Gareth is a brand identity designer specialising in creative logo design & identity.
He is the author of Smashing Logo Design, a book dedicated to everything 'logo'.
If you love soft drinks or have an interest in branding then I am sure you have seen the new Pepsi logo by now. If not, feast your eyes on this for a second:
The new brand is said to have brought the image of Pepsi into the 21st century but has been met with some fierce criticism from the design community. Some have suggested the new logo is of reference to the recent Barack Obama electorial campaign, whilst others claim to see the gut of an obese man, bulging over his jeans. Is that a subtle way of getting the attention of the target audience?
Further observation got me thinking about the famous competition between Pepsi and their rivals, Coca-Cola. Obviously red is the main corporate colour of coca-cola, whilst Pepsi has predominently used blue during its history. I found that the new logo could be perceived to look like a pie chart representing the market share of the two soft drinks giants, with Coca-Cola being the top dog, and Pepsi falling slightly behind.
I was recently comissioned by a web designer/developer to rebrand his freelance identity. Almog Koren, a talented flex designer based in Israel, wanted his new brand to illustrate the meaning behind the name “Almog” which means “coral” in Hebrew. We both decided that a more abstract approach was suited so that it was not completely apparent that the mark was indeed a symbol of coral and the sea, but still had an ocean-like feel. The bubbles in the icon form an arrow pointing upwards which shows that Almog Design uses the latest technologies and offer forward-thinking solutions.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish Almog the best of luck in the future. To learn more please visit: www.almogdesign.net
Stock Vectors are everywhere, im magazines, on TV ads, sometimes even on the clothes that you wear. On more than one occasion I have looked at a design that is meant to be passed off as an illustration or corporate identity and recognised that some of the elements used are in fact stock vectors. There is nothing wrong with using stock artwork as such, but I ask you to think again before making, in most cases, unnecessary purchases. I have compiled a list of my Top 10 Stock Vector Cliches:
10. Butterflies
They may be pretty nice to look at from time to time but these little critters seem to creep into illustrations everywhere. Often with no purpose or relevance, the beloved butterfly is thrown in as an after thought or maybe to fill up sacred white space of any collage. Stock butterflies are normally very basic & flat.
9. Beautiful Women
You are likely to find adorning a club flyer or poster, a beautiful female scantily clad with oversized body features. As far as I know this craze was started by the Hed Kandi albums back in the 90’s. It’s pretty obvious which ones are stock due to the lack of detail compared to the bespoke drawings.
8. Speakers
Another main feature of the “collage” trend is the vector speaker, which is more prominent in the music industry. Sometimes the speaker may be the centrepiece but it is more common for two or more to be placed symmetrically either side.
7. Sunburts
When creating a funky collage illustration you need a base, and the first port of call is to seek a sexy sunburst, right? I think this stems from summertime posters but now seems to feature all your round. What’s more worrying is that some designers are willing to pay for these considering how easy they are to make.
6. Drips/Splatters
Nothing says “urban & edgy” more than graffitti. Adding drips and splatters to your work (mainly typography) can achieve this feel but sadly this is one of the biggest cliches in design, and has been for some years. Try to only use in context if completely necessary. An alternative to buying stock is to create your own by using real spray paint on paper, scanning in and then tracing to vector. The results will probably look more realistic.
5. Swooshes
I think the first time I saw this kind of graphic element was back in the early 90’s when Microsoft slapped it all over their packaging (in some cases they still do). This can be seen mainly in use for website header images or presentation backgrounds. Over time the “futuristic” desired effect loses it’s appeal.
4. Ornates
Whenever I see these floral swirls I can’t help but think of the work of Si Scott, who in my opinion is the master of this technique. You will find this element applied to typography in the main but is also used as backgrounds for websites and in some cases for logo’s.
3. Skyline
Coupled with drips & splats the city skyline silhouhette completes the urban look. I have seen elements such as these used by corporate professionals on business cards and letterheads, which can look really cheap and tacky. I would suggest only use a silhouette of a city landscape when neccessary, eg. when drawing a nightlife illustration.
2. Team Silhouette
Some businesses seem to think that by using silhouettes of business professionals in quirky poses it makes them look “modern & hip” when it all does it show that the business is faceless. This not only lowers the element of trust but also makes your business look like thousands of competitors.
1. Globes
The beloved globe has a very special place in every chief executive’s heart. It’s meant to show that a business operates worldwide or is active on the “internet”. This is the most transparent stock illustration element that I can think of.
