Piper Olsen: Process Documentation

Corporate Identity, Fall 2017

Table of Contents

Project 5: Restaurant Logo

Project 3: Museum Logo

Project 2: Olympic Bid Logo

Project 1: We Stand Together

Jump to Bottom

Project 5 — Restaurant Logo

Peer Critique

3 Positive Things: spray painted logo looks nice, black on coffee cup is working, names on folder works better than last time

3 Negative Things: ripped paper seen through logo was bothersome, “stand withs” are uncentered, names in folder are too big

3 Suggestions:

11/30/17

Brand Style Guide Critique

What I heard: show process of making collages on secondary imagery page, more specific rules for typography, define 12 movements for 1 full year of business operation, include lowercase in typography pages, specify levels of contrast and value for photography, on logo suite page include more spacing and get rid of smaller logos, redo clear space to start from inside edge and include spray area (make clear space wider, width of the spoon?), spray paint as secondary visual, don’t bleed type over gutter (images may bleed but be aware of what is in the fold), be more consistent with grid, include CMYK, RGB, and Pantone in addition to Hex, spell stationEry correctly, include end pages (collages of newspaper clippings) consider consumer experience

What I think: I feel much more confident moving forward, with better ideas of how strict of guidelines to create, I think that re-defining the clear space will be better in the long-run (thinking of design of stationery and collateral items) finishing up the entire identity system will alllow for the use of finished photos and mockups and will help immensely.

What I’m going to do: look at restaurant style guide posted in Medium for reference and consider the Burlesque example in moving forward. I think adjusting clear space is something that should be done immediately, then set style guide aside until changes to system and collateral items are made for second finish and I am able to reference exact sizes, leadings, proportions, and rules.

11/28/17

What I heard: make the protest sign/menu customizable and smaller in size and make slots for removable stick; photograph collage illustration in order to bring back shadows; revisit colors; ripped paper is good; track out type and make gray; overlay texture in type?; revisit white space in spoon; no repeating movements on inside of folder (include names of activists); redo back of business cards (logo along short edge, reversed out from black); make website bigger on back of envelope and add a ripped edge on back

What I think: I’m excited about idea of customizable protest signs (maybe come with small package containing stick, marker (with logo on it) and small other collectable item). Photographing collages will be good because shadows added a layer of depth, hope that this will brighten colors, if not, adjust. Reversed out from black logo could be really cool, incorporate this in other places?

What I’m going to do: Make menu fold, front will say “month/year solidariTEA stands with:” and have handwritten name of movement, inside left contains menu, inside right contains information about each movement, back will say “I stand with:” and leave blank space for customer to write in. I’m going to photograph the collages, fix the typography, and resedign business card, maybe include a flap?

11/27/17

• Collateral Brainstorming:

Collateral Ideas for SolidariTEA

1. menu — will incorporate general aesthetic of the brand while providing information about the refreshments sold, and the opposite side will highlight one of the three movements I have chosen and will serve as a sign to hold in support
2. napkins
3. cups — as the food truck mainly serves drinks, cups just make good sense for collateral; the design of the cup itself will remain consistent, displaying the name of the company, while the band that goes around hot drink so that you don’t burn your hands (I don’t know what it’s called) will be the color of whichever movement is currently being represented
4. food truck exterior — as it’s a traveling operation, and will need to be recorgnizable at events from its exterior, the deisgn of the food truck must clearly communicate the brand (more so than the movement)
5. website — in order to be able to follow the schedule of the restaurant (which movement, which month, which city, etc.) it’s important that this information is easily accessible and should provide information about each movement, including links to their respective sites, and should give an idea of what types of food/drink is served
6. email blast
7. shirt
8. mailer
9. poster
10. bag
11. print
12. newsletter
13. postcard
14. brochure — to hand out at events, will contain information about each group (highlighting whichever movement the truck is with at the time) and schedule of upcoming events; used to educate about the cause
15. coupon
16. stickers
17. pins
18. app — not only will the app give you mobile access to information on the site, its main feature will be to locate using GPS, the coordinates of the food truck at any given event
19. gift card
20. event badges

11/11/17

11/9/17

What I heard: fist angled is not working, logo is more successful fully upright, fist should fit the “spoon shape” and have more negative space in between fingers to read from a distance. Larger scale spoons are more successful, spoon on left, type on right, balance with the thick bold lines. Scale type up just a bit so it fits more comfortably with the spoon.

