helvetic brands blog

2010 in review

2010-12-29T13:11:40+00:00

Year in review

Projects
Throughout this year, I have had the opportunity to work on many successful projects. The following selection are those that were displayed on my website.

Below I have also included a slide-show featuring the logos so that they may be viewed individually. Rolling over the image will pause the slideshow.

Publications

Aside from my project work, I was fortunate also to have my work published in the following books this year :

LogoLounge Master Library Volumes 1 ( Initials & Crests )

LogoLounge Master Library Volumes 2 ( Animals & Mythology )

Los Logos Compass

Web Designer’s Idea Book 2

Typography
This year I decided to implement a standard that, for each new project, I would develop a custom, hand-made, font (unless there was specific preference for an existing typeface) and the reaction to this has been excellent. In this industry, we constantly have to strive to be different from our competitors and I think that this simple additional element has enabled my work to reach a higher standard than last year.

I also released three free fonts (of which two where made using an iPad application) and I also created a commercial font family for eegoes.

You can download these free fonts at the links below :

Hinwil

Fleuroi

Sion

I am also working on a couple of new fonts. These are still in development but will be ready for public release in 2011. They will be called +ype and Hinwil Pro therefore please watch the website for the details of release.

I am still taking on projects as the year comes to an end and some are close to being finalised so expect some new things from me in January.

One thing that I have not done this year is a lot of blog posts or articles, as I had to complete my National Service in the Swiss Army. Given the amount of font work I have been doing and interesting projects that are coming my way, I am set to post regular articles next year and hope that you will enjoy reading these as an incite into my processes and achievements.

So, to wrap up, I hope that you have had a fantastic 2010 and are looking forward to a successful and exciting year for design in 2011.

I want to reserve a special thanks to my clients and supporters.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from helvetic brands

2010-12-24T14:19:29+00:00

Wishing you and your family happy holidays and all the best for a successful new year. I hope you’ve had an equally great year and wish you continued success for 2011. Be sure to check out the year in review article next week!

Happy Holidays | 2009 in review

2009-12-21T21:02:03+00:00

Wishing you and your family happy holidays and all the best for a successful new year. It has been a great year and I would like to thank you for your visits, comments, encouragement and constructive criticism, without which this would not have been possible. I hope you’ve had an equally great year and wish you continued success for 2010.

Year in review

Publications
I was very fortunate this year to have my work selected for publishing in the LogoLounge Master Library Volumes 1 ( Initials & Crests ) & 2 ( Animals & Mythology ) which will be out in February 2010 so be sure to look out for them.

Projects
Throughout the year, I have completed many successful designs, of which the following were featured on my website. I would like to send a special thank you to all of my clients:

Daily
The daily is a feature currently available on twitter which is a daily upload of my work in progress. So for a behind the scenes view of my work you can follow me @helveticbrands. I have prepared a presentation below of the first 4 months. Rolling over the image will pause the slideshow.

So to wrap up, I hope that you have enjoyed 2009 as much as I have and look forward to 2010! Happy holidays!

dache is now helvetic brands

2009-11-01T15:13:25+00:00

For a while now, I have been contemplating a change of company name to better suit the evolution of the company as I see it. This was a conscious decision to better position the company on an international level and to allow the new name to communicate what services I offer. I therefore wanted to share with you some of the main changes which have been and will be made over the coming months.

New Name
The previous name dache, a childhood nickname, was a good platform for me to get to where I have so far. I have felt however that this name is not as representative as I would like it to be in the design industry. It was a massive decision to change the company name and it was not one I took lightly. I looked at the pros and cons and decided that although the name dache communicated on a personal level, it was not a name that communicated anything about the service I provide. I also had instances where the name could be mis-pronounced in different languages. Here in Switzerland for example, the word dache means ‘roof’ in German therefore, for people searching in German, this could cause frustration as my industry is far removed from construction!

Another reason for the change of name was the web domain ownership. I owned dache.ch however dache.com was already taken for a completely unrelated business. As it is important to me to be able to offer my potential clients the choice, I have now acquired both domains .ch and .com.

So, I selected the name helvetic brands. Helvetia is the latin name for Switzerland and I thought that by using a universal language, this was a good way to represent my Swiss roots and keep a personal level to the company name. This was important as I strive to provide a personable service and this will not change going forward. The ‘brands’ part of the new name was to communicate my whole services which are on offer. I do specialize in identity design but I also offer web design, business stationary and typography. Clients can come to me knowing that I can provide an entire branding solution, just from the name.

Finally, as with all company name changes, it is a question of ‘Is this the right time?‘ I think that the new company name will allow me to grow the business from this stage without having to worry about the eventuality of having to change it at a later stage. I think that the business so far has gained a solid enough reputation to take the change but is not so established that the change would be more difficult to implement.

With a new name comes a new image…
This was the trickiest decision I had to make for the rebrand. It was a case of new name and new identity vs. new name and same identity.

Below are a few of the alternative solutions which I experimented with using the basic elements of the dache identity. I looked at making the symbol into a letter ‘h’ however I feel that all these solutions ended up being quite medical in their appearance and decided not to take them any further.

I therefore settled on finding a middle-ground solution by keeping the basic design of my identity under dache but with some fundamental changes to strengthen the brand and to allow my existing audience to recognize the business. The fact that the previous identity formed a letter ‘d’ does not matter as the shape itself best represents the core values of the company - out of the box design, Swiss style.

Below you can see a before and after shot showing how I have made the box in the centre smaller therefore strengthening the main focus of the identity. I think that the overall thicker lines make the branding confident and gives a more positive image. The smaller versions are to show how, even when the identity is taken down to favicon size, the new version appears stronger and is therefore more scalable.

The grid work of the identity developed can be seen below.

New Site design
Since August I have been working on a new version of the site so I thought what better time to finalise all the changes then when the company changes its name. Of course, there will always be a few bugs to iron out but we are getting there. Below can be seen the old design.

So, what’s new? Well, I have updated the typography of the entire site and made it all Helvetica. I have also used different sizes of font to create a natural information hierarchy to improve usage. This is much nicer when compared with my ‘11 point Verdana across the board’ approach. I have also improved the in-site navigation. There were too many sections before. I have now condensed the 4 sections - webdesign, logos, print and art - into a section named ‘branding’ which allows easy cross-referencing of my entire portfolio and I have added the option to browse by industry or project name. The previous dacheboard has been re-named as ‘blog’ to communicate clearly to the audience. Obviously, I could not keep a reference to dache as it would create confusion. The new blog will work as before however I have now chosen to feature the most popular articles and allow easier functionality and quick-viewing. The most recent addition is the live news feed from my twitter entries which is uploaded to the homepage. This has replaced the previous static news section.

The future of helvetic brands…
I hope you have enjoyed this insight into the thinking behind the company changes. I am happy that the new name will give me the strong image that the business will need for the future. I would greatly like to receive your feedback on the website design in particular and any suggestions for improvements are welcome. Hope you enjoy and I plan to do a round up at the end of 2009 to let you know my progress.

Umlauts from Zürich

2009-10-21T13:54:03+00:00

I was recently in Zürich for a lunch meeting and found the range of executions of the umlaut (ü) interesting and thought I would share with you some photos of my trip.

This may become another series from the dacheboard, possibly taking on the accents from other cities in the area. Your thoughts are welcome on these. Enjoy

100 Brands of Interest III

2009-10-05T09:33:36+00:00

As part of an ongoing series, I am happy to present the next instalment of 100 brands of interest. These articles have received excellent reception and gives me a chance to express my view of good design. Since April, I have compiled another selection of the many brands currently in use. The standard is increasingly high and it is with pleasure that I feature these logos on the dacheboard. I hope you enjoy!

Design can differ in terms of what makes a great visual identity and these articles help to create awareness within the community and provide some useful insight for any newcomers on what makes a successful branding. This is not an assessment or critique of the logos, just a chance to see the variety of styles which all lead to good, solid design. As a lot of designers will know, it can be the easiest thing to create a logo for a client but when it comes to creating an identity for your own business, it is often tricky to establish the most appropriate execution to best represent yourself or your business. It is a fine line between showcasing your talents and techniques and retaining modesty and professionalism to gain the correct tone for your business image.

In this third collection, I have chosen to focus on up and coming designers and have displayed these with more well known enterprises. By displaying everything in black and white it is interesting to take the different brands down to the same, almost basic, level and then compare them side by side within the criteria of just great design. Without the use of colour, monochrome allows us to view the identities outside the context of their visual universe and makes it all about the design.

I was especially interested this time round to see the range that the selected brands portray from the most simplistic geometry and linear imaging to the more detailed and extravagant techniques. No matter what the style, I think it can be said that all of the 100 brands below have been executed successfully to create effective, professional logos which communicate the correct image to their audience.

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 the next instalment of 100 brands of interest.

Phinney Bischoff Design House

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. If you liked the article, please share it.

dache daily - week 6

2009-10-04T18:10:05+00:00

Since last week’s article, I have now confirmed the name for my daily upload of my work in progress as “dache daily”. This feature is currently available on twitter and I will be integrating this fully into the new website design of dache.ch. I am currently ironing out a few issues before I can officially celebrate the launch of version 3 and look forward to this over the month.

In the meantime, I am featuring below images of this past week’s work. I look forward to your comments and hope you enjoy.

Sep 28

My initial sketches for the colorkite logo

Sep 29

the moodboard for the colorkite project

Sep 30

Work in progress logo with grids

Oct 1

Creating custom typography with the aid of Lego for a change.

Oct 2

After the legotype idea, I am pushing it further. Inspiration truly can come from anywhere

Hope you have enjoyed this weeks visuals and look forward to hearing from you.

dache daily

2009-09-27T04:09:04+00:00

Welcome to the launch of dache daily. This is a new feature which I have been experimenting on twitter where I upload a daily image of works in progress.

Since starting the dacheboard, my website blog space, I have realised that my articles tend to be a bit sporadic. For some time now, I have therefore wanted to create a more regular update for my followers as a point of interest and also as a personal inspiration to keep the quality ideas flowing. I have found this to be a very rewarding and overall positive experience so far.

Below I have summarised the past 5 weeks worth of work in a short article to keep you updated on what I have been up to and to gather feedback on any suggestions for improvement on this idea.

Aug 19
Identity work in progress - grid work for custom lettering

@markdotto said:
“@dache Intense! Looks awesome.“

Aug 20
Custom lettering work in progress. I was thinking of making this kind of tweet a daily occurrence

Aug 21
Recently completed grid work for the Joint identity.

Aug 24
Grid work for the DirectedEdge identity.

Aug 25
Typography.

@henriko75 said:
“@dache Hey man! Thanks for the kind insight! Do you use Illustrator and Pathfinder to finish the job?“
That’s right. Pathfinder & understanding how to get items to snap to angles (30° or 15° as opposed to 45°) was key in this design

Aug 26
Icon design for the mindberry website I have been working on.

Aug 27
Very early sketch work / grid work for the Handful of Feathers identity.

@sreeramanmg said:
“I like 2 one 1 row. It portrays the ‘handful’ concept the best.“

Aug 28
Completed projects over the past 4 months.

Aug 31
Close to complete mindberry website.

Sep 1
Very early ideas for a new logo.

Sep 2
Custom typography work in progress

Sep 3
Early progress on transferring a sketch into vectors

Sep 7
Logo printed out in large so as to improve on line work by hand. Work in progress

Sep 8
16x16 grid work on a pixel style logo. The final solution up on the portfolio tonight

Sep 9
Final grid work on the sponsr identity. The full creative process article coming soon

Sep 15
Final steps to completing a logo which incorporates a hand and a feather.

Sep 16
Initial steps in creating custom type.

@hiemil said:
“@dache Nice! Even looked like the grid was handdrawn (using iPhone) :-)“

Sep 17
custom typography - from sketch to software.

Sep 18
Completed grid work on the handful of feathers design.

Sep 21
recently created logo and type combo

@JClaytonDesign said:
“@dache, thanks for posting these insights to your creative process. It’s very inspirational.“

Sep 23
Logo design work in progress.

@ellenulrik said:
“@dache I really like the kwr.png! Makes me wonder about the stages inbetween - shape and colour. Thanks for sharing these. :)“

Sep 24
Arguably the most harmonious letter ‘e’ I have ever drawn.

Sep 26
An early glimpse at a water color painting from yesterday.

I am planning to automate the posting of these daily updates so that those receiving updates via the rss feed may see these as well. At the moment, I am not entirely convinced on the name “dache daily”. I was thinking of +daily as it was the shortest way to communicate dache in 142 characters but unfortunately the ‘+‘ sign is hard to search for. Here are some appreciated recommendations received so far :

• a dash of dache (via @CobaltCow)
• dache’s dailies (via @Cake_Sama)
• dache cache? (via @dallasgutauckis)
• what you think about dache daily process? (via @LogosGuide)
• daily dache of inspiration (via @dvness)

I would be grateful to receive any suggestions you have for a new name and also any particular areas of my designs that you would like to see so I can keep the content relevant. Hope you have enjoyed the past 5weeks and look forward to hearing from you.

LatitudeSouth creative process

2009-09-21T21:57:15+00:00

LatitudeSouth is a new enterprise offering a fresh direction in legal services outsourcing. Working with clients all over the world, their New Zealand origins were of importance to the company. Allow me to invite you through a brief overview of the creative process of designing their new logo.

Visual inspiration
LatitudeSouth’s slogan is ‘fresh direction’ and this was the starting point of my brainstorming. After researching all things in the South Pacific, I noticed there were many similarities between the island country’s contour and that of a boomerang. The idea of direction with this concept was instant for me and pursued multiple iterations.

