Transcript Crowdsourcing a Library Logo: One Library’s Experience

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Crowdsourcing a Library
Logo: One Library’s
Experience
Alec Sonsteby, M.S.
Metropolitan State University
[email protected]
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Questions
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Does your library have a logo?
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What visual elements compose your logo?
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What process did you use to develop your logo?
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20 years of MN library logos
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Minneapolis Public Library (1993)
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20 years of MN library logos
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Minnesota State University, Mankato (2004)
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20 years of MN library logos
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Metropolitan State University (2012)
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Logo: Two definitions
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Simple: A graphic identity that symbolizes a library’s
identity (Kent, 1993).
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More complex: “A logo is a symbol, graphic element, or
trademark that is designed for easy and definite
recognition of a brand” (Hafner & Akers, 2011, p. 35).
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So, what is a brand?
Hafner and Akers (2011)
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“A library’s brand is the sum of its customers’ perceptions
about the library…
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“A brand is what first comes to mind when one hears the
organization’s name or sees a graphic element representing
the organization.
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It “represents an immediate, intangible, sometimes
emotional perception that is associated with the qualities
or values of a product or service.
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It “can be a snapshot of the library’s promise and its
relationship to the patron” (p. 34).
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Usability and identity(!)
Rowley (2004)
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“…designers of library Web sites have been preoccupied
with Web site functionality, and have not lingered long on the
question of brand or corporate identity” (p. 132).
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Logo as a branding tool
Hafner and Akers (2011)
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“One of the most successful, low-cost ways to convey the
library’s brand is to create a unified, consistent message
through using a logo…
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Logos “help to develop and reinforce a stronger brand
association” (p. 34).
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Logos can only do so much…
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While a logo can “help shape the visitors’ image of the
library’s perceived value” (Hafner & Akers, 2011, p. 34)…
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“A brand is only as good as the brand image that it
generates in the minds of consumers…
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“The task for the brand builder is to tease out and communicate
brand values that take the organization where it wants to go, whilst
acknowledging and building on any existing values [or]
attributes… that existing users associate with the organisation”
(Rowley, 2004, p. 136).
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Characteristics of a “good” logo
Rowley (2004)
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Recognizable
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Memorable
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Visible
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Usable in different channels, including “online,
professionally printed promotions and photocopies and inhouse communication” (p. 137).
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Characteristics of a “good” logo
Hafner and Akers (2011)
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Design: Simple, yet creative and striking.
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Name: Any illustration “should never overshadow the
library’s name” (p. 35).
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Differentiation: Your design should “create a meaningful
visual distinction that will allow [your] library to stand out
from similar organizations” (p. 36).
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Remember: People make judgments about the library from
what they see, “even ascribing personality attributes to a
given typeface” (p. 35).*
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Differentiation, continued
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Most library logos: “We are just a library.”
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Does your design reflect the uniqueness of your community
and the pride members feel about the library?
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Joe Duffy of Duffy Design Group: “…if the library doesn’t
have that sense of pride, you’re missing exactly what
brings people back, that makes them say, ‘This is my
library’” (Kent, 1993, p. 989).
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Common library logo designs
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Architectural element from a building (Hafner & Akers, 2011)
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Books and computers (Rowley, 2004)
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Minnesota State University,
Mankato (2003-4) brainstorming
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Open door (access)
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Mortar board (knowledge)
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Open book (knowledge and access)
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Globe (worldwide access to information and diversity)
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Challenge for library logo designs
Rowley (2004)
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“What pictures show indicates the content and nature of the
service. Pictures are a visual representation of brand values.
Books, people, and computers are common images on
library Web sites. Are these the most effective images, or
are other images that reflect authority, trust, or leisure
pursuits more appropriate?
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“One of the very real challenges here is that for many
people, information in whatever form is merely a
channel to other activities… How can this be captured by
the pictures on a library Web site?” (pp. 135-136)
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Cultural considerations
Rowley (2004)
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“Language, symbols and colours often do not translate across
different countries and cultures. Branding may be world
wide, but preferences are local” (p. 134).
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Review
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A library logo should symbolize the library’s identity while
also differentiating it from its “competitors” and other
libraries.
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An effective logo design is simple, creative, striking,
recognizable, and memorable.
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It should be usable in a variety of print and online channels.
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Books, computers, and architectural elements are common in
library logos designs, but it is an open question if these are
effective images.
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The diverse cultural meanings of language, symbols, and
colors need to be explored before finalizing any logo
design.
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Motivation
Impetus for our logo project: Website usability testing.
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Based on the results, we believed that a logo would
strengthen our brand and make it easier for us to promote
our services within the university.
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Since the library’s web presence is so large and complex,
we felt that a library-specific logo would improve the
navigation of our site by making it easier for library users to
stay oriented while visiting our pages.
