Portland Mindfulness is a counseling center with a focus on mindfulness. Its therapists provide services for people who struggle with anxiety, depression, loneliness, difficult emotions, relationship problems, trauma, financial or work problems, ... read more]]> The Kinesis team just finished several projects for our client, Portland Mindfulness Therapy owned by Dr. Joe Rhinewine.

Portland Mindfulness is a counseling center with a focus on mindfulness. Its therapists provide services for people who struggle with anxiety, depression, loneliness, difficult emotions, relationship problems, trauma, financial or work problems, or destructive behaviors like alcohol or drug abuse.

Working with the company’s focus on Mindfulness, the Kinesis creative team designed an elegant new logo that has a mark, colors, and typography to evoke a feeling of calm.

Once we completed their logo and stationery, we designed their new web site complete with search engine optimization.

Comment below to let us know what you think of the new site.

Kinesis is a Portland Web Design and Branding Firm. We help our clients reach their marketing and growth goals. Call us at 503.922.2289.

Comic Sans: the typeface that designers love to hate. So what’s the story behind this pervasive font? Why exactly do so many people love it, while others hate it? I came across a student-filmed documentary that asked the same question.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Comic Sans Documentary

Digging ... read more]]>

Comic Sans: the typeface that designers love to hate. So what’s the story behind this pervasive font? Why exactly do so many people love it, while others hate it? I came across a student-filmed documentary that asked the same question.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Comic Sans Documentary

Digging a little deeper, I found out that it all started with Rover, the talking yellow dog from the program Microsoft Bob. Look familiar? With the flop of Microsoft Bob, an attempt at an early user-friendly interface for Windows, Rover now currently resides in the search function for Windows XP.

According to the font’s designer, Vincent Connare:

Comic Sans was designed because when I was working at Microsoft I received a beta version of Microsoft Bob. It was a comic software package that had a dog called Rover at the beginning and he had a balloon with messages using Times New Roman.

Comic Sans was NOT designed as a typeface but as a solution to a problem with the often overlooked part of a computer program’s interface, the typeface used to communicate the message.

There was no intention to include the font in other applications other than those designed for children when I designed Comic Sans. The inspiration came at the shock of seeing Times New Roman used in an inappropriate way.

While there was no intention to include the font in other applications…included it was. After being picked up by MS Movie Maker, a similar application using cartoon characters, it eventually landed onto the list of system fonts for Windows 95. From then, there was no stopping it.

Since that day it has shown up in countless forms it was never intended for and has immersed the market with badly designed logos, signage, flyers, college exams, medical forms…you name it. It has gotten so bad that Indianapolis graphic designers Dave and Holly Combs have erected a website that’s prime objective is to ban comic sans altogether by collecting names on an online petition.

www.bancomicsans.com

While I find this endeavor a little extreme, I do think it’s good to at least know the background of the font and to realize that it had a specific purpose when it was created…to be used in a comic/cartoon environment. Nothing more. **Here is a good example of Comic Sans being used in a successful application.

The font, set in all caps, is used to its fullest potential in this Prince Valiant comic strip. It feels natural in this comic setting because that’s how the font was created and intended to be used. It is not pretending to be something it’s not.**

**It was pointed out to me (by Stephen Coles) that the above comic strip was in fact NOT set in Comic Sans. Thank you Stephen for the correction! Unfortunately, this was the best example I could come up with after hours of searching the web. I wanted to be fair to those Comic Sans lovers out there to show how this comic-styled font could be used well. It looks like even the comic community has rejected poor Comic Sans. Well, can’t say I didn’t try!**

Below is an example of Comic Sans being used in the wrong application. This pic was snapped with my camera phone while on my walk to work one morning in NW Portland. What a beauty!

The combination of “ABC” and the use of this fun, child-like font is more reminiscent of a child’s daycare company than an electric company. If the word “electric” was not present, I would have the entirely wrong impression that this company was somehow kid-oriented. This brand is not a good representation of the company.

Often times an office manager is tasked with creating a company’s identity using the tools they have readily available (e.g., Microsoft Word or Publisher). However, just because Comic Sans is a Windows system font that is easily accessible does not mean that it’s the best choice. When done right, a lot of time and effort should go into the exploration of logo typography…it’s not a matter of reaching for just what’s at your fingertips.

Readability is key. The logo type needs to be readable across multiple applications. It should be as legible in smaller applications like newspaper ads or business cards as it is in larger ones like vehicle signage or tradeshow banners. Logo typography also needs to stand the test of web readability for those that appear online. People should not have to squint to make out the name of your company.

Nurture the relationship. If the logo contains both a symbol AND typography, the type must play nice in relationship to its symbolic counterpart. The style of the font should compliment the symbol so that the two elements successfully get the company’s image across to its audience. They need to be partners in their objective, thus the feeling or impression of both should coincide.

