Monday, July 5th, 2010
Points of Light Institute introduces brand logo and brand identity to attract new generations to civic engagement.
New brand logo and identity featured during the NASDAQ opening bell ceremony in New York City.
Insight Design logo hits Times Square.
New children’s education property created by New York based Whisper, and Whisper team member, Insight Design Communications, of Wichita.
A New York City based organization with a rich 15-year history is growing. Children for Children has joined forces with the Points of Light Institute, to create a new movement igniting the power of young people everywhere. Children for Children is growing to become…generationOn. The new logo, brand property, was nationally unveiled during the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, hosted in New York City June 28-30. The logo design appeared on invitations, programs and news media backdrops. Previously, the new brand logo and corporate identity was featured during the NASDAQ opening bell ceremony in New York City. The logo appeared on the NASDAQ big board and the logo design was fearured on Times Square.
The new generationOn property was created by Steve Cranford, CEO of Whisper. Cranford developed the market positioning, the property name, and the verbalized 5- and 30-second story behind the name. A Whisper team member, Tracy Holdeman of Insight Design Communications, designed and created the brand logo, brand identity and other corporate identity designs for the new identity property. The logo design will be seen all over the United States, especially in cities like New York City, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Denver, Atlanta, Los Angles and Omaha.
About Insight Design Communications
Insight Design Communications offers graphic design specializing in logo design, brand identity, corporate identity design and brand design across all graphic design mediums, including websites, print, advertising and environmental design. Insight Design Communications has been a valued brand design partner of Whisper for engagements in the United States like Kansas City, Los Angles, Denver and around the world, including for clients in locations such as the Middle East and Canada.
The generationOn logo design by Insight Design Communications, a Whisper team member.
About Whisper
Whisper is a property developer. Rooted in communications strategy, Whisper creates intellectual real estate to generate returns, through effective market conversation designed to attract a wide audience. Whisper works with organizations so they may own the conversation® among competing product choices. Whisper client engagements span a variety of industries with organizations from North America to the Middle East and Pacific Rim. Whisper’s CEO, Steve Cranford, is formerly from Wichita.
About Points of Light Institute
Points of Light Institute mobilizes transformational people to answer humanity’s call, whether for those struck by the headline, and the everyday. We show the way for people to tap into their own resilience and power to help others, and in doing so transform not only the lives of those we help, but also the lives of those who help. For people who answer this call, they are themselves transformed. As the largest volunteer mobilization network in the nation, Points of Light Institute includes more than 250 Action Centers that reach more than 83% of the nation’s population and extends into ten countries. generationOn is now a part of this powerful network, which delivered some 30 million hours of volunteer service valued at $615 million over the past year.
For more information:
www.pointsoflight.org
Points of Light article on the new rebranding
About generationOn™
generationOn, newly created within the Points of Light Institute, is the largest youth volunteer service organization in the nation. generationOn combines the expertise of Children for Children and other Points Of Light Institute offerings, such as Kids Care Clubs, HandsOn Schools and the HandsOn Action Center-driven programs, together under one banner. generationOn includes over 30 youth programs that engage more than two million young people in all 50 states and internationally, and 1,800 Kids Care Clubs throughout the 50 states and internationally from China to Saudi Arabia. Benefits: Young people who volunteer just one hour a week are 50% less likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes, or engage in destructive behavior. In a study of high school dropouts, 81% reported that opportunities for real world learning, such as the opportunities provided by generationOn programs, would make their classroom experience more relevant. Service learning in the classroom has been shown to increase attendance, improve academic performance and motivate achievement as students see the results of their work creating a positive impact on others.
generationOn Engages: Teens, Tweens and Younger: generationOn is created as a brand property that kids may embrace and call their own, by helping young people develop as healthy, empowered, creative problem-solvers and leaders. Parents and Families: Equipping parents and influencers to unleash and affirm the power of young people to identify and solve challenges within their community. Teachers and Schools: By providing curriculum, tools and resources to educate and excite kids about service and civic engagement. Nonprofit Community: Building capacity for organizations across America to engage and value young people and families as volunteers.
For more information:
www.generationon.org
www.childrenforchildren.org
generationOn Opens NASDAQ
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Category Logo Design and Branding | Tags: Tags: brand, children, Design, holdeman, identity, insight-design-communications, Logo, NASDAQ, national-brand, new-york, tracy, young-people,
Monday, January 4th, 2010
The best logo identities and branding work in black and white as well as color. Graphic design trends are now driven more by computer capabilities than by talent and vision. If a designer can’t draw he can always click simple repeated shapes, or plug in some gradations, or stripes, or dots, or lines. All are easy computer task. But, the most successful brand designs start with a compelling concept that functions well in black and white and small. In other words, the best logo designs work small in website or news paper ads as well as full color brochures. It takes hard work though, there are no computer tricks for that.
