There’s nothing like creating an amazing design that your client loves, while also saving some money in the process.

You don’t have to compromise on the quality of the fonts you choose, just because you’re not paying the big bucks for them.

Better yet, why pay for fonts at all when there are some really great ones out there that are ready for you to use for free?

10 Free Fonts That’ll Change Your Life

I’m going to introduce you to your new best friends, aka 10 open source fonts that’ll spice up all your designs in 2020.

You ready to do this? Cause I am.

Let’s jump right into it.

1. Manrope

We’re going to start today’s list of 10 free fonts with Manrope.

I’ve mentions this font before, but that’s only because it’s my all time favorite.

It’s modern, it’s sleek, it’s everything you want in a free font.

It’s versatility is what really hits home for me and that’s why I recommend that you start incorporating it into all your new designs.

2. Inter

You might’ve seen Inter take a step into the scene as of recent, and I truly believe it’s here to stay.

Inter has become a staple font for many, so don’t be the exception! Add this font to your collection and start adding it to your design projects right away.

3. Public Sans

I can’t lie, I love a good sans serif font.

But what’s special about this font is that it was developed for the US government and is all over their websites and is a huge part of their design.

It looks very similar to another open-source font that you may know of, Libre Franklin.

4. Alice

It’s time to step away from the sans serif, and into the serifs.

When I saw the type-face Alice, I knew it was going to have a new and special spot in my font collection.

Alice is a very unique serif font, which seems kinda old-fashioned, but at the same time, pretty modern.

You can find this font on Google-fonts!

5. Urbanist

Another one of my all time favorite free fonts is Urbanist.

This geometric sans serif is most definitely a modern font that can be used in a variety of different projects.

From logos, to headlines, this font is perfect to add to your colelction of fonts.

What are you waiting for? Go and download it now!

6. Evolventa

Were you surprised when you saw another modern sans serif?

Me either.

Evolventa is a Cyrillic extension of the open-source URW Gothic L font family.

7. Object Sans

If this font isn’t eye-catching, I don’t know what is.

If you’re looking for the perfect combination of Swiss neo-grotesks and geometric fonts, then Object Sans is the one for you.

This font is perfect to replace any of those pricey fonts, because it looks just as good as the rest of them.

8. Lunchtype

I love a good back-story to any font that I use, and Lunchtype has one of the best.

The designer who created this font created it during a lunch break on 100-day project.

We love a good lunch-break, and I can’t deny that that’s when some of my best ideas come to me.

Food is life, and so is an amazing font.

9. Work Sans

What’s cuter than a good font and a hedgehog?

I’ll answer that for you.

nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

10. Monoid

And finally, we’ve come to our last free font, which is Monoid.

Monoid is another great font that we know you’ll love and be using on the daily, if you code.

“The clever thing about Monoid is that it has font-awesome built into it, which they call Monoisome. This means when writing code, you can pop a few icons in there easily. Monoid looks just as great when you’re after highly readable website body text.”

Let us know in the comments which font was your favorite of this list and which ones you’ll be incoporating into your daily design life.

Until next time,

Stay creative folks!

Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen, because Rolls-Royce just went full-rebrand on us and I’m about to present to you their new and improved brand identity.

Ah, Rolls-Royce. The British luxury car brand that we all know and adore.

They have done a complete 180 and changed literally everything about their brand to please and draw in a younger generation.

Between a new typeface, color palette, new icon, and everything in between, we’re going to be covering it all today.

A Short History of Rolls-Royce

“Rolls-Royce is a pioneer in cutting-edge technologies that deliver the cleanest, safest, and most competitive solutions to meet the planet’s vital power needs.

The company was formed by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in 1906, following a successful partnership in which the pair developed and sold cars.

While the motor car business subsequently separated in 1973, Rolls-Royce remains one of the world’s leading names in engineering, innovating in civil and defence aerospace, power systems and nuclear technology.”

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When Rolls-Royce decided that it was time to rebrand, they reached out to none other than Pentagram.

