Logo design and design thinking is always evolving. Sometimes a look back can be useful, either to inspire something new or in some cases remind one what not to do.
A Feb. 2009 article in Ad Age “Kraft Latest Marketer to Cheer Up Its Logo” (sorry if you don’t have Ad Age subscription, it is locked up behind their wall now) about how so many brands are refreshing their logos to be “happier” got me thinking about the constant evolution of logo design and design thinking. For your viewing pleasure, consideration and retro-y inspiration:
A collection of vintage logos from a mid-70’s…
For all those media doom and gloom reports about the economy and all of the woes you may be experiencing right now, there is still plenty to be done. Remember, readers, we are the keepers of our destiny and have the power to make it happen.
Peep these tips for all you creative folk out there.
———
Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
Chicago – Dallas – Los Angeles – San Francisco – New York City – Seattle: These placement gurus have got some good work and clients brewing. Go get you some work and you are free to send all commission checks to me via Paypal 
Seriously, lots of great work and opportunity for freelance. Let me know how it goes!
———
Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/
Some people spend their entire lives trying to find Jesus. Well, ladies and gentleman, the man, the legend, the God(’s son) may have finally arrived. For his second go-around as savior standing two-inches tall, missing his right arm, sporting a poor fake tan, and cheesier than your uncle’s jokes, I present to you the life of the party Mr. water-to-wine himself…”Cheesus;” the name given to a Cheetos chip that is said to resemble Jesus in a robe praying by a couple in Dallas, Texas.
Apparently, those people looking for Jesus just weren’t searching in the right places because he was in…
There is no love lost between most designers and the new Pepsi logo. If you Google “the new Pepsi logo” you will be bombarded with designers and everyday people’s negative opinions about the new look, and, personally, I like to think a million dollars buys something a little nicer. That said, I love the new Sierra Mist logo and packaging because it just plain makes sense (in addition to being absolutely lovely).
I’m more puzzled at the timing of their release of the Throwback Pepsi and Throwback Mountain Dew. Why release a throwback immediately after the release of a redesign? It…
I have a friend who doesn’t eat anything he hasn’t had before without a huge amount of coaxing. He decides he doesn’t like things even before he’s tasted them. There are literally thousands of amazing foody experiences he’s going to miss out on because of this. It boggles my brain how he can be so phobic of food – all he needs to do it pop it in his mouth, give it a whirl, and low and behold he’d probably like it. Maybe even love it.
The same thing happens in advertising. Clients are the main culprits of this extremely frustrating trait.…
In the past few days I was able to get some time off from my ever-so-enthralling retail job to head north by about five hours and visit a college friend in the beautiful town of Der Kommissar. While the origin of this trip was indeed to visit my old college roommate Blondie, it also had the added advantage of being close to a university that provided a master’s program I was sincerely interested in attending.
Making an adventure out of my interest, Blondie and I made our way to the nearby city of Taco, at the Dead or Alive School of Spinning…
A while back, when I was still a college student, I had the amazing opportunity to partake in an independent study with a leading advertising firm. There, I experimented (like you do in college) and was given Nabisco as a faux client to help develop my portfolio. Now, I’m not meaning to toot my own horn over this, but I feel I did a pretty bang up job on these billboard ads.
The concept was simple: “Nabisco Cookies are a treat, a reward that parents give to their children for being themselves, for being kids.
All was right with the world until…
Ever wonder, “what does it really take to develop great ideas?” I mean the big ones. The juicy, sloppy, wet ones that drench the culture and live soaked in society for decades. Well, there is a great Cannes Selection film, “Art & Copy,” that does just that. Or, shall I say instead of wondering, the filmmakers decided to Just Do It!
Check out a screening in your area: http://www.artandcopyfilm.com/screenings/
While in Atlanta, I’m gonna go to the screening on Wednesday, April 22nd as part of the Atlanta Film Festival. Tune in Thursday for my review–like you care what I think–but I’ll let you…
Ok. Gonna tell you a little secret….
I know we can get caught in our rut of, “how much bigger do I have to make this logo,” “must EVERYTHING have to be sketched, comped, and spelled out to buy off on just the concept?,” or “do I have to work with the brand marketing all-star team from the 60’s?”