The color scheme was directly inspired by maps I had accumulated during the brainstorming and research process.

The finalised color scheme.

Logo development
It was important to LatitudeSouth that they have a stand alone logotype that was unique to them alone. I had a few ideas for the type sketched and was able to start on making it come to life. After setting up a working grid in Illustrator, I started creating the letters but soon decided that it would be a lot more artistically stimulating for me to draw on the grid I had just drafted. I think it is really important in my creative process to change things up every time I start a new project. Below was a photo I took for a new experiment I have started called the daily insight image on twitter where I snapshot a moment in my working day.

This sketching allowed me to explore an idea I had for flipping the t’s but found this a little forced later on. I scanned the completed type sketch and placed it into Illustrator.

I then went on to place the grid I had created over my sketch and worked at cleaning up the design with the aid of simple geometry.

Once this process was completed I finally had the letters ready.

Another day in the daily insight image collection. It was also at this moment I received a very positive client reaction.

“ These look great, really impressive.“
Andrew Hamilton
Director, Latitude South

The letters were complete but the legibility was suffering still due to a strict grid which allowed for no optical kerning. The kerning for the most part stayed as I had originally planned it but with a few exceptions with the more curved letters like the ‘S’, ‘a’ and ‘o’.

The type and symbol complete, I then worked them into the same grid to get a harmonious combination of both.

Final solution
The final design will be on LatitudeSouth’s newly designed website shortly. The identity solution is that of an dynamic arrow shape which was inspired by a boomerang and also has the shape of a simplified New Zealand contour. I wish them all the best with their relaunch.

I hope you found this brief insight into my process an interesting read and welcome any of your questions and feedback.

sponsr logo design process

2009-09-09T01:11:32+00:00

sponsr is a web company from Orlando,Florida connecting sponsors to event promoters, venues and producers. Paul Geller, founder of sponsr, approached me to create their business identity. This article serves as an insight into my creative approach.

The Creative Brief
Once sponsr had made the initial contact, I discussed the project with them in order to gain a more solid idea of which direction they had envisioned. sponsr is different to its competitors in that it is a completely web driven service with online transactions and is fully searchable. Sponsorships in their case are when corporations deal with event promoters in return for advertising or placing their name on an event. They required an elegant and timeless visual identity that was more end-user driven than business to business.

Drafting and Development
There were two major themes which I wanted to explore : connection and support. Below you will find a selection of the sketches which inspired me to create the final design.

This alternative concept is that of support and how a sponsor can support, aid and allow people to reach higher and achieve further success. The image below demonstrates how I transferred the drawings into Illustrator to improve the line work.

Although the concept was not taken further, one key element to the development of the branding was that the identity had its color scheme confirmed. A palette which was original within this industry was an important factor to the launch.

Inspiration

Although not a direct inspiration, I am a fan of the works of the Swiss painter of German nationality Paul Klee. Having recently been reintroduced to his work from a book I acquired at a flea market in Bern, his mastery of colors and techniques is fascinating and is an inspiration to me.

Paul Klee - Southern (Tunisian) Gardens - 1919

Logo development
In parallel to sketching ideas for the symbol, I developed a custom set of sans serif letters for the project as it was of high importance to the client to have a font recognisable only to them.

I took my sketches further and eventually was happy with the result which was then taken into the dot grid book where I was able to tweak it further and fully plan how the grid for the symbol would work once in Illustrator.

I integrated the symbol into the grid used for the uniquely designed typeface to keep things harmonious. The addition of the .com was included for certain variants of the identity.

The monochrome solution being complete, I now had all the elements to complete the identity.

Final solution

For the final solution I took the coloration from the previously explored idea of support. The principal concept in the final design is that of connectivity so as to reflect the main element of sponsr’s business whilst its multiple layers reflect the idea of growth.

Client Testimonial
“David is as sublimely talented as he is punctual and professional. He quoted me a reasonable price, really listened to what I wanted and delivered me an iconic brand.“
Paul Geller, founder of sponsr

I wish sponsr all the best for a successful launch and I hope that you have found this to be an interesting article. As always, any constructive criticism and comments from readers is valued so please feel free to offer any thoughts you may have on this design and the article. Hope you enjoy!

Corporate Identity for Directed Edge

2009-08-23T21:51:59+00:00

Directed Edge is an online recommendations engine developed by Scott Wheeler and his colleagues out of Berlin and Silicon Valley. The Directed Edge team approached me to re-brand their business identity. As I find re-branding an interesting topic in terms of the difference a new branding can make to a company, I would like to share the design process with you, as a point of interest.

The Creative Brief
Directed Edge is a web-based company which gathers statistical data such as purchase and click histories and offers recommendations to its users. If you are interested in a particular product, you are able to see the popularity rating and also, similar to Amazon, receive a recommendation on other products which may be of interest, based on your current selection. The company was established previously with a temporary branding solution and so they felt it was time to have a more permanent identity to suit their business.

Drafting and Development

The main point that the team wanted to pick up on was the appeal which needed to be given to their audience, which consists mainly of technical-minded people therefore, after some research, I found that ‘Directed Edge’ is actually a mathematical term used in Graph Theory and, due to their statistical background, the team were interested in pursuing this idea for the re-branding.

Visual inspiration and sketch process
‘Directed Edge’ diagram used in mathematics. This was the initial and principal inspiration for this project and I think that the simple lines lend themselves well to the target audience.

Selection of sketches to communicate the ‘directed edge’ element. Some sketches also hinted at a monogram of ‘D’ and ‘E’ but this was discarded early on as it would complicate the look.

The final sketch was the idea which interested the client most and which I developed further.

Alternative concepts presented after transferring from sketching to software.

Logo development
Once the basic concept for the symbol of the re-brand had been decided upon, I wanted to create a unique typeface to suit the brand and to keep in line with the mathematical theme. The custom typography is a mono-linear sans-serif which was originally hand drawn. Below are a few different development phases of the lettering and symbol.

Corporate typeface
As a suggestion of a font for the Directed Edge team to use in their correspondence and publications, I chose the FF DIN, as shown below, to complement the custom typography in the re-brand logo.
logo

Color scheme

Final solution
The finished re-brand manages to be approachable yet professional and is well in keeping with the already established audience. The creation of the custom font also stands them apart from their competitors, in a subtle way. The symbol itself shows an ongoing loop of communication which relates to the service that the company offer.

Client Testimonial
‘Thanks David—it’s been great working with you. I really appreciate your professionalism and creativity—and for putting in more work than you bargained for. We’re glad to have worked with you.‘ - Scott Wheeler, co-founder of Directed Edge.

This logo is already in use on correspondence and on their website. My thanks to the Directed Edge team and I wish them every success in the future.

As always, any constructive criticism and comments from readers is valued so please feel free to offer any thoughts you may have on this design and the article.

troove logo design process

2009-07-16T13:49:52+00:00

I have recently completed a new identity and thought I would share the experience. The aim is to follow my design process from start to finish and to serve as interesting reading for the design community. This month, I have taken a look at troove, a company which provides a management system to small businesses. They offer a high quality product and I was excited to be on board for the launch.

The Creative Brief

troove is a company based in Mountain View, CA. They originally started out as a search engine to allow the user to find structured business applications for download, hence their name, which is a variation of the French word ‘trouve’, meaning ‘to find’. Recently however they have evolved their business and created a management system in software format and are now selling this directly to their clients and aim to eventually grow to providing a full management service to small businesses. Their website is www.troove.net and they will soon be launching the new site design. For their new brand, the team at troove approached me to provide a logo using simple lines and shapes, which would be a strong brand, reflective of the name of the company, which was modern and comprehensive. After brainstorming some synonyms connected with the word ‘find’, I chose to pursue the idea of discovery.

Drafting and Development

With a main idea decided upon, I started sketching ideas based on images which portrayed discovery. The main images were a magnifying glass, which I discarded after testing as I didn’t think it had a very unique look to it, and space - discovery of the unknown. The idea of space led me to astronomy, I chose to focus in particular on stars and a telescope. Below is an excerpt from the projects mood board.

As there are countless forms in which stars can be shown, I wanted to explore different styles - 3D, 2D and with shading gradient. Below are some early sketch ideas.

I also liked the idea behind the company’s tagline - find what you seek. I explored the idea of finding something and this is an early idea of something you can hold in your hand, inspired by the phrase “finders, keepers”. I later discarded this idea as the actual items the user was exploring were not physical therefore it was not entirely relevant to the branding.

I then realised that the star alone was missing something therefore looked at simplifying an image of a telescope to continue the theme of discovery. Below are some sketches showing the different ways in which the two images could be coupled.

I also looked at an alternative with multiple stars but I felt this was too complicated and would not sit neatly with the text of the logo. The concept for having many stars in this composition was to also create the letter ‘T’.

I was happy with the two images to form the symbol but was sure that only one star was required. I simplified the star shape down to match the style of the telescope. After finishing the sketches of this, I transferred this to a dot grid book and then scanned into the computer. Below you will see the logo construction where I use the Adobe® Illustrator® to make the shapes geometrically correct.

Once the symbol element was finalised, I worked on a custom typography based loosely on the curves displayed in the symbol. The image below shows the evolution of the typography through the different stages.

Delivery and feedback

The final version of the new logo was presented as below. Their new identity captures their history together with a forward thinking strategy. The client was very happy with the creative approach.

“I love so many aspects of the logo—elegant, sleek, modern yet somewhat retro.“

I would like to express my thanks to the client and hope that you have enjoyed my design process. Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave a message.

June: a month in review

2009-06-28T19:13:02+00:00

Following on from my previous review article, I have had a busy few months. I have a few things in the pipeline but for now, you will find some of my most recent work which has been a varied mix of styles to add to my portfolio.

nenlü nenlü is a web-based platform that promotes concept to product incubation, mainly in China. It seeks out innovative ideas and supports the through to the product. They have a wide audience who speak Mandarin therefore the name had to be included in the Chinese Symbols. The inspiration for the logo came from the translation of nenlü, which means young, green shoot. I made a letter “N” from leaves to give an organic appeal and also a sense of growth and development.

Pod Drzewem

Pod Drzewem is a training and consultancy company which delivers services to IT companies. The name is of Polish origin and translates as “Underneath a Tree”. The client wanted a modern and flexible yet solid and professional logo therefore I took inspiration to create a “P” representing a tree and created a custom typeface for the remaining characters to give this small company an edge over its larger competitors. The result is very easy on the eye and reflects their approach to making out-dated processes simpler.

D&R Performance

D&R Performance is a company based in eastern Switzerland which aims to enrich peoples lives by offering personal training and life coaching to enable their clients to reach their physical goals. The logo they wanted was to be dynamic, confident, future orientated but with a definite sporty look. I think this was achieved by using the natural curves in the “D” and “R” of the name.

DailyBooth

DailyBooth is an online resource which allows members to upload daily images of themselves to show how your face will change overtime. It is a very personable site tehrefore I wanted to create a unique logo but which would also be familiar to it’s users therefore I chose to design a logo using a “hand-drawn” style, which I think captures what they are all about. It is friendly, approachable and recognisable.

lets fix this

lets fix this is an online resource which allows its users to search for known problems with consumer products and have forum discussions about them. It also allows anyone to post a new problem thread for discussion. The idea was to provide a forum where consumers can place their queries and where manufacturers can access the common problems or misconceptions with their products. The logo was create using puzzle pieces locking together in the shape of a cross. The separate elements represent how many parties can come together and fix their own problems, via discussion.

Conclusion

I would just like to thank all my clients for their continued support. I wish all of my new clients success with their businesses. I am planning to get busy on the dacheboard over the next couple of months therefore if there are any topics in particular you want to see, please post a comment here or tweet me @dache. Enjoy and I welcome your feedback as always. Thanks.

Mindberry logo design process

2009-04-30T15:44:38+00:00

I have recently completed a project working on a new logo for a company based in Vienna, Austria. I found this an interesting process to recount as the client had a name which suggested an obvious solution however this was not what the client wanted. I thought that it would be helpful for other designers who find themselves stuck on a certain solution and serve as interesting reading for the design community to show my creative process from start to finish.

The Creative Brief

mindberry GmbH is a company based in Vienna, Austria who offers consulting and project management services to their clients. They have created the business in Austria with the view to expand to service UK, German and eventually US clients. They did not provide any limitations on the initial brief but did request that I produce a solution that would appeal to both the young/trendy audience and to the more conservative companies. I was approached by them to provide a logo comprising of a symbol which was simple with not too many colours or elements being used.

Drafting and Development

Initially I looked at the name of the company, mindberry, and automatically was focused to create a logo using a berry shape or a berry made up of differing elements. Below you will find my initial sketches. You will see that I tried different alternatives to incorporate the initials ‘m’ and ‘b’ into the shape of a berry but this did not create a strong enough logo and looked incomplete.

I continued my brainstorming and research and found inspiration within a number of different berries and below you will see the initial concepts which were chosen and presented to the client.

The above sketches were presented together to show the range of berry shapes that could be applicable to the brand but the client felt that they were a bit limiting and did not appeal to their corporate audience. I therefore created the below design which was meant to again form a berry but with a different style which was more angular and calculated and had a little more corporate appeal. The use of darker colours in this version was to give appeal to both audiences.

The client was a little more impressed with this second concept but were interested to see if I could create a logo for them which did not involve a berry element as they felt it was still not conservative enough for the corporate side of their audience. This was difficult at first as the instant mental image you have is a berry when presented with a client with the name mindberry therefore I started again from scratch and started by thinking ‘What is a mindberry?‘

I decided that it was an abstract term for a thought or idea and so experimented with designing a symbol which captured the head and a thought bubble. Below you will see my initial hand sketches.

