Month: March 2022

Petition for NYUAD flags to be planted

Our understanding of the world is built on abstractions. Complex systems are understood and stored in our minds as abstractions. It is impossible to understand anything in its entirety. Learning is really the continual act of unmasking abstractions to see what lays underneath  — there is no end to it. When we remember something, we are just recalling the abstractions of this ~something we have stored in our heads.

For the average person, the understanding of a computer, for example, is really limited to what we interact with and have abstracted away. I study computer science and have no clue what happens down at the hardware transistor level. People’s identities are similarly configured in our brains in the form of some abstractions — be it words, their face, actions, scent etc. When I say the word Mariët, something about the vice chancellor will come to your mind, some abstraction of our vice chancellor that you have stored in your head. I say all of this to explain my response to a question that was posed in our Yes Logo  class a while ago.

Why are we taking this class? Why learn about logos? Why attempt to master branding?

What we are really learning is the art of building great abstractions. The hardware layer of a computer has been abstracted away for me by smarter people that converted it into code I can understand. [In fact, I don’t actually understand this first level ‘binary’ code and rather understand, again, an abstraction on top of that in some programming language.] The phrase ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ is a cliche by now but it speaks to the same notion. By branding, we’re narrowing down a company/product to an abstraction that is easy to grasp.

When we discuss branding, our audience by default is some end user, perhaps a customer, whom we are trying to communicate an abstraction to. But we’re leaving out one common and often overlooked target audience. The people behind the company/product/service/movement brand itself! A brand is one layer above the cause that brought people together. Given that it’s a higher level abstraction, a brand’s ability to communicate the cause is as strong. A great brand is perhaps one of the greatest community building tools we have at our disposal.

Flags. What is a flag but a waving logo? We talk of branding and its utility in representing ourselves outwards. A flag is possibly the best manifestation of how that same energy stands if redirected inwards.

La Liberté guidant le peuple (English: Liberty Leading the People) is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X of France. You’ve probably seen this painting a lot. A woman leads a group of people forward over a barricade and the bodies of the fallen, holding the flag of the French Revolution – the tricolour, which later became France’s national flag. [1] What is the most prominent thing in this picture? I couldn’t remember the name of this painting when writing this and I had to Google *Revolution Flag Painting*, that’s all it took. The flag is powerful, symbolic. You feel the force of the revolution through the woman pushing forward with the flag. The flag represents belonging, pride.

La Liberté guidant le peuple (Liberty Leading the People), 1830 | Oil on canvas | artsy.net 

What’s great about flags in particular is that if we try to judge them with the typical metrics of a great logo (i.e. how well they represent a brand to outsiders) they likely fall short. Viewed from within the country they are trying to represent however, they are perhaps the best logo mankind has yet produced.

FAQ: Why flags and not any other branding medium?

      • Yes exactly, that’s the point. Build a metal torch with fake fire and have it lit the whole year round on both sides of the entrance. A brand typically expresses itself through its logo, typeface, color scheme etc. Interesting forms of expression come out when we pay attention to how we can use it *inward*.

Goes without saying that so much of *inward* expression is also *outward* expression: a flag waving denotes territory to the outsider as much as it signifies home to the insider.

P.S. Please don’t make me write an essay on why the NYUAD flag should not be accompanied by any country’s flags.

 

Mexican Rótulos  

Mexican Rótulos  

Most of the local businesses in Mexico City don’t pay for a logo or a fancy brand identity, or at least they didn’t use to. Anywhere you look around in this city, you’ll see colorful handwritten words that announce something. It could be food, a cybercafe, an auto repair workshop, a dentist’s office, and any business you could have in mind. These handwritten signs are called rótulos. 

I wasn’t precisely a big fan of the rótulos, especially because when these words are painted on walls don’t receive the right maintenance, they start looking dirty and abandoned. However, one day I bumped into this post from a vintage clothes shop I follow: 

This rótulo reads “Love yourself today. It is for free.” /IG: @lupebaezvintage. The creator of this rótulo is the sir sitting in the picture. The suitcase with words written on is where he carries all of his materials. 

Probably it was the contrast between this trendy store owned by millennials who decided to give it a try to this old technique, and seeing the process behind these signs (the shop was posting the process on their Instagram stories) that made me value these works and think to myself “Hey, they are actually so cute!”.

Learning More About the Term

First of all, to write this entry I tried to find an appropriate translation for the term “rótulo”. These were: “signage” and “sign”. The word comes from the Latin rotulus which refers to a roll of parchment or papyrus on which something was written to have a permanent record, and it can also mean “sign’ or “label”. 

Lorsch Rotulus « Facsimile edition

A rotulus 

The words “sign” and “label” contain the essence of what a rótulo was for me in my mind before looking it up, but still, it didn’t convince me completely. I ended up finding out that a rótulo is simply something drawn on a surface that indicates something and if you google the word you can come up with things like this among the first results:

mateoRótulos - La casa más antigua de rótulos en Bizkaia.

Sign by “Mateo Rótulos” announced on their website as the oldest signage makers in Biscay

Today I learned that a rótulo is a word in Spanish that simply indicates any kind of sign or signage. Why didn’t I know this before? Because for me rótulos were specifically these hand-drawn colorful words accompanied by some cheerful and sometimes funny illustrations that a lot of businesses in Mexico use to indicate what they sell. 

El rotulismo en México: tradición e identidad | Domestika

 Street Food Stand in Mexico City; It reads “The Torta’s (Sandwich) Madness” announcing the name of the place. 

As we can appreciate, there is a huge artistic and stylistic gap between the Coca-Cola Sign and this lovely sandwich business. This is why I decided to use this entry to learn more about them and to share with you the history of this colorful art called Rotulación that decorates my city. 

Its History and Its Beginnings in Mexico 

Rotulismo is the art of writing letters and numbers in a standard way or form. This art has as the main goal to get people’s attention and transmit a message. It started in the Middle Ages when the most used surfaces to make this kind of work were wood and metal.

My Vintage Journeys: THE HANGING SIGNS OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Example of a Medieval Sign 

The rotulismo tradition arrived in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th-Century, around the end of the Mexican Revolution (1917). Commerce started emerging after the war, and business owners wanted to boost their businesses’ visibility. Seeing this demand, a lot of people without truly artistic preparation, started dedicating their lives to makerótulos. They had more technical than artistic knowledge, and they developed a product that was simple and functional, but also attractive. 

marfilu on Twitter: "No les pasa que ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨RÓTULOS MEXICANOS✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ https://t.co/yGvjrZ7QN3" / Twitter

@marfilu on Twitter. A milkshake street stand in Mexico City. 

