My Geek Notes

My greatest passion in the design industry is identity design. I hope someday to be able to say that I have designed a logo that reaches the echelons of a NIKE or Target. A lot of that depends on our clients, their product and or service and their commitment to the branding process and the costs associated with it. Several years ago the industry publication @Issue created a spread showing small portions of some of America’s greatest identities. I have posted a few of them to the left. How many are you able to recognize just by seeing a portion of the logo? Most people do fairly well. (I will post the answers to the Identity Quiz a little later, check back soon.) These timeless identities are a tribute to the designers who created the identities and the companies who have built the brands they represent. I have had the chance to develop a fair amount of logos and I would share my thoughts on the company’s acronym for successful identity development - S.U.S.S.A.. Our company has been developing logos for over ten years and this acronym represents the time-tested elements every successful identity should include.

S - simple.
The logos to the left epitomize this key ingredient. New tools in the industry and the ability to have easy access to full color printing processes have created a desire industry wide to push the envelope of identity design which has led to the proliferation of complex, filter enhanced, logos that rely too heavily on detail, color or complexity. A successful identity should communicate well in it’s simplest form: black and white. it should also be scalable meaning it should reproduce well at any size - big or small. I have seen far too many logos of late that could never be reproduced small, let alone screen printed or embroidered. It is the designers responsibility to have some forethought on behalf of their client and not design them into a corner. It is for that reason that we present our inital concepts to the client in black and white so they can see the logo in it’s simplest form and not cast judgement based on color or other embellishments.

U - unique.
How often have you seen a new logo or created one yourself and had someone say, ‘that looks awfully familiar’. As the industry continues to saturate, the hope of creating something completely unique continues to dwindle. with that said, we apply the principle of uniqueness in regards to the design process. A successful identity should have elements that sets it apart from anything else the target audience may have seen or experienced and create a memorable experience for the viewer. There is no greater compliment to an identity than to see complete strangers taking notice of it. The uniqueness of a logo can take many forms; The mark itself, the logotype, an element of interaction or discovery for the viewer, shock and awe or just a clever visual relationship or metaphor.

S - Stand Alone.
I am a pretty strong believer that logos were created because man was never meant to read. Pictographs were the original means of communication. Pictures can say so much more than words. Logos are the purest form of that principle in that we are striving to say the most - with the least. The most successful logos are created in a way that the mark can stand alone as a perfect tool of communication without the need for explanation or additional branding. NIKE of course is the preeminent example. The swoosh has come to represent their brand in such a way that they no longer need any explanation or company title. That is success.

S - Strong.
Strength in a logo can be interpreted in many different ways and it does not always equate back to the physical dimensions or design of the logo. Strength to me means it has the characteristics required of it to stand the test of time for any given client. In school we were taught that a successful logo is one that survives without modification for at least five years. Industry experience has taught me that most clients do not have that much patience. They will be looking for something to tweak as soon as sales begin to stagnate and often times will want to reinvent themselves way too soon. Not enough can be said about equity in an identity. Even the worst designed logo in the world has a certain amount of equity to the consumer if they have seen it consistently over time. A strong logo will stand the test of time and our ability to deliver strong and timeless solutions to our clients will insure their equity is not in jeopardy.

A - Applicable.
We used to use the A to represent ‘Available’ meaning our clients should be looking for company names that were available and also had available URLs associated with them. We are getting to the point that if you have not wrapped up the URL by now you are probably too late so I have been using the A to remind our clients that the logo should not only represent their company and be applicable to the industry. They should have an intimate connection to it. I have found this is best achieved when the client feels connected to the design process and feels that their input is being well received and implemented. When a client has a good experience in the process and is connected and engaged they are much more likely to come out of the process having had a positive experience and wanting to implement and use the identity we have guided them to choose. This only serves to strengthen everything we have mentioned above.

So I decided to buy an Electric Toothbrush last week. I have always wanted one and my dentist even recommended I try one but they have always seemed a bit cost prohibitive. Last week we were at Target and found a two pack of Colgate Motion battery powered toothbrushes for under $7.00, which I thought was a great price considering it comes with batteries installed. We took them home and the first time I tried it it was like nothing I have ever experienced - like someone climbed into my mouth and gave my teeth and gums a massage! I think I reached a new level of clean and actually look forward to brushing my teeth more than ever! Today I found an online article at Science Daily that suggests that electric toothbrushes may be better at fighting plaque and gum disease. Who knows if it’s true but if it gets me to brush more than that alone is a success!

On more of a design industry note - I stumbled onto the graffiti art of Banksy recently and have enjoyed learning about someone who has turned his graffiti into a highly priced commodity. His art on the side of a home in Bristol is going to auction and is set to fetch so much that the owners of the house are basically throwing the home into the deal. Another story on his website relates the story of two men who were actually arrested for vandalizing a Banksy original on the side of the local pub. Arrested for vandalizing vandalism! The men were prosecuted to the fullest extent for their behavior while Banksy continues to cash in on his cult status.

As a kid I used to drive my parents crazy with the “What If” game;

What if there was no gravity?
What if peanut butter were purple?
What if Darth Vader became President?

In this months MacWorld Magazine they reveal through a leaked memo that Microsoft threatened to dump the Mac version of Office back in 1997. While a wise VP in development convinced Bill Gates to not abandon the Mac version of Office, the article made me contemplate the often complicated relationship between the two giants of the industry and ask myself “What if Microsoft had abandoned the Mac version of Office?”

1997 was prior to Apple’s renaissance that has brought them back to the forefront of the computer industry. Apple’s primary channels at the time were the Education and Design Industries. While Word is not a flagship application to those of us in the Graphics Industry, In 1997 Apple’s competitive application Works, was far inferior to Office and Office’s compatibility was virtually everything to their share of the education industry. The loss of Office could have proven a death blow to Apple. So What if Microsoft had killed Office in 1997? I had to ask myself would we still have seen the introduction of such revolutionary products such as the iMac, the iPod or the highly anticipated iPhone. So fellow Mac geeks, next time you have a chance to open up a Word document, remember how lucky we are to have Word on our Macs - and be grateful your toting an iPod - and not a Zune.