All posts from Logo Design Love

Today saw the launch of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games logo.
Glasgow design agency Marque is responsible for the identity design project, said to have cost £95,000.
Developing a specific logo for the games is a requirement made by the the Commonwealth Games Federation as part of the contract for hosting the games.
Having a logo allows the organisers the best possible chance to earn additional revenue because they can sell the use of the logo to sponsors.
About the design, from the Glasgow 2014 website:

The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will be the 20th Games. This is a landmark number that adds to Glasgow’s pride in being its host. The outer ring, that encompasses the others, is a strong, vibrant red — the official “True Red” of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) palette.
There will be 17 sports on the programme at Glasgow 2014. The next ring of the brand identity, in “Triumph Yellow” from the CGF palette, represents the number of sports. It’s exactly 17/20ths of the full circle.
Glasgow 2014 will host 11 days of competition, which are represented in the third ring of the brand identity, rendered in the CGF’s “Heritage blue”, and making up 11/20ths of the circle.
At the heart of our brand identity is 1 Host City, represented by “G” for Glasgow, meaning “Dear Green Place” in Gaelic, and is in a suitably vibrant green.

Mark Noe, Managing Director of Marque said:
“We are privileged to have had the opportunity to create the brand identity for such a significant event as the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The identity is one which is grounded in integrity and design rigour and we are proud of the legacy that it will leave behind for Glasgow and Scotland. We hope that the identity will become an iconic symbol celebrating a very special moment in time – and will become synonymous with quality, achievement and vision.”
You can view a short digital animation of the logo here.
In the embedded YouTube video below you’ll see John Donnelly, director of marketing and sponsorship for the Games, talking to The Drum about the process of designing the identity, the appointment procedure and explaining how it will be used to promote and market Glasgow’s event over the course of the next four years.

Living in Scotland I’ll no doubt be seeing a lot of this, and it’ll be interesting to witness the applications. If you know of any websites showing context, please do let me know.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveLogorama the moviePerez-Fox on the London identityUEFA EURO 2012 logo revealedThe ABC’s of Branding posterSeven brand identity by B&W Studio

Logorama, an animated short by H5, has been nominated at the 2010 Oscars in the short film category.

In a world made up entirely of trademarks and brand names, Michelin Man cops pursue a criminal Ronald McDonald.

“Spectacular car chases, an intense hostage crisis, wild animals rampaging through the city… and even more in LOGORAMA!”

Klik hier om het video filmpje te bekijken
16 minutes very well-spent. Best viewed full-screen. Contains profanity.
Email subscribers may need to click here to watch.
Logorama on IMDB. Via @debbiemillman.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveThe ABC’s of Branding posterWoolmark logoFree “Make the Logo Smaller” t-shirtsAre iconic logos designed, or bought?The London Underground roundel

Paula Scher’s Citi logo
Paula Scher guest authored on Tony Spaeth’s Identity Forum with a great piece titled: What they don’t teach you about identity design in design schools… …And what you can’t learn from blogs.
“I never knew a designer that got hundreds of thousands of dollars to design a logo. Mostly, designers get paid to negotiate the difficult terrain of individual egos, expectations, tastes, and aspirations of various individuals in an organization or corporation, against business needs, and constraints of the marketplace.
[...]
“The designer needs to be ever present because, inevitably, at some side meeting, something will be suggested that will totally destroy the form of the logo. Something can be suggested innocently, with the best of intentions, that will scuttle all plans, compromise all standards, and destroy the integrity of the design. The only person who can know this and stop this is the designer.”
Paula Scher
Read the full article on Identity Forum.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design Love“Logos are dead.”The Identity RecessionHowcast identity designSpecWatch on design contestsTen logo design tips from the field

7×7 – Future Focus was the fourth in a series of lectures from the Design Institute of Australia, held during The Melbourne Design Festival in 2009. Luminaries from seven design disciplines presented their top seven future industry trends and predictions to an audience of creatives from all design sectors.

The visual identity, created by Landor’s Sydney office, reflected the idea of looking beyond the obvious, to seeing more than is immediately visible, and reading between the lines.

Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveThe Philadelphia History MuseumHello Digital brand identitySt David’s identity, CardiffLogos by Branch15 years of The Public Theater in 45 seconds

In this post, Blair Thomson of Devon-based agency biz-R takes time-out to interview Belgian-born “Lord of the Logos,” Christophe Szpajdel (pronounced “shpydel”). There’s also a chance for you to win a signed copy of Szpajdel’s book.
The style of design featured is part of a small niche, and different to the normal posts here on Logo Design Love. But it’s also very recognisable within its field, and the same rules of branding apply — simply at the other extreme (like the music it represents). Szpajdel’s illustration skills are also adaptable to more mainstream graphics work and could cross over into many other areas of design.
At what age did you first become interested in logos?
My interest in logos came at the age of seven when I saw the Kiss logo. That was back in 1977, and is what sparked my creativity for logo making.

I also particularly liked the logos of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. It was at the age of 17, however, when I really became fascinated by designs such as those for Venom, Kreator, King Diamond, and Possessed.
Were you interested in drawing and this developed into logos, or did you always like branding?
I’ve always found something fascinating about logos, especially the Art Nouveau and Art Deco logos from the beginning of last century. These were the most amazing gems. Have you seen such beautiful brand logos like Tropon for example? I think Art Nouveau and nature were always to be associated as one, and the first thing I started to draw were plants and animals. Art Nouveau is itself the cult of nature.
Do you admire logo and identity design from outside of the metal world that you have become infamous?
Some product brand logos can be cool, like Relentless, for example. Even today this logo still fascinates me. I’m also very keen on some of the variations of the Animal, Billabong, and Warlord clothing logos.
I actually create quite a bunch of non-metal logos like the CRAS logo, a Tulsa based society that projects old forgotten gem movies from the 20’s to the 40’s. I designed several personal brand logos for people such as Dawn Hemsley, Deborah Dean, Pamela Smith, Vicky Sanchez, Maxine Ridd, and Paula Whitfield, and also illustrated for Paula Whitfield’s book The Repertoire of Delusions.
So yes, I explored identity design outside the metal world and it worked even better because non-metal clients were unfamiliar to the existence of this world. At some point, since creating my account on Facebook, I realized there was a completely new public gaining interest in world yet unknown to them — the world of logos.
How do most of your clients find you?
They mostly find me by word of mouth, but there was a massive increase of interest since i joined Facebook, and since I was interviewed in such magazines as VICE, Metal Hammer, Metal Maniacs, and Terrorizer. That made my name reach even more secluded circles of interests that I would never have thought of before. The Internet had a massive impact.

What is your favourite self-created logo?
It’s hard to pick just one favorite, so I’ll mention a couple of favorites from each style. Emperor and Abigail Williams among the classics, Morgawr and Anamorph among the Art Nouveau ones, Deborah Dean and Disciples Of The Watch for the Art Deco feel, Wolves In The Throne Room and Chasma for the Deressiv’Moderne current, The Obliterate Plague for its simplicity and efficiency, Samantha Byrne for the enigmatic pose with came as a doppelganger of the Glorior Belli logo created by Valnoir Artfield de Lautrec.
What logo do you wish you had created?
I wish i could have created the logo of Dragged Into Sunlight, since this is my absolute to favorite band and my absolute favorite logo, but I designed a logo for his other project, Ninkharsag, which is in my book. Other logos I wish I had created are Demoncy (USBM heroes), Sarcofago, Mutilator Immolith, Venom, Shores Of Melancholy, Burning Of Sodom. I never had the chance to get hold of any of these bands that inspired my creativity with their amazing music.

Your work is extremely detailed. How long would a typical design take?
It takes a minimum of two weeks and can last up to six weeks or more. It depends if it’s a complicated logo, and if the client requires lots of changes, as was the case with Seize The Soul, Namter, Animus Mortis, The Wounded Kings — all very fussy clients. I would actually rate them as “Clients From Hell” because they truly are! I am also a very meticulous person, paying attention to every detail.
I understand that you recently created a logo for Really Interesting Group (aka RIG), who designer and blogger Ben Terrett operates. How did this compare to working with musicians?