But on my way to meetings yesterday, I got a quick reminder of how lucky we are. I was riding on the interstate and saw a car on the freeway hit the guard rail only to be thrown into oncoming traffic. This reminded…
Recently I lost someone in my family whom I loved and was very fond of. At a time like this, it makes you think about what that person will be remembered for. Invariably you also think about what kind of legacy you’ll leave behind. When Paul Newman passed away last fall, he more than anyone defined how to both live life and leave a legacy behind that so many people will benefit from.
Arguably one of the greatest American actors of the past 50 years. From the early 1950s to this decade, Paul Newman repeatedly set the bar high for acting…
Ahh, now I know where awards are and the money to pay for entering can be found.
To those of you who dream of seeing your name grace the gold pencil, running in meadows with gold lions, or at least getting in the table of contents of design award annuals: get ready to pay up. I have been amazed at the fees participants must pay for entering design shows. Ok, ok, maybe I can understand the big bucks for Cannes, One Show, even CA, but all types of “award shows” are now asking for exorbitant amounts for just one entry in…
“After its package redesign, sales of the Tropicana Pure Premium line plummeted 20% between Jan. 1 and Feb. 22, costing the brand tens of millions of dollars. On Feb. 23, the company announced it would bow to consumer demand and scrap the new packaging, designed by Peter Arnell. It had been on the market less than two months.”
Last week the Detroit Lions, the NFL’s poster child for futility announced that they are finally up grading/refreshing their brand identity. If you’re not a foot ball fan, let me give you a bit of perspective on their plight. The Lions have not won an NFL Championship since Ike was president in 1957. They’ve never made it to a Super Bowl and in 52 seasons since then, they have only made the playoffs 9 times and and notched one post season victory. It gets worse. Last season the Lions became only the second team in NFL history to lose every game and the first to rack up an 0-16 record. Simply put the Detroit Lions have become the black hole of pro football.
So, what is the answer?
In a world of competing designers where everyone with Arial and a Sharpie are now the next Paula Scher, how do you compete for work? Is spec the answer?
Well, as lines have been drawn, there are two sides to the work-for-free war and boy oh boy are the jump drives flying.
One side believes that designers must take a united stand to not give free labor and belittle our purpose and industry. The other side says that in this overcrowded, over-saturated, and any other “over” word you can think of, it is just part of the evolving world…
I hear you….I hear you over there!
“I have mad skillz…I mean I’m a design machine.”
“No one can touch me!”
“Just wish someone other than my mac, cat, and mamma knew how ill I am!”
Well there is an answer to your prayers a great way to promote your work! Facebook has a new group called “Artists Group” utilizing FB new iSnap application.
iSnapChat is a new Facebook application. It is a sophisticated visual communication tool to enable artists, photographers, designers and others to and promote their work. To find out more and learn about the launch join this group or click image:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=76846695232
EXCUSES ARE…
So when in doubt, Keep On Smiling! If Pepsi and Kraft are smiling, they must be right. Right?
QSR chain JACK IN THE BOX with 2,100 quick-serve restaurants in 18 states and a pioneer of the drive-thru concept just launched their re-branded identity.The work was done by Duffy & Partners http://www.duffy.com of Minneapolis and the reaction has been mixed. I opine this way…
I like the look but feel that it is too clean in the sense that this is for a fast food chain and it comes across as more befitting a toy product than anything having to do with food. My first reaction I had was “MATTEL” because of the choice of red, more that fun, food and frivolity.
JACK…
Episode Six of TRUST ME struck an especially resonating chord being about partners and pitches. They are often mutually exclusive and one can often make or break each other. Both inside and outside the advertising business. That can become an Olympic Decathlon of another sort.
Mason McGuire (Eric McCormack) still stinging from the ARC Mobile fallout with GCD Tony Mink (Griffin Dunne) for shooting a commercial the client loved and now there are NOT a client any more, finds out that his group’s agency rival Simon Corcoran is working on a pitch for the 2016 Chicago Olympic Games pitch. Mason convinces Tony to ask RGM big cheese Denise…
“PepsiCo… is bowing to public demand and scrapping the changes made to a flagship product, Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice. Redesigned packaging that was introduced in early January is being discontinued… and the previous version will be brought back in the next month.”