After deciding on the rough idea, I started to finalise the concept by first calculating the mathematical elements of the symbol, then re-drafting, tidying up and transferring my sketches to the Dot Grid Book. This is the perfect medium for geometric based design as its light geometric dot matrix serves as a subtle guide for sketches. Below you will see the initial dot grid image.

I now had the logo planned and was able to bring it into a digital medium. This dot grid image was scanned into the computer, as below, in order for me to alter and achieve the final touches using the software.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I was able to rapidly recreate the layout in mathematical harmony. This is of course a lot faster process when the initial designs have been plotted on paper therefore I would again stress that hand sketching is an essential part to any design, as you are able to gain an idea of the final aim prior to utilising software to reach it.

Delivery and feedback

After presentation to the client, they were extremely happy with the direction and were satisfied that this was the symbol which captured the correct message for both audiences and just requested a few colour alternatives to finalise their selection. These were provided and below you will find the final logo which was chosen. I am happy with the colours which were chosen as they have the correct balance of bright and conservative bringing together nicely the spirit of the mindberry team. The colour also gives a hint towards the berry element without being obvious. Dark blue to represent blue and black berries, the purple was to represent red soft fruits and the green is to represent the leaf. This is meant to be a very subtle reference.

The logo will also stand the test of time compared with the berry idea as I think that after a while, the berry shape or image could look a little dated. This selected design is simple enough to carry mindberry through to the next decade without problem, in my opinion.

This logo is already in use on correspondence and will shortly be on their website which is being completed at present. My thanks to the mindberry team and I wish them every success in the future.

I also wish to thank all who read this article and any comments and constructive criticism from readers is valued so please feel free to offer any thoughts you may have on this design and the article.

100 Brands of Interest II

2009-04-07T08:41:22+00:00

This article is the sequel to 100 brands of interest, published on the dacheboard on December 4, 2008. After the last article and the feedback received, it was clear that another article of this nature was in order so, here it is! Over the past few months, I have been compiling another 100 brands of interest and have been very lucky to have such a selection to choose from. The standard really is very high.

Again, I feel it is important to mention that this article is not 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 the easiest thing to create a logo for a client but when it comes to assessing what style of identity can best represent yourself or your business, this is a different matter altogether. It is tempting to use your own brand as a showcase of all your best techniques and ideas but this must be balanced with modesty and professionalism to gain the correct tone for your business image.

In this second collection we see again the basic elements of design from geometry and linear imaging to the more creative and flamboyant techniques. No matter what the style, I think it can be said that all of the 100 brands below have been executed successfully to create effective, professional logos which communicate well to their audience. There is a whole mix of styles ranging from monograms to symbols or pictures but it is simplicity which is the common denominator.

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.

The Work Of Neil Martin

SHCH (ЩА) graphics group

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.

February: a month in review

2009-03-01T13:34:29+00:00

Introduction

As part of a new concept for the dacheboard, I will be publishing an article on reviewing my work from the previous month, by way of an information point and in order for me to monitor and assess my workload.

This month in review is February. During this time, I have completed the following 6 new logos, 3 interviews and 2 features.

The Logos:

csan

csan is an independently owned, diagnostic radiology private practice which is due to open in Newcastle, NSW, Australia within the next year. They offer many treatments such as MRI, CT, Ultrasound, Digital xray and Bone densitometry which will focus on a personalised approach and provide high quality medical imaging using the latest equipment. They contacted me to create a concept for the practice which was both approachable and modern and also to reference the shape of a C-Scanner. They also wanted a hint towards their location on the Australian coast. The solution was to use the general C shape several times within the logo to give the impression of waves which fitted the brief on both levels.

daily pixel network

dailypixel.ca is a Canadian new media company that features blogs, user-generated communities and web services. In the short-term, the network aims to establish a footprint of around 100 websites featuring the rarest, best and most valuable locations on the Canadian web (.CA). They approached me to create a modern logo which would stand up as a symbol in its own right without the company name and also with an emphasis on growth and networking. The solution I created was designed with a shape which was multiplying outwards and by using several bright colours, I was able to capture the youth and sociable nature of this online community.

DDN

DDN is the leading data infrastructure provider for the most extreme, content-intensive environments in the world. They approached me for a logo which would carry their new website forward with a confident and strong symbol. As they provide and create infrastructures, I was inspired by the simplest of infrastructures, a molecule. The palette was defined in line with the website and provides a strength to their new identity.

divine wellness

divine wellness is a portal focusing on holistic wellness, yoga, ayurveda and nutrition. The company, based in India, provides customized and personalized consultation on these subjects via text, audio and video and the site is due to launch at the end of March. The idea behind the solution was to create the abstract image of a person sitting in the meditative position of yoga with legs folded. I chose to create this using shapes inspired by the petals of a lotus flower. The reflection of this image by three was to give reference to the great influence that water has in holistic wellness and the palette is calming.

rhombi

This is a piece from my portfolio created in my spare time. The idea was to create an “R” using only the Rhombus shape, hence the name Rhombi. I liked the experimentation with the shading and was pleased with the outcome.

stocknotes

Stocknotes is a website/weblog for Investment News and Opinions, Stocks, Market News, Commentary, NASDAQ, NYSE Stock Exchange, FTSE, S&P 500, Financial Markets, Investments, Equities, Commodities, Foreign Exchange, Brokers and Trading. The logo they requested was to be simple and more modern than a traditional company dealing with the stockmarket data. My concept was the interpretation of the words stocknotes and I created a notepad page and plotted a performance chart onto it.

The Interviews

floobe

Interview: David Pache at Floobe

David Pache (dache.ch) has always caught my eye as a designer, with a never ending list of inspirational logo design works. At 25 he has established himself in the world as a leading logo designer. Big thanks to David for taking part in this interview for Floobe.

1. Full Name and Age please.
David Pache, 25

2. Favourite Biscuit and Drink.
Butter biscuits (Petit Lu etc.); Coffee

3. Last Book you read and last movie you saw.
Adrian Frutiger - Typefaces: The Complete Works; Slumdog Millionaire

4. Where and When did it all start?
I created the concept of dache when I was finishing design college. I knew that I wanted to be self-employed in order to have full control of my designs therefore decided to focus on logo design with additional services such as business cards, letterheads, website design and consultation. Back in 2005 I took the plunge, after completing some research through online design competitions to gauge how my designs would be received. With many positive reactions, I launched the website and business.

5. Do you have any formal qualifications and do you think these helped in your professional development?
I do have formal qualifications however when it comes to design, I think that it is more your inspirations which develop you as a professional. That said, I would not be where I am today without learning the techniques and history of design and art, in order to have the ability to express my ideas into working concepts.

6. What do you think makes a good designer, a qualification or the lust for the job at hand?
As said before, I do think that qualifications are invaluable however, if a designer does not have the perseverance to put their ideas out there for public opinions, they are just that - a qualification! As with many trades, we are nothing without our clients therefore I think there is always room for more designers but it is a difficult market to get recognised in therefore a lust for the job is essential.

7. What was a key factor in your professional growth and development?
When I initially started dache, I had no prior business knowledge therefore I think a turning point for me was when I had been able to complete a few projects from start to finish and gain an idea of what it was that the clients needed in addition to my design skills. Over the past years, I have been able to hone my customer service which has greatly improved my new business levels and my relationships with existing clients.

8. What do you consider to be the biggest contributing factor to your success?
Without a doubt, my clients are the biggest contributing factor as, without their continued interest, I would not have a successful business. Also, a great part was websites, such as yourselves, doing feature articles and also I have been fortunate to have been selected to have my work in several publications eg. logolounge and los logos.

9. What is your daily working routine?
I am lucky to work from home. A typical day comprises of administration, invoicing, new business marketing and follow-up. The main part is spent creating design concepts and revisions from the briefs I have been given and consultation with clients to gain feedback. I also maintain my website and have recently launched the ‘dacheboard‘, my online blog featuring articles.

10. What made you go freelance, were there any defining factors?
As said previously, I knew from the start that I wanted to work for myself therefore I do not have the comparison however I do not regret my decision due to the success I have received in the past few years.

11. What are the benefits and negatives of being freelance?
This is obviously a question of personal opinion. In my experience the benefits of being freelance include the ability to make your own decisions, freedom of time management and workload and retaining the full benefits from your designs. The negative side of that is that you usually start from scratch therefore progress initially can be slow when you are trying to build a customer base and enter into the general marketplace.

12. Throughout your entire career to date, is there any particular problem you’ve ran in to more than once? Clients, Jobs, Work, Family??
I would not pinpoint it to any person in particular however as a designer, I have styles and techniques which I enjoy creating. In business I have been approached to create a logo for clients who do not appreciate the same style. Whilst this is not a problem to create other styles, it is often more challenging to work on these to fit in line with exactly what they require. Having a variety of applications and techniques within your portfolio is essential though.

13. What is the largest project you have worked on?
Spanning over several months, my largest project was the re-branding of the Grooveshark identity, an international music platform with attached social network, allowing their users to stream full length songs, build playlists, share music and make friends all for free. The creators of Grooveshark employed me to create a new image for their company branding loosely based on their existing logo as they had already gained great success. The project took a lot of time with small tweaks being made throughout and consultation with the client being constant. It was a long but enjoyable experience.

14. Where do you get your inspiration from?
I find that my surroundings enable me to create designs that are contemporary, innovative and unique. I take added inspiration from music, sculpture, the suprematism art movement and the works of painters such as Picasso, Kandinsky and Mondriaan which interest me greatly.

15. What are your tools of choice, hardware and software?
iMac and Adobe Creative Suite are my tools of preference and I predominantly utilise these on all projects. In addition to the computer based applications, I am a big user of the Dot Grid Book which I use after my sketching stages to accurately plot my concept designs before transferring them to the computer.

16. Where do you see the future being in the world of logo design?
To be honest, I think it’s difficult to predict how the field will change or develop. But I have noticed a slight trend in reviving styles from the 70s. I suppose therefore it would be expected that the 80s will have a strong influence over the next phase.

Also, in logo design, there is a great influence from the other genres of graphic design. I see a trend towards very illustrative, photographic, even almost what many might think of as ‘arty’ effects. These are being used more and more by designers to fall in line with where the field is going.

In general, I think that the future outlook for design is very positive. With the market in the recent decades developing with the mass production of computer technology, we are now seeing a period where the general public are aware of our market, are more willing to accept the concept of design and are hungry to seek out good work. This is good news for the industry as we are seeing more clients and are being encouraged to produce better quality projects. We are also being given much more freedom to experiment in our approaches.

17. You’re a well known designer, do you class yourself as famous?
Definitely not, I am well known within the design community but logo design is a very small niche of this massive network. I would also question if this is even possible anymore with so many people all completing the same task in differing ways.

18. Are you heading to any conferences over the next year?
Nothing planned as yet but I attended the Future of Web Design last April in London and would love to return this year.

19. If you had one goal to reach (anything) within 3 years, what would it be?
Since finishing my studies and jumping straight into business, I have not had too much time off to concentrate on personal goals. I guess I would like to do some travelling. It is not really a goal as such but something of great importance to me to see many places of interest whilst they are still worth seeing.

20. If you had one piece of advice for anyone wanting to venture into your industry, what would it be?
Good design is not always based on moments of genius, a lot of preparation is key to a successful design business.

design inspiration

David Pache interview at Design Inspiration

Out of the box design, Swiss style.

David Pache is a creative consultant, a brand and identity designer in Switzerland that works with clients all over the globe to specially develop logos and more.

When did you first decide to become a graphic designer/ illustrator? Was there a pivotal moment?
I realised that I had a great interest in art from an early age but this quickly was overtaken by graphic design and technical drawing. I liked how the application of geometry was so precise and measured. Still in many of my designs today I try to make them geometrically correct. The pivotal point though was when I finished high school and took the natural progression into design school because it was simply what I enjoyed doing. It introduced new technologies to me and this made me realise it was possible to make my living from this if I was dedicated enough. This is when I started entering online galleries and when my entries received positive feedback, I realised I had the audience I needed so I concentrated on developing my skills, increasing my portfolio and continued to build a following and eventually took the plunge to launch the website.
Who or what inspires you?

I mostly take inspiration from my surroundings, I focus on creating designs which are contemporary, innovative and unique, in line with the dache “out of the box thinking” philosophy. My other interests include music, sculpture, the suprematism art movement and the works of painters such as Picasso and Mondriaan from which I am often referring to for use of colour, lines etc. I intend to travel in the near future to increase my inspiration.

Where does your training come from? Self-taught? College/Art School?
A bit of both, whilst at design school, I used my spare time to develop my craft and really get into the online arena of logo design. 4 years in college can only represent a certain amount of acquired skills and one has to keep on learning. When I graduated, I finally took the plunge to create my own design studio increasing my client base and services.

How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?
I mainly try to take each concept as an individual. I focus on logo concepts and branding identities and ensure that my designs are simple yet in line with what the clients want. I often think I can take an over-simplified view of a concept but this is not a bad thing. You will notice in logos such as Think Once and Postbox, they are almost a literal translation of the name but this is what will give the designs their unique element. I also try to vary it up and not get stuck in a style. It is good for my thought process to be constantly changing my designs.

Which of your projects are you the most proud of? And why?
AfricanTradition is the logo which gives me the greatest pride, as it was one of my first projects. I feel I achieved a timeless piece which has proved itself by receiving multiple acknowledgements from the design community. It is a project which I am sentimental towards, as I feel it was the turning point of my career which evolved my work to the professional level which I was initially aiming for.

Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?
I have recently been editing some video clips from the camcorder and the editing software was something which I had not used since I was in college. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the process. I never chose to pursue this area; however, I think if I could not be doing what I am doing now, being a film maker would be of great interest.

Any advice to the novice designer/ illustrator?
Really, I would give one important piece of advice which is, if you are a novice and looking to turn professional with your own business, do your homework and be as prepared as possible. Many young designers get into the industry on the back of a small handful of great logos but the business side is very different and it is a completely different thing to design logos for specific briefs and for a whole range of clients. It is tough at first as with any industry but with perseverance and a dedication to producing great designs, you will do very well. You have to love your job to succeed.

What makes a designed piece or illustration successful?
In terms of branding, it wholly depends on the client. Some clients will like a lot of control and some will even provide an idea for you to re-work. This is very limiting but necessary in some cases due to them knowing their clients and audience exclusively and can be helpful to give them what they are aiming for. Other clients however give you complete designer discretion and this is fantastic, you can be so creative when given just a few buzzwords and a sketchpad to brainstorm with. Creative freedom within boundaries are my favourite projects.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?
I rarely get de-motivated however in these times, I remind myself that I am lucky enough to be making a success of my passion and it is this desire to succeed and have my work out their for public display which really keeps the thought process flowing. In short, I absolutely love what I do.

Finish this sentence. “If I weren’t a designer/illustrator I would have been a…“
For me, it has been clear since I was in my teens of which direction I was headed but if I had to choose another path, I guess any occupation which involved me exercising my creativity. I could definitely not do an office job. It would be too repetitive for me. I need the stimulation of variety.

And finally, what is the best thing on prime-time TV right now?
Well, I am a huge LOST fan :)

spoonfed design

Interview With Logo Designer David Pache at Spoonfed design

David Pache, owner of dache, is regarded as one of the better logo designers out there, and he is here to answer a few questions. Dache is a design studio based in Switzerland which deals with national and international clientele. David and his studio focuses on logo design and branding, and also works in the areas of print, typography, and web design.

1. What is your typical process when tackling a new project? How do you get started?
Some projects will start ideas flowing immediately due to a catchy name or a name which I can visualise in a design concept. That said, no matter what the project I always start with the basics. I sketch by hand in my notebook. Once I have completed the intial brainstorming, I select a few ideas to present simply to the client for feedback. This process is repeated until they are happy with the direction. At this stage, I plot my design on a dot grid book to get the best proportions and this is then scanned into the computer for transfer to my design software. The process is really then honing my initial ideas to fit in with the client’s expectations, changing colours, fonts and positioning to get the right solution for them.

2. What are your methods for attracting new clients to dache? Which of those methods work best?
I display a lot of my work on gallery sites which are popular with clients seeking a designer. This is the most successful and instant method of publicity as the gallery sites have been around for a long time and have quite a following within the design community. I have also recently launched a blog on the dache.ch website called the dacheboard where I publish articles about my processes and general topics for interest and discussion, this is proving to be quite popular and gives a client visiting my site an insight as to what they can expect. I have also added an online quote page which allows people to build their own quotes according to their budget and this set pricing approach is also very popular and I am receiving about 80% of my business through this link now.

3. What personal traits do you think it takes to make a good designer?
I am extremely passionate and have an eye for detail. I think these traits have served me well in this industry as it is essential that you believe in your designs and are able to execute them to a high-specification for the purpose of client satisfaction. I also have a way of thinking which is not always the same as other people, which can set my designs apart.

4. How did you first get into design?
I realised that I had a great interest in art from a very young age but this quickly was overtaken by graphic design and technical drawing. I liked how the application of geometry was so precise and measured. Still in many of my designs today I try to make them geometrically correct. The took the natural progression into design school because it was simply what I enjoyed doing. It introduced new technologies to me and this made me realise it was possible to make my living from this if I was dedicated enough. This is when I started entering online competitions and when my entries received positive feedback, I realised I had the audience I needed so I just concentrated on developing my skills, increasing my portfolio and continued to build a following and eventually took the plunge to launch the website.

5. Why did you decide to start dache?
After graduating, I had already built up the basis of the business and built up a solid portfolio of work. I had the option of either getting a job with a design studio in Switzerland or being self-employed and it really wasn’t a difficult decision as I did not want my design to be limited.

6. What software and hardware could you never live without?
You will never see me without my notepad as I often have ideas and inspiration everywhere I go therefore it is essential to jot it down to remember the idea. Also, I complete all of my designs using Adobe Illustrator to give a professional finish therefore this is an essential part of my design process.

7. How do you present your finished logos to a client?
Clients receive a package containing multiple file formats be it PNG, Ai or Photoshop files. I give them the final designs in monochrome and colour so they can easily adapt these to the medium in which they require, business cards, letterheads, websites.

8. Besides the internet, were do you find inspiration?
I mostly take inspiration from my surroundings, I try to focus on creating designs which are contemporary, innovative and unique, in line with the dache “out of the box thinking” philosophy. My other interests include music, sculpture, the suprematism art movement and the works of painters such as Picasso and Mondriaan from which I am often referring to for use of colour, lines etc. I intend to travel in the near future to increase my inspiration.

9. What do you think the are key elements of a good logo?
Simplicity. I often find that the best solutions for my clients are the simplest with few elements which, when scaled down, do not lose their impact. Relevance to the audience it is created for as it is essential that they understand the concept and receive the correct message which the company is trying to portray. Suitability to the industry it is created for as it would not be a good logo if it was inappropriate compared with their competitors.

10. How do you overcome a designer’s block?
No matter how blocked, I always continue to sketch my thoughts as you never know when an idea will become relevant. Also, I am constantly in contact with my clients therefore can always ask additional questions regarding their expectations to spark additional inspiration.

11. Do you think a logo can have a major impact on the way people look at a brand or company?
Without a doubt and this is especially true with new businesses as when they are creating awareness through publicity, the logo will be the communicator for the company. A logo is a voice piece without words, effectively creating an image for the company before any spokesperson has promoted the company’s attributes and services. This is why it is so important that the logo be relevant to the industry to induce thoughts of professionalism, boldness, approachability etc. These are common factors in my clients’ brief for the message they are wanting their audiences to receive.

12. What information do you gather from a client before starting a logo?
I have the online quote page which consists a short questionnaire regarding any ideas they have,m any symbols they like, competitors, how they want to be set apart from their competition and also any favoured fonts or colours. These simple questions can give me a lot of information to work with and often my initial concepts are well received.

13. Besides designing a good logo, are there any other things you do to make sure the client is satisfied?
Yes. I ensure constant communication between the client and I during and after he project so any thoughts or amendments can be made easily. I work on a first name basis with most of my clients to ensure approachability. In addition, I offer flexible payment terms to those clients who request it for certain reasons which has worked very well in securing business and their satisfaction before the final payment is made. Also, I have plans to do a competition of sorts for charitable organisations to enter and explain their reasons why they should get a new logo and the winner will receive a free designed logo to the value of my smallest package. I hope to run the first of these this summer.

The features

logoblink

David Pache Logo Showcase at Logoblink

webdesignerwall

Dache: Logo Design Process

Previously, I have featured David Pache of dache on WDW, an amazing logo designer from Switzerland. He is known for designing unique and colorful logos. I’m very glad to have David to share his design process of the WebMYnd’s logo. This case study (written by David himself) provides full creative brief and progress images from start to final. Read on to find out how David got inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s art (one of the most famous 20th-century abstract artists) to create this fantastic logo.

Introduction
Last year, I was approached by a startup who required a logo in order to launch a business in the US. The WebMYnd team were 3 MIT and Cambridge University graduates who were very passionate about their product. They had acquired seed funding from ycombinator an outfit which picks enterprises to back and who have an excellent track record. WebMYnd have a product which is a plugin for your browser that turns your web browsing into an extension of your own memory. it allows you to keep a copy of everything you look at on the web, and then allows you to search actual page images and text when you need to remember something again.

The creative brief
The main aspect of their brief was to create an identity which would communicate the idea of collecting everything you look at on the web in one place and to inspire the idea of extending your memory. They wanted to make a tool that people would prefer to use in place of the old fashioned way of bookmarking and tagging websites. They also wanted the logo, or some element of it, as a button to indicate when the plugin was in use therefore colour was of great importance.

Getting started
Initially, I took the brief at face value and brainstormed some ideas. I wanted to create a concept using the initial from WebMYnd and the first concept which was produced as follows. The simple lines created an abstract reference to a brain (an idea which the client had experimented with but did not like the appearance of a brain. This design captures the essence of a brain but at the same time forming a ‘W’.

This concept was discontinued however as the ‘W’ was not clear enough and it did not have the presence that the client was looking to achieve. I therefore focused on colour and did some research for inspiration.

I am a great fan of the works of Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist, printmaker and theorist. One of the most famous 20th century, Kandinsky has been credited with painting the first modern abstract works. Below is one of these works from which I took inspiration as to the colour palette which may suit the WebMYnd logo. The use of colour is broad yet it is not offensive on the eye and stands out enough to intrigue the audience. This is what I wanted to achieve so all I needed now was the correct design to show these colours.

Drafting and development
I consulted the client and the idea of creating a monogram using the ‘W’ and the ‘M’ was decided on to take the project forward. Below are my initial sketches.

The first of these above gave the best line to work with however I did not like the linear aspect as I would be unable to use enough variation of colour within a single lined image. Below are my developments of the first idea into a two dimensional concept and intersecting these shapes with differing elements to allow me to fill with colour.

After some re-drafting of one of the concepts, i decided on a wholly symmetrical design where the ‘W’ mirrored the ‘M’ therefore I transferred the design to the Dot Grid Book below. As the design had four elements which were identical in design, I was able to just concentrate on one element which could be copied and rotated at a later stage using the computer software.

Colours
Once the four elements were plotted and finalised, I looked at possible colours. Below are some combinations which I experimented with.

I finally decided on the colour scheme below using quite vibrant colours to create a presence but trying not to use garish tones which would offend the eye of the audience.

Final colour placement and concept presentation
I tried many combinations. When dealing wit the use of colour in this quantity, it is a case of trying until you find the right solution. Below is the finished design which was selected by the client.

Delivery and feedback
The client initially loved the concept and used it for a number of months however after some further discussion between themselves, they decided to choose a different design to move forward with however they still retain the rights to the design, should they wish to implement it in the future.

I would like to thank the creators of WebMYnd and wish them every success for the future. It was a pleasure to work on this project and this design is one of the more popular with clients when they see my portfolio. Of course, I welcome any comments regarding this specific article or my design process in general. Thanks and enjoy!

Conclusion

I would just like to thank all my clients and of course floobe.com, webdesignerwall.com, spoonfeddesign.com and diinterviews.com for their continued support. It has been a steady month and I am happy with the logos which have been created. Looking forward to seeing what March will bring and the next of these articles will be published April 1, 2009. Enjoy and I welcome your feedback as always. Thanks.

HotBox Studios | Logo design process

2009-01-21T22:32:53+00:00

I have recently completed a project working on a new logo for a re-launch based in the UK. The aim is to follow my design process from start to finish and to serve as interesting reading for the design community.

The Creative Brief

HotBox Studios is a company based in South East England specialising in creative animation and design. They have evolved their business the past 5 years and their previous logo can be seen below. After this initial period the have decided to re-launch the brad and approached me to create a unique logo for them in order to facilitate this. They felt that their previous logo did not represent their creative work correctly and needed a fresh and memorable logo to capture their creative animation and design work. I was approached by them to provide a logo comprising a main symbol which worked both with the company name and on it’s own, and was to be memorable and easily recognisable for their relaunch of their website for the end of this January.

Drafting and Development

Initially I thought that the best way to create a memorable logo was to utilise the monogram or initials of the company. The first idea was to focus on the ‘H’ of HotBox and the design below was the result. I thought to use the cube or box to create the ‘H’ however this idea did not fit entirely with the brief and, whilst it somewhat represented the name, I found it did not represent the industry enough.

I continued my brainstorming and research and found inspiration within undeveloped film. Below you can find my initial preparatory brainstorm sketches. Taking this inspiration, I wanted to incorporate not just the ‘H’ but also the ‘B’, as this would make for a stronger monogram. From early on in the project, the letter ‘H’ and ‘B’ had inspired me. The ‘H’ had a clear path towards something animation related with its natural form being not unlike that of a section of film reel. Thus, more time was spent integrating the ‘B’. It was after many attempts that I was able to fuse both letters and also capture the very nature of their industry.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I was able to rapidly recreate the layout in mathematical harmony. This is of course a lot faster process when the initial designs have been plotted on paper therefore I would stress that hand sketching is an essential part to any design, as you are able to gain an idea of the final aim prior to utilising software to reach it. Plus, it brings fresh perspective when you are away from the computer and can allow your ideas to flow freely.

After presentation to the client. They were happy with the ‘H’ and ‘B’ fusion with the context of the film reel section therefore it was time to add the specifics. As the typeface and colouration were predetermined within the brief, I was able to concentrate on a few options before the finalisation of the concept.

In the end, the below choice was made and their new identity will be in use shortly on their redesigned website. Re-launch is set for the end of January therefore be sure to check it out.

I wish HotBox Studios all the best for a successful re-launch and hope that you have enjoyed this article.

As always, any constructive criticism and comments from readers is valued so please feel free to offer any thoughts you may have on this design and the article.

Happy Holidays | Year in review

2008-12-24T16:09:58+00:00

I hope you’ve had an equally great year and wish you continued success for 2009.

Year in review

Publications
I was very fortunate this year to have my work selected for publishing and below you will find links to the three books, as a point of interest.

