When companies make merchandise, the easiest way is to simply put your logo on the product. Logical – visibility, recognizability, brand. But is this really enough?
Good merch doesn’t come from having a logo on it. Good merch is created when a person wants to actually use it – to wear it, to take it with them, to bring it into everyday life. This is where design comes into play. A logo can carry a meaning, but often this meaning remains too general for the target audience. People identify with what they really experience – through products, details, places and moments. Something that is familiar and important.
If you have a bakery, a person may not identify strongly with the name or logo. But it identifies with your bread – its shape, texture, character.
The same applies to cities. Tartu is not just a name. Tartu is a river, streets, places and the feeling that goes with them. When these elements are brought into the design – for example, as a card or recognizable details – an object is created that has more meaning than just a name.
The logo can and should exist, but it does not have to be in the foreground. And then what really matters most happens: merch doesn’t feel like an advertisement. It looks like an object that you really want to wear, use and take with you. The next time you create merch, start not with a logo, but with a question:
What is the detail of your brand that people really identify with?
