FilmJabber.com: Website redesign and rebranding

My friend Erik came to me one day with a new name for his movie review site, and needed a logo to make this new brand come to life. I was very honored that he had come to me with this request. 'Film Jabber' was a fun name that had a lot of options as far as logo creation goes, much more than you could think of if you were given the name of the old brand: 'Movie-Source'. I kept the logo simple and the colors fun and lively, as he is a very colorful character. Part of the reasoning behind the name 'Film Jabber' relates to how Erik takes 'jabs' at movies and really critiques the hell out of them. It's quite entertaining. So in the same instance Erik has conflicts with a lot of movies he sees, the 'm' and the 'j' are also conflicting and merging to create a little tension within the logo. I also would say that they help tie the logo together. All right, that was my attempt to explain my creation as best as possible. Sometimes it's hard to do so, and sometimes it just works and feels right.

Erik also requested me to design his newly renovated and re-branded website. I was happy to oblige.

Old design (Movie-Source.com):

New design (FilmJabber.com):

Quick plug: Erik and his entertaining (and sometimes explicit) movie reviews can be read at Film Jabber: http://www.filmjabber.com

(Design created: 2007)

Broken Glass Ceiling logo

Broken Glass Ceiling was a logo creation that never materialized into anything, unfortunately. It was enjoyable to do, and I tried to make it fun. Also, looks like I took a very literal interpretation of the brand name :)

(Designs created: 2004)

Voss Farms logo

A co-worker asked me to create a logo for her father's farm in Eastern Washington. There were no restrictions for the most part, but it had to be a logo that could easily transcribe to a wooden farm sign...so simplicity was key. Working backward (from winning design to my mocks) here are the logos...

Winning logo: This was actually done by my girlfriend, Jaime. Very nicely done - simple, nice colors, easy to read, authentic, nice pattern to it. I also think it's very vintage in it's presence and has that small town, Eastern Washington feel to it.


Here are some of my mock ups:




(Designs created: 2007)

Chef Boydardee!

I had some fun this last Halloween, creating my own last minute costume from something I had in my own cupboard, and a name I had sometimes joked about in the past. 'Chef Boydardee' was the identity, and it was a blast. I took the legitimate Chef Boyardee logo, and simply Photoshopped in the 'D', to provide me the ultimate name for a magnificent night. Then the only fixin's to get were the chef hat and the stache'...how do you think it turned out?



(Design created: 2008)

Uncle Bob's BBQ logo and collateral creation

As a group our task was to select a cuisine of choice and restaurant name that would belong in a mall food court. Our group decided on BBQ food, then we chose the name Uncle Bob's BBQ. We then started to design individually, only to collaborate later and share our mock ups and then collaborate on a logo we could all agree upon and have a hand in creating.

Here are my mocks:



As a group, we decided that each member had incorporated great pieces to the overall puzzle we would call our final logo. We all wanted some sort of flame within the logo. We also soon discovered that the charred looking text, or branded text was very appealing and great indicator of barbecue.

So our logo evolved into the following:

In addition to the logo, we had to also create some collateral: A teaser advertisement that would fold and stand on the tables in the food court, and a children's hat (like the BK king hat). Here's a look at both:


(Designs created: 2004)

Energy Drink logo creation (Part 2)

The answer from the previous post is: No, 'Pulse' was not the energy drink chosen from my group. The energy drink in it's stead was one called 'Summit':


I do enjoy the work a classmate did on this - I think it was very well done. I love how the double M's interact with the mountain - carving it out and becoming a part of it, as if you will become a part of the mountain too if you drink Summit. I find the logo to be encouraging and very professional, and was excited to work with it as a group.

One of our first tasks as a group was to create labels and actually place them on a real life bottle. Luckily for us, there was already an energy drink out there called 'Trek', I believe...so we bought the actual bottles as you see them below, but inserted our own logo and flavors (Cool Rapids Blueberry & Sunrise Cherry).

Here's how it turned out:

The next step as a group was to create a billboard, or print advertisement:

(Design created: 2004)

Energy Drink logo creation

With the saturation of energy drinks in the industry, our class decided to muddy the waters even more - by creating a uniquely named and branded logo of our own. This was intended to be a group project in the end, but our first step was to work independently, and then come together for a collaborative effort and choose one of the group members logos to proceed with...

