At Eastern Mediterranean University, education is not only a combination of academic and social development, it is also a personal transformation. To enlighten and broaden the horizons and perspective of its students, the University organizes annual Career fairs which grant students the privilege to further develop on the purist of fulfilling and successful careers. The career fairs produce platforms to learn from and interact with the best minds in business and a chance to be introduced to potential employers and to gain Internship opportunities wherever possible.
This year marks the 6th International Career Fair organized by the University, and on the 12th of March, the University community was privileged to have Rob Janoff; Designer of the famous Apple logo as its second keynote speaker for the second day of the fair with his focus topic as “A Design Career: Turning Opportunities into Successes”.
Rob Janoff is a graphic designer of corporate logos and identities, printed advertisements and television commercials. He is famously known for his creation of the Apple Logo which he refers to as “the fastest job” he ever did. Speaking to the students about opportunities and success, he attributed most of his success story to Steve Jobs, co-Founder of Apple Inc. who granted him the opportunity to design a logo that has become the most recognized globally. He said, “I’m so fortunate to be living the dreams of so many graphic designers, it thrills me to walk past a logo I created”.
The famous Apple logo (bite into the apple) has had so many interpretations to its origin, commonly that the logo was inspired from the Bite Eve took from an apple in the creation story, and that the stripes on the debut logo were in solidarity to gay pride, however, the color stripes in the debut logo were actually inspired by the color test bars on monitors at that time, Janoff explains that when he met Jobs, he didn’t like the first logo designed by apple which featured Sir Isaac Newton sitting under the apple tree where he supposedly discovered gravity, by an apple falling on his head. Janoff was therefore tasked to design another which he didn’t know would become the most famous in the world, he says, “I grew up admiring Coca Cola and so many logos, but here I am today, a designer of the most recognized logo in the world”. Talking about logos and how important they are for branding, He said, “A logo must communicate a message to the world” that is why the bite into the apple represents the computer to get information; a bite is what you do to an apple, byte is what a computer operator puts inside of a computer, according to Janoff, Apple’s success is being able to fulfill a long standing technological need.
He describes luck as an Intersection of opportunity and talent, saying that “If you’re passionate about your talent, it will open up doors of opportunity”, your passion and talent is what makes you stand out from other brands. Making reference to brands and logos that inspired him as a graphic designer, he mentioned, FedEx, CBS, and the I love NY logo etc. He said what he likes about the logos is how they can pass across a solid message in their simplicity, “ I love how much can be said with a simple graphic, what makes a logo an icon is simplicity, visibility, differentiation and relevance”, he advised graphic designers to make their logos exceptional even in its simplicity.
Advertising and branding are two areas that any company must be exceptional at, they are important market strategies and for a company to be remembered by its customers, it has to have an excellent branding and advertising system. Advertising is part of branding and according to Janoff, every brand must identify its target market, differentiate itself from other brands, have a clear message for its consumers, meet the need of its consumer and must answer the human truth and reality about its brand. He urged graphic designers specially to stay culturally curious and aware, to get as much info as they can about their clients, and to be passionate about their craft. Don’t have pre-conceptions about a client he said. Having Pre-conceptions can limit your vision for your clients brand.
Janoff agreed that lots of rejection may come from clients, however, he urged everyone in the audience not to be discouraged by those rejections, he says that “If you can learn from negative, you can turn it into positive, don’t take those rejections personally, don’t let them stop you, learn from them and continue to learn”. It is very important to be deliberate about what you set your heart to do, Janoff encouraged the audience to keep doing what they’re passionate about and to become better at it “New ideas are old ideas done in a different way”.
In conclusion of the event, Janoff was appreciated by the university’s principal officers and an autograph signing was done for everyone in attendance. With lots of events planned out for the career fair, it is scheduled to last until the 21st May 2018.
By Jemimah Atii