What I think: I didn’t like any variations with the tilted fist, communicates a less strong stance. I like the balance achieved with the horizontal layout chosen in class, but I really like the vertical arrangements still too.

What I’m going to do: look at more spoons and make the fist fit that shape more and in doing so give more negative space around each finger. I’m going to scale the type up a bit. Moving forward and looking at color, I think I would like this to be a changing variable with each movement that the SolidariTEA truck follows, basing the colors off of the colors used with the branding of specific movements. I’ll choose 6 to more forward with.

11/7/17

What I heard: spoon logo is the one to go with, though it could possibly only communicate a specific movement instead of solidarity in general (black lives matter), textured rigid edge should be on entire illustration, revisit proportions, and possibly other tag line solutions

What I think: I disagree that the solidarity fist could communicate only one thing, but don’t think that it’s that troublesome if it is read that way. I also doubt that I’ll alter the tag line very much, as I really like the different things communicated by the word “refreshing”. I agree with all other comments made.

What I’m going to do: study proportions on tea spoons, play with different variations of texture, try different type solutions and type placement.

11/2/17

10/22/17

Choose two examples you are excited by and write a paragraph on what is successful about each. Examine and comment on color, typography (hierarchy!), logo, paper/materials, special processes, etc — all in relation to the restaurant concept! How does analyzing these case studies inform your own restaurant concept/logo sketching?

Art of the Menu: Bill’s Fried Chicken

The menu at Bill’s serves a secondary functionality purpose as a cooling fan and makes perfect sense for this hot restaurant located in the south, but in the case of solidariTEA could function as a handheld sign covering whatever group the tea truck is working with that month with either pattern (like Bill’s) or typography. In the case of Bill’s specifically, the colors feel bright, rustic, and masculine, all things that would make sense to be communicated for a fried chicken joint in the south. And the slab serif typeface, which their menu and logotype is in, seems to cohesively fit the theme set by the identity system. For my concept, less so the color, and more in regards to heirarchy with typography and the amount of negative space give, is inspirational and informative to how I think I would handle and space surrounding areas of text, given the busy pattern Bill’s uses and I plan to use.

So 9 is quiet and spacious setting for a restaurant and this is reflected within the design surrounding and about it. The pattern of intricate illustrations pays homage to the Vietnamese roots and Australian upbringing of the restaurant and are delicate and beautiful and fit the space and contrast the simplicity of the typographic logo. The hierarchy created with the contemporary sans serif used as the titles and font contrasting and holding its weight visually over the serif body copy font. The harmonious relationship created between these, as well as the amount of negative space given and lack of illustrations on the inside of the menu fit this restaurant’s concept quite well.

In regards to how I’ll be approaching my system/concept/and logo. I imagine myself thinking more so in the way of these two places using a typographic logo that is clean and clear to work along side the patterns/illustrations that both they, and I, (plan to) use. The functionality special process of Bill’s is also something I’m extremely interested in exploring.

10/21/17

Concept: A food truck serving tea and refreshments to social activists, since it is mobile and able to travel, will make appearances at all peaceful protests on the side of social justice.

1. Literal Concepts: mobile, tea, beverage, activism, convenient, social, justice, truck, travel, accessibility, inclusive
2. Figurative Concepts:

mobile — motion, movement, forward, forward thinking, unconstrained, freeing, able, easy

activism — political, social, change, advocacy, recognition, joining, forces, opposing, a voice, a stand

inclusive — understanding, open, non-discriminatory

beverage — hot, cold, tea coffee, liquid, hydrating, heath, nourishment, needs

refreshments — light snack, drink, invigorating, a welcome change, refreshing

social — constructs, norms, themes, interactions, pressures

truck — strength, ability, mobility

travel — culture, far-reaching, outreach

service — duty, compelled to serve, right, help

1. Thesaurus:

tea (beverage) — drink, brew, refreshment

tea (reception) — function, gathering

tea (gossip, slang) — sensitive, personal, sought-after information

activism — advocacy, involvement, effecting change

activist (abolitionist) — advocate, revolutionary

activist (fanatic) — enthusiast, visionary, extremist

-a lot more negative connotations, steer clear of these-

service (aid, help) — kindness, labor, usefulness, benefit

1. Examples and Types:

beverage — hot coffee, iced coffee, latte, cappuccino, tea, water, carbonated water, apple juice, orange juice, cranberry juice, grape juice, milk, almond milk, soy milk, soda

