Watch Out — Hot Iron Coming Through!

There's been an awful lot of design work going on around here, which explains why I never seem to have much in the way of personal anecdotes these days. The good news is that some of the work I've been doing is actually kind of fun, and I'm even — maybe "proud" is not quite the right word, pride being one of not only the seven deadly sins but also the ten fetters in Buddhism blocking the way to samsara; so let's say "unashamed"; yes, that seems right — I'm even, I say, unashamed of some of the results. For instance, here's a logo I just finished for a video store in Wolfville. It's the kind of store that doesn't have the largest selection of movies, but is very picky about the quality of movies it stocks, and even takes some unashamedness in some of its more obscure titles, if I may be so anthropomorphistic. We went through the whole branding procedure together, including defining all the core brand values and naming the place. It's really nice when you get to be part of the entire process from start to finish like that.


And, while I'm at it, I don't think I've shown you my own logo, have I? Obviously, I was in on this entire branding process too, a process which is not exactly finished, as I'm still working on my website. I don't know how many of you out there are web designers, but it sure is a different kettle of fish from designing for print. I've done some of it before, but never actually the production part where you lay everything out in a web designing program and eventually make a live, interactive site that has to look right on all browsers and monitors, etc. It's finnicky and unrewarding! I'm really starting to see why tech-savvy web people and designers are always butting heads and talking past each other. It's like two completely different languages that are in no way intertranslatable. I'm developing a lot more tolerance — well some more tolerance, anyway, which I guess is not really saying very much — for all the messy and just plain hideous websites out there. The internet does not make good design easy. Stoopid internet. Anyways, here's the logo:


I'm just about finished branding a third company, too. My friends Jen and Aidan's gluten-free retail business. It's called Schoolhouse Gluten-Free Gourmet, and the logo has a nice (if I may say so) drawing of the old schoolhouse wherein they make all their products. I'll show it to you once it's finalized. Their tagline, which is necessary because after about a million rounds we finally had to admit that we couldn't get all the core values and character traits into the name without making it either religious- or medical-sounding, is "Taste the Possibilities."

"Hey, man, what's with all the taglines, and why is every one of them in the imperative mood?" I hear you asking impatiently, and I don't really have a good answer except that maybe after getting bossed around by finicky clients all day it feels good to boss their customers around a bit, even if it's in an inviting sort of way. Make of that what you will.™