The fact is, as every logo is supposed to be unique and memorable, so too are the rules that guide their creation. The goal here is a general set of foundational axioms that, depending on a given project, should be applied with various weight. In other words, the importance of each of these rules is specific to each unique logo. A logo that is heavily dependent on text, for example, might find that the most important rule is one related to letter space and kerning. A logo that is more iconic may very well find its foundational aspects to be more color or line-weight specific.

When designing logos the important thing to always remember is simple: A truly unique mark requires a unique approach.

here are the laws of logo and brand identity as I have so far refined them:

1. THERE SHOULD BE A REASON FOR EVERYTHING. – The line widths and thicknesses, the colors, the font styles the shapes, the spacing the overall ’shape of occupied space’, the negative space – all of this needs to have a reason.

2. EVERY ELEMENT EXISTS IN RELATION TO EVERY OTHER. THEY NEED TO BE CREATED WITHIN CONTEXT. - we have to think beyond the context of the logo itself here – we  have to co0nsider its current and future usage, its various potential applications, etc., etc..

3. CREATE A SET OF RULES THAT GUIDE THE GENERATION OF EVERY LOGO. FOLLOW THEM PRECISELY. - As each logo is unique, each requires a specific approach. Create guidelines that will help you get to your final destination in a strategic, organized manner.

4. IF THE RULES COMPROMISE THE EFFECTIVENESS OR READABILITY OF THE LOGO, CHANGE THE RULES. - Sometimes, as we go through the process of development, new question and/or concerns arise. DO NOT IGNORE THESE! Embrace them, and alter your design strategy accordingly.

5. EMBRACE THE CLIENT’S PERSPECTIVE AS ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO THE FINAL DESIGN – NOT AS A ROADBLOCK TO YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS – this one is often the most difficult to embrace. However, if you do in fact have a strategy and a reason for all aspects of what you are doing, you can easily and effectively justify the choices you are making. In doing so you educate the client in the process, the result of which is at least better rapport with a better educated client. The more important results of this is a better educated client – a client that will make informed decisions rather then emotional subjective ones.

6. THE RESULT SHOULD BE A FINISHED PRODUCT. - What I mean by this is, the final logo should address all the questions and concerns of the client, the designer and the marketplace. As this blog has readily suggested, there are a lot of good ideas and good directions that are not taken through the important steps of refinement and finalization. The unfortunate result of this is potentially less impact on a exponential scale. If the final details are left incomplete, then you have not finished your job and have done a disservice to both your own integrity and your client.

Ready for another rebuild? Lets do it! This one has been a thorn in my side for sometime. Lets look at the original logo I was given:

Okay.. so firstly, let me explain how this all begins. So, in actuality, I am a Biochemist. I studied at UCSD and earned my B.S. in Biochemistry there. Shortly thereafter, I went to work as a Marine Biochemist at Scripps Institute of Oceanography. I designed and built sea-going isotope filtration laboratories, worked in the lab on a variety of things including algae incubators and the such… good times, but not my true calling.

This logo for the Pacific Blue Foundation (PBF) is for my old boss, Greg Mitchell. The PBF logo you see above was designed by someone else; I was originally hired to make it better. On a small budget and even smaller timeframe, we ended up here:

I am not proud of this logo. I do not love it and do not think it is very appropriate for the client and their mission in the South Pacific, specifically in Fiji. That being said, it was a step above the original but the problems are numerous:

1. Fiji and the culture they are trying to preserve, is one of hand-crafted expertise. Traditional boats are hand carved. Masks are hand carved. everything is organic in nature. This logo is none of that.
2. This boat – is NOT a boat that looks much like anything specific to Fiji.
3. Black… what is black doing in something that is supposed to be organic?
4. line quality – looks pretty clean to me, this says nothing about ‘hand-made’ at all.
5. This non-profit is committed to creating a sustainable balance between the people and the environment. The environment is represented, but what about the people?

So those are the tip of the iceberg. PBF used this logo for the last 6 months or so… I am not happy with that.

SO, when PBF came to me to redesign I was more then happy to ablige!

Then, I was told once again, that another artist has some concepts… now I don’t mind working with other artists and designers, but I once again heard alarms going off – the first logo was the product of fixing an existing concept, now I had to do this again?

God help me.

Here is a sample of the concepts I was given:

Well… these are pretty rough. Thank God for that! Given that fact, I felt comfortable grabbing a few of the design ideas presented here and running with them.

