Enjoy yet another installment of Brand of Brothers! Join your host, Doug Berger, as he takes on the role of tour guide through this branding expedition. He's excited to share with you the latest in brand refreshes, a history lesson, wisdom nuggets, along with his interview with Alex Lang. Let's get branding!
CORRECTION: The "favorite font" mentioned in this episode was designed by Jonathan Hoefler.
Enjoy yet another installment of Brand of Brothers! Join your host, Doug Berger, as he takes on the role of tour guide through this branding expedition. He's excited to share with you the latest in brand refreshes, a history lesson, wisdom nuggets, along with his interview with Alex Lang. Let's get branding!
CORRECTION: The "favorite font" mentioned in this episode was designed by Jonathan Hoefler.
This episode is sponsored in part by AdobeXD, how designers UX. Learn more at adobe.com/xd.
Intro:
It’s time for Brand of Brothers! My name is Doug Berger, and I will be your tour guide through this branding expedition. I am excited to share with you the latest in brand refreshes, a history lesson, wisdom nuggets and our guest Alex Lang pays us a visit! Let's get branding!
Brand Updates:
Let's talk about our latest favorite brand refresh:
Well, first off, it’s not super-new. But, it’s still new. Back in September, Maserati unveiled their rebrand. And, to the untrained eye, one might think the adjustments are quite subtle. They wouldn’t be entirely wrong. However, the logo now reflects the finely tuned and a bit more accessible offerings than the previous iteration. I’m kidding about it being accessible. The newest model starts at just over $200,000 dollars…US.
So, yeah, the lines are crisp. The points are sharp. And, the typography is more legible than ever.
In case you’re having trouble envisioning it, the logo is comprised of a trident centered above the logotype, which is a slightly forward leaning script that emotes speed and stability. And, of course, you can see it for yourself in our Instagram feed @brandshowlive and our website brandshowlive.com
This new logo debuted on the new MC20. It’s their newest turbocharged sports car. You can pre-order it in time for fall of next year. It’s sleeker, narrower and more graphically precise. The logo, not the car. The line weights are well-balanced and consistent. We’re talking mechanical perfection. And, the wordmark is an equally complimenting and contrasting visualization, which can certainly be described as smart and fresh. Before I begin gushing to much, let’s talk about how this logo came to be.
According to Maserati, the brand was born in Bologna Italy in 1914. About six year later, the first incarnation of the logo was crafted. In fact, one of the Maserati brothers got the idea from a family friend, the Marquis Diego de Sterlich. We first see this logo in the wild on their first fully in-house design and assembled vehicle, the Tipo 26.
Of course, in Roman mythology, the trident is associated with Neptune, a powerful god who symbolizes dominion over the sea. Well, Bologna being quite a ways away from the Adriatic Sea—I don’t know, maybe an hour and a half drive. Well, possible less in a Maserati—anyhow, the idea here is about owning your dominion wherever you go. In fact, the company moved even further inland in 1940 or so to Modena. However, the ethos persists.
The meaning goes beyond the trident and deeper with the Maserati’s signature color palette. For instance, when we see the trident juxtaposed on the deep navy blue, we aren’t just reminded of Neptune’s domain over the sea, but also his enduring strength. Sometimes, we find the logo on a white or silver color field, meant to reflect domination and perfection. Finally, the red speaks to its bold, fiery power, delivering unparalleled performance from Rome to Florence to anywhere around the world.
So, if I had to give this beautiful update a rating, I’m going to have to give it a: where precision meets performance.
How would I make it better? The typeface is almost perfection. My biggest hangup is it feels like font and not a logotype. I wish it had a bit more character. As for the glyph, it’s almost to rigid. I would love to see some more curves and softened edges. I’m a huge fan of contrasting and complementing elements. I feel like the glyph could use a bit more of both.
However, I must confess, up until now, I have never really been a Maseratti guy. But, these new lines are even on display with their newest model. Thankfully, I never have to worry about plunking down a chunk of change for one of these badboys. I’m pretty sure my wife would have something to say about that. You know, like, how are we going to pay our bills? Ok. Next topic.
Favorite Fonts:
So, Is it an oldie but a goodie or something fresh from the typographic oven?
Well, since it was made this century, we’re going to classify it as new. And, since it was designed by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, it’s fucking amazing. We’re talking about Sentinel.
For my type nerds out there, maybe you’ve wanted an italic or oblique in a Clarendon typeface. Or, perhaps, you wanted more weights or better legibility with your slab serifs. Well, they’ve taken the best ingredients, and baked us something so delectable.
