If it’s a brand logo (design):
- Describe in detail the image, and why you believe the company selected the brand elements (color, size, layout, character, etc.) that they did. Your analysis should include a brief description of the competitors and how your selected brand logo compares. In other words, why did they choose the brand elements that they did.
Paul Reed Smith guitars, commonly known as solely PRS guitars, is an American guitar company known for high quality hand-made guitars. The logo’s main image in a large black font is the common company acronym “PRS”. After that, we see the founder’s name written in all caps in a fairly large font to the right of the company name. Finally, we see that the term guitars is written underneath the logo in a font different to the others used in the logo. This helps to instantly let people know that PRS is a guitar company simply by viewing the logo. The logo also incorporates three horizontal lines segmenting the logo to add a streamline and aesthetic look. Paul Smith is a renowned guitar craftsman, so it makes sense that the company include his name in bold letters right in the logo. This name adds a sense of pride and craftsmanship to the company that helps contribute to a feeling of quality. It is common for guitar companies to be named after their founder, but it is usually only the last name. PRS is one of the only guitar companies that is sure to include the full name, even the middle, of the founder of the company. This shows that the company takes great pride in their founder and gives them a unique and competitive edge over other guitar manufactures in the market.
- Describe the target market (ie. what segments are being targeted)? How do you know this is the target market? Did the company make good decisions to reach the target market?
The target market for PRS is guitarists who are in the market for a guitar, particularly a high quality and well made one. This is clearly the target market as these high quality guitars are essentially the only products that PRS makes. By using a professional looking logo with their founder’s name prominently visible in the logo, I think PRS does a great job of communicating value and quality to their customers. Additionally, the association with Paul Reed Smith as the founder helps to give a personal feeling to the company that genuinely cares about making quality products.
Above we see a showroom of PRS’s famous handcrafted high quality guitars.
- Does it work? Why or why not? Any general observations?
I personally believe the logo works very well. Perhaps it is my bias of knowing the quality of PRS guitars, but every time I see the logo, the thought of quality and beautifully crafted guitars is in my head. The logo is very unique to others within the market in that the name is solely the complete name of the founder. This helps to show that company is not only proud of what they make, but most likely will stand behind their products on a personal level.
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