Food Banks Canada Logo
Design:
Client: Food Banks Canada
Date:
Add comment July 2nd, 2010
Logo
Level Ground Trademark
Design: Subplot, Vancouver, BC
Client: Level Ground Trading, Victoria, BC
Date: 2010
The highlight of Subplot’s Okanagan Springs rebrand was a stylized wheat/hand symbol, emphasizing the brewery’s ‘hand-crafted’ product. Now the studio has created this two-handed mark for Victoria based coffee company, Level Ground Trading.
The logo is the centerpiece of a complete rebranding effort, which emphasizes the company’s focus on quality product and direct fair trade with small-scale growers. The design features two shaking hands styled as conversation bubbles; at the centre, an equal sign is formed by their overlapping shapes. While it’s tempting to question the anatomical correctness of this handshake and the negative connotations that go with it (two thumbs down), these are minor quibbles. The strength of the design is that it doesn’t demand this kind of over analysis – shaking hands and an equal sign – the message is loud and clear.
3 comments June 22nd, 2010
Bank of Montreal Symbol
Design: Hans Kleefeld, Stewart & Morrison, Toronto, ON.
Client: Bank of Montreal
Date: 1967
According to Hans Kleefeld himself, “a stable identity is established and maintained best through a core graphic – be it a logo, wordmark or symbol – that is uniquely structured, memorable and makes sense to a broad audience. It must be bold enough to hold its own in combination with reams of typography, illustrations and other graphic elements . . . functioning as the ‘visual [anchor]‘ that hold[s] together all corporate communications.”
With it’s strong, clear design, Kleefeld’s own work for Bank of Montreal illustrates his point. The horizontal bar supporting the M gives the design clarity (no mistaking that M for a W), unique character and visual heft. The result is an instantly recognizable symbol that has endured decades of change and numerous rebrands, including the bank’s name change to BMO.
When it was launched in 1967, the symbol was solid blue, but Kleefeld’s original colour choice reveals another layer of meaning in the form. Apparently, the design was first conceived in green and gold – an abstract paper bill (the M), resting on a bar of gold. Today, the symbol is rendered in white on a red circle, with the blue reserved for text.
Sources:
- Kleefeld, Hans. “On The Mark” Applied Arts Magazine, Vol 24, No 4, August 2009.
- “Hans Kleefeld“. cdotheritage.blogspot.com. Retrieved on 2010-06-15
Add comment June 19th, 2010
ACID Logo
Design:
Client: Association of Canadian Industrial Designers
Date:
1 comment June 15th, 2010
Looolo Logo
Design:
Manufacturer: Looolo Textiles, Montreal, QC
Date: 2006
Add comment June 14th, 2010
Safety-Kleen Logo
Design:
Client: Safety-Kleen
Date:
Photo Patrick Hemingway.
Add comment June 9th, 2010
New Whitecaps Logo
Design:
Client: Whitecaps FC
Date: 2010
The much-loved Vancouver Whitecaps unveiled their new logo yesterday, in anticipation of the club’s first season with Major League Soccer (MLS). The new design dispenses with the familiar (and too literal) soccer ball on a wave motif, but tries to maintain some of the brand heritage with a blue and white colour palette.
In North America, garish, comic book style, team logos reign supreme and in this regard, the Whitecaps’ attempt at a “clean and efficient” design is refreshing. On paper it even sounds good – inverted Vs form abstract mountain peaks that are reflected in the ‘water’ below and compose the letters VW – the kind of concept that Rolf Harder, Ernst Roch or Hans Kleefeld might have knocked out of the park in their day. Unfortunately, the execution here is dull and amateurish. The static composition of the Vs, their clumsy relationship to the type, and an arbitrary silver border, all contribute to the visual clutter. While the club and the media describe the new look as minimal (presumably because it’s abstract and geometric), in reality the design is begging for a good edit.
It’s not clear from the official press release exactly who’s responsible for the final design; however, there are hints that ‘design by committee’ and a heavy-handed client might be to blame.
“… the new brand and logo following a 10-month consultation process that included world-renowned soccer brand adidas, Publicis Canada, Whitecaps FC ownership group, staff, fans, and season ticket holders.” – Whitecaps FC Press Release
“Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi, who has seen at least six Whitecaps-86ers logo changes in his years with the club, said there has never been more collaboration on a logo project than this one… …”Our owner [majority owner Greg Kerfoot] does not get involved much publicly, but this, for him, was a labour of love,” Lenarduzzi said. “He was very particular and very hands on — right down to the shade of the blues.” – Vancouver Sun
Understandably, reaction to the rebrand seems fairly underwhelming – it’s hard to imagine fans getting too worked up about such a banal design. With any luck, the club will see this design as a half step in the right direction and rework it sooner rather than later.
-Michael Erdmann
3 comments June 9th, 2010
