Miles Newlyn is probably best known for the logos he has designed for some of the world’s biggest corporations but Miles Newlyn has always considered his individual approach to symbols and lettering to be the key part of his work. Miles Newlyn is a designer’s designer. He calls himself an ‘idea man who works with type’.
Miles Newlyn History
Miles Newlyn has never been employed by a studio or agency he has been fortunate enough to have been commissioned by some of the biggest companies in the world – Unilever, Honda and Sky to name but three. He has the ability to create original logos which carry an everyday feel and look. Because of this his work is often attached with the humanist label. Miles Newlyn is not particularly happy with this label when he recently launched his website he finally allowed it. As with many other freelancers he works from a bedroom in his home in North London.
When discussing his work with Computer Arts magazine in a recent interview concerning humanism, he considered the term to mean that it was an approach where you actually think of the people individually, the customer of his client, rather than from the corporate point of view.
He was asked his opinions on branding. Mile’s reponse was that he thought branding was a dirty word which is quite an interesting response for someone whose livelihood depends on the principle. He explained further that he can associate with corporate identity but not with branding. He felt that branding is marketed too ferociously that the personal link between the customer and the organisation is lost. He considers there will be a lash-back soon in the market where people actually place more value on something that is more individual that is not branded as it can now create a new value on it. He equated it to wishing to see the Emperor without clothes rather than with his new clothes as an analogy.
Miles Newlyn Logos
Logos are an element of identity and it could be said that the logo could also then be seen as being the brand for example the black tick is Nike, and as such could be seen as having a limited life if this was the case. For Miles Newlyn, he has the personal viewpoint that the logo was key in either making him more or less interested in it as an individual response. Individual belongings such as mobile phones, clothes, pieces of technology and cars are places where he believes it would be important. If the logo was on the bottom of a mug it would not matter.
Other than logos, typefaces have always been considered to be important to Miles Newlyn as his ‘stamp’ on graphic design and it is interesting how he links the two together. He considers that creating the logo is defining the personality of something and if it’s a logotype he uses the skills that he has gained designing type. The skill and the craft of being a type designer helps make a better quality logo. In other words, it is a tool to work with in processing the logo.
