You’re a graphic design student with a portfolio full of fictitious projects. You want to work with clients to build your experience, but you need a more developed portfolio to attract the clients. A classic catch-22.

That’s when working pro bono proves extremely useful.

Read on to learn why, and for a chance to win one of five signed copies of Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities.

What is pro bono?

Pro bono publico (usually shortened to pro bono) is a phrase derived from Latin meaning “for the public good.” The term is generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment as a public service.

Unlike traditional volunteerism, pro bono uses the specific skills of professionals to provide services to those who are unable to afford them.

What business should you approach?

Contact a small- to medium-sized non-profit organisation. Larger non-profits will have a substantial budget allocated to their brand identity, and are more likely to work with an experienced professional or studio.

Conduct an online search or look in your telephone directory for a non-profit in your locality. The benefit of staying local is you can meet your new client face-to-face. Doing so will not only help build your confidence in business meetings, but it makes it easier to ensure you’re dealing with the decision-maker rather than passing design ideas through a middle-person — adding an unnecessary step to the design process.

There are further benefits with working locally. For instance, once the project is complete, you will have the opportunity to take photos of the finished design in context (e.g., on signage and stationery). It’s these contextual shots that can turn an average portfolio into an excellent one.

Additionally, you’re building your network of local business contacts, and the stronger your network, the more tools and help you will have available throughout your design career.

How to make the approach

It’s important to talk to the person directly responsible for the visual branding. In a small-sized non-profit this is likely to be the managing director or chief executive.

Call or send an email pitching yourself as a talented designer who is about to, or has recently graduated with a design degree. Say it’s your policy to devote a small percentage of time towards pro bono work (for the public good), and that your client’s non-profit mission is one you have a great deal of respect for (this should of course be true).

Detail the savings you are offering your client (your standard rate for an identity project, only discounted by 100%). Doing so will ensure the value of the outcome isn’t underestimated, and helps keep your client motivated.

Arrange a 30-minute meeting, where you will discuss the design needs and set a course of action.

In the meeting

Arrive with a list of pre-determined questions, a notepad, a pen, and your business card (which you will hand over at the end).

It’s possible your client is anxious about the process of having a brand identity created or redesigned. She may see ideas as a risk, and not as a way to secure her mortgage. So the more indepth your initial discussions, the more at ease you will make your client. It may be that it’s her first time working on an identity project, and it’s up to you to show how smoothly the process can flow.

Be sure to time the meeting, and if you haven’t finished within 30 minutes, say you have reached the end of the allocated time, and that you can call or email your client at a later date for any other necessary information — your client will be very busy, and will appreciate you sticking to your pre-arranged time limit.

Questions to ask

The crux of a healthy graphic design brief lies in the questions you pose. Obtaining the necessary answers isn’t difficult. You just need to ask.

If you want specifics, I outline a number of vital questions in chapter four of Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities, and I have five free signed copies up for grabs.

Photo by Raja Sandhu

There are two ways to enter the random draw:

1. Either upload one of your favourite self-designed logos to the Logo Design Love Facebook group
2. Or update your Twitter account with the following message:

Improve your portfolio with pro bono design: http://bit.ly/cfkg1m (by @DavidAirey)

Winners will be drawn and notified on Friday 26th February. I’ll also update this page with the winning names. Two signed copies will go to designers who upload to the Facebook group, and three to those who spread the word on Twitter. Double your chances by entering both ways.

Update: 26 February 2010
The winners have been drawn and notified. They are Alex Rogers, Alison Rowan, Wilson Almeida, Jack Franklin, and Naomi Oldfield. Thanks very much to all who entered!

If random draws, Twitter, or Facebook aren’t your thing, the book’s available to purchase now on Amazon.com (or Amazon.co.uk for those in the United Kingdom).

There’s also a free chapter here, and a few book reviews here.

How did you attract your first client in self-employment?

My first design client was actually my former employer — a cancer organisation in Edinburgh. I had been responsible for the company’s print and web management, and when I resigned to spend some months travelling the world, I returned to find that a suitable replacement hadn’t been found.