The rótulo makers started using typography, style, and type of stroke that was inherited from their families. They were mostly self-taught. Nonetheless, in some cases, their knowledge was improved by acquiring technical drawing and advertising design knowledge from whichever source they could. One of these resources was the Speedball Manual which is a lettering guide, published by a US manufacturing company of stationery and art products. You can check out a pdf of an old Speedball Manual here. 

Manual Speedball | PDF

Cover Page of the Speedball Manual 

speedball manual | Lettering fonts, Lettering, Typography

Page from the Speedball Manual 

The most common typographies used for rótulos are Futura, Open Sans, Helvetica, Fonseca, Garamond and Gothic. 

Open Sans sample.svgHelvetica - WikipediaFonseca Rounded Font - iFonts.xyzGaramond - WikipediaHELL - Gothic typeface by meka on Behance

Most Used Fonts

A Disappearing Art

The colors, typography, and everything that makes part of this iconic art has been part of the essence of Mexico City for the past century. Nevertheless, since they started as a fast solution for an increasing demand a hundred years ago, now the rótulos are slowly being replaced by more modern and refined options. The first graphic design school in Mexico opened in 1968, so the birth of graphic designers and the arrival of the digital impression, marked the beginning of the end. The rótulos business started declining and the people dedicated to this got adapted to these new changes or disappeared. This process of adaptation implied the end of the rotulismo art and its techniques. 

REVISTA ARTES DE MÉXICO | Rótulos, herencia visual en extinción - SinEmbargo MX

A rótulo with Woody Woodpecker that reads “fresh chicken” for a poultry shop

The Drawings 

Inspired by the Woody Woodpecker above, I want to share more of the drawings that sometimes make part of the rótulos. To me, they are hilarious if I think about how ironic they are, but I have also come to normalize them for how common they have been in my life. Is not only that sometimes they contain an animal killing another animal from the same species (as in the previous example), it is also the fact that these drawings are a lot of times bad copies of already existing cartoons. 

7 ideas de Rotulos mamalones | disenos de unas, carnitas, callejeros

Rótulo for a  establishment that sells a pork-meat based dish called “carnitas”

The example above is a low-key creepy drawing where three pigs are cooking the carnitas maker. The shades used here make the pigs look as if the only light they are receiving was coming from the fire, making them resemble evil witches with a cauldron. And yes, this is something that you could normally see painted on the wall of your favorite restaurant. 

Don Rótulos — Carnitas “El Gallo Giro” #rotulosCarnitas Y Huesitos. Michoacán - Posts | Facebook

Amazon.com: Looney Tunes Porky Pig Compact Pocket Purse Hand Cosmetic Makeup Mirror : Belleza y Cuidado Personal

Rótulos inspired by Porky from the Looney Tunes

These rótulos above with a smiley pig, are one of the most common within the carnitas industry. This smiley pig is a copy of Porky from the Looney-Tunes, and the most common version of this drawing is Porky smiling inside the saucepan where he is being cooked. Ironic and cruel. 

The Last Rótulo Maker

El último rotulista de la CDMX - Máspormás

Martín Hernández, known as “the last rótulo maker”

In a small shop in Mexico City’s downtown, specifically the number 58 on Perú Street, you can find Mr. Martín Hernández. This street was known for grouping a lot of rótulo makers. Today, Mr. Hernandez’s workshop is one of the few that are still working. 

ROTULISMO MEXICANO | cincontrol

“Tacos and Juices ‘Upside Down'”

He explained in an interview that there’s some psychology behind the rotulismo process. For example, specific colors would be used for the type of business they were doing it for. For a hair salon, they would use blue and red letters. For butcheries, they would use white walls and red letters because this color was associated with blood. He says that it is necessary to have a good sense of humor and that for some poultry shops he would draw some chickens riding a Ferris wheel. 

Rótulos Mexicanos

“Super Healing Juices”

Mr. Hernández also explains that before, the rótulos served for a bigger purpose since a big part of the population was illiterate and the drawings helped to interpret the message. 

Efforts to Preserve It  

Rótulos make part of Mexico City’s identity and recent history. They involve a style,  a kind of psychology of color, a specific sense of humor, and techniques that haven’t been registered in any kind of manual. All of this was transmitted from grandparents to their grandchildren and has evolved throughout time and it’s truly a shame that all these elements are getting lost with the decreasing use of this art. 

No hay ninguna descripción de la foto disponible.

Mexicana de Rotulación’s Facebook Profile Picture

In more recent years, groups like Mexicana de Rotulación have been trying to make an online archive for this art. They have created a series of videos where they interview rótulo makers who explain their techniques and an Instagram account where they immortalize rótulos that exist around the city. Museums and street art festivals are also trying to keep rótulos alive by dedicating exhibitions to them and giving spaces to rótulo makers. 

El MUCA Roma dedica exposición a los rótulos callejeros - Artes Proyecta

Exhibition at the MUCA (University’s Museum of Arts and Sciences) dedicated to rotulismo

It’s now up to us, millennials and gen-z’s to keep this art alive. To appreciate its value, beauty, and historical importance and keep doing efforts to use it, to continue giving it spaces, and make a register so it doesn’t die in nothingness.

IG: @cafeinadulce

It made me smile opening my Instagram five minutes ago and seeing that an influencer that I follow posted the exterior of a stationery shop (here above) with some rotulismo work. The teddy bear reads: “I love you”.

By the way, local stationary shops in Mexico sell stuffed animals. 

References

Acuña, Carlos. “El último rotulista de la CDMX”. Más Por Más. 19 July 2018. https://www.maspormas.com/especiales/el-ultimo-rotulista-de-la-cdmx/ 

Cera, Diego.”Mexicana de Rotulación: el proyecto que rescata y registra la tradición del rótulo en la ciudad”. Local. 27 May 2019. https://local.mx/cultura/diseno/mexicana-de-rotulacion/

De Sal, Salomé.”La Gráfica Popular Mexicana: El Rótulo.” Tercera Vía. 16 April 2020. https://guanajuato.terceravia.mx/2020/04/la-grafica-popular-mexicana-el-rotulo/

MXCity.”La Fabulosa Historia De La Gráfica Popular Mexicana”. MXCity. https://mxcity.mx/2016/11/la-fabulosa-historia-la-grafica-popular-mexicana/ 

Vazquez, Martin Julio.”El rotulismo en México: tradición e identidad”. Domestic. 14 May 2019. https://www.domestika.org/es/blog/1975-el-rotulismo-en-mexico-tradicion-e-identidad 

 

 

A Digression on the Impossible & Memorability

Time has flown by since the last blog post and now spring break is just around the corner. We have reached the halfway point of the semester and so I have found myself reflecting on all that we have done so far. We covered the fundamentals of branding, learned about the Halo Effect, the Principle of Familiarity, had an introduction to Adobe’s Illustrator workshop, received all three of our briefs, and even had a surprise “impossible brief” just last class! 

