David Airey, graphic designer » Branding

Where to find contextual image templates for your brand identity presentations

David Airey — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:01:44 +0000

When it comes to client presentations, contextual imagery is key. The use of digital mock-ups allows your clients to visualize how their new brand identity will tie-in with the products they produce, the premises they occupy, the vehicles they drive, the clothes they wear.

Here are three resources for downloading contextual image templates.

PrestoVisual

The new kid on the block, PrestoVisual was launched in 2010. I asked the site owner what prompted the development.

“I guess it’s obvious that everyone uses the internet these days to source images for projects. The last few years has seen the rise of stock photography sites that cater for almost any situation — up to a point. I think that as budgets and deadlines have become tighter the stock image site has come into its own. My experience in the packaging design industry has shown me that there’s a fairly continuous need for imagery based on every-day objects, especially in the drinks sector. I’ve sold nearly 1,000 wine bottle renders on istockphoto over the past three years, which showed me there was a demand for these kind of images, and I thought ‘why not do my own site?’

“I had the dream of creating a virtual supermarket full of blank pack visuals that designers could call upon as and when projects demanded. I’ve launched the site with nearly 600 visuals — all created in my spare time, and I intend to keep adding more images when time allows.”

LiveSurface

The LiveSurface image template library was created by designer and entrepreneur Joshua Distler.

Flickr

It’s much more difficult to find the “right” image on Flickr, and you’ll need to be sure the photographer grants permission for use, but if you have the time, searching through the Flickr archives is another option.

I recommend using the advanced image search, and checking the box to find all photos tagged with the “creative commons” license.

Where do you find your contextual image templates?

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

The Designful Company

David Airey — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:09:32 +0000

The following passage is excerpted from Marty Neumeier’s latest book, The Designful Company: How to build a culture of nonstop innovation.

Imagine a crazy world where what you learned in business school is either upside down or backwards—where customers control the company, jobs are avenues of self-expression, the barriers to competition are out of your control, strangers design your products, fewer features are better, advertising drives customers away, demographics are beside the point, whatever you sell you take back, best practices are obsolete at birth; where meaning talks, money walks, and stability is fantasy; where talent trumps obedience, imagination beats knowledge, and empathy trounces logic.

If you’ve been paying close enough attention, you don’t have to imagine this Alice-in-Wonderland scenario. You see it forming all around you. The only question is whether you can change your business fast enough to take full advantage of it.

Marty Neumeier

“Even the Lone Ranger didn’t work alone.”

More info on Marty Neumeier.

More info on The Designful Company.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Graphic design bookstore

David Airey — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:16:59 +0000

I’m often asked what graphic design books I recommend, so to save a little time in future I’ve launched a graphic design bookstore.

The books are divided into seven categories:

I’ve read about half the books listed, and those that I haven’t come recommended by other designers. Where available, each book is shown alongside its Amazon rating and customer reviews.

Here are a few I’ve had a chance to feature on my blogs:

Do you have any design book recommendations, or any thoughts on the books I’ve picked? Tips or preferences much appreciated.

Visit the design bookstore

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

When vanity is good for business

David Airey — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:13:01 +0000

Photo via FabSugar

We’re all interested in what others say about us. Especially when it’s about our work. Now if, like me, you act as your own PR team, discovering these snippets and citations rests solely on your shoulders. And in today’s business environment, it’s not just vanity. It’s a necessity.

Cue the ego search.

Otherwise known as egosurfing, it involves searching online for your personal or company name. You might say, “But I already know about me and my company.” The thing is, it’s not about brushing up on your personal achievements. And it’s not just for the vain amongst us either.

The ego search is about managing your brand.

PR teams of the 1900s had weeks and months to plan around potential bad press. Today, however, and as Domino’s Pizza knows all too well, that timeframe has been reduced to hours and days.

With the speed of electronic communication, bad press can spread like wildfire, but by keeping close tabs on any mention of your brand, you can extinguish fires before crowds fan the flames.

How to automate your ego search

It’s easily done using Google Alerts and Twitter Search.

To receive citations via email or RSS, the Google Alerts service is straightforward enough. Simply enter the search term(s) you want to monitor, then choose the frequency of updates (“as it happens” / daily / weekly), and enter your email address for receiving notifications (users with a Google account can receive updates via RSS, as I do).

