"A Logo Should Tell a Story": The Symbols of Pan-Africanism
by Daniel Salem -- The threat of commoditization – the process by which commodities lose their singularity and are then regarded in the eyes of consumers as undifferentiated from other similar brands – poses a constant challenge to manufacturers of goods and brings many of them to hire the services of brand designers. They hope that by rebranding their goods, customers will perceive them as unique and somehow better, and as a result will choose their brand over others. Designers, in return, deploy sophisticated branding strategies. “A logo should tell a story,” is one common piece of advice. If a logo “tells a story” smartly, and conveys that “special something” that makes one brand worthier of attention than others, then perhaps customers will identify with the product and be willing to purchase it. But for historians, anthropologists, and other students of culture, a symbol always tells a story. This is not a story meant to arouse an affective response in potential consumers, but ...