Tag: Logo

49 of 365: Revised Library Logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com #cc-a

Post author By lemsy
Post date 2014-02-18
No Comments on 49 of 365: Revised Library Logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com #cc-a

49 of 365 - updated library logo 2 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

49 of 365 – updated library logo 2 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

So, at the request of Steve Garwood, a famous and resourceful New Jersey Librarian, I decided to rework the eighties-era Library Logo. I felt the same way as Steve: The Library logo below is something I align with, philosophically, in that when I see it, I love it. I’d like to get a tattoo of it. I think of it as an extension of who I am. At the same time, I wish it was more contemporary in nature, reflecting some of the curvature and relaxation of iconography of the 21st century. In order to keep the general look and feel of the logo, I used the original logo as a starting point, and simply moved elements to shape the new logo. The color is the same. The major difference between the two is a difference I see every time I walk into a library today: a more prominent presence of laptops. When I think about the key ways that libraries have changed, and how they continue to change, I think about the way that the libraries I love most are less about books and more about learning, community, service and sharing. Very often, technology is employed to that end in libraries. Here is the original logo for comparison, after an insightful brief history.

“The image debuted in its official capacity in the 1982 ALA publication, A Sign System for Libraries, by DeVore and Mary S. Mallery, and was the cover story of the September 1982 issue of ALA’s member magazine, American Libraries. DeVore’s original design scheme for the image (similar to the image shown below) was an opaque white silhouette against a blue (specifically, PMS #285 blue) background.” ~ National Library Symbol History & Implications | Walking Paper – http://goo.gl/d6mQiL

Library Symbol (1982) DeVore and Mallery

I wanted to mention and thank both Steve Garwood, who inspired the rework, and Jane Ferrick, who gave good insights about my figure’s original posture, and the specific appearance of the laptop, both improved. To be honest, before Jane’s suggestions, my figure was practically laying down and using an ultrathin laptop, which appeared as other things. There is also an interesting echo in the laptop of the book in the original symbol.

Tags Design, Inkscape, John LeMasney, Libraries, Library, Logo, New Jersey

affiliations brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration insights libraries portfolio professional activities professional experience publications requests research interests technology

32 of 365: Designing a logo for Tame the Web with Michael Stephens

Post author By lemsy
Post date 2014-02-01
2 Comments on 32 of 365: Designing a logo for Tame the Web with Michael Stephens
Sticky post

Tame The Web logo rev4 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Tame The Web logo workspace by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Here is a final image of the workspace that I used to create the new Tame the Web (TTW) logo using Inkscape, with the help of Michael Stephens. Michael has been the heart of TTW since its inception, and wanted to have a logo to present his organization to a larger audience. He reached out on Facebook (where I get most of my work) and asked about logos on his page. He got some feedback, and in the process, Lori Reed decided to tag me, and I responded that I’d love to be involved in the logo if possible, and that I’d work for free. Michael contacted me and we began. I asked him to fill out the design brief on this site (it’s in the menu above) and when I got the response, I did this.

Tame The Web logo revision 0 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

I tend to start logo work with the fonts. In this particular case, I used some of the information from the design brief to create a possible logo. In the brief, Michael talked about the past branding work that he had done and what had been present. He wrote that a heart symbol had always been a constant in identifying TTW. He also shared a palette, some quotes, and some clarifications in order for us to work through the logo. Michael understands brand. When he saw the image above, he said that the logo I proposed was beautiful, but that it was not the right feel. He said that it had a certain old-timey feel to it, and that he was looking for something a bit more contemporary. I understood, and decided to focus on fonts, as I usually do. He told me he liked a few of the fonts in the first submission, and I decided to focus on those.

Tame The Web logo rev1 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

In this revision, I took the fonts that Michael liked and tried a few subtle differences, including the pipe between elements,. the kerning, and the imagery. I never thought the whip would go very far. 🙂 I sent them to him, and he said that he loved the curve in the line, but that straight spoke to him more. He also liked the tighter kerning in some of the versions. He liked the horizontal version as well.

Tame The Web logo rev2 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

After he gave me feedback I focused just on the elements and kerning that he liked, and decided to incorporate the palette he had suggested, with deep blues. I grabbed one of my favorite deep blue palettes, and applied the colors to the elements. I sent it back.

Tame The Web logo rev3 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

But there was still the issue of the missing heart. I decided to play a bit with text and image to introduce hearts, which Michael enjoyed. We agreed that the solid blue heart worked best, and worked best ahead of the title.

Tame The Web logo rev4 by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Here are the final two versions of the logo, one horizontally aligned, and one block sized. I absolutely loved the opportunity, and I’m so grateful to work with someone like Michael. Even though I always have great, creative, and interesting clients, Michael was a standout.

Tags Design, Font, Inkscape, John LeMasney, Kerning, Logo

brand consulting insights

5 key elements to consider in your visual design.

Post author By lemsy
Post date 2013-04-08
No Comments on 5 key elements to consider in your visual design.

I thought I’d share the things I think about when approaching a new design. Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve developed a way to think about design when faced with a blank digital canvas, and it’s helped me to develop solutions every time. There are many principles of design and breakthroughs that have happened in its history, but these are the ones that I consider first.

