Eliminated at Group Stage

North Korea

Unsurprisingly, the most controversial country competing in this years World Cup has the most controversial logo, because technically they don’t have one, it’s just the national flag. Anything that distracts the North Korean’s from the power of the glorious leader is frowned upon you see.

Algeria

This logo is a refreshing take on your typical run of the mill football crest, but I’m not sure wether it works. Bright red and neon green are a little too saturated and do not compliment each other very well. The football illustration is a bit too simple and becomes falls into the cliche brakcet but I do love the really simple and bold Arabic typography. What’s more alarming is that their website is under construction – which is fair enough, I can’t really talk – but the placeholder looks like the work of a high school design student. Odd.

Ivory Coast

I seriously cannot believe this logo. You can just imagine what was going through the designers head “How do we portray the Ivory Coast? Okay, let’s draw an outline of the map. That looks a bit empty, hmmmm, well what do we have in the Ivory Coast? I know! Elephants!”.

South Africa

Another logo that implements the map of the country, which I’ve never noticed before but it sort of looks like a wolf. The design as a whole reminds me of Mastercard which is quite apt considering money rules the roost in football these days. I also imagine this doesn’t scale very well due to the multiple horizontal lines.

Honduras

Very simple and clean. I think the type could possibly be Arial italic. As a whole the design looks a little like a piece of MS WordArt or the result of playing a computer game where you can make an emblem for your team. Also, notice how the white space in between the two blue strokes on the shield is inconsistent all the way round?

Portugal

Portugal’s national football association logo looks a little too religious to be associated with sport. You can only just about make out “F.P.F” which is poorly placed and the colour doesn’t offer much help. The strangest elements are the 5 domino shapes in the centre of the enclosure, if anyone knows what these symbolise I would to know.

Argentina

The first time I saw this logo I thought of headbands and then I asked the question ‘is that supposed to be a leg?”. of course I am referring to the ‘F’, but why is it a different weight to the adjacent ‘A’s? I don’t like how they both have a different style, especially as they are part of the same acronym.

Greece

Another map, but at least it’s a little more subtle. I think this design looks more suited for a car company rather than a football team. I can definitely imagine it working well on the front grill of a four door family saloon. However, I do like how the treatment of the football is somewhat unique.

Paraguay

Due to it’s resemblance to a medal, Paraguay’s Football Association’s logo reminds me of the military, almost renegadesque. It may also be due to the fact that the four Paraguay flags look like the crosshair of a gunsight.

Cameroon

Be careful when reading the text on this logo as it may give you a sore neck. I’m beginning to wonder what all the single stars stand for? I always presumed that a country that had won a world cup was allowed to feature a star above their emblem or as part of the design, such as England, Germany & Brazil etc. Cameroon & Paraguay have never won it so maybe it was to fill white space? Or in this example, green red & yellow space.

Italy

The four stars in this logo make sense as Italy has won the competition four times. You would think that a country with such a glorious footballing history would avoid cliches in their logo. The shape surrounding “FIGC” has been done a million and six times.

Nigeria

I’ve never seen a green eagle, until now. The illustration could be improved if some of he fine details were removed. Worryingly, an eagle that size would have to have the balance and skill of Lionel Messi to stand on a ball like that without falling over. I also think Eurostile was a poor choice for the font, as it is very square compared to the circular enclosure.

Uruguay

Why are there 4 stars? Haven’t Uruguay only won twice? Regardless, there is a lot going on here even though all the lines for the elements are very clean. The biggest mistake is the use of the colour red for ‘AUF’, this would look a lot better in white. Red on the gold is too much of a contrast.

Serbia

Whilst being very simple, this logo is uninspired but I do like the colours. I’d like to know if the shapes in the four red quadrants are characters or 4 crowns rotated 90 degrees each time.

Brazil

Brazil have the most stars as they are the most successful having won it 5 times. This logo is probably the most familiar of the 32 featured in this article. The colours are taken from the Brazilian flag which look great, even when placed on a yellow kit. Helvetica is a lazy choice though.

Chile

The design for Chile is almost like two crests within one which creates a rainbow effect. The shield in the centre seems irrelevant and it’s dimensions look squashed which don’t seem to fit within the circle enclosure.

Last 16

Slovenia

This is a clever way of symbolising football without drawing one, which makes the Slovenian Football Federation logo stand out from the other countries. It does however look slightly unbalanced but I think this adds to illusion of the football.

