Design of the week: logos in motion Customer Blog

Few designs flop harder than ones that attempt to be playful, but end up reading like a still life. Avoid this. If you’re looking for a logo on the fun/playful side of the spectrum, you must insist on a sense of dynamism – movement, action, “pop” (just keep this last word out of your brief; it will make designers roll their eyes). The following logo by designer suzie, for Popkorn Kraze, a movie theater food and beverage supplier, does everything right.

Design by suzie

The logo is built around a brilliant conceptual move: replacing the expected popcorn bag – a blasé rectangular element, not much fun to work with or look at – with a tilted, whirling film strip. Besides being a clever maneuver, this element introduces a sense of centripetal movement. Above it, the popcorn is positively explosive. Outlined in bold red and propelled by pointed projectile lines, this is not popcorn in a bag but popcorn shooting from a popper.

Finishing touches: tilt the letters, add a subtle reflective sheen and echo the graphic component with a popcorn “o.” Mission accomplished: a fun, playful logo that refuses to sit still — exactly the eye catching graphic that this brand needed.

Now, say you’re looking for something a bit more serious – something bold, iconic, sophisticated. These designs can get away with sitting like bricks; sometimes, they thrive on this sense of solidity. However, it is by no means a requirement. Motion can do a dead-serious logo a world of good.

Take the following two logo designs by designer wendygurl for Alexis Press, a publisher interested in conveying both a sense of traditionalism and the savviness to embrace today’s innovative, post-digital publishing options.

Designs by Wendygurl

The initial design is already a winner: solid as a rock, with interesting geometric flourishes and a strong choice of typeface. No question, it could hold its own on a paperback’s lower spine. The subsequent concept, though, positively leaps from the page – printed or digital. Its pages spring from a single point, conveying the phenomenon of flipping while also asserting a strong, centered vertical line. The rectangular patches floating off to the upper left not only evoke digital technology, but also serve to balance the composition and allow for some smart re-echoing in the letter “A,” accentuating the business name and bringing a steely typeface to life. The superior choice, once again, is a design in motion.

Alex Bigman is liaison to 99designs' awesome community of graphic designers. He is a recent grad of UC Berkeley, where he studied history of art and cognitive science.