Over 50 Years of Dunkin' Donuts

On commercial breaks between Jeopardy (darn you Alex!) I was treated to this very creative, educational commercial on Dunkin' Donuts' logos:

I thought the concept was great, a real walk down memory lane. I especially like the version with the logo in the shape of a donut being dipped into a coffee mug, this is the best picture I could get:

This commercial brought up a great discussion with Kaitlin and Tess (of Crew Design) about Dunkin's branding and more specifically their color palette. Tess mentioned that it's a very interesting color scheme for such a large national brand: orange, orangey-yellow, pink, brown. I thought that it suited them just perfectly because the colors seem more "budget," if you will, but that isn't a bad thing! I think it does well to convey that they are affordable.

Compare it with the color palette of Starbucks; they use very rich looking colors and designs. They speak to two different demographics. Living in New England the double D is really part of the landscape, I have to confess though that I really can't part with my peppermint mochas from Starbucks. Love the muffins at Dunkin' though!

Happy President's Day

In honor of President's Day (Washington's birthday) I thought I'd showcase a presidential inspired logo by Lincoln Financial. I don't know anything about Lincoln Financial other than their commercials seem to be running non-stop lately. Personally, in these times, anything involving financial services makes me skittish. The antidote? All that is design related! So here is their Lincoln logo:
Obviously I heart the logo on the left. I've been trying to figure out lately what exactly started my obsession with silhouettes. I think it's the elegance and power of "simple" shapes. I think this can be traced all the way back to elementary school when our class made profiles of our heads using a projector lamp to cast our shadow that we then traced. I still have it! Aaawww, I was cute.

Getting back to the logo, I can see what Lincoln Financial was going for, something steady, strong, and intelligent. Seems ironic that a financial firm using Lincoln as their logo is advertising during one of the worst financial crises while President Obama tries to lead us out of the mess. President Lincoln seems to be all the rage these days with parallels being drawn between him and President Obama here, there and everywhere.


Some facts: Lincoln was our 16th President, he was the first to be assassinated, he was the first president born outside of the thirteen original colonies (Kentucky) and Lincoln was the only president to hold a patent: a "device to buoy vessels over shoals" (via Wikipedia). If you've got some time on your hands you can dive into Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," NY Times review here. Shout out to Auburn, NY for being mentioned in the book, home to William H. Seward and his family. Happy President's Day! And Happy Belated 200th birthday to Abraham Lincoln!

Feel The Love

In celebration of the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday I'd like to share one of my favorite projects from last year. It's a typographic heart by Marian Bantjes for Saks that I fell for:


Swoon! In fact, I'm still falling...ah love. I find Bantjes' work so intriguing and awesome to look at because of the interesting things she does with type. Her attention to detail is just about mind boggling. Another example of her detail can be found in her personal Valentine's she sent out last year, check it out here. Now that's love!

Touchdown!

The inevitable talk this Monday morning will be the great, or not so great, Superbowl commercials. Or how fantasticlly AWESOME Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is. Stop me before I buy concert tickets again! Since I'm a designer I'll save this morning for the Superbowl logo:


I think it suits the occasion pretty well. It's not my favorite logo out there though. I think it's the font at the bottom, call me a purist but I'm just not a fan of that stylized type. It was designed by Landor Associates in San Francisco.

I started on this blog thanks to my friends over at Crew Design who led me to this Fifth Down blog from the NY Times for a Superbowl logo contest. From the Times slideshow of professional designers, the second one, by Pentagram, is my favorite:
I like the simple, clean feel and the silhouettes. No surprise there! I also like the retro, nostalgic feel. In hard times like these, who couldn't use that?

The first comment under the blog post is pretty intense, the poster doesn't seem to think non-designers should be designing a logo. The Times hasn't posted the non-professional designs but I'm waiting with bated breath. I kind of lean towards the school of thought that if there is something out there that gets people trying their hands at something creative: then go for it. Just don't swipe a job from me and under charge clients. It's a disservice to the profession. That is to say, when it comes down to it, like in most fields, the best work is left to the professionals.

Two other related articles to check out are this on the history of the logo and this one on the background of this year's logo. (In sports commentator voice) It's good!