David Airey, graphic designer » Branding

Qualities to achieve in identity standards

David Airey — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:17:10 +0000

Some worthwhile qualities designer Jerry Kuyper tries to achieve when creating identity standards.

Strategic
Focus on why it is important and what the company is trying to achieve, not just how to do it.

Visual
Demonstrations are often more effective than lengthy text.

Easy-to-understand
Develop content that is engaging and avoid unnecessary jargon.

Short
20 pages of useful information may be more effective than 50 pages. Don’t include filler, such as unnecessary information on how to create a business card, when templates are more effective.

Respectful
Understand who will be using the standards and don’t insult their intelligence.

Balanced
Identify the appropriate balance between structure and flexibility. Too much flexibility results in complete chaos, too much structure results in lifeless communications.

Digital
For interim standards, create pdf files that can viewed online, emailed or downloaded and printed the standards can eventually be established as an online identity resource. Most printed sets of guidelines are expensive, become outdated and out of print. (GE printed up 2,000 copies of their 400 page standards in 1987, none were available after the first year)

Scalable
Digital files that can be expanded or revised help to establish that identity management isn’t a static or one time event.

Good advice.

The qualities were originally published on Tony Spaeth’s excellent Identityworks. I recommend a visit for numerous examples of guidelines and standards manuals. A few more links here.

I lifted the colour variations image at the top from one of my favourite guideline manuals — Christopher Doyle Identity Guidelines 2008 (the link downloads a PDF file approximately 1MB in size). Doyle was worthy winner of a yellow pencil at the 2009 D&AD Awards for his efforts.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

What if: Sydenham

David Airey — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:12:12 +0000

what if: sydenham

The idea’s simple.

Take a photo of a run-down or unused shop-front where you live.
Give it a digital refurb.
Present to shop owner, potential developers, or local council.

From the what if? website:

“If one shop, business, bench or sign is improved due to the work we are showing in here, then we will consider it a success.”

(before) Craft Shoe Repairs

(after) Billings Quality Fishmonger & Butcher

(before) Sydenham cinema

(after) Sydenham Picture Palace

It’s a lot better than doing nothing, one way to improve your local neighbourhood, and something I plan to do for my hometown Bangor.

what if: sydenham, designed by Good People.

Great idea.

——

Update:

“I did the same thing for a local park with an idea to improve it. The local council listened and gave us funding. We now have an outdoor gym, outdoor classroom, community garden, updated adventure playground and people are using it again.”
— LEE NEWHAM, GOOD PEOPLE

——

Excerpt image courtesy of Thinkstock.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

No Weight Gain Chocolate

David Airey — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:09:43 +0000

Fair play to Bloomsberry & Co for a light-hearted approach to chocolate branding.

Made me look. Made me buy.

Remember, though, a balanced diet is also essential.

More chocolate packaging ideas on the Bloomsberry website. Hats off.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

How to convince your clients they need a brand, not just a logo

David Airey — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:52:41 +0000

The following advice has been excerpted from the May/June 2010 issue of Layers Magazine, and was written by brand identity designer Andrew Sabatier.

How to convince your clients they need a brand and not just a logo

Explain that you should be employed to find a brand idea that will form the basis of all the company’s branding (and perhaps even future business decisions) of which a logo should only be one expression, an idea that is likely to form the basis of a the brand’s overall approach. Such an idea may already be a defining characteristic of the business waiting to be celebrated in the branding.

Point out other brands your client admires that can be identified by branding elements that are not the logo. Some well-branded businesses can be identified by their color, typeface, photographic, illustration, or even copywriting style alone, or (more commonly) a carefully selected combination of these elements. Try to point out the underlying idea that determines all these other brand elements.

Your client’s success is your success. Sell a process to your client; a process you’ll guide them through and that will enable you to decide on a brand identity solution together. This will help you to establish a long-term relationship with your client. If you deliver good ideas they will be more likely to consult you again to develop the brand ideas even further.

Avoid references to the word “logo,” rather talk about the marks of a brand of which there should be a primary “brand mark” (two words). Replace “logo” with “brandmark” (one word). This will help you and your client to think about the overall experience of the brand and not just the logo in isolation. Logos are only meaningful in context and they should be seen to add value to that context. It is unlikely that a logo alone will be able to add sufficient value to a business. Logos are best employed in a system of brand marks that determine a unique brand experience.

Avoid logo beauty parades. Don’t only show different logos; logos are usually abstract expressions of an idea. Show how the logo idea relates to other brand expressions of the same idea. Show how an idea works in other situations, not just on stationary. The better the idea, the more unique, adaptable, and valuable it will be, and the higher the fees you can justifiably charge. Dedicated logo designers are a dime a dozen whereas brand identity designers offer far more value and often dramatically improve business for their clients.

What do you think?

I’m sure Andrew would love to know what you think of his advice. I would, too.

Coca-Cola photo by Antonino Tumminia

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

It’s your blog

David Airey — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:53:08 +0000

Use other people’s content.

Don’t give credit.

Pretend you’re something you’re not.

Just keep in mind that everything you do online affects your brand, and gives others a strong opinion about who you are. If you want to be known as a content thief, as someone who never gives credit, or for having a hidden agenda, then go right ahead.

But if you want to be known for your original content, for offering praise when it’s deserved, and for being honest, do something about it today. Express your thoughts. Talk about designers you admire. Expect nothing in return.

It’s your blog. Your brand. You choose how we see you.

(Photo credit)

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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?

David Airey, graphic designer » Branding

Qualities to achieve in identity standards

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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What if: Sydenham

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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No Weight Gain Chocolate

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How to convince your clients they need a brand, not just a logo

How to convince your clients they need a brand and not just a logo

What do you think?

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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It’s your blog

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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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?

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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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

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