Published in Web Designer’s Idea Book

10 logos published in Los Logos 4

10 logos published in Logolounge V

Projects
Throughout the year, I have completed many successful designs, of which the following were featured on my website. I would like to send a special thank you to all of my clients:

So to wrap up, I hope that you have enjoyed 2008 as much as I have and look forward to 2009! Happy New Year!

100 Brands of Interest

2008-12-04T02:42:44+00:00

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.

Ideograma Consultores

Joseph T. Maguire III

Jager Di Paola Kemp Design

TYO Interactive Design Inc.

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.

LogoLounge Contest

2008-11-19T15:28:08+00:00

As you all know, I am a big fan of the website LogoLounge and what they bring to the design community. The great collection of books as well as the logo database they offer to members is a highly recommend asset to anyone passionate about identity design. They are extremely innovative but at the same time classical in their values. One example of this is their attention to their audience.

Recently, they launched a competition to celebrate the 100,000th logo to be uploaded. Starting at 12:00 noon Greenwich Mean Time on Monday, November 10, 2008, and continuing for an additional 24 hours past the point when the 100,000th logo was loaded, each logo uploaded to the LogoLounge.com site was considered as a single entry in their 100,000th Logo Celebration Contest. The following prizes were up for grabs:

• 1 x Wacom Cintiq 12WX, a direct pen-on-screen drawing tablet
• 3 x Wacom Intuos3 6x8 drawing tablet
• 10 x one-year LogoLounge.com membership extension.
• PLUS… The submitter of the 100,000 logo will be interviewed for a feature article that will appear on the LogoLounge.com web site.

I was very excited therefore when I received on of the Wacom Intuos3 6x8 drawing tablet in the courier yesterday. It is considerably larger than my previous tablet so it is certainly my new tablet. I have taken a photo of the new addition to my desk space and would like to thank LogoLounge for hosting this competition. I am really pleased for them that they hit target and are currently at over 10100 logos.

An Interview with David Pache

2008-11-16T18:02:14+00:00

I was recently contacted by Ziggy Nixon to conduct an interview to be displayed on xymara as a feature. I hope that the content of the interview proves informative and interesting. I would like to thank Ziggy (James) for his great questions. Below you will find the article as published.

We have a confession to make – when setting up this interview, we initially thought to ourselves: what the heck does a logo designer have to do anyway? Seriously, it looks so simple, anyone could do it, right? All you do is take a company’s name, study a bit what the client wants to say, what and/or to whom they wish to sell, fool around with Microsoft Paint and maybe PowerPoint, maybe refer to some color swatches if you’re feeling really fancy… Then, BANG, the next Nike swoop or big fat IKEA sign is born with instant global recognition and world-wide acclaim being assured.

Well, how do we put this? Needless to say, we were wrong about the whole logo design thing. Very wrong. Very, very, most extremely, nauseatingly wrong. And we want to apologise to not only all the artists out there working on logo design, but all the people who may have been inadvertently exposed to our efforts (that poor garbage collector is still in a coma). In fact, we found that not only is logo design NO WHERE NEAR as easy as it looks, but especially fighting the urge to adjust, or add an element, or continue to tweak a color or a line was overwhelming.

You may have even noticed in recent e-mail rantings that we’ve picked a final Ziggy Nixon logo and even letterhead-slash-business card theme; but it also needs to be noted that this was only achieved after much hullabaloo and Nixon family brain-storming (read: in our house this is accomplished by great amounts of shouting and chasing one another around the yard with large sticks in order to settle our differences). In other words, our selection came down to throwing in the towel and giving up after a good 20 or 30 main designs, admitting we were lost and using our best shot. In addition, we knew that this was far away from a commercial reality in that it’d look even worse on a billboard or on the side of a truck or gods forbid presented by any other form of mass hysteria, we mean, media.

In the end, we did confirm one thing: making bad logos is very easy indeed (just ask Swisscom – or better said their CEO [translation: the boss is NOT happy!]– or the 2012 London Olympic Committee). Clearly after this personal introduction, we gained a lot of respect for this branch of design and especially anyone who regularly produces quite aesthetically pleasing and commercially successful logos. And David Pache – from the Swiss-based design firm dache (pronounced “dash”) – is a terrific person to talk to if you’re looking for someone who’s knows how to get it right.

If you do have some exposure to the world of logo design, you’ve probably run across David’s name or at very least mention of his work. He’s had his wide array of logos and other work reviewed and featured many times recently and has provided a number of interviews for various publications as well. See for example these references to the dache brand of design at webdesignerwall.com, logodesignlove.com and also behance.net, all very well known sites amongst designers and clients alike.

David Pache

Graduating from the nearby Ecole romande d’arts et communication, David picked up various skills along the way including working with multimedia design, graphics, communication, project management, sound and video, 3D illustration and photography. Some of his tools of the trade include working with Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Fontlab Studio, Flash and Dreamweaver.

He is officially the Owner and Art Director of the self-created design company, dache, located between Geneva and Lausanne in the mountain village of St. Cergue in Switzerland, a place where the locals have to suffer tremendously owing to being surrounded by the sheer beauty of the region and having to live in one of the most spectacular areas on the planet. Alas despite this, it was indeed after his college days that it dawned on David that he should set up his own business in order to do what he loved most of all – website and especially logo design. And since forming his own company in the second half of 2005, he’s never looked back.

dache focuses on logo design, corporate and brand identity, multimedia, illustration and production of internet and print marketing campaigns. And David will proudly tell you that he is all about creative and dynamic out-of-the box thinking, Swiss style. His tailor-made and original concepts continue to satisfy a wide range of local, national and international clients to the fullest.

Ziggy Nixon caught up recently with this talented – and extremely busy – young Swiss designer: David, can you tell us please a little about your business, including the scope and even your likes and dislikes of running an agency?
Sure! I started the business out of college in 2005 and have been building it up ever since. I’ve had some good exposure and have also managed to continually upgrade my website, offers and contacts.

At this time, my client base is predominantly US-based but I also have clients in Canada, Mexico, the UK, Asia, India, Australia and Europe. This has really been exciting for me, in that what started off as a national business here in Switzerland has expanded and taken me to an international level.

In terms of running a business itself, I have to admit that I do not always enjoy the business element which sometimes takes the passion out of design for me. For example, this is why I have previously offered discounted logos to start-ups or offered logos at lower cost through other channels. I also try to stay pretty flexible with my pricing structure in order to be more accessible to a wider customer base.

I plan in future to widen this kind of activity and even try to offer my work to charities. I enjoy doing this as it helps me then balance the pure business aspects with my passion for what I’m doing.

How would you describe the dache style?
My style is contemporary with classic elements. I enjoy simple logos and their interpretations. Sure I am able to produce all different types of logo styles as you can see on my site. But I do have a preference in that I really like the geometry and symmetry of logos.

My work has been featured on many websites as you mentioned and can soon be viewed in books such as The Web Designer’s Idea Book and LogoLounge V (see also here for more details to which logos from my portfolio are to be included). I’m also very excited that 10 of my logos were recently published in Los Logos 4, which I also describe on my website here.

How would you describe yourself – or let’s say your professional title – best?
Ultimately, I consider myself a multi-media services provider. However, the reason why I focus a lot of my time and energy on logo design per se is that this is the area that 90% of my clients require from me. And it really is my passion.

Logo design is the most dynamic aspect to my job as it allows me to use small snippets from my entire portfolio of pictures and other artistic creations to really showcase my designs. For example, if I am asked to design a web page, the business brief is much more limited for me as a designer. This is because the client already has an idea of what style he requires including format, lay-out, colors, etc.

In general, what types of new customers do you like dealing with the most?
As I really focus on offering the highest value for the customer’s money, I find that much of my new business is sourced from start-up companies. These types of businesses will obviously have a name but not always be sure about the style of overall branding they want to establish. It is very satisfying to help this type of client find this initial starting point from which to launch their business.

How do the additional aspects of your work beyond logo design fit into your business and daily routine?
I am constantly reviewing my portfolio – if you will for marketing purposes – to see if there are any aspects which will generate additional business beyond just logo design. In many cases, I will initially be asked to provide the logo for a company; but then later down the line, these same clients will re-visit me to do also perform website revisions, create business cards and letterheads, etc.

Most recently, I have spent most of my spare time updating my own web page in order to make it easier to use. This includes setting up a new online quote page, which allows potential clients to complete a simple questionnaire, including all their contact details and the basic brief for the project. This is then sent to me in a pre-formatted e-mail for me to begin the creative discussions. Also included in the online quote is my pricing so clients may see upfront what would best suit their budget.

How do you set up the operational part of the business with customers, including pricing?
I offer 4 set price packages but each of these allows the customer to add on certain elements. I find this is working well and it is a new idea where the clients, in effect, can build their own package. So again, setting this up has taken a lot of my time but it seems customers really appreciate it.

In addition, I’m trying to support my business even further with my new blog forum, dacheboard, which is also run from my site. I use this to feature articles, illustrate processes and post general information that is a useful reference point to fellow designers and new starters to the profession. (ZN recommends surfing all the available pages and articles, there’s a load of terrific input and offers some key pointers for us novices as well!)

Although we’ve lived in or near Switzerland for over 16 years now, how would you describe to the non-initiated what having a Swiss Touch means in terms of design?
This is a good question and I suppose it’s really a matter of personal opinion.

However, I would say that the Swiss in general have a reputation for clean, good quality products in all areas of business – and the world of design is no different. I like the geometry that certain projects allow which also is part of the true Swiss style for me. If I had to summarize it then, I’d say that using simplistic, clean lines to create a reliable, quality-oriented finished product that meets the client’s requirements is what I offer as my Swiss Touch for logo and web design.

We have quite enjoyed surfing all the available examples of your logos, it’s really very inspiring. Now, we want to ask a few questions that we hope do not in any way insult your craft:
1) In so many ways – where you’ve mentioned this yourself in other interviews – successful logos are frequently relatively simplistic, even seeming (later) to be very obvious designs in terms of fit and message including as examples both NIKE and Adidas brand logos;
2) When going through your collection, we found ourselves again and again thinking “hey, that’s the logo, without question”, almost like it had always existed like that (actually, we mostly thought “well, duh!“ but we’re beginners at this). A couple of the best examples we could mention would be your own professional logo (a subtle combination of a “d” and “+” that acts as well as a tie-in to the Swiss flag) as well as ‘Ecstatic Media‘ (so straightforward yet so brilliant!! See also in the logo section of the website for more!);
3) With this in mind how do you either keep your logos simple enough to convey the message the customer wants to get across? Looking at this slightly differently, how do you keep your designs from going too far and becoming, if you will, over-engineered?
This is a very valid question and I think touches on why a lot of start up designers may struggle. They try too hard with the design process and wind up making a product that is far too complicated.
I think I manage to retain the simplistic interpretation of a logo as I find that brainstorming / sketching on paper really helps me maintain a good oversight. Of course, by talking with the clients, looking at the brand name and establishing what the client wants their logo to portray, I find that in 80-90% of cases “the simpler the better” is most often the best philosophy.

I try to not take too much away from the logo itself, which allows it to be workable and have an almost obvious interpretation, as you say. If I wanted to produce very artistic logos then my clientele would be different, I guess, but my style is what it is. The existing and new clients comment on this when they first approach me to work for them. They find the honest approach to my work appealing.

One of our favorite examples of your work is the ‘Social Generation‘ logo; it really spoke to us in terms of the family unit and color scheme. Can you describe how you created this example, including the decision-making interaction with the customer?
I think it is easiest to provide a general view of my design process, rather than be specific, as different projects require different approaches. As mentioned earlier, clients typically initially approach me through e-mail to find out quotes, where again, my new online quote page ensures that all emails I receive are from potential clients who have seen my pricing levels and have already made the decision that they want to move forward.

At this stage, I take a look through their brief and try to focus on the main points of what they are trying to say with their logo and to whom it will ultimately be presented. I brainstorm ideas on paper for a few days and once I have a few ideas that I feel the client would like, I then start preliminary sketching on grid paper. Very early in this process though, I already report back to the client for their initial thoughts on the direction I’m going in. If it seems we’re in agreement, the initial drafting can then take place.

Importantly, I provide one concept at a time to allow the client to consider each in its own right. This is something which developed over time because I found out earlier in my career that if two concepts were presented together, they would wind up being compared to each other rather than each being judged on their on merit. I found then that this was really unfair to the client to be in this situation, namely where they felt that had to choose rather than just focus on the big picture of their targets.

Admittedly, it’s often the case that a client will love the first concept, therefore I may wind up doing revisions on just one approach anyway. Still, most clients want to see the initial drafts and later potentially the revisions of at least two concepts, dependant as well on the price package they’ve chosen.

It is, however, critical at this point to hold a very thorough dialogue with the client; this is paramount in order to achieve their targets. After this, I then begin to finalize the revisions and present the finished concept to the client in their specified format. I think the key point is that client consultation is something that cannot be replaced in order to obtain the desired logo.

How do you decide on the color schemes to include in your logos? Is it necessary for example to make adjustments to fit into your customers’ already existing media (for example, brochures or online communications, etc.)?
I do not have any pre-determined color sets with which I work. My influences are taken from combinations of colors that I see everyday.

When my clients approach me, they will often go ahead and indicate their color preferences – which is part of the briefing questionnaire. It may be as well that they will have already created part of their business image already – e.g. with an existing website – therefore the colors with which I should work are specified and fixed.

