I am pleased to announce I've been chosen as Featured Designer on the LogoLounge blog this month. It's quite an honor considering how many wonderful and talented designers are contributing to the LogoLounge series of design books all the time. You can catch my interview with Dorothy Ayon on the blog.
Featured work in Rockport's Design: Logo.
I am especially excited about this announcement. In late 2012, I was contacted by Paul Howalt and Von Glitschka about submitting some of my logo work for a new book they were putting together for Rockport Publishers entitled, Design: Logo. First of all, I was flattered to be included in the group, and have the utmost respect for both of their work. Between the two of them, it was going to be a cool book, for sure. Well, after chatting more with Paul, they decided to not only include a number of my pieces in the volume, but also feature a project I did for Avocadoville in one of their Closer Look spreads. I was more than happy to get some images shot of the work to be included in the feature. Thanks to Will Hare for the photography.
As it turns out, there were around 1,700 logos selected for the book, and work being included from some of the best logo folks in the business: Tim Frame, Chris Parks, Carlos Fernandez, The Greteman Group, Hatch, Jeremy Slagle, Joe Bosack, Jon Flaming, Joseph Blalock, Rule 29, Luke Bott, Mint, Randy Heil, Rian Hughes, Felix Sockwell, Thinking Cap Design, Gyula Nemeth, Ty Mattson, Ty Wilkins & Brent Couchman.
Not to mention, some great essays from five of the top branding industry thinkers: Bill Gardner, Alina Wheeler, Sherwin Schwartzrock, Justin Ahrens & Tracy Sabin.
Well, to see it in all of its glory was pretty exciting. Not only is it well designed, the content does not disappoint. Having a pretty extensive logo design library of my own, I have seen my share of design books. The essays are pertinent to the industry and nicely written, the logo work exemplary with little to no filler, and the art direction is well done, without taking over the work. It's definitely a nice addition to my collection, and certainly a nice cross-section of what's going on in the identity arena. You should certainly pick up one for yourself, now available on Amazon.
Logo design work appearing in LogoNest 03 - Black and white edition
Today I am excited to announce my logo design work appearing in the new LogoNest 03 - Black and White edition. This series of inspirational logo design collections continues to get better with each edition, and this one explores the essence of a truly strong mark - appearing in, you guessed it, black & white. As with the first two volumes, the books from logo designers for logo designers asked me again to be a writing contributor. I guess they figure I've got something interesting to add to the cool stuff that's already in there. So, who am I to protest? In the previous books, I've written about the Power of a Good Logo, and Longevity in the Logo Business. This time, I chose to write about selling in good work entitled, They might look good in it, but does it fit? With each edition, my writing chops get better and better (I hope). Should you pick up a copy, take it all in and of course, I hope you like the article.
Well, here's some of the work that will be appearing in the new volume. Keep your eyes out for the new book at LogoNest.com.
The opening spread to my contributing article entitled, They might look good in it, but does it fit?
Logo design work to appear in LogoLounge 8.
I've been participating in the LogoLounge series by Bill Gardner and Catherine Fishel since submitting work to LogoLounge 2 way back in 2003. It's hard to believe it's been that long. And even though it's been ten years for me (and now the tenth volume that my work appears), it's still exciting when you get word that you've got work in the next book. I am honored to share the latest work here that will be appearing in the upcoming LogoLounge 8, scheduled to publish later this year. LogoLounge from Rockport Publishers is one of the premier design book series that celebrate and showcase the best in logo design throughout the world. There are only 2,000 logos selected for each book out of the now over 200,000 in their database. Some of the best logo work from the top designers and design firms in the business.
You can see my profile on the LogoLounge site under Hubbell Design Works.
The Logopond design book has arrived!
After a lot of discussion, blood, sweat and tears, the inaugural volume of the Logopond logo design book has finally been published. Much credit to David Blanchet, the founder and curator of the website, Logopond.com for making this all happen. All in all, from my initial thumbing through, it certainly is a nice first-time effort. I am honored to be included (and on the very first page, mind you! Sweet.) with all of the other 'Ponders. Some really nice work is in there.
As an added bonus, I was asked to include a profile page along with my logo wares, with some interesting questions about how I became a logo designer and other bits of info. If you decide to get yourself a copy, you can certainly take a look. As with most of these self-published efforts, there aren't a lot of copies available, so make sure you order yours now.
I certainly hope this first effort will be something we start to see on a regular basis. Cheers, guys!
Logo work honored in iheartlogos Season Three.
Once again, I am honored today to find out I will have my logo design work in the upcoming volume of iheartlogos Season Three. The iheartlogos.comcompetition model is unique in the fact that the work is judged not by a group of select designers sequestered in a room, but by your own competitors. You are the judge. And so is everyone else. Every season, the work submitted gets better and better, so I am honored to be included in Season Three’s offering. I can proudly say I've had work in all three volumes to date, with this season being my strongest showing. After a strong showing in the first two books, this series continues to grow with greater and greater potential. As usual, I’m looking forward to seeing it in person in all its glory.
Congratulations to the other designers and firms on their selected work. Cheers.
Logo design work and writing contributions for Logo Nest 02
I am very proud to announce that both my logo design work and writing contributions will be appearing in the upcoming Logo Nest 02. There will be 12 of my latest logo designs included in this, now second volume of the book known as the 'design book for logo designers, by logo designers'. As the inaugural book, Logo Nest 01 was being conceptualized, I was flattered to be asked to contribute my writing and experience to the effort. Well, I guess they liked the article enough to ask me to write some more. Who knew?
