In a message dated 00-12-28 12:44:41 EST, Larry Burke wrote:

<< I do believe that logos can be used on credit panels, but only on credit
 panels (unless part of the actual exhibition), and the museum should have
 restrictions on size, with all logos monotone (matching the rest of the
 credit panel-- why should the museum have to pay for four-color printing,
 and if the company pays for it, it does begin to edge towards advertising).
>>

Aha, moron logos!  Wait!  I meant more on logos! :-)

Sorry, folks, I couldn't resist!  At the continuing risk of carrying this
discussion too far over the edge, I'm going to strike a seemingly
self-contradictory pose and say let logos be logos!  I'm not sure such a
compromise is necessary.  Stop!  Cancel that wimpy sentence.  I meant don't
mess with your sponsor's precious symbols. Most logos incorporate colors as
central design elements, and if you're going to show the logo at all, I'd say
show it in all its tawdry, commercial, tasteless glory.  Go for the gusto.
If I were a Coke exec sponsoring an exhibition and you told me I couldn't
have the red in my logo--and the precisely right red at that--I'd say
fuhgeddaboutit.  If the point of showing the logo is "readability", why omit
one of the key features which makes it instantly familiar and "readable"?

The color issue is one of the practical reasons I'd be inclined to avoid
showing sponsors' logos.  It's just easier to work with plain text than to
worry about reproducing the sponsor's logo accurately.  (My primary reasons,
as explained before, involve questions of taste, philosophy, ethics, etc.)
But good grief, it you opt to show the logo, reproduce it faithfully without
alteration.  (IMHO, of course.)

Back to "readability", I think this is variable, depending upon your
audience.  I've been assuming that a plain-text rendition of a corporate name
would be more readable to a wider range of people--all they have to be is
literate; they don't need to be familiar with commercial symbols.  Perhaps
there are more people, including children and the illiterate, who would
recognize a widely disseminated commercial symbol than could read the
plain-text company name.  But once you get beyond the most widely recognized
logos, this recognition factor would diminish to the point that the plain
text would be more "readable".  In the case of companies with less
recognizable logos, it might be argued that what the museum is doing in
displaying their logos is helping to make them more viable in the marketplace
by enhancing public recognition of their symbols--in a word, helping them to
advertise, which I don't consider appropriate for museums.  If the display of
the most instantly recognizable logos doesn't exactly constitute advertising,
it's merely because the company or products are already so familiar that the
"advertising" effect is minimal--our environment is already saturated with
it.  (However, doesn't the mere display of a Coke logo advertise it at the
expense of, say, Pepsi?)  In any event, I'm concerned that displaying a logo
seems to imply the museum is giving its stamp of approval to the company and
its products.  I think a lower-key, plain-text credit line is more likely to
be interpreted as a simple acknowledgment of support, rather than a stamp of
approval.

By contrast, I think displaying a logo for a non-commercial, nonprofit
foundation or funding source SHOULD be interpreted as the museum's stamp of
approval, so, aesthetic considerations aside, the use of such symbols is
fine.  Apropos of that, however, I'm still waiting for some verification of
the assertion that organizations like NEA and NEH require the display of
their logos.  In fact, I'm not sure I've ever even seen their logos.

As usual, I didn't intend to write a lengthy addition to this thread.  I've
learned a lot from the discussion, and I appreciate the opportunity to
express my views and clarify them in my own mind.  I think (I hope) I've said
everything I have to offer.  I'm secretly hoping no one else will stimulate
me with new provocative arguments on this subject!  Note: that doesn't mean
I'm asking to have the last word!

David Haberstich

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