Good Luck, England

Little Drummer Boy

This is the sign outside the world's first Starbucks Coffee shop in Seattle, and as you can see, they don't use the familiar logo used worldwide; the original brown logo of the two-tailed mermaid is used. It's tasteful nudity though, coffee fans. As for the store itself, it's tiny and always packed. Everyone inside is talking on their phone saying "I'm in the original Starbucks...jealous?" etc.

Here's a signed Foo Fighters drum head, on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle. I can make out the Mexican hat, sorry, UFO, and the words "Foo Fighters, Nate Mendel, Rock On", but what are those words at the top? It looks suspiciously like "To: Surfers Paradise"!

And finally, a Christmas message from the Smart Mouth Cafe in the Gastown area of Vancouver, Canada. "Your (mostly) friendly neighbourhood cafe", indeed!

Pennyroyal

ID Ideas

Now that I need to come up with a new name and logo, let's start brainstorming a few ideas.

Thinking of a business identity can be difficult, especially as it requires a memorable, concise name that describes what you do, and a logo that clearly represents same.

There are many approaches to this. First up is the ultra-corporate look. Clean typeface, no colour, and perhaps a tossy slogan thrown in.

Too clinical. No interesting shapes, boring company name and clichéd slogan. Let's try again with a more interesting name. I still can't think of one so for this example I'll put four random letters together, like those burnt-out hippies The Beatles did with "NUJV":

'Graphic Arts' at least describes the business even if JKPX is totally meaningless. It might mean something if you really think about it but then it might not. One more try. If corporate branding seems too difficult for a one-man band, why not try to develop your own self as a brand, like Big Kev, Dick Smith or, dare I say it, Peter The Possum Man?

So, it's a bit stupid but I reckon you'll remember it and not the other two. Probably not the ideal choice for a serious graphic artist though.

In any case, the search for a new name continues...

Blur Logo Oddity

Anyone notice that the logotype for Blur, the Xbox 360/PS3 game (above) looks a lot like that used for the band Blur on most of their cover art (below)? Both using lower-case sans-serif similar-looking fonts?

So, what is this? Coincidence? Conspiracy? Blatant plagiarism? Will the truth ever be revealed? Will it? Huh? Huh??

Huh?!???