According to Hoefler & Company’s website, typography.com:
The first slab serifs were designed to be oddities. It was their intention to be eye-catching, to be novelties amidst the world’s conventional book types. Never mind that some of these faces treated different letters inconsistently, or had inherent qualities that limited the size of their families: these were eccentricities, and to a novelty typeface, eccentricity is strength. Two centuries later, their legacy includes three beloved species of typeface that are handsome, popular, and maddeningly difficult to use. Each is marred by a crippling deficiency, a situation inspiring Hoefler and Jones to create Sentinel.
A slab serif whose capital O is close to a perfect circle is called a Geometric. Its capital H will have horizontal and vertical strokes that appear the same weight, a policy that’s consistently applied throughout the entire alphabet. If the strokes are inflated beyond a certain weight, it becomes impossible to create a matching lowercase: the structural complexity of the lowercase a, e and g limits how heavy the design can go before these characters close in on themselves. The Geometric that maxes out at the Bold weight can only achieve a Black by compromising the underlying design, and in a typeface characterized by rigid geometries, these kinds of concessions can be glaringly obvious.
An early compromise was the introduction of contrast, which allowed horizontal strokes to remain thinner than vertical ones. This approach, which made it possible to create lowercase letters in extreme weights, proved to be an attractive motif among the capitals as well, and the resulting style became popular under the name Antique. A cousin of the Antique is the Clarendon, which adds rounded brackets that connect its serifs and stems, a useful feature that gives bolder faces the appearance of extra weight. These brackets are consequently a liability in lighter weights, where they begin to overpower the letters themselves, and in counterpoint to Geometrics that lack heavier weights, Clarendons rarely have lighter ones. Their absence of a Book weight makes Clarendons useless for text, a fate sealed by a greater problem which they share with Antiques: neither have italics.
Sentinel was designed to address the many shortcomings of the classical slab serif. Unbound by traditions that deny italics, by technologies that limit its design, or by ornamental details that restrict its range of weights, Sentinel is a fresh take on this useful and lovely style, offering for the first time a complete family that’s serviceable for both text and display. From the Antique style it borrows a program of contrasting thicks and thins, but trades that style’s frumpier mannerisms for more attractive contemporary details. It improves on both Clarendons and Geometrics by including a complete range of styles, six weights from Light to Black that are consistent in both style and quality. Planned from the outset to flourish in small sizes as well as large, Sentinel contains features like short-ranging figures that make it a dependable choice for text. And most mercifully, it includes thoughtfully designed italics across its entire range of weights.
Oooh! It must be time … for … Haiku Review!
Many diff’rent weights
It’s diversity is great
This slab is top rate
No matter the look
The typeface for any nook
Italic to book
And, those, my friends, are our Sentinel 5-7-5’s.
As always, see the typeface for yourself in our Instagram feed @brandshowlive or on our website brandshowlive.com. Of course, you can snag this beautiful family over at typography.com.
Logo History Lesson:
Way back in the 1900's, before Adobe Illustrator or even the Mac—or even before we re-appropriated the term branding from ranchers—there were the true pioneers of modern graphic design.
Today, we’re talking about Bass Ale.
This identity fascinates me to no end. The earliest known trademark is said to be that of the Bass Ale’s red triangle, which happens to be depicted on beer bottles in Edouard Manet’s 1882 painting “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere”.
Established in 1777 by William Bass in England, the Bass Brewery grew into one of the largest beer companies in the U.K. by the end of the 19th century, with over 1,500,000 barrels of beer produced annually. Bass was even eventually included in the inaugural FT 30 index established by the London Stock Exchange in 1935, signifying the brewery as one of the top 30 companies in all of the United Kingdom.
Of course, this brand is a thing of legends. Why? Well, I’ll tell you.
The generally accepted story is that after the passing of the Trade Mark Registration Act of 1875, when applications to apply for trademark registration opened on January 1, 1876, a Bass employee was allegedly sent to wait overnight outside the registrar’s office the day before in order to be the first in line to file an application to register a trademark the next morning, and that is why the company has trade mark number one. There is no evidence for this story: but it is certainly true that a label with the triangle on it, and the words “Bass & Co’s Pale Ale” is indeed the UK’s Trademark #1 And, to that end, is listed as having been the first to be registered on New Year’s Day 1876.
Oh! You know how I mentioned it was in a Manet painting? It’s also in a bunch of Picasso’s as well as mentioned in James Joyce’s Ulysses. Yeah. Crazy, right?
