To wrap up 2012 and give a heartfelt thanks to supporters, Golden Apple Foundation asked us to create a holiday card for their donors and friends. To stay within the project’s modest budget, our team opted to use digital printing provided by our excellent partners at Elk Grove Graphics. But despite the small quantities and budget, our team still wanted to utilize premium production techniques of the piece, making it feel even more special for recipients.

We used three separate hits of white ink on Elk Grove’s HP Indigo 7600 Digital Press, which gave our stylized snowflakes differing levels of opacity depending on the amount of ink used. The varying white inks provided a bit of punch when printed on Neenah Paper’s Classic Crest Patriot Blue paper, with its beautiful stipple finish.  Finally, we matched the snow color with Neenah’s pale blue Windsor Blue envelopes to complete the package. A great and effective way to end the year.

We’ve just received our copy of the brand-new inspiration book by LogoNest. The book was an outgrowth of the popular logo website, and we were asked to lend our voice to this first collected volume. Hexanine partner Tim contributed the case study/tutorial “Marrying Symbol And Metaphor.” It’s at home among other great writing by Steve Zelle (of Processed Identity), Leighton Hubbell, and a slew of other design authors.

Below is an excerpt from “Marrying Symbol And Metaphor.” For the rest of the story and more great logo inspiration, you can purchase the limited-edition book at the LogoNest website.

Defining The Symbol
A symbol is roughly defined as an image, object or depiction that represents something else. Understanding the basics of symbology is at the core of what we do as designers. It’s crucial for identity designers to absorb the basic symbols of culture, whether they are derived by association, resemblance, or convention. Symbols are super-valuable, because they communicate a vast amount of information with simplified visual depictions. Think of a stop sign’s associations, or the cross that represents a broad array of religious thought. These symbols don’t tell a complete story, but they stand in for much more complex thoughts or concepts. So, the first step of crafting an excellent logo is to generate a library of relevant symbols.

We are big fans of Steve Zelle’s design blog, Processed Identity. He digs in deep with identity designers on how they strategically solve clients’ logo issues, highlighting the inherent value of custom logo design. It’s all about the process, and we’re excited to once again be featured on PI, with a case study of our work with BevReview.

Thanks to Steve for his great continuing work.