I got up way too early this morning. . .

So, what would cause me to drag myself out of bed at the crack of dawn (before dawn, actually), in a snowstorm, after going to a concert the night before and getting only 4 1/2 hours of sleep?  An AIGA meeting, of course!  One of my "New Year's Resolutions" (though I kind of hate that term) was to get more involved in the local design community. . .So I've been trying to go to every event that I hear about.  Apparently, every first Tuesday of the month, AIGA Wisconsin hosts an informal discussion at a local coffee house.  They start at 7:15, so that all the working schmucks (like me) can get to work by 9 am.  The topic today was logo design and brand identity.  The group was pretty small (I think the snow kept a lot of people away), but I was very glad I went.  Everyone else there worked for design firms, or did freelance jobs, except me.  Since I'm an "in-house" designer, working only for one brand, I had a unique perspective.

I enjoyed discussing the process that different people go through when designing a logo. We discussed the importance of interviewing the client thoroughly and trying to "get in their head."  Also, looking at the competition is very important.

We also spent a lot of time looking at "good" and "bad" logos. . .Something I admittedly haven't paid much attention to before. Like the new Tropicana logo, which received a lot of negative attention. Alternately, we all liked Melbourne, Australia's new logo, which uses this new trend of changeable logos.

Recently, a friend of mine asked me to design a logo for his new catering business, which is why I pushed myself to go to this meeting.  Also, I need to design a new logo for myself (before I get business cards printed, which needs to happen soon), and for Wanderlost.  hmm. . .a lot to think about.