Watson, Towers Watson

With a combined 14,000 employees in offices around the world, Towers Watson is the newly minted “professional services” firm created by the merger of the 5-year-old Watson Wyatt Worlwide and 76-year-old Towers Perrin, officially established earlier this month. Towers Watson offers services in Benefits (retirement, health and group benefits), Risk and Financial Services (insurance consolation, investments, risk management), and Talent and Rewards (executive compensation, employee rewards), all of it a nice presented package that is actually easy to understand. With a new name that literally merges the two companies, Interbrand was given the assignment to create the new visual identity.

It became evident that Towers Watson’s primary strength would be its combined attention to relationships, both with clients and employees. Through workshops and discussions about personality and brand archetypes, a strategic positioning, “Clarity through perspective,” was developed that would guide and support the creative development.
— Interbrand Project Description

The new logo represents each Towers Watson’s employees’ personal commitment to its customers by “putting their names on the line” with a personal signature of the company. The identity is a combination of a strong, pragmatic wordmark and an approachable signature symbol. The organic, hand-drawn nature of the logo and graphic system creates a personal and distinctive look amidst the impersonal, corporate, language of its competitors. To echo the hand-drawn nature of the logo, a customized, scripted typeface was created along with a library of illustrations.
— Interbrand Project Description

The new logo strikes a pretty good balance between seriousness and friendliness. The wordmark is as buttoned-up as it gets, all uppercase and black as a CEO suit, and it’s so refreshing to not get another all lowercase rounded wordmark. Meanwhile the TW monogram is loose and dynamic and makes a nice complement in shape and color to the name. I typically don’t like to say “This logo looks like…” but I was reminded of the Wynn brand. First, formally, as it’s a signature. But, second, philosophically, as a way to humanize an out-of-scale organization.

Clarity, a proprietary handwritten font for Towers Watson. Image removed by request. Official name of the font, “Mister K for TW,” provided by Interbrand.

The applications succeed similarly in appearing fresh yet not alienating towards a business-minded audience. The thick boxes behind text is nothing new, and Franklin Gothic is fairly conventional choice, but in conjunction with the handwritten font, it all manages to feel contemporary enough. Overall, a solid introduction for this new company.

Thanks to Yotam Hadar for the tip.

Chris’s comment is:

I wish the tw looked more like like a signature and less like a photoshop brush. Also is it just me or does it look more like a chinese symbol than a monogram when it’s the white/red color palette?

On Jan.20.2010 at 07:45 AM

Brendan’s comment is:

The applications are nothing groundbreaking, but overall the new identity is nice. I don’t see the handwritten font being used much though…it looks good but it’s hard to read.

On Jan.20.2010 at 07:52 AM

pb’s comment is:

TUI anyone?

On Jan.20.2010 at 07:57 AM

andys’s comment is:

looks a little too arabic - but better than what it started with at least…

On Jan.20.2010 at 08:07 AM

buruno’s comment is:

A very solid work, I like it. I guess they hit the right spot, as Armin pointed out, between seriousness and friendliness.

I also agree with Chris, the symbol in red over a white background passes an impression of a Chinese/Japanese signature seal. A subtle nod to Asian stakeholders, maybe?

On Jan.20.2010 at 08:13 AM

Florian’s comment is:

Someone get www.towers-watson.tw

On Jan.20.2010 at 08:22 AM

Dale Campbell’s comment is:

Absolutely beautiful!

The application is dynamite as well.

Bravo.

On Jan.20.2010 at 08:24 AM

John Mindiola III’s comment is:

It makes me wonder why they created an entire font, when they’re only going to use the TW signature icon. The Clarity font isn’t used in any of these examples from what I can tell (the pics are small!). Oops, I see, it’s used in one spot. Hmm, reminds me of the American Express Blue Card ads with Coack K’s signature in the little rectangle.

On Jan.20.2010 at 08:56 AM

BaselineShift’s comment is:

It looks like a logo for a cosmetic surgeon. Augmentation anyone?

On Jan.20.2010 at 09:00 AM

Evan’s comment is:

I think it’s a nice solution. Although I hate it when things that are handwritten are described as “organic” - such a silly, overused and convoluted term. But I’m sure it’s a word that sells.

On Jan.20.2010 at 09:21 AM

MSGDS’s comment is:

I like the loose shape of the symbol, but it’s not bold enough. Could have been more striking and less elementary.

On Jan.20.2010 at 09:49 AM

Rx’s comment is:

i think that’s bullshit. is so weak that it is imperceptible. any “red stuff” on the side of typography give the same result.

On Jan.20.2010 at 09:55 AM

Impossibly Stupid’s comment is:

I’ll echo BaselineShift and even say it looks more like a strip club logo.