Image credit: Noisy Decent Graphics
Actually, that was something very simple, i never thought it would be for a group. I first thought it was for a band called RIG and thought oil rig. I asked Ben Terrett for as much detail as possible and he was fairly laconic in what he wanted. I digged a bit more and found out he loves AC/DC as lettering, so i created a very simple logo. After that, I got a lot of interest, and this is how i met you, Blair, and even more interesting is that you just live next door to me! How cool is that?
Working with musicians generally takes me longer and requires me to come up with more changes during the run of the work. I often have to give further cracks on logos, and as I’m telling you all this, I’m working on a fourth logo for “client from hell,” The Wounded Kings.
What inspires you?
Mostly and primarily, I am inspired by nature, but over the last decade, I opened my interest to art, especially Art Nouveau for its flowing motives, and Art Deco/Modernism for its geometry. Anger is something that helps me in coming up with a great logo for an aggressive metal band.
The tranquility of shorelines gave me inspiration to create some flowing logos that needed a more relaxed state of mind.
Tell us about the book — how did that come about?
Gestalten have produced some beautiful books on logo design. In march last year, after the interview I gave to VICE (yes, they have been taking the mick out of me, but great, they turned me into a weirdo) and the feature in the Compendium “Logos from Hell” by Mark Riddick, I got approached by Hendrik Hellige whom I met in Berlin by the end of May. Then in June, the big boss of Gestalten, Julian Sorge, concluded the contract and in September I supplied all my logos.
In October I created the logo for the cover, and finally, at the end of January the book was released. I didn’t interfere at any time with the process of assembling the book, as I gave Gestalten my full trust. They did a wonderful job juxtaposing the photos I took in different parts of the world (mostly Whiskey Town Lake in Northern California, Mount Hood in Oregon, Dartmoor, and the Southwest Coast Path in Devon).
The result is amazing and I am more than delighted with the work of Gestalten. Finally I can regard this book as my child. It really is a part of me.
Do you have any advice for budding logo designers — metal or otherwise?
It is better to specialize yourself in something you really feel for. Try to find as many inspirational surroundings as possible to unleash your creativity. That is something that also applies to artists who want to reach the general public as well the metal public.

Christophe Szpajdel (centre)
Win a signed copy of Szpajdel’s book Lord of the Logos

From the Gestalten website:
This book is a collection of work by Christophe Szpajdel, an artist whose fans in the underground black metal community worship him as the Lord of the Logos. It includes hundreds of powerful logos, each of which captures the force of this musical genre anew. Through his surprising use of aesthetic influences such as art deco and nature, Szpajdel has brought a new dynamic into the gothic visuality of heavy metal. This publication, which is done in the style of a black prayerbook, shows not only how he has succeeded in leaving his own visual mark on this music, but how he has also expanded the canon of forms it uses.
Release: January 2010
Price: € 35,00 / $ 55,00 / £ 32,50
Format: 21 × 26 cm
Features: 272 pages, full color, softcover, gold embossing
ISBN: 978-3-89955-282-9
To enter the draw, leave a comment naming someone you want to see interviewed on Logo Design Love. One commenter will be chosen randomly on Friday 26th February, notified by email, and posted here.
Thanks very much to Blair Thomson for conducting the interview, and to Christophe Szpajdel for taking part.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveAn interview with Tom GeismarBrand alphabets, Chicken Now, the Apple logo designer, and a fuss over nothingAn interview with Paul RandKit Hinrichs: the story of a storytellerInterview with Obama’s logo designer

Patrick King of the TypographyShop has kindly offered 10 lucky Logo Design Love readers a free “Make the Logo Smaller” t-shirt.
The type is set in Neuzeit S, a 1966 geometric-grotesque hybrid redesign of Wilhelm C. Pischner’s Neuzeit Grotesk, originally designed in 1928.
There are two styles available, with the logo large, and small, and you can choose your size, sex, and whether you want a black or white tee.

