Graphic Design « Kshitiz Anand

The new Hero Moto Cop (Hero Honda) logo

A lot has been going on in the corporates, with many tie-ups and mergers. These activities are resulting in a lot of identity being changed and new ones being formed. Change is required for a company to grow. And identities are often a key part of the entire makeover process.

Recently Hero Honda went through one such change, and has now re-branded itself at the Hero Moto Corp. It also introduced its new logo.

Here’s the design brief for the logo design :

“The new logo stands for the new face of India – that youthful energy and ‘can do’ spirit. It is in true sense the “Indian Catapult” which signals that while it is deeply rooted in Indian values, it is also poised to go for global expansion – a Leap of Faith.”

The new Hero logo

My initial thoughts on this was definitely not positive, as the logo as such was a bit difficult to comprehend. The logo is definitely contemporary, especially with the font it has used. But then that was the case with another recent logo fiasco, the Airtel one.

This new Hero Moto corp logo has two components to it. One is the graphic part and the other is the text / typographic part. The graphic part in this case is a 3D one.

The beauty of this logo is that it is simple. It’s easy to reproduce. But thats about it. I have more things to say that are not in its favour.

The problem with 3D logos that play with the concept of positive and negative space is that often it is un-noticed. And even to experts, it becomes obvious only after spending some time staring at it. So it is not surprising that many failed to notice the H that is . . . → Read More: The new Hero Moto Cop (Hero Honda) logo

Let Mr Vaughan know...

The Vaseline Ad

Brilliant example of taking a current affairs topic of controversy to create a marketing campaign and using it to an advantage.

Simple, to the point and high on impact!

Making print ads more interactive

Of late one can see the usage of QR codes in advertisements. So much so that it has been catching attention. It’s there on prints, can be found on the web medium and even displayed at notice boards and other common areas in public spaces. In case you are not familiar with it; QR codes stands for Quick Response codes and was meant to be a code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. (Read more about it here on the Wikipedia page)

With the introduction of more phones that are based on the Android and the Symbian 3 platforms, it is but natural to have more applications that will make use of it.With the 3G network slated to come on a larger scale in the market too in the next month (Tata DOCOMO has already started the promotions for it), the number of applications will only increase. If there is anything that is sure, it is that the interactivity level of the users with their devices will increase.

It is this aspect of Interactivity that is the focus of this article. One can imagine and agree people spending more time on their devices (the phones, ipads, tablet pcs etc). With everyone trying to create solutions for different user groups keeping technology in mind, the number of possibilities are vast.

The down side of this would be the vast pool of information that will be available at the disposal to the user. In such a scenario it is very important to get the right piece of information in the shortest time possible. And that is precisely where the QR Codes (and another thing called Data Matrix) come in handy. Just feed in the information that you need to be coded, into many of the freely available, . . . → Read More: Making print ads more interactive

Google Chrome’s New Logo

Chrome Installer

So it seems to be a season of change in branding and shifting to newer logos. We have been seeing a lot of them and Google joins the bandwagon too, with the change in the Google Chrome logo.

I did not like the logo in the first place, for the sheer reason that it was difficult to replicate and was not flexible to be used across different mediums.

On that front I do like the new logo, that it is easy to replicate and reproduce across different mediums.When you are thinking of a

I like it for its simplicity, but find it lacking in personality. It does not do justice to the brand that we have come to think of Google as.

So I as such, have mixed opinions on the logo. I do appreciate the fact that there is this effort on making all logos of all it’s products using the same set of colors, so that it represents as a part of the whole Google family.

The transformation

Reminds me of this earlier comic strip that was in the social media when the first version of Chrome was launched.

Would be really interesting to know about the design thought process behind the logo. Wonder if its available anywhere as a case study.

The Pure font

So, Nokia has decided to let go of its iconic font the Nokia Sans that adorned its handsets and website and other materials for quite sometime, and replace it with Nokia Pure.

Nokia Pure (image courtesy – http://brandbook.nokia.com/)

Here the entire suit of fonts to see.

Nokia Pure-all in family (image courtesy – http://brandbook.nokia.com/)

I love the fact that they are really putting the word usability at the core of things.

The move could also be seen as a step to to align its branding with the decision to move to Windows Phone platform, where they use the Segoe WP font.

Also got to see this video from the Font Designer’s workshop where the font was created! Super video this one!

PureReversal from Build on Vimeo.

A Graphic Designer’s Journey

A wonderful representation. It’s so true!

A Graphic Designer's Journey

Image Source: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/graphic-designers-journey-freelance-to-freedom-infographic/

A critical analysis of the Aadhaar Logo

In one of my earlier posts, I had written about analyzing logos by using Semiotic Theory. What it basically was to take a closer understanding through different point of views related to the viewer, the designer, etc. Of late one notices that even the governments have been interested in getting their logos designed, and seeking inputs from designers. It is a healthy sign indeed. One such example is the Government of India working hard on the Unique Identification Project under the name of Unique Identification Authority of India and headed by former Infosys co-founder, Nandan Nilekani.

Nandan Nilekani launching the new logo and name

They recently had a new name (Aadhaar) to the whole project and a new logo unveiled.

I am going to do a critical analysis of this logo based on the semiotic theory and seeking the explanations from the phenomenological understanding that I have developed over the years of designing logos and branding solutions.

To start with, when trying to understand the semiotics behind the logo, one first has to understand the referential function i.e. the content of what the logo is composed. The Aadhaar logo is primarily composed of three parts namely, the sun and the finger print and the text below the logo. There are two prime signs in the logo in terms of the imagery. These signs signify certain attributes independently and then as a collective they have a different meaning. While doing a critical analysis, it is important that we understand the signified meaning of all the individual signs and what they signify and then finally the overall logo.

Being an Indian, I understand that the association with the Sun is perhaps more than any celestial body out there. The sun is an element that is worshiped across the country and hold . . . → Read More: A critical analysis of the Aadhaar Logo

An Inspiration: Interview with Paul Rand

Came across this interesting interview about the legendary graphic designer Paul Rand. Touched upon some really nice points. Gives an explanation on the IBM logo, and also his views on why the world needs graphic designers in it. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Kshitiz Anand