College Board Logo

I have a stack of college letters a good foot and a half high in my bedroom. So I see a lot of college-related advertising and graphic design, some of which is amazing and excellent, but some of which is not. And of the letters and other things that I don't think are well-designed, there seem to be two main pitfalls: 1) The design tries to be too professional and "boring" and does not appeal at all to young people, or 2) the design is too young and foolish looking and seems to overlook the fact that college is pretty serious business.

But there is one logo that avoids both of these pitfalls, and I wanted to highlight it today because I like it a lot. It's the College Board logo.

Now, I'm sure the graphic design of the College Board logo isn't perfect. There are things that seem a bit mediocre to me. But all in all, I think College Board has succeeded in their graphic design because of the balance they strike between professionalism and youthfulness. This logo demonstrates that. It looks pretty serious and professional on one hand, don't you think? The font is a strong, serif style that looks confident and certainly not childish. I'm not really sure what the acorn symbolizes, but it does seem to have a scholarly feeling to it. But at the same time, this logo uses turquoise, which seems to be quite a youthful color. That makes the logo seem fun and inviting without appearing foolish. The style of the acorn drawing has a slight doodle feeling to it as well, which makes it seem "younger." But at the same time, it is a clearly executed shape and doesn't look at all messy.

And it's not just the logo itself that has this wonderful balance. The way the whole identity system is applied seems to carry through the balance as well. Take a look at this logo specifically for the SAT. (Sorry it's so small - couldn't find a bigger one.)

It has a similar feeling, don't you think? The clear, confident font with a little bit of fun and youthfulness to it. I like how the design of the official SAT study guide mirrors this concept as well:

It looks official, like something that would have valuable and important information, but at the same time, the graphics look happy. The style of the cover is modern and fun, and looks like something a teen would go for. As a side note, I also like all the white text on the cover. :)

What do you all think of this logo and the rest of the graphics for College Board?

Friday Finds: Book Art

This book wall sculpture is so neat! I really like it. I would make one, but I think I'd have a hard time finding books that I like and yet wouldn't mind cutting up. :) Etsy has so many neat finds.

A Quote Poster

While ago, I had a giveaway for my 300th post. One of the winners was Sarah, and she had me design a quote poster for her! She requested a quote from Corrie ten Boom (which I love), and she wanted me to use orange, white, and a little lime green in the poster.

Here's what I came up with...

I used two different fonts, and also some hand-drawn swirly things. I watermarked the poster with my business name - since it's Sarah's special poster, I wanted to make sure no one else would download it. I'd love your thoughts on this poster though! What do you all think of it?

Ephesians 2:1-10

If you've got a minute, please read this whole passage. It's amazing.

I was dead. DEAD. And yet God gave me new life. This is such a big deal. Even in my sin, God loved me and showed me mercy. Jesus gave His very life to ransom me, a person dead in her sin. When I read this, the fact that I was dead in my trespasses, and the fact that we all are dead in our sin really hit me.

And it got me to thinking... no one is any more or less dead in sin than anyone else. It would sound totally illogical for someone to say "Oh, I was just 'sort of' dead in my sin, but those people, they are really dead." What? That seems so ignorant and ridiculous. Thinking like this just makes me want to show compassion towards people who don't yet know what I know about God and the gospel, not because I'm some nice compassionate person who does everything right, but because I was once dead, too. It's only by God's grace that I'm alive in Him today, and He offers that same grace to those who believe.

Isn't God's love and mercy in the cross so amazing? I love passages like Ephesians 2 that remind me of the gospel - because I can so often forget.

Five Random Statements

One: I like Ugmonk.

Two: The graphics for the Next conference are amazing.

Three: These are definitely the world's coolest skateboards.

Four: I really want to hear this new CD by Rebecca St. James.

Five: I like the H & M logo (and the store).

If you could make five random statements today, what would they be?

I Got a Tumblr

For posting verses & quotes & things I'm learning about the Lord. If you're interested, I'd love for you all to check it out. And if you have a Tumblr, leave a link in the comments and I'll visit yours! But so you know, this does not mean I am abandoning this blog. I will still be doing daily posts here. :)

To Sit at His Feet | My new Tumblr.

Feeling Letterheady?

letterheady –adjective
1. overcome by a strong emotion due to a letterhead design.

- Letterheady site

I ran across the site Letterheady through David Airey's blog, and it is so cool. It collects various famous people's letterheads as well as letterheads from businesses and just showcases them in blog format. There are so many great designs on there and I had lots of fun browsing through. I didn't get through all of it, but I want to soon. There are lots of neat things to be found on there, but if you look through it, make sure to look with caution because there are a couple questionable things I've run across as well.

I thought I'd post some of my favorite letterheads that I've run across, but bear in mind that, by posting these, I am simply saying I like the design of them and I'm not necessarily endorsing the famous folks who used them. :)

I think this one is so neat. The music staves are so perfect for a musician's letterhead!

I like how this typography goes along with the company's purpose. The dots look like perforation! This letterhead has a nice, vintage feel too.

This one is very classic looking. Again, it mirrors the style of Ansel Adams' photographs: clean, simple, sharp, and memorable. The logo is also well done. It looks cohesive and not too much like two random letters on top of each other. This design also has a good balance of colors.

 

I really like the simple type on this next one. It looks like the font Code Light to me - if it's not that, it's something very similar. It looks elegant even though it's very modern.

I like the rainbow lines on this one, and how the design doesn't look too busy even though there are many colors on it. The plain background really helps with that!

I like this one, too. It looks like custom type, which is really cool. I like the hand drawn, calligraphy type look this letterhead has even though it is still professional and confident looking.

I thought this letterhead was very interesting. Paul Rand is known as a very famous logo designer, so I thought the super-simplicity of this design was fascinating because of his graphic design background. It makes me wonder what his reasoning was behind this letterhead... did he purposely try not to "brand" himself with a logo because he wanted to give an image of catering to his clients' needs? Hmm...

But it's still a strong design. Great sans serif font - probably Helvetica.

This one is very interesting and reminds me so much of State of the Obvious. I find it unique that the designer's name is right on the letterhead. That was pretty bold self-advertising! I like the typography and the left hand text placement.

This is one of my favorites, I think. It's a newer one (from 2006 I think). The typography is great, as well as the way the red next lines up with "Sun + Moon." I love how the red ends/begins right with the words "sun" and "moon."

I like the logo on this last one, and the way the text at the bottom matches it.

What do you all think of these designs? Do you have a favorite? I'd love to hear what you all think!