Insight Categories: Design

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently selected Grafik to develop their new identity to include logo, “look and feel,” and a new graphic and visual standards manual in order to support their mission of serving and strengthening our country through the conveyance of our history through the promotion and support of the humanities.  Grafik is extremely pleased to have been selected for such important work.

“We have a long history and interest in supporting the humanities at Grafik, and we find working with this client particularly exciting,” says Gregg Glaviano, Partner and Creative Director for the account.  “We believe this will be the beginning of a long partnership with the NEH.”

The wonderful thing about the web is the ability to connect with people you would never know existed. People whose paths would never cross, whose art would never be seen, whose thoughts would go unheard. And in my journeys I have stumbled upon sites that I would never want to see again, and sites that are rich with ideas.

In my last foray I happened upon a wonderful blog on art and creativity called wishjar   http://www.kerismith.com/blog/ – a wonderful blog on illustration, musings on being an artist, and generally the questions that surround any creative person. If you do not feel like reading a blog just check out her wonderful photos and art on http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerismith/. Here is her wonderful manifesto:

I recently received a direct mailer inviting me to a conference. And quickly thumbing through the piece I was struck by the very last page. It was the obligatory list of sponsors… rows upon rows of logos- one more invisible than the next. In this case, it’s a wonderful way to illustrate the importance of having a logo that will stand out from the crowd. Clearly the presenting sponsors and benefactors are somewhat more visible than those in the Diamond category and below—and they have paid a pretty penny to have that prominence. It’s interesting to see how the marks fare when they are grouped with other logos. For my money—Shell is probably one of the best examples. A logo so strong that it does not need to use up any space with their name since it enjoys tremendous brand recognition.

The marks in this grouping can be divided into a number of subsets:

Type only marks:
• Energy Future Holdings, whose name is not well-known, whose typeface is completely lack luster, and looks like little thought has been given to any brand personality at all.
• ExxonMobil– a mark that holds its own by virtue of advertising but would lose stature if it was not a name brand
• Accenture– a logo that would probably have gotten lost if it was scaled down and places in the President’s circle.
• Hollister– a mark that is at least easy to read among those in the President’s circle.

Marks that are strong and recognizable by virtue of their advertising spend:
• Verizon– a lack luster mark that loses space with the V above the name
• United– a logo designed by the master Saul Bass
• UPS– logo originally designed by master Paul Rand and redesigned by Futurebrand
• Chevron
• Bank of America

There are logos that have recently changed their mark—some successfully and some not so successfully

• Kraft- looks like an splatter of who knows what—paired with a most bland typeface.
• Altria- which looks dated even though it was unveiled when Phillip Morris changed its name.
• Pepsico- which looks strikingly similar to the at&t mark.
• Bank of America—which was redesigned in 2006.
• And my personal favorite: AT&T which has made a career out of changing logos—the latest a take-off on the Cingular mark.

All of these logos have been designed by professionals—from Saul Bass to BrandUnion. But, it is when we get down the food chain that you start to see the lack of design experience.  All of the following logos are virtually unreadable, and hard to distinguish. Take for example WBEC (Womens Business Economic Council). One needs more than perfect eyesight to read what is under this un-distinguishable set of letters. Or ASAP—a mark that almost disappears due to the gold color of the letters. UP? Looks like a combination of every used design trick.  And APlus—also impossible to read.

I am quite sure that many of these marks function well in isolation—on a letterhead or a business card. But so many times marks are combined into sponsorship lists, strategic partnerships or the like. And this is where a truly strong logo shines. UPS, for instance, designed by one of the great masters, Paul Rand, still stands up after decades—even if it has been modernized. And like Shell, it would stand up even if it was surrounded by a dozen other marks. Compare UPS and Energy Future Holdings. Or look at how ASAP holds up to Verizon—essentially the same design concept. Even a giant like Alcatel-Lucent has a mark that is not improved by its 3 dimensional button logo.

Logos are not easy things to design. They can not be done in a week, they can not be done in the absence of a strong brand study, and they always need to be seen in context. They are signatures of a brand—not the whole letter—but they are signatures that must be treated carefully. The guidance I give to all my clients and staff: “How does it look when it is surrounded by competitors’ logos? How does it look if all the marks are constrained to the same height or width? Is it readable when it is only 1 inch wide of 1/2 inch high?

We’re proud to announce the Volunteers of America 2008 Annual Report received an Excellence Award from the 2009 American Graphic Design Awards competition. One of the largest and broadest competitions honoring all forms of electronic, print, motion and interactive design. Thanks go to Mila, our production team, Meredith Light, and especially our client for trusting us to tell their story.

In a perfect world, there would be no such thing as budgets. But unfortunately there are, especially in these tough economic times. And more often than not, there is rarely any money set aside for photography. When working with a small photography budget, it’s hard not find myself limited to using stock photography, which is often overused and generic. But this sometimes drives us to think outside the box when necessary.

This past year, I worked with Volunteers of America—a national, faith-based nonprofit that provides local human service programs, such as housing and healthcare, to over 2 million Americans—on their annual report. And budget limitations are a definite reality for nonprofit and charitable organizations. But by really digging around and discovering what resources the client had to pull from, we managed to get a hold of some donated photography. I was ecstatic to discover that these were captivating close in portraits of VOA beneficiaries. And I was even more ecstatic to incorporate them into our designs which in turn help tell VOA’s story in a much more engaging and effective manner. We always intended to show real VOA people and stories in order to build the credibility of the organization especially in an economy where people are apprehensive about donating their money.