In the final part of the current batch in this series I spoke to talented design students from Brazil, Germany & the United States.
Thiago Monteiro, 26, Brazil
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, Paper and a Pen Studying at: UNESA – Universidade Estácio de Sá Specialising in: llustration
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
Here in Brazil, design isn´t popular yet, but there are many good professionals to teach, and I had the opportunity to be in contact with good teachers. On the other hand, I think that I had some subjects about exceeded programs.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
I love colors, curves and organic forms. Because of this, when is possible, I explore these elements. I always think to do different things, with different creative processes. I love surrealism, and in my illustrations, I leave the subconscious free, and I try to demonstrate this.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
Yes, I think that my course has prepared me very well. It was a hard course, with many works and little time to do it.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
In 5 years time I intend to be with my own design studio, specialized in illustrations, and maybe with important clients. I’d like that my studio could be included in big events.
Tools: Illustrator, Indesign, Photoshop Studying at: htw berlin (Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin) Specialising in: Illustration
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
I like that we get involved in real life projects, we can also have good contacts with the professors if we want to and we learned a lot of design history and philosophy which is an important basic for creating profound design.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
The featured Project is an older one but it is still my favoirite because it has enlarged my enthusiasm for Illustration a lot and it is very simple and full of details at the same time. It originally was a typografic Project and the task was to present a font creating a book with it. The font I got was Angkoon. It has long, almost agressive Serifs and the bows look organic and carved. I decided it would be matching to illustrate a cruel fairytail of the Grimm brothers using a paper carving technique. It took me a long time but I fully envoyed it apart from the last night before the deadline.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
I do, definately.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
I’m not sure, but I would like to be working with a small circle of regular clients for illustration and corporate design. I also can imagine myself as a freelancer working for companies- or if all else fails…..I will open a bakery store.
Tools: Photoshop Studying at: Frostburg State University Specialising in: Illustration
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
I like the many choices in a career in the arts. I don’t like how I have to learn the basics of Photoshop in my current minor Graphic Design, which is why I’m changing it to Journalism. I taught myself how to use Photoshop and I don’t have the time to be treated like I don’t know what I’m doing.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
“The Legend of John” is fan art for the recording artist John Legend. I wanted to experiement with a style I’m not used to, and I think the final result came out well; I received plenty of positive comments on it.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
In the design industry? Well I just recently completed my freshman year of college so I haven’t learned much of anything. The only education I could put towards a career in the arts is my completion of the Information Technology (IT) Program at my high school and my 4+ years working with Graphics.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
I see myself working for a magazine, hopefully having to do with art, writing and maybe publishing my own magazine.
I am currently seeking talented design students for parts 5-8. If you would like to be featured and you are located in Ireland, Poland, India, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, China, Japan, Spain, France, Croatia, New Zealand, Egypt or Romania please email students [at] downwithdesign.com with a sample of your work.
Followed on from the first and second parts of this article I have tracked down talented designs students from Argentina, the Netherlands & the Phillipenes.
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
Well, both parts are tied together. My school is a public school, with almost no resources, so the education is pretty limited regarding technology access. We have no computers at school, and class groups are huge, so you can imagine the feedback is slow. All student works are presented in class in printed format, and are hanged on the walls for the rest of the class to see and comment, which helps our work evolve and improve. There are many negative aspects, like the fact nobody can teach you to use the digital tools (programs and such), so you can imagine the first works were really hard to overcome… Positive aspects are the teachers. They have an awesome technique to work out of almost nothing, and to make us see and understand what needs to be done in each and every project of the class. I think their effort for us to get the best education possible with almost nothing has always been understimated. As class assistant for many years, I have seen this from the other side, and honestly there’s nothing I’d like more than my school to get some economic support at some point, so the education level can rise.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
This project was made for my signage design class (2005)… It was a icon system design for a primary school. Every class and workshop had it’s own icon, that was supossed to be used in the entrances to each classroom. All the students entered in a contest, and my project was selected to be used in the school. Still waiting for that to happen
tho hehe. This project introduced me to vector illustration, and i learnt lots about how to look for the best reference for an icon, how to synthetize, and specially how to draw with nodes. I can say today, I don’t like the resolution of some of the images for this project, but I can say that it definitely was a turning point in my design style.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
Well not really. I studied a career that was aimed to print design, and today I work 100% on web design, so well, I had to learn many extra things along the way. However, I did take in the main aspects of design from school, which do not depend from the medium you work in…
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Well, my future to me is a mystery. I am moving to Norway in a few months, and will start in someway from zero there. I plan to keep working on blogs if I have the chance, but who knows?
