Did you spot a little change on this website? Look above and if you’ve visited here before, you might notice that the Red Instead logo has had a rework. I’ve been meaning to redraw my logo for ages now, and I’m so glad it’s finally done. My excuse is that I have been so busy designing for clients that I didn’t make time for my own work!
Here is the new logo - if you compare it with the old logo (below) you can see that I have kept the same styling but I’ve given it a smoother, sleeker and more professional look. I changed the red colour to be a little less bright, and I redrew the whole thing for a smooth new style.
The “S” (below) has always bothered me, but I think I just got used to it over time and became “blind” to it. The lower case “i” was included to make the logo look a bit interesting in the middle there, but it had the unfortunate result that some clients insisted on addressing mail to me as “RED iNSTEAD” which wasn’t what I had meant at all. All of this just goes to show that you need to be very clear when designing a logo – always try to look at it from the point of view of a complete stranger, somebody who isn’t familiar with your business.
The story behind the typeface is actually quite interesting. About 10 years ago, I lived in Petersham in the inner west of Sydney. Every day I drove past a building with a really great exterior – the Benyon and Hayward Removalists and Storage business. I really loved the hand painted wonky typography and I loved the rust running down the wall.
One day I took some photos of the wall and I posted them on my blog. I was tickled pink when a font designer emailed me to let me know that he also loved the photos and he had designed a font for me that was based on the photos I had taken!
I thought this was about the coolest thing ever and a few years later when I was searching through my (rather large) collection of fonts for something that would be suitable for my business, I found this font again and knew that it would make a great match.
I’ve searched through some old records but I can’t find the name of the font designer, so if you know who it is, it please tell me in the comments below.
Now I have to redesign my business card and postcard to match, so look out for those in a future post. I hope you like the new logo as much as I do – it was time for a (subtle) change! Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Does your business have a logo that is tired and in need of a rework? Do you need a new logo to represent your business? Contact Jen at Red Instead to see what we can do for you.
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