Although logos can be hugely creative on their own, they’re rarely used in isolation (if at all), but a visual identity system, with the logo (or brandmark) playing an important role, creates an entire atmosphere around a brand, and when done right, can build customer relationships, increase sales, maximise profits.

Although there’s no rush to sell, I’d like to launch a new blog — one with a clear emphasis on “identity.” That’s when the fun of finding an available domain comes into play. I was thinking about something like Thoughts on Identity or Identity Designed (the domains are reserved just in case). Any ideas?

I’ve never sold a website before, and could do with a little advice.

An auction site’s a possibility, but Ian made a point worth considering — should I sell to the right person, or the one with the most money? And then, if I don’t use an auction, how do I set a value?

This is all assuming there’ll be enough interest.

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I’ve had my MacBook Pro overheating (almost too hot to touch on the bottom surface), and the whirring of the internal fans was a distraction. I worried the heat would damage the components.

It wasn’t that hot indoors, and my machine was propped on a Griffin Elevator to help keep things cool.

The MacBook CPU temperature should be around 30-40C, or 50-60C under stress, so I installed the freely available smcFanControl to check what temperature mine was running at (the app also lets you manually adjust the speed of the fans to help with cooling).

Turned out the temperature inside my machine hovered around the 82C level (180F). Not good. So I opened Activity Monitor (located in the Utilities folder) and selected “All Processes.” That’s when I saw 99.5% of the CPU being punished by a process called PrintJobMgr. Apparently this process comes into play when a print job doesn’t complete, and when the job’s left in the print queue waiting for action.

I went ahead and “force quit” the process, and after just a few minutes my MacBook temperature dropped to around 50C (120F) — much healthier.

This bug has been around for a few years. A Google search for “printjobmgr cpu” attests to that.

Should you find your internal fans spinning faster than normal, or if the bottom of your notebook is hot enough to fry an egg, it’s worth checking the Activity Monitor. If you see PrintJobMgr, either select “force quit” or clear the print queue (which I’ve read can do the same job).

Photo credit

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——

Update: 26 June 2010
More wedding photos here on Facebook.

——

Photography by Carmen Tyler (thank you).

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I’m not surprised, given the journalistic excellence that abounds (click image for larger view).

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An old-school meme for Friday, and the first I’ve taken part in since back in the days of the face behind the blog. URL ABC was started by Tim Van Damme—just type a letter in your browser’s address bar, then list the first URL that appears.

A: acejet170.typepad.com (design blog from fellow resident of Northern Ireland, Richard Weston)
B: bbc.co.uk/football (I was hoping this might show the BBC news URL, but alas, it’s football)
C: cgstudionyc.com (that’s more respectable)
D: davidairey.com (to be expected)
E: easyjet.co.uk (I caught a flight to Edinburgh last Sunday to sort out my new home office come January)
F: football365.com (a theme is developing)
G: edinburgh.gumtree.com (I used Gumtree to search for homes in Edinburgh—the notable result was a time-wasting email chat with a scammer)
H: hellosubsist.com (Michael Kosmicki—one of my book contributors)
I: informationarchitects.jp (architects of online information)
J: jasonsantamaria.com (respected graphic designer in Brooklyn)
K: andrewkelsall.com (friendly, down-to-earth designer)
L: liverpoolfc.tv (tough times for the Liverpool faithful)
M: malmaison-edinburgh.com (hotel I stayed in a few days back)
N: no-spec.com (design students take note)
O: omniplex.ie/cinema/cinema/bangor (my local cinema)
P: paul-rand.com (an ode to the past master)
Q: unnecessaryquotes.com (the ‘q’ for ‘quotes’ pulled this one)
R: readbetweentheleading.com (design podcast by Aaron and Matt)
S: skysports.com/football (football? again?)
T: twitter.com (I’m one of the old-school who uses Twitter on the Web—finding it easier to limit time spent tweeting)
U: uprinting.com (impending sponsor for Logo Design Love)
V: vimeo.com/user1541333 (I’m due another vlog post)
W: winwithoutpitching.com (design business advice from Blair Enns)
X: xe.com (currency converter of choice)
Y: youtube.com (the standard result)
Z: peachpit.com/podcasts/episode.aspx…. (a Jeffrey Zeldman podcast interview by my publisher Peachpit)

Does anyone get an actual Q?

