Design studio housecleaning - excavated artifact #18

The cleaning out of old files, and archiving of past design projects, continues - and I haven't even touched a four-drawer filing cabinet and several boxes of files stored in my basement. My collection of project elements from the past 30 years is a bit overwhelming. I seem to have enough "excavated artifacts" and "before and after" project examples to fill an entire book - perhaps I should write one on those specific topics.

I just came across my rough concept for a publication called The Reel Scoop (below left). While living in Seattle in 1987, I was contacted by a potential client who was initiating a new monthly newspaper, which was to provide parents with the information they needed to know about movies their children might might want to see. The identity for the paper needed to appeal to both kids and adults.

My rough concept is actually a little more detailed than many of my "excavated artifacts." The design, in black felt pen on a now yellowed piece of tissue paper, shows a piece of film incorporating the words "THE REEL" over the word "SCOOP," created from hand-drawn letterforms and the graphic image of movie camera. Prior to presenting the idea to my client, as a photocopy, I attempted to clean it up a bit with the Liquid Paper and white tape seen on the original design.

This one and only concept shown to the client evolved into the final logo with no major alterations (above right). It was easy for readers to find the movie review publication on newsstands and bookstores with the attention-getting logo used as the nameplate across the top of the front page.

Due to the incorporation of the art as letterforms in the name, David E. Carter used The Reel Scoop identity as an example in his book Bullet-Proof Logos: Creating Great Designs Which Avoid Legal Problems.

My previous "excavated artifacts" are posted on the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives blogfolio.

© 2008 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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