CREATIVE TOOLBOX • VISUAL DIARY

Shared reflections — inspirations, insights, fun facts, or tips — gleaned from our spirited journey
through the worlds of communication and design

Examples of CXD’s Own Brand Design & Work of Others

Display Symbiosis

Regarding the recent Verizon rebrand, the connection between the Times Square 42nd Street storefront (window, interior graphics & signage) and a ginormous digital display directly across the street is astounding.

Tagline

An inspiring — and authentic — illustrated tagline from Just Coffee Co-Op • Fair Trade and Organic Coffee

Event Posters

I was amazed to see an entire wall in the bullring museum in Ronda, Spain, dedicated to print posters for recent fights. It feels so “old-school” graphic design now. Completed in 1784, the Ronda bullring...

Translucency

The serendipitous creation of color by overlaying various hues (here, the CXD brand colors) of different translucencies is so unexpected. How in the world do we get olive green and ochre gold?

Subtle Beauty

A demonstration of glorious restraint spotted in Spain. Minimalist typography designed with the double “s” in mind. Letterspaced to perfection. PICASSO capitalized and bolded for emphasis.

La Marca

La Marca. Definitely a nicer way to say “the brand.”

Startup Platform

What DO we think...about the Threads platform and this logo? According to AI, Threads is a text-based social media platform developed by Meta and launched in 2023. It allows users to to share posts, engage in...

Fractured Portrait

At the entrance to the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore. Can you find my eye? Hint: right in the middle. Holding to our center in a divided, chaotic world is certainly the task at hand.

Just Say No

Sometimes Communication By Design speaks for itself.

Sort Your Values

Card sorting is a great way to identify and prioritize values. This deck happens to be more personal than professional, but it is super nicely conceived, designed, and illlustrated by Pacific Northwest duo...

Verizon

Thank g** Verizon rebranded after years of the heinous checkmark. According to verizon.com: “the new logo, a red V with a yellow glow, anchors in the name — Veritas (truth) and Horizon (the future).”

New York City

It doesn’t get any bolder than this. Cities benefit from visual identities, and this is New York’s — in its simplest form, on which a multitude of variations are based.

Be the Good

Inspiration for my fellow “On the Sunny Side of the Street” walkers. T-shirts are THE best for spreading your brand and/or message — walking billboard mode! This one with a clever color-emphasis typography design.

Team Attire

A brand (haha) new CXD-color collar for our Chief Experience Office (CXO) and Receptionist just arrived. The idiom “God is in the details” is often attributed to minimalist architect Mies van der Rohe, who probably co-opted the phrase from the ...

Architecture Color

TD Bank green: part-architectural-element-part-brand-signage. This branch — spotted from way afar — is in downtown Burlington.

Loyalty

When I ordered a tent for my recent camping trip, I tried to re-join the REI co-op thinking surely my membership had lapsed. The customer service associate chatted back “thank you for being a member since 1980” as she confirmed my ID#...

Pronouns

Spotted around the corner at our local “thrifting” retailer. Supporting DEI — with a twist.

Global Recognition

The Olympic Games 2024 opened in Paris today. There are very few logos that in and of themselves stand as universally recognizable symbols, and this is one of them. The Olympics rings were introduced in 1913 and made their debut...

Reframe

I am excited to announce a content pivot on Instagram — toward the personal. Here at the Visual Diary, I will continue to share observations related to communication and design. On Instagram, I will repost those diary entries...

Be an Outsider

Love this inspiration that references the brand L.L.Bean but separates “be” and “an” into a directive along the lines of “Just Do It.” With the added double meaning of “outsider” as in outdoor adventurer OR “think outside the box”...

Senseless Loss

Recent challenges notwithstanding, Twitter, the entrepreneurial prodigy, is nothing short of amazing: a global, grassroots communication platform sprung forth from nothing, a joyous brand experience complete with...

ID Evolution

This brand refresh for Tribeca Festival is a joy to behold. I take note (two years after the fact) as this year I made a point to attend at least one screening, which happened earlier this month. Duly impressed with the entire experience, I plan to...

Notes from Drydock Reading Room Brandology