Evolving a brand identity can help maintain assurance that a brand is progressing and subtle alterations can subconsciously update and refresh a logo identity without alienating a target audience – Walker’s crisps have done this for years. Here are two nice examples of recent subtle logo redesigns…
The Mozilla Firefox logo redesign for version 3.5 of their internet browser was opened up to public scrutiny, exposing the process of redesigning a logo and prompting the public for their critiques. 13 iterations later and the logo was finalised. You can read the full story here or view the final official post where you can view every iteration and step your way through the design theory and branding process here (see the links a quarter down the page). All credit to them for opening it up to the online community, but I can’t imagine putting up every two (or four or eight) hours worth of work up for general public feedback before proceeding. Specially when most of the variations are things that you can decide upon yourself or in feedback from the client in a simple exchange.
Next up is the Victoria’s Secret logo - not as subtle as Firefox redesign, it resulted in a more distinct wordmark. ‘The problem with using [the over used] Trajan as the logo for Victoria’s Secret is that it is no different than, say, Will Smith’s I am Legend or a hundred other movie posters. Mucca Design has developed the logo of Victoria’s Secret to something that’s more unique and well crafted, taking the basic letterforms of Trajan and finessing them ever so slightly. And amazing how looser tracking adds elegance to small caps.’ – Brand New. Mucca have also created a monogram, see it and read more here.
Thanks to everyone who came to the DNA Summer BBQ a while ago. Thankfully the good weather we booked arrived on schedule, so we could enjoy the festivities against the gorgeous backdrop of the Torbay coastline. Thanks also to the Boat House for putting on such a great spread. For anyone who didn’t get their special DNA BBQ apron, don’t be afraid to ask for one – we still have some in reserve! Next stop – fishing competition. Watch this space!
This video, called “Okami to Buta” (オオカミとブ) or ‘Wolf and Pig’, is a charming Japanese stop-motion animation using just stills photography and lots of ingenuity. Watch the video above to follow the chase that uses over 1,300 printed pictures!
Johnson Banks have recently completed their new identity project for the Swanswell Charitable Trust. Originally founded in 1968 as a small alcohol counselling agency, the Swanswell Charitable Trust has since grown into a much larger organisation. With growth had come brand confusion as well, with many initiatives taking on different names so it was time to revisit what they were about.
“When the trust approached us last year with their chosen, legacy name, we were a little unsure at first until we began to see that the “well” at the end of the word could be of use. Various typographic experiments followed, before the discovery that a piece of paper, crumpled at one end, could act as a suitable metaphor for someone’s life smoothing itself out.”— Johnson Banks Project Description
With several different degrees of ‘crumple’ the concept of this identity is fantastically innovative and covers a range of elements coherently within the new brand identity – for example, business cards come bound in little pad and are hand-crumpled individually. On a conceptual level, I love this design and the metaphor – I do wonder however, if having ‘Charitable Trust’ somewhere in the vicinity would have clarified its meaning to those who don’t take quite such an intellectual reading of it. I advise you take a look at the the Johnson Banks website for more examples for their Swanswell adverts and leaflets – here.
OK, well this might be a bit of a techie rant against the Microsoft machine and its shoddy, market dominating browser, Internet Explorer, but firstly its a valid one and secondly its more about recognising the huge achievements of a lesser known browser, Opera. There are a myriad of different browsers and different browser versions being used all with different capabilities and different ways of displaying the same website content, this makes our jobs as web content creators very tricky. One thing that is fairly unanimously agreed upon throughout the industry is that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser is by far one of the worst and has gained its share of the market through dirty tricks and lack of user knowledge. Less known though is that a little browser called Opera has been at the forefront of browser innovation for many years, creating new tools to make your life easier that most of us only discover when we auto-download the latest version of Internet Explorer three years later.
Today, we reinvent the Web.
Opera’s latest innovation is called ‘Opera Unite‘. This claims to allow non-technical users to serve and share content and services directly from their own computers via the browser instead of traditionally just viewing content. Time will tell on this latest innovation, but if it’s as good as it claims to be you can expect to see it integrated into Internet Explorer in a couple of years time! The following article highlights some of the browser innovations that are now common place in nearly every browser but started many years previous in the perfectly crafted underdog that is Opera.
The latest yachts from Princess Yachts International, the Princess 130 and 105, have been revealed on their respective microsites. Designed and created by DNA Advertising, backed by press advertising and characterised by their brooding and mysterious atmosphere, the two new web microsites have a feel and mood unlike any other Princess campaign. See the introductory microsites at: www.princess130.com and www.princess105.com. New images, videos and specifications will be added to the website as time passes so be sure to check back for the latest information.
Graphic design, along with the music industry, has often been caught looking over its shoulder at where it has come from.
Very little contemporary music is truly original. It often mimics earlier styles or artists, spawning “tribute” bands and “cover” songs. How many £millions have been made by borrowing the talent and fame of Freddie Mercury or Abba (like them or loathe them)? It’s nothing new. Even Rachmaninov did it in the Romantic era with his “Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini”. In the world of design, we often see earlier styles being re-worked or re-invented. A prime example is the plethora of companies jumping onto the “organic” bandwagon, invariably borrowing styles and colours from the past to generate a particular response in their customers. In America it is a 14 billion dollar a year industry and here in the UK retailers are spending millions to promote their organic produce and eco-friendly products with campaigns that rely on muted, natural colours, traditional imagery and retro graphic styles. But recently a bizarre new twist has emerged. Acquiring the generic term “mashup”, designers are explicitly combining graphic elements from existing work with new content. Designer Huw Gwilliam has convincingly redesigned a set of classic album covers in the style of 1960s Pelican book covers.
Why are people going to such great lengths? There was a time when 1960s styling would be regarded as ugly and hopelessly old fashioned. Town and city planners have rushed to demolish concrete eyesores that maybe now would be regarded with some nostalgia and respect. The works of graphic designers such as Saul Bass and Paul Rand are now regarded as classics and to imitate these giants of graphic design is now seen as cool and clever.
Taking the “retro” concept to its absolute limit is the shady other-world of Steampunk. It’s been around for a while now but essentially clothes modern equipment with 19th century form and function.
The Harry Potter phenomenon and the Disney/Pixar movies “Cars” and “Robots” borrow heavily from this genre. Being a person of a certain age, I like it! To borrow a catch phrase from one of my friends, “The future is in the Past”.
For Tibits, a large vegetarian restaurant chain in Switzerland, oversized forks have been produced to be fixed to trees in major parks and outdoor shopping areas all over Switzerland. In a surprising new matter, the freshness of Tibits food could be demonstrated to people walking by. “Very, very vegetarian food”.
(Opinion: Jon Price – Designer / credit – ibelieveinadv)
The recession appears to have set in for at least a two-year period, and more and more people are turning to the Internet for a better deal. But still so many businesses are getting it wrong.
Most of us now accept that a website is a shop window. Just as most shoppers will look in a window on the High Street before they walk into a retailer, figures now indicate that more than 80% of potential customers will visit your website before they do business with you. With such compelling figures, why would any business not invest in a professional, well-thought-through web presence and online marketing strategy?
I’m a massive fan of Japanese ethics, design principles and aesthetics. In this case it’s their eccentric and off-the-wall sense of humor that caught my attention. Not only is this advert amusing and memorable, it’s also skillfully produced and typical of the often surreal Japanese comic sensibility. The Advert was produced by Ogilvy & Mather, Japan.
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