The logo is the first and most important visual mark of a tea package. It sets the tone for the entire tea-drinking experience. There are several different ways to drink tea – on the go, sitting in a favorite easy chair, or at a fancy luncheon – and the way teas are packaged and how they look ultimately influence which teas are consumed in which scenarios. One wouldn’t bring cheese-whiz to a fancy dinner party – in the same way certain teas belong in certain environments.

I’ve been able to distinguish three classes of tea – all based on their logos – for three different environments. These classes are also based on my knowledge of and research in the brand behind each logo.

Simply straightforward (middle class)

These are the kinds of everyday teas that one stocks for no particular occasion. There are no surprises here, for better or worse. The logos are what I expect tea logos to look like. The colors are bold, the type uninteresting, and if other design elements are used they are rather uninspired. These kinds of logos are so abundant that they are somewhat comforting- nostalgic even.

Mysteriously Magical (unclassifiable)

These teas are reserved for moments of needed calm or excitement – something different. These brands do a marvelous job of bringing out the mysterious side of tea. The type is beautiful but unusual, strange shapes are common, and if color is used, it is rich. For a glimpse of this strange world visit the Tazo website. (Sorry it’s in flash).

Effectively Elegant (high class)

Tea is nothing if not fancy and traditional. These brands appeal to that aspect of tradition and royalty. Elegance can come in many different ways, but the commonality here seems to be serif typefaces, lots of fancy lines, dignified illustrations and little or no color. Not surprisingly a lot of these brands are from England. Why is it that the British are always classier than us? I would (and do) buy tea from these brands just to make myself look classier.

I hope that after reading this post you are better equipped to do your own classifying of tea. If you discover a new class of tea I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

What do you get when you mix a little American ingenuity with German engineering? No, not a VW, but something just as cute. A new logo? Perhaps. Here at openbox9 we recently wrapped up a new logo for American Institute of Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), and would like to share with you our process of creating their new identity.

AICGS works to strengthen relationships between the US and Germany in an ever-changing economic and political landscape. They analyze developments and trends in Germany, Europe and the US, providing networks and promoting dialogue among business, political, and academic communities. The new AICGS logo needed to convey partnership between US and Germany while remaining neutral, as well as hinting at the global nature of AICGS’ research and analysis.

In this case study I’ll be focusing on the process of creation for the final logo. We presented 6 concepts initially, after sketching pages upon pages of ideas. Below is a progression of a few initial sketches– from one of the earlier ideas on the top left corner to the one we chose to work with on the bottom right. The concept for the logo was motion and interaction between two points of the globe, taking visual cues from bridges and transatlantic flight routes.

After working with the idea on the computer, this was the rough black and white concept we presented to AICGS:

Some merits of this idea were that it portrayed the idea of partnership and that the icon and name were contained in one mark, but it needed to be pushed to show more motion and dimension. So we worked on refining the shapes while also starting to work with color.

During refinement, we explored several options to beef up the curves and create more depth to the logo. A large part of the refinement involved getting the curves drawn correctly, with consistent widths and ending points to fit the typeface.

After rounds of revisions and refinements, we arrived at the final mark. We explored many options for color but decided it was best to stay within the color scheme of the previous logo, to help carry over some recognition between the two identities. Adding additional blues to the logo helped create depth to the mark as well. Once the mark was approved we developed the lock-up with the mark and full name. I could probably write another post just on the process of refinement of the typography, but I won’t bore you with those details.

The final logo reinforces AICGS as an organization that is focused on building a strong partnership between the U.S. and Germany. Like the partnership they aim to achieve, the overlapping lines signify motion and interaction between America and Germany, forming a circular shape that conveys a global network.

It’s been great to help move the visual identity of AICGS forward in a fresh direction, and a great experience working with them on this project. Looking forward to collaborating on many more!

View the accompanying stationary, new website and other AICGS projects »

Be cool.

A chair is something you’ll be seen a lot in, so look good sitting in one. When thinking ideal, one has to suspend reality that one can afford these chairs…

Be cool some more.

Nothing irritates a human more that an uncomfortable chair. Make sure the lower back feels your love for it – prove it with cushions made of twinkies (added benefit – warmed snacks for the team after about an hour of sitting)

Swivel n Roll

Getting up from a chair to talk with folks should never happen. My chair will swivel and if needed, roll over to a person despite the terrain — I’m talking Tonka truck wheels.

