Logo Design Love

For the past 10 weeks, I’ve been running the Logo Design Love Awards. The aim was to uncover the most effective blog logos, and to raise awareness of lesser-known logo designers. A distinguished panel of judges were brought on board, with more than a century of collective design experience. They were asked to choose their top three logos from all 10 blog categories (listed at the foot of this article). If a judge named a logo as their 1st favourite, the design was awarded three points. 2nd favourite received two points, and 3rd favourite, one point.

The votes have been counted, and I’m proud to feature the logos chosen as the very best of the Logo Design Love Awards.

Below each design is a quote from the judges who voted on it, along with the number of points they awarded.

1st place

Joe Urban (12 points)

Logo designer: Darrel Austin

“Of all the logos in here, this is the only one that made me grin. The drawings are endearing and very representative of a personal blog. Right away, I can get a sense of what Sam Newberg stands for or what kind of things he is interested in: accessibility, openness, and organization. The play of scale works well and gives the logo dynamism. The typography is nice and simple. The logo looks much better smaller than it does in the blog, though, and I would lose the rounded corners at the end of the line, but overall, this is a nice logo that deserves some recognition.” Armin Vit (3 points awarded)

“As I looked through the list of blogs the most memorable logo was Joe Urban’s. It is a pretty complicated idea boiled down to a simple mark. A train peaking over the horizon, nature in the midst of a city, architcture, and the Urban lanscape. The logo looks at all these things from a distance and asks you to find a connection between all these things. That is exactly what the site is about and the logo captures it. There were some good looking logos in this competition, but I don’t think there was another logo that captured the message as succinctly as this one. Beautiful.” Adrian Hanft (3 points awarded)

“The deceptive simplicity of the geometric iconography, colour choices, line weights, and perfectly matched typography make for a clean, clever, and extremely well-executed branding solution. This one was my favourite by a mile.” John Martz (3 points awarded)

“This logo was probably my favorite overall. It has a particularly simple yet memorable aesthetic that I found most appealing. And definitely stands out as a diamond in the rough amongst it’s competition.” Jeff Andrews (3 points awarded)

2nd place

Vulture (6 points)

Logo designer: Ian Adelman, while Design Director of nymag.com

“It’s no surprise that the design team at New York Magazine has created a striking identity for their addictive culture blog. But what is surprising is how much is communicated in this simple, one-color logo. I see imperious skyscrapers, vintage Gotham signage, and lurking gossipmongers ready to publicly eviscerate your soul. It actually scares me a little.” Alissa Walker (3 points awarded)

“This is actually the best logo of all the included, technically and aesthetically speaking. It’s way better than Joe Urban that I selected as my 1st place. But Vulture is part of a bigger design identity by New York magazine, and I think it represents a different attitude than the rest of the blogs submitted. Somehow, in this specific contest, I give more credit to the homegrown logo than one for a design-centric magazine.” Armin Vit (2 points awarded)

“The name is clever and their designers have taken it to a good place, with that leering, menacing curve and shadow. It’s fun seeing it next to the Vanity Fair logo, as it seems similar, but sort of in answer to the polite ethics of more mainstream organizations. “Some places might dish the celebrity dirty,” it seems to say, “but we’ll dig through their garbage and get to the really juicy stuff.” Steve Delahoyde (1 point awarded)

3rd place

Undies Drawer (5 points)

Logo designer: Darrel Austin

“A blog about men’s underwear could go in several different directions. This logo tells me that while the blog writer has a sense of humor he takes his undies seriously. The colors communicate the idea that this is a blog for men, as do the simple underwear shapes along the bottom (ha, ha).” Megan Patrick (3 points awarded)

“This logo’s illustrative treatment treats its subject with style and humour. It could have been all too easy to go trashy with this, but the logo is surprisingly elegant, and still a little, um… cheeky.” John Martz (1 point awarded)

“I can’t look at this without it teasing a smile from my face. From the stitching across the top and bottom, to the perfect faux-undergarment typeface to the carefully-rendered buttocks, Undies Drawer is a very appropriate logo for a very fun blog. Of course once I started reading blog’s content I loved it even more. Hello, Cocksox!” Alissa Walker (1 point awarded)

4th place

Simply Recipes (4 points)

Logo designer: Elise Bauer, with help from Jesse Gardner

“This logo has a very classic, Martha Stewart feel and tells me that I should expect a well-curated selection of traditional recipes with a modern twist. The contemporary asterisk also suggests the form of measuring spoons, which creates a pleasant visual pun.” Megan Patrick (2 points awarded)

“The sheer simplicity of this concept is what makes it stand out. Using the spoons to create a symbol really works. As a fan of serif style typefaces, I find the typography legible and well suited to the overall concept. The colour palette uses earthy spice tones, which is homely and representative of food…mouthwatering!” David Pache (1 point awarded)

“This logo wins in my opinion because it’s warm color palette and clean yet evocative style made me hungry! Though the icon doesn’t denote “food” or “recipes”, I still find the mark a success overall.” Jeff Andrews (1 point awarded)

Joint 5th place

Found Gallery Blog (3 points)

Logo designer: Brady Brim-DeForest

“Beyond just being pleasant to look at during a quick glance, a good logo should impress on a couple of fronts, should you decide to spend some time thinking it over. I think Found has done that really well. I loved that you can build your own interpretation of the filled-in circles; either representing the big finding the little, or the part to the whole, or the “O” rolling away and becoming something new and ready to be plucked up by a passerby. Plus, of course, the obvious dot as in “dot com.” It’s not perfect, as I’m not 100% sold on using the two different fonts, but it’s a really fun logo to spend some time with and enjoy, and that’s a mark of success in my book.” Steve Delahoyde (3 points awarded)

