I jumped at the chance to re- brand Ayloffs Primary School in Elm Park Essex. The school itself is going through a long drawn out merger to become a super primary school in two years time.

The brief:

- 2 colour logo, yellow and purple with green as a second option.
- Vectorised logo (no problem)
- Would like to see a tree or an elm leaf incorporated in the logo
- Must be fun
- Also consider the list of name research that had been created by the students.
- Possibly contain children in the logo

Sounded like a great brief but I could see problems emerging already. Trying to create something fun with the use of two flat spot colours (especially yellow and purple) was going to be tricky.

Another challenge was the elm tree, after doing some research, I found that each one looks completely different to the other (unlike say, an Oak tree).

The third challenge was the children. I had a few ideas involving silhouettes of children running and jumping. How was I going to get reference photos of 5-11 year olds? Taking random photos of children is not the best idea.

Theres no such thing as a problem, only a solution. Off I went.

After creating 7 different concept ideas, I choose 6 to show the client although I said I would only provide 5. Typically out of 5 designs I would expect that 2 are hated, 1 is liked, 1 is very appealing and 1 is almost perfect. Overall its safe to say that 3 will definitely go through to the next round with 1 already being a firm favourite.

The problems I expected above all came true, with the biggest problems being the flat colours (no gradients) and a new problem discovered through experimentation.

A tree is typically and most recognizable as green and brown. Creating a tree silhouette in another colour (say purple) is fine, the image of a tree is so powerful that’s its easily conceived as a tree BUT its not very fun or modern.

Answer: create an abstract tree BUT

An abstract tree using the colour purple or yellow doesn’t look like a tree.
After much deliberation heres the best of the 6 I presented.

I had my favourites out the selection and thought they would go down well with the Head mistress but this did turn out to be one of those rare occasions where none of them went down well.

After another chat I found out that what the school actually wanted was something a lot more childish. They showed me a mock up drawn by a teacher and asked me to reproduce it.

After many minor alterations and some professional amendments here’s the final piece.

Business pushes the lines of creativity, credibility and reputation to make full and powerful use of branding. It’s safe to say that brands and business coexist together hand in hand.

As global and powerful as a business brand may be it cannot comprehend with the power of a religious brand. It may be tacky to use the word “religion” in the same sentence as “brand” but let’s not be naive. Most religions throughout history have some link to the financial World if not a very big and powerful one. Religions are brands.

They represent values, guidelines and regulations on how you should lead your life according to the company director’s approval (the big man upstairs (or woman)).

Each religion has their managing directors way (popes, gurus, priests, Brahmans) which lead the and make decisions on what and how the brand should change or be represented.

Each religion has their corporate manual in the form of religious books, The Bible, Baghvahad Gita etc.

Each religion has their brand spokes person in the form of saints.

Lastly each religion has its own logo which are possibly the greatest logos of all time. Universally recognized and adoptive they rule the World holding more power than any business.

Here are some of my favourite religious logo designs (all pretty obvious ones)
(Don’t take my word on these facts, I’m not 10,000 years old and don’t actually know the truth, only what I’ve read.)

The Cross – Christianity
Maybe an obvious choice but how many have actually thought about the Christian Cross in terms of design. It’s not the most creative logo but its simplicity speaks a thousand words, in fact it sums up the whole story of Jesus and his last days with just two straight lines.
The icon has an instant connotation to Jesus showing great symbolism and probably one of the most famous icons of our time.

We all know what it represents but who actually designed it. Someone had to have put forth the idea to use it as the symbol of Christianity. (The bible has a thousand different symbolic themes to choose from, why this one?)

From what I’ve learnt “The Cross” actually existed long before Christianity and was used strongly in India, Syria, Persia and Egypt as religious symbols. It did not become a widespread Christian symbol until the third century of Christianity in which it was associated with and adopted in general as the symbol of Christianity. It was recognized that combining the greek numerals T (300) & IH (18 & First two letters of the name “Jesus” (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ) stood for the number 318 which was a foreshadow mentioned in Genesis 14:14 of the symbolic cross to be. (Yes, very complex stuff!)

In short, it’s a brilliant icon, symbolising the climatic ending chapter of the story which Christianity is built upon. In this case the power of the logo lies upon the branding behind it.

Aum – Hindusism

A more creative logo with many curves and components yet it’s one of the only designs to utilise sharp edges giving it a unique appearance. It’s the oldest logo of the three and therefore comes in several variances but all recognizable as one icon.

