Logo design for Unique Blog Designs
Nate Whitehill, of both Nate Whitehill dot com and Unique Blog Designs (UBD), approached me to design a new logo for his UBD company.
I was delighted when Nate approached me, as I’ve been reading, and enjoying, his blog articles for many months.
When I asked what attributes of needed portrayed, Nate said:
Freshness, uniqueness, simplicity, innovation, high quality and trustworthiness.
The overall message needing conveyed was:
Professional design work mixed with trust and innovation. Everyone seems to love the blade of grass.
The blade of grass that Nate spoke of, was from his initial UBD wesite design (which, at the time of writing, is still live).
Nate and the UBD team have been incredibly busy, preparing for Blog World Expo, where they currently man a exhibitor booth. They’ve not yet launched their new site re-design, but it’ll be appearing anytime now, and the snapshot I saw, with the new logo, is very fresh. Here’s Nate and the UBD team, chatting with John Chow at their booth.
Image courtesy of John Chow
The turnaround time for this logo design was extremely short, just one week, as Nate was unfortunately let down by another logo design company. As I knew Nate through his blog, I was happy to work a few extra hours per day in order to help him out, and as always, logo design sketching was one of the first processes I went through.
Nate expressed that a two dimensional logo was needed, because the design was to appear on polo shirts, and printed material. The simplicity of 2D artwork also aids memorability, and the overall brand.
I presented a few different options, based upon the leaf theme, but felt that the chosen idea was the strongest.
Hats off to David Airey. He is a wonderful guy to work with! – Nate Whitehill
Thanks Nate! I wish you, and Unique Blog Designs, every success with your new corporate identity, and thanks so much for choosing me to work with you!
Have your say
As always, I’m grateful to know your thoughts. Please keep criticism constructive, as I know that many of you can teach me a thing or two.
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Great write-up for the logo design process you used on this. I really need to get into the habbit of sketching out logo designs that I do. I typically will just jump right into photoshop/illustrator and start designing things.
I’m typically not that great at illustration on paper but I think that is because I avoid it like the plague. Getting rid of my potentialy restrictive mind set when I am in software would probably help to allow some new creative ways to do things a chance to seep in.
Good on you David. It’s a good logo and I’m sure Nate will be happy with that. It’s good to see you getting some work directly from your blog-contacts.
David,
Great job with the logo. Actually, I really like all of the possibilities shown here. I like the circular aspect of the final product as opposed to the blocky look of the last one shown. Very nice.
I agree with you. The chosen one’s the strongest.
Hi David, I’m a fan of your site - especially (as you show here) for sharing creative process behind design. I was really struck how appropriate this logotype is for a web based group with a fresh vibrant feel. You were able to communicate that with color and shape in 2D without gradients or button effects that are so ubiquitous these days. Nice!
I was waiting for this…
I like the concept, although unlike Steven, I find myself drawn to the last one. Having the logo over the ‘unique’ seems to appeal to me more.
Ok, so I’m looking at it, and wondering why I prefer the third one. Maybe it’s because it seems to highlight ‘blog design’ better? I’m not sure.
I happen to like the last one best too. It sort of looks like a check box with a check over it. I am no exactly sure either.
I like the bottom drawing on the paper with the beanstalk-looking image, thought it may be too 3D. I also like the second concept. I think it looks a little bit fresher and clearer. Good work.
It looks nice. I even tried to reduce the size and see it in grayscale mode and it looks very good.
I definitely think you’re right, that to start sketching before using a computer will most certainly aid your creativity. Who knows what wonders you’d then be capable of?! Your blog design is very clean, and one I admire.
Thanks very much, Aaron.
It’s great to work with those I know through blogging. Nate isn’t the first, and hopefully not the last.
Steven,
Good of you to say, thanks. I’m with you about the circular option. It really lends itself to a more organic feel than the rigid angles of the block.
Kristin,
That’s great that you like my blog! As you point out, there are so many gradients and unecessary effects these days, when what’s really needed is a simple approach. Sure, gradients can be added afterwards, but the logo needs to work ‘flat’. Thanks for commenting.
Armen,
Interesting that you prefer the last design layout. I kind of agree that there’s more emphasis on the ‘blog designs’ text in that option, as the ‘unique’ part is slightly masked by the rectangle above it. For an organic approach, I think a rounded shape is preferable.
Chiholee,
I’d actually not seen that ‘check box’ idea until you pointed it out. Thanks for your opinion.
Harris,
The second concept you like is one that I like too. For me, it’s very close between it, and the chosen design, for which one is most suitable. I think that when Nate made a final decision, he was thinking what would look best on his website, and when it’s launched, perhaps you’ll agree that the second idea might not have worked as well. Good of you to leave your feedback.
Marko,
I forgot to show it here in black and white! Thanks for doing that yourself, and I’ll update this post when I have a chance, to show a smaller scale logo, without the use of colour.
Nice, clean and simple design. I feel the final one would look more better if you had highlighted the ‘blog’, as done in the middle one. Also might have preferred the leaf to be a bit more culry.
