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I am currently working on a logo design that is type only, no mark. I came across a website that provided a host of remarkable examples. I wanted to share it hear for reference. I especially liked the wave logo by Jan Zabransky. It’s a design that is simple, elegant, timeless and memorable. Yep, that’s about all you could ask for. Nice job Jan. Thanks for the inspiration! See them all at http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/40-brilliant-type-only-logo-designs
Design by Jan Zabransky
Imagine pouring water over the top of the word. Now imagine the water falling between the letters and flowing out the baseline. If it appears that the water is flowing faster or slower in one area, then it’s time to kern.
When kerning type, visually divide the letters into groups of threes. This helps by removing the meaning of the word and by focusing your attention on a smaller, more manageable area.
For a designer who takes great pleasure in his work and also likes to enjoy an occasional pint, working on the My Muggie drink handle was a dream project. I was able to combine two things that I really enjoy. However, I had to first partake in some highly important “research” with the client.
I met the owner/creator of the My Muggie, Russell Brooks, at a bar in far East Dallas. We sat down at a table and placed a couple of his inventive handles over our cold beers. While we were having our first sips, we were approached by other patrons who were very curious about these colorful drink grips. He explained to them in his wonderful Texas drawl about the many benefits of the My Muggie. As I sipped, he sold. “Keeps yer hands dry. Feels like drinkin’ from a real mug. Removing yer hand from the bottle makes for a colder drink. Comes in all-sorts-a great colors. Floats!” I think he had sold 5 before I finished my first beverage.
After putting in what I felt like was sufficient research, I called a cab and headed home to start some post research, or soberfication.
During the next few weeks I began the exciting process of actually designing the logo and packaging.
Below are samples of that work at different stages. At the bottom is the final product.
Please visit www.mymuggie.com if you want to grab a few My Muggies and as the tagline goes, Get a Handle on It.
Please note, I am not the designer of his website. Hopefully, Russ will hire me to spruce that up soon. Research will be needed of course!
Photo credit: Sam Martinez
If you’ve been in the design business for awhile, you probably recognize this little fan book thingy in the photo. Believe it or not there was a time when print jobs were plentiful and a designer had to reference this beautiful tool almost daily. Yet, even with all of those colors at your disposal, none of them seemed exactly right. Once you decided on a general color, say red, an ensuing mental deliberation took place to figure out which red was, The Red. You’d pull out 5 different reds and tape them next to a different color that you were equally unsure about. Once you felt sort of good about your decision then you’d update your digital file and give yourself a hearty pat on the back and go get coffee. When you came back to your desk you’d look at the colors and say, “What the hell was I thinking?!?”
The point is, color selection used to be an art that took a lot of time, thought and study. Now, with the evaporating print market and the ever-booming digital environment, color selection seems to be much simpler. You still have to use color theory, but there just aren’t as many colors to filter through. If you want red, you either pick red, dark red or pink, because those are the colors that will look good on most monitors. There are no longer 30 different varying degrees of red that you have to wrangle over, unless you’re still somehow printing work. But even then, you’re probably picking CMYK colors and not PMS, which is another story for another time.
I guess in the end, the simplification of color selection is a good thing and it makes a designer’s job easier. But, I kind of miss those times when it felt like an accomplishment to crack the color code and come up with something unique and ownable, even if it did take a half day and 3 cups of coffee to solve.
Here are the same companies as seen below, but now by their Twitter icons. Zynga makes a jump to the top spot, while InvenSense remains near the bottom with it’s generic swish logo. Apple and Depomed are relegated to a tie for last place because they don’t have official accounts. Apple’s reasoning is that they don’t want to subject their brand to another companies guidelines. More evidence that Apple just doesn’t play nice with others.
These companies below are considered the Top 10 in Silicon Valley, as rated by SilconValley.com. Being highly rated obviously means that their bottom lines are strong, but what about their logos? While some are quite creative, bold and timeless, others appear bland, meek and dated.
I have ranked them in the order of my preference with Apple being #1 and InvenSense being #10.
What do you think?
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