metrobank : new signage crossed lines from the dark age

this is the old metrobank signage which has since been replaced with a new one just recently. it's a simple design - monochromatic with the logo graphics and text logo as the key elements.

the approach on the new metrobank signage was to add new elements to the singnage - a white border around the logo graphics (a diamond resting on the the letter M) to call attention to it and yellow accents.

compared to the old singnage, the new one has effectively brought metrobank out of the dark age.

it is now more engaging. the addition of the yellow color even though minimal in the horizontal signage made a big difference. it gave the signage a little more life.

the design works quite well on the horizontal signage but i think it's a disaster on the vertical signage. there are just too many lines and colors on the vertical one. the yellow became too prominent and all of a sudden they added white borders. they were thin white borders but it added to the clutter.

the new design called attention to the "diamond on the letter M" logo graphics. i had not noticed it much before. it could have used a little more drama if instead of the logo graphics rendered flat, they could have raised it or made it looked embossed. that could have given it a little more class.

the important question on this singnage, as it should be asked for all sinages - is that the brand image or brand character the bank wants to communicate to clients? the new signage of metrobank carries with it a set of new brand images. do those match with the thinking and direction the bank has set for it itself?

separately, i suspect other banks copied some of the concepts and ideas from the metrobank signage. more on that in the next discussions.

security bank logo and a dirty little secret

a few banks have recently changed their signages. it's interesting that it's happening at about the same time. did the banks talk among themselves on the timing? some of the changes are from good to better but some are from good to bad. WAWAM! will look into these changes.

this one for security bank is not really a change for them. it's been the same old singnage design. but it's here for the logo.

i get choked up at their logo graphics - i am sure it's supposed to be the letter "S" in "Security" and that's good. but did they have to mangle the letter "S" that much?

i have two guesses how the design agency sold that logo graphics design to security bank.

one is the yin-yang idea, like a full circle of life thought, something complete. but my guess is what they made a big deal on is the graphics resemble the number "8", it's a lucky number for the chinese and the family who owns security bank are chinese.

with chinese clients - present them something that is "lucky", like a graphics design that looks like the number "8" or the color gold or red and they will find it very tempting to buy it.

it pays to know your clients. that is one of those dirty little secrets that ad agencies and in this case design agencies know and use to great success with chinese clients.

who put a sad face on jollibee? part 1

Went to Jollibee Ortigas Avenue and all over the place were large posters featuring the Jollibee image in several materials. The wait for the food was long and that gave me time to survey the posters.

The sad and listless Jollibee



My reaction was – they changed the face of Jollibee, that’s not the same Jollibee I was familiar with! That surprised me as I know that together with a total make-over of their logos and store design, they also did a major graphics design change of Jollibee and his face some years ago. I thought changing it again now is too soon.

I remember they did the graphics change at the same time Aga Muhlach became the Jollibee endorser and I thought Jollibee then looked like Aga, a significant improvement from the previous Jollibee.

At first, I could not pin down the changes but I was very sure some changes were made. This Jollibee face looked sad and listless to me. The lips had a smile on it but it didn’t help. I was missing the spark on Jollibee’s face, made it look insincere, not at all friendly and certainly not jolly. At times I felt this Jollibee was blind.

Jollibee had the saddest face in this family picture of Aga Muhlach

The sad and listless Jollibee was made even more obvious in this large banner that had Jollibee together with Aga Muhlach and his family. Aga and everyone in the family were happy – all had these huge smiles, almost laughing faces and even the girl who didn’t smile as much as the others had eyes that were smiling and very happy.

Then it occurred to me what was wrong!

This is the Jollibee we all know - happy and engaging!

This is the Jollibee I know - an engaging, sparkly happy Jollibee. And I realize the sad and listless Jollibee face that was all over the restaurant was that of the Jollibee mascot!

It looks like the mascot’s face graphics is not an exact copy of the flat graphics of the Jollibee face that is in their logo and in all signages. And unfortunately, it appears Jollibee has embarked on a merchandising campaign that uses the Jollibee mascot very extensively.

The happy Jollibee - sparkles in the eyes and big happy smile!

The sad and listless Jollibee, looking like a dry ornament

There are two very major differences between the two: (a) the white “sparkles” in the eyes of the Jollibee logo are not on the mascot’s face and (b) the smile on the Jollibee logo is wider and bigger almost laughing, showing a red tongue while the mascot’s smile had its lips closed. There is a third difference, the shape of the chef’s hat but that compared to the smile and the sparkle in the eyes is a minor difference.