Anyways nice work!
I’ve updated the text above, changing ‘leaf’ to ‘blade of grass’. It really focused my options a lot more, as there are only so many types of grass in comparison to leaves.
Glad to see work is being spread through blog contacts, that’s awesome.
The logo looks great, I bet it was a proud moment to see it printed on that big ol’ banner.
it was a pleasure seeing the photos from Blog World, and I hope Nate gained a lot of new clients / contacts from the event. Sadly I couldn’t make it over from Scotland, but perhaps next year.
I saw that photo on John Chow’s blog but I had not idea that you were the one who made the logo. Great job David! :D
Nice work, D.
I think my favorite is the last one as well. I also love the sketch you did that is similar, with the blade of grass that twists a couple times and jumps out of the top of the box. That one is very dynamic.
Thanks for sharing as always!
I also prefer the third logo.
the first one seems a bit unbalanced but I like the difference in the text with the second design. It reads better than the others. I have written on this before
Thanks very much for leaving your comments.
Jermayn,
I see your point. The first idea in the alternative examples helps in that regard, where I increased the size of the first character on each word.
I really like the icon you created for UBD, the green and the circle shape say wholesome, nurturing, growth, which is what good design will do for a company! I’m not so sure about the text, though. The way it runs together is a bit unreadable at first. You have to look at it a bit to see blog design. Maybe a little space in between the two words would improve that? I also like the stacked logo (#1 in the other choices). Even the small caps that were used there are still a bit illegible though.
BTW, David, I would like to comment on your most recent post of Top 50 Graphic Design Blogs, but something in the code for the post on your site is making IE 6 crash, and that’s all I have access to at work… not that I’m reading your blog instead of working :P I can see it ok in Google Reader, just can’t load the page on your site in IE 6. If I have time when I get home I’ll pop over and share my thoughts (and my thanks!) then.
Its great to see how a logo has been created.
It reminds me of when I was in college.
I love it!
Thanks for your thoughts. I’m guessing that one reason why Nate chose the option he did, is because he has since acquired blogdesigns.com, which places less emphasis on the word ‘unique’. Don’t quote me on that though.
I notice you posted a comment on my top design blog post, so will reply to that one over there. Thanks!
Amanda,
Glad to bring back some memories for you. Great that you could stop by.
It amazes me how you hand draw before doing anything on the computer. It reminds me some years ago, when computers were not as much available as they are today, I was part of a couple of projects involving audiovisual presentations and we had to draw a lot!
We even have to use Letraset (here in Argentina it was a brand of transfer by contact letters) and it was much closer to conventional art than the way we work today, where we start right in the software to make the first briefs and there’s no sketching in any of our works.
Reading this blog and readers comments, makes me want to take out a pencil, something I haven’t done for years, and see what comes out.
Now in this case, I think the chosen version is the best choice, but maybe I’d try a different gray for the “blog” word to separate it from “design”. Kind of a mix between the chosen and the second choice of the other options. Of course this is just a thought. I think your work is impeccable.
Hi, very beautiful site here. I am a recent Graphic Design grad and there are many useful information on here. I think the logo here is just perfect. I’m also very happy and inspired to see an experienced designer sketching out ideas first!
You’ve done a good job of trying to break up the ugly long compound name but I think I’d prefer it if just ‘Unique’ was sitting by the symbol (which is very nice in itself). At the moment the right hand side is too nondescript for me. I suspect this was client imposed as much as anything though. Good work
Good of you to leave your thoughts, and nice to read your insight from Argentina. Do you have any of your work online?
.tif,
Thank you, and glad to read you value the sketch process. I think it’s vital.
Richard,
Interesting point, and I feel the icon is stronger than the typography for this logo. You’re right that the chosen layout was the favourite of the client, presented as one of a number of options.
Hi David,
Unfortunately I don’t have much of my work online. In part because I’m working on a company and most of my work is not personal, and in the other hand, I’ve suffered a datta loss a few years ago. I’ve lost almost all my backup, and since it was all digital… well, it’s gone… I’ve been thinking about doing a site to show some of my works, but never make the time to do it, and it’s online since maybe 2 years ago with a message of “PROXIMAMENTE” wich is the translation for SOON. It’s a shame…
http://www.sebastiansirvent.com.ar/
I use it to copy files, store them, and try some sistems I will use in another locations, but some day I will finish my site and put it online.
Hi David,
My first time reading your blog and just read this one on the logo design for Unique Blog Designs….
I pretty much have the same process when I design logos….I grew up as a sketch artist as a kid, and pencil and paper is where I definately start all logo projects.
have a look at my logo portfolio…some past logos I have created I love, some I very much dislike!
http://www.awebtech.com/Folio_2.asp
I like the second version.
1. Perceived more integrated
2. the word “blog” pops up clearly (and that’s important)
3. Neat and fresh
4. Perfect typeface.
5. Elegant, solid, confident
6. Memorable
It’s really perfect!