Thought & Theory

Creating logos is a series of exercises in simplifying things down to one idea or concept. Just like designing interfaces, you drill down and remove the excess until the core concepts shine through.

The real design comes through in the process stages. Its the 4 rounds of wading through the bad ideas until you find the right one. Its the holding back and trying not to throw everything and the kitchen sink into the mark. Complex is easy, simplicity is always the thing we have to strive for.

Small Creative Brief

So to start off let’s take a look at what POPSignal is:

POPSignal parties are aimed at bringing together the local tech community in a fun and informal environment. There is no format, presentations, or speeches. However, there is always a free open bar, free food, music, fun activities from sponsors (see below), and great conversation.

So the logo we were creating had to evoke these three things:

1) Tech (specifically the 2.0 world)
This aspect was almost too easy considering the name. The RSS Signal is probably one of the most recognizable shapes in the whole 2.0 world so it was a no-brainer to try and reference that in the mark. I absolutely hate needless gradients and reflections, so I at least knew I would stray away from that overused garbage.

2) Fun
I couldn’t use Helvetica, Trade Gotchic or Gotham on this one (my tried and true favorites). I had to use something that was a little more playful. I started by searching through Font Explorer for some slick rounded sans-serif type and came across a couple solid ones that could be modified slightly to fit my needs. The “POP” part of the letter-form naturally was a focus because of the sound it makes when you say it.

3) Playfully Smart
I needed some type of solution that wasn’t too literal but had some kind of small visual twist that made you appreciate the logo more after you experienced it more than once. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t influenced by the FedEx logo on this one. It needed to feel like a smart logo, if that makes any sense.

Round 1

Armed with a basic creative brief, I began the process of wading through the crap. These were the first (read: presentable) ideas I had for the project. Not too bad overall, but they were safe and sure enough Brian (our client) found a logo that pretty much looked exactly the same as my first set. Safe is what 95% of the population is going to think of so after some more discussion with the client we came up with this:

Round 2

Warmer. Closer. Almost there.

Brian and Jay came up with the idea to start integrating two sets of signals to differentiate the logo. At first, I’ll have to admit I didn’t like the idea because it added complexity to the logo. But a couple Red Bulls later, I finally came up with the negative space variation on the right. I found a way to strip away the some of the visual noise of the first one and incorporate that small visual trick I mentioned earlier. Now the “O” became the center of the signal defined by the negative space of the signals and the P’s. It had a personality now, it was almost there.

Round 3

Taking that last variation and cleaning up the kerning, letter forms and spacing we finally came up with the final logo being used today. I ditched the overlapping O into the P’s because it was overkill for the idea. Color was a showdown between RSS Orange and 2.0 style Magenta and the Magenta won. Brian felt like it “Popped” more which makes sense considering our requirements for the brand.

All in all…

This was a fun logo to work with. Brian is always a great client and it always feels like a partnership when working with him, not a designer/client deal. Logo came out great and it’ll be even better when I get to see it all over the place on May 15th at the actual event. See you guys in Boston next month.