forward-thinking

a designer friend of mine pointed out the subliminal arrow in the fed ex logo and i was shocked. i consider myself pretty observant but i completely missed this intentional element hidden in the text. its creator is lindon leader and he designed the logo while working at landor associates in san francisco. here's part of an interesting interview with him that reveals a little about his design intent...

At what point in the design process did you realize you could create an arrow with those letters?
First of all, by the time we’d gotten to this point we’d already created and reviewed over 200 designs; some close-in to the “old” Federal Express logo and others progressively more daring (though all the while retaining the enormous cache of the famous orange and purple (despite the fact that many respondents in focus groups thought the Federal Express colors were “red and blue”). The current design was one of six semifinalists that were being refined for a presentation to very senior management.

If you put a lower-case “x” to the right of a capital “E” (Ex) you can begin to see a hint of an arrow, though it is clumsy and extremely abstract. I thought that, if I could develop this concept of an “arrow” it could be promoted as a symbol for speed and precision, both FedEx communicative attributes. And, by the way, different kinds of arrows were utilized with some of the other semi-final candidates, though none of those were “hidden.”

Once I decided to refine the concept of the embedded arrow, I found that, to make the arrow more legitimate and identifiable, one needed to actually reconstruct the letterforms in order to make the arrow happen. This leads to your next question:

Did you have to manipulate the font in anyway to create a perfect arrow?
Yes, indeed. I was studying Univers 67 (Bold Condensed) and Futura Bold, both wonderful faces. But each had its potential limitations downstream in application to thousands of FedEx media, from waybills and embroidered courier caps to FedEx.com and massive signage for aircraft, buildings and vehicles. Moreover, neither was particularly suited to forcing an arrow into its assigned parking place without torturing the beautifully crafted letterforms of the respective faces. To avoid getting too technical here, suffice it to say I took the best characteristics of both and combined them into unique and proprietary letterforms that included both ligatures (connected letters) and a higher “x-height,” or increased size of the lower-case letters relative to the capital letters. I worked these features around until the arrow seemed quite natural in shape and location.

Why choose to keep the arrow so subtle? It seems to show remarkable restraint. Weren't you or the people at FedEx ever tempted to make it more obvious with an outline or a different color?
A good question and one that I am frequently asked. An arrow, in and of itself, is one of the most mundane graphic devices in visual communications. Truly, there is nothing unique or particularly strategic (marketing-wise) in using an arrow as a brand identifier. Early on, before the brand rollout in mid-1994, FedEx’s public relations agency was preparing to emphasize the arrow as a secondary graphic to underscore the “speed/precision” positioning. They proposed to leverage this in their FedEx communications. Landor put its foot down and said, “No way.”

The power of the hidden arrow is simply that it is a “hidden bonus.” It is a positive-reverse optical kind of thing: either you see it or you don’t. Importantly, not “getting the punch line” by not seeing the arrow, does not reduce the impact of the logo’s essential communication. The power of the logo and the FedEx marketing supporting the logo is strong enough to convey clearly FedEx brand positioning. On the other hand, if you do see the arrow, or someone points it out to you, you won’t forget it. I can’t tell you how many people have told me how much fun they have asking others “if they can spot ‘something’ in the logo.” To have filled in the arrow, or to somehow make it more “visible” would have been like Henny Youngman saying “Please take my wife” instead of “Take my wife. Please.” Punch lines that need to be explained are neither funny nor memorable.

graphic designer tackles the medicine bottle

my M.F.A. thesis project is on the horizon and i'm frequently analyzing potential projects. during some of my research, i came across an article about deborah adler, a graphic designer that decided to redesign the problematic medicine bottle.

you've probably struggled with these containers at some point and if you have older people in your life then you've witnessed how confusing these can be for them, especially when dealing with multiple prescriptions at a time. the bottles aren't just unattractive, they're dangerous. according to a poll conducted for target, 60 percent of prescription-drug users have taken medication incorrectly. adler couldn't help wondering why the patient should have to rotate the bottle to read all the information on it? why should the name of the drug be hidden at the bottom of the label? why didn't the label say anywhere what the medicine was for?

adler began redesigning the bottle for her M.F.A. thesis at the school of visual arts. she designed a label that displayed the most relevant information, reconfigured outdated warning labels, and added color coding system. the retail store target snapped up the design and began manufacturing and selling it. adler used her design skills to help the community. what an inspiration.

i'm so over handwritten type

it's unfortunate when a great design element becomes so ubiquitous that you have to give it a rest for awhile. take the example of typography that looks handwritten... it's so trendy now that two ad campaigns (with rather unrelated messages) have launched at the same time, using the same style. perhaps only a designer would notice? you tell me.

between a rock and a soft place

you know those LONG days (like today) that tempt you to daydream about where you'd rather be...at home, curled up on a bed of rocks? these photos of livingstones tempt me to do just that. their designers found a way to reinvent the pillow. i bet they had a lot of fun during their immersion sessions! drooling all over the products...literally. the theme this week seems to be pillows...my employer just purchased two monster size beanbags that my colleagues have been running and diving into. now that i have plenty of places to nap, i will do so...in about 5 weeks.

flip and tumble resuable bags

these flip and tumble resuable bags come with some personality. they look like toys when they're all rolled up and come in great colors. i think the product photos were shot in sf ;)

obama hearts good design

i agree with many of obama's perspectives and think he could be a great president and leader...but it's hard for me to forget that he is also a brand. just like brad and angelina, apple and coca cola, obama's brand is designed to project and sell an image. it's perfectly packaged and marketed to the public as a presidential candidate. fast company published an interesting article titled the brand called obama. in the article, keith reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB worldwide says "barack obama is three things you want in a brand, new, different, and attractive. that's as good as it gets." it goes on to discuss the differences in obama and clinton's campaigns:

"Obama and Clinton make an interesting contrast in brands," says Professor John Quelch, senior associate dean at Harvard Business School and coauthor of Greater Good: How Good Marketing Makes for Better Democracy. "Obama communicates that he loves people, and Clinton communicates that she loves policy." Consider Starbucks, Quelch says. "People love it for the experience, not for the specifications of the coffee." Obama, through his inclusive Web site and, yes, his lofty rhetoric, reinforces the notion that everyone is included and that this movement is actually a conversation to which everyone is invited.

the design behind obama's campaign is also worth mentioning. from the consistent use of the gotham typeface to the blue color palette and succinct messages, he is delivered in a polished and youthful manner. in the new york times article, to the letter born, steven heller discusses these design choices with brian collins, an expert on branding. collins responds to heller's question about whether collins thinks typographic style actually makes a difference:

You bet I do. Style equals accuracy. Put the word “change” in Comic Sans and the idea feels lightweight and silly. Place it in Times Roman and it feels self-important. In Gotham, it feels just right. Inspiring, not threatening. In the end, typography makes a real difference when it delivers words and ideas that are relevant to people. And for many, that seems to be the case here.

logo design 101: google

google got me. i totally fell for their april fool's joke for a good ten minutes. i thought it would be a good time to share a brief article i saw in wired. it discusses some of the original logo directions that were presented to google and a little about the designer's intentions for each design. the only option (aside from their final choice) that i feel is strong is logo 1. if these were the final choices, i'm thrilled that they selected logo 8. there are some pretty scary options in that set.