Last week it was monkeys. This week it’s monks.

We recently took on a project for a new start up called Monk Networks—a technology company that mixes software, systems, and network management for small to medium business start-ups. For their logo, they asked to see cartoon style monks in most of the concepts. They also asked for an icon that could stand alone, without the rest of the logo (a good idea if you are set on having an iconic logo).

We presented them with seven concepts to choose from (they purchased our most popular Gold Package which includes three designers and guarantees at least six unique concepts).

Here are a few of the concepts we presented.

First up is a fun, cartoon-style monk icon matched with a strong, bold font—exactly what the client requested:

Of course, we like to present as wide a variety of concepts as possible (this is one reason we put several designers on each project, instead of having a single designer crank out several concepts that end up feeling too similar). So, we also presented a few concepts that were a little more serious feeling. This next composition of a buddhist monk includes a brush stroke of color and a stylized, calligraphic-feeling font.

We presented another more serious option, though this one might look a little too much like a jedi or grim reaper. Still it has a good strong font and a memorable icon:

Lastly, another, very different concept. This one uses a thinner font treatment and a more abstract icon or a praying monk which the designer placed where the “o” should be in the name. It’s not exactly what the client requested, but as occasionally happens, they liked this one the best.

Every couple of weeks, the artists here in the design shop post on the walls a bit of their favorite work from the previous ten days or so. Then the design team “votes” on the best work of all those that are submitted. Each of the designers with the best work gets a small gift card as well as the applause and respect of their peers. (I say this a little tongue in cheek—in truth there is usually much joking around and the good-natured ribbing you’d expect). Often times the designs that are presented were not selected by the client—but are amazingly good and deserving of some recognition. Thus the reason for the get-together (it’s definitely not a meeting).

We’ve been doing this 2-3 times a month for almost ten years, and the incredible quality of the design we hang up on the wall each time we get together never ceases to amaze me. It’s a good reminder of the incredibly talented people I get to work with every single day. Last week’s gathering featured about 30 logo, stationery, and website designs. Here’ are two of my favorites (in both cases here, the client ultimately selected another composition)…

The first is for a golf course restaurant called Tomasso’s that uses lettering to suggest the idea of spaghetti in addition to a nice icon that represents both golf and a pasta bowl (I’m getting hungry just looking at it):

The second is one of my favorite logo designs I’ve seen in a while. It is a simple, custom lettered, logotype, and in my opinion, a great logo…

See more great logo design in our gallery at Logoworks.com.

The vast majority of logo projects we get ask for an icon as part of the logo. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. There are plenty of successful organizations with iconic logos—Nike, Apple, Major League Baseball, and AT&T, to name just four.

But there’s another option when it comes to your logo, the wordmark or logotype. There are plenty of successful companies that use this kind of logo as well: IBM, Fedex, Exxon, Disney and Microsoft.

So why do so many entrepreneurs ask for icons rather than wordmarks? I’m not sure I have a good answer for that question, except maybe people are trained to think of logos as images or pictures, rather than words. (This is true of both iconic logos and logotypes—we see them as pictures.) So, when customers think about logos, they literally think of icons and ask for them, rather than having the designer try to do something unique with the type.

In addition to iconic logos, our designers have come up with some pretty amazing logotypes. Here are two of my favorites from the Logoworks archive. The first was a concept we presented to Sonoma Vinegar Works that makes use of colors and shapes to communicate the idea of grapes. I love this logo:

The second is for a small start-up down the street called Needle. Given the track record of the founders, it’s pretty likely you’ll be hearing more from them in the future.

Both of these logos include hidden elements (though not that hidden) and strong font choices, demonstrating that when they are done right, a logotype can be every bit as effective as an iconic logo—maybe more so. Something to consider if you’re thinking about creating a new logo for your organization.

Note: This is the first post on the new blog by Paul, one of our talented designers, and the illustrator who did this…

Ever since a client asked me to change the Helvetica font in her logo to “something more timeless like Papyrus”, I’ve been thinking about this. More timeless than Helvetica? I should be used to requests like this by now. After all, clients don’t always use terms like “timeless” the same way a designer does. It’s like asking to re-typeset a book, changing it from that new-fangled, flash-in-the pan Caslon font to something classic like Umbra. So I tried it…

I began seeing the world in a whole new light. What if all the logos that used Helvetica were “updated” to the font Papyrus? How would the world look?

American Airlines would have to change their entire website.

Better or worse? You decide.