Although lots of things have changed regarding the Rolls-Royce rebranding, it is still immediately recognizable, which was important to leadership at RR.

The goal of this rebrand was “to bring coherence, clarity and flexibility to Rolls-Royce and its full suite of products and services”.

Not only does Rolls-Royce create stunning automobiles, but they create a number of things, such as amazing, high-end car accessories, luggage and bags.

So this new logo needed to be flexible and work for multiple platforms.

The New Rolls-Royce Symbol

As you can see, the new Rolls-Royce symbol has been flipped so that it is now facing the right, and has been incredibly simplified, which as we have seen with many other brands, this has been the theme of 2020.

New Rolls-Royce Identity

Now for the big-kicker.

From 1911 until now, the symbol of Rolls-Royce was on the bonnet of every Rolls-Royce.

But 2020 is the year of change, am I right?

From now on, things have been simplified at Rolls-Royce and the identity of RR will now be symbolized as showed in the picture above.

A bold move, but I think it’s great that they are going for more of a minimalist approach.

Rolls-Royce New Color Pallette

New new color pallete for Rolls-Royce consists of purple as the dominant color, with hints of pink and fluoro orange.

According to Willer, purple has always been associated with luxury, and it looks “softer, less masculine and harsh” than black. “It still has authority and elegance, but yet it’s broader not just to gender but culture”.

Rolls-Royce New Typeface

Final Thoughts

I really like this new look that Rolls-Royce adopted and I think it’s great in all aspects, but I do want to know what you guys think of it.

In your personal, professional opinion, what do you think of this rebrand?

Let us know in the comments below and of course…

Until next time,

Stay creative!

You just read the title of this article and you didn’t even think twice about it.

When we read, we don’t even realize that we’re reading and doing something incredible.

Something so simple, so insignificant to us, is an entirely vital part of life.

Something we do all day long and don’t pay any attention to it.

Did you know that 18% percent of New Yorkers face the daily struggle of illiteracy?

Think about what life would be like if you couldn’t read.

How difficult day to day life would be.

Sans 18% is a broken typeface created specifically to show us what it’s like to not be able to read.

This new typeface was intentionally created to be unintelligible.

To show us the struggle of what it is like to not be able to read, and to put ourselves in the shoes of others.

Sans 18% was created by Literacy Partners with the intent to show us what life is like for roughly 18% of New Yorkers who can not read, and to give a solution to people who face this problem.

When you can’t read, you face problems you would never imagine.

Reading and understanding important documents is impossible.

Being independent becomes a million times harder.

This font shows you what it’s like to look a billboard, document, or even doctor’s prescription and not be able to understand what’s going on.

The video from up above, which is narrated by a person who learned how to read from the Literacy Partners association, shows just how important it is to be able to read.

I personally am all for Literacy Partners.

Literacy Partners provides free classes, books, workshops, and education to immigrants and caregivers in New York who want to learn how to read.

The PSA video was shared on Times Square for one day, and is running digitally with pro bono support from media agency m/SIX.

CEO of Literacy Partners, Anthony Tassi said, “We can’t afford for some members of our community not to be able to read basic public health information. Their inability to do so has potentially fatal consequences for not only their families but for everyone around them.”

They have also ensured that the literacy programs have been made available online for those who cannot attend in person, and they have made sure that the families who participate in these workshops and classes have all the technology they need in order to participate.

If you want to help teach New Yorkers how to read and come together as a community to support Literacy Partners, you can donate directly on their website.

Any donation helps.

You can also download the font by creating an account on their website.

What do you guys think about this broken font?

I found it very eye opening.

Let us know in the comments what you think!

And of course, until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

Have you ever wondered what a bitten apple and technology have in common?

The Apple logo has become one of the most iconic and world-wide known logo, but not many people know the history and the meaning behind the bitten apple.

Today, we’re going to dive into the history of the Apple logo, so you can know all about it. 