Font

English: A comparison between the fonts Helvetica and Arial. (Original description: Useful letters for fast differentiation between Helvetica and Arial) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Usually, unless I am working on a piece in the interest of fine arts, where one may value abstraction and ambiguity, I am trying to convey something specific in design. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is with words. However, the typography is a message in itself. If you choose to display the word “gravity” in Helvetica, Comic Sans, or Creampuff, it is three different ways of emphasizing the word, one of business and straightforwardness, one of childish play, and one of casual sexiness. Be careful not only what you are saying, but how you are saying it, and fonts are a great way to define the how.
Background
The way that you set the background of a design allows you to carry through and finish your thought from the foreground. What textures best represent your ideas? What makes the most sense from a legibility standpoint? Will a cracked and peeling wall of paint give the adequate tone, or will it be a simple fade from a lighter color in your palette to a darker one at the edges?
Line
Logo for the School of Visual Arts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hard, thick edged lines create gravity and strength in a design. Lighter, curved, frilly lines create an atmosphere of elegance. Angular accents create active layouts, pointing the eye here and there. You can use line to direct the eye, border elements in your design, or bring the viewer back again and again to a symbol.
Palette
I often use photography as a starting point for palette. If I am doing a design on fresh food, I might use a photo of fresh food as my palette, choosing colors from the deepest red in a tomato or the brightest green in asparagus to reinforce my points.
Layout
Using lorem ipsum to focus attention on graphic elements in a website design proposal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What happens visually when you line three words up, one after the other, in a perfect square? What happens when you take those same three words and create a rectangle? What about if you give them some space? What about if you angle the words? The overall shape of your design will carry a message, the virtual lines created by words will carry a message, and the flow of the viewer’s eye from one element to another will carry a message.

5 Free Tools For Creating Infographics
Why he did it: i.e. Comic Sans and Typography
The Art and Science of Typography [INFOGRAPHIC]
Flat Design is In: Should You Get in on the Trend?
The 10 Commandments of DIY Marketing Design

Tags Design, Font, graphic design, Logo, Typography, Wikipedia

brand consulting curriculum vitae insights

On visual branding: A typical logo design workflow process with LeMasney Consulting

Post author By lemsy
Post date 2013-04-03
2 Comments on On visual branding: A typical logo design workflow process with LeMasney Consulting

What is visual branding?

So, I just finished a project with a longtime friend and his wife who just launched a business. I saw their announcement of the new business, congratulated them, and quietly asked them about their visual branding, which seemed a bit… rushed.

He responded that they just needed to start advertising, and that they would work out the logo later. I asked him if I could create his visual branding as a way of showing my support, and he and his wife agreed. I decided to share the process here as a way of showing you what that typically looks like.

The first thing I did was ask them to fill out the design brief (on the navigation menu above) because it asks some key important questions about what their brand is in a highly structured way that works to begin the thought process about branding. The result was the following brand profile:

The Design Brief and a visual brand profile.

Paradise Productions and More sees their key audience as being most attracted to the following descriptors: feminine, masculine, colorful, playful, sporty, and adventurous. Their key deliverable product is personalized specialty objects, like printed mugs, t-shirts, and phone cases. They wanted to see these products as part of the logo and wanted to emphasize their t-shirt personalization. They liked green and purple for colors. They wanted to use the logo in advertising, on product samples, on business cards and in the media. They indicated that since they were just getting started they were creating rather than modifying their branding, and that any individual may be a potential customer, as opposed to it being a gender-specific product, for example. When asked what set their work apart from competitors, they responded that they “give more personal care to each and every item that [they] make”.

Getting started

So after discussing and confirming these results, I got to work in choosing fonts, symbols, and colors to match their wants. I sent them the following for review and confirmation.

Paradise Productions brand study, revision 0, by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Refining choices.

They responded that they liked the first and last fonts, as well as the baseball-style font in the middle. They liked the palette I chose, and the general look and feel of the symbols. As a result, and with confirmation by voice and an explanation that I’d be starting work on flow and layout of characters, I created and sent this response.

Paradise Productions brand study, revision 1, by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Refining further

I decided to move towards a monogram for their main symbol with the option to use specific symbols later, because the urge to use a repeated P as a monogram was just too hard to resist. They liked it, and we decided to continue to refine the work. With this set, they said that they preferred the stacked P monogram in the upper left, the wordmark in the middle right, and so I responded quickly with this to confirm, while we were on the phone.

Paradise Productions brand study, revision 2, by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Final revision.

And they said that they liked everything but the light green background. I quickly made another iteration that we are very likely to move forward with, below.

Paradise Productions brand study, revision 3, by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

I wanted to give them a square option, a horizontal option, and a vertical option as a starting point to get most social media and other advertising needs taken care of. I am also planning to share the SVG files with them, with all fonts as paths, so that if they wish to take this work to another designer to continue, or to work on it themselves in Inkscape or Illustrator, they can. This job took about 4 hours, including design time and confirmation/consultation. Some jobs move quicker, and some move slower, but very often they follow this pattern where the main product is a logo for visual branding. Congratulations to my friends and their launch of their new business, and thanks very much for letting me be a part of that process.