From our impossible brief exercise, I had a few take-aways. One which I think we all would benefit from is that although it may seem far off–or perhaps very close, depending where one is at in terms of the semester so far– I propose that for our final presentations we perhaps give a separate presentation for the research that we have all put together first. And then, follow it with the group presentations on the concepts we have come up with so far or (in the end) our final logo and branding designs. I propose this simply because we all repeat the same opening details, discussing the brief’s main points and take-aways, only to deviate when we discuss the thought process behind what we have come up with. 

Otherwise, it was incredibly impressive and inspiring to see all the different designs we came up with in under two hours. I believe that my creative process was challenged during this real-life scenario exercise as I had to wrap my head around the practice of going abstract when brainstorming designs for the logo. This was tricky because of a few comments that it would be nice if the logo was informative as to what the Computational Social Science (Laboratory/Cluster) does. The response they would like their audience to have is “Woah, this is really cool. What you do is incredible.” Hence, my group and I were first attempting to try and encapsulate all the areas that the Computational Social Science covers using an assemblage of symbols for the different social science subjects within a globe and magnifying glass. We kept sketching and brainstorming when we received the feedback that we should try to take it a step further and move away from the literal. Thinking about how the social sciences, in general, are conveyed we came to a similar conclusion as another group that they use graphs, like the demographic transition model which demonstrates population changes over time. The other group took inspiration from the bell curve that depicts normal distribution. 

Personally, their final product using the bell curve and negative space really struck me (and I’d like to commend them for coming up with this design).

Image
Photo credits to Adam Ramey

This very act of being impressed reminded me of a quote from our textbook, Marks of Excellence that says, “A place in the mind means a place in the market”. I have always been drawn to the use of negative space in art and design. It’s quite engaging and gripping as it makes viewers pause and reassess what they are looking at. It is pointed out in the textbook that a trademark holds power over its viewer when it makes them look longer than a split second. “Double takes, illusions, puns, puzzles and twisted images are some ingredients that facilitate identification by holding power” – and using negative space is one such example. 

No photo description available.    FedEx Logo design and its hidden message – Pixellogo

Another quality to heighten a logo’s identification is its uniqueness. It should distinguish itself from other similar products and companies. This was the only downfall from having two hours to do research, brainstorming, and designing a logo as there was little time to do due diligence and make sure that there were no other potential competitors/similar brands in the field that were like our creations. Although there may be a place for this brand in your mind, it does still share the market space with other brands. 

Lastly, the “impossible brief” exercise made me realize that time management and planning is really important and something that should be taken into account. Even though I may be very well-versed in my project and work, I find it difficult to improvise when speaking and sharing my ideas/process in a presentation. And so, moving forward with our three briefs I’m going to make sure to plan with my group when we should have our logo and branding ideas done and when we should practice/go over our presentation of our work in the end since it is one of the most important parts: selling your product to the client and convincing them that this design should occupy a space in their mind.

Social Movement logos

Logos represent group affiliations and are used in protesting campaigns and social movements around the world. In this post, I will discuss how logos create a representative identity and how they take a step further into visualizing a group’s agenda in protests or awareness campaigns. I will be referring to Black Lives Matter, Save Uyghur, and Breast Cancer Awareness as examples of prominent social movement logos. 

Black Lives Matter:

One of the most prominent and well-known protest logos would be the Black Lives Matter logo. The logo or symbol is a fist salute representing black power. As a response to the unjust police brutality against people of color, protests have spread across America with crowds raising their hands in a clenched fist. The symbol became very relevant to the extent that a raised fist anywhere across the world or on multiple social media platforms immediately reminded people of the movement.

The main concept of the symbol logo is historically prominent. The black panther party, founded in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, aimed at fighting against police brutality, constantly saluted each other with a raised fist during events and conferences to strengthen and reiterate their support for black civil rights (Duffield). “The raised clenched fist isn’t the only symbol brandished by the movement, but it was adopted following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014 (Duffield).”

A strong visual identity and branding have been created for this social justice movement, however,  since it is a movement and not a brand then the usage of logos is somewhat different. This means that there are several symbols, logos, and hashtags that are difficult to control and secure from being appropriated or altered by other entities and organizations. 

Looking at the people behind the branding of this movement, Alicia Garza, the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter organization and also the co-creator of the movement’s hashtag discusses her views on branding. She says, “we’re not building businesses who depend on brands for recognition so they can make money, I think a lot of [organizers] don’t pay attention to the salience of what it means to have a symbol people can recognize you by, and maybe some of us misunderstand [branding] (Budds).” She acknowledges the branding differences between businesses and social movements, in which she does not have as much control since it is created for the people instead of commerce (Budds).” To ensure the accessibility and ability to easily replicate the logo when needed for protest, the Design Action Collective decided that a wordmark logo was the best way to represent the hashtag slogan and movement. The logotype uses all caps black letters with the font, Anton, on a yellow background, to be visually straightforward and powerful (Budds).

I think that the way “Lives” stands out due to changing the color and background creates a stronger emphasis on the meaning of souls and sheds light on a usually undermined word that could be neglected. Making “Lives” unique serves as a reminder to the black lives that have been unjustly killed due to police brutality. The logotype logo is much more effective and powerful compared to a visual illustration that could be confusing or difficult to spread around during protests. As a result, the aim to unify the Black Lives Matter movement under one logo was successful in depicting the ambitions and beliefs of those who stand against the dangers of police brutality on colored people by defending black civil rights.  

Save Uyghur:

The accusation that China is committing genocide against the Muslim Uyghur population has become a worldwide concern with many social media campaigns trying to raise awareness about this issue. Throughout this social movement a logo that has been constantly used shows a women’s face wearing the hijab with the crescent and star in light blue and a red-colored hand with the Chinese flag covering her mouth. With the hashtag “SaveUyghur” at the bottom, this visual provokes an emotional reaction from people since it depicts the harsh circumstances of the Uyghur community as they are being oppressed and silenced from speaking up about how they are being treated unfairly. The symbolism of the hijab and crescent and star represent Islam alongside the Chinese flag (in some variations shown as the shape of China geographically) covering over the mouth of the face representing oppression. 

