BRAND ING WITH AN EMPHASIS ON LOGO DESIGN The full emails, and research that didn’t make it.
CONTENTS 2-3 - E m a i l f ro m IN K B OT.D E S IGN 4-5 - E m a i l f ro m WIL L IA MS MU R R AY HAM M 6-7 - E m a i l f ro m P E O P L E WIL L A LWAYS NEED PLATES 8-1 9 - C a s e St u d y: K N O L L 20 - A rb i t a ry Q uo te
EMAIL # 1
Hi Jake, glad to hear that not only do you like my work, but you want to focus on Branding! It’s the most exciting area of design, in my opinion. But onto the Q’s When branding yourself, what did you want to portray with your logo, how did you go about portraying that? My logo was designed to take a step back, to not over-emphasise my brand. This deliberate de-branding keeps the focus on my client’s work, upon which the portfolio is central. Keeping the logotype in B&W further drops the attention level from the usually coloured project work. The conceptual basis of my own logo is the angular nature of the black backdrop. The forward formed shape suggests forward thinking and on all my media, the logo emanates from the left hand side of the page - like a bookmark. Did you feel you accomplished what you set out to achieve when designing it? No. But you will come to accept that perfec-
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tion is an impossibility. Logo designers in particular aren’t happy with their own logos, but I don’t give myself the change not to be happy with it by keeping it as simple as possible. If it was a colour for example, I would think, maybe a different hue would be nicer? But you can’t argue with black and white, the extremities of contrast. How do you go about choosing what type and colours you use? I’m a typeoholic. I collect fonts until my hard drive explodes and rains letters. With regards to logo design, I usually have a basic idea (serif/sans-serif/transitional/etc.) but it will take 100’s of fonts, explored and tweaked until the final outcome is discovered. Usually you know when you see it, it’s a reaction in the gut that it’s ‘right’. As for colour, especially with logo design, it depends on the client. Maybe they had a pre-existing identity that needs to be taken into consideration, in which I’ll be inspired to base the new colour scheme upon. If it’s a totally fresh brand, I will simply ask the client what colours they would like to see.
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But you will come to accept that perfection is an impossibility. Logo designers in particular aren’t happy with their own logos.
Of course my own suggestions will come to play, but they can usually give an indication of what they’re gonna like. What do you think the most important factors of designing an Identity for a company or person are?
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client’s needs, communicate with them and you’ll better visualise a brand that communicates for them. Brands should be timeless, last generations and neither fall to trends or styles. Think Coca-cola - have you every seen the coca-cola logo with a cheesy dropshadow or bubble effect?
I don’t know if it’s a factor per se, but it all comes down to and revolves around one thing… communication. Your job is to create a brand that communicates the messages that need conveyed in a fashion that’s appropriate to the product and target market. You have to get into the mindset of the potential customer through R&D, learn and gauge their psychology.
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How do you go about becoming a brand designer?
Stuart
Remove ego. Remove pretension. Ignore fashion. It’s not about you, it’s about the client and their product/service. All too often, designers create portfolio pieces, that look nice but lack substance and concept. Listen to the
Hope these admittedly short answers offer some help - apologies they aren’t longer, kinda busy today ;) best of luck mate thanks
EMAIL # 2
When creating branding for a company or person, how do you get started? You need a creative brief, with creative start points. Start point means a word or theme that the creative idea can spring from. In the creative brief you need to find the unique part of what your branding, is it organic, exclusive etc. This then sets it apart other similar products/brands How do you get started creating logos? Be aware of other brands in the same category, and do something totally different. It’ll make your logo unique and memorable How do you go about choosing what type and colours you use? It should support the design idea for the brand. This shouldn’t be arbitrary ie. Picking colours at random. If you’re brand is about people should it use handwritten type, think about it in this way. What do you think the most important factors of designing an Identity for a company or person are? It has to communicate the needs of the company / what do they want to say to consum-
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ers. It has to be different, otherwise people won’t notice. Have a solid design idea at the centre of the brand, every piece of communication, business card, leaflet should communicate this idea, and not just repeating the logo. and probably the most important question, How do you go about becoming a brand designer? Hard work, thinking differently, looking around you for idea & not in design books, being enthusiastic, challenging yourself, doing jobs for friends just to get extra experience. Practically, you need to do placements when you graduate (send emails, send agencies nice stuff in the post to grab their attention), have a good broad folio that shows off you’re way of thinking, a good idea badly executed is better than a bad idea that looks good. Make tea! Hope this helps! Craig (designer) WILLIAMS MURRAY HAMM
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Be aware of other brands in the same category, and do something totally different. It’ll make your logo unique and memorable.
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EMAIL # 3
Hi Jake, Thanks for dropping us a line, always nice to hear from people who appreciate what we do. In answer to your questions, we do have branding experience, I spent 12 years prior to setting up the company working for brands creating 3D environments, motor shows, product launches, events and we now do a lot of consultancy work so we’re well versed in brand creation and guardianship. With regard to our logo, it was a pretty simple, literal idea given the name of the company - it’s a pile of plates - but we did work through a number of treatments before we finalised the one we’re currently using. We try not to be too clever when it comes to these things - simple is good, overcomplicate things, or try too hard, and things can become a tad contrived. Also, we don’t really talk about that as being a representation of our brand, it is just a logo - the brand is much more layered, it’s about how we talk to people, how we do business, the products we create and the quality we maintain. The graphic design of things is important, but to create a brand is a much wider, more involved and ultimately much more fulfilling business - I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
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Type - I’m afraid we’re all about the helvetica, it just works for us Colour - we spend a lot of time working on colour palettes, particularly within the constraints of ceramic production (it can be a bit of a black art). We find new season fashion colours particularly useful as they often filter down into homewares - so make sure you keep you Vogue subscription up to date! Hope that helps. We also see an awful lot of degree shows where the work is very clearly created in the style of someone more established - while it’s important to learn from those around you, it’s more important to find your own way as it’s that that will get you a job (you’d be amazed at the number of graduates that write to us asking for jobs and placements and try to convince us of their worth by showing us a picture just like ours - quick tip, we can do that, we’re not going to employ someone to do what we already can!) So, suck up everything around you but be original! Best of luck, Robin
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We find new season fashion colours particularly useful as they often filter down into homewares.