At least we have a baseline to go with. The reality though, is this a traditional Fijian boat and it is supposed to be moving through the ocean. Where is the captain?

Not only do we need someone to steer the boat, but Pacific Blue Foundation’s tag line is “Sustaining Reef Communities” which, again points to people.

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The first step in this redesign is to draw the boat. In the image below, you see on the left the vector version of the boat; on the right, is the same vector graphic with a brush applied to the outline. The goal here is to emulate the hand-crafted nature of traditional Fijian products made by the communities that PBF is working to help.

So, Now that we have that handled, we need to consider the context in which this organization operates, their goals, their audience, all that great stuff. Their tagline sort of says it all: “Sustaining Reef Communities” – as an island nation, the livelihood of the traditional culture revolves around the ocean – the ocean is the source of their successes and conserving it is the key here. Being a tropical paradise also lends itself to the notion of  ’sun and surf’. We need the logo to appeal to those who will potentially be donating to the cause, those who have this idealistic vision of the South Pacific and want to see it conserved.

The resulting icon, then, does the job well:

Here, we have effectively carried across the hallmarks of the Fijian Culture, the outside perception of the South Pacific, the hand-crafted look and feel, the sun, the ocean, the fight – that is the analogy of the solo man vs. the sea… we have done it all. AND – we have created something that not only feels appropriate to those benefiting from PBF’s services, but also appropriate to those donors interested in supporting the cause.

Also of great importance is the fact that this iconic element of the logo is memorable and unique – always important to a brand.

Now for the letter type. Rather then overwhelm you with another 5 pages of details on how this came about, lets just summarize. We know the rules, you can find them in this post here: the rules governing the perfect logo.

So, we apply all of those, bring in the colors, the textures, address the kerning and spacing issues, get it all together. Here is the result:

Sweet. Now, lets see this logo put to use. Again- EXTEND THE BRAND. This means that the collateral the website – everything - will be directed by the specific qualities of the logo. spacing, colors, line thickness and quality… EVERYTHING!

Here is some of the initial collateral:

And the website, which is still under construction:

http://pacificbluefoundation.org/

Once again, given their business, this logo has many appropriate characteristics… and many issues.

THE GOOD:

• Metallic look and feel, similar to, you guessed it, ARMOR.

• Powerful typeface, thick and solid which again lends itself to the service they provide

• Some potentially interesting letters – the “R” in particular has ‘unique’ written all over it

THE BAD:

• Lack of consistency in the letter bar thicknesses

• Curved letter elements are all over the place – no consistency

• KERNING…that is the spacing between letters.. it is terrible. Something tells me we have an ‘out-of-the-box’ font posing as a logo.

• Their business is in the material world. specifically cars. Cars exist in 3 dimensions, the logo needs some depth.

SO… lets fix this.

The image above highlights the big issues.

#1 is the weird spacing between the letter “R” and the other letters. The “R” is cool, but not integrated. we need to fix that.

#2 is the center of the letter “A”. The basline and the cross bar do not conform to any of the other letters…there are no rules guiding this logo.

#3 is the letter “G”. whoa…seriously? That letter is just a total disaster.

#4 is the spacing issues between the horizontal bars of the letter “E”. they are not consistent between the top and bottom.

#5 is the most apparent kerning problem, but this problem persists throughout the logo.

SO… lets revisit the rules of logo design:

1. THERE SHOULD BE A REASON FOR EVERYTHING.

2. EVERY ELEMENT EXISTS IN RELATION TO EVERY OTHER. THEY NEED TO BE CREATED WITHIN CONTEXT.

3. CREATE A SET OF RULES THAT GUIDE THE GENERATION OF EVERY LOGO. FOLLOW THEM PRECISELY.

4. IF THE RULES COMPROMISE THE EFFECTIVENESS OR READABILITY OF THE LOGO, CHANGE THE RULES.

So I created a bunch of rules for this logo. They have to do with spacing, bar sizes, Leading Letter sizes, etc., etc…

If you are interested in what those rules are, I challenge you to develop the rules I followed based on the resulting logo.

So… lets normalize the letter bars and spacing, the curves, the size of the leading letters, etc.

