Behind our latest ad

Here is a sneak preview of our new press advertisement:

The idea was how to focus on a brand exposure that happens often and yet that surprisingly many overlook. In a first 'meet and greet' situation you have to make your own good first impression. When you hand over your business card it's the turn of your brand to do the same and to do so with some resonance.

The reaction your business card receives, how long the recipient considers it and their response is a fair reflection on how seriously they feel you take your business and therefore it will have an effect on whether they continue any working relationship with you. In short, if you cannot seriously commit to investing in your brand and your card proves this featuring a poor or template logo, why should your new colleague take you and your offering seriously?

The strap on the ad is 'to be seriously considered, consider your brand seriously.'

We don't need to harp on about the importance of making a good first impression but do like to point out that your brand also has its fair share of fulfilling this duty for you when you are not around to do it in person. Your brand is just another ambassador for your company and one thankfully that you have the luxury of completely controlling.

If you would like to receive a full size version of the ad via e-mail drop us a line and we will happily ping one across. If you would like to take control of your brand then start now. 

Fashion brands never go out of fashion

I haven't bought a copy GQ since I lived in London but this months cover story caught my eye so over the sunny weekend I found myself slumped in a deckchair page flicking and occasionally actually reading. Beyond the editorial my creative mind couldn't help but evaluate each advert within and more importantly the brands.

I was reminded of how simple the leading fashion brands are. One new shoe designer for example simply has his name in a standard PC font in caps. It really could have been achieved in ten seconds in Word (although I am sure it wasn't).

Those who have worked with us will know that at Logo Laureate we always encourage simplicity in brand design and look to produce brands that do not date. The fashion world is a prime example of simple brand design succeeding and doing so consistently on a global playing field for many decades. The vast majority of the brands are purely typographical and yet have become 'simply' iconic.

I am quickly going to select a few moving from the front cover inwards only a few pages..

Louis Vuitton (French luxury leather goods and fashion since 1854). Font: Futura with some range kerning adjustments (letter spacing for those non designers). The use of the logo marque of the interlocked 'L' and 'V' remains emblazoned on the products but the typographical logo seems to be its press advertising figurehead now. A creative manoeuvre thanks to the pirate market.

Chanel (French haute couture, luxury goods since 1909). Font: after considerable discussion amongst designers across the world it has been concluded it is their own font, closest match is SF New Republic.
The iconic logo marque of the inter-joining back-to-back 'C's was actually given to Coco Chanel by Chateau de Cremat, Nice.

Cartier (French luxury jeweller since 1847). Font: a custom script font, although general consensus is it's just the 'C' and 'R" that have be created specifically.

Prada (Italian fashion since 1913). Font: a custom font based on an Engravers font. Has evolved gently from a more traditional engravers font to its current more contemporary being.

The list is almost never-ending, Gucci, Dolce & Gabanna, Pink, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Paul Smith, Gant, Jaeger....

So why do these incredibly simple brands work so well for such enormous businesses? When you consider the wide tapestry of designs, cultures, colours, art and opinions involved in the industry it is fascinating that they have almost all chosen to project themselves (becoming icons along the way) in such a simple creative manner. They epitomise timeless class.

Perhaps it is so the logos can easily be reproduced on the products? Perhaps it's merely because the products speak for themselves and the logos need to do little ad lib? Perhaps it harps back to when logo marques weren't widely produced when these fashion houses started trading? Whatever the reasoning, it has become a brand design industry standard and a fine example to follow.

So get choosing your fonts.

http://www.myfonts.com/BrowseBy?idtype=foundry&id=2&itemsperpage=100&resultcount=1780

http://www.identifont.com/

Taking great care - The story of a brand

The Client & Early Stages

We honestly feel blessed becoming involved in new business ventures at embryonic stages and relish to be in the position of being able to bring a company to life through conceptual graphic design.

This particular client has over 20 years proven experience in the sale and acquisition of Care Homes in the UK and having been hugely successful in top firms and built an enviable reputation wanted to enjoy the fruits of labour through an enterprise of their own creation.

The company name had been chosen but no logo at the time we joined the discussions. We have a short questionnaire on our site which helps to compile a basic brief which we then can be developed with the client. This can be found on our contact page.

From this exercise the client wanted the brand to communicate the following keywords; transfer agency, property, traditional, established, trustworthy, professional...but the one word which the client wanted to prioritise was 'confidentiality' - a key attribute to the business process in their industry.