And hey, it’s a cool party story to tell… that is, if you go to parties. I wouldn’t know.  #quarantinelife 

The first logo of the company doesn’t look at all like the actual one that represents the Apple brand.

And if you ask me, it actually gives me kind of creepy vibes.

The first logo of Apple only survived for one year before Steve Jobs asked the talented artist Rob Janoff to create something more modern and representative for Apple. 

The final logo, designed by Ronald Wayne and Steve Jobs, illustrated Sir Isaac Newton under an apple tree, and for the background, it had a poem written on the side of the drawing.

The quotation by Wordsworth that was also inscribed into the logo said: “Newton… a mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought.”

The Apple Logo: How did it become an iconic image of the company?

The iconic Apple logo, the bitten apple that we all know and love, can now be found on all the company’s products.

This apple was created by Rob Janoff in the ’70s.

According to Rob, the reason Steve Jobs wanted the apple to have a bite mark in it, was so that no one would mistake the apple for a tomato.

You can also look at the bite as a clever play on words.

Instead of spelling it B-I-T-E, you can spell it B-Y-T-E, as in the measurement for digital storage.

It is, of course, a strong reference for a tech company.

The rainbow Apple Logo

So soon after they retired good old Isaac Newton and the weird first logo, the first iconic version of the bitten apple was presented as a rainbow-striped apple.

This Apple logo represented the company between 1976 and 1998.

Rob Janoff explains why Jobs opted for the rainbow in one of his interviews.

Once the personal computer Apple II was launched, it was the first computer ever that could display colors on the screen.

A huge win for Apple and for all of humanity.

We come a long way since then, huh? 

Crazy to think that it wasn’t even that long ago that we didn’t have computers that displayed colors!

The representatives of the company wanted to make this fact known by all, thus was born the rainbow apple.

Also, the colors were also an attempt to make the logo more accessible and to attract the young generation.

Here is Apple II in all of her spectacular glory.

In 1998, things started to change again, which means that the Apple logo went through a change as well.

As should all companies after a while!

Steve Jobs decided to change the rainbow apple into a monochromatic apple. 

A great, modern move on their part.

Apple always seems to be in the lead.

The rainbow colors of the apple were going to go out of fashion and just wouldn’t cut it anymore.

Especially when the decided to put the logo on the back of all their products, for everyone to see.

The new monochromatic logo matched the image of the newest products on the market better than anything else.

Regarding the name of the company, there are many speculations.

Unfortunately, there isn’t one most plausible theory among all the existent ones.

Some believe that the founder’s, Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak, wanted their start-up to appear on the first pages of the phone books.

Others believe that they wanted to stand out of the crowd with a simple name, that was easy to be remembered by.

They wanted to create a contrast between their company and all the other hard to remember names of tech companies such as TRS-80, IBM, or Cincom.

Also, the idea that the founders wanted to bring a tribute to The Beatles’ record label.

As time went on, Apple kept simplifying their logo all the more.

Now, their logo is minimalistic and you can find it in different colors across all products; Gold, Rosegold, Silver, and Black.

Despite the color changes that we’ve been seeing since the ’70s, the apple has and probably will remain intact from here on out.

The iconic apple is here to stay, with just a few modifications here and there every few years.

What do you guys think of Apple’s logo?

If you were in complete control of creating a new logo, would you totally revamp it? If so, then how?

Let us know in the comment section below.

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

With the release of Creative Cloud 2015, Adobe has continued its tradition of generating a buzz in the tech sector.

In addition to major updates on their programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, Adobe has also released a new platform named Adobe Edge Web Fonts.

Edge Fonts is a stunning font foundry that web designers can use 100% free for all design work.

If you’re familiar with Adobe and the creative cloud platform then you know about TypeKit.

This is Adobe’s premium font service which costs money.

But with the release of Edge Fonts Adobe now provides an alternative to TypeKit, offering web designers over 500 different font-families to choose from.

I’ll give you an overview of Edge Web Fonts and why designers should be excited about this amazing collection of typefaces.