So, the logo’s distinct color and the compelling—even mesmerizing—nature of Bass branding are celebrated in chapter 14 of Joyce’s epic novel. Let me read you a bit: “During the past four minutes or thereabouts he had been staring hard at a certain amount of number one Bass bottled by William Bass and Co at Burton-on-Trent, which happened to be situated amongst a lot of others right opposite to where he was, and which was certainly calculated to attract anyone’s remark on account of its scarlet appearance.”
While the red triangle, itself, persists, the logo has been considerably simplified to only include logotype that references the original scriptface in which the name Bass was typeset, along with the underline conspicuously placed beneath the “ass” part of Bass. The updated logotype is beefier, as is the underline, which is no longer seemingly emphasizing the bottom-end of the logotype. This refreshing update was completed in 2014 by Frohlich & Kent.
You can see the original and the update over on the Instagram feed @brandshowlive. And, of course, it’s also on our website brandshowlive.com
Inquiring Minds
Before I begin, I just wanted to say thanks for everyone sending in questions. If you have one, feel free to DM through social media, email them to hello@brandshowlive.com or leave a message by calling US area code 650-265-7350.
Our first question comes from Laura asking, “How do you know when a design is complete?”
Well, there’s a complicated answer and simple answer. Let’s start with the complicated answer. Once you have exhausted all the possibilities for the communications problem your design is solving, you choose the ideal answer, right? So, now, you elevate the design by perfecting spacing and margin, creating a visual balance between all the elements from graphics to type, and developing tonal harmony. But, the simpler answer to “when do you know it’s complete” is when you have ticked all the check boxes, that’s when you know you’re done. For instance, will this resonate with the audiences? Check. Does the design reflect the message? Check. Is the tone coherent, cohesive and consistent? Check. Is this good enough to go in my portfolio? Check. If you can affirmatively answer those four questions, then you know the design is complete.
For our next question, Blake asks “Is there a formula for pricing?”
So, this is a tricky one. Everyone has different methods for pricing their work. Frankly, I believe it should be a direct correlation to value. Not the value a client puts on it, but what you put on it. And, I’m not talking about an hourly rate. However, I am not going to discount the purpose for having flat rates for a deliverable. But, what I will ask is “will the scope of work for the same product be the same for different clients?” My personal experience says no. So, should you price your work based on the worst case scenario? Personally, I find that to be unfair to well-prepared customers. When it comes to pricing, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of checking out the Graphic Artist Guild’s Handbook on Pricing and Ethical Guidelines. This is a great starting point for someone struggling with pricing. What I can tell you is I price based on engagement. It’s not retainer. Some might call it a subscription. I tell a customer how long it should take. I assign a periodic rate with an engagement level. And, if it runs beyond that period, which it may for an unprepared client, they have the option to renew the so-called subscription. Of course, you can apply this theory by dictating a strict scope of work in your contract that dovetails into this method, which can employ iterative fees. I hope that helps!
Lastly, Francisco wants to know “what are they best ways to get inspired?”
That’s an awesome question. I find my inspiration in so many places. Sometimes it’s just from reading. And, other times it’s from forcing myself to just draw and see where things go. However, I create inspiration boards for all of my projects. I actually use Pinterest to do this. I start by finding elements that match the tone of whatever project I’m working on. This can be photos, graphics, or maybe even other finished designs. From there, I try to distill it down to what reflects the goals & objectives I am attempting to forward. Eventually, it gets filtered down to a point that something just clicks. Of course, that doesn’t mean my process will work for you. Sometimes, just taking a walk, listening to music or meditating will give you the clarity you need to help you find your motivation.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in. If you have questions, I’m happy to try to answer them. Just drop a line at hello@brandshowlive.com, DM me through any of the social media platforms @brandshowlive. Or, if you want to leave a message, you can call us at US area code 650-265-7350.
Interview Time:
Today’s guest hails from Austin, Texas. He’s an overall badass from thrashing our optics with killer designs to demolishing our eardrums with his metal licks. He recently became the Director of Visual Propaganda at Liquid Death Mountain Water. Before landing what could be described as this perfectly synergistic role, he was Senior Art Director for GSD&M where, among other things, he reactivated the vintage brand of Pizza Hut, giving it a sharper edge. While there, he also got to play with the Southwest Airlines, Goodyear and Universal Studios brands, among others. He’s also had positions as Art Director for MRM/McCann, where he worked with Verizon and Microsoft, and the Barbarian Group, doing work for Google, IBM, Intel, so many others. But, he also got to work on the Pepsi brand during its Back To The Future promo. He’s originally from Northern Virginia. He went to Savannah College of Art and Design, where he kicked enough ass and took as many names to earn his fine arts degree in Graphic Design. And, so, uh, here’s my interview with Alex Lang.
