100 Brands of Interest
Within the design community, there are many designers of brand identities, of which I am one. As a point of interest, I thought it would be nice to do an article showcasing brand identity providers but, as a twist, to not look at their work but to look at how they have branded themselves. Obviously, I could not cover all designers as there are just too many however I welcome your feedback on this article and will make other editions should this be requested. For this article, I have chosen the following 100 brands of logo designers, brand identity consultants and graphic studios.
The main thing to point out is that this article is in no way an assessment or critique of the logos. It is purely to create awareness within the community and provide some useful insight for any newcomers who may be struggling to create a brand for themselves. It can be said that you are your greatest critic therefore this can often cause much procrastination, especially in this line of work, when trying to pin point the right brand for yourself. Obviously, the temptation is to showcase some of your best work and create a flamboyant logo however this must be balanced with modesty and professionalism as, ultimately, you are providing a service and, as we see from many of the cases below, an understated simple logo has proved very successful branding.
Many of the brands below use basic elements of design, such as geometry and linear imaging but the results are still very effective, professional logos which communicate well to their audience while at the same time utilising the classic techniques learnt by all designers. It is this common denominator of simplicity which defines them. Also, I really love the broad range of logos which can been created by using stylised typefaces. I have made my own typefaces and this is a point of great interest and satisfaction for me. I find it amazing how differently a brand or logo appears when it has a typeface treatment and many of the below logos are testament to this. In particular, I am impressed by logos which incorporate geometry and typeface, but in an abstract way, such as the Moving Brands or Denis Olenik logos. This branding shows the skill of the designers by using the most fundamental concepts of design. These brands for instance communicate perfectly to any audience due to their simplicity but at the same time appeal to a wide professional audience due to the intelligence behind the concepts.
Other brands do not feel the need for typeface and utilise a symbol or picture, often with a monogram, in the case of Glitschka Studios where we see a man’s head with a flame forming a ‘G’ ‘S’; or a word, in the case of Muamer where we see a smiling man which also spells the word logo. These techniques are very successful in displaying skill and the monogram gives an instant formality. Both work very well in communicating to their audience and give a different element which stands out.
I have now commented on some of the techniques which can be used in logo branding and have tried to select a whole range of different logos here to demonstrate this. Whilst I have chosen to display all logos in black and white in this article, for the purpose of giving each logo an equal display, I must say that, during my research, I noted that there was a definite trend in colour preference. In particular the popular choices were Black, White, Yellow, Red and Grey.
I send a big thank you to all companies which are displayed here and I have included a link to each of their sites for your bookmarks. Enjoy and I look forward to your feedback, particularly any thoughts you may have on this topic and any brands which you would like to see in another article of this nature.
I hope you found the above article both informative and stimulating. I look forward to reading any comments and opinions you would like to share.
59 comments on this entry so far
hey david, thank you for featuring me.. its a great priviledge
penflare, on December 4th, 2008
thanks, buddy! nice article and great logo pack, very interesting to see all logos in one page )))
Denis Olenik, on December 4th, 2008
Thanks David! Great collection! There’s a ton of talent represented behind all those logos. I’ll be bookmarking this post. :)
Josiah Jost | Siah Design, on December 4th, 2008
Thanks for the feature David.
-Lawrence
Lawrence Anderson, on December 4th, 2008
Thanks David. Great article, many interesting examples :) And thank you very much for featuring me, it means a lot for me.
Jarek Kowalczyk, on December 4th, 2008
Very nice David. I love to see the variety here and the range of approach. Thanks for the feature.
Glen Hobbs | LoGoBoom Inc, on December 4th, 2008
Hey,
That’s a very strong selection! I really like the idea of presenting personal logotypes in this way. Lot’s of variety in here. I feel like I will be coming back to this collection many times for some inspiration and… just for delight!
All the best,
Jakub
ejifa, on December 5th, 2008
The article is really great!
A lot of strong logos!
Thank you for that!
fantique, on December 5th, 2008
Great article David! Thanks for the feature.
-Julian
Julian Hrankov | Art Machine, on December 5th, 2008
David -
Thanks for including my identity - along with those of so many of my friends!
- J.
Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, on December 5th, 2008
Hi David, great collection!
Valera.
BrandBerry, on December 5th, 2008
This is an impressive list, it must have taken you some to put together. Nice one
Sarah F, on December 5th, 2008
thanks for the feature!
this means a lot to me!
cheers
Pop Ovidiu Sebastian, on December 5th, 2008
wowww, thanks alot David :D
what an honour :D
Tom Huveners, on December 5th, 2008
thank you david
all the best
LL
LL, on December 5th, 2008
Really great list.
Interesting to the difference between guys like LogoMotives (simple, straight to the point), the more obscure (that DEMAND further inspection) and the studios named after the partner/directors (Wolf Ollins etc ...) that suggest a great deal of history and status.
Thanks for sharing.
Ed Lamb, on December 5th, 2008
Hi David!
Congratulation for the article and thank you so much for featuring me!
All the best
Roger
Roger Oddone, on December 5th, 2008
Hello, David!
Great idea, great analysis, great brands and logos. Thanks for featuring my company (Artra). It’s great to see that designers take care of self promotion as well.
Best regards to all of you,
Alen ‘Type08’ Pavlovic
Type08, on December 5th, 2008
WOW!
Thx a lot David for this acrticle & for featuring our company )
Cheers!