So,, here we normalized the bars, lead lettering and angles… now for the curves:

Using the “R” as an example, this is how I normalize curves. Find a base letter then rotate it as needed to accommodate all curved letters in the logo. Now, one of the big questions is how the letters will relate to one another. Here is an example of the possibilities. It is important, when dealing with a logo that is the name of a company itself, to try all sort of potential relationships. The aim and goal of the process is consistency and fluidity throughout the logo.

So once you have some options, you put the whole logo together accordingly. The answers, the ideal look and feel – they pretty much present themselves through this process. So here is the finished wireframe of the logo:

Notice the consistent spacing, the various applications to the “R” to make it work in different situations… the FLOW.

Now, to color it and add some sense of depth…BAM!

SO… before and after:

WOW. what a difference…Now, this is not DONE, we’ve discussed icons th go with this, SUVS, target icons, etc…but I’m still waiting to get paid on it, so that is all for now!

Visit me http:www.coggancreative.com

Since the design of a effective, brand-extending website is intimately related to the brand identity, this was a deal breaker.  Here is the original logo:

Without being too harsh, this logo has some serious issues. The 1999 ‘Santa Fe Curious Shop’ look, the unfortunate choice of a font – Copperplate – The less then appealing color pallet. Granted, it was a ‘favor’ and didn’t cost anything, but those are not the kind of favors that help people, especially those dreaming of creating the new and most advanced portal of its kind in the given market.

So, convincing the client of the need for a new brand identity was not that difficult. Here are the rules that guide my logo design:

1. THERE SHOULD BE A REASON FOR EVERYTHING.

2. EVERY ELEMENT EXISTS IN RELATION TO EVERY OTHER. THEY NEED TO BE CREATED WITHIN CONTEXT.

3. CREATE A SET OF RULES THAT GUIDE THE GENERATION OF EVERY LOGO. FOLLOW THEM PRECISELY.

4. IF THE RULES COMPROMISE THE EFFECTIVENESS OR READABILITY OF THE LOGO, CHANGE THE RULES.

Now, just to clarify, when we talk about elements, when we refer to rules – we are not just talking about visual relationships. Rules extend directly and quite literally into the market specific to the client in question. Their goals, their values, their target markets – all of these aspects are ‘elements’ and help to guide the rules and keep everything within context.

So, let’s begin with the font. We are talking about a web 2.0 portal site here being the main avenue through which the client will communicate with a wide variety of their customer base – breeders, kennels, competitive dog owners and dog enthusiasts.

After looking at the web presence of these various groups, I can most accurately say that they spend a lot more time with their dogs then they do designing websites. Even the biggest and most well respected breeders are about 10 years behind design-wise. This is great news, because it means that we can easily set the standard for this genre of websites in the future. We can, undoubtedly, create the most stunning website the world of dog owners has ever seen! So, we need to start with a logo and the logo needs to begin with a font choice.

After sending some portfolio samples to the client, it became pretty clear what styles appealed to them. In addition, I always ask for 3-5 words that described the values of the company. I try to express these values through the logos I create.

First, I start with a base font. In this case, that font was Avant Garde Book BT. A good starting point for the modern upscale look we are going for:

2. From there we apply some visual rules. The three key letters here that would form an Acronym “M”,”S”, and “D” do not occupy the same horizontal space. In addition the other letters are all over the place as well: the “o” and the “G” are the same width and height, but the “H” and the “Y” are different from one another as well as the “OG”.

TOO MUCH VARIATION OR NOT ENOUGH – this can throw off the balance of a logo.

And, lets add one more rule:

AXIOM #5: A FONT IS NOT A LOGO.

You have to commit to that if you ever hope to design compelling original marks.

Okay, So lets set some visual rules:

1. First word letters, the primary ones, will be normalized to occupy the same vertical and horizontal space.

2. Secondary letters with rounded tops and bottoms will occupy the same vertical  and horizontal space.

3. Secondary letters not conforming to rule two will occupy the same vertical  and horizontal space as one another.

So, in the first rendition of this logo I took the rule of the curved letters and applied it to the “S”, in the most literal way possible… and it is not that great…take a look:

Okay..we followed the rules, but again we cannot take this out of context. The “S’ looks too techie for this application…we are dealing with serious dog owners here, not people who have a dog character in some online gaming world. So lets try this again. Now we are in dangerous territory, because we are hand drawing letters to match an existing font. And curved letters, no less!

well, the “S” in not perfect yet, but we are definitely on the right track. Now, this is a DOG WEBSITE. Let’s use that to our advantage. lets also create some saturation variation.