A few other URL ABCs:

• The Standardistas
• Elliot Jay Stocks
• Pat Dryburgh
• Andy Clarke

Feel free to link to your own URL ABC post in a comment.

Image credit: Nir Tober

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What’s been happening with me in the past seven days.

Book tweaks
I’m currently tying up the final details of my design book, working closely with my copy editor to iron out any kinks. It’s looking much better than I hoped, and although the last-minute addition of an extra chapter created more work, that’s good news for anyone wanting to buy a copy. The cover design has been passed to the publisher for feedback. Once ready I’ll share it here (my internal design was settled at the start of the project).

Teaching in Mexico
Out of the blue, I was offered a position teaching corporate identity at Cedim University in Mexico, during the January to May 2010 semester. Some nights were spent laying awake longer than normal, thinking over a possible move, but I eventually declined in order to focus on other things. A big thanks to Miguel Fuentes for his time, and to those of you who offered advice.

Judging the Chip Shop Awards
For new subscribers, I’ve previously featured the Chip Shop Awards on my blog. Event manager Katy Thomson gave me a nice surprise with an invitation to judge the 2010 awards in London. Entry is open.

Wedding plans
Some of you will know already that in June next year I’m tying the knot in Cyprus. It’ll be a small ceremony in a beach-front gazebo. Family and close friends. One to look forward to alright.

Synecdoche, New York
I took a little time-out to watch Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York (2008). Philip Seymour Hoffman doing what he does best, in a strange and incredibly detailed film. 7/10. On a similar note, I give The Men Who Stare at Goats a disappointing 4/10. Expected more from a top cast.

Christmas
Every year I say the same, “I won’t leave it until the last minute.” It rarely works that way, but with just six weeks to go I’m doing well to get a few online purchases made. I can’t stand shopping in sardine can stores.

Fielding email
If you’ve sent an email and I haven’t replied, please bear with me. It’s head down for the next two weeks.

What’s next?
Once my book’s wrapped up I’ll be working with clients again. I didn’t think I’d be looking forward to it as much as I am, so the time has just about arrived when I stop directing potential work to other designers.

That’s pretty much it. I hope things are going great for you.

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Although it was grey and overcast on Saturday, I persuaded my girlfriend to come with me for a walk. We drove 20 minutes to a nearby country park, but when we got there it had started to rain, and Catherine wasn’t having any of it, so we went grocery shopping instead.

Thankfully, after an hour in the supermarket, the sky had cleared a little so we drove up into the hills of Scrabo country park. After walking for a while through the Killynether Wood we came to a clearing.

Killynether Wood, photo by S Muir

There was an old wooden bench there, and we sat overlooking Belfast and the green fields of the surrounding countryside.

View from Scrabo Country Park, photo by S Muir

I asked Catherine if she liked the notes I’d been leaving for her all week (scattered about the house, telling her things I love about her). Of course she did, and she asked me if there’d be any more. I said, “Actually, there’s one here”, pulling another from my inside pocket. It was written on a card from the jewelers and had a silk ribbon attached. This note read, “Is it true that diamonds are a girl’s best friend? Let’s find out.”

As she was reading, I got off the bench and went down on one knee in front of her (the scenery behind me). I pulled a box from my pocket, opened it to show the three-stone diamond ring, and asked, “Catherine, will you marry me?” She went all red, not knowing what to say, until I put the ring on her finger and she said yes with delight.

We stayed there for another 15 minutes or so until reality kicked in and Catherine said we should go because the frozen chips would be defrosting in our car.

