For the past few months, I’ve been closely following the development of BP’s catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and, as most of the world, am outraged by the devastation it has caused. But, there’s also a deeper issue that fuels our anger: we feel swindled that we bought into BP’s image of being ecologically and socially responsible.

In 2000, BP unveiled its new green and yellow Helios logo. On its website, the radiating, sun-inspired symbol is compared to “the living, organic form of a sunflower,” and … read more

This winter has been the snowiest on record in the D.C.-metropolitan area. Last week’s blizzard confined me to my house for several days resulting in constant window-watching to monitor the storm’s progress. Observing the accumulation, the design nerd in me couldn’t help but appreciate how the snow reduced the surrounding landscape into a beautiful, clean canvas. Any object not blanketed by white exquisitely popped out because it wasn’t competing with the usual, surrounding visual clutter.

 The classical composer, Debussy, once noted that “Music is the silence between the notes.” … read more

People often wonder why designers spend so much time poring over the perfect color choice for a project. Does it really matter if a logo uses spring green over emerald green? Aren’t all greens created equally? The answer is no. What may seem whimsical or cosmetic actually requires a lot of deliberate thought. A good palette shouldn’t just look pretty, it should heighten the emotional and psychological meaning of your message.

Pantone, the global authority on color, recently unveiled turquoise as its Color of The Year for 2010. This … read more