tea — green tea, white tea, oolong tea, black tea, chai, iced

activism — volunteer, grassroots, petition, lobbying, boycotts, selective purchasing, demonstrations, civil disobedience, marches, walks, sit-ins, strikes, rallies

causes — Women’s March, Black Lives Matter, United We Dream, NCADP, AAPD, Human Rights Campaign, etc.

1. Phrases and Sayings:

stand in solidarity

take a knee

human rights

equal rights

diversity, equality, unity

love trumps hate

resist fear, assist love

hear our voice

walls won’t divide us

hope not hate

right side of history

no person is illegal

1. Mix and Match:

solidariTEA

diversity, equality, uniTEA

grassroots tea truck

tea for peace

social justice tea

advocate’s tea

tea on the right side of history

Taglines:

1. Refreshing ideals.
2. Resist hate, spread tea.
3. Refreshment on the right side of history.
4. Grassroots and tealeaves.
5. Inclusive and refreshing.
6. For the sake of you, me, us, and tea.
7. We stand with you.
8. Tea for social justice.
9. Refreshingly progressive.
10. Peace, love, and tea.

10/18/17

Concept 1:

Tea Truck for Social Activists (vegetatian)

Vegetarian Cafe for Introverts

Project 4 — Museum Logo Identity System

Yikes. I didn’t realize how far behind in process I had gotten. Hopefully will have better quality photos up soon. First round of business cards, letterhead, and envelope, and I’m sure I have my notes from crit…somewhere (I hope). And will update as I find those.

Since that first round, moving forward I have re-done my business card, envelop, and letterhead (following the guidelines and advice and direction I was given in critique, which I promise I did write down somewhere) and created a folder and collateral piece.

Business card

What I heard: no real critique on the business card itself, other than changing the address to include the zip code, changing the website, and adding space around where it is displayed within the folder.

What I think: I think I’m alright with where the business card is at, but would be open to further crit and suggestion if there are obvious places for improvement.

What I’m going to do: double check all type, and fix the address, website, and make appropriate changes to folder.

Envelope

What I heard: put the website around flap on back, remove website from the front and allow two lines for address and zip code!! No line for sending address, add white to either inside or to outline the star on front, and no black type. Flood of blue is too much on front. Either make all white or add white with the curved element.

What I think: I’m hesitant to include the curved white on front too, as it’s already on the back and becoming almost too in your face (I like it more in subtle areas like the envelope flap and folder pockets) so I’m thinking either white front or pink, especially if the pink is included in the folder too.

What I’m going to do:

Letterhead

What I heard: address on two lines, change website (no www or “the”), look at hierarchy, and add “board of directors”, organize all type along curved edge

What I think: I’m excited by the idea of the type following that curve, because I so enjoy how it peaks through the other side.

What I’m going to do:

Folder

What I heard: front and back should match (too white, bottom blue) logo is too close to pink line, pink line is too thick and too perfect, replace tag line on back with website, make the white outline on large stars thicker and rearrange dots. Inside of folder should only be one color (introduce pink? Maybe pink should be in envelope too??) frame the business card with some negative space as well

What I think: I found the folder a little daunting, the direction given has given me more ideas for moving forward. I think I’d like to make the inside pink, which will be a nice break from all of the blue and white. I liked the tag line on the back and am a little sad to see it go, but understand how it makes better sense for the website to go there instead. Or possibly continue the line as a timeline to relate to the collateral? Or maybe don’t worry about that and just allow the folder to exist as simply a piece to house all others, rather than informational in itself.

What I’m going to do:

Collateral

What I heard: poster/mailer instead of booklet. Photos not illustrations. Hours, calendar, timeline, etc.

What I think: I’m not ready to give up the little illustrations completely because I like how they relate to the style of the logo itself, but understand that photos make better sense. I’d like to use the illustrations as either tertiary elements or icons somewhere within the folder/mailer. I like the idea of having a calendar and a timeline and am excited about the whole idea because I like designing posters.