We unpacked the shopping and celebrated in front of the fire with some bubbly, so as some will already know via Twitter, I’m now a fiancé!

Wedding invite design inspiration

I’ll be designing my own invites soon enough, and thought this was a good time to share a little inspiration. First stop, the wedding category on Beast Pieces — the design and letterpress blog of Studio On Fire.

Woodgrain & Crest Letterpress Wedding (above) by Nick Brue.

Something Old & New: Wedding Type (above) by Ryan Floss, groom.

Black Tie & Black Paper: Wedding In Edinburgh (above) by Field.

A Hamptons Wedding Invitation (above) by Stacey Averbuch, bride.

Mix Tape Letterpress Wedding Invitations (above) by Adam Ramerth.

Tuscany Semi Formal Wedding Invitation (above) by Aya Ikegaya.

Look Mom, No Script Fonts: A Wedding Invite (above) by SEVNTHSIN.

That last one’s my favourite, the sans-serif design from SEVNTHSIN. Plenty more pics through each invite link.

More wedding invitation designs

• Hand-made Asian-themed invitations from Kellyn and Daniel Lombardi
• Inspiration: Wedding invitations from Mariusz Ciesla
• Raised type wedding invites from Beyond the Pixels
• our wedding: invitation inspiration from yes, please
• Custom letterpress wedding invitations from Bella Figura
• {simple + nontraditional wedding invitation wording} from Oh So Beautiful Paper

Your wedding invites

Did you design your own? Do you have any you can share? It’d be great to see a few more ideas.

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“Everyone who is honest is interesting.”

Stefan Sagmeister, interviewed on Scene 360 and designboom.

Yes, design can make you happy.

Thanks for the video tip, Fredrik.

Header image copyright: ssahn.com

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The short video was created using iMovie, and my MacBook’s built-in webcam / microphone. I exported the clip from iMovie to YouTube, then embedded the YouTube file here on my site. I figured that was probably the easiest way to go about it. I uploaded the video to Vimeo, which is a much better option than YouTube. Thanks for the tip!

If you have any tips or suggestions for future video posts, I’m all ears, and sorry to all the gals out there for calling you guys.

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Following the advances of US publisher, Peachpit Press, I’ve been officially offered a deal to author their first book about logo design. Terms are agreed, and a contract is being prepared signed.

Peachpit is a part of Pearson, the international media company responsible for The Financial Times, Penguin, Dorling Kindersley, Prentice Hall and other leading brands.

I’ve begun approaching iconic logo designers, asking if they’d contribute to the book, and so far the response has been fantastic. Confirmed contributors include the likes of Miles Newlyn, Lance Wyman, and Jerry Kuyper, and I’m talking it over with Ivan Chermayeff, Steff Geissbuhler, Michael Bierut, and many other highly respected creatives.

A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities

The book will be called Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities. It won’t be another gallery showcase, as there are plenty of those in circulation. Instead, the aim is to educate the reader about best practice in logo design, with insights from a wide and distinguished range of design professionals.

I will be creating the cover and tempate — sized at 7×9 inches, with a maximum page count of 216 — as well as compositing the information.

The completion deadline has been set at October 23rd, 2009.

Rough Cuts

Throughout the duration of the writing process, each chapter will be electronically published as a Rough Cut (on Safari Books Online). Rough Cuts are pre-published manuscripts that authors release on the Safari website before the book is available in print. Visitors are able to post feedback or respond to comments from editors and authors.

Benefits to the book-writing process are twofold:

1. Feedback received helps authors tailor the book so it’s as beneficial and appropriate as possible.
2. Anticipation is generated with each new draft chapter, with the aim of boosting sales upon release of the printed book.

This is both the largest, and most exciting project I have undertaken, and I’ll be sure to share my experiences with you along the way.

Update: 01 January 2010
The book is now available for purchase.

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