This logo could have some elements that represent the same meaning multiple times making it too explanatory which leads to the difficulty of being easily circulated/replicated, however, it remains as a strong visual for the campaign. I was incapable of finding out who designed this visual. By showing the misery and evoking the public’s emotions this social movement identity managed to grab the attention of the world and push them into taking initiative and spreading awareness that gives voice to the Uyghur community that is silenced in China.

Breast Cancer Awareness:

The widely acknowledged breast cancer awareness campaign expresses its brand identity through the pink ribbon logo. Created by Charlotte Haley, a breast cancer survivor, the peach-pink color of the ribbon represents femininity and all the caring and nurturing traits that fall under its umbrella. 

You might be wondering how the chain of awareness ribbons being the visual identity for such campaigns began. In 1949 the John Wayne film “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, talks about the American soldiers during the civil war, and in 1973  Tony Orlando and Dawn’s record “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree”, talks about a released prisoner asking his loved one to tie a yellow ribbon around the tree if she still loved him, influenced people to tie yellow ribbons when they want to express their longing for their loved ones during times of hardship. This was followed by the AIDS awareness campaign represented by the red ribbon and the breast cancer awareness peach-pink ribbon (Waxman).

 

It is a very simple and minimalistic logo that is instantly recognizable without having to visually represent breast cancer disease. The logo is constantly replicated on several merchandise, posters, banners, and also incorporated into other brands’ visual identities to show their support and gain a bigger female audience. You’d think this logo was not well-executed but I believe the statement and clear agenda that this visual identity presents is strong enough to stay relevant, and it does not need to explicitly show the meaning behind the campaign if it is successfully recognized worldwide. 

Converting Brand Logos into Protest Messages:

Lydia Cambron is a very interesting and unique designer that takes already existing famous brand logos and transforms them into protesting logos with different meanings and posts them on her Instagram page. 

Her work is truly diverse with many different protesting campaigns being presented. She points out that she was surprised at how people are being doubted and questioned when they ask for their rights and equality, meanwhile, famous brands and companies are immediately considered to be trustworthy (Jeff). Therefore, she has decided to flip the narrative by taking those “trustworthy” brand logos and incorporating protesting hidden messages in their design. 

Her work could reveal how individuals only view the general visual aspect of brand logos without focusing on what is written. In a way, Lydia is tricking people’s conscience and testing if they will notice the hidden messages or go about their day normally without paying attention to the changes she made to the logos. She is cleverly proving a point through artistic expression and her presence on social media. 

Looking at these examples, we can see the extent to which logos have been a fundamental factor in representing social movement identities throughout the years. The visual identity of campaigns is unique in many aspects and holds a very high expectation of properly depicting the protestors and the supporters of the social movements as they actively raise awareness. In other words, logo visual identities are used to unify participants of social movements for the greater good of communities.  

References:

  • Duffield, Charlie, and Reporter. “The Meaning and History of the Black Power Fist Used by Black Lives Matter.” Inews.co.uk, 13 July 2020, https://inews.co.uk/news/black-lives-matter-fist-symbol-meaning-black-power-history-raised-explained-432838.
  • Budds, Diana. “Black Lives Matter, the Brand.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 9 July 2018, https://www.fastcompany.com/3062127/black-lives-matter-the-brand.
  • Waxman, Olivia B. “Wearing a Pink Ribbon for Breast Cancer? Here’s How It Began.” Time, Time, 1 Oct. 2018, https://time.com/5408929/awareness-ribbons-history/.
  • Jeff. “Designer Lydia Cambron Transforms Brand Logos into Protest Messages.” BOOOOOOOM!, https://www.booooooom.com/2020/08/24/designer-lydia-cambron-transforms-brand-logos-into-protest-messages/.
 

Yes! Cool Logos!

For this week’s post I wanted to share some of my own thoughts and observations about a few logos that I saw when I was in different malls in Abu Dhabi such as Galleria, Abu Dhabi Mall or Yas Mall as well as providing some information on why those logos were designed the way they are.

Our Favorite Ice Cream Brand 

Whenever I would go to the Marketplace to either get my dinner from Amishi Amishi or Escape From New York, I would always pass by this logo and I would immediately feel drawn and compelled to buy a small ball of ice cream from the stall as that is just like my tiny ball of happiness. I can still remember like it was yesterday, it was right after my first Yes Logo class and I wanted to buy a ball of ice cream from Baskin Robbins to perfectly end my day of back-to-back classes. After I ordered my ice cream and was waiting, I looked at the logo again and I was immediately curious as to why this little ice cream brand logo has now become one of the most iconic logos in the ice cream world, so I took a picture of it. Looking at it by myself first before doing any research, I notice a few simple things: Firstly, I definitely thought that the parts highlighted in pink meant something as there are no other reasons why only those parts are in a different color. However, I wasn’t able to immediately figure out what it meant or even if it was done on purpose to mean something else. If it was intentional though, I had a few initial guesses as to what it may mean. I thought that it looked like the numbers “3” and “1” so maybe the number “31” meant something deep to the founders of Baskin Robbins. Other than that, the only other possibility for me was another cool thing that could be done with  the pink and blue highlighted parts was where the two letters could be separated and reformed to create the letters “BR” again but with the pink parts on one side and the blue parts on one side.

After making my own hypotheses about why the logo was designed the way it was, I went online to do some research to fact check.

History of Baskin Robbins

First Logo 

To give a brief history of Basking Robbins, this ice cream company could trace its roots all the way back to 1945 where  the two brother-in-law founders, Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins, first started off by owning both of their own separate ice cream brand. Burt Baskin opened his own ice cream shop called “Burton’s Ice Cream Shop” in Glendale, California. Two years later, the brothers-in-law joined forces and founded Baskin Robbins.

In 1953, they developed their first uniform brand identity (attached below). It was explained that the number “31” was indeed important within their brand identity as the number represented their slogan “31 flavors”, where it means that Baskin Robbins will be providing a new flavor every single day of the month, hence 31 as there are 31 days in a month, not all months though evidently.