I asked the chief executive to hire me for three days per week as a design contractor. He agreed, enabling me to spend the remainder of the working week building my online presence and sourcing new clients.

Five years on, and there’s very little I’d change about the path I’ve taken.

What about you? How did your first client come about?

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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?

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It was December 2008 when out-of-the-blue I received an email from Nikki McDonald, senior acquisitions editor at US-based publisher Peachpit. In December 2009 I received a box filled with copies of my first book Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities. Here are some of my experiences along the way.

Self-publish or work with an established publisher?

I considered the main benefits of each as:

• Self-publishing: 100% of profits are recovered.
• Working with an established publisher: I gain the experience of people who know what they’re doing — professional copy editors, marketers, and production staff. Over 450 Pearson reps (Pearson is Peachpit’s parent company) canvass the U.S. educational market, and information about my book would be available via course codes in graphic design, brand management, marketing, business education, and computer graphics/arts.

I’d been following the progress of designers Mark Boulton (England) and Eric Karjaluoto (Canada), both of whom chose to self-publish their most recent books, but both had more design and writing experience than me. So I turned to friends for advice. I was told not to expect riches from the sales of a design book — fine by me, as it wasn’t my motivation — and that as a first-time author I should use the experience of a proven publisher, trading what possible financial gain might result from self-publishing for the ability to reach a wider audience, helping share my thoughts with more designers.

I viewed the project as both a challenge, and as a way to establish a reputation as a brand identity designer who knows what he’s doing. The outcome is, of course, for readers of the book to decide.

The book proposal

Before a contract was signed I was required to submit a book proposal. This included a book outline — draft chapter headings and details of my design background / writing experience.

A proposal form was supplied by my publisher, and there was some back and forth before it was finalised. I would use these details to help grow my thoughts about the book’s content, and it’s worth noting that the proposal can be quite different from how the completed book turns out (looking back, mine certainly was).

Finding contributors

It was during the proposal stage that I began contacting potential contributors. I didn’t want to write a book filled only with my work, believing that readers would gain more help by learning from a wide range of designers, from all over the world.

I contacted studios and independent graphic designers, pitching my book idea and asking for specific logo contributions. Those interested were asked for logo EPS files, available sketches, and the rationale behind each design.

You can view the full list of contributors here.

My archives show that from book concept to completion, I sent a total of 1,330 book-related emails. Not for the faint-hearted, touch-typing a bonus.

Design responsibilities

I’d seen a lot of design books that were poorly designed and difficult to read, so I took responsibility for the design and composition of everything: cover, title page, copyright page, resources section, index — the lot.

Once the content was final, I would provide Peachpit’s production team with packaged InDesign files and print-formatted images.

Contract negotiations

With the completed proposal in the hands of my publisher, we could then negotiate the contract offer. It’s worth noting that everything is negotiable, and if you’re contemplating becoming an author, it’s vital you’re happy with the terms. You’ll be taking on a huge amount of work, and you don’t want to get second thoughts half-way through the project because you think you’re being underpaid.

The offer I received included an advance payment of the book’s royalties. This took the form of a monetary figure, split into four, with a cheque for 25% mailed at the start, and the remainder paid at pre-determined stages of completion.

A one-off design fee was also agreed (paid upon completion).

It was four months after the initial out-of-the-blue email when I finally put pen to paper and signed a contract.

And so, in April 2009, the deal was official.

Setting a schedule

When we were ready to begin actually writing, my copy editor sent me a submission schedule, mapping the time frames for each chapter pass (1st pass, 2nd pass, 3rd pass, etc.). I was told upon receipt that we were already behind schedule, so no pressure, David.

The initial writing stages

The process worked like this: I would email a Word document to my editor, and a day or two later she would ask me to rewrite it completely, and I’d receive guidance about where I was going wrong. During the first few weeks, not only was I off-target with the writing, but none of my draft content was suitable for use. Twice I was asked to resubmit the first chapter, and although I was told how the initial chapters were always the most difficult, it was a little demoralizing.