United States

The only reason I included the USA in the last 16 was being of the movement on the soccer ball. It might be the colours also. What I don’t like is that anyone who doesn’t know what the logo is for could possibly read the type as “UOS”, and also the fact that the stars make it look like they have won the competition 3 times. That’s cheating.

Ghana

The standard is finally getting a little better, which is always the case after the group stages. The football here is simple, like most of the other countries but it’s interesting how the coloured bands wrap around which seem to form a scarf shape, showing the associations support for the game.

New Zealand

The great thing about New Zealand’s sports teams logos is that they all feature the fern leaf, each drawn in a slightly differently style, almost like sub brands of the country itself. The sans serif type used here is a good choice so not to distract from the beauty of the memorable icon.

Mexico

I chose Mexico’s logo to make the final sixteen as it is not your typical run of the mill crest as the banners are quite unusual. The central medallion illustration reminds me of ancient Mexico alongside the eagle which is taken from the national flag. I’m not sure the thin outer grey stroke is needed.

Slovakia

The football here is the most unique I have seen of all the countries, the abstract shapes give a modern look. The negative space behind it also gives a sense of movement. The smaller crest, which will get lost at smaller sizes is taken from the Slovak national flag.

Denmark

This is a beautiful crest that definitely looks Danish. The central custom drawn letters are eye-catching and also the treatment of the ‘D’ in ‘BOLDSPIL’ is unexpected. My only worry is that maybe it looks a little too weak for a logo affiliated with sport.

Germany

The German Football Association should be proud of this logo, in particular the DFB mongram in the centre which is timeless. It almost has the same characteristics of the Volkswagen logo due to the sharp lines within the round enclosure.

Quarter-Finalists

South Korea

This tiger looks like he means business, and he’s well drawn too. The type treatment is interesting, though I wonder if it might be beneficial to see some variations of the A.

Japan

A great quirky bird illustration, which makes a nice change from the traditional literal drawings of animals in sports logos. I wish that the type was squarer to match the sharp angles of the bird and also less detail on the football. The colours are very striking.

Australia

This is a very interesting mark that breaks the mould for a sport logo. I like how the stars subtly hint at the Australian flag. It’s interesting to see that there is both a Trademark and Copyright symbol but I think what is more worrying is that the typeface is Copperplace Gothic, which doesn’t match at all.

Spain

Perhaps the most prestigious of the bunch. It’s clean, regal, and typical of an old school crest design. I would have initially eliminated this logo at the group stage as the lion on the crest used to be pink!

Semi-Finalist

England

I just love the little details in the new redesign of the English FA crest. For example how the right back leg of the smallest lion has been adjusted to fit, it’s not just a copy and paste job. I also think that the type treatment matches the clean lines. The second best lion in the tournament.

3rd Place

Netherlands

This is a fantastic illustration which cleverly depicts a sense of royalty without being overly obvious. However, some of the curves look a little unrefined and I wish that the diagonal stroke on the N was the same weight as the rest of the characters. Do you think the lion’s tongue looks a little like the certain sports brand? Maybe it’s subliminal….

Runner-Up

Switzerland

Clean lines are synonymous with Swiss design and this logo fails to disappoint which is refreshing. The typography is inspired and has been carefully integrated into the mark. I think that the figure could be improved slightly, especially the arms.

Winner

France

The team may have fallen to pieces at this years tournament but their logo holds everything together. With well known shapes or images it can be difficult to achieve originality, especially when illustrating animals, but this logo is unique and exudes national pride. The only thing I don’t like is the harsh blue to red gradient at the bottom of the enclosure.

It’s no surprise that a lot of the developing countries use logos that look dated or cheap & it’s no coincidence that the larger & more successful footballing countries have the best logos, it’s down to investment. Having said that a logo that is steeped in tradition and means something to it’s owner rather than a modern fancy illustration just for the sake of it can also be a lot more valuable.

Which logo is your winner?

You may be more than familiar with the above logo, especially if you live in England and are a keen football supporter. If not, you might have heard the song written about it, which is a rare accolade, for a logo at least.

I was recently asked why the crest of the England Football team bares Three Lions, and not knowing the answer, I was curious to find out. There seems to be a cloud of mystery surrounding the history of the logo with various theories banded around.

The ‘Lion’ has been a symbol of ‘England’ since the 11th century during the rule of the Normans, and was featured on early versions of the English Coat of Arms. During this period only one lion was illustrated on a red background (which symbolised a red battlefield – even the Normans were art critics at heart).