For entry into the random draw, simply leave a comment answering the following question:
Why did you become a graphic designer?
10 commenters will be drawn and emailed on Wednesday 24th February, and I’ll update this post with the names.
The third-year students on Kingston’s Graphic Design and Photography degree recently answered the same question.
Good luck, and thanks again to Patrick King.
But if making the logo smaller isn’t for you, there’s a cream for that.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveThe best logo design tutorial in the world… ever!The 50 dollar logo experimentMake My Logo Bigger CreamHaving fun with logo equations

What are the most iconic logos you can think of?
Coca Cola? IBM? I Love New York? Shell?
These designs have one thing in common: a huge marketing spend.
Can we create a truly iconic logo without the backing of a very fat wallet?
Something I was thinking about earlier.
Shell logo by Raymond Loewy, 1971.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveDon’t try to be original. Just try to be good.The London Underground roundel“Logos are dead.”Slow news dayThe Identity Recession

Photograph from the London Transport Museum
The roundel first appeared on Underground station platforms in 1908. The bar and circle, as it became known, comprised a solid red enamel disc and horizontal blue bar. These early roundels, framed with timber mouldings, were introduced as station nameboards. The new device gave prominence to the name of the station, and helped passengers distinguish it from surrounding commercial advertising.
In 1913 the Underground’s publicity manager, Frank Pick, commissioned the typographer Edward Johnston to design a company typeface. By 1917 the proportions of the roundel had been reworked to suit the new lettering and incorporate the Underground logotype. The solid red disc became a circle, and the new symbol was registered as a trademark.

Section of an anonymous poster, 1920

Drawing of proportions for Johnston’s roundel, circa 1925

Photograph from The Guardian
Over 100 years, the roundel has become the unifying symbol for London’s transport services, and is widely recognised as a London icon.

By James Ireland
London Underground Roundel mentions elsewhere

History of the roundel, on London Transport Museum
Symbol of life in modern London, on guardian.co.uk
100 years of the roundel, on London Transport Museum
100 Years of the Roundel, on CR Blog
Roundel, on Wikipedia
100 artists celebrate 100 years of Tube logo, on Transport for London

Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveMercedes-Benz logo evolutionVintage logosGhostbusters logoThe ABC’s of Branding posterAn interview with Tom Geismar

“Turns out, creating a logo that represents a city with nearly 350 years of history is difficult,” said Brendan Quinn of Philadelphia-based branding agency 160over90. “There are cliches to avoid (I’m looking at you, cheesesteaks, Rocky, and Liberty Bell), and just as many fascinating stories that are just too obscure to a general audience.
“So we looked at the history, the people, and this place for inspiration. Digging through the museum’s artifacts, we found this map of William Penn’s original plan for the city.

“It was a tight, orderly grid with interspersed parks — Penn’s vision was for a “Greene Country Towne.” That street plan still exists in what is now called Center City between Vine and South Streets.
“So the project’s designer, Adam Garcia, began sketching versions of Philadelphia’s grid.

“We all liked this hand drawn version, as it echoed Penn’s original map while also containing the slight imperfections that make Philadelphia so unique and interesting. The final piece was adding type. And just like Philadelphia itself, that confining grid ended up giving the logo its distinctive character. Here’s the final product:”

Read a more detailed explanation on the 160over90 blog, or you can view the case study in 160over90’s online portfolio.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design Love15 years of The Public Theater in 45 seconds25 years of Duffy logosLogos from Stylo DesignThe Oak Bar logoPeter Arnell defends Tropicana rebrand

