FullBleed

The unveiling of the new Art Directors Club logo has the design blogs abuzz…with mostly negative comments. “Uninspired,” “generic,” and “dated,” are just a few of the pejoratives being tossed around. (I know what you’re thinking: “Hey, didn’t ADCMW just re-do its logo several years ago? Can’t you guys make up your minds?”)

Wait a second! The club in question is the Art Directors Club in New York City (or ADC Global as they sometimes call themselves). The problem is, many people are confused by the similarity in the names, especially if they didn’t even know that there was an Art Directors Club in New York. In fact, during my time as ADCMW president, I would occasionally refer to the club in New York as “ADC National,” incurring dirty looks from the ADCMW Director — who happens to be my wife. She was right and I should have known better. Unlike the AIGA — a national organization with chapters around the country — the various art directors clubs from Denver to Connecticut to Northwestern Arkansas are not related to one another apart from the shared name. I can’t speak for the other ADCs around the country, but ADCMW is fiercely independent and proud to be going it alone.

Though a variety of organizations dedicated to the graphic arts were in existence in Washington, DC, as far back as 1917, ADCMW wasn’t formally established (as the Washington Art Directors Club) until 1953 and, along with other organizations, was affiliated with the National Society of Art Directors. The national organization disbanded in the late 60s and the Club struck out on its own as a completely independent organization.

Okay, enough of the history talk. Let’s get back to logos, shall we? As was mentioned a couple paragraphs ago, ADCMW did change its logo several years ago from its previous logo — a terrific design by lifetime member Phil Jordan — which was starting to look a bit dated. Caught between the older, print-oriented world and the more digitally-focused designers of today, the Club’s board felt that a change in the logo and identity would be the best way to signal that we were keeping up the changes in the industry.

Responding to an open call, Club members submitted more than 30 fantastic logos, which were then narrowed down to a few finalists at an exciting event at The Warehouse Theater in downtown Washington. (Yes, I know that reeks of “contest,” but trust me, we thought long and hard about it and felt that an open competition was our best option.) The finalists were debated by the Club’s board in front of attendees and the winning logo was selected that night — it was created by yours truly.

I had mixed emotions when my idea was announced as the winner; I was excited that it had been chosen, but felt rather sheepish that, as the Club’s president, it might look a little fishy to outsiders. Luckily, no one seemed very concerned about it.

The funny thing is that the selected logo wasn’t initially designed for the Club. At the time of the redesign, I was also working on a logo project for a local printer — whose initials are DN — and I was going back and forth between the two assignments in my sketchbook. At one point, during a meeting at work, my mind drifted away from the topic at hand and I jotted down a combination of the D and N that I immediately thought could also work for the Club. I refined it further and decided that since the printer’s deadline was fast approaching, I would present it to them. It was as little spooky how well the idea worked for these two simultaneous projects, and I was more than a little relieved when the printer decided not to go with it … which meant I could use it for the Club instead. Some things were just meant to be.

(Another funny thing is that it wasn’t even my favorite of the ideas I submitted. There was another that I fussed over for hours and hours that I thought was a more interesting solution. It made the finals but was shot down when someone commented that it would make a great tattoo and looked a little too much like a pentagram. I guess if the Club’s membership comprised mainly biker witches, then it would have been perfect!)

When I began creating what was to become the winning entry, I started by sketching initials to give me a starting point. The combination of the A and D was interesting, but not very strong on its own, so I thickened it up and did what always seems to work: I stuck it in a shape (in this case, a circle). Doing so instantly gave it more of a solid logo feel while adding a more dynamic element to the shape. An added benefit was that it was now in two pieces, which could be colored differently, animated, or used for greater symbolism beyond the letters. There’s nothing original about circles, but I liked the fact that the rounded shape was in direct contrast to the AIGA’s square logo (a point I articulated in print and which was a source of minor controversy after the logo was chosen). More than anything, I think the logo has a strong, iconic feel that works well with or without the full name and, most importantly, fits on a variety of materials and with multiple design styles. It can recede or jump out at you as need dictates.

Counter to my general belief in using strong brand colors, I decided to use a palette of colors for the Club that could be used interchangeably on the logo (six brighter colors for the top and six darker colors for the bottom) and the identity materials. With no marketing budget to speak of (hello donations!), I used the circular mark to full effect, repeating it as a pattern and as a substitute for the letter O in words like Join and Hello. Again, nothing super original here, but it’s an effective way to make the logo recognizable as quickly as possible. Earlier in my career, I worried a lot about being original (I still do), but I realized that it’s just as important to be effective for your client.

Considering all that ADCMW has given me, I truly hope its logo and identity remain effective for years to come.