What I’m going to do:

10/26/17

Read and Respond:

An example of a successful redesign in my opinion, is the Mozilla logo. Though the logo was not problematic before, I feel like the shorter x-height of the typography and black on white are both more contemporary aspects that further the successfulness of this logo. Conceptually, it is much stronger typed in the rebrand as moz://a as this suggests something to do with web which is communicated solely through the logotype before they viewer might even be fully aware of what the company is.

On the reverse, a redesign that is unsuccessful is Unomaly. The original logo’s typface is much sleeker, more readable, and communicating an idea (of anomaly) with the underlined U. The rebrand led to the use of a digital looking typeface which is hard to read and distracting.

A strong rebrand and identity system is that of Orstead. The simplicity of the refreshing logotype reversed out of a variety of colors creates a cohesive brand and the logo, working on a variety of scales, both compliments other text at larger scales, and reads comfortably with text at smaller scales.

Project 3 — Museum Logo

10/18/17

Moving forward: Revisit vertical composition, shapes may be too similar. Bring up opacity of swoosh shape in color version

The logo I created for the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum started as a simple drawing of two shakers, with the first letters of Salt and Pepper (S and P) incorporated into the illustration as the top and bottom of each shaker. As I explored the museum’s website, I found a lot of vintage shakers that had a very retro vibe to them. I decided to play up this level of kitsch and incorporate this into the logo as well, creating a sign-like arrangement for the imagery and text.

10/17/17

What I heard: Horizontal — move tag line to bottom, give more space on right and left sides. Vertical — track and justify tagline. Black and White — no opacity on black. Color — only pinks and blue, no black, no light pink outline.

General — tightness of border on image, thicker outline and scaling down of stars, hand drawn lower frame, more color?

What I thought: I agree with all that was said, except for the addition of more color.

What I’m going to do: Make all suggested changes and re-post.

10/16/17

Horizontal Arrangements:

Vertical Arrangements:

10/12/17

Logo Crit:

Push diner theme further, make logo two signs fitted together. Look at menu design for typefaces (drop line?) stars!! maybe for logo, maybe collateral. colors: think blue, teal, pink. “the original iconic duo.” layers by removing opacity inside shaker.

10/11/17

Add a tagline…yikes.

Taglines:

1. Name a more iconic duo
2. America’s only
3. Good things come in pairs
4. Collecting shakers and smiles
5. Over 20,000 pairs of shakers!
6. “Keep Collecting!”
7. “Everyone has a memory about a salt and pepper shaker”
8. The only museum of its kind
9. The amazing world of salt and pepper shakers
10. Collecting shakers and smiles for over 25 years!

Color Trials:

10/5/17

Brainstorming for a Tagline:

• What does the company want to say to their audience?

The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum wants to communicate changes in a society that can be found represented in shakers, a variety and the creativity, and be a cause to bring people together.

• What value does the company bring to their audience?

The value is found in entertainment, enjoyment, and a collective idea, space, and shared experience.

• What benefits do they offer above the competitors?

I’m not sure that there technically are any competitors, but the benefit of visitng the museum is getting to view the expansive collection.

• How are they different from the others in their field?

The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum is the only museum of its kind within the United States (they have a sister museum in Spain), so they sort of corner the field.

Crit

What I heard: Refine drawing of salt and pepper shaker logo (ampersand design is out), take a look at it both tipped and straight up and down, and type is not working, explore more solutions. Play with different formats?

What I think: Drawing absolutely needs refined, and I think that I will be scaling the type way up!!

What I’m going to do: Re-draw logo, vector and adjust in illustrator, look at a lot of typefaces, pick one, scale up and add tagline. Research colors!! 20 color studies! How exciting!

10/3/17

9/28/17

What I heard: Yikes. Original refinements (lower photo)lost a lot of the best characteristics of the original sketches. Neither type nor shaker holes are working. Revisit original sketches to see improvements, shorten ampersand and condense elements closer.

What I think: Yes. I likes the original sketches better too, and was not a fan of the shaker holes either. I think the concepts in the top two are strong, and the logos could work with refinement.

What I’m going to do: Pictured below (upper photo) I revisited my original sketches to get the basic shapes and am going to continue to further refine them. I’m going to try varying the weigh of the double lines in the first design and come up with better placement for text.

9/14/17

50 Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum logo sketches:

Project 2 — Olympic Bid

10/17/17

Okay, final FINAL critique:

What I heard: Getting rid of texture was best solution, increase spacing between o and wedge. Scale of CANDIDATE CITY may be competing.

What I think: I’m so much happier with the logo without the texture. I agree with both other comments.

What I’m going to do: Increase the space between o and wedge (make sure bottom of wedge lines up with type baseline!!) and scale down (slightly) CANDIDATE CITY. Finalize. Save Changes. Post to Medium. Celebrate the fact that I’m so so done with this logo.

10/16/17

The Yosemite Valley Olympic bid logo I’ve created is a mainly typographic solution which utilizes abstractions of the famous Tunnel View of Yosemite Valley, along with Olympic elements to result in a cohesive final design to represent the city and them games simultaneously. The typeface Museo has been taken from preexisting identity systems for Yosemite Valley, and the color choice of green is to represent the environment, as Yosemite Valley is not only a candidate city, but a national park, and the energy and athleticism of the games.

10/12/17

Final Critique:

Increase the spacing between Yosemite Valley and Candidate City. Equal weight between 2,3, and 0's. Revisit texture, redraw, and revise. Possibly make abstracted mountains green too? Italicize Candidate City.

10/8/17

10/3/17

What additional tweaking/editing/revisions you could apply to your Olympic logo to elevate craft and/or communication of the intended concept/message? How can you avoid revisions/additions that may unintentionally become decoration, a passé trend, or compromise readability?

I think that a good place to start is noting revisions/edits/and things I could tweak that would be unsuccessful (knowing which direction not to head in can be just as important) — I definitely think that any change toward skeuomorphism (probably the only place for this would be within the mountains) would be unsucessful as the mountain is already working as a more abstracted symbol. I don’t know that a gradient would be helpful, unless it was the absolute most subtle thing, like in the Google logo, and would only be placed on the 2030. A small change like that could help communicate the year and the fact that the two 0’s are separate from the rest of the Olympic rings. However, if I chose to make this revision, I would be careful to keep it out of the text as to not compromise readability. The only other adjustments I’m really considering at this point is adjusting the line weight within the 2030.

9/27/17

9/26/17

What I heard: Less illustrative texture, more focus on modern graphic interpretation of texture — simplify. Weight change to not read as 2000300. Typographic relationship and scale change. Look to change density of texture. Get rid of bottom triangle.

What I think: All issues that I agree with, not sure that leaving bottom circle just thick and empty is best.

What I’m going to do: Play with typographic relationships and scale — scale up Yosemite Valley!! Revisit texture and weight.

Read and Respond:

Probably the best way to explain why 81% of logos are not full color, is to look at what full color logos communicate. Logos in full color feel fun, childlike, playful, and communicate multi-disciplinary ideas. These are all great, but notable not what 81% of corporations are trying to create. They’re looking for color with specific relevance to what and who they are, and this often is best communicated with a limited palette of one to two colors. In addition to considering what they want to communicate, how it looks is a factor as well. It’s safe to assume that a logo will be used in a variety of sizes, so considering the complexity of the design, and how color affects this, is important when thinking of the logo working at a variety of scales. One to two colors at a small scale are much easier to read than a wider range.

One-color Palette:

Considering Yosemite Valley as a national park, and green most effectively communicating “environment”, and the imagery of the landscape used within my logo, I feel that this would be an effective choice of color for a monochromatic palette. Relating to the Olympics too, as green can also represent harmony, and the notion of the Games as a harmonious and peaceful gathering of countries.

Two-color Palette:

Adding to the rationale for the color green, orange provides and energy and enthusiasm and implies athleticism. Not to mention, is the color of the California poppy, the state flower, which is utilized as a texture within my logo.

Three-color Palette

The abstraction of the landscape in my logo variations is filled with texture of the California pines (green), the California poppy (orange) and the mountains (a blue hue in some natural lighting conditions). This split complimentary color scheme not only references those features of Yosemite Valley, but implies environment, harmony, energy, enthusiasm, and honesty.

Full-color Palette

This full array of colors has a sense of unity, and contrast within value. Though none of the hues are bright and highly saturated, they give off a warm welcoming tone, as to communicate welcoming participants to the 2030 Winter Olympics at Yosemite Valley.

