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droplets
Two or more droplets caught in the act of merging, usually symbolic
of convergence or union: The Cingular logo is a wonderful example.
The effect can also be used to express a technical or scientific
association. Sometimes these shapes are flat, but other designs
have highlights or shadows that give the impression of dimension.
1. design firm: proart graphics/gabriel kalach
client: g2 team sales
2. design firm: grapefruit design client: grapefruit design
3. design firm: planet propaganda client: interactive media
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refinement
Over the past few years, there has been a return to simplicity
in major corporate logos, alá Chermayeff & Geismar, which has
never really strayed from this post. There are many more marks
based in geometries, mixed with the simple twist of visual phrase.
Possible reasons abound: Is this an homage to the 1970s and
the days of classic logo design? A greater reliance on the computer's
natural geometric tendencies? Or is it possible that there are
fewer and fewer designers out there with the hand skills necessary
to craft more illustrative marks?
1. design firm: liska + associates communication
design client: the wexan group, ltd.
2. design firm: chermayeff & geismar inc. client: multicanal
3. design firm: prejean loblue client: 1st intranet bank |
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pop
In the ongoing "Blast from the Past" tour, in which
we trace a complete circle about every 30 years, companies that
cater to the youth market as well as more boutique organizations
have embraced the pop culture language of the late 1960s and
early 1970s. Period letterforms, in particular, have enjoyed
a resurgence in popularity, possibly the result of ready availability
from companies such as House Industries and from less common
sources such as rave flyers.
1. design firm: howalt design studio, inc. client:
work, inc.
2. design firm: adamsmorioka, inc. client: nickelodeon
3. design firm: braue; branding & corporate design client: stylus
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natural spirals
Imagine a few drops of dark paint dropped into a gallon of white
paint, and you stirred them just slightly. Or picture the circle
of light created by a child as he draws circle after circle
against the evening sky. These are the less-contrived vortex
or spiral shapes found in nature, not in a computer program.
There is a mix of chaos and hard geometry in these marks that
suggests order and freedom at the same time.
1. design firm: lieber cooper associates client:
swissôtel-chicago
2. design firm: cato purnell partners client: the federal group
3. design firm: cronan group client: kintana |
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animorphic
Animals continue to be used to help companies quickly develop
equity in their identities by reflecting the particular positive
attributes of an animal back onto the company. Although this
is a tactic used more by small- to mid-sized companies, there
are a few Fortune 500 companies that rely on it, too, such as
Pacific Life's whale or John Deere's deer, recently rehoofed
by Landor Design. Although illustration styles vary widely,
all of these logos rely on implied symbology.
1. design firm: gardner design client: blue hat
media
2. design firm: felix sockwell client: peace
3. design firm: alterpop client: pardox media |
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canted
How can you take an unassuming geometric solution and make it
remarkable? Cant it or wrap it onto a sphere, a task easily
accomplished with a click of the mouse—not only by you,
but by many other designers as well. Thanks to FreeHand and
Illustrator, even very two-dimensional logo solutions can live
in a faux 3-D world.
1. design firm: cato purnell partners client:
sydney super dome
2. design firm: kontrapunkt a/s client: danish national center
for development of competence and quality
3. design firm: grapefruit design client: boston media corporation |
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alpha-face
In an effort to make a company's identity more friendly and
approachable, many a wordmark has been turned into a face or
a little person. Letterforms and their many shapes are turned
into eyes, noses, ears and mouths and applied to a mark, alá
Mr. Potato Head. Although these designs have been with us to
some degree for generations, designers continue to find new
and fresh iterations of the theme.
1. design firm: cronan group client: tivo
2. design firm: willoughby design group client: lee jeans
3. design firm: gardner design client: plazago |
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shadows
Be they hard or gentle, shadows continue to give logos a sense
of place. Sometimes shadows are used beneath a mark to give
it a greater iconic presence: A logo that defies gravity must
have supernatural powers of some sort. Other logos have used
the shadow because, really, they had no baseline and the shadow
tethers them to reality. Illustrator Guy Billout's work has
provided another, more skewed influence: His delightful way
of twisting the natural phenomenon of the shadow into performing
contrary feats has inspired a number of designers to misshape
shadows or set them off on strange trajectories.
