I’d sure like to know who is doing these horrific logos you keep pointing us to.
The new Payless logo looks like some type of paypal / web too.oh financial type services company now.
Maybe, if I stretch really hard, I can imagine the logo as a shoelace hole thingie, but otherwise — NOTHING about this looks like a shoe store.
/rant
I will say, however, that I like their new site — nice and clean. And I do like that they’ve updated the logo (the old one wasn’t all that either), but I wouldn’t have gone so abstract with the mark, and I would like to see more emphasis on “shoesource” than they have — it kind of gets lost there under the otherwise huge “payless”.
True, the new logo isn’t all that great but I think it’s FAR better than the previous one.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the logo in and of itself. My dislike comes that it’s so far removed from the established brand. Maybe if it harkened (maybe that’s not the right word to use here) back to it somehow — possibly an updated version of the previous font instead of a completely different one, I’d feel better about it.
It’s kind of like if your dad who you’ve known all your life to be an uber-conservative, Tom Delay haircut poster boy, business suit wearing, work for the same huge corporation for his entire life suddenly dropped all that and hippied out.
He didnt update — he completely and suddenly changed. While it may be cool to his new friends, it’s completely disturbing to those who have known him for years previous.
The trust established over those long-term relationships as one persona is shot if another one suddenly appears out of nowhere.
My opinion.
I think the font is Cooper Black, which in my book is ultra cool. So many companies are just going the modern route and it’s disturbing.
I agree with the sentiment that the word “shoe” needs to be larger.
well holy crap.
chris, you’re the master at finding bulldozed logos. this icon on this new logo looks like a fish or something.
so we can all buy goldfish for cheap, or bubbles or something.
i’m hungry for ice cream, anyone up for some baskin brobbins?
Evan —
Your website rocks. The writing is great, as well.
[Sorry the the sidenote there, Chris]
Yeah, Evan has a sweet site. Maybe we should feature it?
I vote yes.
We have all of the votes we need. It was unanimous.
hey, thanks fellas!
though i really have to disagree with you on the writing skills – i’m extremely lacking in that area, and i’m lucky if my posts are even coherent.
i’m always refreshing my rss reader anxiously awaiting brainfuel posts.
Yeah, what the heck is this? Crappy logo make-over month? Nothing says payless than light pastels and an almost randomly shaped logo.
Don’t forget to check out the new Anaheim Ducks logo.
Considering the first logo had nothing really to do with shoes (other than having the word in the company name), I can draw a lot of similarities between the old and new logos. First on my list is the old logo just screams “Late 70s, early 80s!!” while the new one screams, like mentioned above, “Web 2.0!!”. It just seems like an update, but not an improvement.
Before I critique something as important as a new design I usually try to find outmore about why a redesign happened. I figured that Payless was probably trying to reach a younger audience (not a young designer audience), and that corporate felt, as I’ve always felt, that the old logo was dated and would never stand the test of time. I also figured that, with all the store closures I’ve seen in the past few years, that they were losing market share and had better do something before they went completely under.
The agency that designed it was Desgrippes Gobe, no slacker when it comes to creating visual identities for brands.
That said, it doesn’t do a lot for me, but it doesn’t asult my design sense either, and I think it looks better on the store front than it does by itself.
-Daniel
lemme tell ya….the logo change has been a HUGE deal for Payless, as has the new store redesigns. Being in the middle of nowhere i have yet to see the new store design in person but from what i’ve seen and the hype comming from topeka, I can tell you that it is NOT recognizable as a payless store. Even the BAGS are different.
As for the new logo, let me point out a few things. First, word on the wire has been that the ‘shoesource’ WAS going to be dropped completely, but a survey of customers thought it should be left in. The color orange was kept since it is a ‘trademark’ of sorts with the old payless logo. Also the new symbol is in a circle shape which is also a harken back to the old logo.
I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of where the new logo came from. And as someone has already said, the company IS trying to attract a more trend-attentive customer base and is making a lot of improvements in that area. I can’t tell you how many customers have come in and said ‘I saw this on a commercial and had to see it myself because I couldn’t believe it was from Payless.’
In fact, I’ve seen shoes in other stores that are so identical to Payless shoes that I honestly thought someone switched out a display and used Payless shoes as a joke. Sure enough they were shoes that the major dept store carried for over 60 dollars…..17.99 at Payless.
The stores are now carrying designer styles like Laura Peterosky and Lela Rose, dance shoes endorsed by the American Ballet Theater Company, American Eagle, Champion, Dunkman which is endorsed by Shaquile O’Neal and Airwalk.
Payless has undergone some HUGE changes….and the new logo is definatly more of a fit of what you’d find inside now that what you used too.
KHKJHKJHJKHKH
hey, who sings the song on your commercial? the lyrics are
i feel a crush, its just too much
Yeah, who does sing that song? I love it.
Who sings the song on the Payless commercial where the girls are driving around in a car. The lyrics are:
“and you can do no wrong, now honey. i never knew it could feel like this.”
Just one kiss
By Red romance.
=]
i cant find the song anywhere!!
where can i get it???
hey i tried to download the red romance song on limewire but it isnt there how did you all do it?
you know…i dont think that the song.
Yeah, the song is by The Red Romance, called “Just One Kiss.” They’re a band from NYC and have opened for The Killers on their past tour. They have a myspace page and also an official one: theredromance.com. They’re pretty darn good, eh?
I like the new logo–
who cares if that circle graphic makes no sense,is generic and lacks creativity–it’s payless, afterall!
it is an improvement from the previous logo-
my only complaint is that payless has gotten more expensive.
I just spent $50. bucks are two pairs of sneakers there.