Once the first chapter content was finally agreed upon, I needed to transfer the text and images to InDesign, then supply Peachpit’s design team with a sample PDF. This was so my preferred design and layout could be given the go-ahead.

They were happy with my design proposal, so from there on, we would edit the chapter content using Microsoft Word documents.

Keeping track of chapter drafts

A basecamp-style FTP site was created to keep track of the documents, with all content being uploaded to a central server. The folders on the FTP site worked a little like this:

• A: 1st pass Word file (to my copy editor, from me)
• A1: 1st pass copy edits (to me, from my copy editor)
• A2: 2nd pass Word file (from me)
• A3: 2nd pass copy edits (from my copy editor)
• A4: 3rd pass Word file
• A5: 3rd pass copy edits, ready for setting in InDesign
• A6: 1st pass PDF (set in the actual design, from me)
• A7: 1st pass copy edits (from my copy editor)
• A8: 2nd pass PDF
• A9: 2nd pass copy edits
• A10: 3rd pass PDF
• A11: 3rd pass copy edits

If you consider that every chapter, from one to eleven, needed to pass through these folders, there was a lot more work than I first anticipated. With each pass, however, the content became tighter, more focused, and in much better shape than it was when I first wrote it.

I owe a great deal to my development / copy editors Jill Marts Lodwig and Robin Drake, without whom the book would be a shadow of what it is.

Second thoughts

It wasn’t until we passed the half-way stage when I banished the second thoughts I was having about the entire project. I always knew I’d be taking a cut in earnings to write the book, but I didn’t appreciate how much work was going to be involved, so when things weren’t running so smoothly I questioned myself until the finish line was in sight.

Looking back, I’m very glad I stuck with it, and I have nothing but praise for the people I worked with at Peachpit.

Print production choices

The production was handled by Peachpit, but I got to make choices about the book’s size and cover stock. The size was determined back in the proposal stage (physical dimensions and page count), and I was asked whether I wanted a matte or gloss finish on the cover.

After the book was printed (and just a week or two ago) I asked Cory Borman, production guru at Peachpit, for specific print info:

The cover stock is Matte UV with embossing, 12pt color 1 side. The interior is 60# Influence Matte (88 bright) 588.

The interior was printed at the Courier Kendallville plant, with the cover embossed and printed at Moore Langen, a part of Courier Printing Co.

8,000 copies of the book were printed for the first run, with 1,800 of those sold prior to release.

Promoting the book

When the writing, editing, and production was complete, the promotional work began. I was told the most successful books are those where the author takes an active role in the promotion, and of course I was only too happy to help.

Working with Peachpit’s product marketing manager, Glenn Bisignani, I did what I could to get the word out, including the following:

• I launched a book-specific website at www.logodesignlovebook.com
• I created a Logo Design Love Facebook page and gave free copies to fans
• I showed my readers the book’s table of contents and asked which chapter they wanted for free, then, once their preference was learned, I offered a free PDF chapter download
• I supplied my publisher with a list of review copy recipients around the world — designers I know and trust
• Coming soon, I’ll be giving away signed copies (as soon as my box of books is shipped from my old address in Ireland to my new home office in Scotland)

What you’re saying

Judging by people’s updates on Twitter, book orders are now being received every day, and I’m seeing some great feedback. You can view a number of reviews here on the review page and here on Amazon.

Would I do it again?

Peachpit has kindly asked me to think of another project for this year, and I’d be delighted to work with Nikki, Jill, Cory, Robin, and Glenn again. Whether I take up the author reigns so soon is another question, and I’d like to see how I get on with my first release before making that decision.

Regrets?

My biggest regret is contacting too many potential contributors. Many designers took time out to supply me with artwork and explanations, but a maximum page count needed to be set at the beginning of the project, and when we reached the end, I had too much content. Choosing who to cut wasn’t easy, and without the help of my editor, I probably wouldn’t have been able to make a decision.

To those who helped, but weren’t featured in the book, you have my sincerest gratitude, and I hope to feature your contributions on the Logo Design Love website before too long.

Thank you

To the thousands who have already ordered a copy, thanks so much. I hope you enjoy the read, and if you have any questions — about design or writing in general — don’t hesitate to ask.

