Week 9: Nicole Buckbinder

Design Strategy:

For my logo project I decided to keep my design very simple and to the point. This is because at this point in my life I am still not sure what it is that I want to do in the future so I decided to just stick to my initials. I tried to blend my 3 initials (N, M, and B) into one visual grouping. I wanted to come off as “creative” because I know that whatever I end up doing will be in a creative field.

Choice of Typefaces:

For the actual logo in my stationary system I first started off by using the font “Zapfino.” I then manipulated the letters with different tools in order to get them to smoothly blend together. In addition I removed some of the letter “B” to make a more obvious distinction between the “N” and the “M.” I chose zapfino because it looks almost painted or drawn on as opposed to typed which helped my letters blend easier. In addition for my contact information I used the font Abadi MT Condensed Light. I used this font because it is a thin stroked font which matched my logo however its readability is much more clear. In addition the more structured typefaces makes the stationary system look more professional in my opinon.

Visuals:

For my “initials” visual I created it by starting off with the font Zapfino and with just the letters “N” and “B.” I then rotated the “B” so that the top of the letter would touch the top of the “N.” The next thing that I did was add and remove anchor points on the letters themselves in order to get them to blend together. In addition I deleted the top portion of the “B” in order to make the “N” and the “M” more distinguishable. The next thing I did was create a gradient throughout the letters to give it more of a blending vibe. I chose the colors green and purple because when blended it looks like more of a neutral color however still more feminine. For the rest of the font on each stationary system I just used the color black in order to make the readability easier and appear more professional. For the letterhead I added a line with the same green to purple gradient but flipped the gradients sides to make the page look more even as a whole.

Week 9 | Wu

Design process

I made a lot of sketches. I came up with ideas such as a flower and a bee in which the negative space is a “W”, the initial of my last name, fireworks and a dandelion. The flower with a bee didn’t come out well. It is not combined and logo-like. I played around with the combination of “Y” and “W” a lot. I searched online logo designs involve “Y” and “W”. Then I found out that “w’ with a upside down “Y’ look like a person standing with his arms pointing to the sky. So, I added a circle to be the head of that person. It looks somewhat like a logo. Actually, it also looks a lot like the character of my Chinese last name “吴”. However, that sketch was totally symmetric. I wanted to give the person more movement and energy. I searched online some logos involve with figures and people. Then all of a sudden, the idea of the logo for 2008 Bejing Olympic Games came to my mind. It is a Chinese signet. Chinese signet is one part of traditional Chinese culture. It is like signiture of a person. One’s signet is his logo. I may work in the United States after college, but Chinese culture definitely constitutes a major part of me. And I am here in the States to share my culture with people from all over the world. Also, I can use logo in China. Therefore, I decided to do a signet for myself. With the “W” and “Y”, my initials, I created a running person. I like the “W”, which is like a person with two arms pointing up, which gives a positive energy to the figure.

Choice of typeface

In order for people to recognize the visual “W” and “Y”, I used the “boby parts” of that person to make the “y” and “w” in my names. The typeface I chose is Briem Script Std Black since it is the most consistent with original font of my initials.

Choice of color

I chose red to be color of the signet since it is usually the way it is. This red is very Chinese. Negative space pictures a running person. I put my name in black, since black is strong, visible and it also goes together well with red and white. Red, white and black combination is classic.

Ryan McDonnell Project 3

Design Strategy

For my logo I decided to have a play on my initials. By using “RPM”, I created a tachometer found in a race car to create this visual. The racing reference is also a connection to my passion for sports, which is also a field I am looking to go into in terms of sports journalism. It also helps give off the idea that I’m a diligent worker and always on the go.

Choice of Typeface

I used Calcite Pro Regular exclusively in my project. I felt that this font had a racing feel to it and helped make a good connection with the logo. The font is also leaning forward, which gives off a message that I’m always thinking ahead and wanting to continue forward in my career. The letters alternate between upper and lower cases to help out with readability. I think this font is a little bit more difficult to read than others, but I think it’s clear enough for almost all readers to be able to read it.

Visuals

I drew the logo in Adobe Illustrator using the pen tool and the circle tool. My two colors are black and orange (0/79/100/0) because I felt the contrast between a dark and a warm color would go well together and because orange and black are complimentary colors (seen in things such as Halloween decorations). The “RPM” type on the logo is used to further give off the visual of a tachometer on a car that reads the RPM of the engine. The project was saved in a .AI format. The stationary and envelope were both printed out of Illustrator, while the business cards were copied from Illustrator to Adobe InDesign and were printed out of that program.

McGill l Week 9

When I began thinking about my logo design, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use my initials in my logo. FM are important letters in the radio world since they make up one of the two major frequencies (AM being the other). Many people often recognize my initials FM in the radio context.

The typeface for my stationary is Myriad Pro. I decided to use this typeface because it is simple, sophisticated, and most of all easy to read. I drew the F from the business card in illustrator.

When I developed

the idea, I decided to make the M look as if it had a satellite dish instead of the v section at the top of the M. The satellite dish represents the broadcasting of me in a sense. I really like this design and felt that the F would not always be necessary. I included the F in the business card but thought simplicity would be more effective for the envelope and the letterhead so I decided to omit the F for those two pieces. I made the F in block form to give it strength and make it easy to read. On the business card, the F lifts to reveal the contact information. It also acts to direct the reader’s eye to the M which is the main part of the logo.

