Shapes Series: Rectangles & Squares

Today's post concerns four sided shapes... rectangles and squares. If circles and triangles are an important part of design (which they are), I'd say rectangles and squares are ubiquitous parts of life. If you think about it, you see rectangles and squares everywhere, not just in design. Of course, you see other shapes around you, too, but in my limited observation, rectangles and squares are the most common. Think of all the things that are made up of these shapes...

I'm sure there are many, many more, too - see if you can think of some and post your discoveries in the comments section!

So now we all know that rectangles and squares are all over our world, but what kind of part do they play in the design world? Well, like circles and triangles, rectangles and squares are an important, fundamental design element. We will examine this concept with some interesting examples in an bit, but first, I want to make a point about a second role rectangles and squares have in the design world, and that's the fact that, of all shapes, rectangles and squares (but specifically rectangles) are the shape in which paper comes. This seems rather obvious, but paper is a huge thing in the design business. What's the good of designing a brochure or invitation or magazine if you haven't got paper to print it on? And that's where rectangles and squares come in. They're important. You don't find circle or triangle or octagonal pieces of paper too often.

But rectangles and squares are also shapes in and of themselves...shapes that are important elements in design. There are plenty of great examples of how they can be used in design, so I thought I'd just share a few.

First, two square logos...

As Brand New says, this logo is very simple. It makes use of two simple shapes: a square as the main element and a circle as the accent. It has a clean, minimal design going for it, but honestly, I was a little confused about the purpose of the logo. What does the circle signify? And how in the world does that connect to books? I read this quote in this article and it helped clear things up a bit.

"It combines the enduring, classic shapes of a square and circle, representing the library as a strong community anchor....Yet the new image also has a touch of mystery, reflecting exploration, curiosity and discovery....Just as our new logo means something different to everyone who sees it, the Lawrence Public Library has something different for everyone who uses it."

After reading that, I feel like I better understand the reasoning behind this logo. In fact, the mysterious (or confusing) feeling the logo has was purposeful. I respect that the folks designing and approving this logo really thought about what it says and why it says that. However, in my personal opinion, I don't think that logos should be this ambiguous - to me, the purpose of a logo is to clearly state the brand, not to "mean something different to everyone who sees it." And while I understand the idea of the circle and square representing the library's lasting impact, that aura doesn't seem to quite carry through into the look of the logo. In this design, I see something modern and minimal, not something with a heritage.

But overall, I think the execution part of the logo is quite good. The typography is fine - clean and simple to match the logo - and the choice of color is good, too. :) The proportions of the shapes all match. The main thing I see lacking in this area is that the circle isn't symmetrically aligned with the corner...but maybe that was intentional. And I actually really like the square as the main element. While the overall look and feeling of this logo doesn't seem to match the goal of the library, the square definitely looks like something lasting because it's so stable and secure. Squares have four sides and they're quite sturdy - just like a library should be in a community.

And another square logo...

This logo for Swedish Traveling Exhibitions is really neat. I saw it on Brand new here. It uses a square with another element, just like the first logo I mentioned. But this logo uses a comma as a second element instead of a circle. At first, I thought this was a little weird, especially since I can tend to be somewhat of a grammar word. Commas are for sentences, not logos! But now that I look at the logo more, I thin I like it. It's incredibly creative, and there's a set idea behind it. Here's a quote from the Brand New article:

"Built upon a square and a comma, the graphic profile communicates stability and changeability. The square frames several perspectives: a picture frame, the boxes used to transport the exhibitions, and the rooms where exhibitions are displayed. As a continuation without an end, the comma represents the mission of the travelling exhibition: to remake, rethink, and rebuild."

Similar to with the library logo, the specific mission in the logo as detailed in the quote is rather hidden and ambiguous. However, the mystery of it doesn't bother me in the context of this logo because at least the image of the logo seems to connect with a traveling exhibition. The logo is creative and artistic at first glance. And now that I think about it, the comma is an interesting way to signify and ongoing, in-process type of feeling of "remake, rethink, and rebuild." It's like a book without "the end" on the last page. The typography seems to go well with the boldness of the logo, too. It does seem like the font is narrower than the box and comma, but then again, it'd be weird to have a super bold font as the type for a logo. So I think it's a fine balance of type boldness.

What do you all think of these logos? I'd love to know your takes on them too. :)

But first, I want to mention the pattern that goes along with squares/rectangles. I'm sure there are many, but the one I want to highlight is stripes. Have you noticed that stripes are really just elongated rectangles? I like stripes a lot, so I thought I'd show you a collection of things that are striped. Here are pictures, and there are links below.

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six

Aren't those things fun? Stripes are great! Notice that most of the stripes are straight lines, but number three is a chevron stripe pattern - kind of a cross between triangles, rectangles, and stripes.

Today's post is almost done, but before I go, I want to share today's extra special thing. It's a freebie! You know how I love stripes, so I designed some notepaper that is striped! The stripes are at a 45 degree angle so they resemble airmail style writing paper. I used the Phoebe theme from Adobe Kuler - such fun colors.

Here's what the stationery looks like.

You can download it RIGHT HERE - in the ZIP file, you'll get the stationery you see above in JPG and PDF format for printing. There are two pieces of half page stationery on each sheet. Please enjoy this freebie, but it's for personal use only!

I hope you all have a great day! Don't forget to comment for your chance to win the Amazon gift card!