“Pirelli [tyres] breaks a lot of typographic rules with its overly stretched P; the longer the word, the more horizontal it becomes and the less functional it is. It breaks all conventions. It’s kind of ugly in its weirdness, which probably would have never got through a boardroom now. It’s part of its charm and distinctiveness.

“My very favourite [trade] mark is the World Wildlife Fund. I’d love to have done that. That’s the one. The giant panda is the perfect choice; the way it’s drawn is charming and very enduring.”

Pentagram partner Angus Hyland talks logos in Adweek.

Related:
— Sketches of the World Wildlife Fund logo
— A look inside his book co-effort (with Steven Bateman), Symbol

Pirelli logo via The F1 Times. Angus Hyland photo by Elizabeth Crawford. WWF photo via Stéfan.

Published on Logo Design Love

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From left to right: Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar, Sagi Haviv

Q: How do you decide if a client needs a wordmark or a symbol?

A: When we take on a client, this is one of the first questions that has to be addressed. And there is rarely an ambiguity. Basically I start off with the premise that there has to be a good reason for a symbol. Examples of good reasons for a symbol include: a very long name (like Chase Manhattan Bank); a need to bring together different entities, sub-brands, or divisions (like the Smithsonian Institution or the Library of Congress); or a need for a visual icon as a shorthand (like NBC). Without a good reason such as these, the focus should be on the name of the entity represented.

The International Tchaikovsky Competition, by Sagi Haviv (2010)

Q: What are the most cherished successes and failures you’ve had in your design career? What lessons did you learn from them?

A: When Georgio Armani was first shown the new A/X logo we designed in 2008, he rejected it outright. However, we found out that the new mark had been presented to him between meetings in a rush on a white piece of paper. The A/X people then suggested approaching him a second time (which they almost never do) with our entire presentation showing the logo in applications such as magazine ads, store fronts and billboards. He then immediately approved it. This near-failure taught me that in our business, presentation is everything.

Armani Exchange, by Sagi Haviv (2008)

Q: What do you see as the difference between logo design and other graphic design disciplines? As a creative director for a large corporation, I have seen many design portfolios, and, while they often have very good editorial and graphics work, great branding work seems to be rare. Would love to hear your thoughts on this matter.

A: I see this myself all the time — great portfolios with terrible logo work. Here’s why I think this happens: it is very difficult to boil things down to their absolute essence. It is also a tremendous challenge to walk the line between simplicity and distinctiveness, ultimately creating something unique and memorable but simple enough to work as an effective identifier that is appropriate for the client. These parameters are very demanding and are not necessarily the same skill-set required to create effective editorial or information design.

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, by Sagi Haviv (2006)

Q: How would you describe a good client? A bad client?

A: A good client treats you like a doctor, and therefore defers to your expertise, which ensures a good result. A bad client wants to focus-group your designs.

Tupras, by Sagi Haviv (2006)

Q: What do you read?

A: Some of my all time favorites are Crime and Punishment because it encapsulates great complexities, and in spite of its length, is incredibly simple and iconic; Alice in Wonderland because of its elevation of fantasy; and Waiting for Godot, in which Samuel Beckett disguised his critique of religion so perfectly.

Ron Brown Foundation/Council on African Affairs, by Sagi Haviv (2004)

Q: In this day and age of super loud, busy visuals, how do you convince a client to go with something of the Chermayeff & Geismar tradition?

A: Good question. What helps is when we tell the client that our time-tested principle is that choosing an effective logo is not about what one likes or dislikes: it’s about what works. For a logo to work — and work for a long time — it must be simple. We also remind our clients that a logo is not the totality of the communications of the company, and also that if the mark is simple and distinctive enough, it can take on any treatment or filter. So there is definitely a certain degree of identity design education that comes into play in getting a client to make the best (and you might say, educated) decision.

Conservation International, by Sagi Haviv (2010) — full identity on Identity Designed

Q: What is it about graphic design that attracted you and made it your life’s work/passion?

A: I certainly have an attraction to visuals. Perhaps that’s genetics. But I think the passion I have for my profession is not so much about graphic design as it is about problem-solving. I think a personality type who is fascinated with a problem being presented and can not rest until it is solved adequately is a natural corporate identity designer. That’s me.

Sagi Haviv

Q: How important a role does animation now play in logo design?

