Gorilla Nation Logo Design
In June 2007, I led a project to revamp Gorilla Nation’s corporate identity, starting with the logo. The multitalented CEO had drawn the original gorilla head himself, but the company was growing up, and they wanted a classier, more refined mascot.
The final Gorilla Nation 2007 logo
We decided to simplify the company name, from “Gorilla Nation Media” to “Gorilla Nation.” This was completely fine by me, as I’ve always considered the word “media” ambiguous and irrelevant, and especially unnecessary when trying to establish a brand.
Some early ideas that were ultimately scrapped
Myself and three other designers started kicking around ideas- pictured above are some of the better early ones. The problem with the two bigger ones was that they were a little too complex, and not instantly recognizable. When presented to outsiders, it took a few of them an extra second or two to figure out that they were looking at gorilla heads, so we were sent back to the drawing board. The grass and leaves didn’t go over so well either; it didn’t quite say “jungle,” and then someone said it looked like Gorilla Nation was a brand of granola- total dealbreaker. We wanted something smart, but tough at the same time.
Evolution of the new gorilla head
I pitched the idea of putting glasses on a gorilla head, but noone bit. Then we got something from the unlikeliest of places: One of the company’s Linux administrators sent us a rough gorilla head he made in Illustrator. We loved the eyes and nose, and it was instantly recognizable. His is shown above on the far left. One complaint was that it was too “human” so I worked with a talented illustrator to change the shape of the head and add some gorilla fur. In the middle is a version I personally loved, but the higher-ups wanted us to kill the overbite, so we settled on the one on the far right.
Sample business card
Once the new logo was settled on, it was time to design new business cards. One of my favorite design moves is a unique, memorable business card- I’m known for crazy die cuts, embossing, and personalization. I didn’t go crazy on the Gorilla Nation cards, but the subtle poking out of the gorilla head into the orange band at the top went over great, and made the new logo pop off the card.
Besides, I got my chance to do something crazy when it came time to put together chotski for trade conventions. Pictured below is a notebook we made, with a die-cut gorilla head leatherette cover.
A sample promotional notebook for trade conventions
We get a new batch every quarter, changing the color of the cover each time. I personally prefer the ones where the gorilla head is darker than the inside cover- white on white as shown here makes the logo look reversed- but they’re always well received at the conventions, and you’d be hard-pressed to catch me during business hours without one of ‘em nearby.
