It’s times like this that I wish I knew motion design.

I’ve been meaning to write a post about the Climbing Mojo logo/brand development for a while now, this was the first logo I’ve been contracted to do in quite a while and overall I am very happy with the final results.

Initial Phone call (AKA: The Brief)

During the initial phone call with the client we discussed what their expectations and goals were with the logo. Although they were creating a website aimed at climbers they didn’t want a bland logo that would be indistinguishable from their competitors. But at the same time they didn’t want to turn off their core audience of experienced climbers.

So essentially were were looking at finding the sweet spot between “standing out on the shelf” and “catering to the core audience”. One of the other major considerations was that this brand was first & foremost a website brand, so the logo would not only have to stand up in the climbing industry, but also in the web 2.0 world of youtube & digg.

The Initial Concepts

For the initial client pitch I prepared 3 separate concepts, one that was very on the nose and industry related, one brightly coloured “web 2.0″ option, and one off the wall option which looked nothing like their industry.

In addition to the actual logo concepts themselves I also included a number of mockups to show how the brand would translate across different media. This included photoshop mockups of Climbing Mojo apparel such as t-shirts and water bottles, and even a rough draft of what to expect on a website at smaller sizes.

This step, although time consuming tells a much better story of each concept then a simple logo isolated on a white background can do. Suddenly the client has an idea of how this mark is going to look in the real world, and how people might react to it in different mediums.

An uber shiny, reflection crazy icon might look great on a computer screen or mobile phone, but how will it look in a magazine add? Or embroidered onto a t-shirt?

Revisions

Although the client was pleased with the initial 3 concepts, none of them were quite there yet. The typography & style of the first concept was close, but the colour was too pedestrian and the mountains were a little too on the nose. The decision was made to keep the basic style of it, but swap in the more vibrant orange from the second concept and to find a new icon that could serve as more of a good luck amulet or icon in which some one could hold.

So the next round of creative focused on finding an icon to go along with the word mark, something that would speak to the selected name and serve as a good luck charm for the site and it’s users. To that end I explored a number of different options, from tiki gods to abstract shapes with decorative flares.

The Final Results

The final result ended up being one of the tiki god heads, do to some concern about cultural sensitivity the option without the tongue hanging out was chosen, but I still think the version with the tongue was my personal favourite from the options presented.

Old Spice is certainly doing a great job of breaking away from it’s former stodgy image of being your grampa’s aftershave. Their recent commercials are aimed squarely at the youtube A.D.D. generation and their more looking to make you laugh and become your buddy then to convince you that their product is any different then your grandfather’s old smoking chair.

It’s a very hard thing for a company to truly evolve their brand for a younger audience without coming across as a 40 year old asking things like “So, how about that internet? Pretty cool right?”. Or worse yet, the Pepsi route of jumping from trend to trend and setting no real lasting impression in the long run.

All that being said, I still don’t want to smell like my grampa.

Now that the party in Vancouver Canada has died down after the closing ceremony I think it’s time to give props to the designs at the Bay(or their agency) for the fantastic job they did with the athlete’s wear this year. All of it anchored with the excellent retro-chique “Canada” wordmark displayed across the font.

In the past Canada’s olympic wear has been just “meh”, stuff that looked ok in the opening ceremony, but not something you’d really want to wear on the street. Typically it was all red & white, and lacked any real character or class.

CANADA written out in a clean sans-serif font and stitched across a red beret just wasn’t something most of us would wear to a hockey game.

But the mark this year (using Avant Garde) was a great mix of classic & modern, yes it looked retro, but the slight letter modifications (alternating the direction of the A’s, sweeping the C/A together) gave it a decidedly modern look. We’ll only know for sure in a few years, but I suspect this will end up being a timeless look, while the official Vancouver 2010 branding (sweeping blue & green organic shapes) will most likely look very 2010 in a few years, I think the Canada wordmark may just be strong enough to outlast it’s year of release.

Mount Royal College University unveiled their new university branding this morning, and although overall it’s a strong mark I’ve gotta wonder, why spend the money with a Toronto firm instead of locally in Calgary?

Overall I think the mark is good, I think it does a decent job of mixing the fresh with the old and refined. The hidden “M” in the negative space of the open books looks fantastic and fresh, but the typeface is a safe serif that you would expect from any institute with university in the name.

But as I said, I don’t understand why they wouldn’t go with a local firm for such an important and public project, SAIT seems to have no problem spending money locally, and they’ve gotten some great results. The current “Get a career you’ll never want to leave” is spot on, and was developed right here in Calgary.

Heck, even Alberta kept their branding/advertising dollars in province when it was time for a rebrand. But then again, maybe Mount Royal felt that part of living up to the new University name meant going bigger then the local talent pool.

One of the advantages of working from a home office is (aside from setting your own hours and picking the dress code) is having complete control over the office decor. With no HR people around to say “that’s not really appropriate” I’m free to collect and display whatever knick-knacks I like.

For me this has resulted in an entire shelf devoted to Simpsons toys & figures. I’ve got 3/4 of the movie theatre seat set, a great sideshow bob figure from Kidrobot and a massive halloween set from The Island of Dr. Hibbert featured in Treehouse of Horror XIII.

At this point all these fit nicely on the top of my office bookcase, however it’s an exercise in self control to not order up a case of Futurama figures to overtake the rest of the office.

Great collection of minimalist movie posters based on old films. I particularly love The Shining poster shown above.

VIA: Live For Films

Ok, no more whining/complaining/bitching/moaning about client revisions. If you’ve made it in this industry you are very lucky and you should learn to appreciate the positions your not in.

