Archive for the ‘Design’ Category

Logo design is a deceptively in-depth process requiring research, conceptualizing, mock-ups, revisions, etc. Nothing new to the seasoned design professional. Adaptability is key when creating a logo; it is perhaps the most important characteristic necessary for a solid logo. I recently finished work on a new logo for Dan, The Aquarium Maintenance Man, which I’m going to use to illustrate why adaptability is so important.

Dan likes getting paid; he has to have some way to bill his clients. Naturally, he writes up an invoice for his services. Let’s say Dan’s business starts growing and he wants some nice custom invoices with his logo on it, but he doesn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for them. Multi-color printing costs a lot more than 1 color. Also, invoices need to be fax-able (yes, people still do use fax machines, especially lawyers); color & multi-shade documents don’t fax too well. Take your logo and make it solid black. One color, no shades. Also size it down to fit in a 1.5″ square space.

Dan likes repeat business. He has to have some way for his clients to keep his contact information handy. He orders some calling cards that he can leave with clients and tells them to keep it with their aquarium supplies. Take your logo and put it in a 3.5″ x 2″ space with a 0.25″ margin. (standard business card specs). Make sure to include Dan’s phone number in there too.

Dan has a good customer base now and buys a new van to carry all his cleaning supplies and tools around in. He doesn’t want to look like a creepy van stalker, so he wants his logo on the van. Car decals are done with vinyl. He can get either a graphic printed on a large sheet of vinyl or cutout pieces of single-color vinyl. Single color vinyl happens to be cheaper per square foot and Dan likes saving money. Dan likes new customers too, so also make sure to put his phone number on the van somewhere as well.Take your logo and put it on this van using only flat colors:

Now ask yourself these questions: Does my logo retain the same feel on all of them? Does my logo retain the same visual identity on all of them? Is the logo text big enough on all of them? If my logo went through a fax machine, what would happen to it? What would it look like on a computer monitor? What about a cell phone screen? Can it be used on a web page? If that van drove by, could I read it in 5 seconds or less? How many different fonts am I using? Can I easily read the smallest letters at all possible sizes the logo might be used at? Does the logo contrast well on white? What happens if I put the logo on top of a photo, can I still read it easily? What if I make the logo 1 color only; what’s it look like when it’s just white, just black?

If you can confidently answer “yes” to all these questions, start asking other people as well. Design, especially logos, have to be successfully perceived by a very wide range of viewers, not just you. Design is not just art, it is the conveyance of information. It needs to be understood by “everyone.” Design is the art of explanation.

Le Thermogène by Leonetto Cappiello

The Vintage Poster Bank opened a shop just up the street from my house a few years ago. They have this great corner-angle building (sort of like a mini Flat-Iron Building) on Delta that has long, open window spaces where they display all these awesome old advertising posters. It’s a great place to find inspiration and take a glimpse into the history of design. I became enchanted with the Affichistes, AKA French poster artists, after teaching Graphic Design History for several quarters. One of my lectures focused on A.M. Cassandre with a short introduction about Leonetto Cappiello.

Imagine my surprise when I see an original print of Le Thermogène, Cappiello’s most famous piece, hanging in the window! Thermogène was medical wadding that became heated when the chemicals it was treated with mixed (or perhaps after it was exposed to air, I’m not 100% sure how it worked). It was mainly used to soothe aches, sore muscles, stiff joints, etc. I believe the text translates to “It keeps you warm.” Bold color and vibrant caricatures placed on a black background were trademarks of Cappiello’s style; techniques which he employed to create a lively mood in his work. Cappiello also experimented with legibility, using large block letters to define and separate space. All of these techniques can be seen executed perfectly in Le Thermogène.

Unfortunately, Thermogene is now the name of some miracle diet pill.

What is wrong with this ad?

Never mind the “almost plagiarism” game title. Never mind the clone stamp botch on the right side. Never mind the mis-alignment of “4″ with IPHONE. Look at that text in that big green circle. Look at it. Really? This terrible cash-grab advertisement demonstrates exactly why design proofing is so important.

Why do you proof? Two reasons: production costs and perceived competency. It is economically and ecologically wasteful to produce materials with mistakes. Errors exponentially increase production costs the longer they persist without being caught. Gizmondo recently had an article on how HP ink costs more than crude oil. Granted, the average person purchases gas much more frequently than they do ink for their home printer, but think about it from a corporate standpoint; how much printed material does the average company produce in a year? All of that money spent on business cards, pamphlets, brochures, postcards, etc. A printing company doesn’t want to print materials with mistakes in them; that causes wasted production time, wasted resources, customer backlash and bad PR. A printer will do everything that they can to ensure that the materials they produce are error-free, or at the very least that they are not liable.

Perceived competency is a component of consumer faith. It is the quality level that a consumer rates a company or product based on how well they think it can do what they think it should do. Proofing helps improve and maintain perceived competency. Errors like spelling mistakes, inaccurate pricing, pixellated graphics, style guide discrepancies (or a complete lack of style guide at all!), etc. can all erode at perceived competency. It’s not enough for YOU to know that your company does it’s job well, after all you’re a biased observer. If the consumer does not have faith in your product or service then they’ll head right on over to the competition. Proofing is a matter of due-dilligence.