Tags Brand, Inkscape, John LeMasney, Logo, Scalable Vector Graphics

brand consulting curriculum vitae insights

On brand versus logo: Five easy questions to determine your brand

Post author By lemsy
Post date 2013-03-25
5 Comments on On brand versus logo: Five easy questions to determine your brand

Brand is not a Logo by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Often when I first work with a new client, especially in a design consult, I have no idea what or who they are, organizationally speaking. The thing that often surprises me though, is that they don’t either. We might know their industry (e.g. education), their product (e.g. books), and their intent (e.g. sell more books to educational institutions). None of this, however, speaks to brand.

I like to think of brands as flavors. Licorice has a very distinct taste. To some, it is repulsive, while others consider it their favorite flavor. Many foods and flavors are described in this way. Cilantro comes to mind. At any rate, you should have some idea of what your flavor is, so that you can begin to speak to the audience that finds your flavor irresistible.

Very often, organizations think of their logo as the entirety of their branding, not thinking of their logo as just a visual representation of their overall brand. Brand is extended to include so many other elements of your business, as you’ll see below.

The design work for your branding should reflect and not define your brand. If and when you know your brand, making a visual representation of it is so much easier, because we can use fonts, colors, shapes, symbols and other graphic elements that show, underscore, and represent you better.

Five easy questions to find your brand:

What 5 words best represent your organization? If I was to answer this, I would say design, technology, open source, nutrition, and creativity. These are the core ideas that I try to impart about my organization when I post, speak, share, converse, or interact in any way with others about my work.
If I was to ask a customer what 5 words best represented your organization, would they be able to match your 5 words? This is an important question. You can believe that your organization is a certain way, and it may even be true, but if your clients and customers are coming up with a different impression, it forces us to reassess our brand, work, and communication to either match or redefine customer impressions.
In what ways do the sensory elements (sights, sounds, feeling, taste, and smell) of the place where we do our work reinforce our brand? What art is on the walls of your workplace? What color is the rug? Is it clean? Is it a silent place, where people value quiet above music or conversation? Maybe you work electronically, and most people meet you in a neutral space, or only online. In those situations, these questions still apply, because even an email can have a culture to it: spelling, attachments, grammar, frequency, and tone come to the forefront as elements of your brand. Do you offer refreshments? How do the refreshments show your brand? Do you smell nothing? Trash? Baking bread? A meadow? Exhaust?
If your organization was a person, who would it be? How would you describe that person? I’d like to think of my brand as Gandhi. I like to think that my work is kind, empowering, wise, and reserved. Maybe your brand is Jimmy Stewart? Ronald Reagan? Justin Bieber? Tom Hanks? Einstein? When you think about the differences between these people, you are understanding brand.
If working with or using your organization was a meal, what would the courses, flavors, and hosts be like? Are you a fast food drive-thru? Are you a 3 Michelin Star world-class restaurant? Are you a New Jersey Diner? A New York City pizza joint? Do you use herbs from your roof garden in a whole foods feast? Do you deep fry everything? All of these metaphors are potentially valid, and should not be dismissed as a metaphor just because you may be averse to diners, for instance. Diners are casual spaces, with comfortable, easy, affordable food, informal conversations, and free refills of coffee. I’d like to think of my brand as a diner.

Hopefully after answering these questions, you have a better sense of your brand. With that in mind, what do you need to do to match your organization’s culture and sensory elements, visual branding, and service interactions to match your brand?

I can help you with that part. Email me at lemasney@gmail.com so that we can start that conversation.

Tags Brand, John LeMasney, Logo, New Jersey

portfolio requests

257 of 365 is a brandstorm for Ghosts in the Valley #logo #design #Inkscape

Post author By lemsy
Post date 2010-09-05
2 Comments on 257 of 365 is a brandstorm for Ghosts in the Valley #logo #design #Inkscape

Ghosts in the Valley

Sam Pinola, a longtime friend and multiple project collaborator, recently approached me with a sketch request, in this case, a collaboration about his band brand for “Ghosts in the Valley”:

“Hey could you help me work up a ghosts logo that looked like this?”

with an attachment as follows:

International Centrifuge (Sam Pinola)

and so, I went and found, downloaded and installed about 20 fonts, opened Inkscape, placed the band name in both all caps and mixed case in several fonts and configurations, and finally came down to six that I felt spoke to the direction that Sam gave. So, Sam, what should we do next? Do these go in the right direction? What will we do for the oval emblem? Will we introduce a color palette? Will we manufacture a chrome effect? What’s next?

Tags Fonts, Free, Graphics, Inkscape, Logo, Vector Based

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What is visual branding?

The Design Brief and a visual brand profile.

Getting started

Refining choices.

Refining further

Final revision.

Related articles

If you like it, please share it!

Five easy questions to find your brand:

Related articles

If you like it, please share it!

If you like it, please share it!

Connect with John now.

Speaking topics

Portfolio