Skip to main content

“How would I have done it?” 001

Every so often, I do this thing where I’ll see a logo for a local business or service and I’ll ask myself, “How would I have done it?”

I’m not really sure what to call this particular kind of self motivated project. It’s kinda rude to out and out call it a “Re-Do” because no one asked me (or paid me) to do it.

Similarly, calling it something like “Before and After” also smacks of arrogance. So, instead I’ll just abbreviate my first statement as ‘HWIHDI.’

A few days ago I stumbled upon this site for a children's school uniform company that also does hemming and patch embroidery. I glanced at their logo and thought, “How would I have done it?”

My solution was to use a patch instead of a crest, put the work ‘club’ on the ribbon, go with a typeface that screams ‘uniform’ and keep the lowercase ‘i’ because it looks like a kid standing next to those ‘adult’ uppercase characters in a row. And hey, the store outfits kids, so that makes more sense in my book.

I chose to color the thing in good old patriotic Red, White and Blue. God bless America :) The use of a dashed like also mimics a ‘sewn on’ look indicative of the kind that would be attached to the uniforms.

It’s important when creating an identity for a business that whatever you create be able to work in one color. Doing so allows you to cover your bases if you don’t know what you want the logo to go on. It also adds boatloads of versatility to the logo mark which increases is utility value to the business.

I’ve not show it to these fine folks just yet. I’m still trying to figure out my approach. Another huge reason I get a kick about redesigning other folks’ logo marks is there are zero client revisions. That’s the kind of luxury and freedom you get when you remove the money obligation/obstacle.

If they don’t like it or don’t want to use it, it’s no skin off my nose because hey, they didn’t pay me to do it. I guess I do this for my own peace of mind. I can sleep better at night knowing that, at least in my sub conscience, their identity has been reconciled with what it is and what I think it should be.

It’s just another pulse of soothe on living with my designers curse :)

So, what about your self-guided projects? Have you ever re-designed something for your own peace of mind? Please post your helpful comments and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your time :)

Posted via email from Eye Say Design • The Web Log

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Voice of Type

Whenever we say something to somebody, what we say can be interpreted in two ways by the person we’re talking to: They can hear the words we say that make up the message and, they can hear how we say those words. The way we say something can be just as important as the words we use to say it. The words of the message we audibly project can be completely altered by what it sounds like to the receiver. The same is true of visual language. The type we use to shape the characters of the words we say has a huge effect on the visual message that’s received by the viewer. In the first example it’s confusing. The second example illustrates the voice of the type used by using familiar type to drastically alter it’s perception. Which would you take more seriously? For your message to be it’s most effective, please keep in mind the implied meaning of the type choose you use to create the messages you put out into the world.  So, why does the type we use do that? We live in a visual culture. I...

Invitation to view Eye Say Design's Picasa Web Album - PLRKHRD 0001

You are invited to view Eye Say Design's photo album: PLRKHRD 0001 PLRKHRD 0001 Apr 13, 2010 by Eye Say Design http://post.ly/aCxY View Album Play slideshow Message from Eye Say Design: Update :) If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=eyesaydesign&target=ALBUM&id=5459759396252193297&authkey=Gv1sRgCNbazqfglImznQE&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account . Posted via email from Eye Say • The Web Log

This is how Donovan Beery made the leap.

This is how Donovan Beery made the leap to full time independent work for his own firm.  If you don't already know Donovan, then it's my privilege to introduce you to him here today. Get to know him here: http://eleven19.com/ http://36point.com/ Before Going Independent: • What did you do for a job? Before starting Eleven19, I was the web designer for Union Pacific Railroad. I did that for over two and a half years before following the head of the Web team over to one of their subsidiaries, where I did both print and web design for. Since I was working in-house jobs, where freelancing was not considered a conflict of interest, I started doing some small freelancing projects at night and on the weekends. • What convinced you to make such a drastic change in your life and career? At the time I didn't see this change as being as drastic as it probably is. I had been at a technology company during the end of the dot com boom, so the place was changing rapidly. The first few mon...