More info on the Logo Design Love book website.

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Five of my least favourite

#5 Packard Bell / packardbell.com / on Brand New

Why would any brand want to own PB? Including and especially Packard Bell. PB doesn’t bear Packard Bell. Packard Bell bears Packard Bell. There doesn’t appear to be any inherent value in owning PB. PB as a symbol is as superficial and redundant as the gloss effect throughout the new branding.
Andrew Sabatier

#4 EURO 2012 / uefa.com / on Logo Design Love
Designed by Brandia Central

The famous Oscar Wilde quote comes to mind “All Art is Quite Useless. So is a Flower.”
Raja Sandhu

#3 Kraft Foods / kraftfoods.com / on Brand New

It doesn’t help at all that the new logo is no better at all than the old one, it’s simply rearranging the deck chairs on this logo Titanic.
Armin Vit

#2 Burnley / burnley.co.uk / on Brand New

It looks like an exploded slinky which has no relevance whatsoever to it’s location.
Nathan McKinney

#1 American Life Network / americanlifetv.com / on Brand New

Which logo design contest web site did they outsource this project to?
Darrel Austin

Five of my favourite

#5 New York Philharmonic / nyphil.org / on Logo Design Love
Designed by Pentagram

It’s memorable, different, out-of-the-box, and although a dramatic departure from Scher’s other Lincoln Center identities, it manages to fit right in.
Mark Barilla

#4 City of Melbourne / melbourne.vic.gov.au / on Brand New
Designed by Landor Sydney

An amazing logo that will be relevant for years to come.
Tom Ledwidge

#3 Pfizer / pfizer.com / on Brand New
Designed by Siegel+Gale

The logo is refreshed without being unrecognisable from it’s well known predecessor. The identity system is very nice, and positions Pfizer, visually and tonally, as an innovative leader.
Clinton Duncan

#2 9/11 Memorial / national911memorial.org / on Andrew Sabatier
Designed by Landor New York

Powerful and solid. The color choice reinforces the strong design and feeling of remembrance.
Lauren Boebinger

#1 Avid / avid.com / on Brand New
Designed by The Brand Union

Very appropriate use of symbols as type. Without even reading the synopsis I could identify the industry.
Chris Austin

Special thanks to Armin Vit for his identity design features.

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The front cover and spine are final, and it’s just the back cover that needs a final check by my editor. You can download the full size PDF here.

Update: 26 November 2009
I’ve updated the back cover with a very welcome quote from iconic designer Tom Geismar. See the new cover spread here.

When asked if I wanted a matte or gloss finish, I chose matte, and asked if I could have the word “DESIGN” embossed. Waiting for confirmation.

With a little help from Photoshop I created a digital mock-up showing how it’ll look once printed and bound.

It’s getting very close.

Update: 19 December 2009
You can download a full chapter from the book here, for free.

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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:

• Identity Design Process
• Graphic Design
• Branding
• Thinking
• Typography
• Logo Collections
• Iconic Designers

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:

• The Art of Looking Sideways
• Pentagram Marks
• Marks of Excellence
• Decoding Design
• Logo

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

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Back in March I told you I signed a book deal with Peachpit. The copy deadline is October 23rd, which is scarily close, and the book is now available for pre-order. So no pressure, David.

How’s it going? It’s not easy, but I wasn’t expecting it to be. And while there’s still a bit to go with the content, I’m hopeful of hitting the deadline—thanks to some amazing help in the shape of Jill Marts Lodwig, Nikki McDonald, and Robin Drake.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that three years of blog authoring has taught me about writing. But when you’re scrutinized by three professional editors it’s a different ball game entirely. As Eric says, “Writing is easy. Editing is hard.”

Once the project’s wrapped up, I’ll share the steps involved here on my blog, from negotiating payment and forming a plan, to writing and designing a 200-page book.

In the meantime, the Logo Design Love book website gives a brief intro and lists some of the graphic designers who have kindly contributed.

