At one time or another, anyone who runs a graphic design website has written the ubiquitous ‘Rules of Logo Design‘ article. Oh, it’s not like we haven’t been guilty too. See our how not to design a logo for one such example. Our 7 golden rules of logo design for another. It’s almost like these ‘Commandments of Design‘ should not, can not and must not be broken, lest the Heavens open up, raining fire and brimstone upon us all. But are these commandments really carved in stone, just like the tablets Moses brought down from Mount Sinai? Is breaking any of the rules design heresy, giving in to temptation by the horned dude? Or is there some wiggle room for breaking some, most or all of the many, many rules for designing a logo?. Let’s take a Devil’s Advocate look at what’s what.
10. Thou shalt use a logo to bring thyself from obscurity
Regardless of how great it may be, your logo isn’t a magic panacea that disguises a multitude of corporate sins. Albeit an important one, a logo’s just part of your overall branding and marketing. If your company sucks, your product gives people hives, or you refuse to pick up the damn phone when people call, ain’t a logo that’s been invented that will undo that kind of bad vibery. Looking after what your company does is far more important than how your company looks.
Rolling Stone LA, a 10,000-square feet blend of restaurant, bar, and private event space slated to open later this summer in Los Angeles, needed a new logo. And who better to tap for the gig than Jim Parkinson, the renowned designer of the original Rolling Stone magazine version. Parkinson has been designing logos and letterforms for over four decades, beginning his career as a lettering artist for Hallmark Cards before redesigning the Rolling Stone logo in 1977, and designing lettering for bands 
such as Creedence Clearwater, Taj Mahal, The Doobie Brothers and Kansas. We’re not talking about the Rolling Stones band logo here but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if we did for a bit. It’s often claimed that the famous
lips design was created by Andy Warhol (I was told this in an art school class, by a teacher no less), the “tongue and lips” motif was actually created by British graphic artist John Pasche back in 1970. While it’s true the logo was inspired by Mick Jagger’s famous mouth, it also owes a little inspiration from the Hindu goddess Kali (photo: Piyal Kundu). What’s her story? She’s a ferocious form of the Divine Mother and Goddess of time and change. From Rolling Stone restaurants to Hindu Gods in one paragraph. The kind of stuff you don’t get on just any design blog, huh? [PR Newswire]
Don’t want to get labeled as a snooty designer (again), or an elitist gatekeeper (again) so rather than turn this into another “some designers on 99designs swiped our stuff” whiny baby screed (again), perhaps we should use this example of spec work ‘inspiration’ to demonstrate how to enter a logo contest on 99designs in ten minutes flat. Without actually having to design anything. You know, “evolving“, as in the “evolve or die” mantra that graphic designers have heard so much recently.
Tags: Contests, plagiarism, rants
Chicago-based Crowdspring have taken a new ‘nuke on sight‘ policy on members who insist on entering stock images into their logo contests. In case you didn’t know, most stock image licenses 
strictly prohibit the use of their artwork in ANY logo (or trademark) and can cause all sorts of legal hassles if, or when, it happens. While I still disagree with the spec work business model in general, this is a nice move by Ross Kimbarovsky & Co. and I have to applaud them with a Lift o’ The Pint. The new policy addresses one of the main beefs many designers have with the spec work business model and something many have 
been carping about relentlessly (guilty as charged). While most design spec work sites claim that officially, stock art is frowned upon on their platforms, it’s usually buried w-a-a-a-y down in their terms and conditions and not generally enforced unless people really kick up a fuss (guilty as charged). Crowdspring’s new stock art policy, which claims a ‘zero tolerance’ stance and will see guilty participants banned on first offense, is the most serious, and aggressive to date on any site. Listen up little Crowdspeckers, you’ve been warned. Yeah, I said Crowdspeckers (more on that next week) [Crowdspring]
Logorama, a sixteen minute short film that pokes fun at the culture of commercialism and the impact of corporate logos on, well, everything, won the Oscar last night for best animated short film. Based entirely on characters and scenery created with famous corporate brands, 
Logorama is the profane and violent brainchild (the video above is definitely NSFW) of the Paris-based design firm H5, an outfit previously famous for its work in commercials and music videos. Accepting the Oscar for Logorama was producer Nicolas Schmerkin who acknowledged the film’s three directors: François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain.
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