Here is an excerpt from my new article for Logo Nest 02, entitled Longevity in the Logo Business,
When I think of long-term successes in logo design, names like Milton Glaser, Paula Scher, Saul Bass and Ivan Chermayeff come to mind. Of course, these people are the extreme – the pinnacle of design success.
Now, not all of us are poised to appear among the same levels of respect and admiration that they are, but it would be nice to work out a quaint, comfortable living doing something you love to do, wouldn’t it?
When I started out in design school, the orientation committee shared a statistic with us that has stuck with me to this day: Look to your right and your left. Chances are by graduation, both of those people will have dropped out of the program. Do the math and that’s roughly a 66% drop out rate.
Wow, I thought. That’s not going to be me. This is what I really want to do with my life. I never imagined that after going through all those hours of toil, late night study and work that anyone would dream of giving up. But, they sometimes do. Design is not for everyone.
Here is the collection of my work that will be included. Be sure and reserve your copy now.
Logo work included in the new Logopond design book.
This is pretty cool. After much discussion and preparation, the logo design inspiration site and forum, Logopond.com is publishing a design book. I am fortunate enough, with many of the talented logo design geeks of the world to be included in this inaugural volume.
The site has been a great, constructive avenue for me to help critique and discuss all sorts of inspirational logo work over the last 3 or 4 years, and make some wonderful online friends, too. With the amount of traffic the site gets, it has been a creative springboard for many a fledgling designer as well.
So, knowing in a more intimate sense of the level of designers that participate on a regular basis, I am looking forward to seeing the other contributor's work in all its printed glory. I suggest you reserve yourself a copy.
Logo work appearing in the digital-only Trademarks USA.
Just received word today that 13 of my recent logo designs will be appearing in the upcoming 2011 publication of Trademarks USA, by David E. Carter. This is especially exciting because the new volume will be published exclusively online through Amazon, Google Editions and Apple’s iBookstore.
This means that instead of a standard hard or softcover edition, they will only be viewable digitally. I am very interested in how this works out. The iPad, Kindle, Nook and the many other soon to be released eBook readers have really changed the publishing world and how we view our content. Apparently, Amazon states that for every 100 softcover books sold, 115 Kindle versions are sold as well. We shall see.
In any case, I am honored to have my work included in this latest edition from David E. Carter. For the last 15 years, his books have dominated the best-seller lists for the category of graphic design and advertising. His compilations of outstanding creative work are among the industry standard.
The Lions Club's new vision.
I just completed a logo and illustration for the organization, Lions Club International. As in my case, you are probably familiar with the name, but not always up to speed with who they are or what they do.Every time you drive into a new city, you''ll see the LCI seal on the community''s Chamber of Commerce sign along with the Rotary Club, Elks Club and others. Lions are an international network of 1.3 million men and women in 202 countries and geographic areas who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world.
Known for working to end preventable blindness, Lions participate in a vast variety of projects important to their communities. These projects range from cleaning up local parks to providing supplies to victims of natural disasters.
To get this rolling, the Chicago agency Lipman Hearne was hired by LCI to revamp their very established brand.
Initially, I was approached Lipman Hearne about illustrating the new lion for the logo redesign, but as we got further into the project my role extended into the design of the familiar crest and typography as well.
Lipman Hearne had done a very thorough job of researching the past logos as well as how the different charters had 'interpreted' the usage of the organization's logo. One of the main objectives would be to establish a new logo design that was bold and very versatile to make sure that the graphic standards would be easy to follow.
Since LCI's conception in 1917, there have been quite a few logos over the years, but mostly in an evolutionary sense. Most of them stayed in a crest shape and had the familiar lion's heads and initial capital 'L'. in the center. The typography appeared to be a different story, seeming to change with the font popularity of each era and even overrunning text into the crest – ruining readability.
After some of our initial discussions, we agreed that this should be an evolutionary assignment with a good deal of clean up involved. One of the latest logos had almost a bad photocopy rendition of the lions, obviously making the transition from photostat (print) version to digital. Clean-up indeed.
Delving into the project, I soon had a dozen or so sketches of the new lion, with variations of the lion''s mane, teeth, expression and so on. Further decisions had to be about the crest shape and which influences I should use to create the shapes. I started off somewhat simple and we pared down to even simpler – almost basic.
A lesson in full-circle. My original design starts on the left and slowly ends in a cleaned-up version of two of the originals on the far right.
My versions of the lion's head started off as a very modern illustration and style. Some modifications were to try and balance the look of the open mouth and to avoid being too aggressive. Slowly, as the different directions were presented and the many clients gave their opinions, I was asked to do an overhaul on the ''bad photocopy'' version. This would be quite the challenge.
Some crest and type explorations for the new logo. These particular versions were trying to interpret some cleaner art-deco influences.
And finally, here is my final design as delivered.
So, as you take a look at the work, realize that in all the subtlety of the refinements there was a lot of thought and design that went into keeping the integrity of the LCI crest. Lipman Hearne has done a great job in bringing new life into the Lions Club International brand with their different applications.
Got some work in LogoLounge 4.
Some of you logo design fans have probably already scoped out the new Logo Lounge 4 (Rockport Publishers). This is the latest in the Logo Lounge series of design books—and I might add, every one of them is excellent. The level of work is superior and the logo design is nothing short of inspirational.
So, of course finding out that I had a handful of pieces selected for the latest edition was definitely a shot in the arm and a good reason for taking a two hour lunch!
Anyway, here are the selected works. Hope you like them. By the way, I have a collection of other logos that were in the previous editions: LogoLounge 2 and LogoLounge 3. They are listed under my other identity, Hubbell Design Works. You can also check out their website at: www.logolounge.com