Haute Mama opened about two years ago from a previous adventure in Glens Falls. It is located in the Adirondack Trust Mabee Building. Their design seemed to be an update from their previous business called Great Expectations. The problems is they made some difficult changes their identity. The old logo was easy to read and say. The new name, Haute Mama, is kind of difficult to enunciate, let alone define.
Old Logo Design
Most of all it is just plain hard to read. What is that thing coming out of the pregnant womans stomach? Why didn’t the designer just cut that part of the H off?
Haute Mama Logo
Now my rant is over. A lot of small stores do not hire designers to do their work because it is expensive. If I had to guess, she made the logo updates on her own computer. I respect that. The actual illustration is a carry over from the previous company, and I liked how it was used at that time. Now it is lost in the text.
So I don’t love the new logo, but the signage on the store window really should be changed. It looks like the black and white No-Name brands back in the eighties. Even worse it is the best signage in that entire building.
Haute Mama Window Sign
I looked for a Website and believe this is it, although it has completely different branding elements.
Haute Mama web Page
This may just be a beginning for her, and the store will grow over the next five years. I believe that the Mabee building is a retail incubator, which means stores can only stay for a fixed amount of time before moving to a better location. I think the pressure will be on for a better looking window sticker at that time.
If nothing else, please give the woman in the logo a face.
I Need A Face
1 response so far ↓
Laura // November 18, 2008 at 3:54 pm |
Nothing for nothing, but one of the signs that you have given your opinion on was created by a marketing and advertising exec from NYC. This individual has won the “golden shoestring award” while still in college (outstanding
creativity and results on a ’shoestring’ budget) and is a three time winner for the National Diamond Award (the best-of-the-best in marketing, advertising, and branding business development). While I enjoy reading your opinion on Saratoga’s small town signs, they are your opinion with no real information on how you would better create these logos and signs.