Nike VCXC branding by Jon Contino

Context

We’re able to see those X-based logos together because the Internet connects everything, making it look like the world is one big box, but to each of us, life still takes its course in a limited area. Maybe all of those logos do their job for a small area and stand-out just as they are. Regardless, it’s no longer possible to have perfectly distinct logos for every business. You can hardly have that within a specific domain, much less cross-domain as it’s depicted in the case of Your Logo is Not Hardcore. Just because there are so many similar-looking logos doesn’t mean they’re not distinct.

Template

Although this particular design direction looks like a fashionable decision to make, I’d argue that the form is quite generic. Maybe just as generic as a square or a circle. The X looks like the new square, and it feels rather natural for designers to make more use of a new geometric form. Even looking at the examples in this collection, you know that it’s a route that leaves room for innovation. Its versatility creates its own place in graphic design, representative of our period.

Fashion

Fashion is a taboo subject for designers but maybe it should be looked at more closely. Fashion is about mass adoption of a certain mentality or a certain way of doing things. This means that fashion is a statement about the times in which we live — a statement that will be of value in 30 or 50 years from now. Just as we like motifs from other recent periods, this might grow into a classic of our time.

The downsides come through two means: one is that if you adopt ways that are fashionable today, you are already behind the flock. You’d be better off shaping the next best thing, but not everyone’s an innovator, and that’s fine. The second problem one might encounter is using fashionable shapes without having an understanding about what they mean. This can result in poor design that lacks coherence and intellectual content. But because the X stands for so many things, it’s difficult to mishandle.

Immortality

We design symbols to last, but nothing lasts forever, really. I’m not saying we shouldn’t try, I’m saying that thinking about something with a life cycle seems more natural and might offer a different perspective within the process.

Old ways

The form of these X-based logos can conjure thoughts of heraldry. So maybe it’s just an old habit with contemporary ways. But there’s one small glitch to this…

New ways

Similar-looking designs don’t work for us because we glance over them so quickly that we only grasp the main features. Crests come from a time where this just wasn’t the case. But maybe, just maybe we should consider slowing down a bit. It’s clear to us that logos won’t get more distinctive, so perhaps it’s us. Perhaps we should slow down and go into more detail, enjoy nicely crafted things, despite their vague resemblance to tons of other stuff. This calls for peace, thoughtful analysis, and a slower pace.

But it goes to show that maybe hardcore is not what a good logo should strive for.

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You can view some of Andrei’s work on his website: Fabrica de Design.

Related, from the archives: When logos look alike.

Cover detail from the new edition of Marks of Excellence (link shows photos of the first edition)

“…is Microsoft’s logo ‘excellent’ because the design is impeccable, or because consumers recognize it in an instant? Is Harrods’ script ‘excellent’ because it is old, or for aesthetic reasons? Is Chiquita Banana ‘excellent’ because it deploys a dancing banana and we find her cute? And is Ray-Ban ‘excellent’ because of all the fashion advertising buzz that has built its rep?”
— STEVEN HELLER

“Well-designed logos are the work of the designers. Successful logos imply the company’s use of the logo. A mediocre logo in terms of design quality can be used to good effect through a great mix of consistency and variation. The Coca-Cola logo is not, and never was, an outstanding design. However, it has been used with great ingenuity.”
— PER MOLLERUP

Read the full piece here: Do good logos need to actually, you know, look good?

Via @johnsonbanks.

In July last year Ean MacKaye began compiling logos with a pin-stroke X, or with two objects overlapping to form an X.

See them here: Your logo is not hardcore.

Reminded me of Dave Spengler’s Hipster Branding.

More similar logos (archives, 2008).

If you were offered a 15 percent pay rise to tattoo your employer’s logo on your body, would you do it? Dozens of New York-based Rapid Realty employees have.

Subscribers can watch the news report on the LDL blog. If you’re on the website, it’s embedded below.

Here’s another short video showing two people getting the tattoos.

It’s safe to say that if I was responsible for a team of employees, I’d think of another way to increase their salaries.

