Ethan Angle: Process Documentation
Corporate Identity, Fall 2017
Table of Contents
Project 3: Museum Logo
Project 2: Olympic Bid Logo
Project 1: We Stand Together
Please forgive my lack of updates besides pictures for the week of 12/4 as, while I had planned on transferring my notes from the critiques this week, I have broken my leg and am a bit out of it due to pain medication.
Project 7: Branding Guide (Jaegerhund)
Project 6: 2nd Identity System (Jaegerhund)
12/5/17
11/21/17
I’m sorry to say that I had to miss class today to catch a flight home, still i didn't want to fall behind so hear are my ideas for the business card, envelope and, letterhead.
(For some reason Medium refuses to upload my envelope ideas, I will see if I can resolve this somehow)
11/16/17
Today was all about finding suitable research materiel in the library. my first instinct was to find a book on German artwork, and while I did succeed in finding one, it didn't offer nearly enough material that I felt belonged in a bar. so, naturally I began to make my search a bit more specific by searching for books on ‘German beer’…this…this wasn't my best idea, as most of the search results in the library were about, not the kinds of alcoholic beverages served in Germany, but rather an event known as the ‘Beer Hall Putsch’ (a failed Nazi coup in 1923, Munich), eventually, to get around this, I actually needed to broaden my search to beer in general, which, thankfully, yielded two helpful books as a result. at this point I had plenty of source images, but decided to look into advice and examples on how to create the identity system itself when it came to a restaurant. this was actually the easiest search i had done all day, as there was a book specifically about designing menus just waiting for me. (I might as well mention there was one book I found that did not leave with me, as, while at first I thought a book on the subject of tales from the taverns and clubs of London and their social scene could be useful despite being from a different country than I was focusing on, it quickly became obvious after reading a bit of it, that it was too out of date for what I needed, almost a hundred years out of date.
11/14/17
Project 5: Identity System
11/16/17
At this point it seems that the majority of the issues facing these designs are simple alignment problems. Aside from that, the interior of the folder requires a bit of work still, including reworking the proportions of the flaps, the placement of the Morse code key, and adding some color to the interior itself. After that it sounds like I may need to put a bit more thought into exactly how everything will be placed inside the folder. After the folder has been changed it seems that the fronts of the postcards need a bit of a change as well , and while they are all fairly minor, they will pretty much all revolve around treating this series as a bit of a film festival. For example, each card will now feature all film names, not just the one on the other side of that specific card, as well as the dates they will all be shown.
11/2/17
the block of Morse code text on what will be the right, bottom, inside flap is actually the museum's mission statement.
Collateral item ideas
my two main ideas at the moment are a pamphlet focusing on a visiting exhibit about recent, non-Bond, spy films and a membership card made to look like a government agency ID badge
10/26/17
I’m unfortunately feeling under the weather today, so am unable to attend the critique, though I would, of course, still appreciate any feedback I can get. At the moment I think my biggest concern is that the monochromatic color palette I used for the original logo, may be limiting me here, but at the same time I’m worried that using new colors now, may distance the new identity system from the original design.
Response to Logo and Identity System Redesigns
- eHarmony’s new logo seems to work quite well in my opinion. the original had no indication as to what the service was, all we had to inform us of this was the name itself. Now, in addition to changing the text to a lighter, softer feeling, color, a heart, a universal symbol for love, is next to the text, in addition to this the heart is composed of multiple different colors, perhaps to indicate the sites claim that they can find deep meaningful love for everyone.
- Bolivia’s redesign is an unusual situation, as, honestly, I’m not a huge fan of either design. However, while I’ll admit that it seems a bit too childish, the original design was able to give you a bit of an idea as to the environment that the logo represented, it had more of a unique identity, which, unfortunately has been lost in the redesign in my opinion as now we have a rather generic typeface paired with multiple different patterns and colors. at first glance nothing here really holds any meaning for me, and that’s not something you want from your logo.
- The Dropbox identity system is quite a bit to take in, though I mean this in a positive manner. The logo has been simplified, but actually has grown to enforce two aspects of the company, the obvious file storage for one, but now the design can be interpreted as an open place as well to show that Dropbox is an open platform for everyone. The new system seems to want to reinforce this aspect as well, as the new typeface, Sharp Grotesk, has been crafted to showcase a variety of moods depending how it is stretched. This, coupled with the new collages of multiple styles, show that Dropbox is open to everything and everyone, it is not limited by style, as it can be adjusted to fit any style just as the site itself can be used to store and share any file for its community to later build upon should they so chose.
Project 4: JaegerHund (Dog-friendly, German, Speakeasy)
11/14/17
Out of all the possible nose shape variations I made it seem the most popular is the one on the top of the column (it is the same as the one used in the color trials, but without the notch at the bottom). It seems, also that the idea of using a texture within the bottle was quite popular, one suggestion actually has me combining the color of the beer bubbles with the wood grain (I’m actually interested in this, so I think I’m going to give it a shot). in terms of color, aside from what I already mentioned, the advice I received focused on the text, as it was suggested that it would likely work best if it was kept a warm color, and, in the case of the purple and yellow color scheme, turned to more of a maroon. ( there was one last idea I got that I think I’ll hag onto for the identity system, which was to rotate the kind of texture used in the bottle (wood, bubbles, metal, and anything else that might make sense for a bar), and maybe even make a GIF out of it)
11/9/17
Critique Response
What I Heard
· The first, simplest, design seems to be working best
·The nose is necessary in this one to ensure the idea that it is a dog holding the bottle
·Increase the size of the text, and decrease the bottle’s size a bit
· The nose should be played with some (add the nostrils) (can it be shaped to imply something else?)
