A brand identity designer working with clients across the globe. Get in touch if you want to work with me, ask a question, or simply say hello.


Logo design for StressWell

stresswell logo design black and white

I was recently approached to design a brand-identity logo for StressWell™, for use in web and print-based promotional materials.

StressWell™ is a holistic stress management and wellness program, and my client wished to include a seahorse visual in the final logo design. The rationale for the seahorse inclusion is as follows:

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Just how original is your logo design?

My logo design

Every client wants an original logo. That’s perfectly acceptable. But as a designer, just how original is it possible to be?

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Logo design contests are bad for business

Podcast Guild logo

Picture this. You’re the employee who’s responsible for hiring a design agency. Your company’s corporate identity is in need of a re-vamp but it’s nearing the end of the financial year, so the budget is already stretched (the standard scenario).

You’re in a boardroom meeting and you propose the idea of holding a design contest, where you receive a ton of variations, and only the winning designer gets paid. Isn’t that a great idea?

Well, here are just two very important points you need to consider before going ahead.

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Logo design for Drumryden

Drumryden logo design

Drumryden is a new architectural firm in Scotland. The client asked for a simplistic, solid and angular text logo that symbolised the strength behind their developments. Red was stipulated as the colour of choice.

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Davidson Locksmith brand identity design

Davidson Locksmith logo

I was approached by the established Scottish locksmith, Trevor Davidson, who was in need of a fresh identity to match his strong reputation and to replace his dated corporate appearance.

The brief stated that a padlock or key icon was to remain in some shape or form, and I wanted to unify the name and mark in a way that wasn’t seen in the old logo design.

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Wikipedia link to my logo designer article

logo design

I was checking through my web stats earlier and found some visitors arriving from Wikipedia.

After following where they were coming from I found one of my articles listed on the Wikipedia page for logo (in the external links section).

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Alternative London 2012 logo designs

London olympic logo

You’ve been showing your annoyance / dislike / shock about yesterday’s launch for London’s 2012 logo. Thank you everyone who took time out to leave very welcomed comments in my previous olympic logo design article.

I woke up today to yet more news stories about the overwhelming negative impressions, worldwide, to London’s olympic logo, so thought I’d follow-up with a few more thoughts from around the online community.

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London 2012 Olympics logo disaster

London 2012 olympic logo

Today saw the launch of London’s 2012 Olympic logo, created by designers at Wolff Olins. What were they thinking? Is the design a success?

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Personal logo design sketches

David Airey logo black and white

Here are some of the pencil sketches I created during my personal logo design process. This is around half the total sketches made (others were on scraps of paper that have been either lost or tossed).

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The fundamental necessity of the sketchpad process

blueprint sketch

Sometimes our natural tendency is to minimize or skip the sketching process altogether, and we try and jump straight ahead to the finished product. Bad idea. The sketchpad becomes an arena. This is the proving ground where an idea is batted around and subjected to the whim of the author.

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