Bill Gardner - Logolounge 9: 2,000 International Identities by Leading Designers

Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to free content, and information on the latest new releases and must-have designing resources! Plus, receive a coupon code to use on your first purchase from MyDesignShop.com for signing up. or visit us online to sign up at http://howdesign.com/ebook-promo Connecting with consumers is more than the holy grail of the craft: Its an imperative. Learning to tug the right heartstrings and subtly convey a concept in a simple iconic logo is perhaps the most challenging and rewarding feat for a designer. Logo designers have to know when to pull a great visual idea back from the edge just enough for the public to finish the thoughtand seal their loyalty with an a-ha moment. LogoLounge.com is the most comprehensive professional resource of logos from around the world, featuring 230,000 logos. LogoLounge 9 is organized in twenty-one visual content categories to provide context, clarity and immediate inspiration. LogoLounge 9 is organized in twenty-one visual content categories to provide context, clarity and immediate inspiration.

Logos within each category can be compared and contrasted, giving designers the opportunity to understand the critical nuances that define very different solutions to addressing a single audience. Peeking behind the curtains at the backstory of dozens of exceptional logo designs allows a designer to better understand what does and doesnt work. Viewing the near-misses and the bulls-eye solutions confirms for even the most jaded professional that our process is never perfect. But the creative experience of others provides a rich foundation on which to bolster our own technique. Every logo has a story, and in this edition of LogoLounge, we share some of the best with you. For instance, when designer Matt Stevens found that a Dunkin Donuts logo he had designed for an April Fools Day parody was being used by an actual donut shop, he turned what could have been a bad situation into an opportunity.

It turns out, the shop owner didnt know it was a copy, but after chatting for a bit, she asked Stevens if he would design her a new logo and mascot, and he did. It was a win-win. When Tether was contacted to design the brand identity for a caffeinated chocolate start-up called Awake, they exchanged their services for equity in the company. Tether principal Stanley Hainsworth even appeared on Canadas Dragons Den with the Awake founders to pitch the product to a panel of investors, which resulted in a bidding war. Not surprisingly, Awake is the top selling chocolate on university campuses, and its mascot, Nevil the owl, has his own Twitter following. And then there are times when a logo isnt loved at all, at first.

Such was the case with the logo and team name for El Pasos minor league baseball team, designed by Brandiose. When the name Chihuahuas was introduced, fans hated it. However, over time, they have embraced this fierce little icon wholeheartedly, and the franchise is breaking merchandising records. Sometimes a logo has to earn consumer loyalty. It isnt always a hit right off the bat. Consumers dont live in a vacuum and neither will the exceptional designer.

Through much research and trial and error, brand identity designers must learn the ins and outs of the products and services they are designing for in order to understand the intricacies and nuances that define it in its category. They also have to earn the trust and respect from their clients to push through the challenges. Logo design is an art form like no other because so much of a brands personality has to be captured in a single iconic mark. Not an easy task. Good logo designers see what the public responds toand better yet, they know why it works. Bill Gardner

Kendrick Kidd has been designing professionally for the past fifteen years.

He is currently working as an associate creative director at Shepherd, an agency in Jacksonville, Florida, and he also owns a small design and screen-printing business that operates during his off time. His recent work focuses heavily on branding, packaging and illustration for craft breweries, action sports companies and editorial publications. Some of his clients include Nike, Billabong, REAL Skateboards, Modus Bearings, Bold City Brewery, ESPN The Magazine and GQ. Kidds work has been featured in Print magazine, Communication Arts, Los Logos, The Dieline and Grain Edit.

Ive never heard of EcoJet before, but at a glance the leaf-jet mark gave me a clear impression of their company. The idea is simple, and it communicates a lot in a quick and clever way.

From the color choices to the subtle rounding of corners, the thought, design and mechanics of this logo are all lining up. Everything about this feels right.

Sebastian Padilla was born in Monterrey, an industrial city in northeast Mexico. After studying graphic design in college and working at an agency, Padilla went out on his own doing freelance design projects. In 2009, he and two other partners (and later a third) formed the multidisciplinary agency Anagrama, which offers a wide range of services including graphic design, architectural and interior design, and software development. The studios work has been widely recognized for its unique branding and build-out of boutique shops in and around Mexico City and Monterrey where Anagrama has studios, as well as an international cast of clients.

Padilla travels and lectures extensively on branding and design, and Anagramas work has been featured by several international publications including Print, HOW, Etapes, Communication Arts and many others.

I chose this logo because of its quick iconic appeal, its colorful dynamic quality and its spotless execution. The quick read of the sleek red fox is appealing and the aesthetic is timeless. Tracy Sabin has been an illustrator for more than forty years, crafting over five hundred logos in that time. His skills include animation, package design, paper engineering and mosaic design for public spaces. He has illustrated a number of childrens books, including the