The absence of the white sparkles on the mascot’s eyes made the face look listless and the demure smile both contributed to making the mascot’s face look sad and much less engaging than that of the face logo.

The Jollibee face is a very important brand property of Jollibee. In fact, given the target market of Jollibee, it makes the face slightly more important than the text graphics of the brand name. One of the most revered principles of logo design and application is consistency. Marketing companies obsess with perfection when it comes to the application of logos across different media. They obsess with it because it is literally their face to their target market. And in the case of Jollibee, it is the personification of the brand and an expression of the brand values it upholds.

Companies like Walt Disney whose products rely heavily on visuals like graphics, animation and mascots (Disneyland) are obsessed with consistency and perfection of looks and graphics. Their obsession on consistency is very much marketing legend and if you ask Disney, they will tell you it is a key success element in their business and one that they will not compromise on. It is not only their trademark, their graphics are actually their business.

In the Disney picture, the face of Mickey Mouse is duplicated to the exact feature from the flat graphics to the mascot - from the eyes to the mouth, including the smile that showed the red lips, which was probably used as inspiration in designing the Jollibee face. To make sure the face is an exact copy, Disney even used a hard material on the face of the mascot to so that the whole face and the very important components of the shape of the ears and nose do not get distorted and stay in shape even when the mascot moves.

The differences are more obvious in the pictures below, where the Jollibee statue in the middle is an exact copy of the Jollibee flat graphics, the picture below it. The same happy and engaging character comes out, but not with the Jollibee mascot on the first picture. The Jollibee statue in the middle picture looks happier and friendlier. My 11 year old son describes the Jollibee mascot on the first picture as “Someone who is not happy in his job.”.

The sad and listless Jollibee mascot

The happy and engaging Jollibee statue, exact copy of the logo

The happy Jollibee logo we all love


For me, Jollibee is much better than Ronald McDonald. I won’t even be surprised if McDonald’s found out many Filipino children find Ronald McDonald as scary. I think Jollibee is definitely an asset and an advantage versus Ronald McDonald. It’s a shame that Jollibee has been careless, incompetent even in applying the Jollibee image to their mascot.

First and foremost, I think it is unforgivable that the design graphics of the Jollibee face is not faithfully duplicated on the mascot. There should not have been any compromise on this one, it is after all a logo. They should have not launched the Jollibee mascot unless it was a perfect duplication of the logo. If it was a question of material, then they should have not stopped looking for the material that guaranteed an exact duplication.

The other part is – why the insistence in using the Jollibee mascot in merchandising materials that is pure graphics and did not include real people in the layout? The use of the Jollibee mascot in the Aga Muhlach and family poster is understandable, to some degree necessary even, but I see no value in using the mascot in the Wi-Fi poster that was pure graphics. Rendering Jollibee in graphics in these types of posters would have resulted to a much better poster as the graphics artist has full control on the rendering of Jollibee.

The reason the Jollibee mascot is used in materials that include real people in the poster is that a graphics rendition of Jollibee would have been too obvious and can look weird in that poster. It might look too staged and fake. People will have a point of comparison – a flat, one dimensional Jollibee graphics versus people who are real and obviously in 3D.

The argument for the use of the mascot in posters that don’t include real people in the layout is the desire to make the Jollibee character more “real”. The mascot is 3D and can look better or more realistic. But that objective is not at all delivered in the posters. The photography in the posters is so bad that the Jollibee mascot actually looks flat, not 3D or a bad graphics rendition of the Jollibee logo. (The flat Jollibee mascot is the result of an over-exposed photo shooting of the mascot.)

I mentioned the difference in the shape of the chef hat in the flat logo and mascot is not as critical in as far as projecting an attitude and character of Jollibee, but it is nevertheless a grave violation in terms of consistency in the application of logos across media. The Jollibee face is not just a character like the other mascots they have, first it is Jollibee himself, the name of the restaurant and secondly, it is also a logo. And being a logo, you want to make sure it is faithfully applied across all materials.

That makes me wonder – is Jollibee management aware the Jollibee mascot is not an exact copy of Jollibee flat graphics? Another question – who put the sad face on Jollibee? Final question – who wants a sad Jollibee?