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CASE A look at knoll’s branding. The How and the Why.
STUDY
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It is understood that brands must have a high recognition factor, and must conform to comprehensive and often rigid visual guidelines in order to maintain this recognisability especially when distributed throughout the world, and it’s visual identity passed through the hands of a variety of different agencies. But this rigidity often stifles greatest there, and many Nebraska a cold and lacking personality. This may be appropriate and desirable for corporation that wishes to project the clinical, serious and discipline front. But for a company striving for recognition in a competitive industry, it is the personality and character of the brands and often raises profile of the Mundane.
ity were communicated through whimsical and adventurous use of the well-known no logo. Assumed rules of logo usage were dismantled in favour of an affectionate and flamboyant treatment. A ribbon was added to the logo in Christmas literature, various colour treatment were applied across print and web media, the name was punned in the ‘knolledge quarterly’, and the letter signatures totally deconstructed in the big red letter day material. The resurrection of Herbert Matters 1958 logo, as a feature of the 60th anniversary poster series, reinforce the brands pedigree, acknowledging and embracing the companies assets of heritage and authenticity.
Knoll are renowned for their beautifully designed office furniture, and place great importance on their technical anesthetic prowess. In the approach of knoll’s 60th anniversary celebrations, NB: studio were asked to re-imagine the brand. knoll felt that the agencies clean, contemporary style resonated with its own philosophy of combining functionality with superior design. Other furniture producers such as ikea, habitat and interiors bis similarly utilise the bold, uncluttered quality is evident in the knoll brand, this being both synonymous with, and complementary to, their products. But through the use of wit and artistic license, and openmindedness on the part of the client, NB: studios were able to move the company away from the stereotype of the contemporary furniture company.
The decision to forego photography in the majority of designs was dictated by budget restrictions. But this allowed NB: studio to project the brand from a more considered, less product orientated approach. The confidence of the brand to trade on name and personality, regardless of the product, assumes prior understanding of the brand in the mind of the consumer, and is an indication of the strength of his identity. This makes a more sophisticated communication possible, through aspirational and emotive values. The warmth and the humour combine in the knoll brand to project values of geniality and approachability while the bold and unpretentious visual identity communicates the importance that the company place on design. The success of the brand can be attributed to superior product and to the effective communication of its values.
Personable values of charisma and informal-
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‘The Classic posters series were originally commissioned as a series of 6 full page ads to run bimonthly in ‘Blueprint Magazine’. After the success of the campaign and frequent requests they were silkscreened at A1 size and used in show rooms and dealerships throughout Europe. They have since been used as postcards and frequently reused as ads in Europe. - Ben Scott, Designer at NB: Studio
The budget restriction on the commissions of photography, which could be seen as a hindrance to the communication of a brand which sells furniture, actually allowed NB: studio to develop a highly recognisable illustrative style. Representing products as white line shapes on flat colour emphasise the elegant forms of the furniture. One of the designers quote out at the top of the poster showed a lighthearted, humorous quality.
In this imaginitive representation of an knoll product, the intersections of the mesh seat of Harry Bertoia’s diamond chair are used as points upon which numbers are plotted. The effect resembles a ‘point cloud’ (a rendering option in 3-D design applications), suggesting technical proficiency and cutting edge technology.
By the fact the numbers simply count, in a join the dots manner, from 1 to 440, the number of intersections in the mesh. This association between poetic elegance and design know how, and the beauty within the functional, captures the knoll brand.
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This series of posters progress from simple outline style of the classic posters, to include more illustrative picture elements. The board, flat colour continues to be evident, as does the use of humour. But visual reference to the product is almost totally eradicated. This is partly due to the intended purpose of
the posters, which was the compliment the furniture at the knoll stand of the spectrum furniture exhibition in London, and subsequently used in showrooms. But the strength of knoll’s visual identity allows for creative scope and experimentation, while maintaining brand recognition.
The content of these posters refers to the company’s twin pillars of strength. Technical proficiency and aesthetic excellence. The messages champion good design, and content that the advantages afforded by technological progress are no substitute for the human element, e.g. wireless technol-
ogy is here but don’t pull the plug just yet, and cyberspaces in reality, but you’ll never replace human interaction. Knoll are shown to embrace technology, and to promote the ethics of design above all else.
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The knollscope brochure was for a range of office Systems furniture, which is based on a serviced wall, but goes down to items as small a personal filing storage system. Hence the design, which is based a choice/ conveyor belt concept. No sizing scale was given so as not to give anyone part of the system importance of another. It also talks about personal preferences/importance, i.e, the most important thing in your office might be a paperclip!
The scope brochure was also designed with an unlimited number of languages in mind, so all colour imagery was kept separate from text. Image blanks were printed and then overprinted into specials. Language is currently run to 8 explains Ben Scott
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The ability to grab, express, stimulate, push, provoke, blow...not really words you’d use to describe your corporate identity. But we think they describe some of the latest most innovated letterhead and logo designs in use today. These designs grab attention, express a message, stimulate interest, push a product, provoke a response, and blow the competition out of the water! - Letterhead and logo type sayles graphic design