Many in the sign trade have a sharp distaste for Helvetica. Others love and swear by it (not at it). Love it or hate it, choice is your. One thing that is almost unarguable is its readability and use for many large corporations.
Not sure if this jump has been posted here yet or not; 40 Excellent Logos Created with Helvetica via webdesignerdepot. While I may not agree with the title (40 "Excellent"), they are recognizable and readable.
Posted by Brent Logan (Member # 6587) on :
Well, some of them are excellent. I think they were incorrect about the Dole logo.
Posted by Bill Lynch (Member # 3815) on :
Amazing how simple (and effective) some really "big" logos are.
[ March 24, 2009, 01:14 PM: Message edited by: Bill Lynch ]
Posted by bruce ward (Member # 1289) on :
WOW that was an eye opener. it appears when other elements are added to a logo you tend to be distracted from what font it really is....i suppose a good question would be WHO has just helvetica without added embelishments or logos?
i like myriad by the way, just a little twang to it i dont care for arial
Posted by Tracie Johnson (Member # 6117) on :
There are some really good, simple and effective logos there; however, a few of them are not helvetica...
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
Yea, they look good. Helvetica, what are ya going to do? I guess it's better than a lot of other stuff out there. Stuff you cannot read. I do agree with some of the others that some of the logos were not true helvetica.
Posted by Bill Modzel (Member # 22) on :
I know a month or so ago someone mentioned the PBS show on Helvetica. It was great and the sheer volume of logos and other graphics using this font was amazing. I did tape the show but you might be able to find a copy in your local library also.
Posted by Bill Lynch (Member # 3815) on :
I was thinking about some of these logos and wondering how many of my clients would accept a line of type as a "logo"?
Posted by ScooterX (Member # 2023) on :
I'll respond to Bill's post first (the last post) Bill asks "How many customers would accept just a line of type for their logo?"
So I ask Bill, "How many of your logo design customers are Fortune 100 corporations with a recognizable name?"
If you're branding a well known name, then your job as a logo designer is to get out of the way and let people read the name.
Some logos use Helvetica as the starting point, and then get clever.
FedEx crams the letters together to create a little arrow between the E and x.
Crate&Barrel just has a very simple logo to enhance a simple idea - right out of the box. They do it with just black and white.
American Apparel is ready to wear! (and also black and white)
Panasonic mostly relies on their name. Same for BASF and Jeep (but I think Jeep tweaked the ascender of the J -it seems a little shorter)
Posted by ScooterX (Member # 2023) on :
I've been trying to improve my design skills, and that takes practice. So I just set myself the job of trying to use Helvetica to come up with a "type only" solution for
Bob's Shrimp Shack
I spent 45 minutes, and it was fun. Try it yourself and see what you can do. Or, come up with your own imaginary customer and sweat your type skills a bit.
Helvetica is pretty cool/corporate, so it is tough to warm it up.
I think the bottom design painted in Dark Bronze, with "shrimp" filled in with Coral, could be real nice. It still needs some work, but its heading in the right direction. Posted by Dawud Shaheed (Member # 5719) on :
I guess, i'd be hard pressed to charge client money for a "typestyle" logo like that. I mean..people are trying to save as much as they can these days and here I come saying, "yeah, and your sign is going to be an extra $250 for the logo" And it's just some type style logo like that, I don't know...I can't think of many customers I could look in the eye and charge $250 to sit down and type a few letters out.
Posted by Bob Gilliland (Member # 28) on :
Scooter - , with both post’s.
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
I like that last one, Scooter- good show!
Posted by ScooterX (Member # 2023) on :
It ain't how many fonts you have, its how you use them. Posted by David Thompson (Member # 2395) on :
To me a logo has to be a bit more than what any moron can type out on a computer.
Panasonic, to me is not a logo. It is just type for a company that got huge and became associated as a logo. If you had a little "Mom & Pop" store with a one word name in Helvetica, no one would recognize it as a logo.
On Scooters list, the only ones I consider to be a logo are #4 and 6, the rest are just type to me.
I consider these logos because of the different styles and unusal centering of the words.
, with both post’s.
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