A: It does and it doesn’t. It is very important in today’s digital world that a logo lend itself to being animated. But there is a risk involved: the mark has to work in a static form and cannot be a mere “freeze frame” of a great animated sequence. We have found that as long as the mark is simple and memorable, it will inevitably be suitable for animation. This is why, when I created Logomotion — an animated portfolio of Chermayeff & Geismar’s trademarks — I found that the marks our firm created in the 50s and 60s before animation was even considered (Chase, Mobil, PanAm) were as easily and naturally set in motion as any of the later marks.

Illustration for Print Magazine (Holocaust Trauma and Israel’s Identity), by Sagi Haviv (2010)

Q: If you could design a brand identity for a particular someone/company, who would it be?

A: Capital One Bank: This half-Nike, half-Citi mark is too complex, is not particularly memorable, and ultimately looks like a boomerang which is not a very appropriate image for a bank.

Capital One Bank logo: “too complex, not particularly memorable”

Q: Do you use a pencil and paper before going to the computer in designing your projects?

A: Always. The computer will not help you connect with your creative impulses. A pencil will.

Balloon Museum, by Sagi Haviv (2004)

Q: What are your favorite movies/TV shows?

A: Blue Velvet (David Lynch) because it’s a perfect representation of dark and light in the most profound sense; Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polansky) because the suspense is built not by what you can see, but by the actions that are hidden from the viewer; After Hours (Martin Scorsese) because to me it is the ultimate depiction of crazy New York characters; When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner), which is the only romantic comedy I care to admit that I love; Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme) because it is deliciously gory, and finally Alien (Ridley Scott), because the art and the gore are practically the same.

Library of Congress, by Sagi Haviv (2009)

—

Many thanks to Sagi for taking the time, and also to the Logo Design Love readers, for submitting the questions. You can view the Chermayeff & Geismar studio website, and follow the team on Twitter here.

— Tom Geismar
— Ivan Chermayeff
— Sagi Haviv

Published on Logo Design Love

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Sagi Haviv, born June 1974 in Israel, is a partner and designer at Chermayeff & Geismar, the Manhattan-based studio that needs little introduction.

Sagi will kindly answer questions from Logo Design Love readers, so if there’s anything you want to ask, leave your question in a comment or message.

Here’s a very brief background on the man.

Among his projects for the firm are the logo designs and identity systems for the Library of Congress, National Parks of New York Harbor, Radio Free Europe, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the fashion brand Armani Exchange.

Sagi designed the award-winning animation “Logomotion,” (YouTube video embedded below) a ten-minute tribute to the firm’s famous trademarks that was not only the first animated trademark sequence of such scope, but also introduced a new approach to showcasing a firm’s portfolio.

Other motion graphics work includes the opening sequence for the Emmy Award winning PBS documentary series Carrier.

Sagi joined Chermayeff & Geismar in 2003 after graduating from The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City, where he won several prestigious awards and fellowships including the 2002 Dan Friedman Prize, the 2003 Art Director’s Club Scholarship Prize, and the 2003 Lubalin Fellowship.

In 2008, he became the third principal partner at the firm, and the youngest in its history.

His answers to your questions will be published soon here on Logo Design Love. Subscribe by RSS or email so you don’t miss out.

Ask away by leaving a comment or sending a message.

—

Update: 06 October 2010
Your questions have been sent to Sagi. Thanks very much.

—

Update: 28 October 2010
The Sagi Haviv interview is now published.

—

Published on Logo Design Love

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Via @goodpeopletweet — a follow-worthy Twitter profile.

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What was your role, and where did you work?

One of the well-known logo design companies hired me as a search engine optimization manager, and I filled the role for several years before choosing to start my own business. When I was hired we were already ranking very well for hundreds of design-related terms, but were struggling to keep up with the fierce search competition for key phrases like “logo design.”

I worked in the company’s main office with a team of six search managers. There was quite a number of employees that worked in the building with us, including logo designers, sales reps, and a few web designers/programmers. For privacy reasons I cannot give an exact location.

What tasks were the search team responsible for?

The team carried out several key activities to help achieve and maintain a #1 search engine ranking for the term “logo design.” These activities involved creating keyword-rich pages, submitting the website to directories, and contacting bloggers and design websites for link exchanges (we would link to them from one of our lesser-known blogs or smaller one-off websites and they would link back to our main website with keyword-rich anchor text). We knew we were giving them a link that was of less value than what they were giving us.

As well as the salaries of the search marketing team, the company would spend an absurd amount of money each month on links from high-profiled websites.