Other clients give free reign and leave it to my personal judgment. These are the most liberating projects for me as I really enjoy being asked to look at all aspects of the logo as opposed to working within a given set of criteria. If I am indeed given the choice, I will still do all I can to choose colors which I feel will best interpret a logo in the correct way the client wants, and not based solely on my personal opinion.

Examples of dache-designed typography:

How has your design process evolved over time? Have you always been essentially computer-based in your design work or has this changed, and if so, in what ways?
The available software over the years has certainly got better and better both in terms of the quality of the final products you can make as well as the different programs’ ease-in-use and flexibility. My process has therefore become faster as a result of working in the Internet based industry for a while.

That being said, I continue to place a great deal of importance on sketching by hand and grid work. This is a manual process on one hand; but on the other, scanners make it possible to integrate it directly into my work with the software. This also allows me to find the lines which I want for a particular logo.

For example, the project for ‘brokers’ used a simplified bull symbol. I first sketched the lines on paper, then in a grid book and then finally scanned the image into the software for me to work with. I have an article regarding this project on the dacheboard on my website if you’re interested in finding out more about this example.

We’ve seen you mention travel as being an integral part of both your creative process and also of your personal life. How does this help your designs?
The reference to this was the general travel of everyday life – trains, buses, walking, etc. It is a time when I can just clear my mind. Then, when I least expect it, I will see a landscape or the clothes of a stranger which may inspire one of my current projects. These influences usually materialize in the color palettes that I select for a particular project more than the actual design element.

Sure the various holidays that I’ve been on in different regions of the world have also exposed me to an amazing assortment of unique designs and architecture. For example, I was recently approached to design a logo for a UK-based finance company specializing in and wanting to represent the Middle Eastern market. The finished design featured an inlay (see below) which was inspired by architecture from this region I’d experienced and which gave the desired effect. It is these areas of the travel that feature in my design process.

Looking ahead for the next years, do you see any particular design trends in your fields?
To be honest, I think it’s difficult to predict how the field will change or develop. But I have noticed a slight trend in reviving styles from the 70’s. I suppose therefore it would be expected that the 80’s will have a strong influence over the next phase.

Also, in logo design, there is great influence from the other genres of graphic design. I see a trend then towards very illustrative, photographic, even almost what many might think of as ‘arty’ effects. These are being used more and more by designers to fall in line with where the field is going.

How do you see your own business evolving?
If I look back to starting dache, the first two years were, as expected, a lot of hard work. But in 2008, I have really seen the benefits. I’ve established a solid client base, new business is coming in regularly and this makes all the time and energy I’ve invested worth it.

As mentioned earlier, I have re-worked the website to provide a space for discussion and also to provide online quotation. In the short-term, I plan to do much of the same to make the service which I offer as streamlined as possible for the clients. In the long term, I will see how it develops, with the view to possibly expanding into other areas.

We don’t know why but we get some kind of morbid pleasure asking this question: have you ever had a project that you thought just didn’t work out – for any reason, including lack of ideas, problems with the customer or just general malaise – and if yes, what did you learn from this experience?
No doubt there are teething problems with any business. For example, in the first months, I had a couple of clients who approached me to produce logos for them; however, rather than asking me to actually design new logos, they provided drafts of the logos they wanted and said, “Do this, please”. As you can imagine, to a designer this allows no creative freedom and it did seem to be a pretty pointless exercise.

But it was a part of the learning curve in terms of realizing how different clients expect different results and how they can differ as well in terms of how much control they are willing to give you. Even when I am given full creative freedom, I still stay in constant contact with the client to ensure I am heading in a direction with which they will be happy and satisfied. But this is something which has very much developed through my experiences in customer service.

You also mention that you are interested in sculpture, music, suprematism and painting. How do these different aspects of your interests contribute to your work?
I would not say that each of these specifically contributes something to my work; however, they are all areas which are of great interest to me culturally. By studying them and even following the current views on them, this has allowed me to be influenced by them in order to make a logo work or get the correct perspective on a certain concept.

The suprematism movement is an art genre which I love to use for inspiration on colors or shapes. As for sculpture, painting and music, these are all hobbies of mine so these act really as a bridge between my personal and professional life.

1916 Suprematism (Supremus No. 58) Museum of Art, Kasimir Malevich

If you could do any other kind of work in the world, what would it be and why?
I have recently been editing some video clips from the camcorder and the editing software was something which I had not used since I was in college. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the process. I never chose to pursue this area; however, I think if I could not be doing what I am doing now, being a film maker would be of great interest.

Once again, thanks again to Ziggy (James) for conducting such a great interview and experience!

Published in Web Designer’s Idea Book

2008-11-14T14:19:18+00:00

I was very pleased to hear from Patrick McNeil of Design Meltdown with news that my website would be in his new book entitled The Web Designer’s Idea Book. Having just recently looked through the book, I was glad to see a screenshot of this site in the portfolio tab of the book. The screen grab is from August of last year and the site has changed considerably since but I would like to thank Patrick for mentioning my work in the book. If you own the book, it is on page thirty-five :^)

10 logos published in Los Logos 4

2008-10-28T17:42:23+00:00

I have always been a big fan of Die Gestaltens Los Logos collection and was very pleased when I learned some of my designs would be in the next volume.

As you see above, I already own volumes 1 to 3 of this collection and would recommend them highly to anyone who enjoys logo design as a broad spectrum is covered.

As well as being featured in the book I was offered an edition of it. Having submitted some of my portfolio for consideration, I did not know prior to publication which had been selected therefore, as you can imagine, it was a lot like a child with a Christmas present when I received the finished version. I am very happy with those which they have chosen and I therefore share some photos of the featured logos below:

I wish to send a special thanks to all clients whose logos were chosen.

goplay | creative process

2008-10-23T18:06:27+00:00

Sweden based goplay is an up and coming gaming site with video reviews, game databases, a vibrant social community and much more.

goplay aims to be more like a social community where gamers can interact with and locate other gamers to play with. It will also be launching it’s own applications dedicated to starting games. The logo is based upon the universal symbol for play, a triangle, and incorporates the idea of connectivity between different users in a dynamic way.

While researching, I found inspiration in looking at polygons forming the base for all 3D games.

Previously explored directions before the above logo was chosen

My initial idea was to show imagination, the key part of playing. Using very simple shapes, I created a unique, professional and fun image all in one. The logos strengths is in how it shows the worldwide community aspect of the site. In the logo can also be seen a reference to one of the earliest video games. From this concept we retained the unique color palette which would set goplay apart in this niche.

Another idea I had was to represent the controller in minimalistic geometry. I found the common feature on all controllers was the four button directional pad and four buttons, represented below by four squares and four circles.

It communicated better the idea of a controller with a contour.

Their new identity (below) will be in use shortly on their redesigned website.

I always value constructive criticism and comments from readers, so please feel free to offer any thoughts you may have on this design.

Many thanks,
David

My portfolio in my pocket

2008-10-23T17:55:31+00:00

Whilst out I was asked by friends if they could see my most recent work. Having checked on the iPhone how my site looked and felt, I decided I could really benefit from getting a more adequate system in place.

On the way home I sketched out a mobile version designed for iPod touch and iPhones. I also thought it might be a fun idea to have an electronic version of my business card and quickly made http://www.dache.ch/businesscard/

A few weeks of design and development later, I am pleased to present this new way of accessing this site. All pages have been brought down to the strict minimum yet still contain all the content. I particularly like the fact I can reply to blog posts now while away from the computer. There are still a few minor teething problems, but for the most part it is ready.

If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, please try it out as I would love to get some feedback on how others find it. The browser will automatically go to the mobile version when visiting http://www.dache.ch but for those interested to see how it looks you can check out http://www.dache.ch/iphone

Thanks for reading!

AdmissionsGenius logo

2008-10-13T02:07:36+00:00

At AdmissionsGenius the goal is to help people get accepted into colleges. Until recently, they aided people apply to law schools but will be branching out to assist with college applications too. After discussion, I had found that they had helped the applicants with their analytical capacities, interpersonal skills and writing abilities. Using the tips of pencils, the ‘A’ initial was created. A key element to the logo design was that it appeal to both college applicants and parents whilst conveying a sense of professionalism.

Previously explored directions before the above logo was chosen

I hope to add some photos of their new logo in context, but for the moment, I welcome and appreciate your comments.

Many thanks
David

Grooveshark | Case study

2008-10-10T01:16:40+00:00

Grooveshark is an international music platform. The describe themselves as a large scale peer-2-peer network, built behind a social network online. Their users are able to stream full length songs, build playlists, share music and make friends all for free. There are downloads available at small fee which come from other Grooveshark users. This fee is used to give artists, labels, and publishers their entitled cut and the remaining money is split between Grooveshark and the user who the download came from, thereby rewarding people for sharing their music.

They approached me to create a logo which communicated a professional image while at the same time remaining approachable, recognisable and making particular reference to the music element of their business.

After brainstorming, my initial thoughts were to make custom typography, as this was of importance to the client to have a font recognisable to them. The result was as below but did not have the correct feel. Had this been for a sports brand, I would have pushed it further but this was left as an initial sketch.

After some consultation with the client, it was decided to pursue the idea of an actual symbol. The first of these was a shark with a sleek curves. This was a nice symbol but did not reference the music aspect, therefore was discarded.

I then worked on keeping the whole shark image but incorporating a musical symbol. This was also set aside, as the musical symbol gave a classical music impression which was too restrictive to the client.

The image of the whole shark was put on hold in favour of working with just the fin. In effect this was the turning point in the project, as the fin is the recognised part of the shark and it did not need anything further. This is one of the initial sketches for the fin, incorporating some colour.

The below gives an idea of how I produced the fin shape using geometry

In staying with the music idea and as an alternative to the colour fin, I revisited the whole shark idea and made this image using vertical sound bars:

This vertical bar design was also tested on the fin image below:

After more research and discussion with the client, it was agreed that at a smaller scale, the sound bars and other detail was lost. Together, we decided a simple fin in a circle was the preferred symbol with a toned down version of the customised font.

The next stage was to experiment with where to place the text in relation to the symbol:

I was still not happy with the positioning of the fin within the circle, as I believe that even curved shapes should be geometrically correct therefore below are some sketches which I made in order to finalise the positioning.

After many, MANY tweaks we had the final result which the client and I was happy with.

As always I welcome all comments, I am interested to hear any feedback and look forward to interacting with you soon.

Many thanks
David

Slicejack identity

2008-10-09T00:25:44+00:00

Slicejack is a company which provides coding solutions to it’s customers. In particular, they are the first of their kind to set up in Eastern Europe and pride themselves on a local approach. Initially, the client suggested that a tree being sliced by a lumberjack could be used. I agreed that this was a solid idea to pursue and started brainstorming. It became apparent that the main tool used by this industry (also known as the “slicers”) is the mouse. The main cursor symbol of the arrow could be adapted as a tree.

This initial idea was to portray another tech aspect with the use of pixels. It looked to complicated and I set to clean the curves.

The colour palette was still in debate at this early stage but it demonstrates the progress made.

This was of course not the only concept explored. I also looked at alternative lumberjack themes, as follows:

A lumberjack head, to create a character which slicejack could use on their website in possible animations…

...and a keyboard being sliced in half, to give direct reference to both the medium and the nature of the business which slicejack specialises:

Each of these ideas were terminated early on in the project, as they were not bold enough for the clients’ needs. They wanted to make a simple but bold statement as the first provider of their service in their region of Eastern Europe.

The finalised logo was given appropriate colouring, not dissimilar to the flannel of the stereotypical lumberjack shirt. This gave each element the required definition to stop it being just a a mouse cursor but retaining the reference to it. The clients were pleased with the straightforward, simple approach to what could be a well recognisable logo for them to build their business upon.

Thanks for reading!

10 logos published in Logolounge V

2008-09-07T16:10:47+00:00

Earlier this year in May I was contacted by Bill Gardner’s team at Logolounge. In the email was an invitation to participate in the fifth volume of the world renowned compilation of identity design, together with a complementary membership. After submission of a selection of logos from my portfolio, the logolounge team started the judging process on an overwhelming 33,000 logos. Over this weekend I was very pleased to learn that ten of my designs will be featured in the next edition of the book and this is a great honour. The logos chosen are the following :

zipliner
WebMynd
talkonomics
Think Once
Spindrift
Moozey
K12Reader
Katabatic Digital
Hashem Media
bloggverket

The book is set to be published summer 2009. A very large thank you to the Logolounge team.

simplified impact identity

2008-08-26T13:29:21+00:00

I was contacted to create the new identity for simplified impact which is a web design company that produces simple, valid and beautiful websites. This is a brief insight into my approach to creativity.

Their target audience is worldwide but they were particularly looking for a logo which gave them an edge on their local, Cork City (Southern Ireland) based competitors. They approached me to produce a logo which reflected both the simplicity and intelligence which is at the heart of the simplified Impact ethos: Simple websites with huge impact. They believe in less is more and did not want any added “effects”, but preferred rather that the logo stood out in its own right. The finished result is designed in a way so that the lines could be interpreted as the most simplified impact commonly known, dominoes colliding. By presenting the lines in an unassuming formation creates a feeling of security and approachability of the company, which was noted as something of specific importance.

Another idea that was pursued was that of a monogram. My idea was to produce this using the least amount of lines, inspired by the simplicity of the building blocks of graphic design - point, plane and line. After comparing this with the domino effect, it was decided that the monogram was overly dynamic; almost sporty. At this stage, I presented both concepts to the client, together with my opinion. The client was very pleased with the feedback and progress in both but ultimately the final chosen logo best represented the image which the client wanted for the company.

