WESTERN IOWA NETWORKS
A logo redesign with brand consistency for multiple products.
Designer: Michael Ulrich
Western Iowa Networks (WIN) is a telecommunications
company offering local and long-distance telephone
services, internet, cable and cellular services.
WIN’s current logo and acronym share similarities
with AOL (triangle) and Windows (Win).
“Two main ways to market services and goods
are to point out the differences between yourself and
the market leader or to stress the similarities,” says
DG creative director Michael Ulrich. “The age-old
marketing trick of mimicking a well-respected market
leader’s colors, look or style to benefit from the
positive aura can be used to one’s advantage if done
correctly—meaning legally.”
Denise Webber, marketing assistant for WIN,
wanted to see the logos for their WINspeed and
WINAccel products redesigned. WIN, as Ulrich
notes, is able to take advantage of AOL’s marketing
efforts via a similar look and feel. “For the redesign,
I chose to clean up, or redraw, the triangle, not
replace it,” says Ulrich. He recommends dropping
the WIN inside the triangle—forever. He says, “A
consistent look and message is key to reaching and
educating existing and potential customers. That’s
what I’ve tried to design: a simple logo for the company
that can be used on the sub-brands WINspeed
and WINAccel.”
Ulrich selected a sans serif, as it looks more
modern and fits a communications/technology company
better. “I used Alinea Incise because it has four
weights and a small caps version. It’s not as cold,
inhuman or machine-like as a straight sans serif.”
The company’s corporate colors, Pantone Reflex
Blue and Pantone Orange 21, are incorporated into
the redesign, reinforcing the brand. “As is often the
case with a redesign, the problem the client wants
solved is not the problem that we think needs to be
solved. WIN wants two outdated logos redesigned
using the new corporate colors—which is doable—but we see a larger problem that needs addressing—consistency,” says Ulrich.
To distinguish the company from AOL, Ulrich
avoided using blue in the triangle, and he recommends
using the vertical orange bars consistently in
the logo to differentiate WIN from Windows.