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash Studying at: University of Santo Tomas Specialising in: Web Design, Print Design, Branding/Identity
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
We were taught to do design using traditional media. Everything we created and designed for school was hand-rendered for the first 2 years there. It’s only now that we’re doing our designs digitally and we’re already in our junior year. This type of training has really helped train our eyes and hands. There is no formal training, however, on software such as Photoshop or Illustrator. We’ll have to learn that by ourselves. Most of my classmates are at a loss with this. I’m happy I already started learning the software prior to my college education.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
This project is for a recording studio based here in the Philippines. Our creative team designed the logo, business card, letterhead and website design for the studio. We also helped design the studio as well.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
Yes, very much. Our curriculum includes a lot of subjects that give us a wide range of career opportunities. We cover everything from advertising design, illustration, corporate identity, fashion design, and photography. I also have a very cool subject right now called ‘Advertising Production.’ We basically discuss how the production process goes. Our professor gives us pointers on what to do in certain situations. It’s all common sense, really, but it helps listening to their own experiences. Other lecture subjects such as ‘Advertising Practice’ are very helpful should we want to find a job in an advertising agency.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
My best case scenario would be me being a full time freelance designer. I’ve always wanted to do this since I was 10 years old and I don’t see myself doing anything else.
I am currently seeking talented design students for parts 5-8. If you would like to be featured and you are located in Ireland, Poland, India, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, China, Japan, Spain, France, Croatia, New Zealand, Egypt or Romania please email students [at] downwithdesign.com with a sample of your work.
Followed on from the first part of this article I have tracked down talented designs students from The USA, Singapore, South Africa & Russia.
Daniel Hunninghake, 21, United States
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, TextEdit Studying at: Saint Louis University Specialising in: Graphic Design and Sociology
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
I like how studying graphic design is limitless. Every other class I’ve had is reduced to facts or figures or what you read in textbooks. It’s all spoon-fed information, with little critical thinking or creativity. But graphic design…well, I guess I can sum it up by saying I feel most alive when I’m creating meaningful things. And my graphic design education affords me that opportunity. What I dislike is that, sometimes, design assignments can box me in…restrictions on type, certain colors and ways for creating images. It wrecks my flow!
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
My featured project was a social awareness poster, where each student had his/her choice of any social issue the world is facing today. I chose child soldiers, a topic that has strong imagery and appeals to emotion. I took finger painting (an innocent children’s activity) and skewed it to communicate a very real message that blood is being shed…children’s blood, nonetheless! I added an extra long drip to lead the eye down to the text, where I paired a bold font for impact with my own handwritten text for a kid-like feel.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
Fully? No, I don’t think any type of education can fully prepare you for a job in the design industry. I’ll discover what that’s all about once I take that step. But I can say that I have learnt important skills that will remain with me throughout my entire design career, especially the ability to conceptualize.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
In five years I’d like to be running my own studio. I enjoy thinking big, so I also have a business venture stored in the back of my mind that I’d like to pursue eventually. For now, though, it’s all about dragging out my education as long as possible to avoid the real world and doing freelance work to make ends meet.
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator Studying at: Lasalle, College of the art Specialising in: Advertising Communication
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
One thing I have to say is that I love Art & Design, so that is why I chose to study it. I love it, it is my passion. It is about ideas and creative thoughts which is, to me, the most important solution for every porblems in everyday life. The study life of a design student is fun, really. However, there are still a few restrictions that we can freely to express our ideas…nevermind then…i know the life of designer out there is also like that. If u are preparing to go to design school I will advise you prepare your pocket first.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
The integrated campaign for MAA 2009 ( MTV Asia Awards 2009 ) is the most effective way to arouse the awareness of the target audience. This type of campaign uses many of the tools and channels to send the message. It increases more chances of reaching the target by the strength of different media. Strategy statement: to provoke the target audience by daring them to strip down their shy ego, unleash their wild side to enjoy the music. Single Minded Proposition: The event unleashes innovative music in style.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
Yup, i do think my course achieves that by giving us challenging assignments and they also teach us how to survive and sustain in this industry, which is helpful.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
An art director in an advertising firm. I just do not know which firm yet.
