It’s exactly what I was thinking about when I asked if logos are important. The logo doesn’t aspire tell the whole story of the brand. It’s “just” a very nice wordmark. Instead, William Russell and John Rushworth (and their teams) build the brand’s visual vocabulary in the collateral.
What is it that makes a corporate brand identity? I used to think that this meant the logo, but the more I see and the more I practice the design of brands, the more I realize the logo enjoys exaggerated importance in the design of the brand identity.
Bad logos are either aesthetically unsuitable for the brand, or are simply unsuitable for technical reasons (e.g.: reproduction difficulties).
But if the logo isn’t outright bad, it can probably work well in the hands of a skilled designer. I’ve noticed that it’s novice designers who rely the most on a great logo to design good materials, where great designers can make mediocre marks work wonders for the brand.
This is because it’s the overall aesthetic that is created for the brand that really matters. In the end, the logo is really just a tiny aspect of the overall identity. I think it’s easy to see how this works when you start looking for it: have a look at your favourite brand design, how often does the logo really matter? While there will always be exceptions to the rule, you’ll often find that the logo itself has very little to do with the aesthetic given to the brand identity.
In fact, some of my favourite personal work has been done when I hastily applied the client’s logo as a last measure, because I hated the mark so much. I simply designed around it, and everyone was much happier for it.
I had intended to join the GDC (Canada’s professional graphic design organization) some time ago. But life, and a frightening application process, kept me from making the effort until recently. While not impossible, joining the GDC at the professional level requires you submit yourself, and your work, to some amount of scrutiny. Enough at least to cause a few stress-filled weeks despite my self-confidence in my practice and abilities.
For practicing designers, including web and new media designers, professional design educators and design administrators with at least seven years of graphic design education and professional practice.
Michael Bierut is a star in the design world. When it comes to practicing designers, he might be one of the best known—and for good reason, too. While his work has received almost every accolade, honour, and mention that the profession has, it’s his insights into the practice of design that I enjoy the most. (His Creative Mornings talk about his clients remains an absolute favourite of mine.)
I stumbled across this at HowDesign.com. It profiles Bierut’s all-time best piece of work—a tremendously creative solution to the challenge presented by the project. Like anyone who has mastered his art, Bierut makes it look so simple and easy.
Look at it. Just look at it. The SR-71 aircraft still makes me stare in slack-jawed wonder (and I’ve seen an F-117 in person).
Beautifully designed things can remain fresh-looking for incredibly long periods of time, if they’re truly exceptional. The SR-71, designed in the early 1960s by Kelly Johnson, is just one example. It was so fantastic of a design that twenty years later it still “inspired” many comic book imitations (X-Men, Transformers, and GI Joe, off the top of my head).
There are some other classic designs that really stand up over time:
The Barcelona Chair, designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1929 for the World’s Fair.
