Filed under: Logo Design | Tags: branding, custom, design, ferraro, font, gray, green, grey, initials, leigh, lettering, logo, mark, monogram, seamstress, stitch, typography
Leigh-Ann Ferraro - Freelance Seamstress
I recently completed a logo for a good friend of mine who needed an identity for her freelancing. I played on the concept of stitching as I created a monogram and custom font. This was featured over at logogala.com recently as well.
Filed under: branding | Tags: bible, branding, chosen instrument, gospel, hip hop, identity, logo, music, note, positive, productions, R & B, rap, uplifting, wing, youth
I recently completed the identity for Chosen Instrument Productions. The following is from the logo proposal I provided the client:
Chosen Instrument Productions is a youth-focused, not-for-profit music organization that is passionate about using music to convey a positive message. Through the creative and recording processes of Spoken Word, Hip-Hop, Rock and Gospel music, Chosen Instrument aims to foster a positive atmosphere that allows artists to express themselves in ways that serve to better themselves, their community, their region and beyond.
It was with this spirit and message in mind that the Chosen Instrument Productions logo was crafted. The logo is comprised of the Chosen Instrument Productions text and the “Winged Note” logo mark. The main text and mark were crafted in a graffiti-style that captures the energy and vibrancy of youth while maintaining professional sensibilities such as legibility. The overall appearance of the logo is edgy and yet accessible and is very much geared towards the youth demographic that Chosen Instrument is driven by.
The “Winged Note” icon was crafted to represent the idea of creating music that is upliftng. The “Winged Note” represents the power of music to “fly above” the typical negative stereotypes associated with hip-hop and rock music and reinforce the idea that Chosen Instrument creates music that is thematically and philosophically positive.
The Chosen Instrument Productions logo speaks to and reflects the ideals of the organization; it represents music as a powerful force through which creative and inspired youth may cultivate, create and record a unique, positive message.
Filed under: Logo Design | Tags: 2016, branding, chicago, concept, design, event branding, logo, Logo Design, madrid, olympics, summer
Today’s post on the Graphic Design Blog highlights the logos in contention for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The article reflects on the four logo concepts that are in the running for the shortlisted cities as well as taking a look at some of the cities that have already been eliminated from the running.
Event branding is something I personally am really interested in, having written about it here and here. The unique opportunity to wholly brand an event, especially an event like the Olympics wherein so much collateral material will be derived from the main brand, represents a both challenging and ultimately really rewarding experience for designers.
My personal take on the above logos is that they all work on really great concepts and are very nicely executed. Visually, and this is ignoring my national prejudice, I think the Chicago logo is the most striking. Conceptually, I love the Madrid logo and the subtle “m” formed by the hand print. Read the whole article here and draw your own conclusions.
Filed under: branding | Tags: architect, blue, branding, connections, construction, corporate, design, engineer, feature, grey, hypocylcoid, logo, logo gala, pcc, pittsburgh
Once again, Deron Sizemore over at logo gala has featured some of my work. The PCC logo I crafted a few months back was a “featured logo” over at the site. Read the article here for my design process.
Filed under: branding, Logo Design | Tags: branding, color, concept, design, idea, logo, process, re-branding, typography
Today on Abduzeedo, Fabio Sasso presents a really great article on his re-branding process. The article features sketches, commentary on his research and ultimately a really great logo that resulted from an organized and pointed design process.
I find myself daily talking about and iterating the importance of concept in design. Whether it be a logo, a direct mail piece, a brochure or anything, it is ultimately your conept that drives your design. It is your idea that ultimately facilitates the outcome.
Filed under: branding | Tags: bottom line, brand, branding, design, packaging, re-brand, tropicana, value
Consider your brand for a moment. Read this article. Now reconsider your brand in terms of collateral (PACKAGING, logo, letterhead, etc.). How much do you think you stand to lose (or Gain!) because of your brand and how it’s interpreted at the consumer level?
image source: http://brightbrightgreat.com
The Tropicana re-brand was met with great resistance from the design community. So much resistance in fact, (from the design community as well as countless others apparently) that Tropicana decided to scrap the re-brand and go back to zero in just a few short weeks. Enough has been written why the new brand failed, but I think it’s worth noting the article from AdAge as to just what kind of impact your brand has on your business. It’s a rare opportunity when your brand can be spoken of in terms of the bottom line as the case is here.
Filed under: Key Commands | Tags: brand essence, brand meaning, branding, design, design elements, font, form, key command, logo, spacial relationships, typography
In concluding my series of key command posts, I thought I would wrap up the exercise with some thoughts on what I took away from this project. I think there were three main design concepts that arose throughout the execution of this daily design project.
1) This exercise reinforced the value of form in design. The UPS, Kinko’s, and Delta logos especially operated as tools for me to examine the form elements that encompass a design piece (in this case, logos). Examining an existing logo and breaking it down into its basic shapes in order to recreate it was a valuable exercise. Additionally, throughout this process I was continually examining spacial relations in logo development in regards to how to integrate text and image to create a meaningful and powerful brand icon.
2) Another point that I arrived at was the overall importance of good typography versus just choosing a suitable font. In the case of the Nissan logo, I was able to download the Nissan font package (thanks to the rabid fans of the brand) and with minimal adjustments to kerning and letter spacing, duplicate the logotype. However, for the rest of these it was not so easy. Especially in the case of the U-Haul and Elmer’s logos, the thrust of work I put in was to match the typography without the actual logotype at my disposal. I was able to ape all of them pretty well I think by determining key characteristics (from the obvious serif vs.sans, to more complex issues like kerning, x-height, stem width, etc.), finding base fonts that match those characteristics, and then further modifying the type as needed to more seamlessly recreate the logotype. Ultimately the lesson we take away is one we already knew: typography goes infinitely beyond font choice.
3) A third point learned from this project which one might think I had in mind beforehand, but really came to light through executing this was the ability we must have as designers to distill a brand to its essence. That’s essentially what this whole thing was about and ultimately what I love about branding. When I talk to clients I always use the analogy that Nike doesn’t sell shoes, they sell sports. In the same vein, Disney doesn’t sell movies or amusement park tickets or plush characters, they sell the magic of youth. The potential exists to spend pages upon pages writing about brand essence, lifestyle branding, the effects of brands on popular culture and so forth, but that is for another time and venue. Ultimately, on this subject, what we take away is that UPS means packages rather than shipping and delta means flight rather than meaning airline. It’s these concepts rather than products that speak to what branding is and what any given brand means. “A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It’s not what you say it is, it’s what THEY say it is.” ~Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap
