loco for logos - part deux

Joelle here, with my selection of great logo designs for the chicks' January design challenge! Yes, February is only hours away, I procrastinated a wee bit. But not because I didn't love the task! It is interesting to peek into the minds of other designers, and see what's going on out there in terms of images, colours, fonts. Because logos and graphic design are very much tied into the world of fashion - there are trends that come and go, and some classic designs that never go out of style! But then of course there are the logos that are still wearing shoulder pads...and we want to steer clear of those at Kanvas Ink. So to research what is being designed around the globe, to get a sense of what is "in", and to just plain get inspiration is something I will definitely continue to do! Enough blathering...
great logo #1: How cute is this? It is a logo for a high-end maternity clothing store near my old stomping ground of Davisville and Mount Pleasant in Toronto. It is a belly - see the belly button! This logo just makes me smile.


great logo #2: I have actually admired this logo for a long time, as it is just so clean and simple. I love the cleverness of how the "b" and "g" are stuck together as one within the circle. Good on ya, Bottlegreen! I like your drinks too...
great logo #3: This is so lovely...very simple and elegant and delicate. It nicely portrays the style of the company's illustrations. Do you think I like circles? Hmmmm...



great logo #4: Now this is clever! The Human Society's new logo with animals forming the shape of the U.S. It isn't necessarily a "pretty" logo but I am impressed with the brain behind it.


great logo #5: Another cutie! Not much to comment on here except that I like the colours, the simplicity, the font, the lightheartedness.

Lastly, Kelly and I agreed to choose one of the logos created by Kanvas Ink. that we each like, and I have chosen a fairly new addition, a logo for a company in B.C. called Pollination.
Kelly was the brainwave behind this one and it so accurately illustrates what the company does (they are 'executive relocation experts') but in a clean, cool as a cucumber way.

Bravo to the designers who created these logos! You have provided much inspiration! And bravo to the crowd still tuned into this riveting blog entry. I blame it on the winter blah's!

We go Loco for Logos!

So here we are sticking to our new years resolutions and continuing our ‘design’ and ‘inspiration’ journey! This is chick number two, Kelly, with my picks for some really cool and interesting logo designs. It was funny to start this as when I found a company I liked, they were usually a design firm and I actually chose some of their logo creations for other clients to make my list. This is by no means my fav list of logos of all time...oh man that would take me about a lifetime to construct...this is more of way to force myself to take a few hours and just have fun surfing the web and finding some cool companies along the way to push and inspire me in my everyday life and work.

This first on my list was ‘Five Chairs’...


To be honest I have no idea what they do, I didn’t get past that point...I know it was a ‘business-y’ business, corporate and the what not...but I loved how the little chairs line up in a row with the clean and crisp font below it. I think what makes this great is the versatility on what you could do with other print materials, and the combo of colors is fun but has a professional appeal...What I also got from it was the whole ‘different hat’ idea, that just by looking at the logo I feel like they are capable of handling all kinds of business-y facets - marketing, finance, organization etc...5 chairs...I mean stars for this one!

Next was ‘Sam the cooking guy’...



Firstly these first two logos are done by a long time fav design firm of mine called Cabedge...They are from the states and have such a great website that I feel really inspired our site...the frank dialog that the text has with the audience is great - funny and down to earth..and their designs really speak for themselves...ok enough about them cause then you will go and hire them, not us fabulous chicks at Kanvas Ink. :)

I like the colors of this logo and the whole - ’hello my name is’ tag idea is great. I love how a simple change in color going up the middle gives the logo a whole new dimension. It really pops out at you...It also doesn’t hurt that the dude sam is quite cute:)

Third on my list was Swiss Maid...



Such a cleaver use of little irons in the shape of the swiss red cross. The mixture of the two fonts works so well together..it makes me want to clean! Er, no I mean hire a cleaning lady! This was my fav in this list...it really is a perfect use of imagery/color and font.

Next is ‘we bleed design’...



This dude designed the swiss maid logo, and I thought his use of imagery on his own logo was really great as well. Kinda sadistic but in a cool groovy way which is right in line with my tastes. I love the simple use of bright colors on a black background and the ‘dripping’ of colors down the stairs...pretty wicked work...

Finally I chose Oak Hills Periodontics...



