LogoLounge Master Library, Volume 4: 3000 Type and Calligraphy Logos

297 Pages·36.735 MB·English

by  Bill Gardner

volume 4
library
M A S T E R
3000 TYPE & CALLIGRAPHY LOGOS
FROM LOGOLOUNGE.COM

catharine fi shel and bill gardner
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Dedicated to my friend and confi dant Cathy LogoLounge.com is the world’s largest database
Fishel. In appreciation of her vision, guidance, of logo designs where, in real-time, members
and loyalty in launching LogoLounge. For can post their logo design work; study the work
exploring identity design as no other writer ever of others; search a database of more than
has. For taking me on faith that this was not a 170,000 logo designs by keyword, designer’s
goofy idea. Thank you. name, client, industry, and other attributes; learn
from articles and news written expressly for and
—Bill Gardner
about logo designers; build lightboxes for
inspiration; and much more. Anyone visiting the
site has access to editorial materials, although
only members have access to search, upload,
To Joyce Rutter Kaye, for assigning the PRINT
and lightbox functions.
article that fi rst caused me to call Bill, and to Bill,
LogoLounge is also parent to two lines of
for sharing his dream.
bestselling books about logo design, published
—Catharine Fishel
by Rockport Publishers:
• The original LogoLounge series (1, 2, 3, 4,
5, and 6)
• The Master Library series, built from seven
volumes, each of which contains 3,000
topic-specifi c logos. The topics covered will
be Initials & Crests; Animals & Mythology;
Typography; People; Shapes & Symbols;
Nature & Food; and Arts & Culture.
For more details, please visit
www.LogoLounge.com.
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contents
FROM THE
LOGOLOUNGE.COM
INTERNATIONAL
COLLECTION
4 3000 TYPOGRAPHY LOGOS
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6 Introduction: BILL GARDNER
12 Interview: Miles Newlyn
18 Interview: Jessica Hische
24 Interview: Ken Barber
13 Sidebar: Gustavo Koniszczer, Perú
15 Sidebar: Sebastian Lester, Emer Swift
17 Sidebar: John Langdon, John Mayer
concert logo
19 Sidebar: Rian Hughes, Device, Batman logo
21 Sidebar: Camila Drozd, Europa Café
23 Sidebar: Matteo Bologna, Sant Ambroeus
25 Sidebar: Aaron Horkey, Cable
27 Sidebar: Eric Waetzig, Pullman Yards
29 Sidebar: Ed Nacional, Double You
Expanded typography
32
Collections of
LogoLounge
32 TYPOGRAPHY
Identity
Categories 128 CALLIGRAPHY
152 DISPLAY TYPE
enclosures
204
283 Index
288 Directory of Contributors
296 About the Authors
library
MASTER 5
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introduction
LOGOLOUNGE
MASTER LIBRARY
TYPOGRAPHY
>
Typographic logos can have meaning far beyond the
words they contain. To a young child who cannot yet
read, a colorful cereal box and requisite logo hold plenty
of meaning. (Box circa 1960s.)
6 3000 TYPOGRAPHY LOGOS
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If you want to witness a tour de force of typo- scoop of detergent—no matter how great they
graphic logos, all you have to do is visit your perform as products—just don’t inspire memo-
local grocery store and take a stroll down the rable or brand-unique outlines.
aisles. Kellogg’s, Crisco, Campbell’s, Coca-Cola:
We need words to help identify what’s in the
Each has a distinct and highly recognizable
package and who made it.
wordmark. As a small child, even before I could
read, I knew exactly which box held the cereal All this points at why typographic logos are so
that I liked best. important to us: Sometimes, we simply need
them. They are an ideal solution when you must
Some of these brands might also have symbol
convey a name or information about a product
logos, characters, or other brand attributes
and just can’t do it any other way.
associated with them, but over time, it’s the
type-based identifi er that will remain the same,
often for decades and even if the product
Word or shape?
inside changes.
The objective of any identity design is to create
Why? From a purely practical standpoint,
a visual shorthand that helps the customer
consumables are more package-oriented, and
recognize and appreciate a brand quickly. A
packages need identifi ers to explain what’s
simple symbol mark gets the job done the
inside. The box or bag, with branding applied,
fastest—think Target’s target or Apple’s apple.
stands in for the product. Consider: If someone
The picture-based message shoots straight
asked you to draw a Coke, would you draw the
to the brain.
bottle/can/logo or a puddle of brown liquid? Our
But a word-based design makes the understand-
brains remember shapes, and face it, a nebulous
ing process a bit more complex: It adds—at least
blob of tapioca, a sheet of facial tissue, or a
>
Though dramatically different, both of these three-letter logos for artists rely heavily on display typography. BOB
represents the artist Bob Schwan, who creates large geometric areas of vibrant color in his paintings. REB represents
Rebecca Simpson, who creates highly adorned textiles with dyed and bleached gothic ornamental patterns in velvet.
(All designs by Gardner Design.)
library
MASTER 7
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on fi rst exposure—the necessity to interpret the
letterforms, their organization, their shapes, and all
the other brand attributes that might be present.
Upon a consumer’s fi rst exposure with a
type-based logo, he has no experience with it
and so must actually read it (a special complica-
tion for audiences who don’t read or at least
can’t read a particular language). Upon the next
