The Chief’s pick of business logo design of the week is this graphic, contemporary beauty for Alpha, a British men’s fashion retailer. The logo symbol itself is less about communicating fashion, and more about providing subtle but unmistakeable visual cues to the market that communicate a contemporary style and confidence.

When it comes to the craft of logo design, the use of visual cues such as these can be equally as effective as more traditional graphic symbols, especially when the business is in the fashion game.

Importantly though, visual identity design should never be judged just on the logo alone. The logo is rarely (if ever) viewed in isolation, rather it is almost always viewed in the context of signage, advertising, packaging, point of sale, etc. etc. As is the case with this sweet identity design, when seen in its visual context, the secondary visual language completes the story telling beautifully.

A lovely example of the craft from UK logo designers; Berg Studio. You can see more of their work here: www.bergstudio.co.uk

A Stylish and Professional Logo Design from the Founder of Facebook. There’s an old, but true adage that plays out in the filed of visual identity design – you only get one chance to make a first impression. Get this right as a brand, and you set-yourself-up to build ongoing, positive and mutually rewarding relationships. Get it wrong and it’s a long hard journey to convincing customers you’re as wonderful as you know you are. It’s no coincidence that it’s often the leading brands who are the best at delivering these ripping first (and then subsequent) impressions. As any Facebook fan who’s ever received a letter back from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will attest, Mark and his branding buddies are masters at making these grand impressions.

Not only does mark respond in writing, but captures a charm and style some may not associate with the bold new world on social marketing, by sending his response via traditional mail – and some. When Ben Barry was an Illustrator at Facebook, he created a set of beautifully designed stationery for Zuckerberg to use for his fans. The type design, styling, colours and embellishments of embossing and foil stamps combine to create a sumptuous impression befitting a dude of Zuckerberg’s status. But above-all these elements combine to create a creative logo design experience for Zuckerberg and for Facebook.

The Chief’s lovin’ this creative logo design for The Barn Restaurant. Whilst the brand mark itself is simple to the point of communicating nothing in particular about the business, the rest of the visual identity language more than  makes-up for that shortcoming.

Quirky, humorous and distinctive, the supporting illustrations are the heroes for this restaurant visual identity. Whilst quality illustration doesn’t come cheap, as these images demonstrate, they provide a business with powerful and unique visual assets to leverage in making themselves memorable. When created by a professional logo designer such as the guys from logo design agency ‘And Smith’ the return on investment for the cost of good quality illustration is always high.

The Chief’s loving the unusual visual language of this week’s featured business logo design. Created for Haven Architects, the soft colours, hand drawn house icon and hand drawn type create an image for the business that is not only soft, warm and human, but also wonderfully differentiated from the rest of the market.

There has always been a risk inherent in zigging when everyone around you is zagging. To create a logo design for a firm of architects that looks so different from the way virtually all other architects present themselves to the market is undoubtedly brave. Undoubtedly there will be potential clients who shy-away from Haven as their choice of architects as they are uncomfortable with a business who seeks to be different. But the smart strategy behind this approach to their visual identity is that those who do choose to consider Haven for the design of their home will be doing so because of the affinity they feel with Haven’s brand personality as expressed by their professional logo design. This thought process is rarely conscious, but ever so powerful – it is what people refer to when they say someone has ‘made a decision with their heart’, which research into the psychology of purchase decision making tells us is where the majority of decisions are made.

The Chief applauds the bold logo design leadership of Haven and the creative work of logo design agency Stitch to bring it all to life.

The Chief’s loving the style of this week’s top business logo design. So often so much of the discussion between logo designer and client centers on the logo. Whilst the logo is no-doubt the cornerstone of every businesses visual identity – it is rarely, if-ever seen in isolation. The design of a logo should always be considered in the context of its genuine application.

As this week’s visual identity in the spotlight demonstrates, it is the combination of the logo, the business cards and the copywriting that tell the story for this client and his business so magnificently.

“Steve Bland is a re-toucher extraordinaire. Multi skilled in the mysterious ways of photoshop and a true Mac wizard. He asked me to create an identity that stood out from the usual, would appeal to the creative industry and reflect his sense of fun and humor. And so, plain old Steve Bland became ‘The Great Blandini’ and an engaging, Victorian inspired typographic identity unfolded. Referencing an era when magic was still truly magical.

The identity includes ‘playing card’ business cards, featuring a different photoshop trick on each one and magic wand poster proofing tubes.

This great visual identity was created by logo designer Mike Rigby at Interbrand with Malin Holmstrom, Andrew Droog and Mike Reed.”

The Chief’s lovin’ this illustrated creative logo design of the week. Created for US fashion and homewares retailer Nordstrom who were re-launching their female “tween” line of clothing entitled “Bright Possibilities”. The the logo design needed to keep the high-end, sophisticated nature of the Nordstrom brand intact while engaging youthful consumers who were new to Nordstrom.

This professional logo design solution created by illustrator Matt Lehman is bursting with life and energy that is so important when creating a visual identity design for retail. The colours, illustrative style and clever manner for combining photographic imagery make this solution fun, engaging and fresh – perfect for the brand and for the new customer market they were wishing to attract.

This week thanks to the great imagery on Matt’s web site (Matt Lehman Studio) we’re able to show you an insight into the creative process. Illustrated below are six of the conceptual directions Matt developed for the brief.

Part of what makes this logo design such a success is the flexibility the elements provide. The strong visual language can be re-shuffled and re-constituted to meet the many different requirements of retail brand communication whilst remaining true to the identity and fresh each time. The following applications of the visual identity show just how flexible this logo design solution is.

Often a logo design firm will engage an illustrator like Matt to create a solution for one of their clients. When this happens it is an example of true creative collaboration with the design studio directing the illustrator, whilst leaving enough scope for the illustrator to use their own creativity. When it works well as in this case, the result is equally impressive from both a creative and commercial perspective. A result that is testament to the skills and talents of both the Illustrator Matt Lehman, and the logo design agency Zeus Jones.

This Business Logo Design of the Week presents a masterclass in contemporary contrast. Artisan Unlimited is a contemporary community of traditional craftsmen – something of a contradiction perhaps, but also a brief that is well answered by this clever and professional logo design.

The essential visual elements that make-up this visual identity design fall into two categories:
• Contemporary – the typeface, the bright yellow brand colour and the diagonal slash; and
• Traditional – the secondary layer of photographic elements such as worn wood, fabric and button, etc.

The beauty of this logo design solution is the striking way these elements that are conceptually at odds work so well in partnership to communicate the unique essence of Artisan Unlimited. This great ID was created by UK logo design studio The Consult. You can find-out more about this talented crew here.

Here’s the Chief’s Corporate Logo Design of the Week. This wonderful example of professional logo design is not for a coffee company, it’s not even a logo for a cafe, it’s actually part of the visual identity for the Sussner Design Co.
Often businesses who wish to position themselves in an interesting or unusual way in the market can take-on the image of another market entirely to show-off their wares. If I’m one of the best logo design studios going-around like the guys at Sussner and I wish to show the world what we do, including the logo design for a fictitious SD coffee company, or SD Co. brewery into our visual identity is a great way to do it.

For most of the market this approach is way-too left field, but sometimes that’s the best place to find an approach to help you stand out in the market.
You can check out a bunch more of the pics from this creative logo design here: http://cargocollective.com/brandonvanliere

This week’s business logo design of the week is not so much a logo as a post about the visual language of vintage logo design. As we touched-on last week, for many businesses and their brands, communicating a sense of history and tradition can be very effective in positioning yourself to the market. This is especially true for craftsman and artisan brands amongst others.

The key to communicating a feeling of heritage through your professional logo design is getting the right combination of typeface, colour, image and graphic device. As these pics illustrate, the best logo design traits can be drawn and reproduced from actual vintage design examples. These pics have been sourced from the recently lauched blog of Megan Cummins; Vintage me oh my. Whilst not a blog of a logo designer as such, there is much rich reference here for designers looking to create a sense of authentic history, heritage and tradition.

The Chief’s lovin’ this week’s top business logo design. With many businesses and their brands, especially business to consumer brands, communicating a sense of heritage through your visual identity design provides a real advantage.

Much of the role of brand positioning comes from the ability of a business to evoke a strong belief in their ability to deliver on their promise. For a coffee company, this relates directly to the ability for the business to convince the market that they have the credibility to make great coffee. Heritage can be a powerful lever in terms of creating a convincing brand message, for instance, a heritage of traditional coffee making scores highly in terms of creating strong brand credibility for a company like Metrio Coffee. As a result, this great example of company logo design leverages the visual cues of tradition through the style of illustration, the use of a traditional owl figure, colour palette, the centered type, the traditional typefaces and type lock-up. All these elements combine wonderfully to create a professional logo design that positions Metrio well within it’s competitive market.

This packaging and visual identity design was created by the talented folks at logo design firm Robinsson Cravents.

The form and design of Metrio’s packaging further reinforces their traditional coffee making heritage.