A lot of the search staff clearly had no idea how to optimize a website for the best search results, but because the company was investing so much in search campaigns we were ranking within the top two positions for hundreds of high-volume keywords.

For every dollar invested in a search campaign we would regularly get ten times that amount back.

Can independent designers out-rank such companies?

Competing for quality keywords would be difficult to do today, but it’s definitely not impossible. After leaving the logo design company I’ve worked with several freelance designers. We’ve found a lot of ways to outrank the big spenders.

The main SEO mistake made by big companies is they ignore the power of great content. Instead they focus on paid campaigns and “grey hat” practices. A small design blog with a remarkably helpful design article (one that is optimized not just for search engines, but real human beings) can very easily outrank most design companies.

Did these grey hat SEO practices ever result in problems with search engines?

The practices were grey hat simply because a lot of them had never been tried before. We worked closely with companies like SEOmoz to ensure we were pushing boundaries as opposed to pushing buttons. Occasionally, however, we’d see some backlash from Google as a result of something we did (embedding actual links in image formats, for example), but we never faced a penalty.

Subscribing to the SEOmoz pro tools helped me several times, although you can find free alternatives elsewhere.

What SEO tips can you offer independent graphic designers?

If you want to win the “logo design” search game against the larger companies, my advice is three-fold:

1. Focus on building quality content for your website
2. Network by helping other designers
3. Hang in there

View the original post: The folly of logo design SEO.

Grey hat image credit

Published on Logo Design Love

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From a recent interview with Pentagram partner Michael Bierut.

“The truth about logos is that they are not that hard to do. If you ask people in the US what logos they like and recognise, they’ll name Target or Nike. Target for example, is just a dot with a circle around it, that’s all it is, so if you want a logo like Target, you don’t need to hire a designer, you barely need to know how to operate a computer program, the logo may as well be anything. God knows we do a lot of them here, but I think the best work in the area comes down to what most designers would agree on: the obvious thing, it’s not the actual logo but how it is used.”

[...]

“There is this peculiar obsession with kerning on Brand New. I’ve realised that it’s because that’s what a lot of the people who comment on the site do during their work day: kern type. They don’t spend a lot of time presenting challenging identities to tough, cynical boards of directors at major corporations. A lot of them would never have done that, but they’ve adjusted the space between letters and it’s something they can react to with absolute authority. It’s fun, it’s anyone’s game, and everyone can have an opinion on a logo. I try to take it all with a grain of salt; I’ve never taken them seriously. I think that you could design a terrible logo for a good company with great people and they could build it into a great program. Alternatively you could design what seems to be a brilliant logo for people who are not smart or energetic or are incapable of associating with anything positive and it would become a terrible logo.”

Read the full interview on Facing Sideways.

Michael Bierut was involved in these previously featured Pentagram projects:

• Library Initiative
• Urban Green
• Bobby’s Burger Palace
• The Oak Bar

Read more about Michael Bierut.

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In 1986, Steve Jobs recruited renowned graphic designer Paul Rand to create a brand identity costing $100,000. Rand created a 100-page brochure detailing the brand, including the precise angle used for the logo (28°) and a new company name, NeXT.

Heller, Steven; Helfand, Jessica; Lois, George (2000). Paul Rand. Phaidon Press. p256. NeXT on Wikipedia.

Image courtesy of Paul-Rand.com

Steve Jobs on working with Rand:

“I asked him if he would come up with a few options, and he said, ‘No, I will solve your problem for you and you will pay me. You don’t have to use the solution. If you want options go talk to other people.’”

Classic Paul Rand.

More Paul Rand blog posts on Logo Design Love:

• All about Paul Rand
• An interview with Paul Rand
• Paul Rand chatting with design students
• “Don’t try to be original. Just try to be good.”

Published on Logo Design Love

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In this post, Blair Thomson of Devon-based agency biz-R takes time-out to interview Belgian-born “Lord of the Logos,” Christophe Szpajdel (pronounced “shpydel”). There’s also a chance for you to win a signed copy of Szpajdel’s book.

The style of design featured is part of a small niche, and different to the normal posts here on Logo Design Love. But it’s also very recognisable within its field, and the same rules of branding apply — simply at the other extreme (like the music it represents). Szpajdel’s illustration skills are also adaptable to more mainstream graphics work and could cross over into many other areas of design.

At what age did you first become interested in logos?

My interest in logos came at the age of seven when I saw the Kiss logo. That was back in 1977, and is what sparked my creativity for logo making.

