For the team at Alphabet Arm Design (Boston), a successful logo is like a song that captures your heart when performed with a single voice and an acoustic guitar. If it doesn't work at that level, all the bells and whistles and special effects in the world won't save it.
It's an apt philosophy for a design firm that got its start in 2001 working for local bands and now designs for musicians across the U.S. as well as for recording studios, record stores, artist management companies, record labels, merchandise companies and related businesses. Founder and senior designer Aaron Belyea was a working musician himself. His early work in that field sensitized him to logos and packaging and, over time, he became a self-taught designer.
In 2003, senior designer and Ringling College of Art + Design graduate Ryan Frease joined the firm, followed by designer and Hartford Art School graduate Chris Piascik in 2007. Designer Ira Cummings (Syracuse University) arrived in 2008, as did intern Josh LaFayette.
The guys at Alphabet Arm Design (Boston): Ira Cummings, Ryan Frease, Aaron Belyea, and Chris Piascik.
Alphabet Arm's work, which also includes design for such diverse clients as a New York wine bar, an upscale, ergonomically correct diaper bag company, a Kansas City coffee shop, a wine marketing group in California, The Boston Conservatory and more, is chock-full of detail: In fact, Frease says he almost always pushes the design of a logo just a bit too far and then backs off a couple of steps.
"The energy you see in our work is us trying to push in more detail and dynamics," he says. "We listen to lots of music here. We skateboard and rollerblade and drink lots of coffee - it has to come out somewhere."
Counting Crows - Senior designer Aaron Belyea says that this logo breaks all of their rules: It's quite detailed and uses five colors. "Maybe it shouldn't work as a logo," he says, "but somehow it does."
The Cheap Seats - This logo for a local music radio show holds a special spot in the heart of Aaron Belyea, as it was one of the first he created after opening his studio. It’s simple, dirty, and gets right to the point, he says.
Belyea believes that their work's energy as well as its wide range is what attracts clients. They distress a lot of type and include beaten-down elements, but his favorite projects are the one that meander outside of their comfort zone. They rely on a large library of reference books as well as non-commercial art for inspiration. Sculpture, painting, tin robots, screen-printing, old books, music videos, even not-so-good design gets their attention.
"Even bad design makes us feel inspired, that there is so much good design still yet to be done," Belyea says.
The Alphabet Arm's team is composed of self-confessed type-o-holics. Their goal is to customize type as much as possible for every project. Sometimes they are adding detail that only another designer might appreciate, but it makes each design distinctive, Belyea adds.
Tim McCoy and the Papercuts - Alphabet Arm helped dream up the name for this band as well as designed its logo. It's a name and design that's loaded with potential for fun: For instance, the designers are in the process of promotional, logo-imprinted Band-aids.
Static of the gods - This band logo was inspired by an illustration that senior designer Ryan Frease found in an old biology textbook.
Everyone on the team starts each project by putting pencil to paper - computers can debilitate a project if used at the concepting phase, they believe. Several designers will work on the same project simultaneously, and four to six approaches will be worked up for a client.
"We draw quite a bit," says Frease. "It lets us flesh out ideas quick. All of our work is based on simple 2-D drawing. To get to the end point, we like to get our hands dirty. We get out the sandpaper and paint. When accidents happen, like we spill paint or something rubs off on another thing, we embrace that."
The Fray - "I love the handmade quality of this logo. It strikes the perfect balance between hand-craft and stark legibility," says designer Chris Piascik.
Remod Media - An effective mix of old-style illustration and updated concept, this logo is brought to life by its subtle touches of red. Intern Josh LaFayette says the client connected with the character so much that they call him "Barneby."
They believe that every design should clearly show that the human hand was involved. Even the cleanest mark should have a sense of warmth and life. "That stems from our process: We have our hands in everything we do," he adds. "I don't know if people need logos, but they want logos. They like to see themselves represented by a graphical element. From a small cookie company to a huge corporation, everyone wants to be seen as unique and special."
Creating logos, Belyea says, is important. It may not solve the big problems of the world, but it helps people understand each other better. It also adds pure enjoyment to life.
Graphic Takeover - Typography is an enormous love of the Alphabet Arm Design team. Created to advertise a gallery show of their own fine art work, this logo reads well from a distance, yet contains plenty of typographic nuance and surprise.
Mud Dog - Considering the amount of information this logo for a chain of music, movie and apparel stores, this logo's cohesion is strong, says designer Ira Cummings. "It has a definite bad ass-ness, without resorting to the obvious tricks of fangs of blood."
"We create things that are complex, but easy to read. The second and third time you see one of our logos, hopefully you are still noticing something new. It's like listening to music: The fifth time you listen to something, you might hear a harpsichord, or bass line or something else special. That attention to detail, even in the cleanest music, is appreciated. It shows that someone made an extra effort to make that music enjoyable for you," he says.
Copyright 2008 Logolounge Inc.
