Branding

CSA Design - www.csadesign.com

Hatch SF - www.hatchsf.com

160 over 90 - www.160over90.com

Pentagram - www.pentagram.com

Werner Werks - www.wdw.com

Willoughby Design - www.willoughbydesign.com

People you should know

Paul Rand AUGUST 15, 1914 – NOVEMBER 26, 1996- American graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs.

Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) - an American graphic designer and filmmaker, but he is best known for his design on animated motion picture title sequences

Alexander Girard (May 24, 1907 – 1993) - was a textile designer born in New York City, USA, Girard is widely known for his contributions in the field of American textile design, particularly through his work for Herman Miller (1952 to 1975), where he created fabrics for the designs of George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames.

Alvin Lustig (1915-1955) - Lustig is known for his expertise in virtually all the design disciplines, which he seamlessly integrated into his life. He designed record albums, magazines (notably the format and some covers of Industrial Design), advertisements, commercial catalogs, annual reports and office spaces and textiles.

Alan Fletcher (27 September 1931 – 21 September 2006) - "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific" with a fusion of the cerebral European tradition with North America’s emerging pop culture in the formulation of his distinct approach

Alex Steinweiss (March 24, 1917) - Steinweiss was the first art director for Columbia Records, Steinweiss also designed liquor bottles, posters, magazine, pamphlet, book covers and titles for TV shows.

Charles Ormond Eames, Jr (1907–1978) and Bernice Alexandra "Ray" Eames née Bernice Kaiser (1912–1988) - American designers, who worked in and made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film.

Maira Kalman (1949) - an American illustrator, author, artist, and designer. Ms. Kalman has authored a series of children's books about Max Stravinsky she has done covers for The New Yorker. Kalman is also known for her illustrations for the 2005 edition of the popular guide to writing style, The Elements of Style.

Steven Heller (1950) - With Seymour Chwast he has directed Push Pin Editions, a packager of visual books, and with his wife Louise Fili he has produced over twenty books and design products for Chronicle Books and other publishers.

Setting a Mood

So I have revised the two themes I had talked about before. One if Wrought Iron and the second is American Craftsman. After looking at the imagery I had compiled for both of the original boards I went through and did a second revision befor eI turned them in and found the aesthetic differences and improved upon the original concepts. I am now just meandering about the internet looking at images and articles about chamber music and logos.

What in the hell is Chamber Music?

Okay I'm going to been quick and dirty about this, A classical for of music for small arrangements. So you could think of this like symphony nano. And this is the more friendly version of arranged music very intimate and creates a dialog between the instruments. So I'm back to what is the target market, I feel I have to figure this out before I move onto a mood board because the mood changes based on who you are catering to. I wish we had the rep come in tomorrow. Back to work, so I'm going with two themes, one I think of as Ethan Allen and the second is Renaissance Festival so now let me present to you some of the core ideas behind these two.

Ethan Allen - Muted pallet that is analogous with one high contrast compliment. Texturally primitive shapes with a low pile rug feel to it(I hate to say burbur but something a little more polished). This is the Volvo/Saab crowd middle class to upper middle class but not part of the mainstream, just a little different. I'm looking at furniture and fixtures(yeah I know this isn't ID) I would like to have an elegance in simplicity and balance of form.

Renaissance Festival - The reason this mood has this title is because of how they present these things in England where it just wasn't happening. This set will be inspired by illuminated letters, celtic knots and victorian wallpaper patterns. The textures here will be flatter and have a feeling of letter pressed ornamentation featuring fine lines an flourishes. The pallet will largely be monochrome except for the addition to tints and shades of red. The will be a much richer feeling concept. The audience here are those that identify with a cultural richness in the European histories.

So after clarifying this I'm not trying to refine my mood boards and should post them tomorrow.

Wow it's logo-rific

Creative Review is doing a vote for best logo on their blog right now. So if you find that tracking logos down is a pain in the ass then you might find some ideas here. Oh yeah this site is pretty fuckin awesome like core77 but more for graphics and if some one want to get me a subscription to the magazine I will do much for you. And if you find this months issue it's their Type annual so that's cool

And here you go some Logos

So I said I would deliver and I have! Below are some 20 odd logos, not all of them are good but are still good reference. I've found the orchestral music and museums seem to have very simple logos, that are more their name in type than a marque. I've tried to pick the logos in two categories. The first is good design and the second is relation to the client. Something else I found was that many Business in Kansas City could use with a proper logo vs much of the dreck floating around. So the images are not grouped in much of any order just trying to make them fit and legible for print at the same time.

If you spot one you don't know or don't understand just leave a comment and I will adress it in short order. And I'm almost caught up with a blog post a day but I need to keep going to see it through in the end.

Did Someone Say Logo Design?

So our first project is to design a logo and identity system for a Kansas City Based Chamber Orchestra called SummerFest inc. So of course our first assignment is to track down 20 logos and make some mood boards and set our target market. Funny thing is I almost went to go see them more than a few times but always had to work. So I'm feeling a little odd because that means I'm in this demographic even though I don't think I am. So I've gathered up a buch of information and images to start constructing the image boards and the logos I've selected I hope can then reflect back on the target market so not only do I know who they are but I have a better idea of what the places they go to feel like.

And logos, I went racing around the internet(in my bookmarks) and found a great little piece on core77 about logo design OMFG!!! Sorry I wasn't really that excited but since this is the internet I feel it necessary to have one of those out bursts every now and again. So it's called "how to make your clients logo bigger with out making their logo bigger" and its by Michael Bierut check it out and you might learn something. So I'll get those boards together and then upload them in short order. I think I might have a little more work to do for VISC 302 still as well.