· Could the type be formed to make the bottom of the chin?
What I think
· Possibilities for things the nose could take the shape and/or texture of: beer foam, cork/liquor bottle top, German hat
What I’m going to do
· At this point it seems clear that the most successful variant is the simplest one, so I will be going forward with that, focusing most of my adjustments on experimenting with the shape and texture of the nose at this point, while also adjusting the scale of some elements. After this, it will all be about color. My first thought, of course, is to attempt to incorporate the German flag’s palette, but should that not work I’m also considering drawing from other German inspirations such as Oktoberfest (mainly a blue palette) and lederhosen (greens and browns would make up the majority of this one)
11/7/17
Critique Response
What I Heard
· The Dog with bottle in its mouth would be most legible even when printed at a smaller scale
· Proportions are off in all designs (images too large/ text too small)
· Bottle needs to look more like beer
· Only snout around bottle may be needed…or maybe not (now some people think it looks like… something else)
· Fill in teeth, make them completely white
· Try making white lines thicker
· Look at reference images
· Try using only negative space ( use bottle but where teeth and snout are becomes white/ negative space) of dogs with sticks in their mouths
· Try adding some fur like texture to the dog
· Distance between the bottle and bowl needs to be shortened
· He stream of alcohol needs more effects (not just a single line) and try adding a splash effect in the bowl
· Eliminate drinks in bar design (just focus on the man and dog)
· Simplify the man and dog at the bar
· Try different methods for actually making the logo (draw by hand, cut out paper, etc.)
· Look into German Black Letter font
· Experiment with the idea of a monogram (JH)
What I Think
· At the moment most aspects of the designs are too simple
· the Old English font is far too difficult to understand here, especially when it’s vertical
· the man and dog’s style clash with their drinks. One needs more detail or the other needs to be simplified (maybe both)
What I’m Going To Do
· While I do feel the need to experiment with the suggestions I have been given for each of the three designs, I think I will most likely be moving forward with the dog holding a bottle in his mouth. I agree a new method for crafting the logo (outside the computer) would probably help a lot, while my first instinct is to simply draw it with makers, pens or paint, part of me is curious if there’s a way to get a wood burning like effect as now I’m a tad curious as to how that would look. As for the design itself, in addition to some of the experiments that would drastically change it, I see that the bottle must be remade to appear more beer-like while some details must be added of altered to give the dog a bit more personality.
10/31/17
Critique Response
the critique was fairly light this time, so I did not receive as much feedback as I usually do, however I thankfully still did manage to receive a consensus on which of my ideas are the most successful, so I will be moving forward with the dog holding a bottle in its mouth, a dog and person sitting at a bar with their drinks revered, and a bottle (most likely filled with beer) being poured into a dog bowl (this one is actually only half of its original design, but after seeing it alone I must agree that the dog it not actually necessary). The other two things I took away from the were one I needed to already start to consider the text at this stage in order to make sure it fits well in the end design (all of my ideas here lacked any text, this needs to be avoided in the future), and I seem to have let the name of the restaurant ,JaegerHund (Hunter Dog), influence my ideas here too much. I need to remember that this is first and foremost a dog-friendly drinking club, not a hunting club, and that Jaeger is there to play on the German liquor Jagermeister.
10/24/17
Restaurant Name-storming Research
· Dog
o Hound
o Hunt
§ track
o Treat
o Tricks
§ Sit
§ Roll over
§ Beg
§ Shake
o Shepard
§ Sheep
§ Breeds
· Terrier
· Retriever
· Doberman
· Poodle
· Beagle
· Great Dane
· Husky
· Doxin
o Dachshund
o Walk
§ Leash
§
o Paw
§ paw print
§ tail
§ snout
o Wolf
§ Howl
§ Moon
o Hotdog
§ Sausage
§ Bratwurst
§ Frankfurter
dog (animal) — canine, doggy (or doggie), hound, pooch, cur, mongrel, mutt; bitch; lapdog, pup, puppy, puppy dog, whelp; bandog, bird dog, coonhound, courser, gundog, hunter, sheepdog, sled dog, watchdog, wolf dog, wolfhound; guide dog, police dog, working dog
dog (a person whose behavior is offensive) — bastard, beast, bleeder [British], blighter [chiefly British], boor, bounder, bugger, buzzard, cad, chuff, churl, clown, creep, cretin, crud [slang], crumb [slang], cur, dirtbag [slang], dog, fink, heel, hound, joker, louse, lout, pill, rat, ratfink, reptile, rotter, schmuck [slang], scum, scumbag [slang], scuzzball [slang], skunk, sleaze, sleazebag [slang], sleazeball [slang], slime, slimeball [slang], slob,snake, so-and-so, sod [chiefly British], stinkard, stinker, swine, toad, varmint, vermin
· Speakeasy
o Bar
§ Beerhall
§ Brewery
§ Taproom
o Bartender
o Bar stool
o Beer
§ Wine
§ Liquor
· Whisky
· Gin
· Bourbon
· Vodka
o Bar games
§ Pool
§ Darts
§ Cards
· Poker
Synonyms
Speakeasy
(Cabaret): discostar, barstar, divestar, hideawaystar, tavernstar, after-hours jointstar, caféstar, discothèquestar, hot spotstar, night spotstar, nighterystar, supper clubstar, watering holestar
(Saloon): barroomstar, hangoutstar, nightclubstar, pubstar, tavernstar, watering holestar, alehousestar, barstar, divestar, jointstar, taproomstar, beer jointstar, cocktail loungestar, drinkerystar, gin millstar, public housestar
(Tavern): barstar, hotelstar, innstar, jointstar, lodgestar, loungestar, pubstar, saloonstar, watering holestar, alehousestar, barroomstar, divestar, hostelrystar, roadhousestar, sudsstar, taphousestar, taproomstar, beer jointstar, drinkerystar, gin millstar, grog shopstar, honky tonkstar, night spotstar, nineteenth holestar, public housestar
1. Blind pig
An illegal drinking establishment, a.k.a. a speakeasy, that attempted to evade police detection by charging patrons a fee to gaze upon some sort of exotic creature (i.e. a blind pig) and be given a complimentary cocktail upon entrance. Also known as a blind tiger.
