CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/31/2018

Identity: Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

Featured spreads, showing treatments of the Mobil Oil logo and identity, originally designed in 1964, are reproduced from Identity: Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, published by Standards Manual. "We try to really get down to the basic thing, a basic mark that can identify whatever the institution is that we're identifying in a clear way," Tom Geismar is quoted. "And we have three basic criteria. One is that it be appropriate—that is, you would do something for a sports team that would be quite different from something you'd do for a bank, for example. It should be appropriate to the client and to what they do. The second one would be that it be distinctive, that you can see it, you can remember it, you can recognize it, maybe you can doodle it quickly after having seen it a couple of times—that it will stand out and be recognized. And then the third thing is just that it works in all kinds of sizes, different materials and so on, if that's appropriate, and it often is. So if it can meet those three criteria, then we're doing pretty well."