Okay, the client is feeling this, I’m feeling this. this is the right direction. But this site is about SHOW DOGS. The ribbon idea, expressed in the original logo – that’s important. We need to bring that back some how.

So now, it’’s time to draw a prize ribbon. I’m not going to bore you with that whole process, but basically you find some samples on line, maybe even some free vector graphics, and you manipulate them to your needs. Since we need to create an icon of a ribbon and we are working with a pretty skinny, elegant letter type, we need to make sure that the line quality of the ribbon is in tune with that. Remember, everything must be taken within context.

So, here is the first rendition of the ribbon:

This is based on a prize ribbon from a dog show, so you can’t get better then that. Problem: we now have a ribbon and a dog icon… having two icons in one logo is distracting to me. There may be an application for it, but I haven’t found one yet, so we are going to bring them together.

In addition, the client is about to launch the beta version of there site, so whatever the final colors of the logo are, the initial colors need to be in tune with that beta site which, in this case, is orange.

Okay then… lets get these elements together and see where we are at:

So now, we are getting there! In this case, because of the qualities of the ribbon, we can replace an “O” with the ribbon for total integration. Nice. However… there is a tag line to consider and which “O” will be replaced by ribbon? the first “O”, replaced in the above graphic is near the center, but not centered… remember: TOO MUCH VARIATION OR NOT ENOUGH VARIATION… in this case, not enough. In addition, the word dog having a dog in it is, well, just meant to be. And we have that tag line to deal with. SO:

That’s nice! The “S’ needs a little work, but we are close… After conferring with the client, I came to find out that: The most prestigious award in the dog world is Red White and Blue and, maybe of greater importance, Dogs are assessed from their left side by the judges, meaning the dog is facing the wrong direction! Important information.

And now, we have arrived at the final logo! A few minor kerning adjustments in the tagline font, and we will be DONE.

And wait til you see how this plays out in the site design! Once the site goes live, I will show you this, applied, and how extending the brand exponentially increases the value of the mark.

Need a logo? Need advice on one you are creating? Visit me at: http://www.coggancreative.com

Okay, so here is the first addendum to this post. This is the logo off of their website, which I assume is the most recent version. There are still some major issues that need to be addressed. One of the blaring problems is the spacing. with less then a one pixel space between letter elements, even at this size, the logo begins to fall apart.

Basically, when designing a logo yo must consider the resizing of that logo… this is an example of not considering that important aspect of logo design. In addition, the “Electric” part of this logo… WTF? It is nonsensical.

Here we go! So lets blow up that jpg… the areas I circled are the areas that need to be addressed in this logo. First, we define the issues or aspects worthy of reevaluation. Once that is done, we work on resolving them!

1. Inconsistent corners/spacing… Look at the bottom of the “N”, look at the top of the “L”. Hard lines, hard corners. Yet the top right corner of the “N” and the top bar of the “E” are pixellated, meaning they are a bit rounded. this is not consistent with the rest of the lettering.

2. the bars of the “E”… Each cross bar is a different size, as is the spacing in between them. These little inconsistencies really compromise the effectiveness of this logo.

3. further considerations regarding the way the “E” Relates to the “A”… The middle bar approaches the “A” at an angle and, although its length is that of the top bar, as it dives into the “A”, it appears to be longer because of the shape. The top bar stops abruptly, creating an inconsistent black triangular-shaped negative space.

4. BAR SIZES… Why is the leading bar of the “N”, the visual anchor when one reads left to right, thinner then the rest of the vertical standing bars?

5. “Electric” Font… Far beyond a normal Italic, the slant of this letter was chosen in an attempt to match that of the left slant of the “A”. The reasoning is valid; the result is not. Sometimes what seems ideal is in actuality a misstep. The way the word “electric” works with the leading “N” compromises the visual foundation of the logo, not to mention the readability issues of the chosen font.

6. “Electric” Font Height… One of the most striking visual features of this logo is the diving right bar of the “A”. The electric font should reinforce this aspect of the logo, not distract from it by extending beyond it vertically.

7. More spacing issues… The spacing is not only inconsistent, but too small for a logo that will be used in many different applications. the width of the lettering, the power of strong letter elements is lost in a haze as the small spacing between each blurs together.

