What does this sign say? Some designers try too hard to be clever. They miss the point–they’re not creating art. Design is a tool to help a company sell something. Many designers get so caught up in being fancy artistes that their…
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A logo is just a marketing tool. It’s one of many marketing tools firms use to convey your message to the marketplace. A logo is the first contact many prospects will have with your firm, for example, on a…
I collect legal marketing memorabilia. I’ve been collecting them for 25 years, and I have hundreds of historical pieces, dating back 225 years, to 1794. Sometimes I come across really unusual examples. I thought this matchbook was a bit surprising….
Lawyers love having their names in the law firm’s logo. Hey, who wouldn’t? It’s the gold star, the brass ring, the highest honor law firms bestow, our industry’s Oscar. But it can get ridiculous, as over time more and more…
I was saddened in 2020 to learn of the passing of Steve Susman of Susman Godfrey. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to suggest that he was known as one of the nation’s top 10 trial lawyers. I had the…
Initials aren’t helpful. Words are. Names are. We know that for many professional-services firms (e.g. law, accounting, consulting, etc.), using initials is simply a necessary compromise — a less-controversial way to abbreviate the firm’s name. You get to shorten a cumbersome…
I collect hundreds of business cards every year. Under non-Covid conditions, I typically speak at dozens of conferences each year, attend a dozen more, and interview hundreds of lawyers in branding and website projects. So I have the occasion to…
Rebranding an insurance law firm. Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith is a 110-lawyer, 11-office New Orleans-based insurance-litigation firm. They’re one of the Gulf Coast’s leading insurance firms ― tough, skilled, service-oriented lawyers with great trial skills. They also handle…
There are few products more boring than shampoo. It’s soap. For your hair. Yet there have been some notable efforts over the years to differentiate it, or make shampoo seem more interesting or useful. Clairol Herbal Essences took this to a…
Very hard, actually. If you want it done right. We haven’t heard it phrased exactly like that, but that’s the implication: “We designed our last logo all by ourselves in Word, and it looks just fine. Why should we pay…
