Brand Corporate Identity - Project 2
Chan Qian Hui 0334447
Brand Corporate Identity
Project 2 - Logo Development
LECTURE NOTES
INSTRUCTION
PROJECT 2 - LOGO DEVELOPMENT
For this project, we were tasked to sketch 20 logos every week. The idea of the logo is to build the first impression and overall brand image for our brand positioning.
Idea Mapping:
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| Fig 1.0 ideation mapping of logo |
Sketches:
My initial sketches were very focused on the traditional look of law symbols which is the balance. It was not a very interesting concept and the logo were too illustrative with the details. Besides that, I was so restricted with the concept that I was not able to explore more possible symbols.
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| Fig 1.1 First attempt of sketches |
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| Fig 1.2 First attempt of sketches |
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| Fig 1.3 Second attempt of sketches |
I started looking more into symbols of divorce and one interesting symbol which I found was a symbol for "new beginnings".
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| Fig 1.4 Third attempt of sketches |
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| FIg 1.5 Third attempt of sketches |
Digitization of logo:
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| Fig 1.6 First attempt of digitization of logo |
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| Fig 1.7 First attempt of digitization of logo |
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| Fig 1.8 Refinement of digitized logo |
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| Fig 1.9 Colorization of logo |
After a long thought, I decided to completely change my logo design as the symbol background is actually a self made symbol by a lady. I realized that my previous logo is too corporate and felt restricted which went against the concept which I wanted to go for.
Thus I decided to look more into other symbols of freedom and found lotus and bird to be a good choice. the lotus symbolizes new beginnings while the bird position is actually the first phase of flight which also symbolizes departing.
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| Fig 1.10 Redesign of logo |
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| Fig 1.11 Refinement of shortlisted logo |
Colourization of logo:
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| Fig 1.12 Colourizaiton of logo |
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| Fig 1.12 Colourization exploration of logo |
Refinement of logo:
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| Fig 1.13 Refinement of logo |
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| Fig 1.14 Final refinement of logo |
Final logo:
Typeface:
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| Fig 2.0 Typeface for wordmark |
Monochrome:
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| Fig 2.1 Monochrome logo |
Colour:
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| Fig 2.2 Colour logo |
FEEDBACK
Week 3:
For the logo sketches, miss mentioned that since my brand is a more modern style brand, traditional balance would not fit my brand well. Maybe I can look into modern elements or abstract forms to portray the balance instead. I need to learn to develop the visual language to the modern target audience. Besides that, I need to focus on refining my sketches as well such as writing out the type or I can list out whichever type I want to use to give me a better view of what I am doing.
Week 4:
Miss said that my sketches are looking more like logos this week compared to previous sketches. It is a good approach that I find something symbolic to work on but I need to do more research about the references I find and ensure that it is not cultural or religion sensitive. Besides that my logo sketch from 11 to 15 can be further developed as it does reflect some of the personality that I am going for.
Week 5:
For my logo sketches, miss told me that the shapes and logo looks pretty but due to the thin strokes it is more like a high end restaurant than a law form, so I need a much more rationale support behind the design. She also mentioned that I could try to digitise the work already and work with the stroke weight to see whether if it can bring some weight to the logo. I can try to mind map my current idea and see whether if I can extract any more graphical elements
Week 6:
For the new sketches which I have, miss mentioned that the look is interesting and more well constructed compared to the previous design, and I also have a proper reasoning behind the choice of my design. Miss said both the bird and the lotus are workable but she finds the lotus one to be quite interesting, but still I do have the choice to decide which design I prefer. While for the colours of the logo, miss said the choice of having the 2 primary colours on the wing would be best as it highlights my brand identity which the 2 departments. For the wordmark she mentioned that it is not advisable to space out lowercase letters and it would be better to fix it.
Week 7:
After showing the refinements, miss mentioned that the word being separated may cause some misunderstandings as it shows the word "art" at the bottom. Although it can be reasoned by the art of divorce but still the misunderstanding caused may be a problem so I need to be careful with that. Miss also suggested that I should put in the full name of the brand instead of leaving out "& Partners".
REFLECTION
Week 3:
- Experience - I realized that I was looking at very common logo design and because of that I pretty much restricted my field in exploring the possible ideas and symbols which I could actually have for my logo design. I was able to learn a lot more by expanding my field of research.