8.The horizontal bar of the “L”… this is a good idea… but the outcome is not. The problem is not in the slant, but in the bar thickness. the bars forming the foundation of a logo with such thick positive space need to be able to support what is above; I would reconsider the thickness of bottom bars to really reinforce the visual effectiveness of the logo.

Now that the issues with this logo are clear, lets start with the biggest elements and work our way to the details.

WE start by considering the horizontal space each letter occupies. There is NO CONSISTENCY here at all. Granted, with the “A” overlapping aspects of the “E” and “L”,  there will be some variation, but the variation should be predictable and consistent. I tried to illustrate below how out of whack it really is:

the “N’ is about 25% longer then the “E”, 5% shorter then the “A” (at the baseline), and 15%  longer then the “L”. The question is: WHY?

AXIOM #1: THERE SHOULD BE A REASON FOR EVERYTHING.

*FYI: These are MY Axioms; they need no proof from my perspective, they are simply true. If you feel otherwise, state your arguments, I’d love to hear them.

Now, lets take a look at the vertical and slanted bars of the logo:

You can see immediately that the vertical bars for each letter are not consistent. In addition, the crossbar of the “N” and the bars making the “A” are at different angles entirely. WHY?

AXIOM #2: EVERY ELEMENT EXISTS IN RELATION TO EVERY OTHER. THEY NEED TO BE CREATED WITHIN CONTEXT.

Now, lets take a look at the vertical bars of the logo.

Although it is hard to see, using the top bar of the “E” as the test case, both the middle bar of the “E” and the bottom bar of the “A” are not consistent. In addition, consistency in negative space must also exist and in the case of the “A” we are a little off. And of course, the “E” is all Jacked up.

The reality is, depending on the logo, there may be variation in the width of both vertical and horizontal bars, there may be variations in spacing, there can easily be variations in corners and straight & curved aspects as well… but in addition to axiom’s 1 & 2…

AXIOM #3: CREATE A SET OF RULES THAT GUIDE THE GENERATION OF EVERY LOGO. FOLLOW THEM PRECISELY.

Now, lets consider the second part of the logo. In a logo such as this, that has no discerning icon or graphic that denotes through imagery what the company actually does, the word (in this case, “Electric”) is of great importance. Sometimes the name says it all, sometimes instead of denoting an industry, we have a tag line, but really, if something is an integral part of the logo, it needs to be addressed as such, not as an afterthought.

Take a look:

So, this part of the logo is problematic. Although the designer attempted to be consistent, in skewing this word as to match the slant of the left side of the “A”, in doing so the integrity of this word and logo has been compromised. It is difficult to read. It does not reinforce the strong foundation of the baseline. It does not reinforce the left edge of the “N” AND, it creates a distraction point as it meets the right bar of the “A”.

Consequently, the most notable part of the logo, that being the “A” , is marginalized.

This marginalization really goes nuclear  when one considers the letter height of the word “Electric”. Here we’ve got this amazing differentiator in the right side of the “A”, breaking the baseline, creating a unique and memorable mark, and its length, as well as its relationship to the word “Electric”, is completely ignored. This of course references the third axiom, every element of the logo must exist within context. In addition…

AXIOM #4: IF THE RULES COMPROMISE THE EFFECTIVENESS OR READABILITY OF THE LOGO, CHANGE THE RULES.

In other words, don’t compromise them. Reinvent them to address all of the issues effectively.

OKAY THEN… we have investigated the problems, revealing the axioms that guide my logo design process along the way. Now we need a systematic way to address them; a process that we can effectively apply in a streamlined and time-effective manner.

THE REBUILD

So, in order to rebuild this logo properly, we need to create a set of RULES that guide us. This involves addressing spacing issues, element widths and lengths, letter space, angle consistency, additional fonts, etc. I never actually document these rules, as they are a function of the design process; in other words, the rules evolve as the logo is built.

Depending on the logo, you may have various widths, heights and angles associated with various elements of each letter, but the goal is ‘visual consistency’ – in achieving such consistency, the logo flows, the elements, each which can stand on its own, come together creating an exponentially fluid and memorable mark.

Lets start by addressing the letter elements – sizes, angles & spacing. First lets take a look at what we have.

Here, in blue, we see the variation in the bar size in blue. I’m thinking that the bar size will be the average of the two vertical bars of the “N”. Circled in Pink are the areas where angled bars meet. We need to determine how they meet – do the form a consistent horizontal length? how will that length translate to other letters in the logo?