Diseñorama (3 points)

“This is the absolute and clear winner for me. The precision and attention to detail is lovely, as is the choice of colour palette. The typeface is bespoke and technically excellent. To sum up, this logo is simple, but VERY effective and complements the designer’s brand…inspiring!” David Pache (3 points awarded)

Dooce (3 points)

“I’m always drawn to typography based logos or wordmarks. This logo stands out for me because of it’s elegant simplicity. It’s not easy to pull off a compelling wordmark, but the designer of this logo has succeeded impressively.” Jeff Andrews (2 points awarded)

“This logo communicates without relying on weird fonts or bright colors. It still has a fun personality and nice movement.” Megan Patrick (1 point awarded)

Dumb Little Man (3 points)

Logo designer: Logo Design Works

“Eye-catching graphic. Says what it is.
Practical (with adjustments, yes), graphic (yes), simple in form (yes), one message (yes), appropriate (yes), memorable (yes).” Catherine Morley, grading the logo according to 6 universal attributes (3 points awarded)

Joint 9th place

BrandBerry (2 points)

Logo designer: BrandBerry

“It’s really subtle and I like that a lot. It doesn’t scream at you about how cute it is and how clever they’re being, which is great. So many logos try to overextend themselves and yell at you to pay attention, but this one is more than happy to fade into the background and serve as ornamentation, yet always there when you need it.” Steve Delahoyde (2 points awarded)

POPSUGAR (2 points)

“I was actually just at a PopSugar party last night but I swear the free vodka has nothing to do with this decision. What struck me was seeing their logo versus the zillions of other logos plastered on the sponsor wall. PopSugar’s logo looks better than all the logos of celebrity blogs, websites and magazines put together. In fact, it looks more like the logo for a really good celebrity gossip TV show. Which I’m sure it will be, someday.” Alissa Walker (2 points awarded)

EcoGeek (2 points)

“This was a very witty metaphor. The power button is sprouting life. The connection between energy consumption and environmental awareness. It even gives a nod to the audience since you have to be somewhat of a geek to know that this is the symbol for the power button. I was ready to give this one my best of show stamp until I visited the website. This logo needs white space to shine and on the site it is boxed in and competes with the other elements on the site. It’s a shame because I really like the mark.” Adrian Hanft (2 points awarded)

De Ouro (2 points)

Logo designer: Lucas de Ouro

“Playful typography, when done well, will always win me over more than a logo that’s just a cool font with a swoosh or a gradient slapped on to it. And more than just playful, this is a logo that instantly evokes true excitement and energy.” John Martz (2 points awarded)

TreeHugger (2 points)

“This environmental logo stood out as unique among it’s peers as, although it is using a simple symbol representation, the high level of technical execution has made it a very powerful branding tool. It shows precision and simplicity in a snapshot, which is very refreshing…brilliant!” David Pache (2 points awarded)

Uncrate (2 points)

“Although I had to look at the website to get it (I was jetlagged at the time), it’s very strong, clean, and works well.
Extra: Perfectly incorporated into the blog design – one of the best overall.
Practical (yes), graphic (needed a second take before the ‘ah ha’ hit), simple in form (yes), one message (yes), appropriate (yes), memorable (yes).” Catherine Morley, grading the logo according to 6 universal attributes (2 points awarded)

Joint 15th place

FontStruct (1 point)

“I’m a sucker for grid-based logos, and this one pulls it off nicely. The characters work great in this style.” Armin Vit (1 point awarded)

Just Creative Design (1 point)

Logo designer: Jacob Cass

So often logos fall into cliche. This is usually a danger to avoid, but if you can put a new spin on an overused idea then you actually benefit from people’s awareness of the idea. You can turn a negative reaction into a positive one, and that has impact. The idea of using a pencil and sketching to represent creativity could be cliche, but this logo overcomes it. The JCD are just imperceptible enough to let the viewer feel rewarded for finding them. Same with the pencil. The typography is understated and it matches the humble positioning of “just creative.” They aren’t trying to be too clever, too flashy, or too self-important. They’re just creative. Adrian Hanft (1 point awarded)

sk*rt (1 point)

“One of the top truly designed logos here. Creates an atmosphere of its own. Practical (with adjustments, yes), graphic (yes – 85/15), simple in form (yes), one message (yes), appropriate (yes), memorable (yes).” Catherine Morley, grading the logo according to 6 universal attributes (1 point awarded)

Category winners

The judges were also asked to vote on their favourites from each individual blog category. The category winners are listed below:

• Business blogs (winner = Joe Urban)
• Design and photography blogs (winner = BrandBerry)
• Entertainment blogs (winner = Vulture)
• Environmental blogs (winner = EcoGeek)
• Health and self-development blogs (winner = CalorieLab)
• Marketing and PR blogs (winner = Idea Sandbox)
• Personal blogs (winner = Dooce)
• Political blogs (winner = Democracy Now!)
• Technology blogs (winner = Uncrate)
• Miscellaneous (winner = Simply Recipes)

Thank you!

A big thanks to all of the judges, who kindly donated their time in the search of the best blog logo design. I very much enjoyed reading their thoughts, and I hope you have too.

Have your say

Which is your favourite from the finalists? How do you think the judges’ selection compares to the readers chosen logo favourites?

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