Old Town logo • Renovated business and entertainment district
Brad Bachman logo design • Home builder specializing in homes by water
Spring Crossing Cattle Company • Free range beef brand identity design
ComSmart corporate logo design • Communication training for executives
Lost Art Development Co.• Developer of artistic gift products for retail
QuickerTek corporate identity logo design, Wichita, Kansas. • Wireless products for Apple computers
Love Match • Assist singles in finding a love match
Exultia brand logo design • Software design company
My Volunteer Center logo identity design • Community volunteer center, Orange County California
Gear-Up brand logo, Wichita, KS. • Educational program preparing middle school children for college
Physique Enhancements brand logo design, Wichita, Kansas. • Spa, body sculpting and hair removal
Cargill event logo identity, Kansas. • Employee talk radio event
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Category Logo Design and Branding | Tags: Tags: best, brand design, Branding, corporate, corporate identity design, Design, identities, insight design, kansas, Logo, trends, Wichita,
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
#2. The ability to design type in any style.
A great logo design studio should have the ability to employ a variety of typographic solutions and the capability of creating a new type font. Font creation can be the key element that separates your logo from the crowd. Scroll down to see examples.
The QuickerTek logo type has a modified font. The stroke weight was increased to achieve a bolder look than the original font. The letter height was also increased. QuickerTek is a national brand.
The Old Town brand type was altered to create a more energetic feel than the original font. The stroke wieghts were varied, straight lines were skewed and different letter sizes were mixed together to give the design a bold, vibrant and fun look.
Timberline’s brand logo typography was designed and illustrated by hand to achieve a real woodcut look. This brand logo design appears at restaurants in St. Joseph, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, Salina, Kansas and Wichita, Kansas.
The Foulston Siefkin logo mark or brand image is simple letter forms designed as unique shapes. The clean and simple typography creates a horizontal movement that counters the vertical push of the (FS) branding mark.
The WorkHorse Recruiting logo type is one of those cases where a font straight out-of-the-box worked. The serifs of the WorkHorse type point in different directions. The top serifs point backwards while the bottom serifs point forwards echoing the motion of the circle eight filigree.
The GooGoo Wonderland branding typography is a combination of type creation and a stock font. The GooGoo is created to have the exact same circle shape for the O’s and the G’s. The Wonerland type is a font.
The Cosmetic Cafe logo type is a hand drawn script to communicate a sense of authenticity and intimacy.
The StoneBridge brand type is an old version of Goudy, a classic, old world, font that works well with textural images of stone.
The AgriQuip logo typography is the font Interstate Bold with the “A” and the “Q” altered.
The Douglas Design District logo typography combines two fonts. The “Douglas” and “District” type creates a horizontal visual and the “Design” type creates a vertical movement matching the vertical and horizontal vectors of the brand image.
The Darbuka Brand Perfumes logo type design is a modern American font that has a strong Middle Eastern visual reference. The variation in the stroke widths and serifs relate to the henna scourced brand image illustration and design.
The Tumbledrum logo text is an Insight Design font developed from cirlces and rectangles.
The Arts Council logo design uses Microgramma Bold and Light. “Arts” is reversed out to make a point of emphisis. The alternating black boxes reference the four squares above which elude to diverse artistic expression. The typography is also distressed to integrate with the branding image.
The WaterBug brand type is hand drawn to mimick water shapes and the brand image illustration of the swimming waterbug.
Tanya’s Soup logo type is a combination of fonts that were both altered using Photoshop filters to follow the line qualities of the branding image.
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
#1. The ability to illustrate and design in any style.
A good graphic design studio or firm should have the capability to design and illustrate in a wide range of styles because every client and every logo design should be unique to the brands marketplace situation. A diverse illustrative and design repertoire enables a good graphic design agency to generate ideas without limitations or boundaries. For example, if a graphic design studio can only execute simple clean design because they lack illustrative abilities then you can count on getting a limited range of ideas that only promote simple clean branding concepts. On the other hand, when a logo design studio has the ability to design simple and clean logos, figural logo design, complex and highly illustrative logo designs, typographic logos, funky hand drawn logo designs and conceptual logos then the ideas you get will explore all possibilities. The end result is that the client will be presented more options and from greater logo design options will come a better logo that will best brand your company, product or service. So don’t look for a logo you like in a studio’s portfolio but rather look for a variety of well executed styles. Scroll down to see examples.
