Logo & Branding: Whyte Lilja
Posted: September 5, 2011 Filed under: Architecture & The Built Environment, Logos & Branding | Tags: architecture, Art, branding, closure, design, gestalt, graphic design, identity, kurppa hosk, logo, logo-type, modernist, review, stationary, Whyte Lilja 2 Comments »
Whyte Lilja is a Swedish architectural firm that specialises in the design and build of exclusive private villas. Their identity, recently updated by Stockholm based interdisciplinary brand and design consultancy Kurppa Hosk, blends classic letter-forms with the concept of reification to create a modern and elegant logo-type.
The holistic approach of Whyte Lilja has been neatly represented in this identity by the interplay and integration of individual letter-forms into a symbiotic whole. The balance of light and shadow has been well handled and adds an interesting dimensionality that appropriately captures the physical aspects of the built environment. A classic type choice and the utilisation of illusory contours to complete the W and Y characters deliver an interesting union of contemporary elegance and exclusivity. There could be some debate over the effectiveness of the dot (tittle) over the j completing the tail of the y but after some consideration I think it cleverly joins the two names in an analogous display of co-operation. The simple, single colour application of the logo-type across the stationary communicates a clear and confident vision and an uncluttered modernistic approach.
The reason the ‘y’ is not recognized right away is because of the dot’s distance from the ‘v’ formation above it (which is greater than the distance between the other parts of letters). The eye sees it as a ‘v’ and also fails to associate the dot with the ‘y’ because it’s ‘owned’ by the ‘j’ since, 1- it’s closer to the ‘j’ and, 2- the dot looks like its part of the word on the next line.
The mind doesn’t ‘see’ the ‘y’ at all because of a combination of the above factors.
The designer might have remedied this by adding a small tail coming off the top of the ‘v’ formation to suggest the letter ‘y’ that extends beyond the baseline.
They could’ve replicated the terminal at the bottom of the J and added it to the top part of the y but then maybe it would have compromised the purity and modernistic aspect of the concept. Certainly a fine line between concept over legibility.