Hodgson/Meyers » Jamie Bakun

Bon Voyage!

Jamie Bakun — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:50:29 +0000

Spike is the first bird to travel by BOAT! He visited Fort Lauderdale, Georgetown in Grand Cayman, Cozumel & Puerto Costa Maya in Mexico as well as Roatan, Honduras. He lived the life in the sun and enjoyed some drinks. He even went as far as to visit Hell in Grand Cayman. Don’t worry, Hell is just a washed up coral reef that has turned black in the sun!

Cruising

Grand Cayman Pirate

Having a Drink (it was non-alcoholic. . . . I swear)

Practicing Safe Sun-bathing

To see more images of Spike’s fun in the sun, go to our Flickr album. Cheers to a relaxing vacation!

SALON 5th VS. SAKS LAWSUIT

Jamie Bakun — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:16:47 +0000

Hodgson/Meyers Designer Weighs in on Logo Wars

As a designer at Seattle-area business-to-business agency Hodgson/Meyers, I have a deep appreciation of company logos, specifically how art, design and typography come together to capture a company’s personality and define its brand.

Recently I came across a news item that suggests that I’m not the only one paying attention to logos. A 30-year-old Olympia, Washington salon—Salon Fifth Avenue—is being sued by retail conglomerate Saks Fifth Avenue for logo/copyright infringement. The signage for each is below. What’s your verdict?

Making the case for Saks are the following facts:

–Sakes Fifth Avenue has had its name and copyright since 1924

–Salon Fifth Avenue’s logo is nearly identical to the Saks logo

–Saks has its own internal salon business

On the other hand:

–Salon Fifth Avenue has been in business for 30 years

–Salons at Saks are a division of Halcyon Days Salons and Spas

–The closest Saks Fifth Avenue is in Portland, Oregon, a good 120 miles away

Judge Jamie Says

The case between Saks and Salon Fifth Avenue seems a waste of time and money to me. Why go after such a small business that poses no threat to stealing customers or hurting brand identity? And why wait 30 years? I think the lawsuit is more harmful to Saks’ reputation and is actually creating MORE awareness and sympathy for Salon Fifth Avenue.

Saks does have a case though and the money to win it but is it really worth it? Given that Salon Fifth Avenue has moved, in fact, to 11th Avenue, I would not be surprised to find that in time their name and logo change anyway. Should the case to go court I would think that Salon Fifth Avenue in Lady Lake, FL and Marietta, GA would be very interested in the results!

This is not a black and white issue and lawsuits like this are increasing every year. The courts just need to make sure that only appropriate cases are filed and tried. Below are some examples of other logos that look VERY similar. Have you seen others?

Prime Marks, Dumb Quotes and Smart Quotes 101

Jamie Bakun — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:59:27 +0000

Everyday we are flooded with visual messaging. It is often that these messages are being incorrectly stated visually. Take Carrabba’s logo for instance. The apostrophe used is actually not an apostrophe at all! It is a prime mark, or in the design world a “dumb quote.” Prime marks are used for measurements such as (‘) for feet and (“) for inches. So technically, Carrabba’s is visually saying Carrabba (feet) s. It was back in college that I noticed this snafu and actually wrote the company about this lapse in design. To my surprise, sometime later Carrabba’s released a new logo (I take no credit). The prime mark has been replaced with a “smart quote” — a true apostrophe!

See example A & B.

Beyond logos, prime marks are making there way elsewhere. Have you watched Jeopardy lately? The ENTIRE Jeopardy board is filled with prime marks! The comma after the quotation is also a typography no-no!

See example C.

Prime marks are even making their way onto the silver screen. In December, I saw the movie, “The Young Victoria.” It is a stunning film, yet in the first minute my design eye was cringing! Not only were prime marks used as quotations, the dashes should have been “em” dashes which are the correct dash to be used in a sentence pause — plus the period is set AFTER the quotation or in this case prime mark! Typographers and Type-setters around the world are crying!

What examples have you seen of prime marks, dumb quotes and smart quotes? Tell us what you think.