Baskin Robbins Logo 1947

Second Logo

In 1991, the company adopted a second emblem where they still preserved the number “31” within their logo as its core but instead they now merged it more effectively with the word by placing the words “Baskin Robbins” to the left and to the right of the number respectively. Another significant change that was made was the color scheme, where they only included two simple colors: Pink and Blue. Personally, I think that the usage of the colors pink and blue is a good representation of their company as the color blue symbolizes the cool, chilly and cold feeling that we all get from ice cream. The color pink can be associated to feelings of love and sweetness, representing the sweetness from their ice cream. A fun fact that I had found about the usage of pink in their logo was because bubblegum was actually invented a few decades before Baskin and Robbins opened their first store in 1945 and the famous pink color came about because it was the only color available in the factory where it was invented. 

Baskin Robbins Logo 1991

Third Logo 

Moving onto the year 2006, an entirely new logo is introduced again as a part of an entirely refreshed brand. Though the brand no longer maintains the “31 flavor” concept as the company has already produced over 1,000 ice cream flavors since 1945, they still decided to include the number “31” within their logo as it is an integral part of their brand identity. Therefore, they placed the numbers “3” and “1” at the center of the logo but made it less visible. They also decided to make the words “baskin robbin” in lowercase and placed it underneath the “B” and the “R”.

Baskin Robbins Logo 2006

Fourth Logo

Lastly, starting from 2020, the logo did not change much but they just made the color scheme more saturated and slightly darker, which I’m guessing was for the reason of trying to make the logo seem more vibrant or “alive” as the previous version made it looked a bit dull and less “alive”. The last thing I also wanted to comment on is the changing of the font from 1991 to 2006 and onwards. I personally felt that the change of font for not only the words but also for “B” and “R” to an unusual zig-zag letter with uneven edges on the outline is a good change as it conveys this casual, playful and happy mood to the audience, which is what the company stands for.

Baskin Robbins logo

Other Logos I saw 

Aside from the Baskin Robbins logo, I also noticed a few other logos while I was in the city as well as one in particular on campus that caught my eye.

On Campus Logo

Honestly, I did not even realize that this logo even existed somewhere on our campus until someone pointed it out to me. This logo was found on a door near the PCR testing center’s exit at the far back in C2 West forum. When I first walked up and saw this logo, I was not able to immediately make out what it was saying until a few seconds where I realized that the four circles mixed up in the middle was actually two “o” for “book” and “room”. Personally, I did not like this logo design at all, but my friend that found it really liked it as she thought it looked cool.  For me, I did not like the design of this logo at all because of various reasons: Firstly, the size of the four “O” is a terrible idea for me because it makes it really confusing for the audience to make out what it is trying to say as I believe that our human minds do not immediately make out the circular shapes to be letters “O”.  Secondly, adding onto the previous point, the merging of those two “O” makes it even harder to make out the word “Book Room” because it creates an entirely new shape that draws away the attention of the audience to “Book” and “Room”. Instead, it makes the audience think about what the shape possibly means as they don’t immediately take not of the other four letters: “B”, “K”, “R”, “M”. Thirdly, the lack of color variety within this logo makes it extremely hard to notice for anyone that is just walking pass. Everything within this logo was just white with a white rectangle and no other colors at all whatsoever. I think that a huge improvement to this is by simply adding a background color or even adding some colors to the circles or letters in order to capture the attention of people passing by or else it would just be ignored like the way I did. I would also love to see what do other people think about this logo?

Off Campus Logos

As for this logo that I found in a mall during the weekends, I initially thought that it was a fashion brand of some sort because of the simplicity within its design and color scheme, where it’s just a symbol of two hands holding each other with just a simple black and white color scheme. For me, this was a typical design for fashion brands such as Vans, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Burberry. However, I later found out that it was not a fashion brand but instead it was an escape room franchise where people have to work together as a team to solve tricky challenges across unique cells. It is only after I found out what this brand is really about that I found out what their logo truly represented. I thought it was pretty interesting of how this logo was designed because it does not represent any of the words within its brand: “Prison” nor “Island”. We don’t see any images associated with prison or an island but instead the logo represents a deeper core message of their brand, which is teamwork. Since teamwork is a vital part of their brand as it is what is required for people to play, they had decided to make a logo representing this spirt of teamwork through showing two hands holding each other like a team.

Another logo that I found that was really interesting was the logo for this sunglass hut brand. Initially, I didn’t even realize that that circular shape was its logo as I thought it was just there for no reason. I remember I asked my friend who was with me why is that circular thing there and that friend said casually: “That’s a sun.” I was so shocked that I did not realize and make that connection immediately, and this just shows to me how logos can have very polarizing effects where it ranges from someone like me not even knowing it was a logo to someone like my friend immediately understanding that it was a sun as it is a sunglass brand. Is there some other way to improve this logo so there would be less people like me where I don’t even realize that that circular shape is actually its logo?

References: 

https://news.baskinrobbins.com/news/baskin-robbins-pink-bubblegum-ice-cream-pops-with-flavor

Baskin Robbins logo

The Prison

The Evolution of Logo Design Trends – From Realism to Skeuomorphism to Super-Simplicity

By Shawn Nassabi

Logo design trends, or design trends in general, are always changing to cater to the keen eyes of the ‘modern’ consumer. The definition of ‘modern’ design back in 1980 was very different from what it is now. Gone are the gradient shadows and intricate details of the 80s, which are now replaced by simplicity and flat design.  It is interesting to think about what influences these major evolutions in logo design trends. Is it technological development? Is it pop culture? Is it the media? Through this blog post, we will take a look at the evolution of some of the most iconic logos from different industries and analyze how and why logo design trends change over time.

The Extra Detail Era

   https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globalyoungvoices.com%2Ffast-news-blog%2F2015%2F12%2F1%2Fsir-isaac-newton-in-apples-very-first-logo&psig=AOvVaw2CrwbUKhp2yOqgARU-EnDR&ust=1646582378122000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCMDXn8mrr_YCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAz
https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhat-is-the-meaning-and-story-behind-the-Starbucks-logo&psig=AOvVaw2FyfHpHdEUcUwBP0n03zKX&ust=1646509119040000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCJDplMyarfYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAR

 

What you see above is the original Apple logo, designed in 1976, and the first Starbucks logo, designed in 1971. Clearly, there are very detailed illustrations embedded within the logos, especially the Apple logo, which features a drawing of Isaac Newton underneath an apple tree – linking it to the discovery of gravity. In other words, the Apple logo is trying to convey the message of ‘innovative technology’, albeit through a very realistic, detailed illustration. Similarly, the Starbucks logo features a two-tailed mermaid with very minute scales and features. The design trends during this period of time are quite the opposite of today’s trends. The idea of beautiful design during the 70s seems to be linked to realistic detail. Although it is fair to mention that not all logos during the 70s followed the same pattern. A distinct example is the Nike Swoosh logo which was designed in 1971.

https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Finkbotdesign.com%2Fnike-logo-design%2F&psig=AOvVaw227zdStmaAmR-926FEjcHA&ust=1646568917803000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCJCMgLH5rvYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAO

 

Clearly there aren’t any fancy details in this logo! However, you can still contend that the current Nike logo is even simpler, since it only contains a sole ‘swoosh’, without the ‘Nike’ logotype.