I chose: Pulse - The Motion Potion. No, this isn't a sexual product, but it does have that sort of double meaning where one could think sexually. But the main intention was to mean motion, as in sports, or just keep moving through the day without tiring out. I think Pulse is a very short name, easy to remember, very masculine and has very strong ties with what an energy drink should do for you --- provide you with an adrenaline rush and increase blood flow.

Here was my progressions throughout the logo creation process of Pulse:

#1 - Started out really emphasizing the 'echo' lines/water ripple effect and having just a 'P' and then spelling out 'Pulse' underneath, then followed by the tagline. Found out much too soon that there was too much going on.

#2 - Played with some color change, but the blue just didn't do it for me --- pulse reminded me too much of blood flow, and so I had to stick with the red - plus red is a color that has a lot more pop to it. I think the blue just made it look dead, literally.

#3 - Stuck with the 'echo' lines like the above example, but intensified them a bit. Switched color back from blue to red. Added italics to 'Motion' within tagline.

#4 - Reduced the 'echo' lines to just the left-hand side of the logo - I think it creates a much stronger visual presence because of the fact it's not symmetrical. I liked how the 'echo' lines connected to the word 'Pulse': Gave the logo a sense of flow.

#5 - Not sure why I went away from what was working before, but I think I lost my way a bit here - see #6 below for my redemption period.

#6 - I incorporated all the features I liked from previous versions to help lead me to a logo that was very simple, but visual stimulating and powerful.

Did our group choose 'Pulse' as the energy drink of choice? (Design created: 2004)

Old Navy logo recreation

Our duty as a class was to collectively select a logo we didn't necessary find appealing, and to then recreate that logo. The logo we chose was Old Navy.

Here's a couple of the preliminary logos I came up with:

My finalized logo:

I think the reason I redesigned the logo in such a manner is because I have always thought of their line of clothing and advertising schemes as retro. So I incorporated the basic shape and the color scheme you see. now that I look back at it, it's probably a little hard to read and recognize right away, but I don't think it's a bad visual overall, and somewhat of a friendly logo.

That wasn't the end of the project. With our finalized logo, we then had to incorporate it with a print advertisement, using our own unique text. I created the text 'Make a closet deposit' - as in come to Old Navy and buy our clothes to fill your closet, but in a more trendy way of saying it. (Design created: 2004)

'Who?' logo creation

Intramural basketball was one of the most enjoyable activities at college, and I had the pleasure to play with a great group of guys. Although we never broke through and won a championship, we did have everlasting memories together. Part of these memories included the creation of a team logo, which I worked on in my spare time with the feedback of my old roomie and best bud, Matt. The name was the only established part of the equation --- 'Who?' was the chosen name. 'Who?' was always just a fun name we came up with so that we could inflate a little bit of self-importance within the team --- and to mess with apposing teams ("Who are we playing today?" "Who." "Who?" "Exactly.") This name also helped us mold a chip on our shoulder because we felt we were a naturally talented team that was just built from a group of friends, whereas other competitive teams would recruit and steal talented players from other teams and ex-basketball players. These teams attempted to swipe me from my squad, but I was loyal to the 'Who?' throughout college, and never regret that decision once! (Design created: 2003)

'The Roost' Family Restaurant logo

Logo creation is a very fun and tedious process. It's about creating a very recognizable face to the company brand, one that is memorable and depicts what the business is about. It's also about the importance of how a logo looks, and it's readability, when it is shrunk down. In this case, 'The Roost' was the name I gave this family restaurant. I think it's a very fun name for a restaurant and depicts a place that is a place to hang out and have fun, just as if you were at home. It has a hometown feel of it where it would seem like they serve home cooked meals. Then, just as Mom's home cooking sometimes does because it's so dang good and filling, you want to go into a happy food coma - that's where you want to just sleep, or 'roost' in this case...Ok, Ok so I'm stretching it a bit...but that's also part of the fun of logo critiques. (Design created: 2001)

'Geared-Up Bikes' logo

This was a very quick and dirty logo creation for a group Marketing project on the make believe 'Geared-Up Bikes' company. The obvious reason behind the creation are the working gears within the logo - a good start, but not close to a final product (Design created: 2004).