It has been awhile since I posted process so here is a selection of some digital ideation. I will spare you the 10 pages of sketchbook work that got me to this point in the creative journey. The client for this logo has been very particular about the numerous levels of meaning within the form and the colour of his logo. We are at the point now where we are starting to refine those elements and get something that we will both be happy with. I should be happy too – right. I am looking forward to getting the form finalized and seeing it in action for the shop.

Stop by Secret Cycles on the West Coast and say hi.

Corporate Identity Glossary
	Logos, corporate identity and branding defined
	It’s easy to get lost in designer jargon about corporate identity and branding. Here is a brief glossary to get you up to speed. Term Definition Brand A brand consists of the values, both emotional and psychological, that a consumer associates with a company and/or its product/service. Branding The process of creating a brand. Brand Awareness A measurement of how aware a consumer is of a particular brand. Brand Equity The financial measurement of a brand by its owner(s). CMYK Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black are colours used by professional printers to create paper based work. Using all 4 colours in a print job is often called full colour processing. Corporate Identity The consistent image created by a company’s offline and online communications. This image usually consists of: consistent use of specified colours, typefaces, graphics, layout and logo. Logo A logo is a graphical, illustrative or typographical representation of a company’s identity. Resolution Low Resolution 72 ppi (pixels per inch) – is Web site resolution and refers to the resolution on a monitor. It’s often referred to as 72dpi (dot per inch). This is incorrect because dpi represents printed dots on a page. High Resolution High Resolution 300 ppi (pixels per inch) – represents high quality printing resolution. Most print artwork is prepared at 300ppi. RGB Most monitors have a red, blue and green phosphorous tube which can create 16.7 million colours. We use RGB colour for Web work because it’s viewed on the screen. Serif Fonts A serif is a small decorative finishing stroke added as an embellishment to the basic form of a character. Serif fonts are typically proportionately-spaced and often display a greater variation between thick and thin strokes than sans-serif typefaces. Two common serif typefaces are Times Roman and Palantino. Other serif typefaces include Garamond and Georgia. Sans Serif Fonts Refers to typefaces that do not have serifs. Common sans serif typefaces include Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Trebuchet, Futura and Gill Sans. Spot colours Spot colours are often used for business stationery because they are colour accurate. You can be assured of getting the same colours on your business cards, letterhead and brochures. Running 2 spot colours on a printing press is also much cheaper than running 4 colours. A spot colour is often chosen from a Pantone swatch book.

All above definitions are stolen from Template Central,

The following Identities I am working on are not a part of a Template but rather the working relationship between a client and a designer. These are works that are in progress, but its identity work that fits with the industry and the clients companies working in that industry.

If you need an identity you should be working with a designer, and stay away from Templates, unless you are a Template

I’m going to be able to milk the “student designer” for about another 3 weeks and at the time I am going to have to start introducing myself as a “designer”.—Exciting.

I have been logged into the design chat at the GDC for about 5 months now and the information has been invaluable in many ways. Making the design world something to be proud of is an organization all creative thinkers should acknowledge.

I have yet to meet Rick Strong, but I am sure our paths will cross, he wrote these inspiring words on the blog moments ago and I was sure I wanted to share them with the 5 people that visit my blog. This was his response to a conversation a few designers were having in regards to dealing with vendors, and clients. It is about reducing designs association with being simply a commodity and taking it to a level that is that of a professional practice.

Pass on the brilliance.

This comment by David is critical to the financial success of Graphic
Designers (caps intentional):

“This method also takes design out of the manufacturing process and
reduces the perception that design is a commodity.”

What Graphic Designers are selling (after we get past the layout stage
of our careers) is essentially “intellectual property” not skills.
Any person who has a copy of Illustrator, Photoshop or InDesign can
draw a perfect circle, clone a background or lay out a newsletter.
People selling those “skills” are now, literally, a dime a dozen.

What IS in short supply are people who, given a specific communication
goal, can take a blank screen or 64 sheets of blank paper and
conceptualize an entire web site or publication that achieves the goal
of the client. This is very much harder than it sounds.

“Doing” a logo or “doing” a layout doesn’t make one a Graphic Designer
any more than taking snap shots with a pricey DSLR makes one a
Photographer. It’s not what’s in our HANDS that counts, it’s what’s in
our BRAIN.

To paraphrase David, “This awareness takes design out of the
manufacturing process and reduces the perception that design is a
commodity.”

Rick Strong,
Ottawa.

My proprietorship will run under the handle Hoffmanian Creative, and I have been playing a bit with my identity although the level of effort in that department has taken a back seat to  stuff going in the grad show at ECI so until next time I will be a *HIC.