Rockwell Collins

New:  Logo

Launched:  July 10, 2006

Story in brief:
Over twenty years, proud Rockwell International had spun out such companies as Rocketdyne, Conexant and Meritor. Then in June of 2001, it took the last step, split itself in two and disappeared, leaving Rockwell Automation and Rockwell Collins as independent, unrelated successors.

Despite the risk of sharing a name (and in this case a logo too) whose meaning neither could any longer fully control, for the time being both companies took the easy route of retaining their existing divisional signatures.  In the shock of 9/11, economic decline and the largest downturn in the history of the commercial aerospace market, a low public profile was probably a good idea.

Five years later, Rockwell Collins is on solid ground, an international leader in avionics. CEO Clayton Jones agreed the time had come for a higher, more assertive profile, a posture of pride and confident self determination. It was time to take back and own his own "Rockwell."

The creative brief:
-  Retain both Rockwell and Collins equities (since the 30s, Collins dominated aviation radios)
-  Replace "division" with "proud corporation"
-  Support a unifying "one company" ethic
-  Support "leader in innovation."

BrandLogic answered with a sharply italic stacked wordmark that uses the double l's, accented with three red-orange dashes, to change two personal names into one dynamic corporate presence. 
 

Credits:
C.E.O. - Clayton M. Jones
Identity design - BrandLogic; 
Randell Holder and Fredy Jaggi, with Gene Grossman
 

First Impressions:
It's pretty clever. If you really have to share a name, do what you can to make it yours. And one name is better than two; if you're stuck with two, do what you can to make them one. BrandLogic's logo shows both tactics at work. The three dashes add a distinctive, dynamic spot of color... a happening... integral to the mark, that I think makes the double l alignment work a little better.  So... buy the stock!

Other Comments:
Now that's how you Develop and Design a Damn Identity. Nothing short of Poignant, Superb and Ingenious. Jaggi and Grossman Rule The World.
Frank Briggs