- Observations - I observed that my logo design was actually was plain and standard-looking and I was so focused on the traditional balance that I lost the unique concept that I could potentially have for my brand since the logo look like a normal law firm.
- Findings - I found out that oftentimes when we look at pinterest, the designs which we look at are actually more limited than we think. This is because when we start to look at a specific design in pinterest, the remaining searches usually revolve around the similar looking designs. There are actually a lot more different and unique designs in pinterest that exist but we need to dig it out.
- Experience - I started finding more symbolism about the meaning behind my brand and see if there is anything which I can connect to. I also thought that my choice of brand was pretty tricky as it was really hard for me to find an existing brand since it is one-of-a-kind and pretty different compared to others.
- Observations - I observed that I was actually looking at the meanings and design of logos in a very direct way which I actually can look at a much more different perspective as in a more abstract way than a very straightforward design concept.
- Findings - I found out that I was very rushed in the way I choose my concept and I did not do enough research behind the meanings of the symbols and such. I realized that it is important for me to develop a level of understanding first before leaping into the design.
Week 5:
- Experience - For this week I started focusing more on refining the sketches of the logo. I realized that no matter how many times I sketch it still looks pretty similar due to the similar stroke weight which I applied on the design.
- Observations - I observed that most of my classmates have already shifted their design to digitization and I am still quite behind and lacking in a lot of aspects. I was also amazed by how great and unique their logo design look like and I am a little bit worried about my current design.
- Findings - I found out that I am still pretty lacking in confidence when it comes to my design as I still think that my design is very plain and common. Some of my friends who went for a much more contemporary design looks more interesting in my opinion but I personally think that I am not very familiar in designing a contemporary style of design.
Week 6:
- Experience - This week I started to stop looking at my current design as I think that the direction of my design is going in a wrong direction. I started rethinking about some other symbols that I could find and see whether if I could think of anything from it. I wanted to keep my design clean and easy to look at with simple shapes as I wasn't working well with strokes previously.
- Observations - I observed that my design research is getting better. I am trying to understand and research more about the designs instead of just referring to anything interesting which I saw online. I also started to think more and look at existing real brands logo instead of just referring to logo designs found in pinterest since it is easier to understand on the design thinkings.
- Findings - I found out that it was a good choice to change my design as the new design is much more interesting and brings out the look of my brand in a different light. It looked less corporate and boring and it also brought out some unique points of my brand which I was really glad to see.
Week 7:
- Experience - For this week it was pretty nerve wrecking since we had to present the brand positioning. I was pretty worried as I made a lot of changes last minute without consulting miss. I was quite anxious that some parts which I chose may be too overwhelming and make the brand very confusing or too much to handle at once.
- Observations - I observed that many of my friends have a very unique brand but the brands sort of have a very familiar look to it which makes it a little less unique than I expected. I also observed that many of my friends take a lot of attention at the design wise but not really the thinking and branding factor behind their brand. A lot of parts felt wasted as I thought that they could have expanded their brand in some very interesting ways.
- Findings - I found out that all of us have a very different looking brand and the choice of designs actually sort of reflect how we are like in real life. The way we build and design the brand truly reflects the way we work and think and it was very interesting in my opinion.
Week 8:
- Experience - I am pretty glad that I was able to finally complete the design of the logo. Although I hate to say that my logo design kept changing and I was still experimenting alot on the different type of designs, I'm glad that I was able to have a design that I truly like.
- Observations - I realized that my of my friends actually have already decided on their logo design but just refining the small details of it. I was like pretty behind compared to my friends and I was worried my logo design would have fell short in that sense.
- Findings - I found out that although many of us have interesting pictorials for our logo, we struggle quite much with the choice and placement of typeface. We may have not yet developed a keen sense for typography and understanding the design and balance between typography.
FURTHER READING
Logo: The Reference Guide to Symbols and Logotypes by Michael Evamy
This book is made up of a vast collection of over 1,300 symbols and logotypes. The book is clearly arranged across 75 different categories according to their basic visual form which includes the work of past masters, such as Paul Rand and Saul Bass, alongside some of the most exciting work from contemporary designers. This book is a complete, taxonomical guide to the history, development and style of identity design. It is a great book to read for logo design and understanding logo design.
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