Spawning from the Hindu religion and the Sanskrit text it’s like most Hindu Symbols, an interpretation. It represents God, the truth, the universe, the ultimate sound (aum) and in some sense it represents everything, therefore it cannot be defined.

Each section of the symbol has a meaning so it’s a highly functional and communicative like a hieroglyphic (it’s more then a symbol, it’s a set of words). Visually, it’s incredibly artistic and a pleasure to draw. With so many curves and swooshes it literally gives your hand freedom on the paper. What’s more, like its definition the design is open to interpretation so when you draw it you can get carried away and come out with something different yet it’ll still be an aum symbol.

The origin of the symbol is in the Sanksrit text which dates back to 1500 BCE. How it came to be? I don’t know but its appearance and meaning is highly unique, attractive and complex as well as a timeless classic making it a universal favourite.

Taosim – YIN YANG

I think its pretty safe to say that the YingYang is the designers favourite because it’s pretty much a designers logo design. Composed with a dissected circle, two colours, two inner circles and a swooshy line, it has graphic design written all over it.

It represents all opposite forces which are perceived as independent being interconnected and dependant on each other in the natural world.

The Ying Yang symbol unlike others religious logos is not seen as a force but actually as a theory with a concise description of its characteristics.

Yin yang are opposing: light dark, male female, summer winter
Yin yang are rooted together: Despite being opposites they rely on each other to exist and survive

Yin yang transform each other: One provides an action whilst the other provides the reaction.

Yin-yang are balanced: They rise and fall together.

The Yin Yang is a common but personal favourite design not only due to it’s theoretical meaning but its style. Rarely is a religious logo design so contemporary, gothic and still cool!

Have you got a favourite?

Trying to pick the best logo of all time is a hard thing to do, the criteria is difficult to ascertain in it self.

1.) There’s the big name corporate logos which can be argued as ” a great logo” because of the company rather then the design.

2.) There’s the designers favourite where the criteria may revolve around the design itself rather then the company.

3.) There’ the bias opinion, (As I’m writing the article I could just put all my own logos on the list but I’m not going to do that.)

6.) Lastly, the most important factor is the technical and functional aspect along with it’s ability to communicate.

IMHO if anything in this world from music to movies and architecture to cars is considered as a classic, then it must stand the test of time. You can’t regard it as a classic unless it’s still as good, 10 years from now.

Creating a list of 10 best logos is too predictable. What I decided to do is create MY 7 most favourite underrated logo designs (10 was too hard to choose form and time did not allow for 10). Ones which I personally admire for one reason or another (including the above criteria) and ones which probably don’t get as much respect as they should do.

On another level it’s also safe to say that each of these logos have an effect on me with regards to design. Nothing to do with the business it represents but just simply logos which make me go Oooooooh. (probably a bit too much info)smile

To keep it interesting there are both the well known and the not so well known logos but all equally superb.

In no particular order – My favourite 7 underrated logos.

1.) Fed Ex

Nothing spectacular to look at but that’s exactly what makes this logo good; its simplicity. 2 colours, a sans-serif text, cute layout and most importantly the subliminal message which makes it a designers favourite. The hidden arrow, can you see it?

2.) AT &T

This is very much a personal favourite. Its communicates well creating a techy, corporate but friendly message with a difference (and it’s visually stunning).
The combination of cool colours, subtle gradients, dynamics, transparency and shapes makes me go “Ooooooh”. The icon sits incredibly well with the black, slim, curvy and contrasting text to add a hint of seriousness.

After this logo was created, countless emulations have been created by other companies.

3.) BT

A well known logo which hasn’t been adored by all, many designers even hate it but I love it. The old BT logo (man with a horn) was a classic but a bit horrible to look at. This on the other hand was a great move for BT. The new logo expressed exactly who and what BT were for the future.

A globe made from layers of technology with colours expressing the many areas they cover. The text works great for all targets as well as an identity for an institution.

4.) Limelight Group

I don’t know much about the business or designer but the design itself is quite well known for obvious reasons. Stylish, creative and executed brilliantly. Very different from the above logos with a quirkier feel, yet its still professional. Makes me smile.

5.) Sprint

Another personal favourite which makes me go Oooooh. The simplicity combined with the dynamic design just looks beautiful. You could pretty much put it in any colour and it would look good but the blue and yellow makes it original and creative yet conservative and modern.

6.) Qwell

How clever is that. An impossible Q made of several bright gradients. In terms of design ability, props to the designer.

