(See a larger image)
Ages and ages ago I was asked by Ethan Bodnar to tackle a creative challenge for a book he was putting together for HOW Books. (This was about 3 years ago, and I really don't know why I haven't blogged about this sooner.) He approached a big list of creative folks, and essentially asked each one to create something in a medium that was not their specialty. A photographer was asked to create a poster, a typographer was to create a comic strip, an illustrator was to photograph a stranger, and so on.
I was asked to create a brand. So, after hours of dreaming up silly fake companies and products, none of which were terribly original or interesting, I decided to brand myself. A great deal of my work is about identity, so it suited me. So what would my logo be? My brand guidelines? And most importantly, what awful product extensions (e.g. Frida Kahlo socks) and collaborations would I get into as my career headed toward excess? The above image was my answer.
It's good to poke fun of one's self.
Here's my spread in the book:
The cover of Creative Gab Bag:
The book is terrific, by the way. It's filled with many of my friends and heroes, such as Paul Octavious, Frank Chimero, Aaron Draplin, Mike Perry, John Martz, Chris Glass, Alex Ostrowski, Will Bryant, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Debbie Millman, Paul Sahre, Michael Surtees, and many more. Check it out.
I love it! Best logo I've ever seen!
Posted by: Marloes | December 15, 2011 at 12:33 PM
Awesome, but you know your sales execs will just stretch the wording and make the logo pink.
Posted by: Chrissy | December 15, 2011 at 09:06 PM
Well that's inevitable, isn't it Chrissy? That's what Brand Guidelines are for: to be ignored by Sales.
Posted by: Marc Johns | December 16, 2011 at 04:40 PM
Love it! I think I might use it.
Posted by: Pam | December 21, 2011 at 10:50 AM
Thanks Marc for the kind words and the blog post. Love your contribution to the book! Hope you are well :)
Posted by: Ethan Bodnar | December 21, 2011 at 01:18 PM
Hi Ethan, hope all is well with you too! Should have posted this ages ago. Thanks again for asking me to participate in the book - I still look through it from time to time.
Posted by: Marc Johns | December 22, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Aha! One thinking is so lovely.
Can i use it to do logo for me?:)
Posted by: du hoc canada | du hoc anh | January 04, 2012 at 05:33 AM
I'm not sure what you're saying, du hoc, but NO, you cannot use this for your own logo.
Posted by: Marc Johns | January 05, 2012 at 10:15 AM
inspiring work marc!
looks like a nice book with a fresh approach.
Posted by: Philipp Lunch | January 07, 2012 at 02:04 AM