Once the client decision was made on which concept to take, I provided a range of color schemes in order for him to see how this effected the tone of the image being portrayed. Here are some of my favorites:

The client was very clear on what he wanted therefore this resulted in him choosing different colour elements from the whole range of schemes provided, for me to create the unique palette for the finished logo.

I would like to add that the whole process of this project was an enjoyable one and myself and the client plan to work together on certain projects in the future. I look forward to seeing how this business relationship flourishes and would like to receive your comments on this project, its success and any related thoughts on collaboration in general ie. experiences, problems etc. Thanks for reading!

Fail Whale illustration

2008-08-15T17:36:13+00:00

I have recently got a new Wacom graphics tablet and thought I would try it out with a quirky theme. Being an avid Twitter fan I thought it would be a fun theme to work with. The image is a homage to Yiying Lu‘s famous Fail Whale (below) used by Twitter when there is an overload or error.

The full size image, which can be downloaded by clicking the preview below, has a resolution of 1920x1200.

Mac OS X - Go to System Preferences>Desktop & drag the desktop image onto the image of the screen.
Windows - Right click on the image & choose ‘set as wallpaper’.
iPhone - The smaller iPhone version can be downloaded by clicking here.

The 1280x800 version is also available here.
This was not intended to be a serious project, just something I made in my spare time and thought I would share after seeing how popular this whale image has become.

I look forward to your comments :^)

On a related topic my Twitter account is http://twitter.com/dache and I would love to connect with readers of the dacheboard through other mediums.

First look at Fleuroi typeface

2008-08-11T13:47:14+00:00

A preview of a fun new typeface which will be available to download for free once completed. I originally imagined it for use specifically with headlines.
The alphabet is after the bump.

For the moment it is but a work in progress having just the uppercase letters. The next step will be to refine the uppercase letters and then begin the lowercase characters and follow on with other properties such as punctuation marks.
As the name implies, the idea came to me while observing the Fleur-de-lis symbol and one of my goals was to capture its classicism.

Grid work

The original shape that inspired the rest.

This is the grid that was used to create most of the letterforms. I say most as some letters such as the ‘K’ or ‘I’ required an extra column.

Example of the ‘A’ within the grid

As always I welcome your critiques and comments.

Many thanks,
David

webetalk identity

2008-08-08T06:44:14+00:00

From the creators of grabup comes webetalk (web entrepreneur talk) which is an irc chatroom for like-minded internet entrepreneurs to discuss. The concept for the design was to express the lines of text from the chatroom in a vibrant manner as they come together as a conversation represented by a dynamic speech bubble.

Wallpapers

A pair of 1920x1200 wallpapers were also created for the sites relaunch.

Mac OS X - Go to System Preferences>Desktop & drag the desktop image onto the image of the screen.
Windows - Right click on the image & choose ‘set as wallpaper’.

Maybe you think I could have done something differently? Maybe you would like to comment generally on the article? I am interested to hear any feedback and look forward to interacting with you soon.

Many thanks
David

Preview of my first iPhone app

2008-08-08T01:45:00+00:00

This is the preview to the first of a couple of iPhone applications I’m creating. iPhilosophy (working title) aims to generate something to motivate you, cheer you up or even inspire you. Screen views after the jump.

The user will also have the ability to add their own content to the database and eventually have the option to customise what kind of content be it motivation, cheer up and inspiration they receive. A small and simple app but something I believe some may find useful. A secondary way to add your iPhilosophy is to send a twitter message addressed to @iPhilosophy.

On a somewhat related matter the iPhone/ iPod touch version of this site is nearly complete and should be available soon.
I’d love to know your take on this project and welcome your comments.

Many thanks
David

EI Finance logo

2008-08-05T22:39:55+00:00

I have recently completed this logo for a finance boutique which provides specialist finance products which are developed and produced by Middle-Eastern/Far-Eastern financial institutions.

EI Finance is a UK based company which offers Islamic finance and financial products. They aim to become the No. 1 name in Islamic Finance, offering specialist advice and a bespoke service to their clients. Although currently centralised with their marketing, they hope to market their services/products as alternative finance products, to appeal to a larger demographic audience. The brief was that the logo be both elegant and professional. I wanted it to be directly connected to money/finance and took my inspiration from the kinegram or hologram found on banknotes giving it a silver shading effect. The inlay pattern was to give eastern influence to the logo, as representation of the area of expertise of the company.

Previously explored directions before the above logo was chosen

I hope to add some photos of their new logo in context, but for the moment, I welcome and appreciate your comments.

Buro Taggetig & inmoda projects

2008-08-01T23:40:51+00:00

The portfolio today welcomes 2 recently completed projects Buro Taggetig & inmoda

Buro Taggetig

Buro Taggetig is a Belgian based business which offers web design and event photography services. The client did not specify many limitations to the project and some creative freedom was welcomed. The company name, in English, means ‘Office80’ therefore I combined the ‘B’ of Buro and the 80 in figures to create a fun, charismatic logo. The use of simple geometric shapes made the logo modern and legible. The colour palette used was inspired by the palette of the web designer - red green and blue; whilst I gave the yellow background shadow to give depth to the logo.

inmoda

inmoda is a Spanish social network about fashion, allowing members to upload their fashion photos and vote, discuss and discover new ideas for future fashion trends. They approached me to create an easily accessible logo which was both simple but memorable, in order to communicate their objective of having an open community, which members feel a part of. The outline of the concept was to represent fashion in it’s simplest form - stitching. This was then used to create an abstract “i” and “m”, which has resulted in their clean new identity. The colour red was used for the eye-catching appeal which the client required.

As always your opinions are more than welcome.

Many thanks
David

Romeo & Juliette wallpaper and icons

2008-07-30T00:03:47+00:00

After having created a pair of characters for my iPods wallpaper, I received a few requests to make it into a full blown wallpaper.

Along with the 1920x1200 sized wallpaper which you can preview below I have also included 2 icons in PNG format.

Download the wallpaper and icons here

For those interested in the iphone or ipod touch version it can be found below:

Romeo & Juliette

I hope you enjoy :^)

overhaul media project completed

2008-07-29T13:17:43+00:00

overhaul media specialises in web development & design but also offers print design, flash animation plus motion design on a smaller scale. The brief was to create a long lasting logo that could be adaptable in all marketing mediums. The company has the plan to go national eventually and wanted an easily recognisable logo to aid them. I tackled this by creating a unique typeface for the project, but kept the colour palette broad to incorporate the different elements to the company and appeal to all potential clients.

The typeface was first hand written, then scanned and put into Illustrator. This is the progress of how it was tweaked into a bespoke custom logotype.

Once the typeface and symbol was confirmed I created an accompanying color scheme which was inspired by images of overhaul medias surroundings in Edmonton, Canada.

Maybe you think I could have done something differently? Maybe you would like to comment generally on the article? I am interested to hear any feedback and look forward to interacting with you soon.

Many thanks
David

Type is art

2008-07-29T12:03:39+00:00

I just recently came across the website Type is Art : An Interactive Exploration of the Typographic Form and I am finding it a really creative. It is an interactive Flash-based version of a poster created by Susanne Cerha. Susanne Cerha of Silo Design approaches letterfoms as “shapes, removed from their communicative capacity”. I love that. The site allows its users full creativity with a set of components of letters from the Centaur typeface. I’ve only just started using it as a fun new canvas and can see that it caters to more than just type addicts.

Definitely give it a try.

New logo : SweetCoding

2008-07-17T20:06:25+00:00

SweetCoding is a soon to be launched website designed to provide an area to showcase the company’s best coding work and to provide affordable XHTML/CSS services to all clientele. They practice a good habit of working their code on paper, before going into the software, and this is what inspired me for the symbol. To reference the word sweet, small bite marks in the sheet of paper were created.

Initial sketchs

From the provided creative brief worksheet it seemed a mix of straight lines and curves was a must to match with SweetCodings web design. My initial ideas contained references to coding with 0s and 1s but after discussing it with the client we found it to be a bit cliché.

Monogram research

With the initials both containing similar curves I researched a set of possible monograms.

Confirmed identity in black and white

Alternative color schemes

Maybe you think I could have done something differently? Maybe you would like to comment generally on the article? I am interested to hear any feedback and look forward to interacting with you soon.

Many thanks
David

The evolution of dache.ch - logo

2008-07-07T00:34:19+00:00

As promised, I present the second half of my two part article on the evolution of dache.ch. I hope that you found the first part to be both beneficial and informative. It was aimed mainly as a reference aid to new starters, as well as a point of interest for more well established artists in the business. For this stage, I would like to come away from the website design and overall branding of dache.ch and focus on the actual branding and logo choice to communicate the concept of dache.ch to the public. As you know a successful business relies heavily on communication. This is why having a solid logo can get you to the next stage from amateur to professional.

As explained in the first article, I did not immediately decide on the name dache to represent the business. It was more about creating an online space to display my design achievements. I therefore started by branding myself. I begun this process in 2005 and the idea of a monogram appealed, due to my initials being D.P. In lowercase, they are opposite and symmetrical and I thought it would make for a clean, tidy logo. Above you will find some of my sketches from the archives.

After many sketches and drafts, I decided a few months later to go with the capital D and inset P. As I was still finalising my studies at Art and Communication College, I used the above brand to sign off all of my work and later used this to survey the success of the logo as a brand. In hindsight, it was simple and effective but not what I was looking for to represent the business that I would create. I chose the colours, red and white, for the simple fact that they are the colours of the Swiss flag.

After this stage, I decided to go forward with my business and had to choose a name. David Pache did not really work for me, as I preferred a short name. As a child, I was nicknamed “dache”, therefore I decided to take this idea forward and it remains the name of the business today. I am very happy with my choice.

With this aspect decided upon, I started the initial sketching of the company logo. Based loosely around my signature, below are the initial options which I came up with. All of these were based on the idea of lettering, with the “d” in lowercase as the main symbol and the name underneath.

Below is a progression of my ideas and I looked into discarding the symbol and just using the name as the logo. I like to design fonts and sampled a few ideas at this stage to gain some perspective of how the font could change the influence of the logo. After some time, I looked at a symbol with dache.ch

It should be said that at this point, I literally opened my imagination up to any ideas until i found the correct one for me and the business. This is why there is not a natural progression of continuity of the design path. I found that this approach worked well, as it meant i was not limited to changing the same idea multiple times, which was economic and I still use the same method on my client projects to this day.

After taking the typeface ideas as far as I could, I was not happy and looked again at the symbol, this time looking at a separate, non-typeface based symbol. I have always been a great fan of geometric shapes in design. I looked at the Swiss Flag again for inspiration and played around with a few colour variations. The red and white appealed to me to be the base colours for the logo, as it retained a personal part of my identity, being Swiss, but without being too obvious as my initials.

Using the cross symbol from the flag, I sketched them as a group of four, creating a box. By this time, I had come up with the tag line for the business which was - “out of the box” thinking, Swiss style. I was still after a cleaner line to the logo therefore after a few more drafts, used the cross on one corner of the box (which made it appear to be going “out of the box”) and had finally found the logo which would be used for dache.ch

This was the difficult part over. I now had to decide on a font to correctly suit the symbol which I had designed. I remained with the Swiss market and narrowed my font choice down to four, which were by Swiss and German typographers. These are shown below with the brown background. I eventually decided that Helvetica was the most neutral font of the four and I did not want the font to compete in any way with the symbol, but rather to complement it. I think the simplicity of the logo coupled with that of the Helvetica font make a very nice combination and fit my initial brief.

I did tweak the font slightly once selected, making the curved stem of the “a” straight, purely for continuity.

Above, you will note that the text which I used in the initial design was “dache.ch”. The “.ch” was then dropped, as it was the actual website and not the URL which was the intended focus. Below is the finished logo for dache.ch. It sums up for me the intended direction of the business; to provide out of the box design, Swiss style.

Maybe you think I could have done something differently? Maybe you would like to comment generally on the article? I am interested to hear any feedback and look forward to interacting with you soon.

Many thanks
David

The evolution of dache.ch - portfolio

2008-06-29T00:14:06+00:00

Although the dacheboard is still very new, my portfolio site www.dache.ch has been online since the summer of 2005.

I thought it would prove an interesting read to follow me through the evolution of my website and hopefully have a better understanding about the way I created this web design. This is part one of a two part article about how dache was created. The second part of the article consists of my own personal branding.

This is the earliest version of the site I was able to find in my archives. While still studying, I decided to create an online presence for my graphic design work and art. It was a great experience launching my own company but it came with a lot of hard work and effort. I had decided to make a very easy to use website from the beginning, disregarding the trends at the time of flash designs for something more practical. I wanted the navigation to be intuitive and invite the user to bounce onto the next page, curious for more. Although these early versions were never online, they laid the ground works for everything you see here today. A few elements from this very basic site can be seen on today’s version such as a horizontal navigation. There was originally to be 3 languages to the site which is something I still would like to implement one day. I had found it very difficult to go much further in the design process of my portfolio without a well-defined identity and decided to scrap the yellow ‘d’ for something much more graphical.

Having found my logo, which will be talked about in the next article, proved to really drive the project forward as I had a new visual language to use and explore. Many minimalist options were thought out with predominantly grey tones. And then I had another idea..

I was really liking the color brown at the time and looking back it could have almost worked with a better shade but I am still very pleased by the neutral colorings of the current design as I have always wanted it to be the content of my portfolio that was the star of the show, not the site itself.

Switching back and forth between designs I found that it was time to launch a site as it had been a ‘coming soon’ page for months. I had also decided to drop the ‘.ch’ aspect of the design for a better identification of the brand instead of the URL.