Image from Flickr
Simon Manchipp, one of three creative directors and partners at London-based studio SomeOne, said on Twitter yesterday:
“Logos are dead. Yet we have been featured in the new book Logo Design Love as an example of how to do Logos.
“They are a hangover from old-school thinking about branding. There is no desire by the public for a new logo. They are simply an old-fashioned approach to differentiating products or services.”
Upon questioning, Manchipp explicitly meant, “…that symbols invented to accompany brand names are a waste of time, money and effort.”
I asked David Law, Manchipp’s partner at SomeOne (and the man who kindly submitted SomeOne’s designs for inclusion in my book), what he thought of his colleague’s statement:
“It’s something we have been debating internally for quite a while.
“When you look at brands like O2, it’s success lies in the richness and depth of it’s brand world (bubbles, blue grad etc.). This forms a flexible branded platform that is instantly recognisable — you could remove the logo and still know the brand. The logo in itself is not the ‘hero’.
“In the past, brands like IBM and FedEx traded on the logo as the ‘hero’. We see it even today.
“So while we all acknowledge that the logo is not about to disappear — and that it is still an important part of any brand toolkit — there is a case for applying more emphasis on brand worlds.
“The ‘favicon’ or ‘twibbon’ is now the equivalent of the ‘black and white fax’ that we all learnt (years ago) was the minimum requirement for a logo to be recognisable as. These are much smaller applications than we have ever had to deal with, and ones where traditional logos are struggling.
“Brands now ‘move’ as standard — being ‘Apple‘ implies all sorts of physics that lend attributes to the brand and do not rely on the logo to do everything.
“Lastly, the amount of platforms, media, applications (and now ‘experiences’) that need to be branded has multiplied significantly with technology. People simply get bored quicker and brand worlds allow the conversation to ‘flow’.
“Yes, the logo is the ultimate ‘rechargeable battery’ of the brand and is the final distillation of all the brand’s attributes BUT what we are debating (and we haven’t reached any conclusion) is that if the brand world is powerful enough, could the ‘logo’ simply be the company name designed in a simple, ownable way? Possibly, dare I say it, with no symbol to sit alongside it?”
Symbol or no symbol is a valid question, and one I talk about in my book:
“Sometimes your client just needs a professional logotype to identity its business. Use of a symbol can be an unnecessary addition.
“This is something you want to determine at the outset of the project. Ask your client if she has a preference one way or another. If the company is entertaining ideas about future expansion into other markets, it might be better to opt for a distinctive logotype, because an identifying mark or symbol might prove restrictive.”
Quoted from chapter 11 of Logo Design Love.
So while Manchipp’s initial “Logos are dead” quote might be over the top, it does raise an interesting debate.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveThe Identity RecessionSpecWatch on design contestsTalking about logo designSlow news dayUEFA EURO 2012 logo revealed

And so it is decided, The Greater London Authority has confirmed that Saffron Brand Consultants has won the Brand for London tender to create a visual identity for the capital.
Saffron principal Ian Stephens says that the London marque’s launch will not come ‘much later’ than the GLA’s original deadline of next month.
Hot on the heels of the announcement, New York-based brand developer Prescott Perez-Fox published his own pitch.
Perez-Fox said, “One of the main criticisms for the whole [tendering] effort was the fact that only a handful of design firms were allowed to bid in the first place. You could almost name them before the competition started. City officials determined a minimum standard of size, billings, compliance, insurance, health & safety, and other criteria which immediately ruled out so many of the very talented 3-person agencies in the UK. (For example, how many design firms have a policy of community outreach for LGBT people, or have calculated their carbon footprint accurately?)

“My effort takes advantage of London’s graphic DNA, consisting of bright colours, simple shapes, clean typography, whitespace, and the general notion that you can combine anything,” Perez-Fox continued. “My motivation, as I imagined others felt, was to create something expandable from the start, something that creates a system, rather than one beautiful symbol crowbarred into every application.”

“The identity is hinged on an updated version of the classic British typeface Gill Sans. This new version, which I’m temporarily calling ‘Giww’ has simplified some of the characters, especially those with curves.”

View the full Perez-Fox project on his page for the London brand. He finishes the post by asking, “What do you think? Could it work in practice? What would critics have to say about it? Following the backlash of London 2012 Olympics Logo, are the British welcoming for such a design scheme? Is it recognisable, unique, ownable enough for your tastes?”
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveUEFA EURO 2012 logo revealedThe ABC’s of Branding posterSeven brand identity by B&W StudioMcCadden Design brandmarksNegative space in logo design

Apparently it’s harder than I thought to be original.
“You gotta wonder — at least I did — if Apple was inspired by the creative doodlings of AOL in crafting their invitation to their press event on Jan. 27, where the highly anticipated tablet, or ‘iSlate’, device is expected to appear.
“A similar artistic sentiment appears to be at work in both instances. You’ve got bursts of bright colors that encase the company’s logo (Apple) or name (Aol).”
Slow news day at The Baltimore Sun.
Published on Logo Design Love

Related posts on Logo Design LoveThe Identity RecessionUEFA EURO 2012 logo revealedSochi 2014 Olympic logoIn other news…Stock trade marks from 1975