Memorable Logos

Business logos have always intrigued me from a design perspective and in this week’s reading touches on the invention of the corporate trademark. After WWII, as the industrial revolution was in full swing, the global market expanded rapidly and corporations found themselves needing to reach the multilingual world. This called for memorable icon for each business that was recognizable by people of many nationalities. Meggs mentions the Columbian Broadcasting System (CBS) its corporate initiative to expand business through design. Their art director for near 20 years, William Golden is responsible for the icon CBS “eye” pictograph (below), which has promoted this television network in some form or another since 1951. This is exactly why logos interest me, how this simple image and its affiliated company can be embedded in people’s conscience based on its design. 

 

One of my first experiences in realizing how the design of a logo could impact its connection to a business and thereby create effective advertising is when a friend pointed out that the space between the E and the x in the FedEx logo (bellow) formed an arrow. I realized the some genius decided to push these letters in a simple sans serif font until they’re touching you could emphasize this shipping company’s speed and efficiency. I’ll admit it takes a little imagination to come up with that meaning for an arrow, but I don’t think I’ve used UPS ever since.

Another trademark that stands out to me—probably because I’m a cyclist—and uses the same concept of playful typeface is The Tour de France advertisement (bellow). At first glance it looks like the designer created a nice calligraphy style font that appears brushed with a big yellow dot in the background, presumably the sun because the tour is in the summer. This gives the trademark an elegant appeal that I would remember without the twist. A closer look reveals that the o-u-r, with the addition of two strategically out-of-placed dots, and the sun is actually a peddling racer. Now I will always recall this version of the tour’s logo even if it changes throughout the years. 

My family has always been car buffs and like true patriots we have had many Fords. The blue Ford oval is not just an effective and memorable corporate graphic, but has become a century old symbol for America engineering and manufacturing worldwide. Below is a compilation image of the Ford oval throughout the years. The first emblem is definitely stands out as different from the others, with its Victorian style frame and lack of color, but it was oval shaped. The second one is from 1912 and its basic form of a cursive typeface with a large F surround with a thick oval frame is seen from here on. In 1928 we see the blue added with white font and frame. In about 1961 the logo became a little sleeker with an elongated effect but really no major changes. The most recent version of the Ford oval simply adds some shading, which is indicative of our digital graphic design era.

Image sources:

(in order of appearance)

http://www.pharis-video.com/p2199.htm

(2)  http://now.msn.com/corporate-logos-with-hidden-messages-photo-gallery

http://www.muscularmustangs.com/database2/fordlogo.php

Diagrams versus Maps

In this week’s reading, the section called The prototype for the modern map immediately caught my eye because I do a lot of cartographic design for work and that is the primary reason I’m interested in graphic design—to make better maps. In this section Meggs introduces the concept of a cartographic diagram by presenting Henry Beck’s railway map of the London underground. This was indeed the first of its kind, where Beck unbound his design from conventional cartographic rules of orienting the map elements (stations, railways, landmarks, etc.) according to their actual geographic locations. Instead he took a different perspective of the usefulness of the map and allowed detail to be seen where it was needed most by varying the scale within the one map. This allowed the user to see the busyness of the cluttered railway network of downtown while keeping the far out reaches of the network on the same page. Unlike most maps before it (below top), Beck’s diagram includes only one essential geographic feature for reference (the River Thames) and eliminated the roads and other confusing features which distract from the purpose of the map—navigating the railways (below bottom).

 

Beck’s diagram map continues to influence transit maps around the world and I will display a few and describe how they continue to use his innovations.  In the Hong Kong transit maps below, the one on the top shows the actual extent of the transit system by using the physical location of the rails and stations but the one on the bottom reduces the distance to the far reaching legs of the system. This reduction allows the map to show more detail in the center of the city while only losing detail where it is not needed.

Since this is a graphic design class I should also emphasize the artistic qualities of Henry Beck’s map that have evolved throughout time.  By using only vertical and horizontal lines and 45 degree angles where the tracks change direction, Beck keeps the graphics consistent making the map visually pleasing as a whole. In the Stuttgart transit map below (top) you will notice that the transit lines are drawn only with 30 degree angles, giving it striking almost 3D effect. Beck also conventionalized the open circle as a station stop along a transit line in his diagram map. This can be seen even more drastically against the stunning black background of the Buenos Aires map below (bottom).

I hope by comparing some of the transit maps above you will not only appreciate the drastic influence Henry Beck had on converting transit maps to diagrams, but also understand the practical value and the artistic merit involved in doing so.

Image sources:

(in order of appearance) 

http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/beckmap.htm

http://www.johomaps.com/eu/ire_uk/uk/london/londonmetro.html

http://fidget-group.co.uk/xu-mtr-map-hong-kong.shtml

http://mappery.com/Hong-Kong-Transit-Map

http://chaosluv.blogspot.com/2007/10/keeping-busy.html

http://people.reed.edu/~reyn/transport.html

References:

Ovenden, Mark, 2003, Transit Maps of the World, Penguin Books, New York

 

Man Ray

While reading the three chapters for this week I discovered a very small section in Chapter 13 Called Photography and the Modern Movement. In this section Meggs briefly mentions Emanuel Rabonovich, or as he is more commonly known, Man Ray. About six months ago my girlfriend suggested we go to the Legion of Honor to see the Man Ray exhibit and at the time I had never heard of him. We were mesmerized with his innovative photography techniques and his paintings; he was a master of many mediums including film. But the most touching aspect of Man Ray’s artwork and life, was his relationship and artistic collaborations with Lee Miller. The woman in the photos on page 274 is her and although there’s many more examples of Ray shooting Miller, she was also a photographer also and she caught a few famous shots of him.