The Skeuomorphism Era

“Skeuomorphism refers to a design principle in which design cues are taken from the physical world” (link 1). In other words, skeuomorphism design tries to mimic the texture and feel of real-world materials/objects.

https://www.soydemac.com/en/walk-through-history-apple-logo-98765/
 
https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kindpng.com%2Fimgv%2FhJbxhTo_pepsi-old-logo-png-transparent-png%2F&psig=AOvVaw2T_7H410aUOPjlFTnZhuMK&ust=1646569021394000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCNCh0eD5rvYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ
https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Flogos-download.com%2F404-nissan-logo-download.html&psig=AOvVaw3QDSw0UFwCT5YpzllsUjbg&ust=1646568995157000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCMDo89L5rvYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

 

The logos above are the 2001 Apple logo, the 2001 Nissan logo, and the 1996 Pepsi logo. An element of all three of these logos that stands out to me is the reflective or shine effect created with the use of gradient colors and shading. The apple logo tries to replicate the feel of glass or shiny plastic, the Nissan logo resembles the metal chrome texture of an actual physical emblem, and the Pepsi logo tries to replicate the feel of a real can of soda – the tiny droplets of water around the edges of the logo’s curves truly accentuates this effect.

https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FIOS_5&psig=AOvVaw15P34yjGKy8Pek95HyEEF6&ust=1646583422129000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCLDQ0rKvr_YCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

 

The rise of skeuomorphism was partly due to its use in computer software logos and design. Take, for instance, the screenshots from Apple iPhones in 2010. The logos or icons used for the applications follow the same principles of skeuomorphism that were mentioned above. The inclusion of shadows, gradients, and other realistic detail, makes the designs resemble their real-life counterparts. The logo for ‘Notes’ looks like a real notebook for example. Skeuomorphism dominated design trends during this era because it allowed people who used computer devices for the first time to be able to recognize an application for its use and conveniently navigate within the UI.  However, as people got more familiar with using computers and mobile devices, skeuomorphism slowly began to fade, and simplistic, flat design became the new norm.

The Super-Simplicity Era

https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FDesign%2Fcomments%2F1g458z%2Fios_7_icons_vs_ios_6_icons%2F&psig=AOvVaw098ODegq_qQB0BoomfP8V5&ust=1646506985476000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCIj94NKSrfYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAO

The picture above is, in my opinion, the perfect example of the transition to a simple, flat design. The photo on the left is from the Apple iOS 7 operating system (released in 2013), compared to an older version of the software. As you can see, the use of gradients has become very subtle or in some instances, is completely avoided. The shadows underneath the logos have disappeared, ‘extra’ detail is removed, and the designs no longer resonate with realism. At the same time, it is still very easy to recognize that the camera logo is for the camera app, and the notes logo is used for notetaking, without the use of skeuomorphism. This is known as the flat design trend, which aims for designs to convey their message in the simplest way possible.

https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2F1000logos.net%2Fpepsi-logo%2F&psig=AOvVaw0WV15KIqjfM4ytmt7MNxC5&ust=1646569203452000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCMDe7rb6rvYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.caranddriver.com%2Fnews%2Fa33326179%2Fnissan-logo-change-revealed%2F&psig=AOvVaw04xiVVT9QiR4pQGQsJTNIC&ust=1646569188960000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCNDE_676rvYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
https://www.google.ae/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2F1000logos.net%2Fapple-logo%2F&psig=AOvVaw20vEaiaPCGO66ygQ5iutvh&ust=1646566399839000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCJicy_7vrvYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABA0

As you can see, the current logos for Pepsi, Nissan, and Apple also follow the same trend. A major influence that has led to the rise of this ‘simplicity’ trend is the need for efficient, and elegant digital communication. Almost all companies or brands now have their online websites, and the use of flat, simple design allows their logos to easily be integrated into digital environments.

However, it isn’t true to say that flat design doesn’t have its flaws. Many people argue that the ‘over-simplification’ of certain logos can ruin elements that made the original logos unique. This can lead to logos that look quite similar to each other and lack their own personality. As you can see in the image below, the current logos for Google, Airbnb, Spotify, and Pinterest all use a sans-serif typeface with very minor differences between them. It can, however, be stated that the reason why simplified logos are still effective for many companies is because they are already well known by most people. Being a brand that millions of people are already ‘familiar’ with makes it easier for logos to be effectively simplified and still be recognizable.

https://thirdside.co/logo-design-trends-making-brands-less-unique/

 

Links Cited:

link 1 – https://www.techopedia.com/definition/28955/skeuomorphism 

“Yes, am using a Visa to pay for my visa”

I think it is very interesting how one word can be associated with two widely used distinct things, and yet they are not confused. 

The first visa is the brand “Visa” of which a short brand history is in order. It began when thousands of Americans received a yellow, white and blue card – the Bank Americard – to launch the all purpose credit card. The stripes were chosen to represent the hills of California where the Bank of America’s roots can be found – blue for the sky and yellow (gold) for the golden hills. 

 

left: UK; right: Canada

The company underwent many changes and restructuring, such as that in 1974, the International Bankcard Company (IBANCO), a multinational member corporation, was founded in order to manage the international BankAmericard program. BankAmericard became an international organization, but “there was no unifying brand name” as “each brand used its own name with some version of the blue, white and gold flag” (Ron van der Vlugt). The directors of IBANCO determined that bringing the various international networks together into a single network with a single name internationally would be in the best interests of the corporation; however, many countries were reluctant to issue a card associated with Bank of America, For this reason, in 1976 in 1976, BankAmericard and all its licensees united under the new name, “Visa”. The brand’s founder, Dee Hock, who “recognized the power of one unifying global brand” came up with with the name together with his employees. The brand retained the distinctive blue, white and gold flag for “reasons of continuity”. 