For Timberline Steakhouse and Grill we developed a hand drawn woodcut illustration and graphic design style to match the name and casual eating concept of the brand. Illustrating the typography made it possible to use large readable type for signage while giving the logo design an engaging character and style.
For the Hayes 25th anniversary logo design we created a three dimensional illusion of chrome, copper and other surfaces. To create these effects we used hand drawn elements, vector illustrations and layered combinations with a variety of Adobe Photoshop filters.
The Pulse Systems logo design has a conceptual graphic design style. Everything in the entire logo is based on a square even the typography.
The Ballet Wichita logo has a stylized figural illustration of a dancer entering the performance area. This design and illustration style uses flowing curves to create the image of a woman and the feeling of graceful movement.
The Floating Swimwear logo has an expressionistic and abstract illustration style of a wave.
The Freddy’s Frozen Custard logo has a retro or old fashioned illustration style with graphic vintage ribbons.
The Spring Crossing Cattle Co. sells natural free range beef. The illustration style is simplified and stylized realism to capture the ideal image of the rancher in the open prairie and allow the brand image to be reproduced on small package labels.
The Waterbug brand logo for Floating Swimwear is illustrated in a cartoon style with bold stylized lines and shapes for excellent shelf projection and visibility at retail.
The Bighorn River Lodge brand image has a distressed realism to impart a sense of the rugged outdoors.
The GooGoo Wonderland branding is illustrated in a style that I can’t quite categorize. It’s eclectic, vibrant, and whimsical to convey a feeling of magic and fun.
The With A Twist brand logo has a funky hand drawn visual style to compliment the unique and natural product mix of the retail stores.
The brand name Anvil is a metaphor. An anvil is a tool used to create other tools. The business Anvil is a company created to create other businesses. The brand image to the left is one step in an infinite pattern. It’s a circle of dots around the center dot. This is repeated at the red dot which could be repeated again and again indefinitely. This purely conceptual design style is ultra simple to emphasize the concept.
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
Logo by Insight Design Communications
The Logo Design Concept.
GooGoo Wonderland is more than a selection of products and services that bring happiness and good will to Malaysian consumers. GooGoo Wonderland is a place in the mind, a place of surprise, wonder and magic that lives within all of us.
The logo design depicts a multi-ethnic palace where the only limitation is your imagination.
The GOOGOO logo type is constructed using circles while the color plays with the rhythm of the G and O letter forms alternate colors instead of making all the O’s and both G’s the same color. We wanted consumers to take a second look at the name.
Description of the Business.
GooGoo Wonderland is a concept store of Balloon Connexion Pte Ltd. in Singapore. GooGoo Wonderland will be located in the up scale suburb of Kuala Lumpur. GooGoo will provide outstanding balloon decoration and delivery service as their primary product in addition will carry specialty bulk and wrap candies, trendy party supplies and soft toys. They will provide a wide range of premium balloons from the USA and Japan – Balloon Pets, Million Stars, etc. Also, trendy party favors and accessories will be offered. GooGoo Wonderland will provide Children birthday party packages with theme characters like Pooh, Mickey, Spiderman, etc. decorations, party supplies and goody bags. They will also provide theme home parties, company event decoration like under the sea, jungle and tropical. Therefore, the logo is colorful and imaginative.
Delivery logo.
GooGoo Wonderland will also offer delivery service, on site decoration for home and corporate parties. They will take photos of their deliveries and email to the sender because they realize that nothing is more fun for our customers than to receive a photo of their friend receiving a beautiful balloon bouquet from GooGoo Wonderland delivered on their behalf. Balloons will no longer be a toy for children only, it is an art form that delivers a message of happiness, joy, love and friendship. The brand identity logo reflects this in it’s concept and execution.
Target Markets.
There are two primary groups of customers.The main target audience will be the residence and businesses of Mont Kiara & Sri Hartmas. The retail customers can shop by phone, web or walk in.
The second group of customers are current balloon industry players. Since GooGoo Wonderland is a branch of Balloon Connexion in Singapore, it will be an “emergency” supplier to existing Balloon Connexion’s Malaysia customers. GooGoo will cater to new wholesale customers, florists, party & event organizers, balloon decorators and twisters.
The Market for the Products and Services.