A hundred years later a certain King Richard I, known as Richard the Lionheart, ruled the throne and during his reign added a further two golden lions to the crest. The reason for this is unclear as far as I was able to discover.

Fast forward 8 centuries to 1872, at the time of the first ever competitive international football match, an emblem to represent national pride was needed and so the English Football Association made the decision to use the three lions as a symbol of ‘Englishness’.

As the Three Lions are officially a royal emblem, the FA has to seek permission of the Royal Family when they need to use it, meaning that the logo is not the sole propriety of the organisation that it represents.

You will notice that the England crest also features 10 red roses. The red rose is a symbol of the Lancaster-York peace treaty in the 16th Century, but the reason for their number is also unclear. Maybe it represents 10 out field players? Robert Green certainly wouldn’t be getting a rose from most England fans at the moment.

The lion and rose are adorned throughout the emblems and logos of other English sporting organisations such as:

English Premier League

World Cup Willie – the mascot of the world cup held in England in 1966

Rugby Union

English Cricket Board

Team Great Britain

Feel free to use this information to impress your mates down the pub when England take on the mighty Slovenia.

In this article I am going to be talking about logos, brand identity, wedding cakes & doughnuts.

Let’s set a scenario for a moment… A new business owner has a great new product or service that he or she aims to sell. They have a brilliant idea, know exactly who they are going to sell it to and where it is going to be sold. The competition has been analysed and the price has been set. The only task they have left to achieve is to let the target audience know that the product or service is available. This is achieved by creating an appropriate brand identity that is in line with the aims of the business, and of course by marketing the said identity.

Brand Identity
What is it? Well, it’s more than just a name or a logo. A brand identity encompasses everything that you visually associate with a brand. It’s the McDonald’s golden arches, the sleek & sexy packaging of Apple & even the fantastic gorilla TV advertisement by Cadbury’s. If it can help you identify a brand name, then it is part of the brand identity.

Thousands of new start-up businesses every single day face the task of creating a great brand identity that will not only give them a competitive advantage but also show that they are professional. This is achieved through effective visual communication created by designers.

Common practice for each identity project is for a designer or design team to be employed and provided with a design brief. It will outline the strategy of the business, their aims and objectives, what makes them different, the type of perceived image they are trying to create and the characteristics of the target audience. Plus a lot more. It is then the role of the design team to achieve the aims of the brief.

Now that we have that cleared up, I can finally talk about the main point of this article.

Backwards Branding
A new technique, developed mainly through the advancement of the Internet, is to do the whole process backwards. Some websites have appeared that allow start-ups to buy brand names coupled with an identity off the shelf, ready-made, sitting in wait for a potential owner.

A new business owner might see a logo/name and think ‘that’s perfect me, I’ll take it’. They buy the logo. Download the necessary files and go on their way slapping the logo on everything they cast their eyes upon. Essentially a happy ending. Or is it?

The Dangers
Let’s set another scenario…. you are getting married and you need a wedding cake made. You want it to fit into the theme of your wedding and look exactly how you want. Where would you go to get such a fantastic cake? Would you go to the local bakery and pick a cheap doughnut that had been sitting in the shop window for days or would you contact a specialist who can discuss your requirements, suggest the best solution based on your needs and create a custom designed cake that achieves everything that you ever dreamed of? If you are serious about your wedding then the custom-designed route is the likely choice.

What I am trying to say is that the danger of buying a ready-made brand is that there is no communication between the designer and the client BEFORE a solution was created. Communication is key during the branding process and removing the design brief stage is dangerous for the following reasons:

1) What came first the logo or the name?
Most ready made brands are nothing more than a named logo. An image is created and a name is slapped onto it. Eg. ChikenEgg! or BatFish! Would any professional business really use a brand name like that?

2) Plagiarism
There have been numerous cases of ready-made logos being direct copies of existing logos or at the very least heavily inspired. Remember, a successful & effective logo/brand should be unique.

3) Longivity
Is the purchased brand name really right for you? There is a danger of being impressed by an image associated with a name, but does it represent your future values? What about in the future as the business grows?

So there you have it. Logos, brand identity, wedding cakes & doughnuts all in one article. As a disclaimer I respect bakers & doughnut makers worldwide and in no way respect the work that they do.

If ever a logo made you think “Oh dear!” then this HAS to be it. What do you think?