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Metro State: Our web presence
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Website: http://www.metrostate.edu/library
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Catalog: http://plus.mnpals.net/?library=MTR
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LibGuides: http://libguides.metrostate.edu/
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/metrostatelibrary
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Research databases (varying branding options):
http://libguides.metrostate.edu/databases
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Others: Internal staff wiki, Twitter (@metrostatelib), and
Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolib)
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Etc.
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3 different logos, 3 different
processes
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Minneapolis Public Library: Hired professional design firm
Duffy Design Group
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Minnesota State University, Mankato: Used campus
publications office
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Metropolitan State University: Crowdsourced to site
Crowdspring
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Other design options
Kapoun (2006) and Germain (2008)
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Library staff member(s)
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College or university art, business, or communication
departments
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Community design contest (form of crowdsourcing?)
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Professionals recommended
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Rowley (2004) and Hafner and Akers (2011) recommend the
use of a professional designer or design firm.
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Crowdsourcing concept
Holley (2010), quoting Wikipedia:
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“Crowdsourcing is… the act of taking tasks traditionally
performed by an employee or contractor and outsourcing it
to a group (crowd) of people or community in the form of an
open call.
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“The difference between crowdsourcing and ordinary
outsourcing is that a task or problem is outsourced to an
undefined public rather than a specific other body.
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“Crowdsourcing has potential to be a problem-solving
mechanism for government and non-profit use.”
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Benefits of crowdsourcing
Holley (2010)
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Accomplish projects your library does not have the money or
expertise to complete.
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Finish projects faster.
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Tap into the knowledge, expertise, and interest of a
community.
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Crowdsourcing potential for
libraries
Holley (2010)
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Finding errors in catalogs
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Rating reliability of records
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Adding information to records
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Verifying names
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Correcting full text
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Transcribing handwritten records
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Describing items not yet cataloged
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Specific examples
Holley (2010)
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Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program, National
Library of Australia: Text correction.
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FamilySearchIndexing: Text transcription of records.
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Project Gutenberg: Creation of ebooks.
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Wikipedia: Creation of encyclopedia.
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Galaxy Zoo: Classification of photographs.
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The Crowdspring concept
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Write and upload a creative brief.
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Choose your fee and submission timeframe.
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Provide ratings and comments on submissions as they come in;
buyers are rated, too.
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This is an iterative process: some creatives will revise previous
submissions or upload new ones in response to your feedback.
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Use the focus group tool to solicit internal feedback.
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Choose a winner within a week after the submission window
closes.
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Finalize the design details with your winning creative.
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Other crowdsourcing design sites
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99designs: http://99designs.com/
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Creation Hero: http://www.creationhero.com/
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DesignCrowd: http://www.designcrowd.com/
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Id8on.com: http://id8on.com/
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Wilogo: http://us.wilogo.com/
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What about legal issues?
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Crowdspring provides boilerplate language for an
independent contractor agreement.
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Highlights:
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Creative agrees that the work is original and does not violate
existing copyrights.
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The deliverable is “work-made-for-hire”; the creative waives all
rights to the work and transfers complete ownership to the buyer.
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The buyer may make changes to the work; the creative waives any
moral rights.
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The specified file formats of the deliverables and the fee to be
paid by the buyer.
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Overview of the Metro State
process
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Discussed idea at librarians’ meeting.
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Drafted creative brief. Critiqued over email.
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Accepted entries for two weeks.
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Small library task force of four chose six semifinalists.
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All library staff/faculty voted on semifinalists.
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Library dean selected winner from the top three.
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Soft launch.*
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Total time: 4 weeks
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Planning and research before
design
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Creative brief: Describes your library’s needs and desires.
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Elements (Kent, 1993)
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Purpose: What is your library’s purpose?
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Goals: What are your library’s goals?
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Values: What are your library’s values?
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Personality: What key words would you and your staff use to
describe your library?
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Key message: What is the one consistent message your library
wants to communicate throughout its marketing communications?
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Metro State’s creative brief for
Crowdspring
Consisted of answers to three questions:
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What are the top 3 things we wanted to communicate through
our logo?
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What logo styles do we like (image and text, image only, text
only, etc.)?
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Did we have any other information or links we wanted to
share?
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Creative brief: Our top 3 messages
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We are a forward-thinking and evolving academic library.
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We are welcoming and customer service-oriented.
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All of our users are important—we strive to empower them.
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Creative brief: Our preferred logo
style
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Noted we would use the logo in a variety of media,
including a newsletter, social media profiles, a website,
licensed databases, and printed handouts.
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Requested a design so that the image would be square, so
we could use the image as our Facebook profile picture and
for a favicon.
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Creative brief: Debate #1
Should the logo design contain book imagery?
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According to OCLC’s Perceptions of Libraries report (2010), the
word that people most commonly associate with libraries is
“books.” (This is the library’s brand.)
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On one hand, the book works as an image for libraries because
it is iconic and symbolically stands for the larger whole, i.e., the
library.
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On the other hand, an academic library is much more than
books.