I learned about this company On Product Publishing about a year or so ago and was intrigued by their unique delivery system of combining promotional publishing content in a multiple of formats and varied executions.
TRUST ME did a good job at painting an accurate portrayal of the highly volatile and dysfunctional silo I know as the ad agency. If you haven’t worked in this realm and someone who does says they don’t like shows like this, it’s probably because it forces them to hold the mirror up to their chosen profession and it presents a less than flattering reflection!
Torch Creative out of Dallas is really lighting up the Sports and Corporate Branding Identity Program category for the National Hockey League, The NBA and in categories as diverse as QSR, CPG, Social/Cause Marketing, Health & Wellness and Industrial. In business since 2005, in four years they have established themselves as one the top design firms with a very distinct approach to their work.http://www.torchcreative.com/
The two principals, Brad Bishop and Michael Thurman, both from Texas have done some terrific work for the NHL such as their efforts for the 2008 Winter Classic. www.torchcreative.com/work.html
One of the things that struck me as so impressive about…
Besides stupid people and abject nonsense, they’re a given. We all do things that don’t help our own cause and make what we normally do very fluidly, into a battle and a struggle. Shalu Wasu a creative consultant with a terrific website that offers some great “reminders” on how not to be your own worse enemy. It is a simple, effective read that will be useful: http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/15-elephant-tethers-that-stop-you-from-being-creative/
Here’s a taste of what Shalu Wasu identifies as the many things creatives use to tether themselves to failure:
1. What will people think?
2. But I’ve never had any great ideas!
3. What is the right answer?
4. I don’t…
I get a lot of people asking me why I love to design logos more than anything else. My passion is definitely all things Shopper Marketing, but if I had to choose only one thing that I would love to do and never get tired of, it’s logos. The challenge from where I live and breathe, is they are their own language of business communication. A company’s visual signature and currency. The first brand ambassador for what your initiative endeavors to accomplish. Regardless if the logo is for a fortune 100 corporation or for one of my friends’ temporary projects, I…
Our intrepid friends Wallace & Gromit from across the pond are back again showing up in more advertising. After their highly successful Harvey Nichols fashion ad campaign, out of Bristol, England, NPOWER a British power company employed our two favorite chaps into service in December to raise awareness about their free insulation program available for seniors and the disabled in Britain. http://www.npowermediacentre.com/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=2318&NewsAreaID=2
The two ingenious Brits have also popped up in Social/Cause Marketing in England with their own efforts, The Wallace and Gromit Foundation which is helping to fund pull-down beds for tired parents at children’s hospitals. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7426713.stm Well done lads! Check out their efforts: http://www.wallaceandgromitteaparty.org.uk/
Finally, a…
Successful branding is all about “BEHAVIOURAL MOMENTS” that are a set of actions that happen in the real world that actually drive sales an repeat business. “Once you decide, We Are Not In The Image Business, We Are In The Behavior Business, It Empowers A Different Conversation About Everything.”
10 – Our Troops all coming home ahead of time, safely and being appreciated for doing an impossible job!
9 – More Talented, Smart Creative people being rehired in Advertising
8 – The Ad Industry coming to their senses that Creatives are the muscle that drives our industry
7 – The economy rebounds from the current melt down as fast as possible!
6 – The price of gas continues to plunge and we’re paying under a buck a gallon by February and it doesn’t stop going down there… (Oil companies going under would make my millenium!)
5 – Wall Street Interlopers, Scum Bag Politicians, Predatory…
10 – More Jerry Seinfeld-Bill Gates Microsoft commercials (Give up, you suck!)
9 - More GEICO Caveman and GECKO commercials (Unwatchable)
8 - Any Advertising of any kind with Paris Hilton in it (Just go away already)
7 - Any Political Campaign ad or commercial… (I think we had our fill in 2008 to last a lifetime?)
6 - Any Politician saying “I approved this commercial.” (If you can’t put together a good tv spot,
how can you think you can run anything?”)
5 – Stop talking about “Change We Can Believe In” (and actually start DOING some of that change!)
4 – More New Brand launches…