Anyway, I decided to do a post like this because it seems like logo inspiration websites are breeding with one another. They pretty much have the same content, the same logos and also the same featured designs. I thought it would be nice to throw some good old fashioned new eye candy into the mix in DWD fashion. Feast your eyes on these:

The Impeccable Pig Eatery Oink. designed by Splash Design

Rollersnakes designed by www.rollersnakes.co.uk

The Loose Box designed by Niche Design

Interislander designed by Clemenger Group

Bajaj Auto Limited designed by Elephant Design Limited

Nadezda Milenkovic designed by Aleksandra Prhal

Office Games designed by The Partners

I recently heard a claim along the lines of:

50% of the money in the world is controlled by 1% of the population.

The amount of truth in that statement is questionable but also intriguing. I began to wonder about just how powerful the huge brands really are. What exactly makes them so successful and why do people continue to support them? Is it brand loyalty? Hypnotism? Something must keep things ticking over. I wondered if there were any hidden messages in the logos of these companies to encourage people to spend their hard earned cash or maybe even reveal their true identities. Below are the results of my spooky findings. How many of the well-known companies can you spot?

Such is the power of the internet, with more eyes watcing than ever, it’s important for a business to communicate their unique message clearly. The easiest way to visually recognise and differentiate companies is via their respective logos.

Below we detail 10 common logo design mistakes you should avoid to create a successful and professional logo.

1. Designed By An Amateur

Avoid websites offering ridiculously cheap logo packages. You get what you pay for

A professional business should look professional. New business owners can often invest large amounts of time and money on premises and equipment, but when it comes to investing in a suitable logo the effort is not always matched.

The most common reasons why a logo has been designed by an amateur are:

• the business owner sought to save money by designing a quick logo themselves
• a friend or relative who claims to know a little about graphic design did it as a favour
• the wrong people were commissioned. A local printers are not likely to be proficient in logo design
• the business outsourced the job to a design competition website, which are in the main populated by amateur designers
• the job was given to a website that offers really cheap logos

All of the above can result in a disastrous outcome. If your logo looks amateur, then so does your business. It’s important for a business to know where to look when seeking a new logo. David Airey offers a great insight on how to choose the right logo designer for your requirements.

The advantages of hiring an established and professional logo designer are:

• your logo will be unique and memorable
• there will be no problems further down the line for reproduction
• your logo will have a longer lifespan and will not need to be redesigned every couple of years
• your logo will represent your business in a professional manner

2. Using Raster Images

An example of how raster graphics can limit reproduction

The standard practice when designing a logo is to use Vector Graphics software, such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. A Vector Graphic is made up of mathematically precise points, which provides visual consistency at multiple sizes. The alternative of course is use to Raster Graphics software such as Photoshop.
A Raster Graphic, or Bitmap as they’re commonly called, consists of pixels.

The use of raster images in logos is frowned upon as it can cause problems for reproduction. Whilst you are still able to create a logo at high resolution in Photoshop, you will never know for sure how large it will need to be reproduced. If you zoom in on a raster graphic, it will eventually appear pixelated, rendering it inpractial. It’s essential for a logo to look the same at all sizes to maintain visual recognition.

The main advantages of using vector graphics in logo design are:

• the logo can be scaled at any size without losing quality
• it makes editing the logo at a later stage a much easier process
• vector graphics can be applied to other design mediums easier than raster images

3. Using Stock Art

Using stock vector graphics in a logo can put your client at risk

This mistake is often made by business owners attempting to design their own logo or by amateur designers who are not clued up on the laws of copyright. Downloading stock vector imagery from sites such as VectorStock is not a crime, but it can get you into a lot of trouble if you decide to implement it into a logo.

A logo should be unique and original with the license agreement being exclusive to the client, using stock art breaks all of these rules. Chances are if you use a stock vector it is being used someone else in the world, so if used in a logo it no langer makes the business unique. You can spot a stock vector in a logo as they are normally familiar shapes such as globes or silhouettes.

4. Designing For Yourself Rather Than The Client

You should never input your own personality into client work

You can normally spot this logo design sin a mile off, and is usually the result of the designer having an enormous ego. If there is a cool new font that you love and just can’t wait to use it in your design, well, don’t. Is it really appropriate for the nature of the business your designing for? Your idea for a great modern typographic solution is unlikely to be suitable for a serious business such as a sollicitors.

Some designers also make the mistake of including their "recognisable style" in their work. Whilst it’s fair to say that you should be proud of your work it’s wrong to input your own personality into a logo. Stay focused on the clients requirements by sticking to the brief.