7.) Bluewater

I have no idea what a horse has to do with a shopping centre but the sheer elegance of the logo makes it a favourite. The horse carries the sophistication that bluewater holds and the design of the horse and water together is executed superbly. Using one colour with the white backing to create the water is just great. Looking at the logo you can see the clever design where the horse and water merge together to create a seemless object. Are they water drops or is it the horse?

I could run this list on and on to make it a top 100 as there are so many great designs. Some don’t even see the light of day which brings us back to the whole point of logo design which is communication. Some of the best logos have don’t use a blatant message to relate to their b

A lot of the work a graphic designer produces is never seen. From logos and flyers to letterheads and websites, only one concept will make it through to be seen by the world.

Even when that final concept is chosen, most people don’t realise the hard work that has gone into a single image which may just be a small part of the final design. This can actually be seen as a good thing at times, for example with photo editing. If you can’t tell that the photo has been edited then the work done must have been pretty good but of course no one knows it.

Photo editing can come down to three sections and more often then not they are all used together:

Manipulating: Altering the original photo but not necessarily adding in anything new; adjusting what’s already there.
Eg. Using digital tools to carry out colour correction and special effects

Painting: Painting in new or removing certain sections of a photo.
Eg. Airbrushing a magazine cover, creating a background scene, refining details

Composition: Possibly creating a new image from the original one (layout).
Eg. Cutting sections out, adding in new elements and overlaying text.

What it involves:
A piece of graphic design can utilise all of these skills to create one document so as an example I’m going to show you what a graphic designer does when it comes to photo editing.

Brief: Seeing as this is an example I can do pretty much whatever I want but this can lead to design doom! I’ll give myself a brief to clarify the goal.

A banner for a HTML email, targeting VC’s. Must reach out and relate to them, be professional but also creative.

1. The idea - As mentioned in the previous episode, the idea is the hardest part. Luckily, after finding some stock photos I have inspiration.

2. Images - The image I have chose is one of Canary Wharf’s city scape. It’s a hi-res photo, not in proportion to the size of the banner (it won’t fit into the banner space) so I’ll have to re-size it and loose half of the original photo whilst also creating a new part.
photo editing 2

3. The image Is not the right size so I’m going to be clever and recreate it myself. With a selection of tools I’ll precisely cut out the city scape and the then the sea ( by tracing around them) to create two duplicate but separate elements.
photo editing 3

I’ll flip the sea horizontally to give it some natural consistency and then paint over the part where it joins give it natural look.

Lastly I’m going to trim off the edge of the city to make it look a little more natural (although it differs in reality).

At this point I’ll also do a little colour correction to make the image more vibrant ( more often then not, ill do this part at the end).

Now we have half an image that fits. (kind of:))

4. We’re missing a sky and the easiest way to solve that problem would be to add in a sky from another photo but finding a matching sky can be a pain because they change constantly in tone, texture and content.

I’m not going to do that. I’m going to be clever again and paint it in an alternative sky by matching the colours to the original photo to create one seamless skyline.

5. The image looks good but not finished. Now for a little creativity.
photo editing 6

6. With the use of some 3d text created in another piece of software, I’ve created a pound sign which matches the perspective of the scene.

7. With a little more creativity I’m going to give it a classy designers touch, (creating the pound sign needs a tutorial of its own).
8. After doing so I’ll add in some more detail on the lighting and shade to make it look more real and then give it an extra kick with some water splashes and a reflection to set it into the scene more effectively.

9. Looks good but what does it mean. It needs some text to make it clear. I choose a classy black serif font to counteract the creative splash of the pound sign and lay it over a white transparent block.

10. There we have it, a HTML emailshot header. Saved and optimised for web.

It sounds quicker then it actually was and the idea can take up most of your time. Each step will then provide a problem which may take multiple attempts to solve. (eg. The perspective of the pound sign) and in general its about exploration and judgement.

If this was for a client I’d probably have created a couple more concepts (taking just as long) in which only one would have been chosen and the rest would have gone to the design dump yard.

What does a graphic designer do? – Turns a good photo into an effective message.

Conceptstore has created its very own first full font and we’re giving it away for free. It’s a sans font and I’ve named it Tectro. I designed it with the intention of being a modern, warm but slightly techy character and I hope it shows through. It’s quite a nice font and a designer will probably make more use of it then anyone else but nether the less please feel free to download and use it whoever you are.

Tectro.ttf