Archive for May, 2009

  • 29May
    Hungry? Restaurant Logos That Make an Impact

    How do you choose where you want to eat when you go out? Is your decision based on atmosphere, price, food selection? How about logos? Have you ever thought that a restaurant’s logo can determine the path your appetite follows? There are a ton of them out there and some are much more effective than others. How does a logo make you hungry? Take a closer look!

    The above designs are all, for the most part, very effective. They clearly show the type of food to expect and even a hint of the atmosphere all within a simple design.

    The Perkins logo is an example of a terrible design based on a food related business. It is plain and boring and nothing about it is appealing to one’s appetite. Word of mouth and maybe some minimal advertising seems to be the only way that we know what Perkins is and what it sells.

    The Fuddruckers logo looks to me like a logo for a disco style club or a skating rink. If it didn’t have the word “hamburger” within the logo, I wouldn’t know that it was a restaurant at all just based on the design. No wonder this place went out of business so quickly.

    Ted’s Montana Grill has a great logo in which they display the one thing that makes them most unique: Bison! Although the sale of bison meat is becoming more popular among upper class dining, Ted’s was one of the original chains to start it, basing their menu mostly on bison. Their other major theme relates to our “green” society in which they use organic and recycled materials. This is a great concept, but what I don’t like is how they attempt to include that theme in their logo with the line, “Eat great. Do good.” I think this takes it a little too far and is not necessary. It feels like it forces the issue.

    Ah, Burger King. This is a great logo for the fast food chain. It clearly shows what they sell and is large and bold implying their success in the business and that they are the “king” of burgers.

    I love the Boston Market Logo. It looks very clean and subtle, implying that there is no need to be flashy to get attention. It also has a simple oval shape, but the oval vaguely appears to be a roasting chicken so they are displaying their product all the while.

    There are way too many restaurants out there to mention them all, but a logo for the food service industry should have certain qualities. It should demonstrate the product it’s selling, avoid overly flashy styles and express a bit of the atmosphere that the restaurant has to offer. You can see that the more successful the logo is, the more successful the restaurant will be as well.
    -Nora Reed

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  • 26May
    Inspiring Logos with Hidden Treasures

    A single logo can make or break a company and its marketing. A logo offers many benefits such as creating an image that consumers can remember and trust, helping a company stand out among other businesses and creating a specific identity for that company. Although every business should have a logo, it isn’t not enough to have it for the sake of having it. A business’s logo design must stand out and bring some personality to that company.

    There are many ways to make your logo stand out. Several simple graphic design tricks, can add a unique and clever look to a logo design. A logo should not be a plain or boring symbol, it should be a specific design that reflects the ideals and goals of the business or company. The final design of a well done logo often appears to be very simple, even though a lot of thought and drafts were actually put into it. Here are some famous logos which are sure to leave a lasting impression. They all have hidden symbols within them. Take a closer look and see what the designer has embedded within the design.

    Yoga Australia
    When you first glance at this logo, you see a simple picture of a young girl doing yoga exercises, but if you look closer at the body posture, you can see that it forms the Australian continent.

    Body Wisdom
    This design is for a classy day spa. The hands convey a relaxing massage and are combined with an image of “owl eyes” to demonstrate “wisdom.”

    Fed Ex
    The Fed Ex logo is a popular and well known design, but have you ever noticed the arrow formed out of the negative space between the letters “E” and “X”. The arrow indicates direction, speed and reliability.

    Heart Beats
    For this design, two musical notes curl to make a heart and headphones. This logo expresses “Love for Music” and is a clever play on the name of the company.

    Piano Forest
    Jason Cho: Designer
    This logo gives is subtle, but creates the elegant design of piano keys that look like trees to resemble a keyboard/piano. You can shift your eyes to see either one.

    Fuga
    The Fuga logo is a recreation of the Architectural Center Of Budapest, which actually appears more like a maze, but if you focus more on the white spaces, the company name will stand out much more.

    Mosleep
    The designer has dreamed up a bed with the letter “M” for this design. This logo represents an organization of doctors who’s goal is to study sleep disorders.

    Hartford Whalers
    There are 3 concepts displayed here at the same time. The largest and easiest to spot is a whale’s tail, which is also the letter “W” in green, while the white space forms an “H” for Hartford. Sadly the logo wasn’t enough to keep them in Hartford.

    Toblerone
    It is easy to ignore the logo while enjoying this treat. At first glance, it seems like an obvious design of the Swiss Alps, but look a little closer. The name Toblerone originated in Bern, Switzerland. This city is rumored to mean, “City of Bears”. Take a look at the logo again, you will see a bear in the center of the Mountain. Now we know why this was Einstein’s favorite candy bar.

    Big Ten
    The Big Ten collegiate sports conference actually has eleven schools, but they started out with ten. Once the last school was added (PENN STATE), they didn’t want to go through the process of changing their name, which they had already established, so they changed their logo instead to hide the numerical “11” within the design.

    Amazon
    This logo is extremely famous. It appears clean and simple, but have you noticed that the looks like a smile. The concept behind this is that it Amazon.com has everything from a to z, which the arrow indicated. The hidden message is the smile that the arrow represents which is what is brought to the customer’s face.

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  • 20May
    “Ida” Fossil Inspires New Google Logo

    Meet Ida!

    “Ida,” is the little fossil that was recently found in Germany and is considered to be the “missing link.” The fossil is a huge find for those who study human origins. Paleontologist, Jorn Hurum, is responsible for leading the team and analyzed the 47-million-year-old fossil. He suggests Ida is a critical missing-link species in primate evolution. His studies show that the Ida fossil bridges the evolutionary split between higher primates such as monkeys, apes, and humans and their more distant relatives such as lemurs.

    Ida, properly known as Darwinius masillae, has a very unique anatomy. The skeleton is mostly like a lemur, but features primate-like characteristics such as grasping hands, opposable thumbs, clawless digits with nails, and short limbs. After the announcement was made about the fossil’s discovery, it seems Google took advantage, using the fossil’s image for today’s Google logo.

    Google has always been great with keeping up with current events and displaying what is going on through their logo art. It’s nice to see that they continue to do so by proudly including Ida in their design.
    -Nora Reed

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