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June 5, 2007

Paul Stamatiou's Logo Design Project

I've just completed a logo design project with tech guru, and fellow 9rules blogger, Paul Stamatiou.

Paul writes commentary and reviews on varied topics with a focus on technology, and has very high visibility on the web. So as you can imagine, I found it a fun challenge to work with Paul.

Below are links to the set of mockups and final art at Paul's Flickr account:

Paul Stamatiou Logo Design Set
Paul Stamatiou Final Logo Design Spec Sheet

It was fun, and different working with Paul, since he put all of the sketches, black and white and color mockups I did for him on Flickr — as they were delivered — and opened them up for public comments. I've not had that kind of in-progress, public critique done with my work before. Paul and the commenters liked the work and through the normal process, Paul selected a final winner.

One advantage to having your client post in-progress to final work posted on Flickr is, prospective clients can see the process, how it works and looks — which hopefully sends them to me and MakaluMedia for their identity design.

All in all, it was a blast working with Paul. I think we've found a clean, crisp and memorable mark for Paul to use as personal branding, on the blog and for other things, which makes me very happy.

Thanks for choosing to work with me Paul! :-)

June 5, 2007 1:54 PM | Logos | add to del.icio.us

Comments

I like it because it reminds me of an inkan, a personal seal used in Asia. There's a particularly old style of inkan with a rectilinear script, here's an example, I'm sure you'll see the resemblance:
http://www.himono1ba.com/images/history/inkan.jpg
You ought to get an inkan carver to make the logo into a seal. Or at least make a low-fi rubber stamp. That would be cool.

Posted by: Charles at June 5, 2007 2:38 PM

Interesting comment Charles! I have seen these stamps and they were kind of floating through my mind as we worked on the mark.

Getting a stamp done is a great idea! Feel free to pop by Paul's Flickr collection and suggest that on the latest, final art image. Paul would love and I think go for that idea!

Paul is also Greek, so I also drew from my visual library of ideas, wanting to create something nearly symmetrical for the mark to honor Paul's history.

Thanks for your kind words! :-)

Posted by: Mike Rohde at June 6, 2007 6:45 AM

I love inkan, I had one made for myself when I was a student in Japan. When I started studying calligraphy, I was always amazed at the really amazing ancient calligraphy examples that had seals stamped all over them, sometimes there were so many stamps that they almost obliterated the writing. I asked my art history professor about it, he said that as each new owner acquired the work, they'd add their stamp, creating a historical provenance, and since it was in red, it wasn't thought to conflict with the black ink. I thought it was desecrating the fine calligraphy, but in the end, I came around to thinking it wasn't so bad, it helped me break out of thinking typography and calligraphy had to be so precious and inviolate. So that's why I like the idea of Paul getting a logo stamp, if it was me, I'd stamp all it over everything that came out of my office.

Posted by: Charles at June 7, 2007 2:04 AM

hello Mike. i like the way Paul's blog it's been redesigned. I want to do the same thing with my blog and i want to talk to you about this. could you please contact me on my e-mail address.
thank you

Posted by: adrian boioglu at June 7, 2007 4:36 PM

Charles, this is very interesting! I love the sample you provided and can see how the red and black exist on different levels within the work. Very cool background info.

Do you have any ideas where to get an inkan made? I spoke to Paul and he liked the idea of getting one made very much.

Thanks for the comments!

Posted by: Mike Rohde at June 8, 2007 7:49 AM

Great Job, I like it.

Posted by: luca at June 8, 2007 12:12 PM

I really like the logo design, great job! If you could send me additional information on your services it would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking for a good graphic designer to help with the same thing. Best Wishes, Daniel Del Real, DelRealProperty.com

Posted by: Daniel Del Real at June 8, 2007 3:49 PM

Great tip about posting in-progress work on Flickr

Posted by: Neubreed Design at June 11, 2007 11:08 PM

I just saw this at paulstamatiou.com, very nice job. Very clean.

Posted by: Freelance Website Design at June 12, 2007 12:36 PM

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Daniel, I've been swamped, so I'll send you something today. :-)

Posted by: Mike Rohde at June 13, 2007 8:10 AM

I'm not sure where Paul could get an inkan carved. I got mine carved at a department store in Japan, and there are many little shops that do nothing but carve seals. It seems to be a speciaized occupation. Usually the inkan (or "hanko") are carved in stone or wood, and the carver will consult with you on the most appropriate format for your seal.
Paul seems to be in Atlanta, I checked and there are several Asian shopping communities in the area. He could ask around at a Japanese or Chinese market or art gallery and see if anyone can suggest a good carver. Or he could always go the conventional modern route and get a rubber stamp.

Posted by: Charles at June 13, 2007 11:34 AM

Thanks Charles. Hopefully Paul will check here if he does a stamp, though he's the kid of guy that will work it out one way or another.

Posted by: Mike Rohde at June 14, 2007 11:00 PM

Rohdesign Weblog

June 5, 2007

Paul Stamatiou's Logo Design Project

Comments