2. Juice joint
Yet another term for an illegal drinking establishment.
3. Jake walk
A paralysis or loss of muscle control in the hands and feet, due to an overconsumption of Jamaican ginger, a.k.a. Jake, a legal substance with an alcoholic base. The numbness led sufferers to walk with a distinct gait that was also known as Jake leg or Jake foot.
4. Ombibulous
A term made up by writer H.L. Mencken to describe his love of alcohol; he noted, “I’m ombibulous. I drink every known alcoholic drink and enjoy them all.” Mencken was also fond of referring to bootleggers as “booticians” and is alleged to have invented the term “boozehound.”
5. Skid road
A precursor to the term “Skid Row,” a skid road was the place where loggers hauled their goods. During Prohibition, these “roads” became popular meeting places for bootleggers.
6. Brick of wine
Oenophiles looking to get their vino fix could do so by simply adding water to a dehydrated block of juice, which would become wine. (And you thought a box of wine was bad!)
7. Bathtub gin
A homemade — and often poorly made — gin that was preferably served in a bottle so tall that it could not be mixed with water from a sink tap, so was mixed in a bathtub instead. Though the phrase references gin specifically, it came to be used as a general term for any type of cheap homemade booze.
8. White lightning
The whiskey equivalent of bathtub gin; a highly potent, illegally made, and poor-quality spirit.
9. Teetotaler
A person who abstains from the consumption of alcohol. The phrase is believe to have originated within the Prohibition era’s temperance societies, where members would add a “T” to their signatures to indicate total abstinence (T+total-ers).
10. Dry
A noun used in reference to a man or woman who is opposed to the legal sale of alcoholic beverages. Bureau of Prohibition agents were often referred to as Dry Agents (though corruption among this crew ran rampant). As an adjective, it describes a place where alcohol is not served.
11. Wet
The opposite of dry, a wet is a person who is for the legal sale of alcoholic beverages or a place where liquor is in full supply.
12. Whale
A heavy drinker.
13. Blotto
Extremely drunk, often to the point of unconsciousness.
14. Hooch
Low-quality liquor, usually whiskey. The term originated in the late 1800s as a shortened version of “Hoochinoo,” a distilled beverage from Alaska that became popular during the Klondike gold rush. The phrase came back into heavy use in the 1920s.
15. Giggle water
An alcoholic beverage.
Dog sayings
- A boy’s best friend is his dog
- A man’s best friend is his dog
- A house is not a home without a dog
- Dogs are really people with short legs in fur coats
- Dogs are people too
- Be tuff ! The “dog days” of summer can be wuff !
- Chasing your tail gets you nowhere … ‘cept back to where you started
- Family and friends welcome. Fleas are not.
- Friends Fur-ever
- Husband and dog missing … 25 cents reward for dog
- Wife and dog missing … 25 cents reward for dog
- If you want the best seat in the house … move the dog
- Life is just one table scrap after another
- My dog’s not spoiled … I’m just well trained !
- Recycle bones here
- When please doesn’t work … Beg !
- Wipe your paws
- Wipe your paws or else
- Beware of attack puppy
- I love dogs
- A spoiled rotten dog lives here
- Spoiled rotten dogs live here
- “In a perfect world, every dog would have a home and every home would have a dog.”
- “Maybe you’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places. A dog will treat you better than anyone you’ll meet at happy hour. Trust me. I’ve been to happy hour.”
- “ … work can wait another 30 minutes. There are more important things to do. Like throwing sticks.”
- “A dog will quickly turn you into a fool, but who cares? Better your dog than your boss. I’m a fool for my dog and proud of it.”
- “Dogs are better than children. Even my friends with children say that. As a dog friend of mine likes to say, children are for people who can’t have dogs.”
- “A barking dog never bites.”
- “Barking up the wrong tree.”
- “Dog in a manger.”
- “Let sleeping dogs lie.”
- “Tail wagging the dog.”