Jjunio can be contacted by email via giahai@[at]gmail.com
Reghardt Grobbelaar, 22, South Africa
Tools: Indesign, Illustrator , Photoshop Studying at: The Open Window – School of Visual Communication Specialising in: Communication Design
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
The thing I like the most would be the fact that the school focuses on the practical side of things, we only have one theoretical subject; at time this does become one too many. The downside of my education I would have to say is the way in which the lecturers project their styles onto the student, but I suppose its the only way how one can learn in the beginning.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
The project I chose was an assignment on the creation of corporate Identity, in my case, the client was an organic deli which hosted live bands. We had to create the name, which had to be approved first, the logo, menu, juice bottle designs along with their corresponding labels. The last object we had to create was some form of promotional Item. The chosen name was Attune Cuisine and the theme was birds and bird watching. The menu was designed so that the food was on one side, and the drinks on the other. The juice bottles were created out of glasses, so that once you have finished the juice, the glass could be kept and reused. The pormotional item was a CD featuring some ofthe songs played by the live bands.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
On the whole, yes. In our country and especially the town, Open Window students are well known for the fact that they have more practical experience than most of the students from the other institutions. Another point in our favor is they fact that we cover most of the software which gives us a broad design knowledge from print to video and everything inbetween. We are also expected to complete a six week Internship before we graduate.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
In five years I expect to have a steady job, along with completing my honours in Visual Communication and most likely my degree in fine arts.
Tools: Fontlab, Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign Studying at: British Higher School of Art and Design Specialising in: Type & Typography
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
The good side of my education is that I have really professional teachers which is really important for a young designer, because they help you progress much quicker. I’m studying at the best higher school of Moscow and I consider it gives me more and more every day. When I was studing in the Type & Typography course my curator was Ilya Ruderman, who is really good type designer. He helped open my eyes to the world of type design. After this course i’ll study Graphic design and Illustration, I always want to learn more than what I know.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
This is a type family for different magazines. I think it’ll be suitable for Another magazine or Dazed magazine. The type is very similar to my own personality .The Meringue family consists of two fonts: Meringue Regular & Meringue Italic. I also implemented Meringue with some particular features, such as old-style figures, alternative characters and ligatures etc.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
Yes, i think so. I want to have a brilliant career and i’ll strive to achieve it, but at the same time I know that it’s only the start and I must do more. Eventually every student must think about their education, because only they know, what they want. I guess it isn’t difficult, if you know your specialisation from the beginning, for other it takes time.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
I’ll complete my education and i’ll go to London, because I want to work in the Wolff Olins studio.
It is my dream, whether it will happen or not, we’ll see.
I am currently seeking talented design students for parts 5-8. If you would like to be featured and you are located in Ireland, Poland, India, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, China, Japan, Spain, France, Croatia, New Zealand, Egypt or Romania please email students [at] downwithdesign.com with a sample of your work.
Being a design student can be tough but at the same time one of the most important periods in a designers career. Entering formal design education can allow you to decide upon which area you would like to specialise in whilst also learning the skills which will serve you well for years to come. My design education was a bit frustrating as I always felt that I wasn’t properly prepared for the huge jump from being a student to working as a professional in the industry. I wanted to find out if this was the case for the design students of today and tracked down a number of talented individuals from around the world. This 4 part article will showcase the talent of students working in different areas of design and will give an insight into their thoughts on the current state of their education.
Inés Carral, 22, Mexico
Tools: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects Studying at: centro – cine, diseño, televisión Specialising in: Branding, Illustration and Photography
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
I’ve always been a dreamer and my design career has helped me to bring those ideas into life, into images. Creativity is all about not having limits, making everything possible. So if you mix those two together you get an idea why my passion for design is huge! I love challenges, but most of all bringing in creative solutions – experimenting with the unthinkable. I guess what I dislike is people who just don’t get my philosophy – everything is possible.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
This project was for a Caligraphy class in which we had to choose a word and make a logo out of it and the branding. So I decided to go for this ‘arabesque’-warm look, where you get the idea straight away what I’m selling. I wanted a bold, simple but yet elegant look targeted for people who love variety, and like to pamper themselves with a cup of high-quality coffee.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
I don’t believe you get fully prepared because I believe you never stop learning. I consider myself a person who never gets tired of learning new things, and explaining to others what I do know. I believe in learning from my mistakes so I don’t repeat them in the future and above all, I consider myself a very responsible trustable person.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Working as a freelancer. I love working on projects not because I have to but because I want to, and that’s why my work has so much passion and dedication even in the smallest detail.