Towers Watson: A Cigar and Boobs Company

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:23 AM

M.’s comment is:

I like it, especially the handwriting and the uppercase wordmark. The original Towers Perrin seems very close to Amtrak.

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:28 AM

Joseph’s comment is:

Nothing new. It’s executed very well, especially in the collateral examples, but the logo itself is very dull. I do like the giant white and red “TW” banner hanging from the building. Other than that tough, not much here to get excited about.

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:30 AM

Alexander Greyling’s comment is:

I think the concept is great but the execution and treatment of TW has that “my-11-year-old-daughter-could-have-done-better” feel to it and fails the concept.

It is just too casual and lacks style, finesse and sincerity that are synonymous with professional and financial services. I think it will date very quickly.

The use of red is adventurous, bold and refreshing for a financial services company as long as they stay in the black. Any hint of their results ever getting in the red and the brand colour will be a disaster.

Seen by itself the Clarity type is very nice and has a honesty to it that the TW lacks. The collateral material, although slick, is let down by the brandmark.

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:42 AM

maura’s comment is:

I personally think it would be more appropriate to integrate the two brands into a new one, rather than scrapping the two brands for something so different. Not to mention the fact that “clarity” does not read clearly. And my eyes are not that old…

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:54 AM

Christopher Meeks’s comment is:

I’ll echo some of the other comments. It isn’t that the idea of having a “Tw” signature next to the wordmark is bad, it isn’t. But the execution falls short in my opinion.

I understand the need for a thicker weight on the signature, but I don’t know anyone who uses a Sharpie to sign their name, and that is what it looks like. It just isn’t believable.

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:57 AM

Mary Shu’s comment is:

The ‘TM’ looks synthetic.

I don’t see a ‘personal signature’ just Auto Trace in Adobe Illustrator.

Could be a forgery!

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:57 AM

Daho’s comment is:

Very fresh, very current, with an interesting application.

Which means all the suits in HR would hate it, and want the original treatment back, for being more “fancy”. You know what I’m saying….

On Jan.20.2010 at 11:02 AM

linc’s comment is:

Credit where credit’s due, Clarity is a customized version of Julia Sysmäläinen’s lovely FF Mister K.

On Jan.20.2010 at 11:14 AM

Konstantin’s comment is:

just sayin..

On Jan.20.2010 at 11:29 AM

Adam Bestwick’s comment is:

Reminded me of TUI…

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/brands/0004/6600/brand.gif

On Jan.20.2010 at 11:31 AM

eric’s comment is:

This feels both trustworthy and accessible. Keep in mind, this is not an industry that embraces spontaneity in their design language.

And to this day, many financial services companies are afraid to use the color red. As if using red ink connotes negative results. This has always seemed silly to me, and I’m glad TW had the brains/guts to look beyond this marketing myth.

On Jan.20.2010 at 01:20 PM

grubedoo’s comment is:

Not bad at all. The only thing I don’t like is the Clarity font as it feels a bit goofy.

On Jan.20.2010 at 01:54 PM

Heide’s comment is:

The first thing I saw was a pair of boobs and a stake stabbing the chest. The red color does not help that visual.

On Jan.20.2010 at 02:29 PM

Alessandro Mingione’s comment is:

Adds a human touch to an alienating field.
I like it, it feels so trustworthy!

On Jan.20.2010 at 02:39 PM

marcus’s comment is:

I absolutely love this. Most favorite logo in 2010 for sure.

but yeah, the Clarity font… meh.

On Jan.20.2010 at 02:42 PM

MooseDesign’s comment is:

Although I find it ironic that a handwritten font is named Clarity, I like it… It does exactly what its supposed to with respect to the “human touch” and has the potential to add some similarly organic elements to some otherwise potentially stiff, rote corporate deliverables.

That said, its use is extremely sparse (mainly titling) from what I’ve seen thus far, so perhaps they are struggling with moving from the ideology to actual application.

On Jan.20.2010 at 02:52 PM

Alex C’s comment is:

I really like it; however, it’s disappointing that they aren’t using the wonders of OpenType to really create a fresh looking script font. Maybe they should’ve gotten someone like Ale Paul to work up a script for them!

On Jan.20.2010 at 04:26 PM

qwertyale’s comment is:

approved.
xD

it makes me relax
the colour coud be better.

On Jan.20.2010 at 04:42 PM

ivan’s comment is:

Alex C: The font on which Clarity is based, FF Mister K, actually has a ton of OT features and alternate glyphs:

http://www.fontshop.com/fonts/singles/fontfont/ff_mister_k_ot_regular/?s=c

On Jan.20.2010 at 05:53 PM

Nancy’s comment is:

“Alessandro Mingione’s comment is:
Adds a human touch to an alienating field.
I like it, it feels so trustworthy!”

God some people are naive!