- “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
Name and Tagline Ideas
Possible names:
· Das Bier Hund (Beer Hound)
· The Blind Dog (off of the Blind Pig speakeasy term)
· Hooch Hound Hall
· Das Shepard Bittet (the Shepard begs)
· Das Betteln Shepard (the Begging Shepard)
· Badger Hound
· Begging Hound
· Das Jaegerhund (the Hunting dog) (Jaeger is also a German liquor)
· Das Darbhund (Darb is a drink made with brandy, vermouth, gin, and lemon juice) (play on Daschhund)
Possible taglines:
· Teaching old dogs, new drinks
· Let drinking dogs lie
· Wet dogs welcome (wet was a prohibition term for someone for the sale of alcohol)
· Give the Pooch some Hooch
· Eins, Zwei, Dry (Drei is German for three, Dry is a term for expressing the lack of sweetness in a drink)
· Your local watering bowl
· wische deine Pfoten ab (Wipe your paws)
· Prost, pooch! (Prost means cheers)
· Bark for service
· Where whales are wolves (whale is a speakeasy term for a heavy drinker)
Idea-board
Feedback
- after reading though all the name ideas, a clear favorite was “Das Jaegerhund”, however, it was suggested that the ‘Das’ (the) be dropped
- as for taglines, the two favorites were the first ones, ‘old dogs, new drinks’ and ‘drinking dogs lie’, though ‘watering bowl was also appreciated (some thought the ‘your’ helped it feel welcoming). Still I will probably use the first one “teaching old dogs, new drinks”
- combining the secretive underground, illegal, sense of a speakeasy with the warmth and welcoming nature of German beer halls may be a bit too difficult, so it was suggested I make it more like an underground, members only maybe, German drinking club
- I thought that I would focus on the Dachshund and German Shepard as possible dogs to use, however when “Jaegerhund” (hunter dog) was decided as the name it suggested I look into German hunting dogs, as it turns out that the previous two are not, so after some quick researching it looks like I will now have to consider the Jagdterrirer
Response to Art of the Menu
- Ruka: what first caught my eye about this menu was the use of the traditional style of Japanese art known as Ukiyo-e, pictures of the floating world. Even the images that don’t use this style directly seem to try to incorporate themselves into this theme with the use of texture of colors which seem appropriate, even some of the typography appear as if they are a block print. Each of the elements work to lead the eye from section to section while nothing is too over powering to derail the path. The most striking image is clearly the woman’s face inside the cover, and this is our alert to the start of the previously mentioned path.
- The Bun Factory: in a way, this menu was the opposite of Ruka, yet it is successful for different reasons. The design does not rely on color and texture to lead the eye, but rather it’s grid and size hierarchy commands the where you’re lead. In fact, images and color are used quite sparingly with the former being used mainly to further explain something, while the only color used aside from black and white is, yellow. This choice is likely due to the restaurants factory/construction theme, and while it can evoke a feeling of energy and excitement, I am a tad worried if this much yellow may broadcast an idea of caution for the Bun Factory.
Project 3: International Spy Museum Logo
10/19/17
Spy Museum Logo rationale
The main concept that drove this design was the idea that spies are illusive, they hide within the shadows. Because of this I wanted to create something that focused on these silhouettes, eventually this led to the idea of having one word casting the Second in the form of its shadow. With main design nailed down, I began searching for a palette to use. For a while, I felt that a monochromatic palette would be best; giving only a slightly different hue to sections of the shadow as well as ‘Museum.’ Despite using this idea for the most part in the end, I found that the most visually interesting version came when I made ‘Museum’ white, essentially making is invisible. At one point I actually realized, in an odd way, this actually took my original inspiration even further. This almost gave off the idea that spies themselves are all but invisible to the world, their only proof of existence being the shadows they cast. To go with the, now invisible, ‘Museum’ element, I decided on using a blue-gray to help reinforce the calm and collected attitude I had come to associate with spies. After this was done, the logo itself was finished, but a tag line was still needed. This actually turned out to be relatively easy to figure out, as continuing with this idea of secrets, nonexistence, and by extension the concept of classified information, I came up with the simple, yet somewhat humorous phase, “You Were Never Here.”
Final Critique response
After the final critique the only aspects that apparently need revision are the spacing and color. For the latter, the main issue was the gray-blue seems a bit too light, so the main solution is a rather easy one thankfully, however it was suggested that a slight gradient be added to the first part of the shadows, before the letters form, starting with a black near ‘Museum’ and transitioning into a dark gray-blue before the ‘Spy’ shapes use a solid, slightly lighter variation of the previous color. As for the spacing of everything, the main problem is the space between Spy and Museum in the title area. Hopefully enlarging the type a bit will help to close this space. Another possibility though, was to put every word of the tile on its own line and fit the tag line within the negative space the line containing ‘Spy’ is sure to have. I will admit, I’m a bit hesitant about this idea, but I suppose it is worth trying.
10/17/17
At this point the consensus seems to be that ‘International’ Just feels slapped on, with no real relation to the rest of the design and I, unfortunately, must agree. A few suggestions to rectify this were to move it more to the right, to give off the idea that it is angled in a similar fashion to the ‘Spy’ shadow, or another possibility was to simply connect the word to the top of ‘Spy’ in order to make it an extension of the existing shadow. However the solution I’ve decided to move forward with is to actually write out the entire title of the museum, International Spy Museum, and put it in the area I had originally just had the tag line. This way the already successful logo goes unchanged, while the full name of the museum can still be presented in an aesthetically pleasing way.
