xBlog: The visual thinking weblog » Logos/Symbols

How to Make Your Client’s Logo Bigger Without Making Their Logo Bigger

Bill — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:11:14 +0000

Here’s a fun ~~designer tip~~ recipe for disaster!

ou present the work with the too-small logo, and the client explains that its size must be increased. Don’t argue. Instead, listen very carefully, nodding, drawing out detail and nuance. Make it clear that this is a matter of importance and complexity, and the client is right to focus on it. Finally, announce, as if it’s just then occurring to you, that there is only one way to get this exactly right, to make sure that the client is absolutely pleased. You will prepare not one, but five options, changing the size of the logo on each one just ever so slightly….

A Good Trademark: A Historical Perspective

Bill — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:33:03 +0000

Alas, no copies of this textile logos book are presently available on Amazon or eBay.

“The significance of trade-marks in the textile industry is, perhaps, greater than in any other industry of equal magnitude,” wrote V. Alexander Scher (no relation to Paula or Jeff) of Richards & Geier, patent and trademark attorneys, New York City. He was writing in a now forgotten book titled Textile Brand Names Dictionary, which was published in 1947, designed “to be of daily service in identifying the names already in use, thereby facilitating the choice and registering of new names and marks,” asserted the editor at the Textile Book Publishers Inc. Included were more than 4,000 names of fibers, yarns, fabrics, and garments registered with the United States Patent Office between 1934 and 1947. 4,000!!! That’s a lot of 7th Avenue brainstorming to devise names like Devogue, Denicron, Glritone, Glossitwist, Ma-Tex, Perma-Fluff, Permacrisp, Perma glaze, Permaglo, Perma-Seal, Permaset, Perma-Shade and Permoflex, to name a few (today they could double as rock band or design firm names).

PICOL | Pictorial Communication Language

Bill — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:55:50 +0000

Quite vintage-looking, but it’s always interesting to see how people work to visualize and simply concepts/things.

PICOL stands for PIctorial COmmunication Language and is a project to find a standard and reduced sign system for electronic communication. PICOL is free to use and open to alter.

(Thanks Philip!)

Gerd Arntz Web Archive: Isotype

Bill — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:07:45 +0000

“The International System Of TYpographic Picture Education was developed by the Viennese social scientist and philosopher Otto Neurath (1882-1945) as a method for visual statistics. Gerd Arntz was the designer tasked with making Isotype’s pictograms and visual signs. Eventually, Arntz designed around 4000 such signs, which symbolized keydata from industry, demographics, politics and economy.”

new iPhone nytimes GUI

Bill — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:15:52 +0000

Felix Sockwell: “Today the iPhone/ nytimes app releases. I’ve drawn GUI before but this one was special. For my news of choice and another chance to work with renowned web wizard Khoi Vinh and designer Caryn Tutino.”

brand tags

Bill — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:02:44 +0000

“The basic idea of this site is that a brand exists entirely in people’s heads. Therefore, whatever it is they say a brand is, is what it is… A collective experiment in brand perception. All tags are generated by people like you and do not reflect the opinions of the site owner or anyone else he knows. Have fun.”

Chermayeff & Geismar Animated

Bill — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:43:25 +0000

“CR Blog is at the Design Indaba in Cape Town and reports on a talk by graphic design legend Ivan Chermayeff. This animation of hundreds of logos that his studio has designed is a real gem. Chock full of famous brands such as Mobil, National Geographic and Chase Manhattan, it’s ten minutes long – if you don’t have the time just watch the quick rewind in the last five seconds (caution – flashing images)…”

50 Years of Symbolic Peace

Bill — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:46:09 +0000

“Pacifists and war protesters all over the world wear peace signs on shoulder bags and jeans jackets. But only few know what the symbol really means, and where it came from.

Exactly fifty years ago British designer Gerald Holtom created what would become the international peace symbol. On February 21, 1958 the Royal College of Art trained artist designed a logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the start of the British peace movement.”

A history of the stick figure

Bill — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:16:14 +0000

A presentation by former XPLANEr Eric Lewallen at Ignite Portland 2. (Thanks Jon!)

The Evolution of Tech Companies Logos

Bill — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:36:22 +0000

“You’ve seen these tech logos everywhere, but have you ever wondered how they came to be? Did you know that Apple’s original logo was Isaac Newton under an apple tree? Or that Nokia’s original logo was a fish?

Let’s take a look at the origin of tech companies’ logos and how they evolved over time…”