“In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design.” Steve Jobs
This co-op is one of the largest consumer co-ops in the United States and based in Western Wisconsin. And the last thing needed was a superficial, cosmetic fix. It needed to go deeper.
For anyone not familiar with a “consumer cooperative,” Wikipedia offers this:
“Consumer cooperatives are enterprises owned by consumers and managed democratically which aim at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of their members. They operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than profit. Consumers’ cooperatives often take the form of retail outlets owned and operated by their consumers, such as food co-ops.”
So when I had the opportunity to bring this co-op (established in 1935) into the 21st century, I was thrilled.
Pulling Back the Curtain on Logo Design
The existing logo had the name Mega! as its anchor. So the first stop on this journey was the logo.
Below, I share the details of what was addressed to make this successful transformation (special thanks to the talented Jessica Hische who inspired me with her distillation of how she tackled a refresh of MailChimp’s logo).
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Digging Deeper
Once the the Mega! portion was addressed, the rest of the logo needed to be fleshed out.
As we dug deeper, we discovered the “co-op” aspect was not 100% clear to everyone.
So besides addressing the design to refresh the logo, the “co-op” aspect of the brand message needed to be addressed too.
Shown here is how shoppers now see the brand coming to life on their shopping bags:
Then, to create a “brand vocabulary,” a series of icons were designed for the various departments, with various slogans and an overall typographic feel for the overall brand.
Finally, here you see some of the departments coming to life in these applications:
It’s been a treat working with this incredible team and just wait until you see the whole roll-out.
Want More Rebrand Case Studies?
Here are seven additional rebrand posts you’ll find of interest:
- 27 Years at Nike: “What I Learned about Branding”
- Milestone Systems: How an INC 5000 Company Got it Right
- Botanical Bakery: How a Napa Valley Company Ignored Tradition (and Tripled Sales)
- Accessory Snobs rebrand: How the Wrong Logo Nearly Destroyed my Marriage
- Coco Polo Chocolate: Chocolate Makeover at the Fancy Food Show
- City of Osceola: 12.3 Billion Reasons Tourism Branding Makes Sense (the branding of a city)
- Glob Colors: Oscar Night, Prom Disasters and Rebranding
- and no list would be complete without How to Rebrand:Â 19 Questions to Ask Before You Start