On Jan.20.2010 at 06:37 PM

shiftklick’s comment is:

Execution is pretty solid. What I like is the interaction of the wordmark and the monogram, of sans serif (Towers Watson) and the script of the signature. The logo expresses what Armin said, “good balance between seriousness and friendliness”. It expresses that contrast. But the signature icon kind of looks like a pair of boobs or buttcheeks. Can we say buttcheeks here? Ok I’ll revise that, “gluteus maximus” instead.

Off topic: Alexander Greyling forgot to promote his book. Is it still on sale?

On Jan.20.2010 at 08:17 PM

buy r4 ds’s comment is:

I would say Towers Watson builds on shared values of integrity, professional excellence and collaboration with a strong clients-first orientation. With our combined experience, and breadth and depth of skills….

On Jan.20.2010 at 09:29 PM

Bonnie’s comment is:

In my amateur opinion, the hand written logo is pretty indecipherable. I didn’t look at it and immediately realize it was a “TW.” However, if they deal with insurance, perhaps confusing red ink is the look they’re going for?

On Jan.20.2010 at 09:35 PM

Alexander Greyling’s comment is:

@shiftklick
Off Topic
Sorry I was in a hurry – supper was waiting and I posted my comment without checking. I see you are too shy to reveal your glory so I can’t mail you directly (in case you have missed my previous comment on Brand New see http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_book_recommendations.php). By the way my book will be available on Amazon in Kindle in a week’s time – I know you cannot wait to read it.

Anyway, this one is just for you.
Author of Face your brand! The language of visual branding explained.

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:27 PM

shiftklick’s comment is:

My buttcheeks can’t wait for it on Kindle. I’m sure it will revolutionize the branding industry and find the cure for cancer and liberate the world’s oppressed masses. Except for the Chinese, wink, wink.

On Jan.20.2010 at 10:53 PM

Catherine’s comment is:

I like the logo a lot! It’s personal, recognizable, and clean.

On Jan.21.2010 at 12:15 AM

Alex Dima’s comment is:

Were they trying to make it look like a penis or was it just a happy accident? :)

On Jan.21.2010 at 03:20 AM

shiftklick’s comment is:

Happy accident. Design works in mysterious ways…

On Jan.21.2010 at 03:45 AM

Typophile’s comment is:

Seems like the questions raised about the legality of the bastardized font, were mysteriously removed today.

Maybe the Interbank lawyers got all shitty.

On Jan.21.2010 at 02:48 PM

Armin’s comment is:

> Seems like the questions raised about the legality of the bastardized font, were mysteriously removed today.

The person that made that comment requested we remove his comments. He acknowledged that he might just be creating a conflict where there is none, by not having official information. Instead he asked the FontFont folks directly.

On Jan.21.2010 at 05:39 PM

Phillip Zelnar’s comment is:

“Putting the company’s name on the line” is an interesting concept. But I agree that the execution falls short, particularly when it comes to color.

I think the red causes the mark to read as a Chinese symbol. Also, I don’t think the red/black makes sense for their business. The palette’s aggressive and feels retail oriented. Given that TW is business-to-business financial consulting blue seems like it would have been a more appropriate choice… it could give a sense of stability/trustworthiness/heritage and would feel less retail-oriented.

(Also, I have to wonder if someone at TW just happened to like Tiger Woods when they started rebranding.)

On Jan.22.2010 at 10:21 AM

Mr Miyagi’s comment is:

ah.. yes. I do see a little penis there. the “w” forms some hanging balls too, or if you look at it another way it looks like the siloutte of a penis sideways, very clever.

On Jan.22.2010 at 10:23 AM

shiftklick’s comment is:

As the world becomes more global, superstitions about color can hopefully disappear as the meaning we put on colors are arbitrary. There is no universal law regarding color. It’s all culture-relative. For example, financial institutions in china commonly uses red because they believe it is good fortune. Interpreting the “TW” icon as a penis is also relative. As is interpreting it as a pair of boobs or buttcheeks.

On Jan.23.2010 at 12:07 PM

erik spiekermann’s comment is:

Clarity is a customized version of Julia Sysmäläinen’s lovely FF Mister K.

If it is, indeed, customized, they should have asked Julia, the original designer. They didn’t (she works 10 feet away from me and I just asked her). If they only changed the name so they could charge the client for a custom font, they still had to ask the original licensor (FontShop International) for permission to do so. Says so in the EULA which they acknowledged when they bought the font. If they did. If they didn’t and subsequently never read the EULA, they have a problem.

On Jan.27.2010 at 10:17 AM

erik spiekermann’s comment is:

I do see a little penis there. the “w” forms some hanging balls too

A penis, as they say, lies in the eye of the beholder.

