THE POWER OF BRANDING, LOGOS AND GRAPHIC ARTWORK
The power of advertisements and the media of the modern age have played an enormous part on the influence of brands in the current business climate. At no point in history has the immediacy and availability of media been so apparent, thanks to digital mobile devices like the smartphone and iPad. There are many ways that any business or company can bring their products, services or media to the masses. And state of the art computer graphics has been at the center of this innovation.
It's fair to say that it is a great time to be a graphic designer or an graphic artist. Businesses left, right and center are using every means available to get that message across to their customers, the ever mobile and online consumers. One interesting development is the amount of blogs and websites that need graphic artwork, and online content creators who require graphic logos and brands - sometimes in big beautiful lettering and colors - right in front of people.
It's fair to say that it is a great time to be a graphic designer or an graphic artist. Businesses left, right and center are using every means available to get that message across to their customers, the ever mobile and online consumers. One interesting development is the amount of blogs and websites that need graphic artwork, and online content creators who require graphic logos and brands - sometimes in big beautiful lettering and colors - right in front of people.
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple
More and more content creators are having to become multifaceted and multi-taskers at creating required artwork for their own online work and efforts. And so more bloggers take on extra duties in the design and graphic department. That can become a problem as more and more skills in artistic content have to be used or developed, costing time and money. Online bloggers and writers are constantly developing their own brand.
Online content creators need not worry about such matters, since getting a logo or a brand name created for a company or business need not cost the arm and a leg it used to cost back in the days before ODESK and eLANCER came along. Love them or hate them, they made doing some kinds of work via the internet a more level playing field. Although this is comes with the usual "Caveat Emptor" warning. You get what you pay for. How Much For a Logo?
A few years ago, a logo would have cost thousands of Euros, or Dollars or Pounds. Today it's a different story. In my own case, I could normally create a log fast and for not much more than five hundred quid, considering it will feature on the front of virtually everything that a business or company will own and create. But the price depends on many factors. Everything from websites to blogs to business cards to complimentary slips and stationery can sport a great logo. A logo says elegantly who you are. It's as ubiquitous as a business card. Extras are always optional. And the customer has the happy outcome of having and owning that logo. Forever.
A logo has to be a "right fit" for the business or individual in question. Some examples of those logos are shown here. For the most part, logos and designs need to be everlasting, evergreen, ageless and appropriate to what the client wants. Some can be simple text-based ideas for a design, while others need a bit more thought. Creating artwork on the web is a cinch for an artist or designer who knows what is needed. Whether it is artwork for print, books, magazines or for the web - good graphic art, design or illustration can enhance and promote and help sell anything.
All logos on this page were created by me. If you ever need graphic art created for anything, simple send an email to: [email protected] |
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Ten Rules of Design
Jony Ive, the Head Designer at Apple cited a tip on industrial design, and it is taken from the German designer Deiter Rams. Rams was the chief design guru at Braun from 1961 to 1995. Rams is credited for the "Ten Commandments for Good Design".
Rams states that good design:
Rams states that good design:
- Is innovative – The possibilities for progression are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for original designs. But imaginative design always develops in tandem with improving technology, and can never be an end in itself.
- Makes a product useful – A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic criteria. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could detract from it.
- Is aesthetic – The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
- Makes a product understandable – It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user's intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.
- Is unobtrusive – Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user's self-expression.
- Is honest – It does not make a product appear more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
- Is long-lasting – It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today's throwaway society.
- Is thorough down to the last detail – Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
- Is environmentally friendly – Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical an visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
- Is as little design as possible – Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.
These ten edicts or commandments are excellent pointers to what defines great design. These principles guide great design, and Ive has always incorporated them into designing every single Apple product. His spiritual confidante in Apple was always Steve Jobs, who also focused seriously on design function of products. Apple made products more amenable and functional by making their design part of the reason we use them in the first place. The "Less but better" approach was strongly influenced by the presence of his grandfather, a carpenter. Rams once explained his design approach in the phrase "Weniger, aber besser" which translates as "Less, but better".
Some tell-tale design tributes to Deiter Ram's epic designs are found hidden in Apple's range of products. People were quick to notice that the appearance of the calculator application included in Apple's iOS3 mimics the appearance of the 1987 Braun ET 66 calculator designed by Rams (and Dietrich Lubs), and the appearance of the now playing screen in Apple's own Podcast app used to mimic the appearance of the Braun TG 60 iconic reel-to-reel tape recorder, before a later redesign of the app removed it. It can be easily found on Google search. The iOS world clock app closely mirrors Braun's clock (and watch) design down to the font and layout used. In Gary Hustwit's 2009 documentary film Objectified, Rams states that Apple is one of those few companies designing products according to his principles.
Some tell-tale design tributes to Deiter Ram's epic designs are found hidden in Apple's range of products. People were quick to notice that the appearance of the calculator application included in Apple's iOS3 mimics the appearance of the 1987 Braun ET 66 calculator designed by Rams (and Dietrich Lubs), and the appearance of the now playing screen in Apple's own Podcast app used to mimic the appearance of the Braun TG 60 iconic reel-to-reel tape recorder, before a later redesign of the app removed it. It can be easily found on Google search. The iOS world clock app closely mirrors Braun's clock (and watch) design down to the font and layout used. In Gary Hustwit's 2009 documentary film Objectified, Rams states that Apple is one of those few companies designing products according to his principles.