Size over substance

Steve Cooper asks why projects involving putting a couple of lines of Helvetica Italic under an existing symbol go to large groups like Team Saatchi and never to small consultancies (DW 19 February).

Let’s develop the hair cutting metaphor: you have loads of cash, want a haircut and know very little about hairstylists. You give Quick Cuts a miss and head for A Cut Above The Rest, where you’re reassured by the trendy reception. You end up looking Keeganesque, but your clueless peers congratulate you on your choice of hairdresser.

People who make decisions about two lines of Helvetica Italic under an existing logo don’t know about design, but they know which trendy reception they like.

It probably isn’t Helvetica, but something like Sportif Extended that comes with a manual so thick that the client would never need to go to the hairdressers again if you dropped it on his head.

Russell Stretten

London NW1