Fortunately we were really lucky to have been donated theses images and I know for a fact that I would of not got the same effect by purchasing stock images on-line. But sometimes people forget that working with a photographer can give you the opportunity to negotiate the pricing if needed especially if it’s for a good cause. And many times, you can end up getting longer usage rights. Ultimately each project has different needs, but when necessary, I find it is important to always try and convey to clients how investing in quality photography or even illustration can be a crucial part of their storytelling and identity. It not only elevates the visual caliber of their brand but it helps their company really stand out from the rest of them.

Photography is a worthy investment: once you get a good photo, it’s worth its weight in gold.

So, this is like the 8th draft of me writing this. And every time, 2 paragraphs in, I realize that all I’m doing is writing about how great Honda is. Stop, backspace backspace, delete delete. I’m supposed to be talking about my design for the 2009 “Honda in America” brochure, about MY contribution, MY concept. And, inevitably, 2 paragraphs later, Honda Honda Honda.

But then I thought, maybe that’s appropriate. That really is the concept for their 50th anniversary brochure. Why do the talking when Honda really speaks for themselves.

“Think Simple.”

Since I first started at Grafik 4 years ago, I’ve been designing this brochure. Until this year, it has been a strictly informational piece, relying on content and photography to convey its message rather than concept. However, this year was different. It’s the anniversary of Honda’s first store front in America, a motorcycle dealership in California that opened in 1959. 50 years later, Honda’s employing 28,000 Americans in all 50 states and has a capital investment of $12.1 billion dollars. If you are driving a Honda or Acura that you bought here, there is a 76% chance that it was made in North America (see, I’m doing it again, talking about Honda…).

“More of a good thing.”

I started looking at Honda’s vintage ads. Tons of them. And there it was. Everything that was outlined in the neat charts and graphs, all the bullets and captions of this content heavy brochure, was exactly the same. For 50 years, Honda’s advertising and messaging proves that all the copy in that brochure is true. So why should I do all the talking? Let the power of their message speak for itself.

So I found a vintage ad who’s headline worked for each section. “New openings from Honda” talking about creating manufacturing facilities across the country. “It comes with a conscience”, 1970s ad headline, now serving as the headline for the environment and energy section. Apparently, Honda was green when green was still just a color. “Rare Accord” to discuss the relationship Honda has with it’s suppliers. Honda’s involvement in community programs: “One good turn deserves another.” I mean, this is easy people! Next one!

The brochure really just rolled itself out. I’d love to take the credit. Okay, sure, I did do all the research, find the ads, pair them up with each section, make the brochure visually interesting, balancing copy with concept. Let me tell you, when a client sees white space on a page, for them it’s an opportunity to fill it w/ more information. So I was a gatekeeper, fiercely protecting the CONCEPT, protecting the page so that the power of their message wouldn’t be fighting for attention, but not muffling or diminishing the important information that needed to be conveyed.

“Take one out and open it up.”

I must say, I’m very proud of how this brochure turned out. I pulled a few jpegs of each spread to show the design, but, like anything conceptual, you really need to pick it up and look through, page by page, and see for yourself.

And, by the way, I have a 2001 Civic Coupe, which I love, and now, after designing this brochure, can say for sure that I am very proud to own a Honda.

Sometimes there are so many ways to belittle our profession—as graphic designers. It never fails to amaze me how the elements we consider and study—like typefaces, kerning, are thought of as small insignificant details.

Consider the recent fray over the Twin Towers memorial. www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/nyregion/24names.html They have to display 2,982 names in the memorial. They have gone through dozens of typefaces, and have called it a painstaking process—where they finally settled on Option Y—Optima.  The architects have had to look at lots and lots of options and have done their due diligence in terms of testing the type faces on different surfaces, under water, with water flowing over it, etc.

And it is no wonder they had to go to so many different options. Imagine how many options they could have gone with if they had worked with someone specialized in studying fonts. Now the commission has not skimped at all. You have renowned architect Michael Arad leading the charge, Davis Brody architects, and world-renowned landscape architect, Peter Walker (one of my former professors). So where are are graphic designers in this lineup? Why is it that every architect fancies themself a type designer as well? The fault lies not with architects or urban planners, rather it lies with the fact that as a profession we have not educated the public on what we do, the training we have, and that the small details do indeed matter.

Optima may be a very fine choice—and is certainly a classic face, but an opportunity was passed up to design a memorial that has a contemporary feel to its choice or fonts and it was missed. And our profession was denied an opportunity to do what we do best.

So how fitting is it that the best designer on Logotournment.com is called Carrion.

I was on Facebook and low and behold what do I see:

So I click on to see what this is all about and all I can say is WOW. In a few hours you can get essentially free work from around the world. A world-class design bake-off that allows new businesses to pay $250 to have hours and hours and hours of work. AND If you want you can set the amount you will pay for a logo. Looking online at the prize money-the top ever paid is $700. WOW! What a fortune. And it gets better, In addition to working for a pittance, being pitted against your fellow professionals—I use that word loosely—you get to pay 15% of your commission to logotournament.com. Fine print—if there are less than 30 submissions, the contest can be canceled.

If you venture into the site you can read half-inane posts from design wannabes all explaining how they are not being exploited and not harming our industry. And most arguments have more holes than swiss cheese. Spec work is spec work. Plain and simple. Exploitation is exploitation.

Ironically if you actually track down the owner of this site, Quinn Ventures—you will see an absolutely lovely logo with absolutely no information about the company whatsoever. Makes you kind or wonder…. And I wonder how much they paid the designer for that logo? Zip.