Inés can be contacted by email via inescarral[at]gmail.com
Rachel Shillcock, 19, United Kingdom
Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, After Effects, Flash, HTML & CSS Studying at: The Manchester College, Manchester, England, UK Specialising in: Interactive Media – a mix of graphic design, web design and motion graphics
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
I like that it is possible to experiment in ways you may not be able to in a normal job. Being in education is a time where you can develop and find your own personal style and put your own stamp on your assignments that you complete. What I don’t like about education is that it is extremely easy to feel safe – you have months on end to complete only a few projects when, in reality, you have to work on many at the same time in a much shorter space of time.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
My featured project includes two print designs that I completed for my End of Year Show last month, where I chose to complete an exploration of fashion. My idea was to conduct research and create a website to display this information, which also included a showcase of famous fashion photographers and models. I also wanted to try and create some pieces of design that combined fashion photography and illustration. The first piece was simply created to experiment my ideas for this. The second is my favourite piece. This image was created because I wanted to try and step out of my comfort zone and create something different and I am so pleased with the result. I wanted to display the woman’s sense of uniqueness and her beauty. I was particularly inspired by my visit to Athens, Greece in April 2008, because the image reminded me of the statues of Greek goddesses that I saw when I was there.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
I think in some ways my course has prepared me for gaining a job, but in many ways I think that I have helped myself. Although I have learnt many essential techniques and skills in my time studying on my course, I think I have also helped myself develop in a lot of ways – for example I have taught myself everything I know in After Effects and Flash.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
I have a good idea of what I want to accomplish in the next few years – I’ve already completed some freelance work and I’m hoping for some more soon and have a couple of potential jobs coming up. In five years time I’ll have just turned 24 – to me, that’s plenty of time to get where I want to! I want to get a job as a web designer that has some print or corporate identity responsibilities if that is at all possible. I really want to continue with my freelance work – although I have now only completed a couple of freelance projects, I have found that I have a real hunger and thirst for what I do
and can only hope to get better and do more work as time passes. I also have big visions such as setting up my own online shop and my own business, but whether this will happen in the next five years I don’t know!
Rachel can be contacted by email via rachillipepper[at]live.co.uk or you can follow her on twitter at www.twitter.com/missrachilli
What do you like and dislike about your design education?
I really like all the open ended assignments where its “make a poster using this as subject matter” or “make a web site for this” with minimal instructions so we can really work on broadening our talents. The facilites, especially the library, are really good as well and that always helps. The odd specific brief with very strict specifications have been thrown in but the learning in those is nowhere near as satisfying as the open-ended ones. One of my dislikes is, not trying to sound too snobby here, how slow the course feels. By slow I mean that the difficulty and breadth of learning really feels like its holding us back. Some of the courses and what we were meant to learn in them were far too basic and didn’t really scratch the surface of what we thought we’d learn about. I would’ve really liked in depth courses on typography and web design but what we were given really felt lacking in any depth. Starting next semester though, they’ve implemented an extra typography course for the younger years so I’m pleased they’ve listened and acted on our feedback.
Can you give us a little background about your featured project?
This was a 3rd year course where the year was split into 7 groups with each one making their own magazines, half in print and half online. In each group, we all got given specific jobs with mini-competitions deciding things like logos, grid systems and the typefaces we used. This project was my entry for the cover of the magazine and my class voted it in. The magazine was called ‘Customise’ and we decided to make it a double cover issue, half themed towards mutate and the other as evolve. The magazine flipped orientation at the center and came with a poster. The Mutate side was more negative and was symbolised with an M and a – sign. Evolve was positive and had an E and a + sign. The original cover design and concept was selected about 4 weeks prior to launch and was worked on consistently till the final day. The Evolve side is the lion/astronaut. It was based off a quote from someone I’ve never been able to find again that “the proof we have evolved further than any animal is the fact we made it into space”. I decided to spin it so that it was as if the lion had evolved not dissimilar to a Planet of the Apes scenario. The Mutate side was really the opposite of that, especially with the negative connotations of mutate in genetics. I put subtle references to death into the image to relate to that.
Do you feel that your course has fully prepared you for gaining a job in the design industry?