[interview]
Thanks again to Alex Lang for joining Brand of Brothers. You can visit his website destroyanddesign.com to learn more.
Wisdom Nuggets:
Now, it's time to talk about something that has happened in my decades-long career, and, well, what I learned from it.
Have you ever wondered how to deal with an overly discerning client? Yeah? Well, me, too!
Over the decades, I’ve had a lot of lessons when it comes to what to show clients, how and when.
When I got my start, I worked at a bunch of design firms and ad agencies. And, they all seem to have one thing in common: they like to show progress and options. In retrospect, I’ve come to realize these are rookie mistakes. The AE’s were never that much older than me. The creative directors didn’t really give two shits. And, the agency partners were generally focused on operations and business development. So, it was the account executives, who knew very little about creative development and visual communications to begin with. These were kids with marketing degrees or business degrees, not communications nor fine arts degrees.
Frankly, I didn’t think anything of it. I just accepted it as a normal part of the process, especially since it was the same method from agency to agency, firm to firm and one location to the next. But, it wasn’t until I started the branding agency I owned to today that I discovered there could be another way.
When I began the company, I used the same process as before. I would walk clients through the whole process. We’d review the creative briefs and edit them together. Then, we would review all the sketches and make modifications and selections together. We would show mechanical mid-process. You get the picture.
It didn’t take long for me to realize this was all wrong. Why the fuck would I be showing these people aspects of the process? They’re not designers. They’re not communicators. Well, they may be marketing directors or EVPs of sales and marketing. But, their wheelhouse is not how to visually connect messaging and tone. We’re the experts, not them. Plus, there were times the customer lacked the ability to envision the final product. While we hired based on our portfolio, among other criteria, we were fired a few times, because the client just couldn’t see how everything would evolve to the levels they had expected. The last time that happened, would be the end of us showing our process.
But, we still continued to show them options. Sometimes we would show them dozens of logo concepts. They were looking for something that they would only know it when they saw it. I can’t tell you how many times that bit us in the ass. There would be excessive scope creep with no prospect for compensation.
As you can see, this can make working with a discerning client quite messy. So, what’s the solution? Is there a solution?
The short answer is yes and no. It’s critical to note sometimes you’re just not going to please everyone. But, your clients should be reminded through actions they are hiring you, because you possess something they want. So, what that means is it’s important to project yourself as being an expert. After all, on one level or another you are or will need to become one, while you’re working on each of these creative projects. If you don’t passionately problem solve and understand your client and their clients, you are doing everyone involved a massive disservice, especially yourself.
Ok. So, back to the solution. Well, let me rephrase that. I’m not saying it is THE solution. I’m saying it is a solution. And, it’s generally a solution that works.
Just like before, keep record of every step of the process. Then, show the customer how you get to the solution. That’s right. You do the same shit as you did before. But, you just do it all at once.
Remind them what the project is. Explain the purpose of the project. Detail the rationale that leads you to each step. Show how you illustrate the solutions. It’s really that simple. Let’s say you would ordinarily show progress to the customer every few days, and have everything to them a few weeks. Instead, tell them you will have the presentation ready when it’s done. A good client will accept this. A better client will embrace this.
After all, it’s difficult for must of us to understand the “what” without an explanation of the “why” and “how”.
Close:
Well, that takes us to the end of this installment, and I certainly hope you enjoyed this episode of Brand of Brothers, brought to you in part by Adobe XD, how designers UX. Learn more at adobe.com/xd.
I certainly appreciate you tuning in.
This episode was written, edited, produced and hosted by me, Doug Berger. Along with music by Andy Slatter and Studio Etude.
Find more details about the show on our website at brandshowlive.com or on the social media channels @brandshowlive.
If you enjoyed the show, please share it with your friends and colleagues.
If you didn't, please share it with your family and enemies. Either way, please leave us a review on your favorite podcasting platform, ya know, if it lets you do that.
Feel free to tell us what you liked or how we can improve by dropping us a line at hello@brandshowlive.com. You can also hit us up on social media @brandshowlive. You can even call us and leave a message at US area code 650-265-7350.
And, if you really want to help, please take the survey at brandshowlive.com/survey so we can convince potential sponsors we're better than we really are.
You can also support the show by buying Brand of Brothers gear through our website or by becoming a patreon by visiting patreon.com/brandshowlive
Until next time, branding wishes and marketing dreams.