Backstage: The SinkIt logo in process

Very nice behind the scenes of what went into the new corporate identity for SinkIt here.

Top 10 logo tips

Great top 10...

1. A logo doesn’t need to say what a company does


Restaurant logos don’t need to show food, dentist logos don’t need to show teeth, furniture store logos don’t need to show furniture. Just because it’s relevant, doesn’t mean you can’t do better.

Cont'd

Via ybnby

Avid Rebrands

Since 1987 Avid has been the leader in video production technology, serving the film and video industry with it's array of products. We use Avid here at Handcrafted, so when the company revamped it's identity, a post announcing the news was a no-brainer.

Designed by someone, the new logo connotes a more contemporary, progressive energy that will help unify the companies offerings - says my opinion. I like the move towards something more iconic and bold and overall, it is a well produced revamp. The only bit that gets me is the negative space between the "v" and the "i". It keeps drawing my eye. Is this bothering anyone else?

Update: Avid contacted us to let us know that "Our press release actually stated that the new logo reflects the "volume up, volume down, play, pause, record and forward" symbols consumers and professionals recognize as fundamental to the digital audio and video solutions they use every day to enable their creativity, and signals a unification of the company's core audio and video offerings."

Miles

Logos 101: for all you newbs

5 straight forward, elemental things that every mark should be able to do well. These are the basics folks.

Miles

The $50 logo experiment

The Creative Director at 160over90 to it upon himself to engage in a mock project with one of these "get an awesome logo online for a buck in less than 24 hours" types of places, i.e. logoworks, logoyes, etc. Needless to say, the process and results, here, were borderline seizure inducing, and at the same time, utterly hysterical. But hey, what do you expect for 50 bucks, right?

I won't get into what I feel is wrong with these sort of groups and their approach, because frankly, I don't have all day to write this post. I can, however, directly relate to this story and cite the true tale of a client who, before they called on us, sourced one of these companies and had an eerily similar experience. When all was said and done they were out of pocket some $400 and had absolutely nothing of value to show for it.

For further reading,
logoworks rip-offs
logoworks sucks
how not to design a logo

ps- I do want to state that the services offered by this lot may suit some companies perfectly, and that's cool. Not every client has the means to invest in a proper identity.

Miles

Via logodesignlove

Kraft food rebrands, fails

Accurate assessment of the new corporate rebrand for Kraft foods here. This logo appears to be a design by committee nightmare; let's add a little bit of Pepsi swoosh, a rainbow explosion, a weak tagline and a touch of overall poor organization. Not good, especially when the previous logo was such an iconic, classic mark, that looked like it actually stood for something.

Miles

Via brandnew

Worlds worst identity redesign?

This is bad. Real bad. Hey, anybody who knows me will tell you I am all for a clean, minimalist approach; when executed properly. But the hideous new redesign for Blimpie is anything but proper. This dumb green mess is stale and presents absolutely zero personality, which, I for one, at least thought the previous identity had.

Set in standard Futura, this sorry excuse for a mark is barely kerned properly let alone engaging. Really? They couldn't bring a hint of life into any of the characters? At least create a contrast between logotype and tagline? Looking at the before and after here, you really want to believe the labeling is reversed. Who approved this thing? Anyone know if it was done in-house? Is this a joke? Apparently not.

Miles

Via brandnew

15 awesome ambigrams

Here is a nice collection of 15 ambigram designs. It is difficult not to appreciate the effort it takes to design such a mark. Fantastic craftsmanship...

ambigram, also sometimes known as an inversion or flipscript, is a graphical figure that spells out one or more words not only in its form as presented, but also in another direction or orientation. The text spelled out in the other direction or orientation is often the same, but can also be a different text.

Via logodesignlove

Miles

Don't Feel Rejected...

It's all part of the process. And it's a process we rarely get to see, especially in the case of a campaign that went so stunningly well it won Ad Age's Marketer of the Year. Much of the campaign's success can be attributed to the Obama '08 logo, a mark created in a very short time period by the folks at Sender LLC, out of Chicago. In a 2-part interview, new VSA Partners strategist Sol Sender (formerly principal of Sender LLC) reveals everything about the creative development of the 2008 Obama Logo, which was released in February of 2007 and has arguably become one of the most noticed icons on the planet; but it didn't get there without going through the ringer. Sender's team came up with 15+ concepts in just two short weeks, a number many of us are surprised to hear. Needless to say, the interview which can be found here, provides some brilliant insight on the process, including those fine concepts we like to call rejects. Never forget - it's the development of the rejects that help us find the best creative solution.

A screen grab overview of the video can be found at LogoDesignLove
Video via VSA Partners
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Logos should be timeless

Arguably, the top 10 'timeless logo designs', by logodesignlove

Also, check out the readers top 30 here.

Miles