I also particularly liked the logos of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. It was at the age of 17, however, when I really became fascinated by designs such as those for Venom, Kreator, King Diamond, and Possessed.

Were you interested in drawing and this developed into logos, or did you always like branding?

I’ve always found something fascinating about logos, especially the Art Nouveau and Art Deco logos from the beginning of last century. These were the most amazing gems. Have you seen such beautiful brand logos like Tropon for example? I think Art Nouveau and nature were always to be associated as one, and the first thing I started to draw were plants and animals. Art Nouveau is itself the cult of nature.

Do you admire logo and identity design from outside of the metal world that you have become infamous?

Some product brand logos can be cool, like Relentless, for example. Even today this logo still fascinates me. I’m also very keen on some of the variations of the Animal, Billabong, and Warlord clothing logos.

I actually create quite a bunch of non-metal logos like the CRAS logo, a Tulsa based society that projects old forgotten gem movies from the 20′s to the 40′s. I designed several personal brand logos for people such as Dawn Hemsley, Deborah Dean, Pamela Smith, Vicky Sanchez, Maxine Ridd, and Paula Whitfield, and also illustrated for Paula Whitfield’s book The Repertoire of Delusions.

So yes, I explored identity design outside the metal world and it worked even better because non-metal clients were unfamiliar to the existence of this world. At some point, since creating my account on Facebook, I realized there was a completely new public gaining interest in world yet unknown to them — the world of logos.

How do most of your clients find you?

They mostly find me by word of mouth, but there was a massive increase of interest since i joined Facebook, and since I was interviewed in such magazines as VICE, Metal Hammer, Metal Maniacs, and Terrorizer. That made my name reach even more secluded circles of interests that I would never have thought of before. The Internet had a massive impact.

What is your favourite self-created logo?

It’s hard to pick just one favorite, so I’ll mention a couple of favorites from each style. Emperor and Abigail Williams among the classics, Morgawr and Anamorph among the Art Nouveau ones, Deborah Dean and Disciples Of The Watch for the Art Deco feel, Wolves In The Throne Room and Chasma for the Deressiv’Moderne current, The Obliterate Plague for its simplicity and efficiency, Samantha Byrne for the enigmatic pose with came as a doppelganger of the Glorior Belli logo created by Valnoir Artfield de Lautrec.

What logo do you wish you had created?

I wish i could have created the logo of Dragged Into Sunlight, since this is my absolute to favorite band and my absolute favorite logo, but I designed a logo for his other project, Ninkharsag, which is in my book. Other logos I wish I had created are Demoncy (USBM heroes), Sarcofago, Mutilator Immolith, Venom, Shores Of Melancholy, Burning Of Sodom. I never had the chance to get hold of any of these bands that inspired my creativity with their amazing music.

Your work is extremely detailed. How long would a typical design take?

It takes a minimum of two weeks and can last up to six weeks or more. It depends if it’s a complicated logo, and if the client requires lots of changes, as was the case with Seize The Soul, Namter, Animus Mortis, The Wounded Kings — all very fussy clients. I would actually rate them as “Clients From Hell” because they truly are! I am also a very meticulous person, paying attention to every detail.

I understand that you recently created a logo for Really Interesting Group (aka RIG), who designer and blogger Ben Terrett operates. How did this compare to working with musicians?

Image credit: Noisy Decent Graphics

Actually, that was something very simple, i never thought it would be for a group. I first thought it was for a band called RIG and thought oil rig. I asked Ben Terrett for as much detail as possible and he was fairly laconic in what he wanted. I digged a bit more and found out he loves AC/DC as lettering, so i created a very simple logo. After that, I got a lot of interest, and this is how i met you, Blair, and even more interesting is that you just live next door to me! How cool is that?

Working with musicians generally takes me longer and requires me to come up with more changes during the run of the work. I often have to give further cracks on logos, and as I’m telling you all this, I’m working on a fourth logo for “client from hell,” The Wounded Kings.

What inspires you?

Mostly and primarily, I am inspired by nature, but over the last decade, I opened my interest to art, especially Art Nouveau for its flowing motives, and Art Deco/Modernism for its geometry. Anger is something that helps me in coming up with a great logo for an aggressive metal band.

The tranquility of shorelines gave me inspiration to create some flowing logos that needed a more relaxed state of mind.

Tell us about the book — how did that come about?

