I purchased a Ford car, just 7 months back, in fact, drove the first Ford car of my life, only recently. Until now, its been only Japanese, Korean and German cars. This is first time I possessed an all American car. The reason was simple - strong recommendation from a relative - and it fit my budget, and yes it suited my personality. A mix of these prompted me to buy it - though I met strong apprehensions from family and self. But once I possessed it and used it for some time - I realized Ford has great quality, great efficiency (YMMV), great control. All my apprehensions have been disappeared. I learnt its features and functions and realized that lot of thought has gone into designing it. Small-small features proved beneficial to me:
A logo is very important for a company's branding in customers mind and attracting new customers. An eye-catching logo (even though small in size) always stands out and makes an impact. Scalability is the main property of the logo as it would appear when seen from far. For these reasons I believe a stronger, bigger, logo should be made to make Ford a bigger brand than it is currently perceived to be. The logo of a car needs to have these simple properties to be perceived correctly:
[+ An expert's link for the logo design: link]
After sketching a few designs going by the above guidelines I came up with these draft options (obviously they need to modified):
* - [I am not expert on cars, UX, logos. :-) The views presented here are not intended to malign any brand, country or entity.]
- Positioning of the Main Control Screen (very aptly positioned that while driving too I can glance on the screen with no turning of the head)
- Wiper speed control via scroll wheel (Excellent idea of providing custom wiper speeds at all levels)
- Information toggle switch (On the dashboard they have come out with a side-lever-press to toggle the different values)
- SYNC (This makes the media operations of my car hands free - which is fabulous)
- Tilt feature in rear seats (I can tilt the rear seats at multiple angles easily)
- Tough outer sheet quality (Makes the car feel like sturdy)
- + Awesome average of ~ 20 kmpl on diesel
When I studied more about Ford, I came to know it also has some of the serious innovations and thousands of patents to its credit. Some of the 'firsts' that it brought to the world are:
- Famous assembly line process (that reduced chassis time from 12.5 to 1.5 hr)
- In fact the introduction of 2-shifts-a-day to 3-shifts-a-day was by Ford
- Safety Glass Windshield (that protects us from glass even if windshield breaks)
- Ford flathead V8 engine (outperformed all competitors in 1932)
- Deep-dish steering wheel
- Child-proof door locks
- First retractable hardtop
But even after taken the lead so early in cars, the point is, still its popularity is unlike those of the higher selling cars like Japanese and Korean and the likes. It bothered me - why I had a negative perception about Ford earlier.
What could be the reason for the same? I inquired for a long time. Searched around for reasons but there was no substantial ones.
But in general people said these:
- Low Mileage
- High maintenance cost
- Average Looks
- Or customers personal grudges
I have used the Ford car and others - there is nothing wrong of this sort with Ford - and my earlier perception was out-ruled after using it too. (In fact in many aspects it is better than others*.) Still had no clue about the main reason for me disliking the brand altogether 'earlier'. I realized the main problem, I believe could have been, visibility. The connect. The brand. The perception. And the association over the years. From these - I feel it is something related to perception. Perception of people about the brand - Ford. I couldn't form a good perception about Ford - unconsciously. But I wondered how this perception was formed over the years, even though I knew nothing about the history and geography about the company and its cars. What could have been the cause for this perception to be formed - the way it had formed. (??)
After a lot of observation and inquiry - I shortlisted these that could have formed my opinion unconsciously:
After outruling the first two - for me the perception culprit - could have been the logo! The famous blue logo with silver calligraphic text written on it! But why could have been the logo? Logo says a lot about the brand and its identity and the way people perceive the brand. The reason it could have been the logo because over the years it had given me a perception of Ford not being a very attractive (?). Probably yes. Although the current logo is very american, very elegant and superb but still it could have been a reason for my negative perception of Ford cars. After enquiry I found there are a few problems with it:
After a lot of observation and inquiry - I shortlisted these that could have formed my opinion unconsciously:
- Word of Mouth
- Advertising
- The Logo
After outruling the first two - for me the perception culprit - could have been the logo! The famous blue logo with silver calligraphic text written on it! But why could have been the logo? Logo says a lot about the brand and its identity and the way people perceive the brand. The reason it could have been the logo because over the years it had given me a perception of Ford not being a very attractive (?). Probably yes. Although the current logo is very american, very elegant and superb but still it could have been a reason for my negative perception of Ford cars. After enquiry I found there are a few problems with it:
- Not visible from far
- Contrast not appropriate
- Doesn't stand tall
- As compared to other brands
After observing the logos of the cars while driving and observing, I felt, the logo of Ford doesn't seem a good fit. Logo of other popular cars are smarter and cleaner. If one watches this image below - one would notice the problem with the logo of Ford (and some others too) not being clearly visible from far:
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| Ford Logo is not clearly visible |
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| Calligraphy was used in almost all logos |
The logo was then designed by a friend of Henry Ford, Childe Harold Wills, who had designed it uniquely and marvellously as for those times but it seems in recent times it is not very appropriate because:
- Visibility due to pollution is low in current times
- Calligraphy in the logo makes it unnoticeable when it is small
- Numerous other brands with good visible logos from far have come up
[an interesting link for the information of Ford logo is here]
A logo is very important for a company's branding in customers mind and attracting new customers. An eye-catching logo (even though small in size) always stands out and makes an impact. Scalability is the main property of the logo as it would appear when seen from far. For these reasons I believe a stronger, bigger, logo should be made to make Ford a bigger brand than it is currently perceived to be. The logo of a car needs to have these simple properties to be perceived correctly:
- Bold
- Easily Memorable
- Usable without colors
- Visible from far
- Visible in dark too
[+ An expert's link for the logo design: link]
After sketching a few designs going by the above guidelines I came up with these draft options (obviously they need to modified):
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| Signifies: The Letter F, Upwards Direction, Boldness, Speed, Strength |
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| Signifies: The letter F. crisp sharp wit, clarity of design, speed |
Logo could be one of the problems towards the perception of Ford but there could be other reasons too. The blog was aimed to incite the thought/discussion towards the Ford's and other cars logos. Hope it brings the desired effect!
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