One major problem a user experiences when trying to stay on top of celebrity gossip on the Internet is that most celebrity news sites have a lack of direction and clear organization. Le Gossip aims to change all of that by striving to deliver better information on a more organized platform.

This quick project was the brainchild of my business partner Troy Osinoff and myself. Designing the Le Gossip brand was far from easy. We did extensive research on the pros and cons of typical celebrity news sites, took the typical headlines and photo albums and essentially made the path to information a more concise and easy for the visitor. The site is scheduled to hit the web early next week.

Logo Design Process
We wanted to position the site as being more MTV-cool and less TMZ-cheesy. The logo itself was made to appeal to young women and teens. It is clean and simple, but rough in a way that makes it look like Zac Efron’s hair when he wakes up in the morning. Here is the grid representation and kerning model for the logo:

Earlier versions of the logo I did seemed a little bit too kids-boppish and I think that this one does a really good job at staying more age-neutral, yet hip.

Tube by Julian Hrankov

Ajeva by Julian Hrankov

Forza by Cris Labno

Badona Typeface by Oguzhan Ocalan

Practicum by Lapin Design

Armenian Foods by Haik Avanian

Design Works by Jesse Kaczmarek

Koenig Architektur by Muggie Ramadani

Well there you have it. I think that much can be learned by merely observing and studying the brilliance of others and I think that this group of designers did a wonderful job of teaching. Not have they taken me down a peg or two, they have managed to make me extremely jealous and to inspire me – a rare thing.

Designer Credits: Cris Labno, Julian Hrankov, Oguzhan Ocalan, Muggie Ramadani, Jesse Kaczmarek, Lapin Design, Haik Avanian

Minima is my under construction Logo Design Portfolio where I will showcase the design elements of my job in a more in depth and creative way than is possible on this site.

The most important thing with the minima logo was to communicate the name in the most appropriate (minimal) way, while still producing something that was unique and memorable. I knew right away that I wanted to do a custom logotype. Here is a grid representation of the logo:

I like using grid representations in this manner because it really helps you see minute details or inaccuracies you might not see with the naked eye. As you can see, by using a lowercase “a” instead of an uppercase “A” the logo is much more cohesive and the whitespace is more consistent throughout. Not only does the lowercase “a” balance the logo better, it also made the logo a touch more unique.

My inspiration for the style of “a” that I used was Chalet Paris 1960 which actually showcases my favorite “a” in typography. Here are side by side comparisons between the minima “a” and the Chalet Paris 1960.

The major similarities between the two reside in the bowl where the curves are nearly spot on. The only in your face difference is in the spur where I decided to keep it straight to maintain consistency in the type. There are maybe more similar “a’s” out there, but like I said, Chalet’s was where I drew my inspiration from.

The end result of this logo ended up being everything that I wanted it to be. It is simple, memorable, minimal.