1. design firm: jon flaming design client: central
& southwest
2. design firm: evenson design group client: brooks and howard
3. design firm: cronan group client: verio |
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transparency
Let's face it: The old rule that dictated that any really well-designed
logo had to (A) be reproducible in only one color, and (B) that
color had to be solid, not screened, is gone. Sure, there are
still challenges to be faced in playing fast and loose with
these rules when a job must actually go on press, but the internet
is much more forgiving. There are many logos today, like the
MSN butterfly, that have transparent qualities that reveal themselves
through multiple layers. These designs can be very compelling,
especially since they are still novel enough to stand out from
the already crowded world of flat one-, two- and three-color
logos.
1. design firm: mires client: fusion media
2. design firm: cato purnell partners client: neil henson fashion
bytes
3. design firm: landor associates client: altria |
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green
This is a literal and metaphorical trend. The roots for this
can be traced back further, but Landor's greening of BP was
a seminal effort. Although Raymond Loewy was using green and
yellow in the historic BP logo, Landor gave it an environmental
sense of place with the use of the flower/sun. Cargill, ADM,
and Monsanto — all companies that might be likely to take
an environmental hit—are all going green. It's a trend
that is a breath of fresh air in an industry awash with red,
white and blue. Public utilities have also picked up on this
trend. But if it is overplayed, corporate green will soon become
a tired joke to the public.
1. design firm: enterprise ig client: monsanto
company
2. design firm: landor associates client: bp
3. design firm: kiku obata & company client: ameren corporation |
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punctuation
At one time, those punctuation marks at the top of the keyboard
were reserved for expressing profanity. Today, they are all
smileys. There is an entire shorthand language out there,
created by youthful internet users, that is increasingly understood
by the public at large.
The dotcoms almost played out this trend all by themselves:
Every logo had an "@" in it. But as long as there are punctuation
variations to explore, these marks will probably continue
to be pounded out, even for logos that aren't for copywriters.
1. design firm: trickett & webb client: riba
2. design firm: the office of bill chiaravalle client: numbers@work
3. design firm: sackett design client: workplace answers
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labels
These are usually innocent little marks that are often simple
silhouettes of innocuous objects. Inside the object, a name
will be reversed out in a very legible font. These marks are
often associated with hipper entities: The picture says what
they do and the word says who they are. There's not much room
for affectations — just a quick, painless dose of honesty.
1. design firm: thomas vasquez client: new york
city school district
2. design firm: thomas vasquez client: glue brand design
3. design firm: howalt design studio, inc. client: work, inc. |
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photo icons
These can be extremely well-done or extremely over-done. A simple
photo from a CD stuffed with royalty free images is isolated
on a white background, and the name of the company is run beneath
it. The approach is decidedly more elegant when the visual is
supported with a twist of phrase, or when the phrase is supplied
with a somehow unexpected visual.
1. design firm: sanna design group, inc. client:
orange e-graphic
2. design firm: chermayeff & geismar inc. client: turning stone
casino
3. design firm: proart graphics/gabriel kalach client: our special
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slinky
This is an effect that is one generation past the swoop: Instead
of just making the short stroke, these marks loop in orderly
patterns often above the company name. The curvilinear form
is very reminiscent of the fun of a Spirograph, and perhaps
these accurate but flowing forms suggest the feeling of accomplishment
and satisfaction that two plastic gears, four pins and a ballpoint
pen can provide: It's a simple victory.
Then again, the form may simply spring from osmosis, absorbed
from the screensavers we all share our spaces with, especially
iTune's visual space. Their ability to fill space with light
and a fluid image is calculated and fresh.
1. design firm: cato purnell partners client:
energex australia
2. design firm: hornall anderson client: okamoto corporation
3. design firm: enterprise ig client: delta
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wire
Put a pen to paper and craft an image with absolute economy
and elegance of line. Picasso and Calder were creating art
this way long before anyone embraced the form as a means of
illustration or logo design. Felix Sockwell is the master
of the technique today, and others have achieved success with
it as well.
Because of its intensely artistic nature, designers may feel
the saturation of this technique before clients and the public
do. But wire-form logos will probably continue to appear for
at least a few more years unless a behemoth of a company adopts
the style and wrangles the life right out of it.
1. design firm: tim frame client: host marriott
2. design firm: howalt design studio client: herman miller
3. design firm: felix stockwell client: hand eye
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