For the next thirty years the logo did not change much until in 2000 it was restyled slightly to and a corporate logo with a, surprise surprise, yellow swoosh was introduced. Later on, as the bank card business was growing into a plastic free industry, the literal picture of the card (which is what the flag with the name in the middle resembled) was too limited an a separate corporate logo proved confusing and somewhat against the point of uniting under a single brand to begin with. A need arose for a single brand framework that accommodated all payment types and services with one single logo for use in multiple environments. This resulted in a new logo in 2006 where the “V” was given  a distinctive accent by twisting a serif, and the space consuming borders were removed making the Visa name much more prominent (Ron van der Vlugt)  (and thankfully, the swoosh was removed).

Image credits to Visa’s inhouse design team.

Today, Visa is very highly known – its logo is seen on cards, but not only. It is one of the largest card payment companies and was reported to have processed 100 billion transactions during 2014 with a total volume of US$6.8 trillion. 

From a branding standpoint, it is interesting that (in the perhaps somewhat limited pool of people that I am acquainted with) most people know about Visa, but not what they actually do. The few individuals I asked about it for the purpose of this essay said that they think it has to do something with credit cards, but did not know exactly what. Visa actually facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded cards (credit, debit cards, prepaid). Contrary to what is most easily assumed, Visa does not actually issue cards, they provides financial institutions with Visa-branded payment products that they then use to offer credit, debit, prepaid and cash access programs to their customers. But regardless, the main point is that the logo is known and recognizable. 

The other totally different visa is the one that you might need to travel to a country you are not a citizen of.  The word visa, coming from the Latin charta visa, meaning “paper that has to be seen”, is a conditional authorization granted by a polity to a foreigner that allows them to enter, remain within, or, more rarely, to leave its territory. Visas have come into major use after Word War I, clearly preceding the establishment of Visa Inc, so it is a little unclear why they decided to go with the name considering that it has already been associated with something quite widely used. It is also unclear how the brand became so widely recognized despite there already existing something with a similar name. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that Visa was a rebranding and merging of a preexisting international organization with millions of customers and not something new, or perhaps it was because it had its origins in the late 21st century and foreign travel (and by extension visas) were not on the minds of people as much as they are on our minds. 

One could argue that this is something like Apple, where now the word is associated more with the company rather than the fruit, but it might not necessarily be the case. There seems to be a distinction that we have between the two visas that we have in our heads depending on the context. I have never had anyone assume that I am applying for a bank card when I said that I am applying for a visa, and similarly, I have not ever had anyone assume that I am talking about a travel document when I tell them that my Visa card did not accept the transaction.  

Perhaps this works because visa (the travel document) is not a competing brand, but rather a word for something (perhaps it actually is similar to apple?) but I wonder if Visa (the brand) would have been more or less successful and recognized if it wasn’t named a word also associated with something else? Does this only work because when you talk about it the context is so clear. What if it wasn’t? 

It is also interesting that Apple’s logo is an apple, and Visa’s logo is the word spelled out. It is very readable, visible and straightforward. No metaphors or hidden meaning – just the word spelled out.  What if it was a picture mark? Would that still work if our brains had to train to associate “visa” with whatever that picture is? This also opens the question of “should brands be named with real words or things that already exist?” What affect does it have on brand recognition and marketing? From a design standpoint, it might not be so important if the logo is iconic, but regardless, how does the association we have with the word break the association we have with the logo? These are all questions that I wonder about, but do not necessarily feel qualified to answer. 

 

Sounces:

Logo Life

https://ideas.repec.org/p/hoo/wpaper/16107.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20150501055215/http://usa.visa.com/download/corporate/_media/visa-fact-sheet.pdf

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2015/05/06/visa-moves-at-the-speed-of-money/?sh=7a2d8b6057c3

https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/65412/unionpay-takes-top-spot-from-visa-in-22-trillion-global-cards-market—rbr

https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data/cards/card-spending

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/nov/17/travelnews

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.visa.co.uk%2Fdam%2FVCOM%2Fdownload%2Fcorporate%2Fmedia%2Fvisanet-technology%2Fvisa-net-booklet.pdf&clen=2314216&chunk=true

 

 

Logos and Design Trends when it come to Branding

Logos are supposed to attract and give information to the specific audience to the brand. Brands like hotel brands, restaurants, libraries, museums, amusement parks, art centers must communicate to the people to attract them to choose their brand. Its amusing how depending on what the brand is about each logo is still unique and represents their own identity. The brands kind of give off similar feeling depending on their products but remain to be completely different.  I have looked at different brands that share the same aspect and tried to look at trends and elements that is shared and if there were any noticeable patterns between them. Hotel logos would convey a sense of fanciness, elegance, and comfortability and cafe place logos would convey a sense of coziness and chillness.

(16 et al., 2020)

Hotel logos usually use a special font that are very  long to give some feeling of bougie and class to attract the people to stay with them. Class and elegance can make the customers feel more trust towards the hotel and safe to use their services and have a feeling of being guaranteed that they are gonna be treated the best. Hotel logos do not seem to use many colors if they ever use, they often use just black and white and sometimes purple which is associated with class and royalty, as this color used to be rare to find in nature before they discovered that purple can be made by mixing the primary colors blue and red.

 (Neel)

Restaurants logo trends differ depending on their type of restaurants. I noticed a trend in colors where lots of logos use red, yellow, and orange in their logos which are warm colors. Also lots of logos would include adding elements such as a fork, chef hat, knives, spoons, and ever food items like pizza and burger. These things definitely attract the hungry customer with their warm colors and the little elemental details.

(2013)

Art center logos would mostly be very abstract to give this artistic and open interpretations to the viewer, as lots of art pieces are for the viewer to interpret in his own way. The logos would be colorful and use lots of different colors, and their font would be usually bold.

(2016)

Amusement park logos are usually very fun with their color choices and include lots of fun and silly elements to them to attract the people and give them the info that they are going to have a blast going to them. Elements included here such as the ferris wheel, booths, roller coasters, dinosaurs, and water splashes. 

(2013)

I really enjoy museum logos and amazed with their unique and fabulous design. Museum logos would mostly be very abstract and usually have the logo symbolize the architecture of the place, as museum architecture are all very unique and exciting. The symbolism of the architecture could be viewed as the use of elements.

(99designs)

Park logos use symbols of nature such as trees, animals, or the sun as elements in their logos. Same to go to lots of libraries as they use books as their main symbol for the element in the logo. Even engineering centers have elements such as hexagons, mechanical gears, charts, and even wrenches to describe what they stand for. Lots of logos share some kind of trend and pattern depending on their brand and what they stand for, but still it is important for a logo to be able to stand out from other brands“` and be unique and memorable. There are cliches to avoid but it is not bad to notice these trends and find a creative and genius way to incorporate your research to create something new and fresh that would be the logo for a brand.  