Worth the Wait

In the recent past Google has dominated the web font game. Simply put, no other service provided an extensive collection of web fonts for free.

There is no denying that Adobe TypeKit is extremely popular among web designers. But the price of TypeKit often caused people to stray from using it.

Because Edge Web Fonts is free to use commercially, Adobe now provides an alternative to the once unrivaled Google Webfonts.

Edge Web Fonts aims to provide a free service that is easy to use.

Just like Google Fonts, a person does not need any sort of account to utilize Edge Fonts library (Scroll down for an update on this).

In addition to being easy to use, Edge Fonts is powered by the TypeKit font service.

Users can expect high-end performance and stability for their web fonts.

Edge Web Fonts User Interface

In the image above you can see the interface Edge Web Fonts provides for choosing fonts.

For those of you who’ve used Typekit in the past, you’ll notice the Edge Fonts website is strikingly similar to that of TypeKit.

As a TypeKit user myself I think this is pretty important to note.

The user interface was one of the main reasons why I continued to use TypeKit, and now Adobe is providing this to web designers for free.

In the example above I’ve narrowed the choices down to only serif fonts in order to show you a basic example of how Adobe’s interface works.

Although this may not seem very powerful, it allows you to sift through font faces that are alike in some way.

Edge Fonts also allows you to search fonts depending on whether they will be used as a heading or paragraph text.

This interface is much easier to choose the most appropriate font for whatever environment you’re designing.

Google Fonts is indeed a tremendous font foundry for web designers, however, sifting through the extensive number of fonts can become a problem.

It seems Edge Web Fonts has a leg up in this regard.

Adobe Edge Web Fonts – 2020 Update

In 2018, Typekit was finally and officially renamed as Adobe Fonts.

And that was great for all of us. With this new name came many new, much-needed updates.

For example, there are no more web-only fonts, no more desktop sync limits, and no more pageview limits.

And now instead of only having 500 fonts like there were when it Adobe fonts was first released, there are now thousands of fonts for you to choose from.

Adobe Fonts is free to use IF you have a subscription to any one of their products.

It is no longer a standalone product like it was when it was Typekit.

That is a bummer, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

And chances are, you probably have a subscription to Adobe.

So you should be good to go.

The great thing about Adobe Fonts is that you don’t have to worry about finding the rights to any font you fall in love with, as Adobe takes care of all of that for you!

All fonts are free to use for personal and commercial use.

This means that once you find that perfect font for your project, that’s literally it.

No more contacting the owner and buying the rights to it.

That’s right, you just get to keep the perfect font.

Isn’t that amazing?

Top 10 Adobe Fonts Designers Use

Before we end our time together today, I want to show you my top 10 favorite fonts from Adobe Fonts.

If you’re not convinced that you need to be using Adobe Fonts yet, well, after this, I’m almost certain you will be.

1. Acumin

2. ITC Avant Garde Gothic

3. Orpheus

4. ITC Benguiat

5. Plantin

6. Minion

7. Franklin Gothic

8. Proxima Nova

9. Baskerville

10. Mrs Eaves

Conclusion

In order to truly grasp the power of Edge Web Fonts you’ll have to check it out for yourself.

Not only does it provide an extensive number of fonts, it also makes the process of finding them quick & easy. Also you should remember that Edge Web Fonts provides premier performance for your font styles by utilizing TypeKit!

You’ll surely not be disappointed when you see what has been given to web designers with the incredible Edge Web Fonts service.

Designing logos can be a very difficult task.

When designing a logo, you want it to stand out from the crowd, yet still be really simple.

Sometimes the designer is really clever and makes the logo very simple, yet includes a hidden message within the logo that has a deeper meaning.

In today’s article, we’re going to cover 20 logos with hidden messages.

Some logos you will have seen before, and some may be completely new to you, but hopefully, you will enjoy them all.

Amazon

The Amazon logo is an extremely simple logo and while the arrow may just look like a smile it actually points from a to z.

