• Refining, perfecting and finessing a logo design 5 tips for refining, perfecting & finessing a logo

    Over the past week, I have been rating logos for Logo Lounge Book 9 (Almost 5000 of them in total). I still have just over 1000 left to rate but decided to have a short break to write a blog. There’re so many excellent logos, but occasionally there’s a design that’s almost perfect, with a […]

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  • Smart Logo Design Principles ‘SMART’ logo design principles

    When it comes to logo design, personally I don’t believe there are any rules. In the words of Paul Rand: A logos primary goal is to identify… to say who the company is, and that’s its only function. Although rules don’t exist as such, there are proven guidelines that can be learned from the great […]

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  • Transform Awards 2015 Partner 2015 Transform Awards Europe

    It has been an exciting few months for me. Last month I was invited to join the jury for Logo Lounge book 9, and now I have been confirmed as a media partner, and judge for the 2015 Transform Awards Europe. This is the second time I’ve been involved with the awards, and I’m still […]

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  • Logo Lounge Master I’m on the jury for Logo Lounge book 9!

    I still can’t quite believe it… I’m going to be on the jury for Logo Lounge book 9! This has to be a highlight of my year (even my life) - I’m extremely excited to be part of it, and what's even better… Bill Gardner has kindly allowed me to blog and talk about the [...] Continue Reading
  • The Designers Goal The designers goal: To elevate what we see

    I recently attended a talk at the London Design Festival with Paula Scher of Pentagram, a partner in the New York office. Being at the forefront of graphic design for four decades, I knew I could learn something from this discussion with the legendary designer, and I certainly did. During the hour-long interview there was […]

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  • Stand out from the crowd Own your brand identity: become a market leader

    When you’re a new business owner and you start thinking about your logo and identity, typically you may think to yourself “I would like my logo to be similar X company logo” or you may envy a competitor and wish to emulate their success by having a similar looking logo. Other times you may notice […]

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  • Kerning is king Kerning typography when designing a logo

    When working with typography, kerning is the term used to describe the space between two individual characters within a font. In logo design getting the kerning right is paramount as it makes the difference between looking professional, and having a logo that’s ‘not quite right’. The kerning applied automatically by a design program is typically […]

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  • I don’t like that logo redesign

    Whenever a company redesigns its logo it causes social media and design sites to go mad. Sometimes the redesign is loved, but more often than not the designs are quickly torn to pieces, sometimes quite brutally. Disappointingly a lot of this comes from the design community. Take for example the PayPal redesign back in April. […]

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  • Comic Sans for Cancer: My Entry

    2014 celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of the most hated fonts ‘Comic Sans’. To celebrate the occasion an exhibition has been set up to support Cancer Research UK called Comic Sans for Cancer. Graphic designers have been invited to submit a poster inspired by the font. Personally, I don’t like Comic Sans… Not because […]

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  • Black & White Logo Designs Does a logo need to work in black and white?

    Question: Does a logo design need to work in black and white to be successful? Answer: No, but it depends on the needs of the business.   Not so long ago colour was a premium to reproduce, so it was standard practice for a business to have a black and white version of its logo […]

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  • Google logo on doors Why did Google tweak its logo design?

    Last week Google made a tiny tweak to its logo design, repositioning the lowercase L and G. Although a minor change this did cause a lot of online discussions, with mocking from the non-design community such as: “Can You Spot Google’s Hilariously Imperceptible Logo Redesign?” Here’s a before and after comparison, so you can see […]

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  • Transform Award Judging Transform Awards 2013

    At the end of last year, I received an email from Communicate Magazine inviting me to join the judging panel for this year’s Transform Awards. At first, I thought the email was junk so I disregarded it. I honestly thought they were asking for money to be part of the event… It wasn’t until filtering […]

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  • Squarespace Website Design Startup business: Got my logo, now I need a website

    When you’re a business start-up, the first thing you’ll be looking for is a logo design. However, once you have your logo the next obvious step is to design a website, but with so many options out there, if you’re not technical or new to the topic it’s daunting to know where to start. You […]

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  • Design Form and Chaos by Paul Rand Book Review: Design Form and Chaos

    I’ve recently purchased myself a second-hand copy of Paul Rands book ‘Design Form and Chaos‘. It took almost a year to get my hands on a copy as this book seems to have become the holy grail of design books, with copies sold on Amazon for over £200! My copy still wasn’t cheap, yet I […]

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  • Nike Store Logo Maximum message using the minimum of means

    I’m always on the lookout for really great design resources, news and information so I can continue to learn and improve as a designer, and share with the community. I stumbled upon a blog from the team over at thoughtful regarding its logo design for Egg-n-Spoon (sadly the blog post is no longer online), which had […]

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  • Grumpy Cat I had a ‘bad’ client… but what did I learn from it?

    I want to write my experiences from a recent logo design project I took on, which unfortunately did not go as well as I would have hoped. I still have a good relationship with this client, and although a final design was selected and full payment was made, I am aware that unfortunately, they will […]

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  • What is branding? What is branding?

    Did you know that branding is more than a logo? This great little video shares some valuable insights as to what a brand is: Here are some great takeaways from this: Branding is the art & science of defining and differentiating yourself to the public. There is a big difference between an identity and a […]

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  • AngloForma Logo Redesign - 1 Logo Redesign for AngloForma

    I am pleased to have completed a new logo redesign project for French company, AngloForma, who offer English Language courses to French businesses and individuals. The new logo has been designed to raise the profile of the business, to represent an established business, and to become a known name for English language courses in France. […]

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  • Museum of brands, packaging and advertising My Visit to The Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising

    It was only a few days ago that I excitingly discovered that there is actually a museum dedicated to one of my favourite things… branding, so I decided to make a visit at my fist available opportunity. The Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising is located only a few minutes walk from the world famous […]

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  • How Important is a Logo Design for my Business?

    How important is a logo design for your business? Before I can really answer this question, I want to explain briefly what a logo really is. A logo is a graphical representation of your brand identity. It’s ultimately the face of your company and is what most people will visualise when they think about your […]

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