Can Originality & Simplicity Co-Exist?
Now this is funny.
A few weeks ago I was admiring the Polluted project by Bench, highlighted to us by David Airey on his Love Logo Design blog, and shown below.
Whilst admiring it I couldn’t help but notice (doing my Carrie Bradshaw bit now), how similar it was to another design that David had shown us late last year for a company called The Mill. That design shown below.
I commented as much on the Logo Design Love blog.
Now, without intentionally looking for it, the other day I was in my archives fetching something and to my vast amusement found this design created for a domestic appliance repair services. Created by little old me in 2004.
Circa May 2004; 5 years ago!
Now with Halls Domestics, the different sized boxes represent a variety of difference appliances within the home for Hall’s to ‘repair’ and maintain.
I think I’ve made my case and point about how hard it is to be original when you create a design that is very simplistic in it’s lines.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Near impossible, I’d say, Amanda. Especially when a symbol contains no more than three separated blocks. What’s important is creating a design that stands apart from the competition, because you can be almost 100% sure that there’s a similar design already out there, in another industry.
October 7th, 2009 at 8:52 am
That’s true enough.
I did a logo once for a company and whilst sitting on a public toilet one day saw one nearly exactly the same, with the same company name and all…. for bathroom products!
Oh well, it was a completely different industry at least!
Amanda
October 7th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Haha. Always on the lookout, aren’t you?
October 7th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I read your comment wrong and thought for a moment that you’d design a logo whilst on the toilet! Inspiration comes at the strangest of times…
And I think both the polluted and mill logos are brilliant, though obviously the concept is very similar representing buildings and whatnot.
You also have to remember that a logo is just a part of the brand, and that the implementation and use can make a lot of difference to how it looks.
My new company logo is very very simplistic, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are similar designs out there.
Matt
October 7th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Also, I’m fairly sure the polluted design is by branch rather than bench
xx
October 8th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Is it Branch? Oh dear …..my marbles…….lol…
October 10th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Yep, the longer your in this game the more you realise that originality is extremely hard to come by!
October 14th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Its true that originality is extremely hard with simplicity! I say this for two reasons.1st is that when you proceed doing original logos with simplicity you would run out of simplicity and originality.2nd is that the people you who views it would have to get the idea of what it is suppose to mean.Sometimes simple design would be difficult to understand by a stranger.
October 18th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
I just left this same comment on one of David’s posts but I think this also applies here - one of my University Professors said something to me many years ago - he said ‘There are no new ideas - only new takes on old ideas’. Not sure I 100% agree but it stuck with me nonetheless.
October 19th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I think that’s a true enough statement when it comes to all forms of creativity. Sometimes someone does come up with something completely original, but that is extremely rare.
I just tweeted your quote, I think it’s sage
lol