Refreshments

Hydrating is important to staying alive and a chair should not jeopardize my life. My chair will house a tub of watercooler quality liquid.

Stay fresh

Some might want to roll their chairs to you — a chair should help you smell your best and spare you from bathing. The fabric of my chair would be made of wet-wipes.

Reduce number of seats

Why do we need so many personal chairs? Parents know that their baby’s car seat also makes for a great carrier and rocker. My cool-guy chair would have a dual function by latching into my car.

Weather Controls

I barely have to write anything here – everybody knows your back gets hot while your limbs go frigid. Temperature control is a must. While I’m at it, I want a chair that recreates the feeling of being outside during a crisp Autumn day.

Behold the Schafer BoBimBap-Seat 3000…

Now, before we begin, keep in mind this ride is not intended for all audiences. I am a commuter and use my bicycle is primarily for utilitarian purposes rather than leisure or exercise. Also note that I am not a machinist or engineer and while I can design and dream all I want about my ideal bicycle I don’t have any of the skills necessary to build it. (Read: Urban hipsters: please do not contact me asking how you can get one of these bicycles. Engineers/Bicycle makers: please DO feel free to actually build a model of this and notify me immediately.)

Alright, what’s the first feature of my dream bicycle? Well, some of you may wish for a diamond encrusted bicycle, but remember I’m all for the practical and obviously would want my name spelled out in the frame of the bicycle, like so:

Secondly, seeing as how headphones are illegal while operating a vehicle (that goes for you too drivers) I would want the ability to play music on with my bicycle. What better way to make music than have the ability to play records around my wheels?

Speaking of tires, I’m always worried about bicycle safety and not being seen by drivers at night so why not add some snazzy led images to my tires?

On a practical note, I’d like my tires to be self inflating with a built in pump like so:

I would definitely want a pannier or two attached somewhere. Popularmechanics.com describes panniers as “A graduated basket… well worth the expense.”

Living in washington DC has its advantages- lots of free museums, outdoor film festivals in the summer and a fair amount of bicycle lanes to get there on a bicycle. What’s the trouble with that? Bicycle theft. While there has been lots of attempts at designs to quell the would be thieves I think one of the best inventions is to have the lock be part of the bicycle itself (better yet, an essential part). I saw this on a few sites including bicycledesign.net.

Any bicycle worth it’s salt should obviously be foldable – small enough to fit in the space in car trunks designated for a spare car tire. This idea Volkswagen came up with and I’m a big fan. That way you can drive to the countryside and have a leisurely afternoon of biking.

Besides a pannier or two another basket on the front of my bicycle couldn’t hurt- why carry things on your back when you’ve got a perfectly good machine that can hold things?

I would not want my ride to be a strenuous workout like the crazies who ride the ElliptiGo.

Being a social animal I regret that most bicycles are only build to hold one person. Not the case with my bicycle. Mine would have an extra pop out seat and pedals so my friend could join me in a jaunt.

And the final crowning piece of this bicycle? Well, first think of all the musky animals overrunning the streets of any city. I’m talking about squirrels. They’re not doing much of importance, and they’re friendly. Why not put them to work? I’ll devise the inside of my tire so that it’s something like gerbil wheel meets parrot swing. That way my tires can be powered by natural energy and when they get tired of running, they can jump on a tiny hammock and rest while I pedal. It’s brilliant! And think of all (government subsidized) jobs created because people will need to train these squirrels! It’s really a win-win-win.

I’m thinking the final product will look something like this:

To complete the dream machine I would get an airbag hoodie and a stylish nearly stylish helmet.

While it might not be the most feasible bicycle redesign, I think it’s better than the fake bicycle from Leonardo Da Vinci’s sketchbook and may just be crazy enough to work.

Richmond Flying Squirrels

Not many Minor League team mascots have a reputation for being menacing, and the Richmond, Virginia Flying Squirrels might actually take the prize as Most Cuddly. The dynamic angle of the squirrel, the dark colors, and clever usage of an acorn make up for what it should lack in fierceness.

Asheville Tourists

Asheville, NC is known for the Biltmore, a 300-room estate on an 8,000 acre property. Gawkers come from all over to see it, prompting the local baseball team to name themselves the Tourists. Featuring a moon-headed kid (the team was once called the Moonshiners) swinging a bat made up of a traveler’s pack, this logo is sleek and historical. Who said graphic designers can’t be historians too?