This was the first released version of the site in May 2006. This also represented a new focus for my career as it was only at this time that I had begun specialising in logo design as opposed to general graphic design. My future choices for the site were all based upon the visual nature of my subsequently completed projects. The site is actually still visible via the Wayback Machine

The white background was soon changed to the dark grey. The site was terribly hard to update at the time as it did not have a content management system but never the less the site was quite well accepted by people, going into a couple of website galleries. Having imagery in the news items really took a lot of space and I eventually removed all images in the news to streamline the page. It was clunky as it relied heavily on pop-ups but it had given me the opportunity to test how people reacted to the featured project and recent works sections of the home page. Over 75% of bouncing clicks came through the featured project link and it is much the same today and thus it is that section of the home page that is given a lot of attention as it also indicates new content to visitors. I had always considered the website as something rather temporary.

The artwork for the about and contact page was quite fun though.

Soon after the release I was already working on the next versions with a special focus on the grid. Although the black and white version was only created to get a feel for the navigation and nothing more, it did have monochromatic charm to it. You may notice a set of music controllers in the top left of the page. At the time I was thinking of using flash as the basis for the site but opted for the advatages of a content management system using Expression Engine and haven’t regretted my choice. As you can see above, a visual project navigation was conceived but never implemented and this is something I am still working on today to perfect.

This was the design that was released in April 2007 and it was a truely great first week. The website was picked up by a lot of people and was consequently added to a lot of galleries:
The Best Designs, Pro Web Art, The Daily Slurp, Dimix Web Gallery, Design by Grid, CSS Website, CSS ImpressCSS Elite, Screenfluent, One Pixel Army, CSS Container, Wake Up Gallery, CSS Based, CSS Mania, CSSGalerie, CSS Exchange,Screenalicio.us, CSS Heaven CSSclip and The Designers Pub to name most of them.

The biggest change since last year is that there is now a visual navigation for the projects as knowing what you are going to see when you click is an important part of website design. I have been working on it ever since, adding new sections such as the dacheboard and overall better functionality. Recently I changed the color scheme too from bright yellows and oranges to a more neutral light grey. Overall I am quite happy with where this site is going and I think without being extremely thorough in my research I would not have got this far. I’m also working on some new additions for the very new future. Design is never done as they say.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this visual tour of the evolution of my site. It has taken some time but do you think that I have taken the right directions? Any suggestions as to how to improve on the current design?

A logo without meaning is ...

2008-06-28T11:19:01+00:00

I have recently been invited to partake in a couple of interviews with DesignInterviews.com and Logosvet, and I thought they would make for a nice addition to the dacheboard. If you would like to see my views please see below, and happy reading.

“A LOGO WITHOUT MEANING IS JUST A PIECE OF ART CAUGHT IN THE WRONG MEDIUM”

interview with DesignInterviews.com conducted by Helen Walker

When it comes to branding, I would say that ‘it’s all in the logo’ as your brand recognition will directly depend on it. Professionally concepted and designed logo will surely position your business as a professional one, too.

DAVID PACHE is the founder of dache - a Swiss based creative studio specializing in creating high-class logos and concepts to local, national and international clientele. Dache focuses on logo design, corporate and brand identity, multimedia, illustration and production of internet and print marketing campaigns. David’s “swiss touch” in logo design is widely recognized for its style, innovation and uniqueness. David believes that “for a long-lasting and trusting relationship only a constant supply of concrete, high quality designs and ideas are good enough.”

I realized that we haven’t got a single interview on logo design so far. And we thought David would be a great interviewee to start with.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO LOGO DESIGN?

“While at art school one of my friends asked me if I could create an identity for his startup. I found the process fascinating and since then it has been what I specialise in. I think that, as with any profession, you have to be passionate about what you do. It is for that reason that I am still enjoying my work today.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS A LOGO?

“Very. It is the first point of contact for a company, in that it is often what attracts their clientele. A “look” tells you about a company in the blink of an eye and the impression of on how professional they are and if they are trust worthy. ”

WHAT MAKES A GREAT LOGO?

“A logo is ultimately a piece of art with a message. It is therefore the concept which makes a great logo. It does not matter what product you are designing for, if the concept is not accurate then the message is lost. A logo without meaning is just a piece of art caught in the wrong medium.”

DO YOU THINK A SUCCESSFUL LOGO DESIGN REQUIRES A HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL TOUCH? WE HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF ADIDAS 3 STRIPES CREATED BY ADI DASSLE HIMSELF AND NIKE’S SWOOSH, WHICH PHIL KNIGHT DID NOT LOVE BUT PICKED FOR HIS OWN RISK BECAUSE OF THE UPCOMING DEADLINE. AND YET THESE ARE THE TWO OF THE WORLD’S MOST RECOGNIZABLE LOGOS!

“Not necessarily. As you point out, Nike’s swoosh is world famous and the result of a last minute decision. I think it is the finish of the logo that needs to be polished but having a logo which suits the company and is in the line with it’s branding will achieve the same, if not better, results than a highly stylised logo.”

HOW DOES YOUR LOGO DESIGN PROCESS USUALLY FLOW? WHAT’S ON YOUR LOGO DESIGN CHECK LIST?

“I advertise my past projects on my website so potential clients are able to take judgement of my work without feeling committed to using my services. They will then call or email their interest, complete my design assessement questionnaire and select a pricing package they require. This allows my brainstorming session where I do the preliminary sketching. From their I put together the first drafts and utilise their feedback to create any revisions or modifications. My design assessement survey enables me to get a broad idea of where to start then I work one-on-one with each client until I achieve a concept we are satisfied with. This approach allows both the client and I to be more flexible with the ideas rather than an overly restrictive checklist.”

HOW LONG DOES THE LOGO DESIGN PROCESS TAKE? WHAT ARE THE TYPICAL CRITERIA FOR PRICING?

“The logo design process takes anywhere from a week to several months. Anything is possible when it comes to creativity. It depends on the project, the expectations of the client and my inspiration.”

HOW MANY REVISIONS DOES DACHE ALLOW ITS CLIENTS?

“It really depends on the project’s requirements but, in general, I would say 2-3 is usually enough to allow the client comparisons on which to base their decision and add some depth to the ideas I can work with.”

WHERE DO YOU USUALLY SEEK INSPIRATION FOR LOGO DESIGN?

“I enjoy exploring existing works, such as Picasso and Mondriaan however my surroundings are my greatest source of inspiration. Once I have ascertained the brief for a new project, I brainstorm ideas. This is usually done on my travels. I keep a notepad with me at all times to record any thoughts or concepts which strike me when I see objects or interesting shapes provided by my environment.”

WHICH OF THE LOGOS YOU HAVE DESIGNED YOU’RE PROUD MOST OF ALL? WHY?

“AfricanTradition is the logo which gives me the greatest pride, as it was one of my first projects. I feel I achieved a timeless piece which has proved itself by receiving multiple acknowledgements from the design community. It is a project which I am sentimental towards, as I feel it was the turning point of my career which evolved my work to the professional level which I was initially aiming for.”

WHAT SHOULD ONE KEEP IN MIND WHEN THINKING ABOUT A NEW LOGO FOR HIS COMPANY?

“One should consider the long term and short term goals of the company, have an understanding of the target audience and should think about the strategy of communication.”

Exclusive interview with David Pache (Dache)

conducted by Logosvet

Logosvet: Hello David, where are you from?

David: Hi, I am from Lausanne in Switzerland :^)

Logosvet: You finished some design school, or you are “self-made” designer?

David: I went to art and communication school in Lausanne after which I used the theory learned to create the dache brand.

Logosvet: Tell me something about branding yourself. What dache means, and tell me something about your beautiful logo.

David: Originally I thought about many names for the brand however I ultimately wanted it to represent me and my works. The mix of David and Pache seemed to capture this in a neat and catchy way. My design studio’s logo is a mix of the letter ‘d’ and a ‘+’ symbol, which together represent my out-of-the box approach to design, using the colours of the Swiss flag.

Logosvet: I saw your works, and I think that they are magnificent. Where are you finding ideas?

David: I find that my surroundings enable me to create designs that are contemporary, innovative and unique. I take added inspiration from music, sculpture, the suprematism art movement and the works of painters such as Picasso and Mondriaan which interest me greatly.

Logosvet: What you will recommend to young designers? How to “brainstorm”?

David: Once I have acquired a new project I find that it in order for the ideas to develope I must first establish a few different approaches before thoroughly sketching the initial concepts. From there it is a case of researching and resketching until the optimal result is achieved. I would recommend all designers carry on them a sketch pad because you never know when a really good idea will occur to you.

Logosvet: Do you have your favorite logo? If you have, tell me something about.

David: AfricanTradition is the logo which gives me the greatest pride, as it was one of my first projects. I feel I achieved a timeless piece which has proved itself by receiving multiple acknowledgements from the design community. It is a project which I am sentimental towards, as I feel it was the turning point of my career which evolved my work to the professional level which I was initially aiming for.

Logosvet: And for the end of this short interview, recommend us some artist that we must interview.

David: I was recently featured on http://www.webdesignerwall.com, a resourceful and beautiful example of contemporary web design created by Nick La whom Id think would prove a very interesting interviewee for you.

Logosvet: Thank you David!

I hope you found the above interviews both informative and stimulating. I look forward to reading any comments you would like to share.

Case study: Brokers logo design process

2008-06-18T22:33:10+00:00

For the dacheboard, I thought it would be both interesting and useful to communicate the stages of my design process from start to finish.

I have taken the example of Brokers, a reality contest for finance college students, based in Mexico involving a stock market simulation.

The Creative Brief

When I was contacted by the makers of Brokers, it was sold to me as a very innovative and fresh take on motivating students.

I firstly discussed the project with the client in order to gain a more solid idea of which direction they wanted me to go with this. The results were along the lines of…

What product does Brokers offer?
The contest itself consists of teams of 5 members who receive a virtual portfolio of US$1 million which they use to place trades on the Mexican Stock Market and Foreign Exchange Market, with the aim of making the most virtual money. The winning team wins a scholarship and a cash prize of US$30,000.

How long have they been in business?
The contest was created four years ago and runs annually.

Principal message to be portrayed by the new logo?
A fresh, impacting brand style but still giving a professional image of the event.

Audience?
College students, Stock Brokers, Finance Product Sponsors and Banks.

Any specific images to include?
Anything related to the stock market with a modern twist.

Getting started

From this information I was able to discuss further with the client and establish my initial ideas.

I focused on possible images to portray the event and many options were considered. After several ideas, I decided to present a dollar sign incorporated into the word Brokers as the initial concept.

This inital concept was within the brief given, giving a simple, fresh portrayal of the virtual stock exchange contest. The faded dollar sign was to effect the virtualness of the money being played with. This concept was considered but rejected by the client, as they did not want the event to have the appeal of just money. They wanted to focus rather on the actual trading aspects.

I then set to work researching investment terms and tools used in the world stock exchanges. The main possibilities which I could work with for a logo were the concepts of ‘bear market’ and ‘bull market’, conveying the weak and strong trends in the trading markets. Due to the nature of the event, I felt a preference for the bull image to be incorporated into the logo, to communicate the strong competitiveness of the contest.

Inspiration

I drafted various versions of bull sketches and tried both full physique and linear options. I settled on a linear aspect.

Although not a direct inspiration, I am a huge fan of the works of Pable Picasso. In his sketch of a bull below, he manages to combine both the full physique and the simple lines. Strangely, the combination is, in my opinion what makes it work, as it is the lines which give the body a 3-D perspective.

Drafting and Development

The above work was what I kept in mind when focusing on the developmennt of the Brokers bull style logo.

The below sketches were my inital ideas. I was trying to get the image of a charging bull, again to keep the impression of strength, using overlapping lines. It was not correct at this stage and the proportions needed re-working.

I transferred my sketching to graph paper in order to aid this proportional work.

After various attempts on the graph paper, I came up with the correct proportions and found that by lifting the front of the bull, gave the correct charging posture, as opposed to head to the ground, as would be expected.

Once I had decided on this point, I re-drafted, tidied up and transferred to the Dot Grid Book with its light geometric dot matrix serving as a subtle guide for sketches.

This dot grid image was then scanned into the computer, as below, in order for me to alter and achieve the final touches using the software.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I was able to clean up the curves and add the correct details, such as sharp and curved corners on certain parts of the concept to define the parts of the body.

As the image was of an organic organism, the softer edges around the head and legs were essential, whilst the sharp corners were kept on the most aggressive elements of the bull to keep the mark dynamic

Typography

Within the brief for Brokers, they wanted the actual wording included within the logo as well as the tagline ‘Making Money’. The selection of the correct typeface therefore was paramount. If the incorrect font was chosen, it could portray the charging bull in completely the wrong way.

Serif was the typeface which was presented to the client, as I thought that the classic elegance would give the long standing competition the correct feel.

The client chose the Stone Informal typeface created by Sumner Stone fairly instantly when presented with a selection.

Delivery and feedback

After seeing the final presentations, the client commented as follows:

‘A big thank you to dache, who was able to capture the essence of our contest in a simple, elegant and striking logo. In financial companies, the bull is a widespread concept used in their logos however, Dave has successfully achieved a unique touch to our new logo without losing the message.’

It was a pleasure working with you, Sinue. Thanks very much for the testimonial and I wish you all the best with Brokers.

I’d love to know your take on the Brokers logo and hope that you have found this to be an interesting article.

dacheboard launches

2008-06-15T18:06:56+00:00

The new dacheboard launches today as a blog space where I will be posting my ideas and comments on current / past projects, art, inventions, music, gadgets and graphic design. I hope it will serve as a useful resource and look forward to having an interactive platform on which to communicate with you.