I just finished up a new custom lettered logo for the Western Ohio Epilepsy Foundation. Every year in the summer they hold a huge mud volleyball tournament and every two years they change the theme of the event. For 2010-11 the new theme will be a fun one, “Muddy Gras”!




I had a lot of freedom on this one and with the main theme being mud there was tons of fun to be had! This kind of free for all crazy lettering is my favorite to do.

I find it easy to be passionate about projecst like this. It is for a good cause, has a fun theme, and really… how much more fun can you ask for in designing a logo for an event where people are playing some sloppy muddy volleyball on a scorching Ohio summer day!

Recently I was approached by a wedding business in Cincinnati. I was excited to learn that they are a one of a kind business that knows of the value in having a professionally designed identity and branding system for their business. Wedd head specializes in on site wedding hair and makeup. They send our professional stylists directly to their clients so that they can avoid the hectic runaround of appointments, and focus on having a stress free wedding day from start to finish. What better way to enjoy feeling beautiful with your girls before your wedding!


I was so excited to have the opportunity to design a logo for such a great business with a neat and unique name.
 The Wedd Head team were very thorough in completing my brief so that I could learn of all the important aspects of Wedd Head in order to develop a custom logo that will help keep them ahead of the game. As usual in my process I always present multiple version initially to work towards finding the right direction that works best and also pleases them.
 

While there are no other businesses in the Cincinnati area offering this specific service they knew they needed to establish a brand that will stand out against any competition they might face. You would be surprised on how many great businesses fail to see this importance.

Below is the final version that was chosen. Wedd Head let me know they wanted something that was elegant yet slightly edgy. the “Wedd” text of the logo is custom lettered and designed to represent flowing beauty and shine. the flowing portions of the W and D resemble flowing curls with sparkles of beauty. I anchored it down with the HEAD text treatment in a styled bar for that ridged balance.
 

 

Originality is a term that is used often in the design world, whether in a request from a client or a promise of a designer. It is a desired quality for many obvious reasons. I mean, no one wants to be a copy cat, or at least I would hope so, right!?

One thing that can be noted about originality is how seemingly difficult it can be to find. That is because of the challenges, hard work, research, and skill it takes to develop something decently original. Some designers just don’t have the passion or motivation to go the extra mile in creating original work, OR, are simply satisfied with producing unoriginal rip off work. We see it everywhere. There are HUNDREDS of cheap logo design companies springing up online, you find more and more companies ripping off logo designs created by others. Plagiarism is a real problem. It is sad, and what is even more discerning is that clients with valuable business plans are settling for this poor attempt at design to represent their hard work and ideas. It’s a classic example of you get what you pay for.
These cheap logo design companies are treating logo design like a fast food drive through. Quick, cheap, and unoriginal. To a client that doesn’t know any better it might taste good and be at the right price now, but it’s not healthy in the long run because it is lacking those key ingredients that make up quality and originality. (careful research, consideration, and skill.)
Then there is always the debatable subject of how possible is 100% originality. Originality does bring up a lot of questions especially when you think of the thousands of years of art and design that has been created throughout the world. It makes it seem like anything you design is bound to have some kind of similarity to something else. This is another example of the importance in careful research but are some similarities all that bad? I say no of course not as long as you don’t cross a line and really I am only scratching the surface of this subject. Yes you will have occasions where work is evolved, or inspired by something else. Some of the best work I have seen has been inspired from something else but has it’s own original twist and is strong and beautiful. There is nothing wrong with this if it is approached well. Ask any great artist/designer and they will quickly tell you who they are inspired by, but when you look at their work you will see they are not ripping off anyone, they just allowed the artist that inspire them open their creative minds to create new and original work. There is a line and when it has crossed over to rip off, it is very apparent.

If you are looking for a logo for your business my advice to you is to strive for original. Don’t settle for a cookie cutter logo that is not considerate to anything about your business, and most certainly don’g allow rip offs. As I stated in a previous blog Logo design 101, your logo is your first impression, it needs to represent, and stand above. Don’t let this foundational starting point of your branding be quick, cheap and easy like fast food drive through. Originality is not just a side order so find a designer who will go the extra mile. There is so much involved that holds true value in quality logo design.

Looking for a great 45 min workout? How about an intense game of squash! I consider myself to be quite the athletic gal with a decent knowledge about most athletics, but squash is a sport I knew nothing about. This changed very quickly. Learning about squash was of course one of the important steps in completing this logo design project for the Dayton Squash Center and I have to tell you I am starting to fall in love. Its not only a great 45 min workout, but a lot of fun.

I was approached by a gentleman by the name of Charlie who was looking to update the Dayton Squash Center logo. With a new physical sign being built and new website under construction, they were ready for a new mark. After a tour of the facility, research, and plenty of sketching, below you will see a later portion of my progress (some what refined sketches, concepts presented, then final version).

As you can see the final version has elements from more than one of the concepts presented. This final version was brought together after the clients gave feedback on their likes of various aspects of the different concepts. This is something that will happen from time to time (where the client will have me mold together liked elements from the multiple concepts) but when it does I approach it with caution. Where it seems nice that the client can take the concepts and have me mold together all of their likes, I make sure that in doing so it will not hinder the purpose of the mark . I try to let the client know that just because they like the various elements does not mean they will come together to make a good logo. More is NOT always better! In this case with the Dayton Squash Center logo things did come together nicely with them also heeding my advise in not have me squeeze in every single element they listed. They were fabulous to work with!

On a side note, Charlie has graciously invited me to attend a weekly squash clinic where I have been learning this great game and getting a nice workout. If you live in the Dayton area you should check it out! I will post the new website when it is up and running soon.

This summer I have been super busy busting out some great logo design projects. I hope to share them all soon and this particular project I have been very stoked to post about. I was approached by Bah-Pna Dahane, owner of BP Consulting Limited, to design three different logos for three different Angola professional basketball players. For those of you that don’t know I am quite the sports nut with a special heart for hoops, so this was a complete thrill. I had a great time learning about each of the players while designing logos that best suit them. Here is the logos and a little bio of each player.

Eduardo Mingas:

Professional basketball power forward from Angola. 6′7″ 235 lbs. in weight and has represented the Angola national basketball team at the 2002 World Championship, 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2006 World Championships.
An initials logo type with “EM” and 15 incorporated, was designed for Eduardo. I custom lettered these initials in a thick modern style with subtle ornaments that gave the mark an action/motion feel.

Carlos Morais:

Professional Angolan basketball shooting guard. 6′3″ 200lbs. He represented Angola at FIBA Africa Championship 2005, 2006 FIBA World Championships, FIBA Africa Championship 2007. and the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
Carlos M. was interested in seeing a “logoman” mark developed so that is exactly what I did. I designed a stylized silhouette that portrays him in the middle of a cross over, and highlights some of his key features.

Carlos Almeida:

Angolan professional basketball shooting guard with Clube Desportivo Primeiro de Agosto and a member of the Angola national basketball team. Standing 6′4″, 200 lbs. Almeida played for Angola at the 2000, 2004 and the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2002 and 2006 basketball world championship as well as the 2005 and 2007 Africa championships.
Carlos Almeida was also interested in a logoman that portrayed him dominating the key in a defense position. I worked the perspective and integrated the hoop into the text.