10/12/17
Possible tag lines
· Assume Nothing
· Not Seeing is Believing
· Trust no One
· Home of the (REDACTED)
· Access Granted
· Question Everything
· Walk-ins Welcome (a walk-in is a term for a defector who declares his intentions by walking into an official installation, or otherwise making contact with an opposing government)
· Abandon all preconceptions
· You were never here
· The world’s worst kept dead drop ( a dead drop is a secret location for leaving materials for another party)
· Welcome Agent
· Seek the truth, pay with lies
(‘You Were Never Here’ seems to be the clear favorite)
Critique response to color trials
What I heard
- The Idea to give no outline to ‘Museum’ while keeping it white actually works quite well, and seems to still be readable
- It might be best to keep the colors to black and shades of gray (maybe a gray-blue is worth a shot as well)
- Double check to see if a shadow should get lighter or darker when it hits a wall
- Try adding a slight gradient to the shadows
What I think
- I was initially worried that eliminating the outline of ‘museum’ would make it unreadable. I am actually very happy to be wrong , as some of my favorite trials use this idea
- Everything seems a bit darker than I remember it (I’m guessing it’s due to the printer)
- The purple is not working nearly as well as I originally thought it would
- The trials that use more than one color in the shadows are not working out as well as the monochromatic ones
What I’m going to do
I’m going to move forward with the idea of keeping the ‘museum’ element of the design invisible, as for the shadows, I see why a gray would be appealing, but part of me doesn’t quite want to give up a red or blue, as the emotions they symbolize highlight elements of what I imagine a spy to be (red showing us the danger, violence, and adventure we often associate with the profession, while blue emulates a calm nature despite pressure). Because of this I’m going to try a few more ideas with a red-gray, blue-gray, and of course a regular gray. After choosing a color for the shadows, I’ll then most likely attempt to add a slight gradient and see whether or not it helps the design at all.
10/5/17
Creating a logo signature response
What does my museum want to say?
This is the life of a spy, here you will explore everything from the gadgets, to false identities that both real and fictional spies must use to stay hidden in plain sight.
What value does the company bring to their audience?
Through normal and interactive exhibits visitors are given a bit of a taste as to the difficulty, and to some the thrill, which came with the life of spies during the 20th century, as well as the history of a certain fictional, martini drinking, British operative.
What benefits do they offer above competitors?
The Spy museum prides itself on its interactive exhibits that has attracted a rather large age range of visitors. These exhibits take the form of a mock mission as well as a GPS guided tour of the surrounding city made to help you see the capital as only a spy could.
How are they different from others in their field?
This is the only museum in the world that offer an international perspective on the world of espionage, and sports the largest collection of spy artifacts ever put on public display. The advisory council for the museum includes veterans from intelligence agencies all over the world such as CIA, FBI, KGB, and MI5.
Critique response
What I heard
- the most popular variant was one that was closest to the original sketch
- ‘Museum’ needs to be bolder/larger as right now the shadows are overpowering it
- don’t fill in the shadows, let them retain there letter shapes
- try drawing the shadows by hand using the pen tool, or tablet (maybe even scan in the original sketch and trace it
- the Agency FB font feels too corporate/official, especially when compared to the original sketch’s playful nature
What I think
- while I’m glad I experimented with different options, it seems clear that something closer to the original sketch is needed
- Century Gothic may be working better than Agency FB
- It seems adjusting the angle of the shadow letters does affect readability too much
What I’m going to do
- I’m going to experiment with the Century Gothic font a bit more to see if I can get it to work, if it doesn't I’m going to have to search for a new one to use that can balance between the professionalism a museum needs, and the playfulness my original sketch held
- In terms of how everything is placed, I will most likely keep it close to my original sketch
- If I fail to find a font that will work well, I may actually try just scanning my original sketch in to the computer, tracing over it on my tablet, and making a few adjustments to the text where needed (it’s definitely a bit too blocky at the moment)
9/28/17
Critique response
What I heard:
- at the moment the font used in the top right design is too generic and formal, it would need to be sketchier if I waned to continue with it
- the font being used for the top left is the best at the moment
- the Morse code design is not working. it reds as “International Museum”, if the code is implemented in any future design it needs to be easyier to translate
- the font used in the bottom right one is fine, so long as the museum is okay with a playful logo, if not it must be changed
- conceptually, the two left designs are the strongest
- do not proceed with the bottom left design, the positive/negative relation is nice, but its too obvious and some of its elements look too much like something that already exists
What I think:
- at the moment the ‘Y’ in the top left design is too hard to read clearly, it needs to be pushed more outside of the magnified portion of the design.
- while the Spy Museum is kid friendly, and even has some interactive exhibits just for them if I remember correctly; looking at their current logo they would probably prefer a different font used in the bottom right design
- while I do understand why the use of Morse code without some kind of reference is a bit much, I am a tad disappointed as the idea of breaking codes was the main point of the middle left design, and, personally I thought it was an interesting idea. looking back though, I, again, do understand why it is a bit counterproductive to encrypt a logo
What I am going to do:
- I’ve decided to move forward with the bottom right design and will be primarily focusing my 24 variants on different positioning, scaling, and fonts
- as I am a bit reluctant to give up my Morse code idea completely, I am tempted to see if there is a way to integrate is into the shadows somehow without making it too confusing
Work Day Progress
Once all critiques were done I spent the 45 or so minutes left in class staring to think of my 24 b&w variants for the Spy Museum logo. Before class ended I was able to come up with about six ideas; utilizing different positions of the shadows as well as two fonts, Agency FB and Century Gothic, and while I didn't get a chance to implement it before class ended, I began to wonder if the letters appearing in the shadows should always be straight against the invisible wall as they where in the the original design, or should I try inserting them before that point and have them bend when they reach the wall. Would that kind of distortion be more interesting or distracting, I wonder?
