• US$160

• 105 designs

• 48 designers

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Logo Design Brief

Design a Guitar Brand Logo that can be used on Guitar Headstocks (both vertical and horizontal). Below is a description of where the brand lives and what we are seeking to communicate to a high end guitar collector, player, or stage artist.

James Hood: Master Craftsman and Guitar Builder

For the past 15 years, James Hood has been touted as one of the finest guitar customization and repair craftsman on the West Coast. Many noted musicians and famous guitar manufacturers have utilized James’ skills to improve the sound, performance and collectability of their instruments. In January of 2010, he founded James Hood Guitars, a successful business that has been able to showcase the mastery and craft he has developed over the years.

James’ continuing success occurs because he has always focused his craft with a singular purpose and an unshakeable commitment to delivering quality and value.

”It is my sincere belief that you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a guitar in order to own one that plays and sounds better than those sold at the top of the market. Timeless designs, quality materials and attention to detail are the blueprint for a great guitar, not massive advertising budgets and hype.”

High accuracy in layering these components is reserved for the craftsmen who are few and far between in today’s glossy, high output, factory generated, electric guitar market. James has spent thousands of hours on literally thousands of guitars and has developed the sense of being able to discern that which really works for the modern player, and that which is hype. Over the years, James has amassed a knowledge base that allows him to know what works best for certain players more than others. All too often, the same point arises; high cost instruments do not always mean high value..

James Hood Guitar Company is pleased to announce its introduction to the electric guitar market with three new lines named ‘Savannah’, ‘Adeline’ and ‘Miller’, (after James’ three small children).

Each line uniquely identifies three different players approach to the electric guitar. Made in the USA, these instruments feature fine quality, American hardware, electronics and accessories normally reserved for high end, custom shop instruments. Great care is put into each instrument to ensure highest performance and quality. Each guitar is setup with painstaking accuracy, and given white glove treatment by being shipped in a beautiful new customized case to ensure safe arrival. All of this and an excellent lifetime guarantee for an anticipated acquisition value of about $800, half the cost of any guitar in the market made the USA with this level of quality and detail.


Product Goal: Change the Industry

The MI industry has been on the steady decline since the 2007 recession and likely as far back as when the big box retail groups moved into the sector. The purchase of a guitar is a discretionary purchase and due to economic and other overarching trends, the number of units of guitars being sold today is a fraction of what it once was, while industry revenues have remained constant. That’s because in order for massive guitar manufacturers to survive this trend, they have needed to continually raise prices while reducing quality by outsourcing their component construction and manufacturing processes to overseas markets where workers are paid 1/10th of what an American worker would earn. Today’s electric guitar market is flooded with imports and knock off designs of overseas brands eating each others concepts. Import price points continue to rise and USA made instruments also steadily continue to climb, making it more and more difficult for people to own a quality USA made instrument.

To maintain this artificial inflation of guitar pricing, the industry has created a manufacturer approved pricing structure (MAP). This MAP policy restricts approved dealers and distributors as to how they can sell products from a manufacturer to combat the fear of ‘undervaluing’ the brand. The reality of what has happened as a result of this MAP policy has frustrated many dealers and distributors but most notably, discerning guitar players.

MAP has taken away pricing competition and the desire for guitar manufacturers to focus on building quality and innovation into their products. Rather than focusing on adding quality and innovation, they have needed to set themselves apart from the competition by increasing their advertising budgets and cutting out wholesalers and local dealers who add incalculable value to the supply chain. Flat out: the mfg’s are selling direct to the public, and they wonder why the number of guitars sold every year continues to decline.

This action has caused massive shake ups in the MI industry even amongst the ‘Big 3’, independent dealer closures, a complacent consumer pool and a big question mark as to what is going to happen in the next recession to one of the smallest industries in the world. JHG completely disagrees with this adopted policy and feels that instruments made in the US (and overseas) have gone far beyond their actual worth, creating this false value proposition to the consumer. Industry players say things like ‘price driven’ and ‘cash poor’ and do not consider that consumer preferences have changed dramatically.