Toledo Mud Hens

About as frightening a concept as the Flying Squirrels, the Toledo, Ohio Mud Hens actually pulls through and makes a Hen seem like one tough cookie. Never mind that a hen is technically a female; this bird’s got ferocity written all over him.

Frederick Keys

Frederick, Maryland is the birthplace of Francis Scott Key, the writer of the Star Spangled Banner. The logo pays homage to this, celebrating the “rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air” that made Key and his home famous. Its black and orange comes from its affiliation with the Baltimore Orioles.

Fort Wayne Tin Caps

The Tin Caps insignia features an apple wearing a little tin cap (surprise!) Why though? As history has it, Fort Wayne, Indiana is where John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, spent his last years. He’s even buried in the city. The typography drives home the “tin” look, with bolts in the corners of the letters.

While they might not be as well known as their Major League affiliate, they sure do have a lot more spunk and history involved in every bit of their designs. As the summer finishes up and you head to one last baseball game or two, be sure to check out their logo. A little thought goes a long way.

Did we miss your favorite? Disagree with these? Let us know in the comments box below!

If millions of people have been affected by this series, wouldn’t it make sense for its influence to creep into our lives in unexpected ways? I’m sure you’ve heard of the College Quidditch Leagues (Go Virginia Tech Phoenixes!), and how wearing scarves with thick stripes is considered very cool (or maybe I’m just very dorky) but it is much more subtle than that. Designers take cues in all shapes and forms from the series whether they directly know it or not.

Harry Potter influenced design is like the boy himself: strong, genuine, honorable, and whimsical. Harry is full of heart and sincerity and when a design emulates that, it’s easy to see his qualities shine through. The edges are rough, the colors are subdued, and there’s something that makes you stop and stay a while.

Harry Potter influence: the Library effect

Colors are neutral, books are everywhere, and the message is to the point. Hermione would be so proud.

Harry Potter influence: Badges

Badges are big in Harry Potter. They symbolize which house you belong to, but more importantly unify a group of people with similar qualities and character traits. Wouldn’t you like to stand behind something honorable and steadfast?

Harry Potter influence: Letterforms

The well known “Harry Potter typeface” is the epitome of the brand. This look of “old school lettering” – Serif fonts and script faces – is on the rise.

Harry Potter influence: Wisps

Swirls run rampant through the books and movies. They are other-worldly and ethereal. This example in particular reminded me of one of my favorite part of the movies: an animation sequence of a story that is told to Harry and Co.

Harry Potter influence: Whimsy

While this example could also relate to the “badge” influence, there is a definite whimsical quality in both the artwork for the Harry Potter series as well as the writing itself. The Harry Potter story goes beyond just the typical doom and gloom, good vs. evil plot. JK Rowling successfully takes you on a journey where you meet up with the likes of the Weasley twins magical joke shop and flashbacks of Harry’s parents mischievous exploits among countless others. The books are above all a fun read, and fun to use as design inspiration.

Have you noticed a design somewhere that seems Harry Potter-esque? We’d love to see it. Share with us in the comments section below.

Phase 1

After the initial kick off meeting with the introduction to the project I started sketching. I was thinking that I wanted to convey family from the beginning because I knew the focus of the foundation was on mothers and they are the hub of the family wheel. I sketched a more or less realistic interpretation of a mother and father holding hands with a child. Then I thought about how I would tie this logo to the middle east. Perhaps I should bring in the shape of the country? What about merging the beautiful architecture in Oman with the letters to create some kind of interesting typographic shape?

Phase 2

Then I started to think that abstracting the mark might be a better approach. That way it could still symbolize a family without showing the obvious and at the same time create a visually compelling mark. I played with a trinitarian design – symbolizing the family unit. Then of course the subject of hands came up. While hand logos have been done everyway to Sunday, I had to try: A mother’s hand reaching for her child’s, a close up of fingers overlapping, etc.

Phase 3

None of these options really encompassed the entire message of the foundation. So I went back to the idea of the family and tried to integrate the family into one shape. I thought about showing just one person instead of three, but that seemed too specific. Then I looked back on my sketches of a row of architectural columns and noticed that there was something there in the negative space between two columns. I drew a better sketch with more intention to create a family-like shape. After tweaking that sketch and rounding the edges a bit more the basic logo concept was born.

Final Logo

For an overview of the creative process you can refer to my previous post our recipe for the creative process.

To see the rest of the print pieces for this project please visit our portfolio page.