9/21/17
iPhone X response:
Perhaps it is because I recently purchased one of these myself, but one of the first companies I was curious about for this idea of product influencing branding, was the game company Nintendo and its newest product, the Switch.
the Switch is an unusual game device as it is essentially a hybrid between a home console and a portable one, going from one to the other via a docking station. However what has become the icon of the device, are its controllers, the “joy-cons.”
these can easily be slid in and out of the main tablet or a secondary holder. It seems the company has embraced this aspect of their new product, going so far as to make it the new logo, even using the sliding motion in their commercials
After less than a year, this simple square and two dots has become synonymous with Nintendo and vice versa. Needless to say, for people who play video games often, the text isn’t even needed in the logo at this point to realize what the product is and by extension the company responsible for selling it.
9/14/17
9/7/17
Whitney logo
1. Honestly I thought, the design was quite clever in how easily adaptive it could become. I usually enjoy simpler designs like this, however I will say that without any context I’m not sure how long it would have taken me to realize this was a logo for a museum.
2. I feel a responsive design is just that; responsive. A design that is able to adapt into whatever it is placed on and integrate itself so that it always looks like it belongs. While this is impressive, and can help unify a line of products, this becomes a bit of a double-edged sword, as you run a risk of everything running together so as nothing with the design implemented is able to stand out.
3. I actually do like the new Whitney design, though part of me feels I enjoy how it is utilized more than the design itself. This new design system demands attention, however the first logo you will likely encounter relies a bit too much on its user’s already existing reputation for you to understand. Still for me a simple design does not necessarily mean a boring design, though I do believe that it is easier for a simple design to be boring. It is up to the designer to create the most they can out of the little they have, and if they handle it poorly, it doesn’t matter how much we see, a bad design is a bad design.
Project 2: Miami Olympic Bid Logo
10/17/17
Rationale and Final Design
When it came to creating this logo, I wanted to start by finding a font that could properly communicate the, shall we say, modern playfulness I associated with the city, when I could find none I decided to create my own. After that I tried to focus on finding a palette that could convey what many people associate with Miami, its beach. With this in mind I gave the majority of the elements a pale blue color, while keeping the ‘A’, which I felt could be taken as a wave, a bit more vibrant. In addition to this, the large circle above the wave was given red and yellow gradient to give off the idea of the sun over the ocean, however, in addition to this, when the wave and sun are taken together they may also be considered representative of an Olympic gold medal, while the two smaller circles over the ‘I’s may even be considered the silver and bronze versions.
Last Minute Change
My final design went pretty much unedited after last class, and once the final critique was done the only last minute change I made was a slight increase in spacing between letters, to open up everything a bit more.
10/12/17
in the end it seems one of my original 4 ideas worked best, needing only a bit of minor tweaking. So with a design finalized at last, I moved to make a few quick color trials focusing on three main different ideas, the Olympic rings, the medals, and the link between Miami and the ocean.
it seems the color palette second from the bottom on the right works best, with the only real suggestion for alteration being to make the currently black elements, a slightly grayed-out shade of blue to help it connect the the ‘A’ of the the design a bit more. After trying that out,I must admit it works quite well.
10/10/17
It seems that no matter how I try to adjust it, my logo in its current form just does not feel right. It’s possible that this all started when I was told to combine two of my ideas in a single design, so with that in mind I went back and came up with 11 different variations of a few designs which utilized elements of only a single of the two.
10/5/17
10/3/17
Skeuomorphism articles response
When it comes to tweaking my Miami design to further to strengthen the message, the first thing that comes to my mind is the three large rings. I feel a bit more dimension may need to be added in order to emphasize the curve which comes from the original sculpture I took inspiration from. This does not mean that a gradient will be added here, as I’m unsure how well that would work out, so instead I am left to wonder if altering the stroke width towards one side of the rings would help.
Critique response
What I heard
- The circle/ring designs are beginning to look reminiscent of eggs due to how they are warped
- The Design itself may need to be revised more before focusing on color palette alone
- Go back to using one of the other, none warped ring designs, try making a version of the space inside the lager rings, with the smaller circles subtracted
- The ‘M’ may need to be edited
- The 3 and 2 need to be the same color
- Avoid using the Olympic rings colors twice
- Each element should be a different color (Miami, 32, each large circle)
- Experiment with placement of circles (try over first ‘M’ or last ‘I’)
What I think
- The something feels off about the circle warped as they currently are, it’s like they don’t belong with the text anymore, at first a though simply editing the line width would help, but now I think I might agree that I may need to go back to my previous designs for the circles
- I don’t think the suggestion I got to make version of the space inside the lager rings, with the smaller circles subtracted will work, it looks too sinister
- The spaces between the letter still bother me a bit, maybe a should try rethinking how they fit together, as well as the shape they take as a whole
What I’m going to do
- I’m going to go back and try designs based off some of my old ideas for the circles, and maybe try warping the text a bit
- In terms of palette, for now I’m going to focus on the colors of the medal (one for each large circle, while keeping the text black for now)
- Right before I left I showed my idea for a way to potentially change the format of the text. It was then suggested I try placing the elements together in the form of a triangle. This actually may work, so I’ll give it a shot
- Before focusing on the palette completely I plan to create a few new revisions of the logos design to show next class
9/26/17
Color palette question responses
1. A majority of logos feature a limited palette as too many colors may give off the wrong message and become to distraction. One of two colors it usually enough, if any more than that are used, and they are not black or white, then you risk losing the full impact the design may carry.