Consumers are more confident to buy online and have been reassured a return program that rivals ludicracy when it comes to the terms around returning such expensive items. Fender was always a great business story because of their ability to base their business on ‘the buy’. They would find excellent deals on parts and components and build their lines around the deals that they would make with large suppliers. The savings was passed on to the customer, and FMIC became what it is now.

JHG has just created a similar opportunity with several hundred guitars which have been fashioned to US standards in the US but have not been finished yet. They are part of three different lines by an overseas company that attempted to create US made guitars and abandon the line after poor sales.

In order to address this underserved market and this opportunity in the marketplace, JHG has created three new lines for its brand to introduce to the market. With JHG, the consumer will be able to own a USA made guitar that rivals custom shop quality from one of the ‘Big 3’ as its build quality is being overseen by James Hood and the master craftsmen who are well known for high end customization, modification and repair; for hundreds less than comparable instruments.

Dealers will also recognize this value and will pass this value onto their loyal customers who know quality when they see it, appreciate innovation when they hear it and are grateful for value when they buy it. All this without MAP pricing or unreasonable restrictions on local dealers who want nothing more than to deliver true value to their constituents.

As reasonable as this sounds... believe it or not, it will be something new in the market, particularly when considering USA made instruments.

Objective

The objective of this creative brief is to persuade consumers to buy JHG guitars and also create and characterize this new brand.

Target audience

Our audience is 24+, predominantly male (although Female players are and have been on the rise) self dependent with a single income of 50K+, working professional who enjoys quality and craftsmanship in the hobbies and activities they focus on. They are computer literate, already own other instruments, accessories and amplification. They may play in a band or an open mic night on a regular basis. They play in church bands and even on stages in front of larger audiences for pay. Some of them tour the country to play in clubs and festivals. Some simply have a great home studio they enjoy composing and recording in.

This audience is price savvy and knows some but not all of the detail that goes into building an instrument, but definitely more than mom and dad buying Timmy’s new guitar. They are all across the country and they are one of the largest demographics in the market space. This audience is seen by some as being in the ‘Golden Era’ of their lives. They live well even within their means. They are middle class but enjoy taking trips out of the country or go on adventures in the country. They like to photo their experiences and share them socially with their friends and family online and in person. They like to be the first to find high value products and share them with their networks as the first to find something original and unique.

This audience is mostly family oriented and is either in a relationship or married/with children. While they enjoy all of the things we mention, they are still frugal and smarter with their earnings than perhaps generations prior with an emphasis on building retirement and not frivolously spending on momentary pleasure. This audience is very brand loyal. This is somewhat fostered by the industry itself since there has been very little to choose from, up until the last 30-40 years, in regard to brands that make fine quality instruments such as the ones by JHG. In many ways, the consumer plays what their parent or mentor played and can be difficult to persuade from those brands.


Focus

JHG Guitars is the newest purveyor of fine quality, USA made guitars that feature many of the options and aesthetics reserved for instruments that cost hundreds more on the market today.

Reasons Why JHG

High Value: JHG guitars feature many of the upgrades and components reserved for custom, premium and specialty/boutique brands made in the US.

Low Cost: Compared to other brands, JHG Guitars are a sensational value. Hundreds less than the next comparable instrument with similar features, owning a US made instrument of such high quality will never have been so affordable.

No MAP: Allowing Dealers and Distributors to sell JHG instruments as they see fit is a huge perk in today’s MI landscape.

Sex Appeal: JHG Guitars are designed to look great on their own and on stage. Taking from traditional designs that have timeless style and mixing them with the trends and materials that are popular today creates a great looking story from 100 feet and up close.

Target Market(s)

Guitar players who want to upgrade from their first electric guitar and get all the quality of a high end USA Made guitar (Fender Strat or Gibson Les Paul) at half of the price. All made in the USA.

Industry/Entity Type

Manufacture

Logo Text

JHG and/or James Hood Guitars

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Logo styles of interest

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Font styles to use

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Look and feel

Each slider illustrates characteristics of the customer's brand and the style your logo design should communicate.

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Requirements

Must have

• Apply Logo treatments to head stocks provided. We have attached head stock photos for your reference.
• Also attached is the current logo for reference. You may use it as a basis to work from or walk down a completely different path.
• Comparable Brands:
• Gibson,
• Fender
• PRS, Paul Reed Smith

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Files

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