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August 18, 2005

Critique of New ASAE/Center Logo

Let's talk a little about ASAE & the Center's new brand mark. Here's what I see...

So ASAE keeps its lowercase font, but is updated, ridding itself of that 70's blocky, loopy font. Good riddance.

I find it interesting that GWSAE's star motif is resurrected, but the Center's spiraling Washington Monument thingy is gone. I suppose it's only fair since, perhaps, the monument represents the greater Washington area.

At first glance, I liked the new brand mark a lot. Even after a few days, I still like it.

But the name is bothering me. It's just too long. Seventeen syllables -- and that's without saying "American Society of Association Executives." Even the simplified ASAE & the Center seems cumbersome.

There was a comment on the XtremeASAEblog (all the way at the bottom of that page) saying the new brand mark institutionalizes the confusion over the roles of ASAE and the Center. Personally, I don't understand why any association professional doesn't understand this concept. Broadly speaking, The Center is a (c)(3) and runs education and research. ASAE is a (c)(6) and runs the lobbying, advocacy and credentialling.

For practical purposes, I doubt that most members will ever refer to the organization as ASAE and the Center. It'll just be ASAE to us.

*** UPDATE ***
Here's the old ASAE logo:
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I guess it doesn't really bother me that much. I'm actually glad that ASAE updated their logo and this one feels progressive to me.

From another perspective, I like the fact that ASAE is more than just ASAE. It has the power of the Center aligned with it. For those outside of DC, the Center probably doesn't carry as much weight, but give them time.

For someone who was critical and suspicious of the whole merger, I'm quickly coming on board with it. I think GWSAE's influence on ASAE is clearly coming through based on the most recent developments like the Annual Conference. This benefits all of us association executives.