Inside John's Locker

Owner’s Locker is a new business so we needed a name AND a logo that would tell people what we are and what we do. The name does a pretty good job of that but a good logo is essential.

So many things have changed as our business has developed but I don’t think anything has been through so many versions as the logo. First of all, I don’t know why, but absolutely ever person with the slightest creative role in Owner's Locker has wanted to make some sort of change to the logo.

When I first spoke to a web developer, it was the first thing he wanted to work on. Here is what he came up with.

This isn’t a joke. I’m serious. I PAID someone to do this. I think it would make us look like a hazardous waste storage company. Why on earth would someone choose those colors? And, at this point, you're probably asking why I would even consider having his company work on anything else after seeing that. Let's just say that I wish I had asked that question!

But he was a nice guy and rather than telling him to just go away, I gave him another chance.....and he came up with this one. It’s supposed to look like a key which is sort of cute, I guess. Even though it has six sides, it still reminded me of a stop sign. Not a good image to convey.

Well, the website he developed wasn't much better, so off I went in search of another.

While I was moaning about logos, a really good pal decided he'd have a go at designing a logo for us and came up with this version. It's one thing to tell someone in a firm that you don't quite think their logo is what you had in mind. Try telling that to a friend! I think it has an oriental look and he’s still a bit ticked off that we didn’t use it.

I remember one weekend, I was complaining to my wife, Susan, that the logo was giving me fits. I told her we needed to have something that looked like a Locker in the logo and she sat down with a piece of paper and quickly came up with this—OK, she is an artist.

Now, we were cooking. She added an arched line to show motion and this is what the first logo that saw the light of day on a business card looked like.

The type face went through about five different changes. But I thought we were done. But, no. One of the firms that did version three of the website complained about the logo and asked if they could redo it. Here was their suggestion:

I just about went ballistic and firmly explained that my wife had drawn the Locker and it WAS going to be part of the logo. It’s hard to believe but the very same company came up with the real McCoy. I went from being furious to ecstatic. They solved the typeface issue brilliantly and indicated motion with the arrow instead of the arch. And I really like the way that the Locker overlaps the w.

I sort of miss the arched line underscoring the logo but it was replaced by the little arrow on the right which indicates motion.

The logo wars weren't quite over because it was about at this point that we brought Alex on board as our web designer. Alex and his firm, CKBE have done a fantasitc, spectacular job with the Owner's Locker site, but I swear that about his second sentence during our first meeting involved his suggestion that we re-do the logo. I'll do Alex a favor and not add his suggestion to the rogues gallery...let's just say it looked somewhere between an egg crate and a hat box. But the good news is that the exercize sort of got the "gotta change the logo" idea out of his system and he went on to translate it spectacularly on the site as well as the van.

Let's see, which do you think looks better? Our first rendering of a delivery vehicle? or, the last one??

JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com

Posted by JDVM at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

You know, there really isn’t a day that goes by that Brian and I don’t look at each other at least once and say “I never thought of that.”

What’s great about Owner’s Locker is that it’s SO personal.

Which is really what we’re all about. We help people make their time here they way THEY like it. And that’s different for each of us. We’re amazed (and impressed) at the things our members say makes them feel more “at home” while they’re here. Special champagne glasses, fitted sheets, a vase for flowers, a game console for the kids.

And, speaking of champagne glasses, we recently got the sweetest note from one of our Members, Sue Ploski. She and her husband have been using Owner’s Locker for themselves but they gave it a special twist earlier this month. Their son Kevin was getting married and part of their wedding gift for the couple was a honeymoon at the Beach Club Villas at Disney World.

AND, Sue cooked up a special surprise for her son and his new bride, Krista. When she and her husband were here earlier in the year, they loaded up their Locker with special wedding treats including a bottle of champagne—and yes, some special champagne toasting glasses!

Voila—our first Wedding Locker!

She had a special “Just Married” Christmas ornament made with their wedding date and also included some bath bombs for the Jacuzzi, some gifts cards for special dinners and, of course bride the groom Mickey ears Kevin and Krista are wearing in the photo. Sue even found some bride and groom flip flops that left “Just Married” impressions in the sand as they walked along the beach. What a nice mom and mother-in-law! And what a great way to use an Owner’s Locker!

As it turns out, I wound up giving Kevin and his bride a wedding surprise as well—actually it was more of a shock, I suspect. I saw the Ploski Locker in our staging area and assumed it was Sue who was visiting so I called what I thought was Sue’s room and left a message saying I’d like to get together for a drink and reminding them that I wanted to do a video of them for our website splash page. Can you imagine what this poor couple on their honeymoon thought when they got a message from a stranger wanting to do a video?? I’m surprised they didn’t call the police!

JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com

Posted by JDVM at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)