Category Selection

The following is a healthy collection of 21 online portfolio websites and applications. Some are free and some are paid. We have the usual suspects in this collection and I also some lesser known portfolio solutions, at least to me anyway. I spent some time trying to discover alternatives to sites like Behance and Deviant Art to provide a wider audience reach for your work.

This is just a sneek peek of a logo and identity design I have finished for a self initiated project called, OptoLoop. The Sneek Peek is to provide an initial view of the logo images. An in-depth ‘logo design process’ post will be done in time brief and to the point information on that design. It will be linked to the images currently existing in my portfolio.

This is based on my initial first impressions of the Comcast rebrand. I have not done any educational or rational research to the reasons Xfinity has been chosen. Comcast has rebranded its cable TV, internet and phone services as Xfinity TV, Xfinity Internet and Xfinity Voice.

During the briefing process with a client, the subject of speech bubbles surfaced, namely they wanted one as an integral part of the logo design. In their case, the concept was quite warranted, but I still felt burdend by the cliché and overuse of speech and thought bubbles in logos. Interestingly enough, after provided them with a basic logo concept, that included the speech bubble, they sent me a link to this post entitled. Die Speech Bubble Logo, Die.

This the third in a series of ‘to the point’ posts where I focus on one aspect of logo design offering ideas, things to consider and implement. The idea of these posts is to keep waffle down to a minimum, just focus on the essentials of improving your logo and identity design process.

Logorama Trailer – A movie based entirely around logo characters, logo buildings and pretty much logo everything else. There is a detailed post over at BoingBoing which is worth a read.

Seems the LogoLounge range of books are the staple diet of any designer interested in logo design. I still carry the small pocket sized volumes around with me when I think I might end up in a coffee shop somewhere, a quick flick through for inspiration whilst sipping a coffee. Having all previous volumes of the LogoLoung series, I am in eager expectation of Vol 6.

The two most prolific fonts, side by side. I have nothing further to say on this subject…

Harbor Originals is a result of a unused client idea. The logomark received some favourable feedback when I posted the initial idea for a previous client on Facebook. Although in this case, the client felt it inappropriate for her target market, she did mention it would be more than suitable for someone else in a different geographical area.

It’s no shocker that more and more people are feeling the financial squeeze, being a freelancer, with no real steady and reliable income, just sets you up for endless financial stress. I have recently talked openly about several logo design projects where the clients have failed to settle the outstanding balance. Leaving me considerably short changed and generally very pissed off.

Just some silliness on my behalf. Some of these self promotional ‘posters’ or ‘waste of space’ designs have been around a short while, but the snow one is a new one just out today. It’s just a fun way to mock myself yet keep the basic message of what I do right there in your face. There is NO shame. NO shame whatsoever.

In rare moments of clarity, the odd thought pops into being. Nothing ground breaking, often consisting of nothing but common sense and reason. As well as the former and latter, they act as a timely reminder to myself and those I may work with.

This is Part 13 of the Logo Design Round-Up series. This ongoing series showcases a collection of logos and brand marks, self submitted by a bunch of freelance designers and creative folk in many creative areas. These designers use the logos to sell, promote, brand and market their various skills.

Came across a good article on Church logos, by Ralf Bassfeld, a non-designer. It’s interesting to read an article on logo design from a non-designer and I was interested to read his on what is good and what is not so good. Church logos are frequently victim to overly used cliché symbols and icons, so finding original and fresh Church logo designs is always a treat.

Having read Smashing Magazine for a few years now, always wondering what it takes to get on that ‘contributors list’, well here I finally am. I just want to suck up the excitement of my first post on Smashing, because I am rather chuffed.

Reading a post on Monomoda recently called Resonance, compelled me to write a few of my own words about the art of trusting your ‘first’ ideas as the true ‘gut instinct and reaction’ to the logo design project in hand.