Chapter One: No escape! (33 logos in 33 minutes)
Logos bombard us. Think clothes labels, running shoes, TVs, and computers. From the moment we wake to the moment we sleep, they’re an ever-present part of our daily routine.
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The average American sees 16,000 advertisements, logos, and labels in a day, said Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., in his book Brain Longevity.1
1 Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. with Cameron Stauth. Brain Longevity: The Breakthrough Medical Program That Improves Your Mind and Memory. (New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing, 1999).
Don’t believe it?
To illustrate the constant presence of logos in our lives, I decided to spend the first few minutes of a typical working day photographing logos on the products I interact with, beginning with my morning alarm.
The following sequence tells a story of its own, providing a brief glimpse into my daily routine, which is not to say that there weren’t plenty of other logos around me at the time—on other food products, books and newspapers, TV shows, and my clothing.
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Try it yourself. Maybe not as soon as you wake up. But what about right at this moment? Look around. How many logos can you see?
Reuters magazine proclaimed in 1997 that “In the last 30 years, mankind has produced more information than in the previous 5,000.”2 Because humanity is now producing such a vast amount of information, we’re seeing logos that are increasingly similar to one another. This poses a problem for companies that are trying to differentiate themselves visually, but it also creates an opportunity for designers who are skilled enough to create iconic designs that stand above the crowd.
2 “Information Overload Causes Stress.” Reuters magazine, March/April 1997. Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe. London: Reuters Group PLC.
The Guild of Food Writers
By 300million 2005
Take, for instance, 300million, one of the United Kingdom’s top creative agencies, which spent two weeks creating and crafting this logo, making excellent use of negative space to show a spoon inside a pen nib.
“What you take away is just as important as what you keep,” said Katie Morgan, senior designer at 300million.
Seeing just one great design like this is a testament to the work of creative agencies like 300million, as well as ideal inspiration for designers everywhere who continually strive to create brilliant designs. Let’s take a look at a few more in Chapter 2.