Tag: graphic design

LA Chragers logo talk

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

No, that’s not a typo.  In my circles, they have always and will always be known as the Chragers.

Anyway, if you haven’t heard which is very likely because despite my love of sports, like 10% of the people I associate with actually follow them, but the NFL team once known as the San Diego Chragers have announced that they will be moving to Los Angeles.

Back in 1996, the Cleveland Browns were moved to Baltimore, where they became the Baltimore Ravens; they left the Browns name behind, which was convenient for when the NFL expanded again years later, and the Browns were resurrected into the perennial basement.  Such was not the case in San Diego, and the entire Chragers brand, identity and personnel are all going up I-5 to LA.

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What a creative shocker

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Atlanta United FC unveils their official team uniforms, they turn out to be red with black stripes – almost entirely how I had predicted.

Don’t get me wrong, black and red is a cool color combination.  Very hard, very urban, kind of counter-culture.  Black denotes something a little bad, rebellious, with a dark side.  Everything goes with black.  Black and red is the nWo Wolfpac, the supposed cool nWo, as opposed to the old fogey Hulk Hogan led black and white nWo.

But black and red is also the same color combination used by the University of Georgia and the Atlanta Falcons.  I’m pretty sure the Atlanta Hawks have at least one alternate uniform that’s black and red.  If it were even remotely justifiable, there’s absolutely no doubt that the Atlanta Braves and Georgia Tech would bust out a black and red alternate uni if they could.  If Mitchell & Ness actually make hockey apparel, they’re probably already trying to figure out how to incorporate black and red Thrashers merch as throwbacks to the now-Winnipeg Jets.

Black and red is old hat, played out, overdone, here in Atlanta.  Lining everything in gold trim doesn’t change the fact that all anyone will primarily see are blacks and reds whenever Atlanta United FC is playing.

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New beginnings, circa 2016

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I don’t often brog about my career.  I sparsely use names, unless it’s in the past and has been for a while, and I deliberately keep things kind of vague, because I’m a fairly private person in spite of being a regular brogger, and I’m often paranoid that because the world is a fucked up place full of fucked up psychopaths, keeping things ambiguous might be an effective manner to maintain some privacy.  Furthermore, I have a tendency to keep particular thoughts about work close to the heart, since I don’t imagine there’s much good about venting about the people that pay me so that I can live my life, on the internet.

I’m leaving my job.

I’m starting a new one immediately afterward.  To those of my six readers doing the math, that means that I spent but seven months with my former job before jumping ship and seeking greener pastures.

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Furiously excited for more Fast logos

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Among some of my guiltiest of guilty pleasures is my general love for The Fast and the Furious film franchise. I mean, when I was a wannabe car tuner who thought everything JDM was god-like, and wanted to do a laundry list of things to the cars that I’ve driven, I watched the first film with that “it’s going to suck, but I’m going to watch it, so I can criticize everything wrong with it,” oblivious to the irony that I was forking over my money to feed the machine regardless.

Eventually, the arrogance and false sense of superiority dissipated AKA I began to grow up, and it turned out that I actually enjoyed these terrible films. Yes, I enjoy them, but there’s little denying the fact that they’re really campy, over-the-top films. My mom would watch it and call it an “엉터리 movie,” which translated literally means “nonsense.” Whatever though, I still enjoy them, and I can admit that I have seen every single one.

Needless to say, I was amused by the announcement by Vin Diesel who used social media to drop the news that not only is the FF franchise continuing for an eighth installment, but there are plans to have a ninth, and a tenth installment of the story, so that the franchise can literally boast ten films in twenty years. Also amusing are their tentative April release dates, so I can probably pull out the birthday card and force mythical girlfriend to go see them with me. hue hue.

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Logos, selective hearing and non-constructive criticism

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In my humble opinion, a logo should mean something.  That being said, I do in fact believe that the business world is full of hundreds upon hundreds of “meaningless” logos and identities.  If it’s a company’s goal to create a logo that stands out, that’s understandable and justifiable, but when the day is over, there’s still a chance that it’s essentially meaningless; if what’s created doesn’t symbolize anything, then it’s imperfect in my opinion.

Whenever I think about logos out there, that I think are “great logos,” off the top of my head, the featured above ones stand out.  I don’t like the Mets as a team, but damn if I don’t think their logo is a fantastic blend of meaning, symbolism and an aesthetically pleasing color combination.  The skyline features symbols of the five New York boroughs, a bridge overlapping them to symbolize connection between them all, the Mets word mark in classic script, all encapsulated within a fairly subtle baseball silhouette.

FedEx seems like a fairly inconspicuous word mark logo, but when the arrow within the E and X in Ex were explained to me, it was one of those can’t not see it anymore moments, which is subtle genius, because the arrow represents the forward progress of shipping logistics.

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I’m sure The Hateful Eight is going to be a solid flick…

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

But I can’t not hear the similarities in sound between “Hateful Eight” and “Chick-Fil-A.” And when an idea like that permeates my brain, there is absolutely nothing in the world that can stop the need to illustrate what I think.

Sure, it’s shoddy and sucks (mostly) on account of me using the brush tool in Illustrator with a mouse, instead of a tablet, but it gets my point across. My favorite part of making a spoof logo of Chick-Fil-A, is finding out where and how to integrate the eyes, beak and comb into any letter that isn’t a C.

But here we have it, an illustration of what goes through my head whenever I repeatedly hear the title The Hateful Eight.

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Guitar Hero: The Next Generation

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I saw a commercial for the new Guitar Hero game, and when the logo flashed on screen at the end of the spot, I couldn’t help but think that I’ve seen this logo before.  Upon looking at the logo some more, it dawned on me that it was basically the same font as the JJ Abrams rebooted Star Trek franchise’s logo.

Granted, upon putting them directly next to one another for direct comparison reveals that they’re not 100% identical, but at first blush, my designer’s eye is basically seeing “the Star Trek font” when I see the new Guitar Hero’s logo.

For all intents and purposes, Star Trek’s typeface is probably derived from an existing font, with slight modifications made to it to (attempt to) make it their own, but as far back as I can recollect, Star Trek did come first, therefore, I immediately associate it to them when I see any instance of a similar font being used.

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