 

Since Meggs only writes about Man Ray’s photography I thought for this module I wanted to explore various artworks not mentioned in Meggs  articles about their influence on the modern art movement and graphic design. A lot like the techniques of the Beggerstaffs, in Man Ray’s The Rope Dancer Accompanies Herself with Her Shadows (bellow) the colors are cut-outs of paper and placed on the same plane of the solid color background. As the story goes, Man Ray was displeased with the original cut-outs meant to represent the form of the dancer and ended up using the scraps that had fallen on the form. The shapes in Ray’s painting are definitely abstract, unlike the vivid pictures in the Beggerstaffs posters but the technique and resulting effect is very similar.

The pieces below, from Man Ray’s portfolio Revolving Doors, represent the epitome of surrealism and cubism combined, where the viewer must stretch their imagination a bit to understand the form being presented. The bright colored geometric shapes of the Dragonfly (top) form a sort of iridescent wing, where the line downward line mimics the fragile tail. The Mime (bottom) is created with colors and shape that are not particularly reminiscent of a mime but the posture of the form is paused, as if frozen for the viewers entertainment.

  References:

The Rope Dancer Accompanies 

Dragonfly 

Mime

 

 

Garamond is my favroite typeface!

As read through this week’s chapter I wasn’t finding myself particularly inspired to continue any research for my blog. It wasn’t until the near the end of chapter 10 when I found that the art and crafts movement had inspired the American Type Founders Company (ATF) to revitalize many Victorian era typefaces. Garamond caught my eye because I have always had a fondness for using it in my own documents—every paper I ever wrote in college, as well as the technical reports I write at work are in Garamond—the Microsoft and Adobe versions that is. I started to ask myself why I am so drawn to this font and began observing my reactions to and searching the internet for details on Garamond.

At first glance Garamond appears to be any old common serif typeface like Times New Roman or Courier but when I look closer I realize there’s a simple elegance to it. Garamond is proportioned well; the letters are not too thick, not too thin. The more vertical letters are, especially ones that reach below the line, are slightly elongated and give them a little drama without being brash. The round letters are very round and the tall letters are slim which keep the lines clean. The best part of Garamond has to be the capital J though and how it reaches below the line like a lower case j (my name is Jeff and this gives my typed name some character).

I found a handy website, indenifont.com, which allowed me to search for various versions of Garamond and I got sucked in to comparing the different versions. The first (below) is the original, by Claude Garamond himself. Most of the serifs are simple and flat except a few like the capital T and the lower case d have and angled serif. I especially like the lower case g and how the lower part appears kinked somewhat.

The next is a very popular version today, Adobe’s version of Garamond (below). Compared to Claude Garamond’s, the serifs are all curved and the top serifs have a cup-like quality. The capital A still has a slight angle at the top but the lower case g is not kinked as I pointed out above.

Here we have a “elegant Garamond,” published by Bitstream, which has it’s own take on many of the letters. The proportions are still there which makes it recognizable as a Garamond font, as well as the flat and wide serifs of the original version. But several of the letters have been simplified as in the capital J no longer has the ball at the end as in the previous two examples. 

The final example I have is Monotype’s revival version of Claude Garamon’s original. The proportions from thick to thin are not as drastic and the serifs are curved, more like Adobe’s version. I especially like the curved serif on top of the lower case m, n, p and r.

Links:

Identifont.com

Why design type?

While reading for module three chapter eight, An Epoch of Typographic Genius, stood out as the beginning of applying artistic design to type and peaked my curiosity on the subject. Image 8-1, which consists of 24 grids and the typographic layout of every letter but W, instantly reminded me of a movie I watched years ago called Helvetica. At the time I was taking a beginning cartography class and we were studying the use of type faces in maps. I remember thinking how I just took the design of type face for granted and how I didn’t really understand what drove typographers to a particular design, so I watched the movie again and will attempt to compare the motivations of typographers. My impression from the chapter and movie in that not unlike art, typography changes with demands which are driven by the trends of the time—typographers constantly want something new and fresh.

Rather the basing type on calligraphy as it was in the very early stages of design, in mid 1600s, under orders from the king, the French mathematician Louis Simoneau sparked a revolution of drafting the design of typeface using a grid. During the rococo era, French artists valued extravagance and detail, and typographers followed this trend forming decorative yet structured fonts using this new type design method. William Carlson, who trained as an engraver, designed type described as “comfortable” and easy to read. During the French Revolution the type that was popularized by kings Louis XV and XIV were rejected and an Italian designer Giambattista Bodoni was on the forefront of the modern era. Bodoni’s style demonstrated a level of precision never scene before, with repeating structure indicative of the advancements in printing. 

Helvetica was invented in post WWII Switzerland when typographers were trying to rebuild a new world through type. They wanted something clean and legible and it caught on fast. Fonts were being created daily for the immense amount of advertising perpetuated by our newly industrial society and the Swiss wanted to infiltrate the mother of this phenomena, the United States. Little did Helvetica’s designers know that they would change the face of advertising. Ads of the 30s and 40s (above) were complicated and busy, with lots of people smiling and fancy fonts explaining complicated slogans. Typeface of the 60s and 70s (above) became sleek and simple, to deliver short messages quickly. There seems to be two outlooks on Helvetica amongst the designers and typographers interviewed in the film. Some think Helvetica is the ultimate san serif font and that all the subsequent san serifs are mere inadequate versions of Helvetica. Post modern designers like Paula Scher often think Helvetica is overused and has become the capitalist font. Scher even describes it as the font that supported the Vietnam War. Rock and roll albums of the 60s and 70s (bellow) best exemplify this trend of moving away from the simplicity of Helvetica, even though it was still very popular.

 

I learned several things have motivated typographers throughout time. Everything from the political climate to artistic trends of the generation, as well as technological advancements and the simple just the urge to create something new, bring about new font designs through typography.