It was recently presented by government authorities and Gustavo Koniszczer, from the company Future Brand, has revealed the new country brand Guatemala. That is why I have decided to make an objective analysis of it and its development.
The country brand of Guatemala is much more than a logo, it is a whole series of strategic attributes and commercial tactics that generate a perception or a perceived value in the minds of potential tourists, inhabitants and investors.
Table of Contents
Country brand analysis Guatemala: Amazing and unstoppable.
The purpose of a country brand is to position itself in the minds of potential tourists, importers, investors and inhabitants.
It is important to carry out an exhaustive investigation of the country and its culture, always having a clear approach and methodology.
In this particular case, the process was fairly informed, the investigations well founded, and the outcome reasonable.
Although in my opinion, it was not outstanding and generated more questions than answers in the minds of the inhabitants.
Things to take into account to produce a country brand. A world-class project.
The price of a country brand does not only involve graphic development as many think, it also involves a research and activation process that takes years to complete.
"Essential Costa Rica" or better known as the country brand of Costa Rica, after a five-year process, had a cost of $650,000 dollars.
In 2009 the City of Melbourne invested $625,000 dollars in its new brand identity.
On the other hand, the Government of Honduras took a different direction, and invited all Hondurans over the age of 18 working for free to participate in the Country Brand Graphic Identity Contest FREE to spread "the cause".
In 1971, Nike CEO Phil Knight paid design student Carolyn Davidson $35 (about $200 today) to create the iconic Nike logo.
In 2008, PepsiCo allegedly paid design firm Arnell $1 million dollars to redesign its iconic Pepsi logo.
In 2008 Belfast which is the capital of Northern Ireland paid $280,000 dollars for its logo which was designed by Lloyd Northover. The heart-shaped logo was created just weeks after the former mayor rejected the original version.
In 2007 the criticized logo of the 2012 London Olympics was sold for a price of $625,000 dollars and was designed by the Wolff Olins agency.
The cost to create the country brand was Q6.8 million. Is this exaggerated?
In the case of Guatemala, an investment of $878,153 dollars (6.8 million Guatemalan quetzales approximately) for an approximate development of 1 year in a new country brand is high.
Especially, comparing it with the investment made by other country brands. Part of this investment could have been used to improve the tourist structure or restoration.
Taking into account that the value of the design is subjective to the solution and the need it solves, in addition to the price defined by the agency to provide the service and that the research process is exhaustive and is NOT something to be taken lightly, it is understandable why the country invested that amount.
This type of investment made by a country is usually between 200,000 dollars and 700,000 dollars. That is why the investment made in the case of Guatemala can be considered higher than necessary. Especially if we take into account the current situation in Guatemala and other areas that require economic support in one or more aspects.
Guatemala Country Brand Graphic Analysis
Regarding the explanation of the image, isotype or graphic symbol of the new country brand, there are several relevant observations to highlight:
The color palette:
The use of the country's own colors becomes an intelligent and informed decision, since there was a chromatological niche around the color violet, a purple or purple tone, little used by other country brands, which has a strong semantic relationship with culture. Guatemalan.
The use of a reduced color palette is also an excellent decision, because it prevents the brand from making the mistake of using many colors to express its diversity as other country brands have done in the past. Which, consequently, ends up causing them a lower degree of distinction. It is there where a reduced, informed and visually harmonic color palette comes to the fore.
It should be noted that the first reaction that the general public has to the new country brand may be confusion. Because we are used to blue and green as colors that represent Guatemala. It would be appropriate to extend a little more the explanation given in the video that they posted in the presentation of the country brand, from "own colors" to "Culturally unique colors that represent and differentiate Guatemala and its people." However, that does not detract from the merit and strategic intelligence of choosing or appropriating a new color palette for the country brand that generates a differentiating effect from it among other country brands through a chromatological niche with a well-established cultural base. substantiated.
NOT using the quetzal
The decision NOT to use the Quetzal, the national bird symbol, as a graphic element in the brand is very reasonable.
Since, despite the fact that this bird is found on the coat of arms and in many other places, from a foreign point of view it can be confused with other country brands that also use flora and fauna as the only differentiating element in their identity.
