Since I’ve been a customer I can only remember a couple of changes in Autodesk branding. They recently they announced a new logo so it is goodbye to the old:
Hello to the new:
Autodesk, autodesk, Autodesk, AUTODESK?
I like the new logo but wonder about the uppercase text. There was a brief flirtation with lowercase in the early part of this century (see photo below) but now ‘Autodesk’ has become, the little bit shouty, ‘AUTODESK’.
I’m glad this seems to be confined to the logo unlike some brands which carry their case sensitivity into normal text use. I’m thinking about you Mini, mini, I mean MINI. That said AUTODESK would have been a trivial change to one ActiveWord for me. I just type, or scrawl on a tablet pc, ‘adesk’ and ActiveWords does the rest!
Not my Father’s Autodesk?
The title of this post, by Chris Bradshaw, introducing the new look made me smile:
Not Your Father’s Autodesk - In The Fold
by Chris Bradshaw, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Autodesk
Our new brand made its public debut today at this year’s TED held in Long Beach, Calif., where thinkers from around the world gathered to brainstorm and spread ideas. We could not think of a better place to unveil Autodesk’s new look than the premier conference about technology, entertainment and design…
My, can I say here?, 70+some year old my Dad is a — supposed to be retired but keeps on working — Printing Engineer with an interest in CNC machining, a PC and an iPad. He is a ‘maker’, mostly machine parts & stuff for his yacht, but his fabrication is physical rather than digital. I didn’t inherit this ability as can create things in the computer, but am hopeless at real world making. He can build anything with precision in the real world but consults me about computer stuff!
Perhaps easy to use consumer focused digital design solutions like 123Dapp.com means it really is more My Father’s Autodesk!
A rebrand closer to home
As I write Autodesk.com is still showing the old logo. I’m not surprised as a change like this is a huge transition. My employer The Warehouse is in the midst of a pretty subtle rebranding exercise; the second in its 30 year history. In 2005 the original 1980s logo was modernised:
The current change is removal of yellow from logo and, where it has much more impact, customer level signage, ticketing etc. for a much cleaner simpler look. Amazing to see how even a subtle change impacts perception — customers do notice — but also how much work is involved.
Time update my ‘Autodesk Sign photo’?
Back in 2004 when I visited, first met other than virtually, Shaan Hurley at Autodesk he took this photo. The logo, and both of us, have changed a bit since then! Perhaps its time for another trip to San Francisco (my favourite US city of the few I’ve visited) for a reshoot!
