It’s satisfying for so many reasons, partly because I can spend so much time in a work flow state. I feel like I’m moving mountains even though I’m only nudging vectors. Generally when I work on logos I like to focus on brand refreshes, which allow me to really max out all of my nerdy crafty skills and don’t involve me stepping in as a company’s temporary brand director overseeing the vision of the company. Soon after that Leo Jung took over as creative director and we worked together to make more headlines and refine the logo further. He hired Carl DeTorres and the three of us worked together on the mark.
Everything would feel more cohesive and whoever he hired wouldn’t feel creatively pigeonholed by the work I had already done. and then the newly hired creative director and I could work together to create the logo. I insisted that he first find the person he wanted to work with to flesh out the design of the magazine, the style of the photography, etc. They had a vision of what it would be but no visuals. It can make it difficult to hire very talented branding and communication design people if they feel like the job involves more production than creation.ĭoug McGray, the founder of The California Sunday Magazine, initially asked me to create a logo for them when the magazine was in the very early stages of development. I don’t love doing brand extension work myself, and those who do usually prefer not to inherit someone else’s core designs. I don’t make logos for companies that have no one in place to handle brand execution.That said, branding can help re-invigorate a company whose culture / product is atrophying (which is the whole purpose of rebrands and refreshes). The product / audience / culture informs the logo. The logo shouldn’t guide the direction of the company and product.I won’t do a logo if the product itself isn’t designed yet.I have a few personal rules about working on logos for companies and startups: Communication design and branding are important but without the product the company doesn’t exist.
Ben eventually made a new poster in the same series that said “Stay focused and keep Shipping”, which better reflects the views of a “grown up” start-up: There’s a difference between being bold and tenacious and being reckless.Ĭommunication design takes a second seat to product design in tech-as it should. I think the biggest fear is that, while agonizing about a single leaf on an individual tree in the gigantic forest, you might lose sight of what’s important-the experience of using the product. When you're constantly iterating, constantly pushing new versions out, you can’t invest time in seemingly unnecessary details that will be lost in tomorrow’s update. Workers in tech don’t usually feel like they have the ability to focus on craft-especially when it comes to visual design.
Ben Barry, when working at Facebook in The Analog Research Lab he helped create, made a poster that stated what was a pretty common belief in tech: “Move Fast and Break Things”. I live in the Bay Area and am surrounded by tech culture.