On Jan.27.2010 at 10:25 AM

erik spiekermann’s comment is:

So this is what happened:
Interbrand asked Ascender to change a few things in the font, to which the licensor, FSI, had agreed. Under the usual conditions that the name would not be changed. Ascender delivered a font to Interbrand that was called MrK_TW, acknowledging Julia Sysmäläinen’s original work. Somehow (?) the name got changed to ”Clarity, a proprietary font“. With this, Interbrand took full credit for the design work and probably charged the client for designing an exclusive typeface. As it happens, TW hasn’t even got a license for the font. If Interbrand had, indeed, designed an exclusive font from scratch, the client wouldn’t need a license. That is why we often design typefaces from scratch for our corporate clients (in my case for Bosch, German Railways, Nokia, Heidelberg, etc).

As it stands, this is another case of a large design agency either being ignorant (which is bad), arrogant (which is normal), or stupid (which is very bad). In any case, they’re stealing intellectual property, either on purpose or out of negligence. This has happened before (anybody remember where UPS got their ”exclusive“ typeface from?) and will happen again, because while designers will complain about being ripped off themselves, they seem to be more lenient with other peoples’ property. Reminds me of the old hippy motto from the 60s: ”Yours is mine and mine is mine“.

On Jan.28.2010 at 05:11 AM

Matt Carey’s comment is:

So what happens next? Do Interbrand own up and pay compensation, or do they try and wriggle their way out of it?

On Jan.28.2010 at 05:20 AM

erik spiekermann’s comment is:

They normally ask their attorneys to wriggle them out of it.

On Jan.28.2010 at 05:22 AM

culturengine’s comment is:

On a plus side, this really really really expensive rebrand will give TW unique insights within the highly lucrative How Not To Do A Rebrand risk analysis field.

On Jan.28.2010 at 05:47 AM

Jan M’s comment is:

They normally ask their attorneys to wriggle them out of it.

…and that’s it?

If FontShop International does not do anything about this (which I would understand – they are a small German company that cannot really afford fighting legal battles in the USA, where justice comes at a high price) then this implies that a big company like Interbrand can get away with pretty much anything regarding intellectual property, and still be taken seriously by the design community. Pretty sick, if you ask me.

On Jan.28.2010 at 07:25 AM

erik spiekermann’s comment is:

Apparently TW’s predecessor company bought a 175-user license for the font. Better than nothing, although wonder what the ther 13250 people in the company will use.

And even if they had a sufficient license, the original designer still got cheated out of her credit and Interbrand lied to their client.

On Jan.28.2010 at 08:07 AM

Scott Sullivan’s comment is:

Get em Speakie!

On Jan.28.2010 at 08:11 AM

Jonathan Hoefler’s comment is:

Not really my fight, but to describe FSI as “a small German company” is almost as silly as describing “justice coming at a high price in the USA.” These things can be resolved.

On Jan.28.2010 at 12:11 PM

Delve Withrington’s comment is:

This is unfortunate. Obviously someone has made some very poor choices. It is especially sad given we are in a time when information concerning IP theft, software/font piracy, plagiarism, and the ethics lessons and potential litigation involved is all available on the web and taught in classrooms. I don’t think there is any ground to claim ignorance. The only upside I can see (and perhaps only because it is a high profile project) is that we became aware of the problem so quickly. Hopefully it can be resolved in a manner that gives credit where it is due.

On Jan.28.2010 at 01:17 PM

Clem Devine’s comment is:

Apart from the lack of ‘clarity’ around the IP on the handwritten font…

What about the shambolic letterspacing in the logotype?! That A is a bit worried about the W.

As Duchamp would say, “when you look at a cup, its the spaces that matter”.

On Jan.28.2010 at 03:07 PM

Jan M’s comment is:

to describe FSI as “a small German company” is almost as silly as describing “justice coming at a high price in the USA”

Do you think so, Jonathan? Should I have said ‘medium-sized’? In any case I’m sure a 20-employee company (or thereabouts) *feels* small, when facing a global branding network with offices in 30 cities, serving a 13,000+-employee global client. Doesn’t really matter how many independent designers FSI represents, if that’s what you’re hinting at. As for justice in the US: I was mainly referring to lawyers’ fees in, say, NY or Chicago. My information is second-hand and you probably know more about it than I do. One hears so many stories. And I wouldn’t want to wander further off-topic.

These things can be resolved.

I can only say: I hope you’re right.

On Jan.28.2010 at 04:20 PM

nick shinn’s comment is:

The small German company may have relatively few employees, but it owns a lot of valuable intellectual property, which is the topic.

On Jan.29.2010 at 12:10 PM

Amazon Kindle’s comment is:

Apple has just released Ipad with similar pricing and seemingly better features for their entry level model. Do you think this will affect the Kindle DX market? Many Thanks :)

On Jan.30.2010 at 01:46 PM