2. For a monochromatic color palette, my first thought is actually an orange in order to give of the energy and ide of friendly competition that comes with the Olympics, not to mention the fact that the color is already associated with the area I chose. If a second were to be added, I would likely first try a blue, as, aside from being a complementary color, it would help to invoke a feeling of trust between participating countries. Aside from those two, the only color I think would be needed would be black to offset brighter colors, though I suppose it could also give off a sense of formality for the event. As for a full color palette, my first thought would of course be to turn to the palette used for the Olympic rings, perhaps with some orange thrown in as well to help strengthen the connection to Miami.
Critique response
What I heard:
- Apparently at first glance some of the variants of the circles, give off the appearance of basketballs and tennis balls
- when the ‘32’ is put into the circles, it becomes too cramped, it seems like a much better decision to place a ‘2’ over one of ‘M’s in Miami ( people seemed split on which one worked better)
- At one point we discussed the possibilities of making the design vertical, to help ‘32’ read better, however because of the font, parts of Miami started to read more like roman numerals, so this suggestion was scrapped
- the custom typeface I made seems to work better, but needs to be worked on a bit, especially the ‘2’ , it was suggested I look into Avant Garde by Herb Lubalin
- It seems I’ve lost something be converting the design inspired by the sculpture in the design district into perfect circles, it should be brought back to the ellipses that look more like the original source, and the larger circles should be kept as rings while the smaller ones inside are filled in
What I thought:
- My first thought is to go forward with a version that places the circles under the text, however, after some of the comments, (especially the ones concerning warping the circles ) I’m wondering if it would still work best there.
What I’m going to do
- For the final interpretation of the circles I’m going to make the larger circles rings, while filling in the smaller ones. In addition to this, I’m going to take the advice I was given and warp the forms in order to make them appear more like the original sculpture.
- I feel like I may need to continue to experiment with the placement of the circles in relation to the text.
- The typeface may be altered to make the letter fit together better, the ‘2’ may be redesigned all together
9/19/17
What I heard:
- text needs to be included in all designs so the city and year are known.
- the font I constructed for the bottom right design feels right for the area.
- the mockingbird looks fine, but considering its main symbolism is for innocence and purity, it doesn't quite fit with the Olympics.
- the first M in Miami reads like a 3, turning the other message into 3032 instead of the 2032 I was going for. Get rid of the 20, just 32 is enough.
- since three smaller circles are inside two of the larger ones, something should be placed in the space where a third should be in the bottom most circle.
- I should try combining the two bottom designs by placing the circles slightly over the ‘M’ in Miami.
What I think:
- a ‘32’ might work in the empty space mentioned earlier.
- maybe pastel colors would work as part of the color palette, as it would be a reference to the south beach area of the city.
- could the color orange fit in anywhere i wonder, as it is already associated with the area (or maybe a orange blossom)
What I’m going to do:
for my final design I’m going to take the advice to combine the two bottom choices, by placing the circles over the ‘M’. After that Ill mainly just experiment with rings vs. solid circles, different palettes (perhaps trying to use pastel versions of the Olympic rings colors), varying placements and scaling .
9/12/17
1. To understand and excel above your competition, it’s also a good idea to examine past completions and try to work out what worked and what did not; are any of those trends present now? If so you need to distinguish yourself form the others.
2. My biggest question at the moment for my designs, is if what the imagery represents is clear, thankfully, aside from one that color will hopefully resolve, everything seems to be working
3. I have always viewed myself as flexible, and take all feedback under consideration. For example my original thought for the mockingbird had two different styled silhouettes to distinguish the elements, others believe that this is not necessary, and after a quick sketch, I admit I might have been wrong.
4. Respect for the Olympics and the Miami are important, and actually did influence me as I was coming up with potential designs. The second thumbnail I made was a spiral that looked a bit like a hurricane, as this was done before I learned of Irma, I thought it would be fine. I only attempted a similar subject twice more while sketching, and felt I had to be much more careful about what I used with hurricane shapes forms. I attempted to have the hurricane illustrate Miami’s, as well as Florida’s, enduring strength despite what had happened.
5. The logo must be able to fit in perfectly with the other aspects of Olympic advertisement (merchandise, advertisements, and decorations) so must be constructed so it can adapt easily, while also being careful not to lose its identity.
6. At the moment I think a lighter font would be best. Aside from that the other elements of the font would really depend on which final design I choose.
7. I feel I’m doing an adequate good infusing that personality of Miami into the designs. The city has always felt like a “go with the flow” type place. Hopefully the text and font choice will help this even more.
8. Custom type will be a necessity for at least one design, the wave like swirls with Miami under it. It will have to fit organically both literally and stylistically.
9. The only serendipitous thing I see involving the letters here is the five letters in ‘Miami’ and the five Olympic rings.
10. Unfortunately I don’t see myself being able to take ownership of a typeface at the moment, unless I design it myself of course.
11. I have always had an issue with overcomplicating my designs, so I’m trying to pay special attention to that from now on and keep everything as simple as I can while still getting the intended message across.