25 responses to “Payless Shoe Source”
I’d sure like to know who is doing these horrific logos you keep pointing us to.
The new Payless logo looks like some type of paypal / web too.oh financial type services company now.
Maybe, if I stretch really hard, I can imagine the logo as a shoelace hole thingie, but otherwise — NOTHING about this looks like a shoe store.
/rant
I will say, however, that I like their new site — nice and clean. And I do like that they’ve updated the logo (the old one wasn’t all that either), but I wouldn’t have gone so abstract with the mark, and I would like to see more emphasis on “shoesource” than they have — it kind of gets lost there under the otherwise huge “payless”.
True, the new logo isn’t all that great but I think it’s FAR better than the previous one.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the logo in and of itself. My dislike comes that it’s so far removed from the established brand. Maybe if it harkened (maybe that’s not the right word to use here) back to it somehow — possibly an updated version of the previous font instead of a completely different one, I’d feel better about it.
It’s kind of like if your dad who you’ve known all your life to be an uber-conservative, Tom Delay haircut poster boy, business suit wearing, work for the same huge corporation for his entire life suddenly dropped all that and hippied out.
He didnt update — he completely and suddenly changed. While it may be cool to his new friends, it’s completely disturbing to those who have known him for years previous.
The trust established over those long-term relationships as one persona is shot if another one suddenly appears out of nowhere.
My opinion.
I think the font is Cooper Black, which in my book is ultra cool. So many companies are just going the modern route and it’s disturbing.
I agree with the sentiment that the word “shoe” needs to be larger.
well holy crap.
chris, you’re the master at finding bulldozed logos. this icon on this new logo looks like a fish or something.
so we can all buy goldfish for cheap, or bubbles or something.
i’m hungry for ice cream, anyone up for some baskin brobbins?
Evan —
Your website rocks. The writing is great, as well.
[Sorry the the sidenote there, Chris]
Yeah, Evan has a sweet site. Maybe we should feature it?
I vote yes.
We have all of the votes we need. It was unanimous.
hey, thanks fellas!
though i really have to disagree with you on the writing skills – i’m extremely lacking in that area, and i’m lucky if my posts are even coherent.
i’m always refreshing my rss reader anxiously awaiting brainfuel posts.
Yeah, what the heck is this? Crappy logo make-over month? Nothing says payless than light pastels and an almost randomly shaped logo.
Don’t forget to check out the new Anaheim Ducks logo.
Considering the first logo had nothing really to do with shoes (other than having the word in the company name), I can draw a lot of similarities between the old and new logos. First on my list is the old logo just screams “Late 70s, early 80s!!” while the new one screams, like mentioned above, “Web 2.0!!”. It just seems like an update, but not an improvement.
Before I critique something as important as a new design I usually try to find outmore about why a redesign happened. I figured that Payless was probably trying to reach a younger audience (not a young designer audience), and that corporate felt, as I’ve always felt, that the old logo was dated and would never stand the test of time. I also figured that, with all the store closures I’ve seen in the past few years, that they were losing market share and had better do something before they went completely under.
Read the article about this at: http://www.dexigner.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6716
The agency that designed it was Desgrippes Gobe, no slacker when it comes to creating visual identities for brands.
That said, it doesn’t do a lot for me, but it doesn’t asult my design sense either, and I think it looks better on the store front than it does by itself.
-Daniel
lemme tell ya….the logo change has been a HUGE deal for Payless, as has the new store redesigns. Being in the middle of nowhere i have yet to see the new store design in person but from what i’ve seen and the hype comming from topeka, I can tell you that it is NOT recognizable as a payless store. Even the BAGS are different.
As for the new logo, let me point out a few things. First, word on the wire has been that the ‘shoesource’ WAS going to be dropped completely, but a survey of customers thought it should be left in. The color orange was kept since it is a ‘trademark’ of sorts with the old payless logo. Also the new symbol is in a circle shape which is also a harken back to the old logo.
I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of where the new logo came from. And as someone has already said, the company IS trying to attract a more trend-attentive customer base and is making a lot of improvements in that area. I can’t tell you how many customers have come in and said ‘I saw this on a commercial and had to see it myself because I couldn’t believe it was from Payless.’
In fact, I’ve seen shoes in other stores that are so identical to Payless shoes that I honestly thought someone switched out a display and used Payless shoes as a joke. Sure enough they were shoes that the major dept store carried for over 60 dollars…..17.99 at Payless.
The stores are now carrying designer styles like Laura Peterosky and Lela Rose, dance shoes endorsed by the American Ballet Theater Company, American Eagle, Champion, Dunkman which is endorsed by Shaquile O’Neal and Airwalk.
Payless has undergone some HUGE changes….and the new logo is definatly more of a fit of what you’d find inside now that what you used too.
KHKJHKJHJKHKH
hey, who sings the song on your commercial? the lyrics are
i feel a crush, its just too much
Yeah, who does sing that song? I love it.
Who sings the song on the Payless commercial where the girls are driving around in a car. The lyrics are:
“and you can do no wrong, now honey. i never knew it could feel like this.”
Just one kiss
By Red romance.
=]
i cant find the song anywhere!!
where can i get it???
hey i tried to download the red romance song on limewire but it isnt there how did you all do it?
you know…i dont think that the song.
Yeah, the song is by The Red Romance, called “Just One Kiss.” They’re a band from NYC and have opened for The Killers on their past tour. They have a myspace page and also an official one: theredromance.com. They’re pretty darn good, eh?
I like the new logo–
who cares if that circle graphic makes no sense,is generic and lacks creativity–it’s payless, afterall!
it is an improvement from the previous logo-
my only complaint is that payless has gotten more expensive.
I just spent $50. bucks are two pairs of sneakers there.