- Publisher
- Phaidon
- Published
- 1997
- Shelf
- branding: Marks
- ISBN
- 9780714834481
Marks
Marks of Excellence
Per Mollerup
A taxonomy of trademarks: what kinds of mark exist, what each kind can do, and why one gets chosen over another.
Why read it
Mollerup treats trademarks the way a botanist treats plants. Picture marks, letter marks, name marks, abstract marks, each sorted by what it is asked to carry. Once you have the taxonomy you stop arguing about whether a mark is good and start asking whether it is the right kind, which is a question with an answer.
Why own it
Reference, and the sort you return to with a specific problem rather than read end to end. The historical span is deep enough that almost any brief you are given has a precedent somewhere in it.
Who it is for
Identity designers who want a vocabulary for what they are doing, and anyone presenting three routes who needs to say why they differ.
Reading order
Book 2 of 5 in the logo design reading order. See all 5
Read nextPrinciples of Logo DesignGeorge BokhuaOnce you know the kind, Bokhua shows how to build the mark on a grid and correct it by eye until it holds small.Read before thisLogo Design Love
Opens a search on AbeBooks, a network of independent and antiquarian sellers, which is where a good part of this shelf has to be found, because it is out of print.
Read next
Chosen because they argue with this one, not because a machine noticed they share a category.
Also on the·branding shelf