“But trackbacks already tell me when I’ve been mentioned.”
This is true. When you log into the WordPress admin, you see a small area that displays “incoming links”, so when a blog or website links to one of your posts, you’re automatically notified. What this admin area doesn’t cover, however, is when your brand name is mentioned without the use of a back-link, or when you’re talked about in the comment section of an article. So with Google Alerts those scenarios are taken care of.

My RSS “Alert” doesn’t show when I’m mentioned on Twitter (a good thing where “retweets” are concerned) so I use Twitter Search on a near-daily basis. I search for the terms “david airey” and “logo design love”, then again without spaces i.e. “davidairey” and “logodesignlove”. The latter covers when someone has typed your web address in a tweet, or if your brand name appears in your Twitter username.

It’s possible to automate these results by subscribing to the search RSS feed. To do this, simply pull your chosen query, then cast your eye to the “feed for this query” link at the top of the results page. Personally, I find it takes less time to read the results on Twitter.

It’s not all about bad press, though

Most of the negative thoughts directed at me arrive via blog comments, so I don’t really need to go looking for them. An ego search can, however, actually be very encouraging. Yesterday, for instance, I came across this tweet from Chris Green of Freelance For Money. I don’t know who Chris is, and he kindly took the time to produce this short YouTube video where he talks about my blogs. Thanks very much!

Chris appealed to my ego, prompting me to link back to him and embed his video in my post. Take note (but don’t let me get too big-headed).

How effective is your ego?

Are you keeping tabs on your brand press? Do you get tempted to check more often than you should? If there’s a more efficient way of receiving vanity alerts, please do let me know.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Logo trademarking tips: A legal perspective

David Airey — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:53:13 +0000

Frosty Toyota symbol by Trynes

This guest post has been republished and edited with the kind permission of author Steve Baird, Chair Trademark & Brand Management with Winthrop & Weinstine Attorneys, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Steve has passionately represented clients in trademark and related intellectual property matters for more than 18 years, with clients spanning virtually every industry. Having focused on trademarks and the legal implications of branding and design for nearly two decades, Steve is a frequent speaker and author on trademarks, brand management, and related intellectual property subjects.

Pros and Cons of Stand-Alone Non-Verbal Logos and Other Trademark Styles: A Legal Perspective

This is my effort to identify, from a legal perspective, some of the pros and cons of non-verbal logos and other trademark styles.

But, before addressing the legal implications, it’s worth noting that a number of our insightful readers and commenters have already helped articulate a variety of pros and cons from a business and marketing perspective (view the comments on Duets Blog). By my count, there appears to be consensus on at least two important points:

Having an iconic stand-alone non-verbal logo or wordless trademark symbol is highly desirable, especially for truly international brands; but
be prepared to spend a lot of time, effort, and significant resources to achieve one.

In addition, at least one designer has written that having a logo without words “can be a big branding pain” for a variety of reasons. She identifies three basic logo styles:

Text logos
symbol logos
combination logos

Examples of text logos are the Coca-Cola script, the Yahoo! stylized word, the Google stylized word, and the highly stylized eBay logo.

On the other hand, the Shell logo, McDonald’s Golden Arches, and the Nike Swoosh, are all good examples of symbol logos. Here’s a message board collecting a number of other possible candidates for symbol logos, each capable of standing alone — without words — yet still having a lot to say to consumers.

The designer referenced above contends that for a variety of reasons, combination logos often make the most sense. A combination logo “combines both a symbol and the company name. The symbol and text can be integrated together, side by side, or with one located above the other.”

Generally, from a trademark owner and legal perspective, I prefer the combination logo too, but not the “integrated” type, instead the “side by side” or the “one above the other” type. The Mercedes-Benz combination logo shown below nicely illustrates the “one above the other” type of combination logo:

The combination logo is your best bet for trademarking

Generally, this format and style is more flexible, easier to clear for adoption and use, easier to register and protect each element separately, and easier to enforce rights in both verbal and non-verbal elements.

With respect to enhanced flexibility, a trademark owner can elect to always use the verbal and non-verbal elements together, perhaps as a way of reducing the risk of infringing on another’s prior rights in a mark perhaps similar to either the verbal or non-verbal element.

Jack Cuffari of Brand Smacks commented that the combination logo is the “best-case scenario” because it is possible to “wean the symbol away from the name once research has proven that the target audience gets the connection, so that the symbol can be used alone, or in conjunction with the brand name.”

