Visual Identities: More Than Just A Logo | Sagi Haviv | TEDxPenn

When it comes to designing a world-recognizable logo, Sagi Haviv is your man. He has developed branding and logo designs for clients ranging from international corporations to young start-ups to well-known non-profits. Haviv speaks about balancing the desires of clients with the fundamental principles of business and design-in order to get to a great design solution, it’s often important to say “no” to a client.
Haviv is a partner and designer at Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv. He teaches Visual Identity Design at The School of Visual Arts in New York City and coauthored the book Identify: Basic Principles of Identity Design in the Iconic Trademarks of Chermayeff & Geismar. Haviv has been a frequent speaker internationally and has served as a judge for the Art Directors Club of New York, the CLIO awards, and other competitions.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@AjaySNair]

Everytime a client doesn't understand our design, I send this link

[@leonardootazu4922]

“We think the logo as a flag”. Good comparison. I take it for my next client meeting. Excellent talk!

[@benw9949]

That yellow rectangle of the National Geographic didn't just come out of nowhere, which is why it has an association that works. The old National Geographic magazines used to have that distinctive sunny yellow border, plus another border of scrollwork, and then the cover photo and type. Later, the scrollwork portion was dropped and they used only the yellow border, and then I think that was dropped. But at some point, videos (film and TV documentaries) made by them used that yellow rectangle and word mark, and over time, that logo design became the brand identity, so that the two used together now stand for the magazine, the videos and channel, and so on. The magazine dates back over a hundred years now. That logo works because there's that long association and that trust built up, and it's a simple, recognizable design.

[@abirahmed1292]

But the logo designer identified it, if they didn't hire logo designer then it would have been look like the conservation international logo

[@AmieB2005]

Plus it emulates the distinctive proportions of the magazine. No magazine had that compact size as NatGeo.

[@SuperRadChad]

Good to see even at this level the clients still want to challenge years of expertise. Us designers think that at that level you don't get push back.

[@johnpalacio_co]

That's exactly what I thought.

[@JavierAndresAnd]

It's kind of relieving and depressing at the same time

[@nathanmalik1697]

This man is a visual identity expert and an excellent storyteller as well! I enjoyed this and learnt a lot.

[@ahmedmaher9985]

came here after the future eposide w\this dude such agreat man

[@theaveragemegaguy]

Same here, kinda funny because it’s like listening to the talk again he says everything almost identical to how he did on the futur lol. Much better on the futur tho still love him tho

[@pishhugo7038]

@@theaveragemegaguy same. the futur interview didnt have the funny vid towards the end tho

[@fabiancamargo5545]

It was not the speech I wanted to hear, it was the one I needed to hear. Simply amazing

[@BramNausDrums]

thefutur anyone?

[@piyushmatnani]

Yes, hehe me!

[@xvanegas89]

Yep!

[@dattagrace]

Me too

[@Psyduck119]

Yes

[@madness5693]

haha yea

[@wangfu1989]

I wish all the clients can watch this!

[@Johnnymahon218]

Lesson here: hire a motion graphic studio to create an awesome video to sell your logo.

[@evm6177]

😆 The whole Motion graphic with voice over was priceless. Loved the part where the O grows legs finally we r getting some where thought the client!

[@johnshanahan8788]

*Shocking logo (Literally 6 Clicks to make...)

[@evm6177]

😆 The whole Motion graphic with voice over was priceless. Loved the part where the O grows legs finally we r getting some where thought the client!

[@The.spiritual.sailor]

This man needs to be in hollywood 😃

[@gerardovazquez6200]

Haviv is a great thinker, the best

[@shawj]

Goes to show that a great designer is not just good at design, but also at communication and persuasion. Doesn't matter if you have the best design in the world if the client rejects it.

[@djlive408]

SAGI HAVIV is a god of marks! God Bless his knowledge!

[@bambamovo]

The worst thing a client says is "WOW ME" I say, you are not going to see a dove popping out of your screen ma'am.

[@solie9598]

Wow! Best presentation I've ever seen

[@okehammed]

A very insightful video laden with so much information about logo design and how to convince as well as presenting the logo to one's prospective client.

[@Abdullahfalah]

Such a brilliant thing 💙

[@YouSeeTruth]

Wow! A really good lesson here for a designer like me. Thank you so much

[@ohstayyeah]

Best video about trust and logo design value

[@intelegency2105]

Amazing ♥️

[@abhishek0603]

Kind of super enlightening.

[@AlexanderPrasetya]

Awesome!

[@madness5693]

Chris Do, sent me here XD

[@designbyodo]

Like A flag. Whether you want it or not. You love it and live with it. Trust the Designer.

[@floppydisk9541]

He didn't tell all about it. Even to make something simple like that, it's a hard work. I've tried. Coz it's not just shape but there's also philosophy behinds it.

