Uncensored Coffee Logo.
A large majority of the work I do is on behalf of other design firms or ad agencies. They hire me to execute design projects for them, and many of these projects are logo identity or brand development explorations. In a nutshell you could say they pay to borrow my brain.
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Motorhead center chest design.
Some of the most memorable art for me growing up was the monstrous hot rod inspired creations of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. Ghouls manhandling over sized stick shifts, pipes bursting with flames, tires peeling out and engulfed in smoke. Everything a young creative kid who liked to draw drooled over.
I suppose the monsters in Roth’s artwork were the real point of attraction for me though? I can’t really say I’ve ever been into cars, I’ve always liked hot rods and I go nuts when I get around a pimped out 1950 Desoto with a grill that could sink a battleship. I love the whole irreverent nature of the kustom kulture, and the modern sub-culture equivalent regarding all things hot rods and the artwork that fuels the genre.
Originally this design was intended to be used on a beer label for a friend, I agreed to cut him a huge deal since the theme sounded so fun. Well, he hated it. (Go figure?)
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DragonFrame logo design and badge graphic.
When I’m hired to create logo / brand identity concepts I provide a broad range of explorations for the agencies I work with. They in turn take the directions I’ve developed and use them in their own presentations to their client.
The creative process can be exhaustive as we dial in appropriate designs based on the clients audience and marketing strategy. But no matter how well a creative process is formulated and executed, in the end the client can still choose to be flaky and decide not to use anything you’ve created.
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Double-headed eagle design.
At times I play the role of a graphic hit man. An agency will hire me to execute on a specific design they need for their project. I’ll digest their creative direction and provide them with the specific artwork needed. In this project I was asked to illustrate a double-headed eagle motif.
The double-headed eagle is a familiar visual composition that has been reiterated upon many times over the ages. You’ll find references to it in ancient Sumerian civilization, but it was popularized in the Byzantine Empire heraldry, Holy Roman Empire heraldry, and most prominent in modern day Russia.
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Local Design Culture
A local companies identity.
The majority of clients and agencies I work with are either out of state or out of country. That said I like helping small business owners locally improve their own branding and marketing efforts as well if and when the opportunity arises. When ever I see a new local business open up and it has a lousy logo I’ve wondered to myself at times “How do I get connected with them before they started building upon a bad graphic foundation?”
A local sign shop recently asked for my business card because they were familiar with my work and said they’d like to send people my way when ever they run into poorly designed work that comes their way. I’m all for increasing the quality of the local design culture so I gave them some of my business cards.
I was contacted by a local business called “Green Carpenter Antz” who asked if I could clean up their muscle bound construction worker, and change his face so he doesn’t look drunk. He wanted it to be more fun and happy. He also explained how some people thought he was an exterminator instead of a carpenter.
Holding back a laugh, my gut reaction was to just turn it down and say “Sorry but I really don’t re-furbish existing logos.” But right after this initial thought I had another one that made me think “Why don’t you try to help this guy out? You can create an identity for him that’ll work great.” in other words I should invest in my local design culture.
So I proceeded to explain to this small business owner the problem with his current identity by auditing it.
Logo Identity Audit
- This isn’t really a logo, it’s a bad layout using equally bad illustration.
- There is no clear hierarchy of information, it’s a cluttered mess.
- It reads “Carpenter Antz” and “Green” is lost.
- No one can tell you build using environmentally conscious “Green” methods.
- It looks amateurish which I’m assuming doesn’t reflect the quality of the work you do?
I explained to him how he needed a logo that would read quickly, a more graphic approach that would also reinforce the fact that he was an environmentally conscious carpenter. I also said part of the communication problem is that he was using “Antz” in his business name so I suggested changing it to “Green Carpenterz” instead. He seemed to be OK with that but insisted it had to have an ant in it still.
I informed him what I normally charge for an identity but said I would be willing to help him out and just charge for my time only. He was still hesitant even at this severely discounted rate. At which time I thought to myself again “Just wish him the best and tell him you’re not a good fit for what he’s looking for.” I again battled within thinking “I want to convince this guy that good design can improve his bottom line.” So I told him I’d be willing to design a logo and show it to him, if he liked it than it would be the price I stated and if he didn’t than he could walk away without any cost to him.
He agreed to this arrangement and I planned on working on this later that night.
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