NEKOMECH – A DESIGN REVIEW

Nekomech is a well renowned desk, setup, and keyboard vendor based in malang. They sell all sorts of desk related things such as keyboard, desk mat, headphone and laptop stand, and many other paraphernalia at a competitive price. They mainly use Tokopedia and Shopee as a medium for transaction, thus good visual branding is needed in terms of advertising as well as logo. But before we delve deep into a critical analysis of their visual branding, we must define and break down what visual branding is to get a better understanding of what it is. Visual branding itself can be defined as the process of giving a product or service its own Identity or “vibe” through the use of logo, typeface, and colour. Logo is one of the most impactful elements in visual branding, a logo says everything about a brand it is associated with as its basically a summary of a brand’s whole identity. That being said, a logo that is well designed and well suited for the brand is a must for any businesses is a must, especially the ones that are online based, since the consumer can only see the business through it’s branding.

A powerful logo is built on an equally powerful foundation: the principles of logo. Though it is true that logos and designs are completely subjective and do not need a set of rules to be successful. It is still imperative to study these principles to make a logo objectively appealing. That being said, One such example of said principles are the Gestalt Principles, which in short are the principles that describe how humans group similar elements, patterns, and simplify complex visuals. There are 12 principles in gestalt, here are a few that are most relevant towards Nekomech’s visual branding:

● Emergence
Emergence can be summarised as the human ability to create or piece together things from existing separated elements such as dots, lines, ink blotches, etc. Evolutionary speaking, this is a result of having to identify and survey our environments, which is crucial for survival in the pre-common era. In the case of Nekomech’s logo, emergence is applied with the visualisation of the letter “N” when both elements of the logo are put together.

● Proximity
Proximity is the law in which in state: we tend to group objects that are closer together as
one element and those that are more distant another. The Nekomech logo applies this principle
to group both elements together so it can be perceived as just one element.

● Symmetry and Order
Symmetry means that one side of the logo is similar to the other side. Humans tend to favour objects that are symmetrical due to the feeling it evokes, which is balance and stability. Nekomech’s logo isn’t symmetrical in a traditional sense however, the right side of the logo is flipped and then mirrored horizontally instead.

● Invariance
Invariance in basic terms is how humans perceive basic shapes as identical objects despite various transformations that have been done to it. Transformation such as rotation, movement, shape variations, etc. This concept is used to make the right side of the Nekomech logo, while it appear to be symmetrical, in reality the right side is a copy of the left side but flipped and then mirrored horizontally Outside of the review regarding the principle of Gestalt, the logo itself is very much minimalistic, with it having a monochromatic colour scheme. This however plays a major role on it’s identity, giving it a professional and slick feeling to it while also being versatile, this is reflected in their promotional posters:

Recommendations
Even though they have a slick, modern, minimalist design that reflects its brand well, there are always things that can be criticised or even improved in the design. Here are several key points that might be worth considering:

● While its simplicity is one of the main strengths it has, this also makes the logo generic. Especially in the world of gadget and techs, minimalist logos are pretty much everywhere thus, it might be hard for people to recognise this logo at first glance. This is also supported by the monochromatic colour palette.

● Half of a logo is its soul, its meaning; while Nekomech’s logo is visually appealing it seems to lack any meaningful elements or message inside of it. This point also contributes greatly to the fact that the logo feels somewhat generic.

● The lack of connection of the logo to its brand, can also be a subject of critique. The logo can have elements representing its name such as a silhouette of a cat as in the “neko” in Nekomech or something relating to a mechanical keyboard as in the “mech”

● Outside of the logo, many of the promotional posters of this brand is bland, with them showing only little or no variations at all in terms of advertising compared to their competitor.

Conclusion
In conclusion Nekomech as a tech brand identity is encapsulated well enough in its logo. With its implementation of the Gestalt Principle serving as a foundation for its sleek, symmetrical, and minimalistic logo acting as a strong and solid foundation for its logo which act as a solid foundation to its visual identity as a whole. These elements will make the Nekomech brand to be perceived as modern, techy, but simple at the same time, aligning ever so well with their product and the target audience. However these strong points are also double edged blades. These presents itself as the lack of memorability, the lack of emotional or brand specific connections; this is mainly due to the disconnect of the brand name, identity, and its logo. Ultimately, while the logo is a solid foundation for the brand’s visual identity as a whole, it is still very forgettable in the ocean of minimalist logo designs. While it is not bad, it is still generic. However with the correct touch up of symbolism and uniqueness the logo’s impact and resonance can be elevated well beyond what it already is.

Sources:
● What are the Gestalt Principles? — updated 2024 | IxDF
● Toko Nekomech Online – Produk Lengkap & Harga Terbaik | Tokopedia

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