard to present to clients because they automatically assume that it is final and don’t fully understand that it is only a draft.
How many different versions of a logo do you consider and how do you narrow down the options?
It is hard to give an exact number because it varies among projects – when creating an “icon” there are typically more sketches, and for a “word mark” there are less, because there are many different ways to render words, through icons embedded into the name, but a trademark has more symbolism. With trademarks, generally up to 8 different versions, word mark there are up to 3 very refined versions. After we show sketches, we immediately apply it. For instance, we show how it would look on a website, business card, movie, etc. If we are designing a logo for a law office, we present it on a letterhead.
Can you describe the case of the Time Warner logo, in terms of how long the logo creation process was?
The TimeWarner logo took several months; we developed trademarks, experimented with TW’s and took all different directions until the eye/ear was presented. The Warner Communications chairman started to understand, but the Time Inc. chairman, who was more the journalist type, wasn’t really on board for it. However, he yielded to the chairman of Warner Communications because he was more into the culture of visual arts and so the Time, Inc. chairman just handed that decision over to him. They were comfortable with a symbol rather than TW insignia because both companies came from letter logos. The process was about two different cultures coming together to embrace a unified company.
When creating a merger logo, how do you balance the two companies, in other words why is one more visible?
When creating a merger logo, the companies will never really be balanced – for instance, with the Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney merged, it was obvious that Morgan Stanley was going to dominate and they did not change culture as much as Smith Barney. Smith Barney had to change completely because they used to be by themselves and somewhat lost their identity. When the option to merge with Morgan Stanley came about, they were happy to join back into the “commercial city” idea. So, the logo was shifted by putting the Smith Barney name underneath Morgan Stanley.
Generally, a successful logo is both simple but loaded with meaning. How is that achieved?
Try to make it simple enough so it is memorable, distinct, leaves a lasting impression and can withstand technical reproduction. People understand symbols which are much more relevant today – abstract symbols and shapes have become abused. For example, the NBC peacock is a bird with an array of colorful feathers – this makes sense because it represents a showbird, is colorful, but is still serious enough and pertinent enough to use for the NBC logo. Also, with the TimeWarner logo, maybe at first you won’t see the eye, but it is cable like because it is linear and fits.
What role do you see color playing in corporate logos?
Color can be very strong, for example, UPS with the brown color, Kodak with the yellow, National Geographic, etc. Carry on color – UPS used brown because they deliver at night and since brown is a dark color, it portrays the idea of invisibility. 85% of the worlds logos are blue because it is an easy, cool, calm color, is in sky, water, etc. Time Warner was meant to be purple, because the blue of Time, Inc. and the red of Warner Communications would mix to create purple, but the chairman of Warner’s Communications did not find this acceptable and resisted it because it seemed “fruity."
Finally, do you think we can say that simpler logos are just more successful, especially given globalization and wordless logos like Pepsi's turn?
Wordless is more successful. Simpler logos are destined to have better longevity.
