Design by Humans, my favorite t-shirt store of the moment, is celebrating their 2 year anniversary. In internet years, that’s about 20, and they’re celebrating with a huge sale! The sale goes on through 7/26, and now that I’ve purchased everything I wanted I’m happy to direct as many people to their store as I can. I don’t know where else you’re going to get a beautiful, human-designed, comfortable t-shirt for $5.
While they mark their birthday with a sale, I thought I would mark their birthday by taking a look at their logo and packaging, both of which struck me as quite clever.
The logo is simple, capitalized type distinguished mainly by the 2 dots above the U in “human.” It is sometimes paired with a mark as well: the same dotted U, tilted slightly and placed in a circle. The circle is integral to the design - suddenly the glyph becomes a happy face! This smiling human character hidden within the mechanical, minimalist type adds a playful touch that matches the quirky humor of the name; It’s like a little wink to the person viewing it.
Design by Humans and Yogen Fruz – friends forever, or a lawsuit waiting to happen?
While I am a fan of the umlaut as happy-face in the logo, as clever as it is, it’s not exactly unique. Yogen Fruz, a chain of frozen yogurt shops that recently started popping up in my area, uses a very similar design. I’m not sure which design came first (probably Yogen Fruz, as they’ve been around since 1992), and I do think they’re both excellent logos (the umlaut fits well with the vaguely Euro/German sound of “Yogen Fruz”). Let’s just hope this doesn’t become a trend.
I’m ambivalent about the typeface used in the DBH logo. Apparently all-caps Gotham is the new black. Gotham has become the go-to font among graphic designers ever since some presidential candidate started using it. In this logo design, Gotham does what it does best – it makes the type look clean and fresh. However, I can’t help wondering if all this Gotham we’re seeing is going to start looking dated in a few years (I love Meta as much as the next guy, but its ubiquity in the 90s makes it feel a bit behind the times). And while I agree with the masses that Gotham is a beautiful, impeccably well-crafted typeface, on principle I’ve sworn to use it as little as possible. Like Helvetica, it is simple and perfect. Like Helvetica it articulates clean design and clear messaging. And like Helvetica, I will never ever use it unless a client specifically asks for it. I figure there’s enough of it out there in the world already without me adding more.
Design by Humans packaging – your t-shirt says hello.
When you order from Design by Humans, as I recommend you do, they send your shirts in a black plastic envelope with a big clear window in the shape of the smiling umlaut. The packaging is simple and clean, and best of all it lets the design of the product – the tshirt inside – really shine. What a great way to show off your product! Anyone who sees it will have an instant sense of what this company is about. As you can see, I bought a shirt with a bird speaking in Futura on it – because that gives people an instant sense of what I’m about.
So keep it up DBH! Great work so far, and many more years ahead!
The Culprit
I bought a new bike a few months back, and I’ve been riding the trails around Northern Virginia as much as the weather and my schedule permit. I saw this sign on the Washington and Old Dominion, one of the primary trails in the area. At a moderate cycling speed – maybe 20mph – I did not even come close to being able to read this monstrously complex sign. I suppose walkers would have time to puzzle it out, but it’s hopeless for anyone moving at speed or concentrating on what they’re doing.
Taking the time to decipher the sign, it tells us that bikes and inline skaters should yield to pedestrians, and everyone should yield to horses. But when I see a triangle with arrows on it, my first expectation is that I’m looking at a cycle (for example, rock yields to paper yields to scissors yields to rock). Only after looking at every single icon and arrow do I realize that this is not the case on this sign, because one of the arrows has been flipped. Instead of fighting people’s expectations, the sign should be laid out in the same way people read: left to right, top to bottom. Put the message on two lines: “Cyclists yield to Pedestrians / Yield to Horses.” I’ll admit their design is more clever and takes up less space; however the meaning is muddled. In signage the goal is clarity, not wit.
Of course in a more perfect world, this sign would function better if split into two: first, a sign indicating cyclists and rollerbladers should yield to pedestrians; and 20-30 feet later, a sign reading “Yield to horses.” This would give more time to read the sign, and clear up any confusion about who should be yielding to whom. Come on economic stimulus package – get me a new sign!
Anyway, I don’t usually gripe this much, but I can’t bike past bad design and let it stand.
Lately I’ve really been enjoying “the GOOD sheet,” a free publication I’ve been picking up at Starbucks. It’s a nicely designed, icon-laden, info-dense, little square of newsprint. Each week, they take on a different politically charged issue with the goal of getting people better informed before they cast their votes next month. The best part is that the “just the facts” approach makes it – as far as i can tell – pretty unbiased. So far issues have included health care, gas prices, and immigration.
The GOOD Sheet on Immigration
Graphics
Visually, these are a lot of fun. The layouts are filled with playful icons and clever infographics – for example, they depict the path to a US Green Card as a gameboard or labyrinth. Most of the icons are silhouettes, and the simplicity works well. However, there isn’t quite a consistent style among them – either they were created independently by different staff designers, or some of them are stock designs.
To a certain extent, GOOD relies a bit too heavily on current design trends. The use of solid printer’s colors (cyan, magenta, and yellow) and overprinting (that semi-transparent layering of two different colors, as in the circle on the map) are both becoming a little overused. But on the whole, the graphics are witty, informative, and attractive.
I give GOOD a lot of credit for avoiding many of the usual pitfalls that publications fall into. Photos are used sparingly and tastefully, text is well organized and readable, and layouts are well thought out. To top it off, I haven’t yet seen a single gradient or drop-shadow. These days, that’s downright daring.
Typography
GOOD appears to use Benton Sans for their primary type system. I think this is a great choice. It’s a viable alternative to common choices like Franklin Gothic or Akzidenz Grotesk, and it has a kind of newsy chunkiness that adds an air of authority. A redrawing of Morris Fuller Benton’s 1903 News Gothic, the typeface also has a distinct “American-ness” perfectly suited to the content of the publication.
Immigration infographics
Marketing
As far as I can tell, the GOOD Sheet is a temporary publication to cease after the November election. Until that time, it’s only available at Starbucks – but at least it’s free, so even if you don’t like their coffee you can at least grab a copy. The sheet seems a little heavy on the advertising, but as it’s a free publication that doesn’t much bother me. They have to cover the production cost somehow.
The Sheet’s goal (aside from, you know, informing the public) appears to be getting visitors to the website. From there, they can subscribe to the magazine (in print or online) or make donations to the non-profits that GOOD partners with. Starbucks, for their part, appears more concerned with larger issues in the community and nation.
But is anyone actually noticing? So far, the only people I’ve actually seen notice it are myself and another designer I work with. They only have a few copies in the stand at any given time, but they never seem to run out. Maybe GOOD’s covers just aren’t compelling enough to someone who isn’t interested in the graphics. Or maybe people just want their coffee without the fuss.
Overall
GOOD does a great job of presenting information in a clear and interesting way. The graphics are clever and the design is clean – together, they actually make a cheaply-printed sheet of newsprint feel classy. Further applause for making it free – I know I’ll be picking up the next one.
-Brendan