Indeed, few symbol logos spring into existence without a history of having been used side by side with the underlying brand name, so, the symbol adopted by the “Artist Formerly Known as Prince” is probably the best exception to this general rule:

With respect to ease of clearance, it is generally easier to clear physically separable combination logos over text logos or integrated combination logos, since the Mercedes-Benz verbal portion involves a straightforward word search, and the corresponding three-point star within a circle symbol involves a straightforward design search.

In fact, it is often more difficult to obtain a comprehensive and reliable trademark search report for a proposed text logo or an integrated combination logo as compared to a symbol logo or a physically separable combination logo. Because of design coding challenges, it is easier for a trademark searcher to locate prior marks of potential concern when one’s proposed logo comprises a stylized star or shell design than a text logo that may be unknowingly or unintentionally similar, not to the word, but to the color combination and lettering style employed by, say, Coca-Cola, Yahoo!, Google, or eBay:

With respect to ease of registration, if the brand name is physically integrated and part of or even touching the non-verbal design elements, in many cases, the non-verbal design elements cannot be separately registered as a trademark. To register the non-verbal design elements of an integrated combination logo, the applicant must convince the U.S. Trademark Office that the non-verbal design elements actually function as a separate trademark..

This can be difficult to establish if the verbal element is always present within the design. On the other hand, the Trademark Office views a non-integrated combination logo as comprising at least three different marks, each of which may be registered alone:

The word or words;
the non-verbal symbol;
the combination of verbal and non-verbal elements.

By being able to register each element separately at the outset, even during a time when they are always used together, it facilitates the trademark owner’s ability to eventually ”wean the symbol away from the name” with added confidence.

For more information on the importance and benefits of federal registration, see my previous post entitled “The Power of Federal Trademark Registration Remains Strong in Tough Economic Times.”

With respect to ease of enforcement, assuming each element of a physically separable combination logo has been registered, enforcement is enhanced too, for the reasons already stated above. Having each element registered separately, even though they may only be used together, permits the Trademark Office to refuse registration of later marks that are confusingly similar to either the verbal or non-verbal element. In the event that the Trademark Office doesn’t see a conflict for some unexplained reason, the non-integrated combination logo format also enhances the trademark owner’s ability to challenge registration of another’s mark that may not be confusingly similar to the combined elements, but to one of them.

Disclaimer
This blog post (first published unedited here) is provided for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be advertising, and it is not intended to be and should not be relied upon as a source of legal advice. You should not rely upon the content without first seeking the advice of legal counsel. The author of this blog post and his employer, Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken, or not taken, based upon the content of this blog post.

Visit the Winthrop & Weinstine website

More on trademarking coming soon
From David: Steve has kindly agreed to share more of his expert knowledge here on David Airey dot com. In the coming weeks he’ll discuss the trademark ramifications of three completely unrelated businesses, each adopting the same look and feel for their text logos (but obviously with different words). I’m looking forward to learning from him.

Logo trademark resources

USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office
USPTO: where to start
USPTO: is registration of my mark required?
INTA: International Trademark Association
Trademark, from Wikipedia
Patent and Trademark Information, from University Libraries
Common misconceptions about trademarks, from Interbrand

Do you have any trademarking stories or tips to share?

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Imitation vs differentiation

David Airey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:02:46 +0000

Photo by Jill Murray

Starting a business isn’t easy. That’s a given. But when people have tread the path before you, it’s tempting to imitate. After all, if they’re successful, why not do it just like them and be successful too? Thing is, you’re not like the others. People don’t do business with you because you work like someone else. They choose you because of who you are.

A follower, or an initiator?

Think about what makes you stand out. Your higher quality product. Your excellent customer service. Your attention to detail. Use that to show your potential clients that you’re the right choice for them. Not how similar you are to someone else.

If you find that others are imitating you, take solace in these three valid reasons to never fear being copied. Here’s a quick excerpt from Dwight’s timely words.

Chinese automakers BYD (Build Your Dreams, seriously) and Geely have been blatantly ripping-off designs from Mercedes-Benz and Rolls Royce, two of the most prestigious auto brands in the world.

It’s shameful.

It’s undignified.

But does it even matter?

Do you think any of the world’s millionaires will one day wake up and say, “Oh, I’d love to buy a Mercedes-Benz CLK… but the BYD S8 is a cheaper alternative, so let me buy that instead.”

BYD S8

Mercedes-Benz CLK

It’s the brand that people associate with. You know… the story. And if that wasn’t true, we’d all be proud Skoda owners.

