If you are a carpenter, building contractor, or your job is related to the construction industry, then the power tools you use can be a tax write-off. Other than that, Jackson Hewitt logo!! This brand has miraculously found a common ground between power tools and tax services! (I’m being sarcastic.)
Let’s start with the symbol.
The rectangle with a high-contrast white radiating circle seemed to mean a rising sun, which can be a very nice concept for a tax services company. However, the drawing of the radiating circle utilized straight and diagonal lines, which gave it a very industrial look—inappropriate for tax services. Therefore the execution needs improvement, so it would look more like a rising sun than a bunch of metal wires and steel pipes.
The Font Choice
“Impact” is a versatile, condensed font that is very heavy in its weight. It has been known as an attention getter, often appears in posters for that reason. For its heavy weight and rectangular shaped letters with rounded corners, resembling basic industrial elements, it is suitable for headlines and masculine subjects, such as sports and news. If a brand chooses this font, this brand must be masculine, heavy duty, solid, etc… Black & Decker is a successful example to use Impact in their brand. How Jackson Hewitt arrived the decision to use this font in their brand, I have no clue. But surely the name “Jack”son wouldn’t help presenting the brand image closer to being a tax services company, when it’s set using Impact.
The Colors
Jackson Hewitt chose 2 very bright, basic, primary, masculine and high-contrast colors—black and red—to represent their tax service brand, which is another mistake.
Tax service is money matter. Money matter is neutral, unemotional and universal. So it should avoid using bright and primary colors to communicate money. Green is a good color for money, especially for use within the United States because of its currency colors. If Jackson Hewitt tax service company would use green and gray in their branding system, there would be an excellent marketing opportunity to connect “Jackson” Hewitt with money matters using $20 bills… (Take a look at your $20 bill, President Andrew “Jackson” is looking at you!) In Jackson Hewitt’s case, having “Jackson” being a part of their company name is God’s given gift for promotional marketing! Pity no one saw this connection!
Let’s look at Black & Decker again: It has black and orange in their logo. Husky doesn’t always use 2 colors in their logo but they use black and red throughout their brand system—Same as Jackson Hewitt! Both Black & Decker and Husky use black and a warm color in their branding systems and both are successful power tool companies. When a branding system works, it sticks in people’s mind. That’s why when I first saw Jackson Hewitt, I thought it was a hardware store selling power tools.
Here’s a visualization of what I thought Jackson Hewitt logo should say:
P.S. Just recently, I found out Jackson Hewitt has filed Chapter 11… Do you think that’s got something to do with their brand? Maybe… Indirectly?