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Compromise: While we welcomed submissions for logos that
contain book imagery, we also invited submissions that
contained other imagery.
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Creative brief: Debate #2
Must the logo conform to the university’s visual standards?
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The standards are required for the university’s visual identity,
but, as we interpreted them, they do not apply to the
university’s individual units.
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We left this up to the designers:
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Perhaps they would feel that the library’s logo should be
completely distinct from the university’s overall visual identify to
clearly brand the library within the organization.
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Or, perhaps they would feel that the library’s logo should
demonstrate some sort of visual connection to the whole
university.
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Creative brief: Debate #2,
continued
Rowley (2004)
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“Any brand mark… needs to be designed taking into
account, and possibly echoing, the corporate brand.
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“Values embedded in the corporate brand need to be
translated into the library brand, but interpreted to match
the unique services offered by the library, and the values
associated with that service…” (p. 137).
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How much to award?
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Settled on $400, a total slightly higher than the Crowdspring
average ($365).
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Wanted to generate interest in our project and a lot of
submissions.
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The designs roll in…
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Common design submissions
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Turned pages
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Open books
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Cityscapes that look like books on
shelves
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Books contained within cityscapes
Stacks of books
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Open books nestling a sun
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Mortarboards
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Birds
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Stacks of books topped by
mortarboards
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Bird wings as book pages
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Books forming the letters “L”
(library) or “M” (Metropolitan)
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Mortar boards as books
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Stars
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Laptops
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MSU acronym
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Trees and vines
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Revising our creative brief
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Avoid use of acronym MSU.
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Avoid use of star imagery.
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Encourage the use of more color.
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Most of the early submissions were either blue and white or black
and white.
Encourage the use of natural imagery, e.g., bird, flower, river,
or tree.
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Most the the early submissions consisted of book imagery or
abstract “corporate” designs.
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Project stats
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Rejects/Withdrawals
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11 slides removed due to copyright.
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These slides will be shown at the conference.
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Most unusual
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3 slides removed due to copyright.
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These slides will be shown at the conference.
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Creatives pitching their designs
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Semifinalists
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5 slides removed due to copyright.
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These slides will be shown at the conference.
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Semifinalists
The ultimate winner
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The winner
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Implementation of a logo
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A new design is “only the first half of the project. Wrong
implementation of [a] new design identity can totally nullify a
good design” (Kent, 1993, p. 991).
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Consistent use is important.
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Create style guide for staff.
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Metro State’s logo implementation
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Email signature
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Catalog
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One Search: The Summon web-scale discovery tool
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“Brandable” database platforms: EBSCOhost and ProQuest
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Subject guides: LibGuides
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Social media: Facebook and Twitter
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Print publications: Newsletter
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Email signature
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Catalog
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One Search
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Databases: EBSCOhost platform
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Database: ProQuest platform
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Subject guides: LibGuides
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Social media: Facebook
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Social media: Facebook
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Social media: Twitter
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Print publications: Newsletter
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Striking differences
Mankato (2003-2004)
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Designer: University
publications office
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Design choices: 3
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Cost: $2,000 (approx. $2,495 in
today’s dollars)
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Metro State (2013)
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Designer: Crowdspring users
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Design choices: 286
(+9,433%)
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Cost: $400 (-84%)
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Length: 1 month (-83%)
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Launch: Unannounced rollout
Length: 6 months
Launch: Formal university
event
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Lingering issues
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We do not display on the library homepage.
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We did not consider cultural issues.
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We do not have a visual style guide or usage policy.
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We do not uniformly use on print publications across
service points (reference and instruction, circulation,
information commons), e.g., handouts, announcement fliers,
library hours slips, etc.
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Is our logo a success?
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Does our logo symbolize our identity while also
differentiating it from its “competitors” and other libraries?
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Is our logo’s design simple, creative, striking, recognizable,
and memorable?
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Is our logo usable in a variety of print and online channels?
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Is our logo’s use of architectural elements effective?
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What cultural meanings might the design of our logo and the
colors that are used convey?
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References
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Germain, C. A. (2008). A brand new way of looking at library marketing.
Public Services Quarterly, 4(1), 73-78.
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Hafner, A. W., & Akers, S. G. (2011). Building the library’s brand: Using
taglines or logos. Public Libraries, 50(1), 34-37.
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Holley, R. (2010). Crowdsourcing: How and why should libraries do it? DLib Magazine, 16(3/4).
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Kapoun, J. (2006). Creating a library logo for an academic library.
Library Philosophy & Practice, 8(2), 1-9.
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Kent, R. (1993, December). In search of cultural shelf pop: Anatomy of a
library logo. American Libraries, 24(11), 988-989, 991-992.
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Rowley, J. (2004). Online branding. Online Information Review, 28(2), 131138.
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Thank you!
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Questions or comments? Please write me.
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Alec Sonsteby, M.S.
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Reference and Instruction Librarian and Assistant Professor
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Metropolitan State University, Saint Paul, MN
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[email protected]