@joachimth: Brief: I would like a logo to www.ystad.se/skolvaskan inspired by MacGyver

So Skolväskan is swedish for school bag, and since MacGyver was the inspiration I knew that I wanted there to be something in the logotype or symbol that could be used as something else. The site seems to be about online tools for teachers, so it shouldn’t be to childish. The questions were, what would MacGyver use as a school bag, and what should a updated school bag contain?

The black version of the logo looks less like a computer screen then the gradient one, but I think the primary use will be screen. However if there is a chance that something could be used in print and I’m stupid enough to do a gradient logo, I’d better give you a backup solution for free.

Before I was obsessed with the different versions reading the same in both stroke weight and feel, and I still think about that. But for the most part it’s just designers that cares about that. If you have a market of over say 10 000 000, then the small percent that would think better of you if you have that last ounce of consistency. And that would add up to numbers where you should invest in a solution. But otherwise, just spend the time and money on things that counts instead.

Also the text will be hard to read in small versions so watch out for that, the idea took away for function in this case. Usually identity design consultants fix that with rules of usage, corporate identity manuals with lots and lots of rules. And we are back to the earlier if you have a market of over 10 000 000 statement. Did MacGyver care how one were suppose to use things? Did he solve anything permanent?

Download the Skolväskan logotype »

On another issue, if this was a client my first response would be, that the site Ystad.se seems to have a pretty monolithic design structure. Having a new header logo in that structure should be avoided (since it implies that the subparts are not happy with the way people upstairs are running things). Change the structure so it allows more flavors or rebels like @joachimth will break it for you. Or another way to go is just crush people like @joachimth, problem solved.

The music in today’s screencast is Think of you – Le Sport.

Resubmitting can pay off since it sometimes makes it more interesting for me. (and sometimes because you didn’t read how to submit the first time )

@andcar tweeted me briefs twice, first in the beginning of the project:
Brief: My new site goodmind.se needs a clean cut logotype inspired by Will Smith as Agent J (Men In Black)
and then one the other day:
Brief: Need a logo for my new site goodmind.se inspired by Vincent Vegea in Pulp Fiction

So the inspiration here was that he started with a closet scientologist, Will Smith and then took the full step to cult pride with John Travolta.

I can’t figure out if Goodmind.se is suppose to be a personal blog, a new service or a new religion so I just some cult inspired strong graphic that would fit all of the above fairly well. So I guess we have to wait and see what @andcar will do with it. I’m crossing my fingers that it’s not a new cult (then I actually want a cut of the profit if you/or anyone else are going to use my design).

Download the Good Mind logotype »

Design time less then one hour.
The music in today’s screencast is Memories – Gentle Touch.

@DoktorSpinn: Brief: I would like a logotype for the web community PR of Sweden, inspired by Robert Redford in All The Presidents Men.

I wounder what Bob Woodward would say about a PR-network wanting him as inspiration for their logo? (no it’s not a rhetorical question, I really would like to know). Let’s take this minute and remember journalism.

Download the PR of Sweden logotype »

I don’t really need more briefs now, but if the project or brief is inspiring I might still change which ones are in and which ones are out. So keep tweeting, if you like.
The music in today’s screencast is Motoboy – I miss you baby.

@BamBamBob: Brief: Company is named BAM. Would love a fun logo based on the graphic style of the Batman comic books and TV series.

Doing an easy one today. Just a graphic style with no thinking required, downside is that it makes me feel like the human version of the old Aldus TypeTwister. Design time today is one hour.

Download the Bam logotype »

The music in today’s screencast is Chemical Drugs – Le Sport.

@markus: brief: A review-site, recenserat, reviews music found on myspace etc. Logo based on Perry Cox (scrubs) would be awesome.

Since I took the easy way out yesterday and skipped the Dr Cox part of the brief just because it’s hard to have a logotype be ironic I thought I give it another try. So here is another brief that want’s me to do a Perry Cox inspired logo.

I assumed that the reviews will a bit mean spirited but witty. So I gave the the logo two symbols, victory or air quote. Like in Sometimes myspace features great music, and other times just great “music”

The logo is supposed to be animated, however I didn’t have the time to do the flash aniamtion part in today’s design session. But you can see concept for the animation in the end of the screencast. Design time one hour.

Download the Recenserat logotype »

Now for the spots left before I go off the air I’d like to have some more tv-series drama based briefs. And I’d like to do something that should work as a tattoo as primary use.

The music in today’s screencast is Lovetrain – Le Sport.

