Competitor Logo's - Studio Brief 02 - OUGD504

As a research exercise, I want to refresh my knowledge on the existing market and their branding before I go into any development to establish what visual elements represent a quality product.

Mostly known for manufacturing turntables, Numark is one of the industry standards for vinyl and other equipment.
The logo isn't the best, the graphic itself is put on all turntables the produce so it makes slightly more sense from the consumers point of view. The best part for me is the type, a lot of music instrument manufactures use a type like this, 
therefore representing a well-established and sought after brand. 

Ableton, a DAW (Digital audio interface) is outstandingly effective in translating the musical staff, four lines that represent a different musical pitch. I specifically like how it is incorporated into the type to almost represent velocity levels of audio like on a mixer table.

Akai is known as one of the best for its MPC controllers. Its logo, recently changed from a serif to a sans-serif, is sturdy and bold, thus representative of the product they produce. Something I wish to execute myself, 'a visual representation of the product in the form of a logo'.

Behringer being a purely DJ equipment manufacture have represented the ear in the form of a compact disk. This is not something that is translated straight away as I myself had to look a the logo in depth before I could truly understand its meaning. The type is okay, but I can;t help but think of the Bloomingdales logo I actually posted previous to this.

Very similar to Numarks logo, I move onto Gemini, the visual appearance is not so different to Unmarks except this is purely based on logotype without any sort of icon. I prefer the Gemini logo to the Numark logo as the letters are kerned a lot nicer and the letters are not joined in some places, making for a cleaner and easier on the eye look.

Kong needs no introduction, being one of the main suppliers for synths and keyboards around the globe, their logo has stayed the same since establishment in 1962, Japan. Again you can see a correlation between the boldness and rigidity of the logo and the products, I want to take this into my own practice to ensure a successful outcome, but hopefully not one that just looks like all of the rest of its competitors.

KRK have gathered a lot of pace in the last few years, I even own a pair of their speakers myself. The logo is somewhat of a good one, their low end bass cones have a renowned yellow colour with is reflected in the logo above. I'm not sure the widely tracked 'systems' is entirely necessary below KRK though, maybe this is something that will e considered if ever there is a rebrand. This i also something to consider when designing a logo, if the brand has yet to establish itself and nobody really knows what it is or what the company behind the logo sells, it's ideal to have a little more detail than you should to ensure people know what it is your selling.

Native Instruments make some of the best MIDI controllers around, being used by some of the best producers around the globe. The logo has a good all-caps typeface and the icon itself is somewhat of an odd one, this is because they have a controller called the 'Machine' and people often fail to associate the Machine to Native Instruments because the Machine itself is such a strong brand compared to the company identity.

Novation is one of those companies that has shot up in popularity in the last few years also. They have a product called the Launchpad, which is essentially one large MIDI drum pad with 8x8 (64 pads). I think the logo is meant to represent one of theses square pads, which i=I find very effective in communicating the brand and its products tot he consumer.

Another brand with no need for an introduction. Pioneer are the worlds leading DJ gear supplier, and the quality of their product is representative of the brand. The logo itself is a bit of an odd one, I think it works well, but if you don't know of the brand and therefore wouldn't associate the quality that I know is in their products myself, I don't think the rounded, soft and friendly type would translate that message very well.

A German brand as you can tell by the name, represents itself extremely well with the stretched 'S' in a rectangle, I specifically like how the type can be combined with the icon without it looking out of place and unnecessary.

Pretty much the industry standard when it comes to vinyl turntables, but, sadly not in production anymore. This is similar to my Pioneer analysis, but I think that this logotype is similar to Sony, people associate that particular style of serif with quality electrical's, so this makes me think the simple, straight forwards look of the Technics logo makes it successful, more-so than the Pioneer logo.

Yamaha are a brand everyone knows, and it hasn't changed since the 60's, and rightfully so. As they produce so many other products rather than just musical instruments, the logo must be versatile and not apply to only one product, although it features a tuning fork used for organs, it represents more than this now it;s an established brand. It represents quality and trustworthiness, something of which is hard to retrieve from a consumer point of view.