Design and art direction: Chris Bolton

Rule 1... and how to break it!
Make the viewer work to understand what he or she is reading and you will draw them into your world, while making it clear that this isn't your normal, everyday logo for an everyday product.

Levi's Blue is a premium line of clothing, produced by the legendary jeans brand. Chris Bolton was asked to design the visuals for the opening night of a Levi's Blue pop-up store in Antwerp, Belgium. Inspired by the Nu Rave theme of the event, Bolton, a British/Canadian designer based in Finland, came up with a solution that pushes the boundaries of legibility. He describes it as follows: "Horizontal lines create structured letterforms. When the words 'pop' and 'store' are used together, the word 'up' drops into the combination to create a readable, structured logo."

It is a multilayered design that Bolton admits is "more a strong graphic, typographic solution than a classic logo." No doubt its experimental feel was ideal for differentiating the Blue clothing line from Levi's standard fare. And it certainly put clear blue water between itself and the iconic, and very legible, primary Levi's logo. While initially intended for a single event, the logo was so well received that it has since been adapted and developed for all the communications of Levi's Blue.

Art direction: Rob Coke Design: Stewart McMillan, Studio Output

Rule 1... and how to break it!
When the overall shape and support logo are clear, the main logotype can be a bit more challenging, especially for a one-off business such as this.

Brik is a barbershop in the center of the city of Nottingham in the UK. Its owners approached local graphic design group Studio Output looking for a logo that would be modern, yet also express the classic, art deco-inspired interior of the salon. The resultant logo merges both 1930s and contemporary looks to create a logo that prioritizes style over legibility, which is unusual for a barbershop.

Design: Robert Paulmann

Rule 1... and how to break it!
Designing a logo about logos is tricky, but by making it hard to read people are encouraged to think about the function of a logo.

In 2008, Robert Paulmann set up the Corporate Identity Institute, an online presence that is aligned to the Design Faculty of the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, Germany. It seeks to combine an academic approach with a forum for professional designers and businesses. While the logos that are its subject matter can range from the most classic and simple to the most rule breaking and radical, the Institute's own logotype seems smudged, as if printed incorrectly, even though it is designed for online use. "We tried to visualize the different aspects and complexities of corporate identities by using layers, which indicate the multiple levels and on the other hand create new and unpredictable figures within the logo itself," explains Paulmann.

Art direction: Paul West Design: Paul West and Nick Hard Form

Rule 1... and how to break it!
Let people have some visual pleasure before they do the hard work of deciphering what it is all about.

UK fashion and culture magazine Dazed & Confused teamed up with youth fashion retailer Topshop to create an awards program and an accompanying traveling exhibition of fashion, journalism, photography, and art. Parties in six different cities with DJs and bands helped build the project's profile, as did the graphics designed by Form, who were responsible for the logo and all related event material including posters, adverts, invites, and flyers. The logo's intensely decorative nature meant legibility was pushed into the background, as the viewer tried to work out the name and punctuation in negative space.

Design: Design Friendship

Rule 1... and how to break it!
When confusion and discernibility are the subjects at hand, why not exemplify them in the logo?

UK fashion and culture magazine Dazed & Confused teamed up with youth fashion retailer Topshop to create an awards program and an accompanying traveling exhibition of fashion, journalism, photography, and art. Parties in six different cities with DJs and bands helped build the project's profile, as did the graphics designed by Form, who were responsible for the logo and all related event material including posters, adverts, invites, and flyers. The logo's intensely decorative nature meant legibility was pushed into the background, as the viewer tried to work out the name and punctuation in negative space.

Art direction: Patrick Duffy Design: Patrick Fry, Espionage

Rule 1... and how to break it!
Why not slice a bit off and share your logo with your clients; the audience is clever enough to get it.

Espionage is a multidisciplinary branding agency, whose logo has a "split personality" that appears on all the company's stationery and its website. Cut at an angle, the logo seems to partly hide on the page much as a spy might hide behind a tree. Designed to work on its own, the Espionage logo can also be completed by the inclusion of an extra word, be it a department or client's name, which instantly personalizes all correspondence. The "full word" logo has also been shortened to just an "E," which is animated as a splash page on the website. From one small E, there's now a gallery of siblings, happily fragmenting in a variety of different ways.

Design: Eirik Seu Stokkmo, Scandinavian Design Group

Rule 1... and how to break it!
By creating a curious shape for the initial G, not only does the logo become a brand rather than a word, but it also offers a distinctive property that can be used on its own.

Get is one of Norway’s major cable and broadband suppliers, and wanted to rebrand to consolidate its position. The ubiquity of the word "get" was one of the principle issues for designer Eirik Seu Stokkmo of Oslo-based Scandinavian Design Group. "A more distinct logo that would intrigue seemed like a wise decision to make sure the logo became a brand and not just a word," he says. "The flow and the shape, and other associations, became more important than legibility, when we realized this would make a stronger impact and create a presence that would be remembered. The characteristic initial 'G' caused a great deal of concern at the [early design] meetings, but has proven to be one of the logo's main assets."