Proposed Concepts

This particular conceptual challenge was to marry the keywords of 'property' and 'confidentiality'. Working on a 'traditional' approach (one of the keywords) we were drawn to the concept of a wax seal. This, to us, conveyed confidentiality and also gave the logo credibility as it was only dignitary and royalty who would have their own seal crest. This gave the concept standing and also allowed us to incorporate a crest into the seal or a logo within a logo in essence. The company name gave us our initial letter 'B' and we decided on an ornate key to communicate 'property'.

At this point of the creative process colour options had not been discussed so this concept would ultimately provide us with the colour palette with which to move forward.

Most visions of a wax seal are blood red and we did present one such option but to give the brand a feeling of excellence we also presented a gold version as below.

This then gave us our colour palette of gold and black/grey. We then drew a simplified house icon to represent the property constituent of the brand. To further the concept of a service of authority and, possibly directed by the gold, we duplicated the house icon and arranged them in an arc to form a crown.

This then naturally came almost full circle back to our original wax seal concept but this time represented by the ring of the icons, giving it a modern twist and also creating a new icon in its own right.

The client was also drawn to the strength of the structure now created. As often is the case with these projects the client then recognised an image within the brand that we had not discussed before but had evolved throughout the brand development. The client saw this final icon to represent a board room table representing the negotiations of their work.

The Final Logo

Final development was primarily in the choice of fonts, the use of the grey moved to the strapline, black brought in for the company name, a plinth-like line incorporated and the brand was born.

Clients Reception 

“Although we have worked in our specific industry for many years, the task of taking our own fledgling company into an established marketplace was an intimidating one. Jordan (Creative Director, Logo Laureate) was able to create a brand for us which reflected experience and maturity. The logo Jordan created summed up our business perfectly, and the process for our part was entirely painless. We were impressed with Jordan’s professional, enthusiastic approach and his understanding of our requirements was even greater than our own. We cannot recommend Jordan highly enough.”

What makes a good logo design?

The importance of logo design and the associated brand values is often overlooked but is as important as a good handshake and retaining eye contact in a business meeting.

When meeting potential clients and business associates you always want to make a good first impression. You should place the same level of importance on considering and designing your logo. Your logo in effect communicates to your marketplace when you are not there in person to do it yourself.

Considerations when designing your logo should include the following:

1. It should clearly communicate how you or your product performs in its chosen marketplace.

These are your brand values. If you are traditional in the way you work then it should reflect this. If you are a cutting edge venture then your logo should be sharp and contemporary.

2. It should be simple and impactful.

Bear in mind that your logo will appear across a broad range of marketing materials and have to be reproduced in different environments. Your logo will be smaller than a thumbnail on a business card and yet could appear as large as a refrigerator on a billboard advertisement. Small or large it should communicate consistently.

3. It should not date.

If possible steer clear of transient design trends, Web 2.0 and bevels and drop shadows, which can cause headaches when applying your logo on and offline. Consider how your logo would be in black and white and would it be just as engaging as its full colour parent.

4. Use foresight.

Your company may plan to adapt or be forced to adapt in the future so don't allow your brand to close a door to future business opportunities. You may be a small size photography studio now appealing to similar size clients but in five years time you may be or may wish to compete with bigger agencies and your brand should, if possible suit both environments. Also do consider how any icon (or element of) or styling could be rolled out as a design feature across a forthcoming website and sales and marketing materials.

5. It's not just for you.

Of course you have to happy with your logo and it should give you confidence in promoting your business appropriately, however it is your customers and target market it has to engage the most.

If you would like to discuss your brand with us please do not hesitate to contact us.

http://www.logolaureate.com/contact.html

Welcome

Welcome to the blog of Logo Laureate - Original Brand Generation.

Here we will post news of our recent projects and share insights into our thought processes behind the logo development. To view our current site and see a selection of our logos please visit:

www.logolaureate.com

Why use Logo Laureate?

There is a plethora of graphic design agencies on the web offering logo design and more often than not at very reasonable prices. A great deal of these agencies are using template logo designs and merely changing colours and fonts in a matter of minutes and selling them on. This is not what we do at Logo Laureate.

Logo Laureate produces completely original logo designs driven by concept. In fact we spend considerable time researching in the early stages of the project to ensure that our proposed design is completely unique to the marketplace.

The result is that our clients are often spoilt for choice when we present our initial concepts and whichever concept they choose to develop they can rest assured that their new logo meets all the requirements of their brief and it is unique.

We tend not get too involved in passing design trends and believe that logo design should be elegant and relatively simple enabling the brand to be used across all disciplines and giving it longevity.

If you are looking for a logo design or perhaps want to refresh an existing design please use our contact form and short questionnaire and we will endeavour to get a response to you in the same working day.
This form can be found at:

www.logolaureate.com/contact.html