References:

15 Oxide Gallery logo assignment ideas: ? Logo, gallery, Art Gallery. Pinterest. (2013, October 2). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.pinterest.com/toifactory89/oxide-gallery-logo-assignment/

 

  16, N., Share Share the link Copy URL, Share, Share the link Copy URL, Fredericks, L., Laura Fredericks Laura brings a decade of insight to improving marketing, Laura brings a decade of insight to improving marketing, & Guest, C. (2020, November 16). The Ultimate Guide to Hotel Logos. Hotel Logos: 10 Must-Know Ideas, Tips, and Examples | Cvent Blog. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.cvent.com/en/blog/hospitality/hotel-logos

 

  9 theme park ideas: Theme Park, Logo Design, park. Pinterest. (2016, October 28). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.pinterest.com/dearmonn/theme-park/

 

  99designs. (n.d.). Park logos: The Best Park Logo Images. 99designs. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://en.99designs.pt/inspiration/logos/park

 

  Logo Design for seoul museum. Logo Designer. (2013, November 7). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from http://www.logo-designer.co/logo-design-for-seoul-museum/

 

  Neel. (n.d.). 70 creative restaurant logo design inspiration for you. Webneel.com. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://webneel.com/logo-design-ideas-restaurant

Learning from TikTok: tips, tricks, and exercises for logo design

 

Watch trending videos for you | TikTok
TikTok App Logo

TikTok is a video-sharing and streaming platform, the initial primary content of which was short dancing routines. The app became available worldwide in 2018 and its popularity exploded during the COVID pandemic, which has expanded its target audience and diversified its content. With over a billion active users (Backlinko, 2022), TikTok is currently taking 6th place in the ranking of the most popular social media platforms for marketing (Statista, 2022). The wide outreach, the opportunity to interact with other users, and the freely given content creator tools make it great for the promotion of small businesses and freelance workers. Big companies enter the platform and create a completely new and refreshing image for themselves by following the app’s viral trends.

Results of “logo design” Phrase Search in TikTok App

Long before enrolling in the Yes Logo class I have stumbled upon a minute-long video in which a creator shows how they would redesign some big brand’s logo. I took a look into a few more videos by the same creator and got a misleading impression that logo design is something fast and simple. Perhaps, the artist that did these logos was skilled enough to make it look easy. I don’t remember the username of the creator, however, if you type “logo” into the search bar of TikTok, you can find lots of similar videos. The app provides its users with interesting statistics: the videos with the hashtag “logo” have a total of 4.8 billion views. Similarly, videos with the hashtag “logodesign” have 1.5 billion views cumulative. This great amount of views shows the popularity and the active presence of logo design-related content on TikTok. Out of curiosity, I have also looked up the hashtag “dog” and it has 224.8 billion views, which is a crazy but very understandable number.

In this blog post, I would like to take a look into the logo design content present on TikTok, namely the educational aspect of it. I have made a compilation of tricks, tips, and exercises that I found interesting and potentially useful. 

    1. Black & White – always work in black & white. This will make it easier for you to focus on the important aspects of the logo, such as hierarchy, contrast, and legibility. 
    2. Prioritize Legibility – as you work on your logo, your focus may shift on the little decisions. It’s easy to get carried away to the point where it’s no longer easy to read your logo. To avoid this, ask yourself at every point of your process “is it legible? does it read well?”.  
    3. Avoid The Trends – logo must be timeless, which is the exact opposite of what following trends provide. 
    4. Simplicity – don’t add an excessive amount of details that would make the logo overwhelming and difficult to memorize. 
    5. Flexible, Adjustable, Scalable – make sure that you can make it horizontal, vertical, fit in a square. It must be visible in any (reasonable) size. There are many ways in which a logo may be applied nowadays and it’s our responsibility as a designer to think those details through.
    6. Think About The Brand’s Message – make design decisions that reflect the brand’s message, values, and goals.
    7. Word Brainstorm – before drawing the logo, pick up a piece of paper, a pen, and make a list of words that associate with the business that you are designing for. Some of them may end up inspiring you.

The points above are what I have learned from watching over 10 logos design-related TikToks. I have combined some of them if they were similar in message. Overall, I think these ideas are not new to me and I have heard most of them in class. However, I haven’t compiled them into a list before, so I feel like I did not make the most use out of them when we did extreme deadline exercises in class. It’s important to organize information properly in order to retain it and possibly use it to its max potential. Relying on your memory is never a good idea, at least for me.  

While looking for the tips and tricks, I have also noticed that there is a very popular logo design challenge, which I personally find somewhat boring. In this challenge, logo designers are asked to design logos for names suggested by the users. It is an activity similar to the one that we have done in the class. The difference is that in this case, the artist is creating a visual identity for a complete stranger and the only thing they know about them is their name, which is quite challenging. Consequently, the end product looks generic and in my opinion doesn’t communicate anything. To my surprise, this content is very well received and popular among TikTok users, which makes me think that we shouldn’t rely on the public’s eye very strongly, after all, they are not the experts of the field. On the other hand, it could be that I am missing some piece of context which makes me misjudge this type of art. I will attach some examples below so you can judge them for yourself.

To conclude my blog post, I want to say that even though platforms like TikTok may provide one with some unique insights, global perspectives, and educational information that you wouldn’t expect to find there, as not modern as it may sound, it would be more effective to read a book about the field of your interest if you are seeking to become an outstanding professional. This is something that I have realized midway through my blogpost production process. 

References:

Most popular social networks worldwide as of January 2022, ranked by number of monthly active users. https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

TikTok User Statistics (2022). https://backlinko.com/tiktok-users

TikTok Logo. https://lf16-tiktok-common.ibytedtos.com/obj/tiktok-web-common-sg/mtact/static/images/share_img.png

Things to Consider When Making Your Logo. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKvswC1/

Logo Design Tips. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKc86WS/

3 Top Tips: Logo Design. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKTEPBG/

Good Logo Design Tips. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKTXctN/

Making a Great Logo. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKTEABE/

How to Make a Logo For Your Business. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKTXJkm/

Logo: Nico (screenshot taken from the video linked). https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKTqGkH/

Logo: Simon (screenshot taken from the video linked). https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKT3u1d/

Logo: Evelyn (screenshot taken from the video linked). https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKTnYTy/