Although I  had a GOOD time working on the mobile app this summer, I was sad to see the end of TechTalk last April.  Well, my spirits are now lifted. Last week, I created the new fall version of the series logo (it looks familiar) and then wrote the website spiel, and got to work on the collaterals. This season it's all about ideas (and a pumpkin pie palette):

I just completed 2 back-to-back logo designs from folks that I love working with.

The first is a university initiative focused on reducing paper consumption. The second is a clothing designer/website. The time I spent on both projects combined is about 8 hours; from industry research, to preliminary sketches, to comp submission to finals (roughly). I effin’ LOVE when clients/projects are easy and fun!!

I know that several freelance designers have run through the spectrum of difficult clients. I've been lucky in in my near-decade to not have had too many of these folk (barring one freelance photography client and a website for a notoriously difficult and dishonest pothead in Fells Point). Great clients make this job the best job ever.

Take a look at what the abridged process for one of these clients:

I just participated in a conversation on the topic with colleagues. It was a bit like preaching with a choir, but I want to share some of the commentary here.

I recently had the chance to work with a newly graduated designer who habitually goes straight to the computer whenever a design project is presented. If needing to change gears or develop more design solutions, there was always the need to go back to the drawing board; I personally, found it an inefficient process.

When faced with a new design challenge I always whip out my pencil and sketchbook. This is owing to my fine arts background; it's how I brainstorm, storyboard, script, plan, and develop my ideas. Plus, my poor memory means that I take a lot of notes, so there's always a hard-bound sketch book in my hand.

Here's how some of my seasoned colleagues replied when asked, "Do you sketch before you design?"

"Absolutely! I almost never design on the computer. The computer is a tool and that's it. My creativity flows faster and easier with a pen/pencil and paper. Plus you have a reason to spend an insane amount of money on cool drawing utensils and books!" - PD

"There has to be some preparation before spending the time in design. UX items need to come into play and UX protype tools such as Axure let the designer plan out the site and give it a testing before going into the visual design work. Or, it can be as simple as a drawing in a notebook to plan out a page. So, a sketch is part of the process and can give you as a designer a clear vision." - MS

"Absolutely, I can usually get half-a-dozen concepts out sketching in the time takes my computer to get warmed up. Purely from an efficiency perspective it makes sense." - JS

"90% of the time I do. The other 10%, I do what I call block sketching. It is where I go into Illustrator and just create shapes and build them together. I do this to create a font or build a wireframe for a website. It's quick fun and doesn't take long to get the idea from your head to screen." - TS

"Design begins with the thought process that follows a thorough investigation of the client's needs and the market they're in. Generally for me that is word based, especially for branding. I distil everything down to what I refer to a key words, a very concise summary of the discovery process. In turn this is the start of creating visual proposals and working with the client as 'ownership' by the client is vital. Other projects may be layout and production only where the client has already compiled the material but lacks the ability, skill and experience to turn the material into a professional piece of literature, or other form of marketing or promotional material, exhibition or packaging. Sometimes it is a combination of both. The vital skill for me is drawing out the essence of what is required before any form of creative work begins. Do I draw or sketch first after this? Yes, the pencil or pen is much more flexible than the computer. Do I present this to the client? Sometimes." - RS

Although he didn't participate in the disucssion, Milton Glaser said this about jumping on the computer to create  design, "Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking." Hey, the soup is hot, but is it good?

Binge & Purge (clothing swap) is back and I want to talk about it.

The original idea behind B&P was that I had a ton of super-fly gear from the now defunct shop "Funk in the Trunk"--a vintage clothing store in Baltimore, owned by Travis, Chris and me. The gorgeous garments, stunning shoes, bitchin' belts, and bodacious baubles cluttered up my life and apartment for years after we closed. My original plan was that I'd sell the goods online or on consignment. Seriously, I'm way too lazy for that.

The idea of clothing swap allowed me to get rid of these items and lots of others from my own wardrobe. AND I decided to donate left-over gear to a local women's services organization. Anyway, swap day came and went off without a hitch, by the end of the event I was approached by a local friend and neighbor who offered to take all of the donatable items and ship them to Nigeria--for the benefit of needy families there. I jumped at the chance. In my view, helping others is helping others, period.

In subsequent swaps I have kept the donations to local social service organizations. This September I'm looking forward to driving a truckload of goods to drop off at House of Ruth, My Sister's Place, and Dress for Success.

Regarding the logo and typography, I've made similar design decisions in creating this web banner as in previous years. Check them out...
See B&P1
See B&P2
See B&P3

Binge& Purge Clothing Swap: Sunday, September 23, 2pm-6pm at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore
1700 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Well, we ladies do, anyway. I'm in the midst of planning the March 2012 iteration of the Binge and Purge clothing swap, and working on the logo. This time around I opened Illustrator and typed out the words--using the system default typeface--and then I got back to my day job :)

In bed last night the idea came to me that the glyph should play a feature role in the type solution so I came up with an over-sized ampersand and papaki. The photo element I found via Compfight and I thankfully credit Sharyn Morrow for her excellent photography.

I'm working out the date, so I saved s swath of room at the upper right of the design for that bit.

Sure they are.  Logo redesign is the wave of the present.  These corporate  giants moved from authoritative type in bold uppercase characters to lighter weights,  lowercase, sans serifs.

The jury seems to be out on the GAP logo redesign.  It has a few striking differences that hit me immediately. Readability: dark on light is 15% easier to read than light text on a dark background. The gradient square looks like part of a whole.

Corporate logo redesigns have also added greater levels of tactility and depth to their upgrades. UPS designers brought their signature brown into the 21st century by sketching the shield and giving the previously mechanically sterile design a hand-tooled look; it puts me in mind of sitting next to the artist at his drafting table and being part of the creative process. Again, we see an added gradient.

This tactility is very evident here:
Another prevalent technique used is the breaking down of personal space.  By this I mean that we are closer to the character of the logo. We are now face to face with 'Carmen Miranda' when we bite into our Chiquita bananas. And the 'face' of LG is more human and more closely cropped..Take a look