Over the weekend, I submitted a recent logo I worked on to The Design Cubicle for a collection of original logos sent in by the designers themselves. It’s pretty cool to see how the submissions shook out and get a peek at others’ work and props to Brian for including me. Check out the roundup here and read more about the project here.
A few months ago, I took on a logo project and was tasked with designing an identity for a new venture into “green” upscale housing development. The biggest selling point of these new communities was that they would be constructed in parts of the country that were not necessarily conducive to “eco-friendly” housing, due to climate and/or economical factors.
Since these projects revolved around energy-efficient construction using the latest technologies and building materials, and were to be marketed to young, savvy professional types, two fundamental qualities had to be conveyed: 1) the environmentally sound design and 2) a sense of youthful, almost-nurturing practicality.
Apple recently swung its big legal stick at the Victoria School of Business and Technology claiming that the logo infringes their rights and suggests an affiliation with their company and/or products. While that’s currently up for debate, on thing that is clear is that Apple must’ve been chomping at the bit to rid the world of one more piece of crap logo design. Seriously, if it were me, I’d be more than eager to change my logo. To my Canadian friends, if you’re gonna try to align yourself with Apple, might as well do it justice, eh?
It’s not often that I find something in my local supermarket that really makes me do a double take. Since I’m the one who usually does the grocery shopping in my family, I use that time to exercise my designer’s eye and observe all the different types of packaging and consumer-focused design that’s out there.
Unfortunately, I live in a typical suburban area where stores usually carry only regular name brands or dull generic brands on their shelves. Not the most interesting design by any means, but as I was making my way down one of the aisles of my local store recently, I saw something I’d never seen there before—Everybody’s Nuts!
You know, sometimes I get a little frustrated with what I do for a living. Part of my job involves of taking someone’s ideas and turning them into something spectacular (or at least decent). Sometimes the ideas are great and it’s easy. Sometimes the ideas are crap and it’s like wrestling an alligator without using your arms.
So here comes my latest gripe, and really, it’s not so much a gripe as it is a statement of principle. As a designer, one of the things that you notice all the time are trends. Trends can be great. They give some designers and directors easy inspiration for easy projects. If the time is right, it could even seem as if you came up with the trend on your own. Maybe someone makes a big splash with a project that follow trends, but that only works for about a month before it’s all over the place. Success breeds imitation.
While most people might not ever notice any particular trends within graphic design, designers can easily see them and instantly recognize them as “the trend”. When this happens, it’s no longer a trend but a fad.
LEVEL ORANGE is the online home of design professional Robert Cortez, including news and opinion on graphic design, entertainment, technology, tales of everyday life, and the occasional insights into the worlds of advertising and publishing.©1999-2010 Robert Cortez. And you know it like a poet.