Gestalten have produced some beautiful books on logo design. In march last year, after the interview I gave to VICE (yes, they have been taking the mick out of me, but great, they turned me into a weirdo) and the feature in the Compendium “Logos from Hell” by Mark Riddick, I got approached by Hendrik Hellige whom I met in Berlin by the end of May. Then in June, the big boss of Gestalten, Julian Sorge, concluded the contract and in September I supplied all my logos.

In October I created the logo for the cover, and finally, at the end of January the book was released. I didn’t interfere at any time with the process of assembling the book, as I gave Gestalten my full trust. They did a wonderful job juxtaposing the photos I took in different parts of the world (mostly Whiskey Town Lake in Northern California, Mount Hood in Oregon, Dartmoor, and the Southwest Coast Path in Devon).

The result is amazing and I am more than delighted with the work of Gestalten. Finally I can regard this book as my child. It really is a part of me.

Do you have any advice for budding logo designers — metal or otherwise?

It is better to specialize yourself in something you really feel for. Try to find as many inspirational surroundings as possible to unleash your creativity. That is something that also applies to artists who want to reach the general public as well the metal public.

Win a signed copy of Szpajdel’s book Lord of the Logos

From the Gestalten website:

“This book is a collection of work by Christophe Szpajdel, an artist whose fans in the underground black metal community worship him as the Lord of the Logos. It includes hundreds of powerful logos, each of which captures the force of this musical genre anew. Through his surprising use of aesthetic influences such as art deco and nature, Szpajdel has brought a new dynamic into the gothic visuality of heavy metal. This publication, which is done in the style of a black prayerbook, shows not only how he has succeeded in leaving his own visual mark on this music, but how he has also expanded the canon of forms it uses.”

Release: January 2010
Price: € 35,00 / $ 55,00 / £ 32,50
Format: 21 × 26 cm
Features: 272 pages, full color, softcover, gold embossing
ISBN: 978-3-89955-282-9

To enter the draw, leave a comment naming someone you want to see interviewed on Logo Design Love. One commenter will be chosen randomly on Friday 26th February, notified by email, and posted here.

——

Update: Friday 26th February
The randomly drawn winner is Alicia Viera. Congratulations! You’ve been sent an email with details on how to collect.

——

Thanks very much to Blair Thomson for conducting the interview, and to Christophe Szpajdel for taking part.

Published on Logo Design Love

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Having created iconic logos for Mobil Oil, New York University, Chase Bank, National Geographic, and many more, Tom Geismar is one of the most highly-acclaimed designers in the profession. He graciously agreed to answer your questions here on Logo Design Love.

Tom Geismar

Q. Has your approach to design changed over the years, and if so, how, and why?

A. I know it’s something of a cliché to say this, but we really do view graphic design, and especially logo design, as a problem solving process, a process not dissimilar to that used in other related disciplines such as architecture and engineering. The initial task is to understand and define what the issues are, and what the goals should be. With that background in mind, we strive to come up with the best possible design “solution” to the problem, using imagination and artistic invention to create something memorable and meaningful. In that sense, our approach has not changed at all. The way we went about designing logos for Armani Exchange and the Library of Congress in 2008 is essentially the same as the way we went about designing logos for Chase and Mobil in the 1960’s.

Q. Do you think design has been overcomplicated with marketing analysis? Do we think “too much”? Have we essentially lost sight of simplicity?

A. The issue isn’t whether “we think too much”, it’s whether we accept marketing analysis as the last word, or simply as one piece of the larger puzzle, and recognize that it only reflects what has been, not what could be. From a logo design viewpoint, an entity with a clear definition of its goals and aspirations makes the job a lot easier.

Q. How large a role does sketching on paper play in your design process?

A. For me, sketching on paper still plays a key role in my design, mainly because I find at the beginning of the design phase it is a much faster way to try out ideas, and variations on ideas. Sketching also allows me to indicate certain forms, especially curves, that I find difficult and cumbersome with the computer. And sketching allows me to suggest an idea or concept, while drawing with the computer leads very quickly to a sharply defined object. Of course, once an idea is more fully developed, the computer is a great way to study variations in color, form, etc.

National Geographic logo, 2002

Q. When creating a logo, what influences your decision to use a wordmark vs letterform vs emblem vs pictorial vs abstract symbol?

A. The decision on how to approach a logo design is very much determined by how we define the issues involved, including the name, the type of organization, how the name will be used, etc. For example, if you have a client with a short, distinctive name, perhaps a wordmark would be the best approach. In 2005 we took this approach with Hearst Corporation, which had a number of operating divisions that all used the Hearst name followed by a descriptive word, such as Hearst Magazines. So we developed a distinctive bold wordmark for Hearst, and a contrasting type style for the generic descriptors that followed.

