In this day and age it is a remarkable feat for any logo to stand the test of time, what with mergers and acquisitions, new business models, the speed of technology, the faddishness of the marketplace, clueless brand managers and the basic short attention span of the average American. So in a small way I am pleased that the latest KIRO logo still retains the ghostly vestiges of our design. A very tiny pleasure, because what they have done to the mark is downright pitiful.
We don't claim that the mark we created for this once mighty radio station was a classic of logo design, but we are suitably proud of it, it works, it stood out in a sea of radio logo sameness, and it ably served it's purpose to give a strong, local visual identity to the brand. But over the years, the station group was sold off, they switched formats and went from the am to the fm band, losing audience and market share along the way. Instead of calling in Vivitiv or another design firm to create a new mark to address the NEW station identity/frequency head on, the station management instead chose to make incremental changes to the mark that we created. As with other bad decisions for the station, we believe that draining the life out of a logo in order to keep some semblance of brand continuity was the wrong move. Given what is shown here, we are probably giving too much credit to station management, the devolution was probably driven by an unwillingness to spend any dollars whatsoever to have it done right than it was to retain brand equity.
We are proud that the mark we created for 710 KIRO has lasted as long as it did, but we are equally saddened to see the devolution of both our work and the radio business in general.
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