This one was particularly interesting to me as I really looked twice at this one before I ‘got it’..ok before you say how slow I am...did you really get it? The Oak trees are actually forming the teeth! Ok, perhaps I am the only one to not ‘get it’ at first...but the bottom line is, I did in the end! I went to their website as I was thinking - this is going to be so awesome and I was so disappointed...but man, they did a great job on the cards...they get 4 teeth out of 5...

Ok, so I think you thought this was finally over, but alas I have one more! I didn’t want to showcase all these other dudes logos and say how awesome they were without taking a peek at the ones WE have done in the past and choosing one of my fav designs a la Kanvas Ink. So here goes...the winner of 5 chicks out of 5 is....drum roll please....



Ta-da! I have always really enjoyed this logo from the get go...I like the fact that the little tennis racket was worked into the design and isn’t out of place..and I LOVE the little tennis ball in place of the ‘c’...genius if I must say so myself...and I really can say that without looking obnoxious cause it wasn’t me who designed it! My lovely partner in crime Joelle worked on this design and I say kudos to her!

ok that is about all I can say in a blog without going overboard...well I think I went a little overboard, but if you are still reading this...you get 5 chicks out of 5...peace out...

Dino-mite!

I know what you are thinking - two blogs in one week - what tha?! Well Joelle and I have turned over a new leaf here at Kanvas Ink. and we have decided that life gets so busy with clients and home that we never really take the time to get creative and do fun things for us. I mean, we are a design firm and we really should be out there, taking in the culture and the what not - so we have decided to start the exciting KANVAS INK. DESIGN CHALLENGE for 2008 - yee haw! We have decided to venture out into this crazy world the first Tuesday of each month and go somewhere inspiring & amazing...not just to go out and shop for clothes...although it did cross our minds...

We also are going to present to you - our loyal readers or reader (not sure if anyone other then my mom is reading this) - a series of challenges that we will undertake each month. January is loco-logo month...we are going to get crazy and find logos that are awesome and present them to you with a fine critical analysis, so you can delve deep into the twisted minds of us two chicks...or we might just say they are pretty...stay tuned for more!

So back to the expedition from this past Tuesday, we decided to...drum roll please...go to the Royal Ontario Museum! We wanted to check out the newly crafted wing that was graciously donated by Michael Lee-Chin. What an amazingly crafted spectacle it was. It was designed by Daniel Libeskined who actually scribbled the design on a cocktail napkin when he was visiting the ROM for a wedding. It was later coined the crystal because of its shape. It was awesome to say the least.

We traveled through time to see Greece, Asia, some really awesome dude making glass paperweights (sounds lame - but it was so cool!), some great art deco furniture and umm some old typewriters...ok we did find that section a little boring, but it was the dinosaurs that really got us going. Discussing evolution, dinos in Ontario, and the scariness of what these creatures really would look like standing in front of you, ready for lunch...terrifying! We took some cool shots of Joelle imitating the gi-normous turtle (an all time fav for me), and we tried to get a few head shots of us to prove we were really there..but of corse - who ever invented the old arm reach around to take a shot of oneself, really didn’t think about a nice flattering shot...we really don’t look that odd in real life...well not always.

So all in all, we have to rate the ROM 7 out of 10 chicks...10 chicks for the dinosaurs minus 3 for the old typewriters and hefty ticket price - 20 bucks! So until the next adventure - keep fit and have fun! Oh and we did end up at Teatro Verde after all...you can lead a chick to a museum, but you can’t tear them away from expensive soaps.

A taste of summer in this dirt hole called Canadian winter

This is a blog I meant to write oh about 6 months ago...and now that Joelle and I are becoming uber organized in 2008 I actually found the images from this idea I had way back when. It seemed fitting as the snow is rapidly melting this week at a freakish rate and it is leaving behind a wake of filth and muck that is just horribly depressing to look at. These shots were taken back in the spring - my first spring in A-town and I was so inspired by the way the towns-folk manicured their yards and gardens. I took my camera gat-abouting one fine morning through my neighborhood and came home with lots of inspiration of how to build my garden. Unfortunately I realized I have not one green thumb in my body...but I can truly appreciate them nonetheless. So for all you depressed and soggy canadians out there...remember how life used to be and will be again in 4 long hard and cold months...viva spring!