Hearst Corporation logo, 2005

Q. Can you share some advice or great stories on selling ideas to clients?

A. Logos are funny things. At first they are just designs on paper. Eventually they come to embody all the qualities of the organization they represent, and most people cannot separate the “design” from their full range of opinions about the organization. The hard task the designer faces is trying to help the client see how the logo might eventually be perceived, how it will work for them, not just whether they “like it”. We learned this lesson early on when we first presented the Chase symbol to the chief executives of the bank. The man who was then Chairman said he would go along the decision of the others, but personally he hated it and did not want to see it on his letterhead his business card, or anywhere in his office. Six months later we ran into him at the bank. He was wearing a pin with the symbol in his lapel, and a tie-tack with the symbol holding a tie that was itself a pattern of the symbol. To him, the mark was no longer just an abstract design, it had become the representation of his organization.

Chase Bank logo, 1961

Q. You have completed work for Mobil and PBS, two companies on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Is it a designer’s responsibility to consider the companies for which he works and their effect on society? How do you reconcile working with a company that you disagree with philosophically or ethically?

A. You have to work for people whom you respect. Over the years we have refused to work on various projects because we would feel uncomfortable doing so. But the issue is a complex one. For example, on the surface, perhaps Mobil and PBS might seem to be on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but during the many years we worked for Mobil (before the takeover by EXXON), it was the most progressive of the major oil companies, explicitly stating their positions, championing good design, doing impressive public-interest advertising and being, in fact, one of the major benefactors of PBS, along with numerous cultural and art institutions. In short, we respected Mobil and its people, even if we didn’t always agree with their positions.

Mobil Oil Corporation logo, 1964

PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) logo, 1984

Q. Do you work for non-profit as well as profit-making organizations, and, if so, how do they differ?

A. Yes, in fact many of our recent clients are non-profit or governmental organizations. It’s easy to agree with their positions, but working with them is not very different from working with a profit-making organization.

Univision logo, 1989

Q. Have you designed a particular logo that didn’t make the final cut or that you thought was stronger than what the client ultimately chose?

A. This has happened to us on various occasions. We do our best to convince our clients to go with the mark we feel is the strongest, but for a variety of reasons that’s not always how the project ends up. On the other hand, while we study a great many alternatives, we try never to present to our clients any designs that we cannot stand behind.

National Aquarium in Baltimore logo, 1980

New York University logo, 1965

Q. After a lifetime of working in the field, would you choose to be a designer in the present landscape of communication design?

A. I feel fortunate to have spent my entire working life as a graphic designer, and being part of a small organization where I could interact with talented partners. As an independent designer, whether on your own or part of a firm, one is exposed to many different people involved in a wide range of activities. If curious, you can learn a great deal. Today the field is much broader than it was when we started, and it’s more competitive. Yet the opportunities are great for someone who is curious about the world, interested in defining and solving problems, and passionate about design.

The partners of Chermayeff & Geismar, New York—from left to right: Ivan Chermayeff, Tom Geismar, and Sagi Haviv

Visit the Chermayeff & Geismar website for an iconic design portfolio.

To Tom, to Chermayeff & Geismar‘s communications director Chris, and to you, thanks very much. You posed many more excellent questions, but alas, Tom’s a busy man, and we could only have so much of his time. Apologies if your question wasn’t answered.

If you liked this interview, here’s another with one of Tom’s partners Sagi Haviv.

Published on Logo Design Love

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Obama’s healthcare logo making news for no apparent reason (via @chadengle).

RT @pentagramdesign New Work: Chicken Now: new identity for fast food restaurant.

“Own Energy” identity design (by @MartinBoath).

[video] Google Chrome logo recreated with LEGO (via @downwithdesign).

Do you know your brand alphabet?

The revised Pepsi vs Coca-Cola identity timeline.

Interview with Rob Janoff, designer of the Apple logo (via @ucllc).

E. Tautz identity (by @movingbrands).

300+ Google logos (via @DesignerDepot).

A little off-topic, but I’ve stopped using tr.im as my URL shortener of choice, preferring bit.ly. The former was (is?) having some site overload issues, rendering every tr.im link unusable (or very slow to load). Both services offer statistics, but after a week of using bit.ly, I think I prefer theirs.

Published on Logo Design Love

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