The old saying is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And that is sweet, I gotta tell ya. But as often as not, imitation is either unintended or more desperation (we gotta have something by Tuesday) than flattery. That is certainly the case when we flatter other agencies. But, the sincerest form of flattery, as I see it, is when a client goes away and then comes back. The thing about a client | agency relationship is that it starts to be like family after a while. We fall into ruts. We take each other for granted. We…

I am not a designer. In fact, I'm barely a writer. But I just got copied on an email from Anne Peck Gibbons on the rules for designing a logo. I think it's good stuff. 1. Logos are graphic. They are not illustrations--they are best when developed like a branding iron. 2. Logos are one or two color--to save printing and production costs for our clients. 3. Logo colors don't touch--because when you convert to black and white, grayscaling is required 4. Logos are solid ink (PMS) colors. They do not have gradients-gradients do not translate into all production environments…