Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Doppelganger


My friend Liam just made me aware of this business out West that sports the same initial logo as my name and blog onomastics.
Hm.
It does look awfully close to me.
(However, I do realize that there is a basic difference, i.e., inversion applies to their R and my B.)

As I noted to Liam, I wonder which one came first, the BR or the BR. Is this a case of two mutually exclusive parties being hit simultaneously by a wave of graphic inspiration, while being thoroughly independent of each other?

Not to be petty or anything, (oh, who am I kidding? For the sake of argument, let’s, let's be a tad petty), the logo with my initials was first conceptualized by designer par excellence and close friend, Camille well over seven years ago. The logo first made it on my business card back in ’03. I suppose I could be even more petty (or is it pettier?) and I could ask to compare design notes with said company and determine which came first. If I end up lower on the hierarchy, I’ll be a man and retire my laurels as holder of BR.
Hm.
Onomastics is, after all, never inconsequential. Or is it?

Tip of the hat, Liam, for keeping an aesthetics-informed eye out.





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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is too funny!
How about the caramel drink, dude?
It's like the signs knows you or something.
:)
Good eye, Liam!

Anonymous said...

This is too funny!
How about the caramel drink, dude?
It's like the signs knows you or something.
:)
Good eye, Liam!

Becca said...

How goes it, Black Room?
Got my text?
Trying to see if the new appellation will take root... :)

Unknown said...

HA!
Does that first drink says 'caramel' and 'blonde?'
And it's not your business?
Really?
It seems to have two of your favorite things, no?
Cheeky, I know, but I couldn't resist.
The similarity is quite strong, I agree.

Unknown said...

I mean, 'does the first drink SAY'?

vipull said...

Not content with her contributions to lit theory, she has to go out and spawn her own Brecht. So typical I would say!

B.R. said...

-Black Room? How about Broken Record or Bizarre Result if the initials are what we're going for here? :)
-Good one. Yes, predilections are something we're entitled to, what can I say? I do have a weakness for macchiatos. And such.
-At the risk of misspelling things, Turco, I just about died when I read the Brecht comment. Kudos, guy, kudos!

Sra said...

Interesting. I think yours seems a little more intimate -- the faces of the letters are pointing inward instead of outward. I imagine they would have applied for a trademark for their version. Of course a mark must be associated with goods or services, and as you are not selling coffee on your blog (would that getting a cup of Joe were so easy), I don't imagine you would have a problem. And even if there were, if their use didn't begin as early as yours, you would have a good argument for invalidating their trademark. But that's just the future lawyer in me talking.

I hardly think there are any original ideas. Maybe independent, but not original.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Sra. Yours looks more intimate.
Novelty is one thing, creativity is another. This could just be another case of people only working with a finite number of letters....
I dig your better.
I guess they're 'remixing' your letters.

Dana said...

You mean, inversion applies to their B and your R?
Looking out for your logo too. :)
Good one on your friend. This is quite close.
But as you've already intimated, originality is not the issue here, adaptation is.

Unknown said...

Tip of the hat to Turco's comment!
Brecht...ha! How apropos!!

Sra said...

Apparently Banana Republic also uses BR like the coffee shop does.

B.R. said...

-Ah, right. Good eye on the inversion stuff.
-I knew about Banana Republic. I am at a times a BR in BR even though I tend to privilege Ben Sherman most of the time. These initials are surely interesting.
The logo that Banana has, however, is not like the one that I sport.

Unknown said...

B and R make a really nice couple. Just thought would through it out there.
And I still prefer your logo. To me, you're the original BR!