9/19/17

Keeping in mind the 23 tips we visited and responded to last week, I’ve revisited, redrawn, and refined my three most successful Yosemite Valley Olympic Bid logos.

Class Crit — what was said, what I’m going to do:

9/12/17

1.Understand your competition — know what about your client stand out and highlight this. Yosemite Valley is the only National Park to ever place a bid to be a host city for the Olympics, highlight the park
2. Ask the right questions — be knowledgable about what the client is trying to communicate; ask. In other logos and branding systems of Yosemite Valley, what do they try to communicate??
3. Stay flexible during the process — don’t “be married to an idea”, there are always solutions that work both in and out of concept. Showing the full range of mountains could better highlight a concept, but the simple abstraction is more beautiful and pleasing to look at.
4. Respect a brand’s heritage — research. Some decisions should be founded in history.
5. Remember: a logo is just one ingredient — recognize that there are other parts of an identity system. People may encounter other parts of this system before the logo itself, consider tone and how it could work in different contexts, such as packaging.
6. Choose your typeface carefully — typefaces communicate much of what was previously listed. What typefaces would be a good representation of the character of Yosemite Valley? Research.
7. Tweak and refine to add personality — typefaces/forms can be adjusted to more clearly convey a message. Tweaking the 2 and 3 to fit the spaces between the rings/flowers and the “Yosemite Valley” below to appear cohesive.
8. Consider illustrated, fully-bespoke (custom-made) type — hand-drawn typefaces can be beautiful, unique solutions when we are typically so quick to jump on a computer and select an already existing typeface. Look at the way the city is already branded, could I incorporate the identity into custom lettering? Perhaps with the 2030 with the rings.
9. Explore serendipitous letter combinations — letter combinations don’t have to follow a formula. Play with typographic lockup/interlocking of 2 and 3.
10. Take ownership of an entire typeface — look for typefaces with multiple weights and italics; ulitize this variety. Consider this when looking for typefaces!!
11. Strip it back to basics — simplicity in logos should always be a consideration. Look at logos designed at all different scales to ensure that they work as well large as they do small.
12. Understand shape psychology — shapes, much like color, convey meaning; be aware of this. What shapes communicate the messages I’m trying to get across? Look into this, think dynamic!
13. Master grids and structure — composition matters!!! Consider proportions and ratios, and how these relate to a grid/structure.
14. Employ negative space — negative space says a lot and can be so sophisticated when employed in design. Re-look and re-consider uses of negative space in my designs.
15. Make use of wit and humor — anything that someone will look at and think “oh, clever!” is so helpful in identity systems and makes something that much more recognizable/memorable. 2030 logo with Olympic rings, make sure this is employed here. Could be enhanced?
16. Understand the color wheel — color theory, color psychology, color schemes; crucial to understand. Look at past color systems in Olympic bid logos, employ use of colors of rings, look into colors of California.
17. Manage color schemes carefully — second step to understanding, utilize. Look for harmonious color schemes!
18. Use color to control mood — have I mentioned the importance of understanding color?? Consider: colors that promote athleticism, warmth
19. Research sector-specific color trends — again with color psychology, pairing a hue with a sector. Engaging businesses, blue? Commenting on the National Park and Environment, green?
20. Don’t forget black and white — never overlook the high contrast pairing of black and white. Would my logos be more successful without color? Make versions both ways!
21. Always get a second opinion (from a professional!) — another pair of eyes is always always always a good idea. Ask friends/family/professors both in and out of design to take a look.
22. Develop the rest of the brand world — think bigger; beyond the logo. How could my logo be employed as an entire branding system? Room for variety? Keep consistency!!
23. Consider how to bring it alive — sometimes we want/need/look for more to stand out. Look into animating as a GIF.

9/10/17

Research on Yosemite Valley & Ideas:

California poppy, tunnel view entrance, Sierra Nevada, pines (eh), granite …engage business and government …show unity, diversity, athleticism

9/7/17

After reading the praise given to the new Whitney identity, my initial reaction was impressed. The responsive design I found to be innovative, more than orignially meets the eye, and clever in the was it could be changed and manipulated to be displayed on all parts of the identity system.

