Student designers and those new to the profession often ask me for advice on topics related to branding and visual identity work.
These articles and resources were pieced together with the intention of saving everyone a little time.

On logos

Logo design: from concept to presentation (design wisdom from Sagi Haviv)
LogoBook (a comprehensive showcase of logos, symbols, & trademarks)
The Logo Geek podcast (expertly hosted by Ian Paget)
Logo Design Love (since 2008, the blog that preceded the book)
The secret language of logos (a video I had the pleasure of working on with the BBC)

Design pricing

Researching

Focus groups are worthless (by Erika Hall)
Go to a dry cleaner and sit there (paraphrasing Bob Gill)
Advice on making ideas happen (collected wisdom on 99U)

Brand strategy

Branding: In Five and a Half Steps (by Michael Johnson)
Mistakes in brand strategy (by Stef Hamerlinck)
A blueprint for building brand strategy (by Nomad Studio)
Using strategy in logo design (with Marty Neumeier)
Marks and Maker (the brand strategy website of Melinda Livesy)

Brand naming

Eight principles of naming (by Nick Foley & Matt Gordon)
Naming a business (by Seth Godin)
How to get a name right (by Naresh Ramchandani)
Brand New Name (by Jeremy Miller)
Flexible brand names (on Logo Design Love)
iwantmyname.com (helpful for domain searches)
WIPO Global Brand Database (search trademarks internationally)
Online Etymology Dictionary (the history of English words)
Onym (by Greg Leppert & Willem Van Lancker)

Find royalty-free photos

Unsplash (by Mikael & the team)
Burst (powered by Shopify)
Pexels (by Bruno & Ingo Joseph, & Daniel Frese)
Morguefile (founded by Michael Connors)
Depositphotos (free photos & videos from the commercial firm)
ISO Republic (various CC0 photos & videos)

Download icons & symbols

The Noun Project (founded by Sofya Polyakov & Edward Boatman)
Symbol Signs (by Roger Cook & Don Shanosky, on the AIGA website)

Type foundries

Bold Monday (The Hague & Eindhoven)
Colphon (London & LA)
Grilli Type (Luzern)
Hoefler&Co. (NYC)
House Industries (Yorklyn)
Klim Type Foundry (Wellington)
Milieu Grotesque (Santo Isidoro)
Newlyn (London)
Okay Type (Chicago)
Process (Golden Valley)
Typofonderie (Paris)
Typotheque (The Hague)
Village (a type co-op founded in NYC)

Copywriters

Reed Words (London)
Asbury & Asbury (Bollington)

PSD mockup resources

LiveSurface (an Illustrator plugin by Joshua Distler)
Mr.Mockup (PSDs by Noeeko)
Envato Elements (by Collis and Cyan Ta’eed, and Jun Rung)
Free outdoor advertising mockups (PSDs from Clear Channel UK)

Presenting design work

An insider’s guide to the design presentation (by Michael Johnson)
The train is leaving the station (by Dave Trott)
Brand identity style guides from around the world (on Logo Design Love)
www.brandingstyleguides.com (huge resource, needs sign-in)
Ways designers screw up client presentations (by Mike Monteiro)
Showing sketches to clients (on when it helps and when it doesn’t)

Trademarking logos

Trademark basics (by the United States Patent & Trademark Office | USPTO)
Intellectual property: Trade marks (by GOV.UK)
Trade marks (by IP Australia)
Global Brand Database (by the World International Property Organization | WIPO)

Commercial printing

Paper Sizes (for international paper sizes, dimensions & formats)
Inker Linker (for finding recommended print companies, mostly US)
UK commerical printers (an old one of mine, still comes in handy)

On life

A short lesson in perspective (by the late Linds Redding)
The School of Life articles (the school was founded by Alain de Botton)

Anything else?

Recommendations (& corrections) much appreciated.

Independent since 2005
Website hosted by Fused
FAQs about hiring
Design process
Resources

Studio
64 Beechfield Avenue
Bangor, County Down
Northern Ireland
BT19 7ZZ