To give context and some expert matter credentials, I’ve designed, art directed, and creative directed quite a few identities with some winning a few awards. The greatest accolade was not from my peers but from the people. As an artist, being voted one of the top 5 gaming logos of all time by the gamers themselves was the greatest feeling in the world. Quake was as epic as you can get. Like seeing Lawrence of Arabia for the first time in that majestic Panoramic CinemaScope… or Shrek. This was my organic phase.

Then there was the era of my serial killer phase where logo design was hands on, literally. Ripping, cutting, manipulating, test after test, late nights that turned into weekends with no sleep and dye-sublimation machines that broke because you tried putting burlap through and the office manager kept wondering why there were fibers in the paper tray every morning. I never knew a logo could be bloody but the story behind the mark leant itself to that conclusion.

Entering my geometrically symmetrical phase, I remember submitting the Jedi Knight II logo to George (we called him “Little G” for short behind closed doors). You might know him from a then unknown trilogy filmed in 1977 that shaped some of the nerds you’ve married later in life and now you have a room dedicated to star destroyers and sand crawlers (and you don’t even have kids). The story within the concept was a boy in conflict with his (spoiler) father and the struggle between good and evil all wrapped up in a mark that was simply a “J”, and a “K.”

Terence taught that you shouldn’t have to explain the feeling the piece was to evoke. His care and mentorship taught me to think, to craft, and to damn well make sure there is meaning in the final mark. The greatest lesson was one he didn’t explain and allowed me to take as much time as I needed to move from the mentored to the mentor.

There’s only one thing that matters when it comes to logo design and theory. Restraint.

Terence taught that it’s not that you could, it’s whether or not you should. (Personally, I thought Jobs got screwed with “next” but that was his 100 grand).

But for the love of all that’s holy, exercise restraint. So now, onto the matter at hand.

Johnson & Johnson: Horrid.

Tropicana: Sterilized.

Pepsi: Just plain stupid.

Kia: Meh.

Smuckers: Horrifically destructive to children.

Jaguar: I’m speechless and it destroyed 100 years of history.

And now, Cracker Barrel…

Consider this; You can go back to the 1900’s and still see the Coca-Cola purity. It’s Americana. It’s beautiful. It works. Show restraint and do little to nothing if asked. It has not changed, and it shouldn’t. It just IS Coca-Cola.

Another great example is John Hancock Financial.

John Hancock has not and will not change that signature. There will never be a need for any modification.

It will live in infamy, forever. I love it.

Cracker Barrel looks like 5 dollars was spent with the greatest of care.

Clean and simple.

If the brief direction was to update the logo to make it more mainstream, then I’ll have to quote my great friend Chit, Success! If the brief was to create buzz around the new look and to get people talking, again, a perfect score. If the brief was to create a new mark that represents the brand in a new way, top marks.

So, my verdict: Don’t crumble. Don’t cave. Just try again.

It’s not my place to judge because I know the mindset of the creative who worked this problem to the best solution they could.

And to mock them and destroy their credit to the effort, shame.

And I’ll ask you to try it.

Redesign the Cracker Barrel logo and send it to christian.wojo@andbarr.co and I’ll give you a professional critique.

My ask to the designer would be to show us round 2 and restraint is the rule.

Some brands evolve; others, like Coca-Cola and John Hancock, endure unchanged.

A Cracker Barrel redesign can work, don’t try to be perfect, be honest. And maybe that’s restraint enough.

I did however like the nod to the barrel on its side. Clever.