Imitation around the blogging circuit

An example closer to home relates to design blogs and the “top whatever” lists that increasingly crop up. Everything’s good in moderation, but say for example you see a post referencing the “top 20 designers on Twitter”, you can bet your life that if you add your own 20 picks and republish as a top 40, it won’t be long before someone “betters” it with a top 100, 200, or 500. Where do you draw the line?

It’s not a competition to see who can copy and paste.

It’s all about you.

As a blog author, differentiate yourself with compelling, personal, unique content so you won’t lose your audience to the next 100+1 list.

As Seth says in reference to the video below (worth three minutes of your time), “guy #49 is irrelevant“. It’s the initiators people remember and forge a bond with.

What do you reckon?

Are you promoting what sets you apart, or are you seduced by imitation?

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Measuring the success, and failure, of branding

David Airey — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:47:49 +0000

Image courtesy of OutProve Technologies

With design, a failure is much easier to measure than a success. Especially when the cock-up costs your company tens of millions.

In the words of someone you know, but who I can’t recall, “Good design is invisible”, so we’re much more likely to kick up a fuss when it’s bad.

Here’s where you come in.

I’m looking for tales of branding success and failure to feature in my book. The search isn’t easy, and you all know a lot more than I do, so if you can share a story that shows how a change of brand identity affected a business (it could even be yours), please do get in touch.

Tropicana is an obvious case study to include. Now sure, there are a raft of external influences that can affect sales — the economy, changing markets, the loss of a competitor etc. — so it’s (usually) very difficult to blame such a sales slump entirely on a fresh company look. That said, this is definitely one of the more “cut and dry” scenarios.

Thanks in advance.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

The true cost of rebranding?

David Airey — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:04:14 +0000

You can only estimate the value of a brand that has lived through four centuries, so at what cost is a name-change from one established more than 200 years ago, to another born this decade?

It’s happening now with UK insurance company, Norwich Union, established in 1797.

In May 2000, Norwich Union merged with insurer, CGU, and in 2002 was rebranded as Aviva. Since then, however, and despite 4,000 jobs being axed in favour of Indian call centres, the company has retained its separate UK identity, as you’d expect from one of Britain’s best-known financial brands.

With almost 23 million customers, this is a risky move, and were it to fail, Aviva wouldn’t be the first multi-national to botch a brand launch.

Mitsubishi, for instance, introduced a range of vehicles named ‘Pajero‘ (known as ‘Shogun’ here in the UK). No-one told the company directors that ‘pajero’ is Spanish slang for “wanker”.

Or do you remember Consignia from 2001?

What could be more sacrosanct in branding terms than the Post Office? Its management hasn’t always seen it that way. In 2001, the company was rebranded as Consignia in an attempt to distance itself from its state history and claim a greater share of international markets. The public was not impressed with this attack on a British institution. The following year, Consignia had been dumped in favour of the more traditional Royal Mail Group.

More rebranding disasters at the foot of the following article from The Independent: Norwich Union name to disappear after 200 years.

Here’s the high-budget Aviva TV commercial that’s currently being aired in the UK.

View the Aviva commercial on YouTube if you can’t see the video above.

I’m sure Aviva directors will say the change heralds a bright future, and I can see the benefits of having one single international brand, but unlike Ringo Starr, Elle Macpherson, Alice Cooper and Bruce Willis, Norwich Union had already achieved top-of-mind positioning.

200 years of trust is a long time, and we humans are creatures of comfort. 23 million customers are going to need a little comforting.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Are freelance designers really suckers?

David Airey — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:57:46 +0000

When someone tells you they’re a freelancer, be it freelance graphic design or another profession, what are your immediate thoughts?

Does the freelance job title portray an impression of expert, or of someone who is new to the field, perhaps picking up some earnings to make ends meet? I guess this is different for everyone, but in an ideal world, you want as many people as possible to know your competencies, at the earliest opportunity.

Tony Clark (of Teaching Sells and Success from the Nest) prompted me to publish this article, after writing how freelancing is for suckers.

Whilst at first he was not wanting to admit it, Tony’s realisation came when he was working on a web re-design project for a real estate consultant. About five iterations had been produced, but none were to the satisfaction of the client, even though Tony considered the results to be beautiful, and very user-friendly.

It turns out that the client wasn’t at all interested in Tony’s expertise or knowledge of good design. All the real estate consultant wanted was someone to create what he thought was good design, even though he had no design education, and this became apparent to Tony when his client said:

You’re a vendor, I’m the client. I don’t care what you think, just do it like I ask.