experience with that logo, the consumer may
recognize the cluster of words or letters and not
have to actually spend time reading it. As that
person’s experience with the brand grows, it
becomes more and more about his feelings
concerning the product/brand, and the necessity
to read the mark becomes unnecessary: It is
simply a shape that is intimately connected to
the brand experience.
>
Top down: This calligraphic LincVolt solution was
designed to serve as the chrome badge on Neil Young’s As shape designs, type-based logos can be
Bio-Electric Cruiser. The car was a modifi ed 1959 incredibly straightforward, like the Adidas logo:
Lincoln Continental, so the logo was created to refl ect It’s nothing more than the name spelled out in a
the fl avor of the chrome car graphics of the era
Futura variation, but it’s phenomenally recogniz-
Cynergi Suite was born out of merging the two largest able in its lowercaseness.
software systems designed for the rent-to-own industry.
Blue and green represent the former brands, and the The Microsoft logo is just as simple, although it
symbolic bridging of the two occurs in the letter n. has a little notch cut out of the o—no big
(All designs by Gardner Design.) deal—but still the wordmark is recognized the
world ’round, and likely, people seldom if ever
actually read the letters M-i-c-r-o-s-o-f-t. Instead,
they just recognize the design much as they
would a simple symbol.
At the other end of the spectrum are the largest
percentage of the samples in this book. They
contain much more “play” in terms of the
introduction of art, shapes, and other visual cues.
This collection can be divided into the following
four categories:
1. Typography. These are relatively unadorned
type solutions that tend to rely on trickery with
the letterforms. Imagine a logo for the Half
Company in which the letters are cut in half, or a
8 3000 TYPOGRAPHY LOGOS
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sushi house that uses a piece of sushi as a
letterform. Without the visual trick, these
solutions are no more than out-of-the-can type.
2. Display type. These samples are letterforms
that have been hand-built or are much more
decorative and challenging to read. They are
more artful than the previous category.
3. Calligraphy. It would be great to believe that
each sample in this category was drawn by pen.
But there are many fonts available today that
have every bit the appearance of calligraphy,
and both sorts are found in this book.
4. Enclosures. This is a merging of a typographic
solution and a symbol solution. Either the type
builds a shape or is enclosed by a shape. This is
a marriage that is not really a symbol on its own
but something more than just a piece of type.
(These are a bit like crests, which are covered in
LogoLounge Master Library, Volume 1, but crests
include designs that have much more than a
single piece of type inside a shape.)
Context, context, context
All of the logos in this book have one thing in
common: They contain letters and words. How
did the designer of each know whether a symbol
solution, a type solution, or a combo solution
would be best?
Truth is, there is no solution epitome for any
client. At some point, you simply have to make a
decision based on appropriateness and context.
And even that’s not absolute: If you choose
symbol, you still have to create a word-based
>
Typographic solutions take on an additional fi eld of solution to go with it, and most typographic
interest and symbology when placed in an enclosure.
logos have some sort of symbol or art embed-
These shapes complement the message and give the
ded in them.
logos a sense of place. Additional messages may be
subordinate in these creations, much as a tagline might
The real decision is in knowing which will play
be to a typographic solution not placed in an enclosure.
the starring role. You can’t stick two divas on the
(All designs by Gardner Design.)
library
MASTER 9
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>
Wichita State University relied heavily on a custom-designed display face that could serve equally in academic or
athletic environments. With multiple universities sharing the WSU initials, the school’s traditional head of wheat,
representing the Shockers, helped place the initials in the plains where this crop is grown. (Design by Gardner Design.)
stage and hope that the production will work. For fi lled with a delicious message. Also, with the
example, the AT&T ball logo wouldn’t work with a incredible wealth of display typefaces available
more visually demanding wordmark: The viewer today, inspiration abounds. As options are nearly
doesn’t know which star to watch. In this case, endless, let context be your guide.
the wordmark serves best in a supporting role.
The advantage of a purely typographic solution,
The Log Cabin lesson
on the other hand, is that it makes it possible to
dress the client’s name in a spangled Las Vegas In the last decade, interest in and use of
revue outfi t or the classic little black dress, typographic logos has increased dramatically.
whichever is appropriate for the occasion. Driven by hard economic times as well as by the
utter speed of communications today, clients ask
Maybe a certain letter will stand out, as in
designers to deliver the brand message more
FutureBrand’s beautiful Perú logo. Perhaps
directly, and there’s no more direct way than just
every letter has been treated with some sort of
displaying the client’s name. Done.
visual effect: Even the blandest faces can be
10 3000 TYPOGRAPHY LOGOS
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