Vladimir Gorz, on December 5th, 2008
Thanks David for adding me to this list of really talented identities. Their are a lot of identities in this list I’ll have to come back to take a look at!
Joseph Maguire, on December 5th, 2008
Great idea, David. How about continuing this into a complete compendium of branding firm marks?
Bruce Schneider, on December 5th, 2008
tnx David!
some logos are awesome!
Alexander Lanevski, on December 5th, 2008
Thanks for the mention, David. I’m honored to be included with such a fine selection of designers. Absolutely love the Tom Cannon Design mark. Brilliant!!
Kevin Burr, on December 5th, 2008
Stunning collection, beautiful stuff.
Liam McKay, on December 5th, 2008
Fascinating collection - great to see them in mono too. Thanks for the mention, David.
Roy Smith, on December 5th, 2008
woah, great logotypes! I actually like all Your design - very clean and good looking! I’ll bookmark this one!
Dainis Graveris, on December 6th, 2008
fantique, congratulations!
Dmitry, on December 6th, 2008
Hey, Thanks for the mention, David. :)
This is super logo collection, one of the finest… Excellent article with original concept.
Congratulation!
m*
Muamer ADILOVIC, on December 7th, 2008
I’m honoured my friend ! thank you very much !
Crislabno, on December 7th, 2008
Thanks David, great list
lord reptor, on December 7th, 2008
A great reference for fellow designers… I was surprised by how many logotypes were in this collection too. It was also great to see that none of the logos were too similar. Thanks for putting this together and featuring Just Creative Design.
Jacob Cass, on December 7th, 2008
Hi David,
Great collection and thanks for featuring!
Cheers,
P
Peter, on December 8th, 2008
Many thanks for featuring my logo, its is always a honour to be on list with such great designs and brands.
zwoelf, on December 8th, 2008
thank you friend!
brandwide, on December 8th, 2008
great article. you put together an awesome group of logos here! i am from philadelphia, and i have always loved the 160over90 logo.
i look forward to reading more!
Scott, on December 8th, 2008
Love the MovingBrands logo; not so keen on Just Creative, though
Richard, on December 8th, 2008
Hello David,
It is really impressive list.
Thanks for featuring my logo. It means a lot for me!
All the best,
Jovan Rocanov
Jovan Rocanov, on December 11th, 2008
great black & white list thanks..
joyoge designers' bookmark, on December 14th, 2008
Hey David,
this is really inspiring!
It’s a great collection of, not only good logotypes (for most cases), but also of quality contemporary visual identity developers.
Great list.
E.
Stratigo, on December 16th, 2008
Nice collection and thank you for the feature.
Vladimir mijatovic, on December 17th, 2008
Nice to see this collection of logos all in one place.
Will Sherwood, on December 21st, 2008
very interesting and stimulating article, it’s great to be part of it! thank you and ciao from milan.
mauro pastore
cacao design
Mauro Pastore, on December 23rd, 2008
O.k…. For now learning about professional identity creation/development, just seeing all of these logos together in one article… absolutely invaluable. Intelligent, thoughtful, clean, simple and impactful: thank you!
gerard a. syms, on December 26th, 2008
All links are great. thanks for sharing them.
Moumita, on December 26th, 2008
All your ideas and the list of links are really helpful. Thanks for telling them.
Shiva, on December 26th, 2008
Great list—and thank you for selecting Brandient.
Cheers from Eastern Europe!
Kit, on December 26th, 2008
Were is BRAUN in your collection?
pat Taylor, on December 26th, 2008
Hej,
u got a problem with a link…so far
Chermayeff&Geismar;the address is kind of incomplete.. is not getting u there when u click.
:)
but nice collection..
thanks and keep up the good work
:)
peace
synapse, on December 30th, 2008
Hello there, thanks for featuring thackway mccord in your article. Only we have just launched our new brand (seen on the website). I hope that it would still make the cut! Yours, Kat
Kat McCord, on January 7th, 2009
Thanks to all for your participation.
If your logo is on the list, it is a real pleasure to feature your brand.
I will fix any links, thanks for notifying me of this.
100 Brands of Interest Part 2 is on it’s way :)
David Pache, on January 22nd, 2009
I have come across this in my quest for inspiration for my own personal branding redesign. A great quality collection you have here, the best I have come across.
Cheers,
Jordan
Jordan Young, on January 23rd, 2009
Great collection David. Very nice to see yourself among those players.
Thank you,
Marko
ARMADA
Marko, on January 26th, 2009
This is brilliant…
Cant wait for the 2nd post of this
Evako, on February 15th, 2009
Hey. Great post. Is there a chance to check my logo out?
http://www.designinabox.nu
[ ]s
Tiago Pimentel, on February 18th, 2009
hi david.
thanks for nice post, you are chosen a great and famous logos
actually, There are a lots of great logos in world have a great inspiration most of them aren’t famous logo
thank you so much
Otba Mushaweh, on March 16th, 2009
brandcore sucks.
ovidiu pop, on April 8th, 2009
Perfect examples of simple but highly effective logos. You selected examples very well in my opinion. I think that a modest logo can often make a bigger impact than more extravegant one.
Mary Britain, on April 12th, 2009
AMAZING COMPILATION!
great logos all together! verrrrrrrrrrry nice!
congrats
Igor Saraiva, on April 29th, 2009
Hi David,
thank you for selecting Raineri Design!
Great collection and big idea.
William
William, on May 1st, 2009