In addressing the horizontal bars of this logo, we need to consider the spacing between them, specifically in the “E” and if that spacing will serve as the rule for all letter spacing within the logo. I’m thinking “YES!” In the image below, the green represents consistent bar sizes for vertical and horizontal bars. In some cases, the baseline bars might be a different height then those above, but I think in this case we can go with all one size. The angled bars are also the same width of the vertical ones… next we actually form each letter.

Since the “A” is the dominant feature of this logo, it will be used to determine the width of the angled/vertical connectors in the “N”. In the image below, we spread out the down bars of the “A” so they correspond to the vertical spacing of the horizontal bars of the “E”…. Consistency…. Although the “A” will now be wider at the baseline, we will adjust the other letters accordingly.

As illustrated above, the width of the “A” where it meets at the top will now be exactly the same width as the top bar of the “E”. Perfect! The top of the “A” is now quite wide. Depending on how it effects the “N”, we made need to change this rule, or change the angle at which the bars lay. There exists the perfect compromise. So we need to find it.

Getting confusing? Agreed. Now, let’s not forget… this is a logo REDESIGN. Meaning, the rules you follow also need to take in to consideration an important fact:

This logo is in use. Right now. On EVERYTHING. So, we are not rebranding this company; that would cost a fortune… we are instead making minor alterations that have huge visual consequences… The goal is a relatively seamless migration to their updated mark.

The huge visual consequences I refer too are not that major to the untrained eye; in fact, if you surveyed a group of people, some of them might not even see a discernible difference, depending on the logo in question. That being said though, the outcome of the rebuild with have huge psychological impact. The most minute details can change people’s initial reaction – reinforce trust, create an instant sense of rapport, draw the potential consumer or client in.

This is important stuff.

OKAY. It has become clear to me that explaining every step of this process will result in a book. So, lets just move to the results and wrap this up. the important thing to remember is the process driving this whole gig:

#1: THERE SHOULD BE A REASON FOR EVERYTHING.

#2: EVERY ELEMENT EXISTS IN RELATION TO EVERY OTHER. THEY NEED TO BE CREATED WITHIN CONTEXT.

#3: CREATE A SET OF RULES THAT GUIDE THE GENERATION OF EVERY LOGO. FOLLOW THEM PRECISELY.

#4: IF THE RULES COMPROMISE THE EFFECTIVENESS OR READABILITY OF THE LOGO, CHANGE THE RULES.

So, here are some possible treatments for the logo.

#5 is the closest to the original, but with the inconsistent spacing will be compromised at smaller sizes. Remember, this is an electrical contractor; All things electric are standardized and, at least from a consumers perspective, must be perfect. #2 is also very similar to the original, but the consistent spacing creates a big negative space between the “A” and the “L” and the interesting relationship between them is not longer so integrated.

Personally, I’m really feeling #9. It just feels solid, complete, and balanced. At a point like this in redesigning a logo, I would typically narrow it down to three options and then figure it out with the client. For the sake of my time, I’m going with #9.

Now, to add the word electric. Well, Ideally, I would probably pick a more squared-off font, but for the purposes of this study, this works for me. It’s not perfect, but it is well on its way. We created a protocol, we followed it. That was the real goal of this whole process.

I’m pretty happy with this. What’s your take? Maybe the “E” should be a bit bigger… still needs work! But you get the idea.

Here it is with a longer “E”…eh. Obviously, we have not arrived at a final destination, but the process has been documented and that ultimately the goal.

HTTP://WWW.COGGANCREATIVE.COM

It is a very rare occasion that a font can be used, straight out of the box, for a logo. I prefer to use fonts as a foundation on which a logo is built.

The logo presented here for a different client of mine, Drive Fitness Design is an example of just that. The client loved his logo until I made him aware of the blaring inconsistencies that compromised its presence. So, I documented a bit of the process involved in taking something mediocre and bringing it to perfection.

Here is that documentation!

1. Here is the logo we started with. Notice the letter width and curve inconsistencies, the kerning in the sub heading, the mismatched service mark font. This logo needed work. Bad.

2. The first step in the process for me to to develop consistency. Consistent angles, curves, bar heights and widths… every element of every letter in a logo like this needs to be totally consistent.

