Touring around town on my motorcycle I’ve noticed what I consider an alarming trend – namely real estate agents who insist on using photographs of themselves in their logos. Sheesh. Many of these folks aren’t – how do I put this delicately – the most, ahm, attractive people around, and I’m not sure of the advantages.
One of the higher visability agent’s logo (I won’t name him, you can’t make me) features his huge toothy melon and his recent bus shelter poster campaign has been the subject of grafitti artists who keep drawing in voice balloons with phrases like ‘can I touch your children?’. Creepy. And certainly not good for the image. Some plaster their smiling mugs on the side of mini-vans while others feature posed ‘glamour shot’ photos on massive billboards. Folks. I get it. You’re personable. You’re happy. You’re homesy. But here’s the deal – if I was hiring a real estate agent based on their physical attributes I wouldn’t hire any of you (well, except for that shapely blonde who apparently works for Remax).
Putting your smiling mug in any real estate logo is NOT a good idea. You’re one haircut away from rendering the logo irrelevant. Maybe you want to grow a beard (not the blonde!). And age will almost certainly make your logo obsolete in a few years (sparing a few visits to the plastic surgeon). Isn’t it better to develop a nice corporate image (and if you must, use your photograph – sparingly – in collateral material)? Photographs don’t repro well in low-resolution, black and white low-contrast images (newspapers and free real estate journals) look crap, and there’s a slight egomaniac quality to slapping your mug on everything that some (okay, me) might find disturbing.
Just a few random thoughts and free advice on this Wednesday morning…
Related posts:
- Why you shouldn’t use a photograph in your logo
- Canadian Logos. Eh?
- Flowers, casino logos & credit card fraud
Tags: rants