12. To be honest I haven’t thought much about psychology while designing things, I usually think about this while deciding on colors, however, for the Olympics, I felt that the majority of the color scheme had already been decided through the rings.
13. I have always had difficulty grasping the grid, and, because of that, tend not to focus on it when sketching. Though looking at the designs I have chosen to move forward with, I am starting to see how adjusting them according to a grid may benefit them.
14. I think I’m managing my negative space well, except perhaps for the mainly text based one where I feel there is too much at the moment.
15. The only wit I feel I employ here is references, both obvious and subtle, to Miami within the designs, as for humor though, I don’t feel the Olympics is the appropriate place for that to make jokes in a log, though I could be wrong.
16. While I do understand the color wheel, I feel the majority of the colors I will use have in these specific designs already been decided by the Olympics itself.
17. The Olympics have a very distinct color scheme associated with it already, so for now I’m going to attempt to use it with few other colors included.
18. The event is supposed to excite both its participants and attendees, so in addition the color of the rings, I will see how the inclusion of some orange in certain designs will affect it, as it happens orange is already associated with Miami, so should its inclusion work well it should help strengthen the connection between the event and its host city.
19. Again, as Orange is already associated with Miami, I will be attempting to integrate it into the designs. Aside from that, the South Beach area seem to have a bit of a pastel-like palette.
20. I have never been one to ignore black and white as colors, and still plan on using them in some designs.
21. Through the class I feel I’ve gotten several opinions on my ideas at this point, and was even surprised a few times at what people seemed to like; causing me to rethink which designs to use.
22. Outside of creating a mascot, advertisements, or merchandise I’m unclear how to develop more of this brand’s world.
23. To bring a design alive for the Olympics, you need to make sure, whether subtle or obvious, it represents not only the events values, but the spirit of the city in some way.
Project 1: We Stand Together
9/7/17
9/5/17
- I cannot recall ever copying another’s idea, but if you expand that idea a bit, I have taken credit for something I played no major part in. During my junior year of high school I was part of a team taking part in a competition to create a video explaining a scientific theory. I did no real work on the video, in reality I was only one the team because they needed a third member. The only thing I did throughout the entire competition was participate in the presentation to the judges. However when the winner was revealed to be the team I was on, I was more than happy to take my place on stage; even hoping I would be to one team member to go to nationals. Of course, I was not, but looking back now, during those few hours before I was told who was going, and I was excited for the possibility that it might be me, I am a bit ashamed of myself. If it did not come from me, I have no right to claim the rewards.
- As far as I know, no one has ever stolen or copied anything of mine. the only thing that I can think someone I know might “steal” is artwork and story concepts, my friends and I came up with during high school for a game we hoped to create. even know many of us keep everything we made for the project; hoping that one day someone fro the team will be able to finish what we started. If they do it without me, I’ll be a tad upset if they don’t acknowledge my contribution, but in the end I think I’d be more happy that people would finally be able to see the finished product we used to dream of. Basically, so long as people enjoy my work, I’m not obsessed with them knowing it was I who created it.
- Originality is definitely harder than it used to be, but I do believe it still exists. It has become far too easy to become influenced by other designs, even ones you may have seen in passing years ago, but I do not feel that it is impossible to overcome this.
My Strongest Design: Though I’m a bit unsure, I might have to say my strongest Design is my text-only one. Three of the strengths I notice are its simplicity, allowing the single word to convey my message; my use of sparse red to convey a secondary message works well; and the use of a simple grid seems to help as well. As for what can be improved, I am a bit hesitant that the secondary part of the message is bit difficult to understand.
8/29/17
Chosen theme: Connections
Synonyms: relation, network, ally, association, friend, kin, kindred, kinship, mentor, sponsor, relative, messenger, link, ties, partnership, communication, affinity, nexus, reciprocity, bond, union
Antonyms: antagonist, foe, stranger, gap, disconnection, enemy, division, separation, divorce, opening
Idioms: connect the dots, connect up, make the connection
Quotes: “Invisible threads are the strongest ties.” -Friedrich Nietzsche, “We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” -William James, “Nonsense and beauty have close connections.” -E. M. Forster
Further reflections/ideas/brainstorming: Gaia theory (Earth is one big organism), constellations (connecting stars), one sky connects everything, six degrees of separation.
Communication: phones, wires, talking, building, celebrating, television, waves, writing, meeting
Stranger: Unknown, space, enemy, frightening, criminal, help, ignore
Final ideas moving forward: strangers/friends, talking/ignore, building bridges, empty space and connecting stars, nonsense and beauty
This is what I heard: My hand bridge and hand constellation pieces show the most potential, however the hand bridge design is weakened by the styles of the elements not matching. If I choose to move forward with a bridge design, I should consider inserting “Build” into the text and/or combination versions (perhaps even merge them with the bridge itself). Additionally, the square the designs are placed in do not always have to function as a frame.
This is what I think: I treated these 18 ideas too much like a message and not enough like a logo. Because of this, many of my designs were much too wordy. Also I need to limit my use of different colors within a single design.
This is what I’m going to do: I plan to attempt to sketch a modified version of my hand bridge design to see if I can implement the advice I was given about it. Depending on how it turns out, I will move forward with either that design of the hand constellation design. If the constellation is chosen, chances are I will attempt to integrate my text into the stars themselves.