@nikkelin: Brief: It’s about time to get myself a Nikke a logo for blog and business cards. Inspiration idea: Dr. Cox in Scrubs

It’s hard to make a logo convey irony. I was tempted to just do a Nike logo with an extra k inserted in some funny way, but I didn’t even have to draw that to know that it would look more sporty then ironic. And I thought that Nikke might be as tired of Nike references as I’m on SEO people annexing my last name.

Instead I fell in love with the shapes of the letters silhouette, so stopped caring about the inspiration and just did something that looked good. It happens. I think it was also a bit of fatigue of doing 3d illustrations for screen for a couple of days now, that made me go basic shapes in black and white today.

That doesn’t mean that Nikke can’t use colors on the logotype when applying it. In fact good base shapes for a logo is like good bone structure for a supermodel, everything looks good on you. Design time around one hour.

Download the Nikke logotype »

The photos in the screencast is from searching for Nikke on Flickr, the photo that I’m applying the logo on in the end is one of Nikke himself, the photo is taken by Jardenberg.

The music in today’s screencast is Expectations – Gentle Touch.

@petterm: Brief: My game journalism writing project Mutant Ink needs a logo inspired by Starbuck in Battle Star Galactica. Squared is ++.

Here I assumed that we are talking about Kara “Starbuck” Thrace in the 2004 of BSG, and not the male Lieutenant Starbuck original from 1978. It’s rare to see good portraits of strong female characters, so apparently it helps if you write for a male lead and then rewrites it as a female role some decades later.

The result is not as complex as the character Starbuck, she has lot’s of layers and good logos does not. The more direct and clear a logo communicates the better (in most design strategies). The name Mutant Ink is a strong name, it will look fine in most styles. I wanted it to be both an association of sci-fi and gaming, and of cause to look good in a square.

Download the Mutant Ink logotype »

The whole design took slightly under 2 hours and the music in today’s screencast is Gentle Touch – Pieter van den Hoogenband. And keep commenting and tweeting so I know what you like to hear more or less of. I would like to do a logo for bank, so if you know a marketing director at a cheap bank please tweet “You can still apply to Tomas’ free logo summer project, instructions at http://logotyp.se #logotypse” or tweet something else, just tweet if you like the project.

Exploring something new today, I’m doing two briefs in splitscreen:

@DanielWestman: Brief: My websites name is Tresuri, a treasure hunting website under development. Inspiration: Indiana Jones, adventure, treasure

@webpal: Brief: My project is called Miniatlas.se and I would like an adventurous logotype inspired by Indiana Jones.

The concept for today’s screencast is that it might be fun to watch two logos that roots in the same well known film reference being designed side by side. It looked brilliant in my head, but I’m personally a bit skeptical about the final result. Now when I think about it, splitscreen has always been confusing. If it’s not extremely well planned and executed the audience feels like the are missing half the movie or shifts focus between the two sides so much that they miss the whole movie. Well, please comment so I know what you think. Because I still hope to find a designer that will do the exact same brief as me in splitscreen, before the project ends. Combined design time 6 hours.

Download the Tresuri logotype »
Download the Mini Atlas logotype »

The music in today’s screencast is another from Gentle Touch – Fascination.

@_mw: brief: would like a logo of “mw” in the style of miami vice #logotypse

Copying styles is easy and it’s not design, but sometimes there can be a strategy behind that too. Mathias Wiberg works at a Swedish guerrilla marketing agency called Miami. They see trouble as a way of marketing, so for you guy’s here come a bluntly stolen style with stolen music. Design time under one hour.

Download the MW logotype »

And you can still tweet briefs, if you make a brief tempting enough you can still knock off people before you. I actually go though the list of briefs left each day to see what I would like to do based on if it the screencast have potential of showing something different then the day before.

The music in this one is from the C-64 game Miami Vice, if you own the rights to that, I’m just jailbait, it’s the guys at Miami you really want ;D

@easedrop: Brief: Lemshaga Akademi is a school for ages between 5-15. Needs a logo that appeal to a broad age group. Pippi Longstocking

Today design took a four hour design session to do, so the screencast is two minutes instead of the usual one minute. I start out with exploring classical learning institution logotypes. My guess, since I been involved in branding of schools before, is that the logo is more for the parents then the students, so I didn’t go too whimsical. Today is also an example where I choose to just use the movie reference as a general pointer. In the end the ugly duckling appeared in the design, and it looked good so I went with it. Sometimes you have to bend the briefs and take the opportunities that the shapes offers. Somewhere in LA there is probably a logo where the letters forms a bird, and if this wasn’t just for free I might care.

Download the Lemshaga Akademi logotype »

Also I would like a big finish for my last logo in this project. If you have ideas on what would be a worthy season finale please comment! And if you have briefs are feels like they would fit as a last episode, tweet them in.
The music in today’s screencast is Think of You – Le Sport.