I’m currently in the holiday period between the 2 semesters of the year and at this point in time, I honestly don’t know if I’d cope. To this point the course has been all about the technical and theoretical abilities and very little about practical, real world kinda stuff. The last semester this year and the following final two sessions in 2010 are all geared towards that transition into real world applications and job hunting so I think any definitive answer about “how ready the course has made me” would be to premature.
In terms of a design career, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
I ask myself this question a lot and I really have no idea where I’d be. If all goes well, I hope I am in a small design studio anywhere in the world or a crack freelancer with a bevvy of clients. My ideal scenario would be owning my own studio but I don’t know whether I could get there in 5 years time, still too much to learn, see and do. As long as I am in the design world, I’ll be happy.
We all use stock photography, there is no point in denying it, it’s the cheapest and most accessible means of obtaining images that would normally only be made available by commissioning a professional photographer. However, now that stock photography is used in abundance, especially in web design, there are certain images that have become widely regarded as cliches. I have compiled a list of the 10 Biggest Stock Photography Cliches which you should avoid if you are to create a unique design:
10. The Telephone
Give us a call! Normally seen on the contact page as the easiest method of visual communicating that a business is available by phone. If you can find a photo of an old fashined phone then even worse.
9. The Huddle
Nothing says unity more than a group of people huddled in a circle, right? This image is used to try and show that a business is fun, friendly and approachable, unlike their competitors who just use the standard serious business team pose as shown in cliche number 3. Group Hug!
8. The Dollar
Money, money, money, after all that’s what every business is in the game for, well, almost. Non-designers think that by using images of money it shows that they can generate sales for customers, when in effect it can decrease the element of trust and makes the viewer question their ethics.
7. The Happy Family
“If you use our service we can make you this happy!” is the main message of this image. This one is easy spot a mile off, normally under the testimonials page or in extreme cases as the main header image.
6. The Staged Meeting
I have yet to see a photographer on standby in any meeting I’ve been involved with. This is tackiness at it’s best and should be avoided at all costs.
5. The Fingertips
Similar to cliche number 10, except this time the image shows that the business is so modern that it can actually be contacted not by just phone, but by the ground breaking technology of email. Drop us a line!
4. The Impressive Office
A photograph of state-of-the-art buildings may make your business look bigger than you actually are but when your customers visit your real premises you may have a little explaining to do.
3. The Business Team
We are powerful and serious, do not mess with us! Whilst this image is meant to make a business look approachable it can actually be deemed as quite intimidating.
2. The Pretty Call Centre Girl
Sexist, demeaning & predictable. Sex sells, so adding a bit of glamour to try and increase sales shouldn’t do any harm, when infact all it does is make the business in question look fake. Unfortunately, this kind of photograph is used on thousands of websites and reduces the element of trust between the viewer and the business.
1. The Almighty Handshake
This image is meant to scream trust & getting the deal done whilst at the same time maintaining that serious, corporate image. This is business. This is THE stock photography cliche of all time.
I hope you enjoyed this post and will agree with my choices. I’d be interested to know of any suggestions.
I was lucky enough to take part in a branding experiment organised by Nathan of www.cobaltcow.com. 12 designers were asked, at random, to rebrand one of the other participants. I was asked to redesign the logo for Yossi Belki of www.yossigraphicdesign.com.
Each designer was given the answers to the following questions in order to form a design frief:
1. What name should be in the logo?
2. Is there a tagline that should be used?
3. Pick 4 words that explain what you want to portray int he logo.
4. Any specific colors?
5. Target market?
6. Any specific things that need to be included?
For Yossi I was asked to create a fun, retro, 70’s influenced design, so I decided to create a funky custom typeface. The designer who had the difficult task of rebranding my own business was Joshua Geiger of www.nineteeneightyone.com, and I think the design he created was very interesting.
You can check out the re-design I submitted along with the rest of the design solutions over on Nathan’s Blog. Thanks again Nathan for allowing me to take part.
Recently I was asked by the popular design resource website, Smashing Magazine, to give my opinion on the 10 most common mistakes in logo design. It was a great honour and I am currently working on some more articles which will hopefully be published in the near future. The most common mistakes read as follows:
1. Designed By An Amateur
2. Relies on Trends
3. Uses Raster Images
4. Contains Stock Art
5. Designing For Yourself Rather Than The Client
6. Overly Complex
7. Relies On Colour
8. Poor Choice Of Font
9. Has Too Many Fonts
10. Copying Others
Your can read the article in its entirety over at Smashing Magazine. I would like to thank everyone at SM, particularly Vitaly for this great opportunity.