I’ve been self-employed for just two and a half years, but I know exactly the design client that Tony refers to.

When I started out, I branded myself as a freelance designer, but it wasn’t long before I worked with someone who disagreed with every alternative I presented, claiming that none were suitable for the job. I even took a hit and worked more than what I was being paid for (I know, I shouldn’t have, but I loathe not providing a client with a result they’re happy with).

In his article, Tony adds:

Freelancing is a great way to start out, but if you’re just doing it to cover the basic needs, you’ll be scrambling forever to keep up. There are options though — and I thought I found the perfect solution. Independent contractor.

Today I brand myself as a graphic designer and design consultant, as opposed to freelance graphic designer, and whilst I can’t be sure if it makes any difference, all my clients since the change have been very happy with what I’m producing.

Here’s an interesting hierarchial diagram, from Tony’s article, showing freelancers on the bottom rung.

Image copyright: Tony Clark

Tony typically defines a freelancer as one person working on many short-term projects, and Jeanne, of Writer’s Notes, added this comment:

It is an unfortunate reality that, very often, freelancers, like temp workers, get no respect. (I’ve functioned in both capacities.) Of course, there are many employers who treat their employees with zero respect, as well.

What do you think?

As a client, would you consider a consultant more knowledgable than a freelancer? Perhaps you feel that it takes time before a freelancer earns the right to call themselves a consultant, but in reality, a graphic designer already wears many hats.

As a designer, do you feel as if the freelance title attracts a negative impression of what you do? Do you, or have you, ever defined yourself as a freelance designer? If so, I’d love to read your opinion.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

Advertising to children: right or wrong?

David Airey — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:15:34 +0000

To a kid, everything’s better in a McDonald’s wrapper.

The Chicago Sun Times recently reported, Are your kids McDonald’s brainwashed?

The article follows research by Stanford University’s associate professor of pediatrics, Dr Tom N. Robinson. The study, involving 63 children aged 3–5, had the kids taste the exact same McDonald’s food, wrapped in branded and un-branded packaging. Every time, the food in the un-branded wrappers lost the taste test.

Granted, the study probably would’ve been better if the familiar brand was compared to another familiar brand, rather than to none at all, but do you think advertisers go too far?

A McDonald’s spokesperson said this:

The fact is, parents make the decisions for their children and our research confirms that we’ve earned their trust as a responsible marketer based on decades of delivering the safest food.

Some of you will know that I don’t have any kids, so I’m not qualified to speak on the persuasiveness of fiesty children. To the parents out there, how persuasive can your little ones actually be about what they get?

Cam Beck has initiated an interesting debate on this subject over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix. Cam has this to say:

When are we going to stop looking to government to fix our inability to say “no” to our kids? I really don’t care how much money McDonald’s spends on advertising to children, because three things are true:

1. One Big Mac or Happy Meal, when consumed properly, is not going to kill me or my kids;
2. Thus, marketing them is not an inherently immoral act; and
3. I can always say “No” to prevent excess.

Is it okay to advertise to children?

Pradeep Chintagunta, a University of Chicago marketing professor, said:

I don’t think you can necessarily hold this against McDonald’s, since the goal of marketing is to build familiarity.

Should McDonald’s be held accountable for their advertising actions? Does the responsibility lie 100% in the hands of the parent? I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews on this topic, which I can understand, considering I’ve made it a question of morality. I’m very interested to know what you think here, as I value your opinion, and you (my readers) have previously given me lots of food for thought (no pun intended).

David Airey, graphic designer » Branding

Where to find contextual image templates for your brand identity presentations

PrestoVisual

LiveSurface

Flickr

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The Designful Company

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Graphic design bookstore

Visit the design bookstore

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When vanity is good for business

How to automate your ego search

It’s not all about bad press, though

How effective is your ego?

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Logo trademarking tips: A legal perspective

Pros and Cons of Stand-Alone Non-Verbal Logos and Other Trademark Styles: A Legal Perspective

The combination logo is your best bet for trademarking

Logo trademark resources

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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Imitation vs differentiation

A follower, or an initiator?

Imitation around the blogging circuit

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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Measuring the success, and failure, of branding

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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The true cost of rebranding?

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Are freelance designers really suckers?

What do you think?

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Advertising to children: right or wrong?

Is it okay to advertise to children?

Further resources

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