Respsonsive design is able to be interacted with and interact to its environment. Movement and fluidity are usually key, when I think of responsive design I typically think web, or in the case of identity systems, maybe a gif logo. Pros of designing an identity system this way are that the movement is a good way to catch people’s attention. However, a con would be that viewers are unable to see the design fully responsive and in motion on print pieces, therefor in print we are only able to see how the Whitney identity can change and not as it changes. This may cause confusion as some of these changes can appear fairly different from one to the other, and if a viewer wasn’t keen to paying attention that the design is responsive, an in-cohesive identity system.

I disagree that the system is “boring” and disagree further that boring and simplistic are synonamous. I feel that in the second article, much of the criticism was about the open-endedness of the design; which I would argue to be worthy of more praise than criticism. Every person has a different perception of even the most grounded identity system, and the fact that this opens up to not only different perceptions, but different interpretations, I think is beautiful and creative. The new Whitney identity design was innovative, and unexpected; it has created an interested, and I stand by it for those reasons.

Project 1 — We Stand Together

9/6/17

We Stand Together Logo: Final

Olympic Bid Logo Assigned: Yosemite Valley — Winter Olympics

9/5/17

Copying as a way of learning, I feel is something we do a lot. As an example, during Principles of Graphic Design in my third semester, we were given an assignment to create a poster about a designer, that was to mimic his or her style; it was to be a pastiche of their work. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was one of the designers I chose because I was familiar with a lot of his work, so to begin the project I spent a great amount of time looking at his more of hid designs. But as I continued to do this, the lines start to blur, am I copying just his style for this project? Or his ideas, content, compositions, etc. as well?? I learned a lot, but perhaps a better way to have gone about this was to read more and look less, or to have picked different content, or perhaps I was okay in what I did. It’s a fine line.

I can’t think of an example of a time that I’ve been personally “copied” but I would imagine that I could be easily frustraed by this. Originality in thought process, execution, and concept exists; but I feel that as we look at the world around us, designers that have come before us, etc. that we are so heavily influenced by all of this we may not even realize that if effects our “original” thought processes, execution, and ideas. There is originality, but not without influence.

Of my 3 final designs, I think that my type and image logo is the strongest. The interaction of type with the image, being the substitution of the letter I for the stem of the apple creates a visual interest, and sparks a connection between concepts. It is easily read, and has a sense of unity (ha) as neither the type nor the image overpowers the other. I feel that proportions are fairly sound and that I considered the square space as I designed this. One weakness would be that with all of the smaller elements of the image, the teeth, the highlights on the lips/skin of the apple, it might be too complicated to read what it is at a smaller scale. To make my logo work well at any scale I would like to address this concern and start to simplify.

8/31/17

I heard: consider the square and how design fits within the space; crossed out and/or low opacity type is not a successful solution; consider ideas of how to represent the need to educate; force
I think: “I Pledge to Unite the States of America” is the text I want to work with; showing the urgency, force, and necessity of education is important (a mouth was suggested); in the combination of type and image, only a portion of my type will be used
I’m going to: combine mouth and apple (speak up and out); apple stem as letter substitution in “unite”; look for more succesful ways to make the type fit; look into animating as a gif; mouth/apple blowing a kiss to opening and speaking “unite”

8/30/17

Ideas: Many of the synonyms and the theme itself are words found in the pledge, national anthem, founding documents, etc. and by crossing out, or changing the opacity of some words/letters I can convey a different message than what orignally appears.

In thinking of this project I keep going back to some of the posts/articles/quotes that I saw as the news broke about Charlottesville. In particular, Barack Obama quoting Nelson Mandela,

“No one is born hating another person because of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love…”

And another heartbreaking photo from Charlottesville that went viral…

…captioned again and again, and really driving the point home, that hate is something that is taught.

Teach love instead. Teach equality. Teach unity.

So, with these ideas in mind, and some word association (teaching, school, pledge, equality, unity) and ideas of what could symbolize these (apples, hearts, olive branch, equal sign) I set to sketching out my ideas; eventually recreating them digitally in Illustrator.

8/29/17

Unity

Synonyms: peace, harmony, oneness, alliance, uniformity, totality, indivisibility

Antonyms: discord, separation, segregation, division, denial

Idioms: strength in unity

Society is unity in diversity. — George Herbert Mead

Process

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