GooGooWonderland’
s major customer segments are people from Klang Valley, mainly residence and businesses of Mont Kiara & Sri Hartmas.This township consists of upper class Malaysian and the expatriate community, with over 30 nationalities gracing the streets of Mont Kiara, visitors and residents will immediately feel the world at their fingertips.Target customers age range from 10 to 50 for both genders with above average buying power.
The GooGoo Wonderland logo will be used on store front signs, fleet graphics, letterhead and business cards, web design and more.
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
Critique of Wesley Medical Center Logo.
The details in a logo design can make all the difference.
The Wesley Medical Center logo design is a good idea, the “W” is drawn to reference flames. The flames symbolize faith and the commission of the hospital to care for those in need. That’s good. The only problem with the logo design is the poor execution. Look at the white spaces between the three strokes and at the red strokes. The two white negative spaces between the three strokes are very different. They should be the same. The three strokes that make the “W” can’t be exactly the same and make the “W” but the inner and outer left curves should be the same. Also the tops are inconsistent. The top angle of the three strokes should follow the same visual line. The middle stroke breaks the implied line. Plus if you look closely the middle stroke of the “W” has a curve and the other two don’t. The text is ordinary and would be better if it related to the graphic image. Also, the thin strokes of the Wesley Medical Center logotype could be easier to read from a distance and at small sizes if it were replaced with a type style that had bolder strokes and maybe sans serif.
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
A Logo Design from a Different Perspective.
The Wichita Ballet logo design isn’t about the dancers, it’s about the audience. It’s about how a live performance can change a persons outlook on life. It’s about the audience: buying a ticket sometimes weeks or months in advance, waiting for the day of the performance, getting through the hustle and traffic and finally arriving at the theater, finding the correct seat, reading the program, waiting, anticipating. The lights dim. The excitement is palpable. Then, the first dancer bursts onto the stage. The crowd cheers. The Wichita Ballet logo design is about that moment. That moment from the fan’s eyes and emotions. The entrance. The applause. The wow.
The Wichita Ballet logo design is used on letterhead, business cards, website designs, advertising and promotional material.
Friday, March 27th, 2009
Critique of Exploration Place Logo.
Exploration Place needs a better logo design.
The concept of Exploration Place is a place for families and especially children to play and learn – explore the wonders of science. So the name is wonderful but the graphic design is devoid of imagination, thought and relevance to the concept of kids exploring and learning while having fun.
The Exploration Place logo design is a poor excuse for logo design or graphic design and adds to the perception that graphic design in Kansas and the City of Wichita is sub-par compared to larger urban areas. The logo design is your basic run-of-the-mill font altered with incongruent graphic shapes that don’t relate to the font, each other or the idea of exploring and fun. Some of the partial ellipses and circles in bright colors make a complete oval or circle like the “p”, “A” and the “i”. Others like the “E”, “t” and the “n’ have severed the circular shape. The “r” isn’t even a curve. Not to mention that none of the bright colored circular shapes even have the same curve. Plus, why is the “A” capitalized?
Monday, March 9th, 2009
A Great Logo is Unique, Different.
The best logo designs are distinctive, they are different than the rest. Even the fonts of these logos are designed in a custom manner – it could be a completely new font created or a re-design of an existing font.
A Great Logo is able to Evoke Emotions.
Successful logo designs are able to evoke desired feelings, attitudes and a contextual state of mind with consumers. Great logo designs facilitate the desired corporate image or brand promise to the consumer in the shortest possible time. Every element of a logo should work as one instant snap shot. The font type, graphic image, colors, and secondary branding images should function as one message to the audience.
A Great Logo is Versatile.
Great logo designs look good on huge billboards, on business cards, on black and white fax copies, web design, and even mugs and t-shirts. A good logo design sets it’s own context. It commands the visual space no matter the medium.
A Great Logo is Disciplined.
A great logo design understands the limitations of a logo. A logo is a snap shot of an entire company not a book. A good logo design is focused on the most salient, deliverable and relevant message to the consumer.
A word about exposure.
Most people and “experts” confuse 100 years and billions of dollars in advertising exposure with a good logo. For example, many experts believe Coke is one of the greatest logos of all time. But imagine Coke was a new company today. The Coke script type would be just another average logo in a sea of logos. The name, Coke would get slammed in the media because the name Coke refers to an illegal drug that has killed and harmed many people. But because Coke has spent billions and billions over years and years of advertising and promoting the brand and the logo, Coke is maybe the most recognized brand in the world. Coke is a great brand but not because of it’s logo, but rather because of 100 years of advertising and promotion.
