Hmmmm...maybe a "cornerstone"? As in gold should be your cornerstone? Hey, I don't know...I was just walking by...
Well I guess their logo isn't doing much from a Marketing / Branding perspective since no one knows what the heck it is! I guess its 'recognizable'....for the cheese industry.
I agree, it seems like an afterthought. With the money they have, I would think they would bring in a marketing genius to overhaul their logo and give them a really unique and identifiable look.
LOL They have it on everything (not just websites)... would be a lot of overhauling. Still, worth thinking about. Michael
I decided to put this question to bed and emailed Kitco...this was the very 'informative' answer I recieved... Thank you for your e-mail. In regards to your inquiry below, the logo is a gold bar image that the President Mr. Bart Kitner has chosen to fit with Kitco. If you have any further question or inquiries please do not hesitate to contact our customer service line at the toll free number below where any customer service representative is more than happy to assist you or simply reply to feedback@kitco.com. Best Regards, Investment Department Kitco Metals Inc. North America: Toll Free: 1 (877) 775-4826 Direct: Tel: (514) 875-4820 Fax: (514) 875-6484 www.kitco.com
I don't think that response comes from someone well suited for replying to customers / public relations inquiries. Which should come as no big surprize. I am a graphic designer by profession and work with logos extensively in advertising campaigns, both in logo/branding/identity development and campaign development. I think the Kitco logo is more conceptual in nature. Considering the line of business that Kitco is involved in, and without knowing much of their companies historical background, I would say this shape may be (conceptually) that of an Assayers hammer head. Something like an old fashioned blacksmith's hammer in shape and as if such a device were rendered like a gold brick (in a blocky shape). Now it may not be the 'head of hammer', but instead a hallmark device that an assayers strikes each bar with to mark bars with data like: purity, assayers name, date. I'm not sure of any of this as many times the idea of what the designer was after is too elusive or gets lost equaling little to no brand awareness based on a logo alone. In this case the name Kitco is probably enough, that they use gray for their name probably is just to play off other metals typical color to that of the gold device next to their name. Just throwing out the idea of what I 'think' I might see in their logo. Black smiths hammer:
Very interesting. Sometimes I think maybe people get too caught up in what the logo is suppose to mean and it gets lost. I'm by no means a logo expert, but I can see how someone with maybe too much historical knowledge can try to craft a logo that is too clever for their own good and no one gets it. Kitco's very popular, and like you said, in a way, they are living off their name more than their logo. But can you just imagine if they also found a really good logo to go with their name. It would really solidify their image.
Indeed! Something like SONY for instance. Just a name for a whole company and all products recognized the world over. That's about all Kitco really needs though most companies "want" a 'Swoosh' to go with their identity.
Great question! Something different that I never really thought about. I'm not a professional graphic designer like Krispy, but I've done my fair share of logo and design work via the political campaigns I've run. Remember here that the "logo" actually consists of both the symbol we're all trying to figure out the meaning of, as well as the word "Kitco" spelled in grey, uppercase letters of whatever font that is. I agree with the color idea mentioned earlier...the gold in the symbol and the "silver" in the name. Both represent their product. Blue or red wouldn't work, though maybe brown or black for a really toned ASE...lol. As to what the symbol is, who the heck knows. Probably some crazy Canadian thing. More likely, it's just something the founder liked and the designer was stuck with. (Krispy will know what I mean!)
The logo consists of a device and a name. The name in most logos is not a 'font' per say. It may derive from a certain style of a font, such as Copperplate or any number of classic Roman type faces, but it is actually vector graphic art, every bit as much as the device is also a piece of art. What I mean is that if you were to go looking for the 'font' you wouldn't be able to find it, because they only created the letters: K, I, T, C and O. I have also sent in a request to KITCO requesting further feedback on their logo. IF I receive anything back from their Designers, Public Relations or Marketing teams I will let you all know what they say.