Story from CBS News. Via @TheLogoFactory.

“By all accounts, lead guitarist Ace Frehley had a knack for art and designed it. According to one story, Frehley wrote the name over a poster for Wicked Lester — the band Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley left to form KISS — and came up with those S’s on the fly. What doesn’t get mentioned is that some of Wicked Lester’s artwork used a jagged lightning bolt in place of its own single S. What’s also unknown is Paul Stanley’s role in making the logo.”

You can read more in this PDF, written by Sue Apfelbaum for issue two of Red Bull Music Academy’s Daily Note.

Via Michael Surtees.

Rock and Roll Over, 1976, designed by Michael Doret

It was after seeing the KISS logo at the age of seven when Lord of the Logos, Christophe Szpajdel began his interest in design.

Two Pentagram partners on “look and feel.”

“You should be able to cover up the logo and still identify the company because the look and feel is so distinctive.”
— MICHAEL BIERUT

“Look is defined by color, scale, proportion, typography, and motion. Feel is experiential and emotional.”
— ABBOTT MILLER

Quoted from Alina Wheeler’s Designing Brand Identity.

Related, on davidairey.com:
Remove the logo. Know the brand.
Colour in branding

Photo via Sabrina Metivier

Freelance transport writer Daniel Wright published an interesting feature about Lloyd Northover’s 1999 design work on the National Rail identity.

The aim of the design project was to produce an identification and sign system for use at Britain’s major rail stations. Each station was given its own symbol that reflects either the station architecture, the vicinity, or historical associations.

Paddington Station symbol

“London Paddington’s P reflects the form of the screens at the end of Brunel’s trainshed roofs at the station.”

Glasgow Central Station symbol

“Glasgow Central’s G is based on the typography developed by local boy (not that he was really appreciated at the time) Charles Rennie Mackintosh.”

Charing Cross Station symbol

“Charing Cross [is] the cross from the replica Eleanor Cross outside the station.”

Edinburgh Waverley Station symbol

“Edinburgh Waverley’s logo is based on Edinburgh Castle.”

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Notice the stripes of individual colour that were pulled from the symbols.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

There’s more info and images on Daniel Wright’s website, with the conclusion that the designs are slowly being phased out.

Worth a mention are these features on the classic British Rail double-arrow, and the John Lloyd archive of design work.

“There is no need for us to be tentative about stating our requirement for a deposit before we begin working for the client. We simply say, ‘We’ll get started as soon as we receive the deposit, as is our policy for all new clients.’

“We need not apologize for being responsible business people. Never again should we find ourselves attempting to clarify issues of payment after we have begun working on the engagement. This is the simplest of business tests, one for which there is no longer any excuse to fail: for all new clients, we will be paid in advance.”

Excerpted from Blair’s book, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto, available to buy as hard copy or read for free online.

“The heads of the double quaver are formed by round black blots with a spattered look. The idea was to visually render how a wrong note sounds when played.”

“In contrast to the consistent graphical representation of the beam and stems, the splattered contours of the two note heads immediately stand out, imparting to the beholder that something is indeed wrong.”

The idea stood out when I was looking through the impressive red dot edition of the International Yearbook Communication Design 2012/2013 (thanks for that, Birthe). Sure, it’s for a poster, but there’s something about how the unpredictable appearance of the ink pattern is used to show an unintentional occurrence. Just thinking as I type.

Thomas Suess composed a sound logo from the wave obtained by the Hamburg skyline and its reflection in the water. The sound was later recorded by the Philharmoniker Hamburg orchestra.

The musical notes aren’t in direct correlation to the heights of the Hamburg bell towers, but instead the skyline determines the tempo.

You can listen to the logo in the video below.

Agency: kempertrautmann GmbH
Client: Philharmoniker Hamburg
Creative director: Marcell Francke, Patrick Matthiesen
Art director: Bruno Luglio

Thanks for the tip, Jorge Portugal.

Related: A short course in audio branding, on davidairey.com.