This is a personal project that I have been working on. The poster features the (reversed) logos of the top 100 top global brands of 2009 as ranked by Interbrand, formed into the shape of the copyright symbol. The bottom right text says: “Good artists copy, great artists steal” ~ Pablo Picasso.

The idea behind the poster was to question the blurring lines between art, design and copyright. Can one just take a whole series of others work, put it into a new shape and call it art? Or is it design? I think Picasso’s quote also draws on similar thoughts… what’s the difference between copying and stealing? What is the secret to creativity? What did Picasso mean by this quote?

Anyway, you can interpret as you wish. The good news is that it is available as a free PDF under a Creative Commons 2.0 license. This means you CAN copy, print, distribute, display, and use this work for any purpose under the conditions that you give me credit for the work and that you do not make money from it.

>> Download A3 Sized Logo Copyright Poster (4.3mb)

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• 100 Best Global Brands of 2009 (28)

Interbrand in conjunction with Business Week has just released the best global brand rankings of 2009.

The Top 10 Brands of 2009 were:

1. Coca-Cola
2. IBM
3. Microsoft
4. GE
5. Nokia
6. McDonald’s
7. Google
8. Toyota
9. Intel
10. Disney

>> View the full 100 best global brands on the Business Week web site.

What can we learn from looking at the logos of these top brands?

Based on the 2007 top 50 brands, the % below identifies the percentage of the top 50 brands that hold to this view:

• The name does not describe the product sold (94%) (ie. in most cases a logo is used to identify a company, not describe what it does.)
• The by-line tag is not included in the logo (90%)
• The font style is clean and clear (84%)
• The logo design uses one colour only (74%) (white & black not counted as a colour)
• The logo design uses letters only without the symbol (74%)
• The logo design is a made-up name or ACRONYM (72%)
• The logo design is rectangular in shape (66%)
• The logo design is one word only (62%)
• The logo design includes the trademark symbol (54%) and is placed in the top right (48%)
• The name is 6 letters or less (52%)
• The name uses upper & lower case (44%) (excluding ACRONYMS)
• The background is filled and solid. (52%)
• The pronunciation includes three sounds/syllables (44%)
• The predominant colour base is blue (40%)

You can also download a poster (PDF) of the 2009 top brands as seen above.

There is also a video to watch regarding the top brands list.

(I apologise for the auto play – I couldn’t disable or link to the video any other way.)

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• Free Logo Copyright Poster (30)