Japanese Logoland

Recently, I have been deep deep in logo land, trying to simplify ideas down to its “essence”. So when a friend passed this along to me, I was inspired and a little bit relieved. When I create logos, I immediately shy away from using the first letter(s) in the name as the mark. I want something more, something more metaphorical I guess.

Which leads me to this post. When a friend sent me this, I was stoked. These Japanese town logos use hiragana and katakana characters to create interesting and solid marks that are extremely unique. They range from super simple to almost puzzle-like, rigid to fluid, however all of them are super accessible and solid. They are modern heraldry, crests that symbolize a community. I would love to design a series of these for towns in the US and replace something like whats below, ugggg. Is that really our logo? Or is it this?

Check out the whole collection here.

Visualizing The U.S. Electric Grid – Flash infographic piece on NPR site

NPR has a nice informational feature on their site called Visualizing The U.S. Electric Grid.

“The U.S. electric grid is a complex network of independently owned and operated power plants and transmission lines. Aging infrastructure, combined with a rise in domestic electricity consumption, has forced experts to critically examine the status and health of the nation’s electrical systems.”

Really great way to get a quick understanding of how our electrical system works. The site explains proposed expansions to the system for power generated through coal, nuclear, gas and hydro power plants as well as new lines to transfer power created with solar and wind generators.

Specific information for all major power plants

How much and which types of power each state creates

Existing solar power systems