King+Sons Design

College football team colors

By Eric | October 27, 2008

The top four teams in this week’s AP poll have uniforms that use only one team color and white. There are other teams that do this (Michigan State’s dark green and white comes to mind), but most teams use a combination of two (Scarlet & Gray, Maize & Blue, Garnet & Gold, etc.) Since many teams also add black as yet another uniform color (usually in stripes), here’s a toast to the top teams and the purity of one color and white.

1. Texas Longhorns, Burnt Orange (Pantone 159)
A beautiful design system with an “ownable color” (in brandspeak) and a great symbol (Longhorn on helmet).

2. Alabama Crimson Tide, Crimson (Pantone 201)
Props for having the color in their team name and for the unique typography (player numbers) on the helmets.

3. Penn State Nittany Lions, Dark Blue (Pantone 282)
With their “White Out” at home games they just might “own” white in college football–so why not have the team wear their white (away) uniforms for some of those games?

4. Oklahoma Sooners, Crimson (Pantone 201)
Same color as Alabama. Official colors are “crimson and cream; white is an acceptable alternative for cream and more commonly used.”

Topics: current events, logos, sports | No Comments »

Flip-flopping the candidates’ logos

By Eric | September 22, 2008

Here’s what happens when the logos and fonts are switched for the candidates…

“WHAT?! The symbol of hope and change being used for old McCain? He’d be the oldest president ever at 72! 72 years, people! This design is a mockery! A travesty!”

“WHAT?! A military look for two guys with no military experience? The last time a major party nominated a ticket with no military experience was 68 years ago! 68 years, people! This design is a mockery! A travesty!”

Original sign as pulled from here. The serif font seems to be a stroked version of Requiem while the sans serif is Gotham. A designer ponders the Obama name font switch from Perpetua upper and lower case to Requiem small caps. More design observations here.

Original sign as pulled from here. The font is Optima Black, known for having “sorta” serifs. The star symbol appears to be from Wingdings 2. Placing the McCain lockup on packaging. More design observations here.

Topics: current events, humor, logos, typography | No Comments »

Vintage “Bucky Badger” logo t-shirt

By Eric | August 29, 2008

In honor of the start of a new college football season, here’s a t-shirt I bought in 1988 as a co-op student living and working in Madison. It’s interesting because the logo is unfinished (is it showing the revisions made during the trademark licensing program of 1988?) and because it has non-photo blue (!) grid lines. As a designer, I’ve never seen another sports logo shirt like it. Very cool.

Topics: current events, logos, roadtrip, sports, typography | No Comments »

Opening Ceremonies!

By Eric | August 8, 2008

Wow, it’s finally here–the launch of my full website. THANK YOU to everyone who has offered encouragement to me over the past many months. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Speaking of Opening Ceremonies, it seems that the British Embassy still issues passports with the name “Peking”. So, here’s an alternate “Anglicized” Olympic logo. Gill Sans, of course.

Topics: current events, humor, logos, sports, typography | No Comments »

Patronus logo

By Eric | July 19, 2008

Here’s a logo I designed for a friend’s racing sailboat. Ah, beautiful Trajan

From Harry Potter, where the Patronus charm conjures an incarnation of one’s most positive feelings. “Expecto Patronum!” (Latin for “I await a protector”) is related to “pater” (father)–which fits in very well with my friend’s father-son sailing connections.

Topics: friends, logos, typography | No Comments »

Phil Keaggy logo contest

By Eric | July 17, 2008

I stumbled upon a logo contest at philkeaggy.com in June, but the entries were all due the next day. So, I cranked out a concept–and won a free CD! I didn’t get the top spot, but was in the top five.

“Aspirational! Heaven! The Cross!”

And yeah, I’m familiar with his work…

Topics: logos, music, typography | No Comments »

King-Bugatti airplane engine

By Eric | May 27, 2008

Very, very cool. I stumbled upon this here.

Funny; my dad’s name is Charles, too…

Topics: cars, typography | No Comments »

jkflute.com

By Eric | April 20, 2008

Just launched a simple one-page site for my wife.

Thanks to Earth Songs Tile for letting us use their Celtic pattern that I found online; when we get our kitchen done, we plan on ordering some of their tiles.

Topics: family, music | No Comments »