Allow breathing room. The shape of typography character forms and the spacing between them is also important to consider. Some fonts, described as display fonts, are created specifically to be used for large applications. These fonts are generally spaced more closely together, creating a tighter fit between letters. This creates word-shapes that are easier to read at larger scales. The opposite is true with fonts specified as text fonts. These are spaced more openly, with more space between letters, to help distinguish each character from the other, helping with readability at small scales.  When choosing logo typography, it is important to choose a font with letter-spacing that compliments the logo…one that creates even visual texture. White space is not to be ignored.

Many factors come into play when choosing logo typography. And luckily, we’re not forced to use only the system fonts that come already installed on our computers. There are, in fact, thousands of amazing fonts that exist online. Websites like MyFonts.com, Veer.com and FontShop.com have an enormous selection of inexpensive fonts, ripe for the picking. You can purchase and download these fonts directly onto your computer in the matter of minutes! You’ll have a brand new font that may serve as a better option than one your system fonts.

So the next time you think about using Comic Sans in the next inter-departmental flyer for your upcoming company picnic or as a logo for your cousin’s new dog-walking business, remember the original intent of the comic-styled font and please…think again. There are many other, possibly even better, choices out there.

However…sometimes we get a person who comes in to our studio with what they ... read more]]> We often get new clients who come to our company in need of a new identity for their company. And we are so happy because Kinesis excels at logo design. We absolutely thrive on the creative and strategic aspects of it.

However…sometimes we get a person who comes in to our studio with what they call an “easy” logo project that they want us to simply “whip up.” They think it will be very straightforward because they already know what they want as a concept. Erg. The problem with this thinking is that there has never been nor will there ever by an easy logo design – not one that is well executed.

Let me explain why….

Suppose you are a client who comes to Kinesis and you are called Monkey Mechanics. (I apologize if there is a company out there called Monkey Mechanics – I made it up for this post).

So, as the owner of the fictional Monkey Mechanics, you say to our team. “I already have the concept so it will be easy for you to simply whip it up. I just want a monkey with the words Monkey Mechanics.” {CRINGE}

Let me explain a bit about the concepting process of creating a new company logo using Monkey Mechanics as an example. There are so many variables that our design team considers. I think once I begin to detail the process, you’ll understand why there is no such thing as an easy logo.

Using the client’s desire for the image of a monkey, there are many, many variations we could create of a monkey including illustrations, abstractions, photographs, water color, or vector images. We could also design monkey imagery that conveys an emotion to the viewer such as whimsical, serious, contemporary, old-fashioned, aloof, naturalistic, bored, and so on. Next, there is the monkey itself – we could choose a chimpanzee, gibon, rhesus, gorilla, squirrel-faced monkey, orangutan, or colobus. Then there is the actual position of the monkey – it could be standing, sitting, playing, interacting with other monkeys, working on a car, smiling, frowning, growling, winking, or yawning. Lastly, there are a myriad of colors we could incorporate into the logo, as well as all of the font choices that we would use to support the concept.

To demonstrate my point, here are a just few examples of the many varieties of monkey pictures that I came across:

As part of our process with each of our clients, we have a thorough assessment process. We ask them about the personality of their company and how they would like to be perceived. We find out about their target audience. We gather a lot of information because we want to make a logo that is not only well designed, but that also captures their company’s personality. And our process works very well. It’s always effective, but never as “easy” as one might think.

Best, Wendy

A colleague sent me a link to a great site: BRAND NEW. It’s a comprehensive review of corporate “re-brands.” In other words, when companies try to refresh their image.

What I like about the site is the side-by-side comparison of the “before” and “after.” In many cases, you see vast improvements, like with ... read more]]>

A colleague sent me a link to a great site: BRAND NEW. It’s a comprehensive review of corporate “re-brands.” In other words, when companies try to refresh their image.

What I like about the site is the side-by-side comparison of the “before” and “after.” In many cases, you see vast improvements, like with the example below:

However, what’s MORE fun is to watch the “regressive” designs. That is, brands that look worse than before, like this:

Words can’t really describe how BAD this new design is, but the blog commentators do a pretty good job of lampooning the effort.

We have enjoyed some fabulous additions to our client list including new clients in the Portland metropolitan area, as well as companies in Chicago, New York City, California, and New Jersey. In September, we moved in to our second office located in ... read more]]> Kinesis just celebrated our eight-year anniversary, and we are celebrating some exciting accomplishments.

We have enjoyed some fabulous additions to our client list including new clients in the Portland metropolitan area, as well as companies in Chicago, New York City, California, and New Jersey. In September, we moved in to our second office located in the Pearl District of Portland. This will allow us to better serve all of our clients with two full-service locations. We offer branding, web design, and marketing strategy.

What have we worked on lately? Amfit Foot Orthotic Equipment & Services, (Portland Web design) has launched their new site.

Have you been thinking about a new website or a website redesign? We can also help you with Search Engine Optimization and Internet marketing strategies. Give us a call at 541-482-3600 for a free initial consultation. And of course, you can always visit our Kinesis website for more designs.