KSO 2009 brochure
By Eric | October 1, 2009
Here’s the cover of a brochure I designed for the Kentucky Symphony’s new subscription series. This season the orchestra will be performing in venues all over Northern Kentucky, so the solution for the cover is a “law firm” name of the three counties and a map of the counties with the Ohio River.
Topics: humor, music, typography | No Comments »
A car logo you’ve never seen before
By Eric | August 10, 2009
Alright, it was one that I had never seen before–which is saying something. Steyr-Puch is Austrian and their Pinzgauer is one of the coolest vehicles I’ve seen around here. Thanks to Lee at European Auto Specialists for the tour.
Topics: cars, logos, typography | No Comments »
GM’s new divisions (banana republic style)
By Eric | April 27, 2009
If this were a banana republic, the recent removal of GM’s CEO and board would open up all kinds of possibilities—like renaming the divisions for cabinet members! Here are some revised logos with actual (often humorous) taglines.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gets Chevrolet, the largest brand.
Vice President Joe Biden, the old guy, gets Buick—the maker of old-guy cars. Great tagline.
President Barack Obama gets Cadillac, of course. This is the accurate tagline, although the historical one (”The Standard Of The World”) is funny as well.
GMC goes to the DNC.
Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack gets Pontiac. Wait a minute—giving the Ag Secretary the keys to the sportiest brand?! That ain’t gonna work. This just in: Today it is announced that Pontiac is dead. RIP, Pontiac—joining the recent American orphan brands of Oldsmobile and Plymouth. *snif*
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gets Saturn. “Rethink” now applies to the existence of the brand itself—it may get killed off along with Pontiac.
Attorney General Eric Holder gets HUMMER. (And yes, you want him on your side… and definitely not driving against you…)
Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel gets Saab. Born from Jets, now in Air Force One.
Chrysler Bonus—Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner!
Topics: cars, current events, humor, logos, roadtrip, typography | 2 Comments »
KSO Gala
By Eric | February 8, 2009
Here’s a sign I designed for the Kentucky Symphony’s annual Gala. (The ladies here—I think they were Ben-Gals—did not know this, and I didn’t mention it.) When they asked if I wanted to be in the picture with them, I replied “No thanks.” Thankfully, they did not cover up the sign–otherwise I would’ve had to ask them to step aside!
Topics: humor, logos, sports, typography | No Comments »
College Football Rivalries
By Eric | January 8, 2009
The 2008 college football season ends tonight (a battle of two Ohio boys), so here are some random design observations from two games I attended–arguably the two best rivalry games in the country.
. . .
Ohio-State Michigan. Years ago there was a gray “O” at midfield, and I greatly preferred it. In fact, I think Ohio State should play up the “gray” angle because 1) no one else does and it would be proprietary, and 2) nobody does gray like the upper midwest in November–gray sky, gray stadium, gray everything.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: architecture, current events, family, logos, roadtrip, sports, typography | No Comments »
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, including the observation that Optima is used on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.—furthering the connection to McCain.
Topics: architecture, cars, current events, humor, logos, music, 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 »