Monday November 23, 2009
I always find it interesting to find out what inspiration lies behind graphics. It usually surprises you when you think you had the ‘gist’ of a logo or some artwork and then you find that really it was a fusion of some things that were totally different to what you get from it. It’s almost like that episode of the Simpsons where Homer sees the logo that looks suspiciously like him, but it just turns out to be a fish and a lightbulb put together, or ‘Fishbulb’.
The above is a logo I created a week or two ago for a new PR company. The client said she wanted a wall with ‘No Trash’ graffitied on it and a guy sitting next to a trash can with his head between his legs. I did that whole ‘ahhh yeaaah I can see that’ and then made something different thing you do when you cant be bothered explaining why they cant have a logo that looks more like a movie poster.
So anyways after a small back and forth this is what I came up with from the lose brief of wanting something hand-written, which I interpretted to mean Ksubi-esque instead of graffiti-esque. Which you can interpret as ‘I dont have the skills to do graph lettering, so I reference childish handwriting from a successful brand’ laziness.
This is pretty much the first thing I came up with after the first round of lettering that weren’t so successful. There was a bit of a Scandanavian/Chronicles of Never vibe happening that didnt really suit the personality of the owner so Im glad we pushed it a bit further. I neatened it up and moved the lettering to give it a bit more raditude and a strike-through. The font is Legault, I’d say it’s not really much of a secret. Part of the idea is for the word ‘trash’ to be crossed out, but this is a more subtle kind of crossing out that makes it less ‘Im going to interpret the words literally because everyone is stupid’.
Things I was thinking about when I made this was the Alva logo. This worked for her because her clients are more streetwear kinda folk. The Ksubi logo. Daft Punk. 80s and 90s references like Baywatch and California Games. I imagine palm trees, skateboards, girls in denim, NES and MegaDrive games, silhouettes on sunsets, jeeps, 8-bit music, surfing and hypercolour.
My inspiration/references and what I ended up with is probably not that far removed but it does shed more light on what ‘imagery’ is indirectly associated to the logo and the question is whether these were evoked in others when they see the logo?
Words by Jimmy
Talking about "Logo log"
elli reckons...
Great article, really like how you’ve displayed some of the process. Good stuff!
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Nice article mate, “ahh yeaaah, I can see that” heaps funny.
Maybe, I mean, obviously, if they were from Tibet and 85 years old, they might not know about the western 80’s, alva, NES or Venice Beach. But the vibe is still there when you look at it, in a subtle interpretive way. And all the visual history and culture it’s derived from, was evolved from something else, so somewhere down the line, there might be a look in for the viewer. I mean they might see it and think coca cola, cause it’s red and western- but hey, it’s not that far off when you think about it.
In any case, perceiving the spectrum of responses from your audience, as defined by their own unique visual culture experience is key to crafting something that’s functional as a visual device- especially as a logo. It’s a challenge and that’s why you always need to focus on your audience and have a immediate perceived logic underlying your choices, with colour, line and texture. Some of the greatest artists and designers we’ve had, did that incredibly well.
And bad logos- almost always don’t at all.
I’ll post up one of the logos i’m working on it a bit. But nice article.