Brand and Logo influences

For Krater & Hohl I wanted to invent the brand for a company who I would never really create and certainly never work for. This is not because K&H is a conceptual company, based on a figure of speech - although that definitely affects its realization. I imagine K&H as a multinational corporation that is all practicalities without being heavy handed. It has the sort of behind-the-scenes professionalism of a company that is serious, reputable and also a bit mysterious. Just how the holes are made, or for that matter - why, is not relevant. K&H is a brand that is partially separated from product. It offers quality without dwelling on the nitty-gritty.

I expect that its consultants are the sort of white-gloved, low-voiced career people we meet you at your hotel, or maybe at the job site in a starched shirt and polarized sunglasses. The probably aren't very friendly.

So why do I want to create this sort of brand? Partly as a challenge, I want to make something interesting in the model of what I think of as pretty boring. But also I wanted to expand the concept of the hole, that of joining something that is both practical and a metaphor. K&H is not a little company, it doesn't make holes in someone's kitchen. Nor is it one whose activities, or products, could be easily described. This is a brand that is not straightforward, it hints at the vastness of the operation, the many fingers in many pots and the sort of semi-blankness which occurs when there is not a single face leading the brand but instead an institution that sustains itself. 

Because of this I have chosen a diverse group of brands as influences. Probably what connects them all is they are large and reputable enough to be institutions and they define the product rather than the other way round. (except Credit Suisse, what do they do? banking maybe?)

I wanted to have a construction component to K&H and I chose Caterpillar as a representative brand. Cat is very much on the practical equipment end but really dominates industry branding. The construction safety yellow is practically their branded color. Also I like this logo, instead of a hole, there is huge pile of yellow stuff in front of the letters.

This is a picture of a Cat truck. It's huge! I'm not sure how relevant it

is but I do like the colors.

I also chose National Geographic and only partly because of the great yellow border. National Geographic is the institutionalized magazine and makes us think of exploring new places. Also it gives you a connection to a brand, or something, that is outside of the magazine itself-  the National Geographic Society. What is the National Geographic Society? I remember receiving a membership card the first time I subscribed to NG but otherwise it seems to only exist to promote the magazine and its interests. 

Typically, I chose Google as another influence. Not because Google is such a mega-power but for the particular way in which their most famous tool works. A google search is a basic operation on the part of the consumer, you simply type whatever you want to search for into a small bar. But that simple operation is leads to some many possibilities. I want K&H to be similar  in that making a hole is a simple thing that leads you to think of all the possible ways you could take advantage of it.

Finally, I chose Credit Suisse. I am not sure I am a fan of these bank logos, the they are all surprisingly consistent, the text and small attached symbol. I do think I need to copy this style if I want some of the same connotations for Krater & Hohl. I chose Credit Suisse in particular because I am a big fan of these transitional type faces.