Chicago with your baby blue and twinkling stars – this is a cutie pie design.

Can you see the stars square dancing in Tennessee? Nice use of a blue stripe.

Bold stripes with an inviting bird makes me want to visit Uganda.

Butt kicking machine for a symbol – I’ll not invade this island.

Passion. Love of Nature. Oh Canada you are huggable.

I can not think of any better simple use of stripes that create such energy.

Stars over the Potomac and Anacostia – brilliant.

Vector images are created using geometrical formulas in programs such as Adobe Illustrator. Vector artwork is made up of a series of points and lines that uses math to determine how to fill the space between those points. Because it is math-based vector artwork can be scaled infinitely without losing quality, as opposed to raster or pixel based images.
Raster or bitmap images are made of pixels and are typically images such as JPEG, TIFF, & PNG. Because they are pixel dependent, enlarging them too much makes them look pixelated. Raster graphics are sometimes referred to as contones from “continuous tones” and vector graphics as “line work”.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

An image format best used for on the web, but is also acceptable for printed jobs. It uses a lossy compression method, meaning that it throws away image data/detail in order to make an image file size smaller. When saving a JPEG the user can choose a quality range from 1 – 100 with 1 being very poor, and 100 being the highest quality. The size of the file depends on the quality selected. The color range is limitless with millions of colors available. (To avoid confusion: the file extension is .jpg but is the file is referred to as JPEG.)

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

A preferred image format with which to print. It uses lossless compression meaning that it keeps all the image data. While great for detail, it can also create very large image file sizes. Tiffs are also used for as an alternative to PSDs for storing images because they support the same qualities without being software specific. They support layers as well as transparency.

GIF (Graphic Interchange Format)

Another image format for the web, but in contrast to JPEG, it supports transparency. It uses lossless compression but limits color availability to 256. Still more widely used than PNG. The only widely accepted format that supports animation.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

A lossless file format created as an patent-free alternative to GIF in the mid 1990′s. It has better compression and transparency options than GIF. It is largely supported across most browsers, except for Internet Explorer. Below IE version 4 it is not supported at all and even newer versions still do not support certain elements of PNG capabilities. It comes in two different kinds: PNG8 and PNG24. The difference is PNG24 supports millions of colors while PNG8 only supports up to 256 colors. As a result PNG8 files are much smaller.

EPS (Encapsulated Postscript File)

This is a vector file format which can be read across different programs on MAC or PC computers. Raster images can be saved as EPS files, but will still remain uneditable with a vector editing program such as Illustrator. Saving a raster image as an EPS file is essentially the equivalent of plastic fruit; it looks like real fruit, but you can’t really cook with it or change its form to fit your nutritional needs. If a designer asks for a EPS version of a logo, they are asking for the fully vector-editable version.

AI (Adobe Illustrator)

The native file format of Illustrator, the vector graphics creation software from Adobe. Most logos are created in this program (or its equivalent).

PSD (Photoshop Document)

The native image file format of Photoshop, the raster graphics and photo manipulation software from Adobe.

Bottom line: use the best image format for the job and when in doubt reference this handy chart:

Design is functional art

Art is more than aesthetic, it’s about making a statement: communicating. Design is like art, but focuses on the problem (function) first and then fashions communication (form) to produce a specific response. Bottom line: Design is primarily communication that combines aesthetic with creativity to produce a product that not only looks good, but has the potential to affect change.

Design is thinking sideways

Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to not focus at the problem at all. Take the example of the power aware cord. Problem: People waste energy. Solution: Show them how much energy they’re using. Perhaps the solution is as simple as making people aware. Change can’t happen without knowledge of the problem.

Another solution is give people a choice. If you see a “problem” it might be widely used because it is the only option. Greg Holdsworth came up with an alternative solution with his biodegradable casket. He saw the problem: coffins that are gratuitously designed for eternal permanence and came up with a solution. He didn’t try to change what people are using, but simply offered a more environmentally friendly alternative.

These are brilliant solutions because the concept is so simple. Designers cannot force people to change. They can only create something better. The best designers reinforce positive behavior instead of criticizing negative behavior.

The best part about all this? These lessons apply beyond just the design discipline. Everyone has the power to enact change. If you see a problem don’t complain about it. Think like a designer: what would you do differently? How could you make it better?

We hope this post inspires you to make a change for the better. Please use our comments section below to share how you’ve made a positive impact in your community.