This represents that Amazon sells everything from a to z, and the smile on the customers face when they bought a product.

Goodwill

Goodwill. The one thrift store we all know and love.

When you look at the logo, you see it’s a person smiling, probably happy that they just donated their clothes or just copped an awesome find for a great deal!

Now look at the letter ‘g’ from ‘goodwill’.

You’ll see that same smiling person in the first letter of the logo!

LG

At first glance, you might think LG’s logo may just be the winking face of a happy client.

But look closer.

You’ll see that in the winky face logo, there’s actually an L in the center, and the face is a G!

Super clever on their part.

Pinterest

Pinterest is one of my favorite social media apps out there.

It’s always full of great ideas and new trends that I can get inspired from, and then I can pin those images to one of my boards.

Hence, “Pin-terest”.

Duh.

Anyway, to the untrained eye, you might just see the letter “P” in the logo.

But if you really pay close attention, you’ll see that the letter “P” is actually a pin.

Michael Deal, the co-designer of this logo said, “For most of the project, I had avoided making visual reference to the image of a pin because it seemed too literal. But the “P” started to lend itself too well to the shape of a map pin.”

Toyota

Next up, we have Toyota.

This one is definitely one of the coolest of them all, and if it hasn’t received some kind of award already, well, it definitely deserves one.

If you didn’t already know, the Toyota logo has the entire word “Toyota” written in it!

Here’s a diagram to explain it better.

Isn’t that the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?

BMW

BMW just recently updated its logo and it looks amazing.

I wrote an entire piece about the new BMW logo because that’s how much I loved it.

But anyway, let’s talk about the hidden message here!

This logo actually represents a propeller in motion, with the blue part representing the sky, and the white part representing the propeller.

BMW’s logo is a tribute to the company’s history in aviation.

Baskin Robbins

The Baskin Robbins logo may look like it includes a simple BR above the name. bBt if you take another look, you will that it includes a pink number 31. This is a reference to their original and iconic 31 flavors.

Chick-fil-a

The Chick-fil-a logo incorporates a chicken into the C. Although this isn’t very hidden, it is still very clever.

Eighty20

The eighty20 logo is a bit of a geeky one to figure out, the two lines of squares represent a binary sequence with the blue squares being 1’s and the grey squares being 0’s.

Which makes 1010000 which represents eighty and 0010100 which represents 20.

F1

The F1 logo is a fairly simple one to figure out. The negative space in the middle creates the 1.

Facebook Places

If you didn’t already know Facebook Places, it is Facebook’s new geolocational product, which is in direct competition with the current leader in that area, Foursquare.

Now if you take another look at Facebook Places logo you will notice there is a 4 in a square.

Now is this a coincidence or is it a dig at Foursquare?

Fedex

The FedEx logo looks like a plain, text-based logo.

But if you take a second look, between the E and the X, you will see an arrow, that represents the speed and accuracy of the company’s deliveries.

Milwaukee Brewers

The old Milwaukee Brewers logo may look like a simple catchers mitt holding a ball, but if you take a second glance, you will see the team’s initials M and B.

Museum of London

The Museum of London logo may look like a modern logo design, but it actually represents the geographic area of London as it as grew over time.

NBC

The NBC logo has a hidden peacock above the above text which is looking to the right.

This represents the companies motto to look forward and not back, and also that they are proud of the programs they broadcast.

Northwest Airlines

The old Northwest Airlines logo may look like a simple logo, but if you take a closer look, the symbol on the left actually represents both N and W and because it is enclosed within the circle it also represents a compass pointing northwest.

Piano Forest

The Piano Forest logo may look like a simple text logo with trees above it, but if you take another look you will see that the trees actually represent keys on a piano.

Toblerone

The Toblerone logo contains the image of a bear hidden in the Matterhorn mountain, which is where Toblerone originally came from.

Tostitos

The Tostitos logo includes two people sharing a chip and a bowl of salsa, this conveys an idea of people connecting with each other over a bowl of chips.