5. Relying On Trends

Focusing on current logo trends is like putting a sell by date on a logo

Trends come and go, swooshes, glows, bevels, which ultimately end up as cliches. A well designed logo should be timeless and this can be achieved by ignoring the latest design trick or gimmick. The most common cliche in logo design is the dreaded "corporate swoosh" which is the ultimate way to play it safe. As a logo designer, it is your job to create a unique identity for your client, so it is best practice to completely ignore logo design trends.

Logolounge have a great section on their website which details current logo design trends which is updated every year. It’s important as a designer that you are aware of the latest craze, mostly so that you can avoid it at all costs.

6. Over Complexity

Highly detailed designs are unlikely to scale well when printed or viewed at smaller sizes

Designers should be familiar with thumbnail images, so what better way to explain this common mistake than to refer to a finger print. If you take a look at your finger you will notice that you can only see the detail of your fingerprint when it is really close to your face, if you move your finger away the fingerprint is no longer visible. The same applies to highly detailed logo designs.

When printed, a complex design will lose detail at smaller sizes, and in some cases can look just like a smudge, or a mistake. The more detail in a logo means there is more information for the viewer to acknowledge. A great logo should be memorable and the best way to achieve this is to keep things simple. Take a look at the corporate identities of Nike, McDonald’s & Apple. Each company owns a very simple icon which is easily reproduced at any size.

7. Relying On Color

In the absence of colour your great design might lose it’s identity

This is a very common mistake to make. Some designers cannot wait to start adding colour to a design, and some logos even rely on it completely. Choosing colour should be the last decision, so it is best to start work in black and white.

There will come a time when a logo will need to be reproduced in one colour, so it’s important for a logo designer to test if this effects the identity. If colour helps to identify certain elements of the design then it will look completely diffferent in one tone.

8. Poor Choice Of Font

Deciding upon a font can make or break a great logo

When it comes to executing a logo concept, choosing the right font is the most important decision a designer can make. More often than not, a logo will be let down by a poor font choice (in our example the popular Comic Sans).

How to find the perfect font for your design is all about matching the style of the icon, but this can be tricky. If the match is too good the mark and font compete with each other for visual attention, if it’s completely opposite then the viewer will not know where to focus. The key is achieveing the right balance, somewhere in the middle. Each typeface has a personality, if the font you have chosen does not reflect the characteristics of the mark then the whole brand message will be miscommunicated.

The mistake of poor font choice is often made when not taking the decision seriously enough. Some designers simply throw the type in as an after thought. Professional font foundries such as MyFonts & FontFont offer great typefaces which are a better option than over-used free downloads.

9. Using Too Many Fonts

A logo works best with a maximum of two fonts

Using too many fonts is like trying to show someone a whole photo album all at once. Each typeface looks different, and the viewer needs time to recognise each face, seeing too many all at once can cause confusion.

It is standard practice to use a maximum of two fonts or differing weights. Restricting the amount of fonts in a logo design can greatly improve the legibility and increase brand recognition.

10. Copying Others

This is the biggest logo design mistake of all, and unfortunately is becoming more and more common. As has been said already in this article, the main purpose of a logo is to identify a business, if it looks the same as someone else, it fails. Copying others does nobody any favours, including the client and the designer.

Is it fatter or shorter? I will let you decide. However, the most notable change is the removal of the words “Music Television” from the logo showing that MTV obviously thinks they have been around long enough for them to lose the descriptor, a tactic also employed by the likes of huge multinationals Nike, Apple & McDonald’s. Also, notice the clipping mask of random images for the background? Looks like the Aolesque™ trend is really kicking in now, but that’s for another article.

You can read more on the new MTV brand over at Rolling Stone

There are said to be 62.5 million mobile phones in the UK alone, and of course to be able to use one you need a service. Branding a service can be tricky but often provides the greatest room for creativity as the onus is more on the experience that the consumer experiences as opposed to the performance of a product you can see and replace when needed.

The cellular network industry is growing at a phenomenal rate as independent smaller service providers are looking to find a niche, even the huge supermarket chain Tesco now offers Tesco Mobile as part of their brand family. An increase in choice can make the decision of choosing which network is right for you more difficult, but the common trend is to make decision based on price or due to customer loyalty.

However, this doesn’t stop these 21st century companies being creative with their branding, as the following advertisement by”3″ and a collection of cellular network logos from around the world clearly demonstrate.

Having recently secured an ongoing contract with Peder Johnsen, I am pleased to announce the first of the completed identity projects. www.upsoftware.net promises to be an exciting avenue for modern web applications that will bring life to your desktop. More identity projects with Peder are close to completion, so keep coming back for more.