3. Here is a closer look at that process. all curves, all elements must be normalized for effectiveness. Every logo, every time.

4. Once that is done for a single letter, extend that theme, those rules accross all of the lettering.

5. then, we start building the new logo. Start with black or grey, then begin adding style elements – colors, outlines shadows, etc., etc…

6. Done. the evolution is complete. Although there was some little additional tweeking, this is a clear illustration of how important the littlest details can change the impact of a logo drastically. How was the logo implemented into collateral? Here are a few samples:

Another, interior page:

And, how did it play out on the web? Well, the current site is NOT the website, but a flash presentation of DFD services. You can check it out here: Drive Fitness Design

The Moral of this study: Even if a client is married to their logo (and you don’t love it) there is always the potential to make it BETTER!

HTTP://WWW.COGGANCREATIVE.COM

Okay, lets get to work!

Here is an example of a simple Holiday invite from inception to completion. How hard can an invite be, right? Let’s just say, its all in the details…

1. The beginning: Xmas Balls, Branches, Snowflakes… you have to start somewhere.

2. Colors… what about blue? less religious? more universal?

3. We need a bird. A holiday bird. lets try a cardinal!

4. Not a real bird, a stylized bird. lets try some more mid-century color tones as well. let’s cluster the balls to look more like berries.

5. How about a little more muted? Well… if you insist…

6. That didn’t work. Lets minimize the number of balls, move the bird, try a new font.

7. Our logo? lets go with B&W.. the blue throws everything off.

8. Wait. New title. New font. Let’s change the ball spacing a little and integrate the logo into the design! Also, lets move more of the info to the back.

9. 5×7 is too big. lets go 4×6, its more intimate.

10. Okay, so the ration is now 4:6… we need to shrink the text, looks crowded.

11. Close. we still need to match the CMYK colors to the pantones of the envelope…

12. DONE. ready to print. Lots of steps, but the result is EXACTLY WHAT THE CLIENT WANTED.

Moral of this design process: When working with a new client, always make sure your estimate accounts for the potential of many revisions. Until you know how a client thinks and how well you work together, you cannot assume that a simple invite is going to be that simple.

The result?

Best Case: The final cost is LESS then you estimated because the details are not that important to that particular client.

Worst Case: Is really not that bad at all. You actually got to put more time and thought into the design without going over budget. Everybody is happy and the design work is that much more refined.

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Ultimately, the point is, there exist variables that we need to deal with. How we approach these variables is the question. Do we look on them as compromises to our artistic integrity or challenges that can actually lead to better results? Are we discouraged by these variables or do we embrace them?

Anyhow, enjoy the video!

ICL New York State of Mind

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Wandaaa took the photoshop interface to a new level. Creating a real life look and feel to Photoshop is relevant to the Design Gods blog because it brings up the question of tools – traditional vs. Digital. When photoshop is rendered in such a ‘real world’ way, I feel it inspires important questions regarding our practice. The divisions between Traditional vs. Digital practice are blurred when one visualizes photoshop as Wandaaa has.

Are they really that different after all?

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The goal of the Design Gods Blog is build on some fundamental realizations that my many years of designing, illustrating and creating have brought forth as my own personal truths.

I hope to find that these truths have universal appeal to other professionals in the creative field and that the meaning and value of these truths can be better defined and focused. Ultimately, I hope to generate a designer’s manifesto – that is, a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, that will serve as a guide to designers and creative professionals across the board.

The foundational aspect of this design philosophy is pretty straight forward:

We, as designers, are the Gods of our creations.

The implications of such a statement are far reaching and complex. Firstly, such a statement sounds pretty egocentric to those who, on a daily basis, are not creating things. One must first accept the postulation that, for example, a logo designed today did not exist yesterday. It is new to this world, to our reality, the brainchild of it’s creator.

What does this mean? There is no simple answer to this. We can talk about the effort, the energy, the commitment and passion, the work, etc., etc., that went into it’s creation. We can talk about the variables that needed to be considered – the client, the marketplace, the demographic it needs to appeal to, the inherent values it needs to express. And what about the tools we used to create it? And what about the financial limitations associated with any given project and how these limitations interact with our artistic integrity?

I hope, through this blog, to fuel a meaningful conversation on all of these topics. That will happen in good time. For now, let’s just consider what being a God of our creations entails. Let’s investigate the commitment and responsibility it implies and how it guides us through the act of creating.

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