The business card was done in illustrator and the letterhead and envelope were done in InDesign. I used two Pantones in the design. I chose pantones for ease of printing. Blue is a calming color and it is also my favorite color so I chose blue for the basis of my design. I really like the way gray looks on a dark blue background and I think the blue makes the gray look metallic which is an effect I wanted to achieve without using metallic ink.

Week 9: Jasuta

Design Strategy:

I had no idea where to begin with a logo for myself. For a company, maybe I would’ve had an easier start. But how could I create something sophisticated enough to represent me professionally. I drew out ten sketches. Nothing. I drew out a few more. Then I realized I was thinking about the design the wrong way: I was focusing on me myself and I too much. I was thinking about representing myself as a person, not as a professional, and there’s too many aspects to me as person than me as a professional. I needed to get more creative with my approach.

So I thought, what do I want to do when I grow up? I’m a Public Relations and art history double major; I want to curate museums and art galleries. Well, what do you find in a museum? Artifacts, art, lost treasure, skeletal remains. Be more specific. Dinosaur skeletons and fossils. Ah ha! I had it.

My logo represents me through the image of a dinosaur, because that’s my field of study (to an extent). I kept it playful and simple in my color choices, and utilized visual gestalt to emphasize that the stationary is a set that works together.

Choice of typefaces:

The typeface I created for my name and headers is an exaggerated slab serif font. It’s spindly, but not spidery. The strokes are even and tight, skinny if anything. But the counters are large and there is a large x-height, which keeps the font playful and fun, rather than stringy and unstable. Plus the doubling of particular strokes parallel to the curve of a letter reinforces the letter, adding to the feeling of balance.

The typeface of detail information is Myrad Pro which I thought was a good pairing with my newly created font. The sans serif makes the detail information easy to read, and a quick read especially on the business card. It is then used throughout the envelope and stationary as appropriate.

Visuals:

The dinosaur and type were drawn using Adobe Illustrator. All three parts of the stationary were formatted in Adobe InDesign. The dinosaur is the main visual in the logo, so that if I were to become a nationally marketed brand, it would be the dinosaur that would be recognizable. Yet the hand-drawn font works to complete the logo, so that though either can stand alone, they work best paired together.

The dots in the dino are mimicked throughout the stationary, which harmonizes the 3-piece set. The polka dots are the visual gestalt throughout the stationary. They were originally designed in the context of the dinosaur, then copied and pasted in margins of the stationary paper, the envelope, and the business card. The logo actually consists of three different visual components: the dinosaur, the name, and the spots so that they are separately unique but when together are complete.

The colors I worked with were primary colors for a purpose. Any of the colors could interchangeable if needed. The colors I used are all Pantones: green is Pantone 362 C, red is Pantone 1797 C, yellow is Pantone 101 C, the light blue is Pantone Process Blue C, and the navy is Pantone 2736 C. They play off each other to create a playful and child-like color palette.

I decided to have a taller business card (3.5”x2.5”) because sure, there are small dinosaurs. But the bigger ones are the most memorable.

week 9: Irina Dvalidze | logo project

From the very beginning I wanted to use an aspect of my name as the primary focus of my logo, since despite the changes in my career and aspirations my name will remain a steady component. Which is why I made the letter “I” a focal point. However, as a Television Radio Film Major I wanted the logo to reflect that. I decided to incorporate the Film concept through using as stylized camera aperture in place of the dot on top of the eye.

I chose Bauer Bodoni Std 2, for the logo because it had a strong body to the letter “I” which could support my design. As for the name font underneath I chose bold Gill Sans, because of its simple and clean-cut appeal. I repeated Gill Sans within the contact info for the same reason. I played around with using all caps in my name since I wanted it to stand out.

For the logo mark I found a photo of an aperture and messed with the filters in Photoshop, one of which gave me this lavender color effect, which essentially inspired the color palette for the rest of the design. I felt that the color gave a more feminine touch to the design, while maintaining geometric construction. The CMYK was 58.07, 97.96, 18.19, 3.9.

I printed on parchment colored paper so the background was not white.

Design Strategy:
I chose an idea from brainstorming that involved using my initials, which spell "MAP" and tying it to my future major in Whitman: Finance. I applied the idea of a map to financial planning. I positioned a hemisphere of the globe above my initials. The hemisphere gives the logo a very placid shape. On the back of my business card I used one of my earlier ideas of a treasure map. I thought that the treasure map was a fun example of finding financial success while being guided by a map.

Choice of Typefaces:
I chose the typeface Caslon 3 LT to use in my logo and in all the text on this project because it was an old style serif. I wanted my logo to embody the looks of old world mapping and no typeface family did that better than the old style serifs.

Visuals:
To create the hemisphere of the globe I created a circle and then used the knife tool to cut it in half. Using the pan tool I created the continents. For the treasure map on the back of the business cards I made a black box the size of a business card, and then made a box slightly smaller, that would be the same color as the paper I would print on (which was colored to look like old parchment paper) and inside that box used the pen tool to make the continents. I also drew and "X" and a ship using the paintbrush tool to give it a treasure map feel.