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Earlier today I received a comment on one of my blog posts that got me thinking. It was from Douglas Bonneville, and he said:

I’ve seen quite a few takes on the Families logo. When I see something this simple, I always wonder 1) how no one saw it before and 2) if we are going to run out of obvious icons buried inside of words in the next few years.

Is good logo design a bit like peak oil? How much more can we continue before we run out and all revert to simply using Courier for everything?

And I thought, with iconic identities having a memorable, simple, adaptable shape, won’t there come a time when every supposedly “new” idea has been exhausted in some previous incarnation? Or indeed, has this time already come and gone?

It’s just one of the challenges we face in identity design—to move projects in new directions, and to not settle for what’s “cool” in this fledgling profession of ours.

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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:

1. Having an iconic stand-alone non-verbal logo or wordless trademark symbol is highly desirable, especially for truly international brands; but
2. 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:

1. Text logos
2. symbol logos
3. 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:

1. The word or words;
2. the non-verbal symbol;
3. 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?

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Henri Ehrhart is a French wine producer in the Alsace region. Cyrille Ehrhart asked if I would redesign their brand identity, and it was a pleasure to do so. Here’s an insight of the design process.

A brief introduction

The company has been operating for more than 50 years, and is focused on standard and medium range wines (mainly distributed in supermarkets). It sold 4,500,000 bottles last year.

“We are a young and dynamic company but with a strong historical past. (today we are the 7th winemaker generation) a brand who is accessible and reflects a product of high quality.”

Cyrille requested a simpler design than the previous logo (shown here).

The previous heraldic logo is too detailed to work across a wide range of applications. The serif type offers a traditional feel, but the crest-like symbol won’t work efficiently at small sizes without the loss of detail.

Brainstorming and sketching

I researched topics including the Alsace history, wine production techniques, the notion of terroir and Henri Ehrhart’s competition.

I presented ideas relating to the Alsace region, such as crowns from the Alsatian flag, and the stork — part of Alsatian scenery for many centuries. The initial designs were deemed unsuitable, and after clarification a number of new concepts were drafted (some shown below).

Unused design #1

Leaves signify growth, the vine, and the rolling hills of the Alsace region. The pattern is arranged to mimic the rising sun along with the high amount of sunshine symbolic with the Alsatian vineyards. The curve subtly represents the form of the grape, while the repeating pattern offers a sense of continuity, suggesting the 50+ years tradition of the company.

A single leaf icon can be used as a separate design element for a variety of purposes e.g. website favicon, embroidered motif, pin badges etc.

Client feedback stipulated the need for a simpler, less aggressive design, favouring the creation of a monogram.

Unused design #2

The “HE” in the above monogram represents a wine glass and bottle.

The smooth, flowing lines relate to the young, dynamic brand of Henri Ehrhart, with the traditional typeface keeping a level of heritage.

When the mark is used in isolation (without the name) it clearly tells a relevant story, although client feedback ultimately ruled it out.

“It is more important to express the origin of the wine (soil, vineyard, grapes, vine stock, leaf, vine shoot) rather than represent the objects we use to taste the wine (glass, corkscrew, bottle).”

Chosen idea

The revised “HE” monogram is formed using a hand-written script (my personal hand-writing) to offer a unique, more flowing and natural outcome than shown previously. The curves symbolise the vine shoots from which Ehrhart grapes are grown, as well as the hills of the Alsace region and the roundness of the grapes hanging from the vines.

It works equally well when reversed, and one of the final steps in the process was to send a PDF with various colour options (link downloads a small PDF file I sent to Cyrille).

The new identity is more adaptable than the previous heraldic crest. Picture it appearing online as an animated signature, or as a stamped seal of approval on boxes of wine being shipped overseas.

In total, I created six different logo options (with some variations around each idea), and the timeframe from initial contact to supply of final artwork was approximately six months.

Client testimonial

We were looking for a logo with a touch of modernism. David grasped our needs and produced a stunning design. When feedback was needed, new versions of the logo or any modifications were made very quickly. We really appreciated David’s flexibility and efficiency. It’s great to work with someone so open-minded and responsive. Thank you!

Cyrille Ehrhart
Henri Ehrhart

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Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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