While my aunt Judy, is a great chef who has cooked for an array of personalities, from The Killers, to The Singapore High Commission in London, I have always thought her logo falls short of showing the world what she and her wok’s made of. I appreciate the story behind it - it was crafted to look like a Chinese character, and it was designed by her Global Creative Director friend from a leading ad agency. Still, it appears a bit… je ne sais pas, dated.
Existing Logo
This logo design I’ve developed was influenced by a number of factors, including:
- Color: Her favourite color is Green and while I personally detest the color unless it’s money, I understand her reason for liking the color. It appears refreshing and almost exerts a sense of tranquility, which is why she likes it so much.
- Her Expertise, Italian cuisine: Contrary to belief that her best culinary skills herewith lies in the world of Asian food only, she was actually trained in Italian cuisine. I never fail to indulge in her pasta every single day when I’m in London. As such, you’d find that the letter ‘G’ in the logo, symbolizing a strand of spaghetti and a fork at the foot attempting to swirl it.
- Being Chinese: While my aunt’s Mandarin is no better than mine, it is safe to say that in spite of our incompetencies, we are proud of our origins. With bee kways for breakfast, and chicken rice for dinner, I sometimes forget I’m in London. Again, the letter ‘G’ in the logo, has been made to symbolize the number ‘8′, which is an auspicious number to the Chinese.
Front of name card with new logo
Back of name card with new logo
Proposed materials for the name card:
// 160gsm art card
// matt lami with spot varnish on whatever element that’s in green
I hope she likes it. What do you think?
10 responses so far ↓
Winnie // September 23, 2007 at 12:53 am
Nice, only drawback is that the logo cannot be resized any much smaller or the “ang” will be unreadable. Which for a logo can be quite crucial as the design always has to be thoughtful of future considerations. i.e having to be reproduced in a small ad size. Another small point to note is that the position of the fork takes up quite a lot of vertical space so it can be a little disruptive to the visual balance. Just my two cents.
pee // September 23, 2007 at 12:54 am
I like how the ‘g’ is treated — as a graphic element it works very well (though not in the way you’d explained, pasta and all… to me, it anchors the the logo and provides a striking contrast).
Not so wild about the fork though — it sticks out for some reason. maybe it’s got to do with the look and feel of the entire design; the addition of a fork just seems unneccessary (i’m a firm believer in Occam’s Razor). Two focal points (fork and gee) might be a bit much for a namecard this size. Or maybe it’s just the angle the fork is at. Either ways, that’s why i dig the front of the namecard more than the back.
Spot lami the ‘G’!
pee // September 23, 2007 at 12:58 am
eep. i think my comment earlier went poof!
Pat Law // September 23, 2007 at 1:29 am
pee, I think I might kill the fork and make the G shin-ee. Let’s see what Judy says…
Pat Law // September 23, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Winnie,
You’re right about the “ang” being unreadable. That’s why I make a living being a Suit instead! Haha. Thanks for the highlight, now I have to figure out what’s the minimum size my logo can afford to be.
I agree that the fork takes up a lot of vertical space and therefore will result in the logo looking like its ‘floating’. I have the intention on using the secondary logo, which is the “ang” and G letter as reflected on the front of the name card.
Oh well, we’ll see what my aunt says and I’ll tweak accordingly. Thanks heaps for your comments.
Pat Law // September 23, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Just a thought - would be it be corny to add a tagline that say “Abso-forking-lutely delicious”?
I think so. Heh. I’m so bloody corny it amazes me even. Now you know what I put my creatives through.
Layla // September 23, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I like the colors…
pee // September 23, 2007 at 11:47 pm
eh… why am i crossing my fingers in relief that you ain’t my suit?
anyhoo, i love the abso-forking-lutely delicious strap, but in this case, does it really reflect your brand personality?
save it for your own bistro or sumthin’! (don’t you just love the dastardly business of recycling concepts? -snigger)
pee // September 23, 2007 at 11:49 pm
another thought (re: winnie’s comment). since ‘g’ appears in the words ‘ang’ and ‘mcguire’, you could explore ways of merging them together typographically.
Pat Law // September 24, 2007 at 2:34 pm
pee, you’d never know, I might be your Suit someday. I hope your insurance covers you against Patophobia.
Yeah, maybe I can combine the G… Hmmm.
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