Sometimes we get metaphorical here. Sometimes we get allegorical. Sometimes we do case studies and sometimes we talk about whatever book I'm reading right now.
This post isn't that. This post is to the point, actually immediately helpful advice to ensure that you aren't being hindered by something that is supposed to be the face of your business.

So, I recently rearranged all the furniture in my Living Room. Tossed everything aside and found a new orientation for everything that maximises the open space, creates clear walkways and generally just looks and feels nicer.

And not to get all LinkedIn post wanky here, but I did learn something that I, and I think all of you, can apply to your endeavors.

I wrote a little thread on my personal BlueSky account the other day, giving little bits of logo design advice. As you may have gathered, I do like sharing my knowledge with others, helping them on their journey to either becoming better Graphic Designers themselves, or simply making better design choices in their business or creative venture.

You've been flying solo, chasing your passion and finding your feet for a while now. And you've been successful. That's fucking great, I love that. But the more you do, the more you find you have to put on ANOTHER hat to get your business to work. Oh, now you're a video editor.

That joke only works if we ignore the fact that here in the UK, I'm not talking about Lays at all. Since here we call them "Walkers", for reasons that date back to companies merging but not wanting to sacrifice brand recognition in either territory. So as far as I know, they're called Lays basically everywhere except here. Where they're Walkers.

Either way, with all that bumf aside, they have unveiled a new logo! And they're celebrating this as the first major shift in the company's branding in years. Let's take a look:

New Years Resolutions Suck. Yeah, this isn't really a novel concept, we all know it deep down.

Right, this is my last one of the year. I shan’t be bugging you through the Christmas season, not to worry. You can enjoy all the mince pies and twiglets you want and not even think about their logos until January.

I thought I’d take the time today to give you some advice on how to communicate with those strange alien folk we call Designers.

Look, I’m gonna be real with you. I’m exhausted. I’ve not stopped moving since Thursday Morning and now I’m finally getting some rest, I’m sick. I caught something from someone and it might be the big, bad C Word or it might be just a cold. But I am not in the mindset for giving you my usual high-standard, high-energy newsletter post. But I wanted to put SOMETHING out, lest I break the habit and this whole project falls by the wayside.

On Monday, Monster Energy announced a new product line, aimed at Women, called FLRT. Dainty little 330ml cans, pastel colors and a design language that looks more like Kombucha or all-natural skincare than the look we’re used to associating with Monster Energy, or Energy Drinks as a whole. Allegedly, of course. A website has been built and it has a copyright for Monster Energy’s parent company in the footer. So like, they haven’t officially announced it yet but all the pieces are there. We’ve just unwrapped our Christmas presents a little early.

So, things have changed around here since we last spoke. Like, a whole lot has changed. All my profile pictures, names, website. Colors even. Experts are calling it a “Rebrand”. And I wanted to take this week to just sort of chat about the things that led me to doing this.

Last week, PepsiCo announced their new rebrand, and they describe it as a bold, new direction. I think it’s… well. Let’s talk about that. Let’s go through their press release, talk about where they were, where they are and what I think about this whole mess. 

When I design a logo, what’s the first thing I look for? Now, I’m going to assume you’ve read my previous articles about the pre-production of a visual identity, so you know about how I get all the information and direction I’m working from. And now I wanna talk about how I move from that list of values, preferences and target audiences into something visual. Well, as best I can. This is kind of the hard part…

Another week, another FAQ blog post. To remind you, I have been asking normies - that’s people outside of the design sphere - for their burning questions about design, logos and branding. This is one that I don’t have to directly deal with a lot, it’s often an underlying issue in logo design, especially when presenting it to a client.

On my personal Social Media accounts, I asked for any burning questions about Design, Logos and Branding. So these are the things that normal people want to know, not people within the industry. The first one I’ll be answering is quite a simple one. But I promise I’ll manage to overcomplicate it in my traditional style