Additionally, the quetzal as a graphic and symbolic element of Guatemala has always been used excessively.
And if the Guatemalan country brand plans to grow, it is necessary to innovate in its graphic proposal.
The use of triangles
Taking into account the concept of "May the future surprise you in Guatemala", it makes the use of triangles a good graphic decision, because these figures evoke growth, focus, support and inspiration.
That is why, having taken advantage of them to relate it to textiles and volcanoes is a good way to use geometric figures in our favor.
Typographic management.
The san serif typeface (or sans serif) with rounded corners and with a reasonable letter height and geometrically pleasing structure. It's an excellent typographic choice, because according to typographic psychology theory, rounded edges evoke a friendly or gracious brand. Thing that represents the Guatemalan culture very well.
San serif typefaces evoke a feeling of modernity and freshness. Which adheres to the concept of the country brand and the objective to be communicated in this project.
On the other hand, the use of kerning or spacing between letters is excellent, because it facilitates readability.
4 cardinal points
The management of the 4 cardinal points (North, South, East West) is an interesting detail due to its relationship with the Mayan worldview. Difficult to identify at first glance, but interesting to read in later explanations.
Possibly go unnoticed by the target audience.
Comparing it with the previous country brand, this is a simplified version, more useful, differentiable and that does not literally use the Temple of the Great Jaguar or a volcano as the only graphic differential.
Instead, he uses elements of Guatemalan culture, such as textiles, in a more conceptual way.
The Guatemala Country Brand contains a lot of symbology (such as volcanoes, the Mayan zero, indigenous textiles, among others). Is this recommended for a brand?
It is not advisable to overload an isotype or graphic symbol with too many visual or conceptual elements that make it difficult to interpret.
In this particular case, it is understandable why they did it. It was due to the depth and complexity of a country's identity.
But, despite all its details, it is likely that the elements that stand out the most are the letter "G" and the "Textiles", the rest of the symbolic elements, surely going unnoticed due to their high level of visual abstraction or indirect relationship between a form and its concept.
Such as the example of the number "zero" in Mayan placed on the back of the isotype. That it was represented with a circle, when the original form of the number zero in the Mayan writing is a little more complex than that. So it is a detail that could be eliminated from the final concept.
There is a possibility that an air of rejection of the new image will be born on the part of the general population.
But this is a fairly common effect in any rebranding process, which is solved over time and the over exposure of the brand in different media.
It is necessary to understand that simplicity greatly helps a design to be more versatile and memorable. The adoption of a minimalist approach allows the logo, imagotype and isologo to be used in a wide range of media.
Country brand Guatemala, an objective analysis.
The country brand of Guatemala is a brand that had an excellent research and development process, however the result was average for the high investment made.
It is very difficult to find information about the branding strategy or commercial tactics that the brand will apply in the following years to gain positioning.
The main target audience is tourists, but it is really not entirely clear how the brand is going to attract investors to Guatemala, as was stated during its presentation.
The identity of the brand works and its greatest strength lies in the chromatological niche and its relationship with the Guatemalan culture.
The negative point is the excessive conceptualization and symbology of the isotype that will surely go unnoticed by the general public and the target audience.
It is a brand of acceptable quality with many points to improve and certain deficiencies in aesthetic quality and strategic clarity, apart from the thorough research process that was carried out.
I give it a score of 6/10. Because it is not outstanding but it is not a dysfunctional brand in any way.
SPECIAL LINKS
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSJ-lIBudPBevsV9od-UKfA
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/oliver.branding
If you liked this content, please consider sharing it on social media with your friends! You can do it using the buttons below:
Oliver Puente
Introducción al Diseño Web: Más que un simple gráfico
Diseño Web: La combinación de estética y funcionalidad El diseño web no es solo cuestión de crear algo visualmente atractivo;
Cómo Crear Landing Pages que Multiplican tus Ventas
Por qué las Landing Pages Son La Clave Para Multiplicar Tus Conversiones El mejor vendedor de toda tu vida. No
Lo que TODOS debería saber acerca del branding en Guatemala
Branding en Guatemala. Un acercamiento y guía sobre como posicionar una nueva marca en el mercado guatemalteco que atraiga a
