Several posts ago (PC vs. Mac (Hint: PC Wins!) , to be exact) Paul made a snarky comment (“Tune in next week when Shea sings the praises of Wal-Mart, Darth Vader, and the New York Yankees…,” to be exact) about my possible future posts.  This post is evidence to Paul that he shouldn’t encourage me.

It is not my goal to slowly eliminate readers of IBD with my posts on topics such as this one and PC vs. Mac.  But I have to admit that I like Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart is a part of the culture of Arkansas. [Insert your own joke now.]  For Arkansans, Wal-Mart is a locally owned business. Regardless of your opinion about the largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart is here to stay.

My family and I visit three Wal-Mart stores in our area on a regular basis.  I understand many of the concerns of what a retailer such as Wal-Mart can do to small businesses and certain communities. In those incidents, I support local businesses.  In the delta region of eastern Arkansas, Wal-Mart keeps towns alive and going.

At this point you may be wondering, Where is he going with this? What does this have to do with interpretation or design? Or you’re thinking that you can’t believe you are reading a boring post about Wal-Mart. Hang in there.  I’m not here to debate ethics and Wal-Mart but  instead to talk about the change Wal-Mart has made.

Over the last few months Wal-Mart has been going through a major transformation.  This change has brought about new store designs, products and a new logo.

As our regular readers (our wives) know, Paul and I excel at paying attention to things that most people with social lives overlook. I have been intrigued with the store’s changes—especially the logo. I have even gone as far as interviewing an associate at the jewelry counter while my wife shopped for greeting cards. Needless to say, my conversation with “Anita” did not answer all of my questions about what the changes to the logo meant.

My search for answers continued upon arriving home (after unloading the groceries).  Wal-Mart’s website site says, “This update to the logo is simply a reflection of the refresh taking place inside our stores and our renewed sense of purpose to help people save money so they can live better.”

The new logo is a departure from its predecessor. The first noticeable change is that it is now Walmart and no longer Wal-Mart. The dropping of the star hyphen is a simple but important change that implies a more relaxed, down-home, and comfortable relationship between the store and patrons. The new typeface is drastically different.  The dark blue, all cap, bold, boxy sans serif has been replaced with a more relaxed, sky blue, organic, mixed case, sans serif.

Again, this is a simple change that speaks volumes. The final element of the logo is somewhat of a mystery, and maybe that’s what they wanted. I will call it a sunburst though it is not really well defined. The yellow asterisk/sunburst interacts well with the blue type but the icon is undetermined. It does leave something to the imagination and allows readers to draw their own meaning or interpretation from it.

I think the logo is a good change for Walmart. To most the change will go unnoticed, and staying off of the radar may be the corporation’s underlying goal. The greener version of their logo could also be related to their new environmental conscience and initiatives to lessen their footprint. Their website now has an entire section on sustainability with the latest news on what Walmart is doing to become greener. You have to start somewhere.

Now that some of you now have two strikes against me in some of your books, I hope to redeem myself with my next post on design and Darth Vader.