It’s easy to forget how hard it is to break into design and how many people end up giving up on their dream of doing something they love.

_{VIA workman on flickr}

Final Fantasy (Owen Pallet) shows some real commitment in this clip, the rain, the wind, the lightning, some pretty epic results.

2009 has been a surprisingly strong year for music, seems like bands old & new just hit their stride on their releases this past year and I can’t think of any really disappointing albums that came out this year.

As with last year I’d like to give a run down of my favourite songs & albums from the past year.

Top Albums.

The Thermals – Now we can see
This album is so strong I even recommended it mid-year because I was enjoying it so much. Months later and I’m still enjoying the heck out of it. Somehow this albums got a “diamond in the rough” quality to it. It’s just low-fi enough to sound like something a hopeful musician would be selling CDRs of out of a bus shelter. And yet the songs are polished and complete, never sounding forced or over-processed, and just sloppy enough to be endearing.

Truth be told I’m shocked this album isn’t overplayed yet, I’d expect stations like x929 to be all over it by now and I’d be sick of it, luckily this hasn’t happened.

Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
On the opposite end of the age spectrum is Dinosaur Jr’s 2009 album Farm. Dinosaur Jr’s age as a band may even rival that of the members of the other bands on my list. And this album shows that age in the best of ways, rather then peppy kids giving it their all in a garage Dinosaur Jr sounds much more relaxed. Instead you’ve got a group of guys who seem to be pulling this sound off effortlessly, there’s no tension or power struggles, no square pegs going into round holes. Just flowing smooth rock from start to finish.

Cam over at Worksonpaper also included Dinosaur Jr’s Farm on his list this year:

“For me, this was definitely the album of the summer (maybe the year? a close second anyways…), as I found myself listening to it over and over on the highway (Highly recommended as a road trip album!). The standout track is the opener, Pieces, but really there isn’t a track here that doesn’t stand out.”

Death – …For the Whole World to See
This disc actually is a certified diamond in the rough, recorded in 1975 and unreleased until 2009, this disk showcases the emerging punk scene, even if it was slightly a head of the curve. The story of this disc is as such, three brothers start a garage band, record half an album’s worth of material, get into a fight with the record company, forget about the album and grow up to live their lives. This has happened to 100′s of go-no-where garage bands before, and it’ll happen again. The startling thing about this disc is what’s contained on it, amped up garage rock in the vein of the stooges, and hints of the punk that bands like the bad brains & black flag would go on to record just a few years later.

The thing that this disc showcases the best though is that punk-rock in the 70′s wasn’t just an explosion one night in a dingy New York club. There were other bands tinkering with a similar sound in their garages at the same time as the Ramones and The Sex Pistols.

Them Crooked Vultures – ST
This album falls squarely at the half way point between The Thermals & Dinosaur Jr. It’s neither a sloppy garage rock romp, or a laid back effortless affair. It’s as if the three well known members burst into a neighbours garage during band practice, grabbed the instruments away and said “You darn kids, your doing it all wrong, let us show you how it’s done” and then proceeded to blow the top off said garage.

Megadeath – Endgame
Another year, and another new album album from one of the original “big four” of trash metal on my list. From the opening instrumental of Dialectic Chaos to the closing number this is one solid, heavy trash album. Unlike Metallica’s Death Magnetic, there isn’t any filler on it, or experiments to be heard. Just the sound of a lean, mean, thrash band at the top of their game.

Top Songs.

In addition to the albums above there were also some great singles released this year, the following is some of the stand out tracks that have been on repeat for me.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero
From the first time I heard this song I knew it would be an instant classic, from the opening note to the first vocals this song has a timeless quality to it that’ll have it popping up on movie soundtracks for years to come.

Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch
The bassline in this song just hammers it’s way into your head and doesn’t let go until the end. The psychedelic mood of this song makes it a great song for the drive to the party or the cab ride home.

Hot Little Rocket – Volcano
A bit of a swan song as Hot Little Rocket released this album in the same month they played their last show, but what a perfect swan song it is. The course of “don’t stop, erupting every night” shows why these guys were Calgary favourites for years.

Josh Freese – I don’t think that’s OK
Vandals/Devo/NIN drummer Josh Freese released a great power pop gem this year along with a great promotional stunt to go along with it. The lead single is just plain fun and stands up to repeated back to back listens.

The Shagbots – Consequences
Ok I am a bit biased towards The Shagbots because I had the pleasure of doing their website this year. But truth be told this song had me hooked before we’d even sat down to discuss the site. The opening keyboard just grabs you by the hips and forces you to dance.

What I missed.

There’s a few disc this year that I listened to once or twice, thought “hey, this is pretty damn good” but then forgot about and opted to listen to Nine Inch Nails for the 9,000th time instead.

Luckily Cam from worksonpaper.ca is much better about keeping up to speed on these disc and included some of them on his list.

Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid
I’m an unabashedly huge fan of the blues-soul-rock of the Black Keys, so of course Dan Auerbach’s first solo album would be among my favorites of the year. If you’re familiar with the Black Keys, this album won’t be much of a stretch in terms of sound and style – it’s a raw soulful rocker in the style of the Keys. 14 solid tracks of Auerbach baring his soul and emoting through his guitar much to the delight of my ears. There just isn’t a white man on the planet with more soul than Mr. Auerbach. Some choice cuts on this one include Mean Monsoon, My Last Mistake and Street Walkin’.

Japandroids – Post-Nothing
Not many albums released this year were as raw and rockin’ as this Vancouver duo’s wonderfully noisy output.

So there you have it, the top music of 2009, along with some bonus picks on the disc I missed. Now, do I dare do up my top picks of the decade? You up for it Cam?