[@user-ye1dz5dl9n]

it's amazing

[@vijayarya9528]

Thank u all very much

[@TechwithLaughter]

Great Talks

[@OeloDickAble]

I love you Sagi

[@OeloDickAble]

that swoosh had me like, LMAO

[@andryandriansyah2626]

I found what I was looking for.

[@infographie]

Excellent

[@sparklinglotus]

Interesting how the title has nothing to do with what was said in the talk

[@tekalignmuse7745]

I have got a great insight.

[@seltinusjulio]

Siapa yang datang ke sini setelah nonton kanal Rio Purba?

[@keongmania]

Hadir. Pernah nonton tapi nonton lagi karena bang Rio bahas.

[@killdie6525]

Saya

[@floppydisk9541]

Pnh liat krn penasaran dgn logo National Geographic. Trs dapet relomendasi di home dr rio purba.

[@justinaez4029]

nghe mà ưng hết cả tai , đức phúc cover mãi đỉnh

[@juliettehotel]

It’s hard to believe that between the client, the design firm, and the lawyers, not one person said, “Um, that’s the logo of the punk band, The Germs.”

[@thecarrots5]

They have a circle only. That's not even possible to trademark

[@felipebechstedt4064]

if logos gain power and meaning with time, why change them?

[@spider161]

The company changes and evolves as well sometimes. If there's a big shift in their goals and identity then it's usually time to update. See him talking about the conservation company, stayed the same until they moved from animals to all life so they made a logo that shows that.

[@balramyadav4950]

💌

[@subhradipsaha9518]

Sagi Haviv can play a role in Hitman!

[@bluepersona7916]

And clients dont understand all this things😩

[@igcuric]

Imagine how these environmental organizations flush millions in logos, marketing, celebrity events, directors' salaries, and so on, and how much really goes to the right places.

[@misterdcl650]

Haviv

[@TheLastArcher]

thefutur

[@AlbertoFortes]

2020

[@peterbutler9333]

I love this but don’t think the motion graphics piece is good at all. It cheapens the mark and the affects for the individual images creating the globe, dates it, it’s not new or innovative or creative. The logo is future reaching while the video is stuck in the past... in my opinion. Sagi, you’re the man. Thank you for this amazing insight!

[@edoni93]

I totally agree with you and I hated the video but, you have to take into consideration that the motion graphics were done somewhere around 2010, when the logo was designed and at that time, that video was the norm. While on the other hand, it's so amazing to see that a logo designed at that time is still among the most innovative and simple logos of today, 2019.

[@taringosutsuki5839]

Im the real John Doe

[@ofoc]

NO IM THE REAL JOHN DOE

[@sundalongpatpat]

Daddy

[@benw9949]

That circle and line logos way too generic and simple. It needs something more distinctive to work for that organization. A texture and something that suggests the Earth would be fore effective. I know what I'd do with it if it were up to me.

[@evm6177]

Agreed! Looks like their whole strategy was saying NO until the client complied or they were shown the door, At which point these guys will call their lawyer friends just to show their muscle & family contacts that back their agency. Either way they won just saying no!

[@aerialsky871]

Less is more

[@bangtanbangtan8338]

I don't think you got the point

[@zamazalotta]

you can sweet-talk it all you want but that O| logo sucks, especially for an organization with a distinctive mission

[@aleksandergrygier540]

i must disagree - the logo helps the organization to consequently gain recognizability and it's biggest strength is it's simplicity making it instantly familiar. and the colors - they scream "earth" at you

[@zamazalotta]

@@aleksandergrygier540 rest assured a disk with a giant hole does NOT scream earth, maybe a donut, or a tire but definitely not earth...

[@xChutJeReve]

graphic design is not like art, it has to communicate, be recognizable. You missed the whole point of the talk which is creating an abstract form to represent something... Like the chase icon. I can agree that it might not look pretty, or exiting (like their first logo) but it works. That's what's important.

[@joshnolan722]

It's not supposed to "scream" anything. It was *derived* from the concept of the blue planet, but it is meant to be versatile. The circle with a line below also resembles the silhouette of a person, and there's a lot of things a ring can be made to represent. But like he said, - as is true for Chase Bank, National Geographic, the Olympics, Audi, Pepsi, Mitsubishi, Adidas, etc. etc. - a logo has little to do with what it means or what it looks like. It's about familiarity and the idea that a company has a distinctive, recognizable logo - that when you see the symbol, the company comes to mind, and vice-versa.

[@thejohnzapido]

@@zamazalotta exactly. It can have a lot of meanings. That's the power of it. Who knows, maybe in the future they will cater to tire industry or donuts. They have the powrer to be flexible. And that I think is the beauty of this symbol. A long term approach than an expressive and usually short term one. :)