Treacy Shoes

The Treacy Shoes logo is very cute logo with a shoe hidden between the t and s.

In Conclusion

Making a clever logo doesn’t always just come easily to you.

It can take weeks, months, and even years to come up with something mindblowing.

Other times, the idea comes to the forefront of your brain and you can see it clear as day.

Gather inspiration from these amazing logos with hidden messages and start making your own!

You could design the next big logo.

Did I miss any other big logos that have hidden messages within them?

Let me know in the comments!

Until next time,

Stay creative, folks!

Making a logo is typically one of your first tasks as a new, up-and-coming designer.

I know I had my fair share of making logos for far too cheap, and mostly for my close friends and their small businesses, but it’s something I’ll never forget.

Although there are a few things that I wish I had known when I was at the beginning of my career, so I’m here to shed some light on a few basic design principles that I swear by.

6 Basic Logo Design Principles For Beginners 

There are a few things, in my opinion, that every novice designer should know about logo design. Of course, you’ll end up doing whatever feels right for you, but just hear me out.

Alright guys, let’s do this.

1. Keep it simple

By now you’ve already heard of the K.I.S.S. principle. Keep it stupid simple. 

This is going to be key in making any logo.

I’ve learned that the hard way.

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When someone looks at your logo, it should be easy for any viewer to understand, interpret, and digest.

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No one should have to stare at your logo, cock their head to the side like a confused, adorable puppy, and wonder just what the heck you have created there.

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Take Apple, for example. One of the biggest dogs in the game.

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Back in the 60’s… Well, only they knew what they created for a logo.

But as the years went by, they kept simplifying and simplifying it.

And that was the key!

By simplifying their logo, it was easy to understand, it was easy on the eyes, and of course, it was memorable as heck.

Which brings me to my next point.

2. Make It Memorable

I know you immediately recognized my first simple logo example, which was obviously the Nike swoosh.

But why did you recognize it so quickly?

Because it was simple and memorable.

What’s the point in having an amazing design, if it’s not memorable?

You’ll lose brand recognizability. If your logo design is no good, well, you’ll have people talking about the business you’re designing for like this, “You know… that one place! With the thing… You know what I’m talking about!”

Nobody wants that. You need something simple, and memorable.

Let me show you some memorable logos that I know you’ll recognize.

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3. Use A Cohesive Color Scheme

A good color choice is going to make or break your design.

If you’re going to be using multiple colors, then I suggest that you choose a great color palette or use some sort of cohesive color scheme.

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Using a bunch of colors that don’t match won’t be a good choice.

You can always do a quick google search and see what colors are predicted to be most popular this year, or you can use color psychology and pick a color scheme that will match your service best.

4. Make It Scalable And Versatile

Keep in mind that the company, business, or client that you’re designing for will be using their logo on a multitude of services.

From big signs to coffee mugs, you need to make sure your logo won’t lose its quality and that it’s recognizable no matter where it’s displayed.

One way to make sure that your design looks good across all platforms is by creating mockups. We know lots of free mock-up sites that you might be interested in using.

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5. Always Keep Your Audience in Mind

You always, always, always have to remember who you’re designing for, and adapt.

If you’re designing for kids, you don’t want to go with neutral colors and a minimalist, flat design. You’re going to want to use bright colors that catch their eye and look fun.

On the other hand, if you’re designing for a winery, you’re going to want something sleek, minimal, and elegant.

So whoever the audience is, you have to take your unique style and just adapt it to your situation.

6. Go With Your Gut

And finally, go with your gut and make the designs you love.

Not everyone will understand your designs, and you won’t always understand everyone’s request.

But you’re going to live and learn from those experiences and in the end, it’ll make you a better and more experienced designer.

Try to make a new logo design every day. It doesn’t need to be spectacular, but just something that will keep your creative wheels turning.

If you ever need some inspiration, we have lots of tips on how you can find design inspiration in everyday things.

Until next time,

Stay creative and stay safe, folks!