I could barely finish reading this Limité Magazine interview with KDU Principal, David Gensler, because I was so distracted by yet another instance of the KDU’s self branding. Also known as The Keystone Design Union, a global collective of creative forward-thinkers, constant reinvention just seems to be their thing. Branding goes deeper than a logo; it’s the way a brand makes you feel, and the KDU definitely gets it. I’ve been doing some early sketches for my own icon, ready to be stamped, embossed, or drawn on the corners of artwork or invoices. It’s a valuable component to have for yourself, as an active designer and artist.

I truly look up to the KDU; they’ve always been a remarkable source of inspiration for me.

On my way through the O’Hare airport last week, I found myself taking more than a few curious double-takes at what seems to be a stunning rebranding of IBM. The campaign is called A Smarter Planet and is the company’s current effort to contribute to green business. The campaign is being applied through 21 corporate avenues, including Banking, Cities, Education, Energy, Food, Government, Healthcare, Public Safety… and each department receives its own custom ‘smarter icon’ so to speak. The collection overall is very compelling; bold, colorful, minimal, charming.

The iconic imagery has influenced the user experience on IBM’s website, reshaping the navigation and providing a really refreshing overall facelift. There’s been skeptical talk about IBM’s efforts as a whole, and what this campaign really stands for, but I’m keeping myself removed from all that. As far as I’m concerned, I think the move is a great one for IBM, and above all I admire the efforts made to maintain the bold, iconic symbolism that Paul Rand set in place for the company, fifty years ago!




Campaign brought to us by Ogilvy & Mather.

Received a newsletter yesterday from Hong Kong-based publisher, Victionary, about a few new books worth looking out for. One in particular, Nice to Meet You Too—the sequel to 2006 release, Nice to Meet You—focuses on branding, from business cards to identity systems and packages.

From the publisher:
Another wave of euphoric greetings has arrived! A sequel to Nice To Meet You, the first book of the series on visual greeting designs, Nice To Meet You Too encapsulates the new perspectives and values that young designers have brought forward to present identity in today’s business card and visual identity designs.

What makes figurative formats speak better than words? How simple artefacts explain what you do? How well could you market yourself while being eco-friendly? What does it take to live up to new expectations? With more than 100 creative talents contributing their self-promotional items and commissioned projects for clients in different professions, this new title gathers a great number of striking hellos that continues to make good impressions in this competitive world.

As an active designer, it’s always worth staying on top of your branding/identity game, and with 300+ pages of rich content, Nice to Meet You Too looks like a book worth reading, over and over again!

Although I haven’t heard much from branding agency, 160over90 in recent news, I was very pleased to read about their redesign for the Philadelphia History Museum. An article, featured on Logo Design Love, really shed some light on the research and development stages of the project. Inspired by William Penn’s original sketch of the city, the logo is historically-inspired, and remarkably thoughtful!

Check out 160over90 and all their other work, too!